Forever an Eaton: Bittersweet LoveSweet Deception

by Rochelle Alers

  Myles pushed his hands into the pockets of his suit trousers. “As much as I’d like to take you up on your offer, I can’t do that, Brina.”

  Gazing into his dark eyes in the mirror, Zabrina frowned slightly. “Why can’t you?”

  “What would your son think if he saw a strange man lounging in his mother’s bathroom?”

  Zabrina came to her feet, her gaze meeting and fusing with Myles’s. “Do you think I would invite you to come over when my son is here?”

  “You tell me, Brina.”

  “The answer is no, Myles. Adam has never seen me with any other man except for Thomas. And if he were to see one in my bedroom then it would be my husband.”

  Raising his right hand, Myles ran the back of it over her cheek. “Would you ever get married again?”

  Zabrina closed her eyes rather than look at the tenderness in Myles’s eyes. “I would if he were the right man.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean by the right man?”

  She opened her eyes. “He would have to be a good father and role model for Adam.”

  “What about you, Brina? What would you want for yourself?” Myles asked.

  Brina said the first thing that came to mind. “Sex.”

  Myles lowered his head, unable to believe what he’d just heard. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”

  “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

  Zabrina hadn’t lied to Myles. It had been more than a decade since she’d been made love to. Unlike Rachel, who admitted to being horny, she had been too ashamed to openly admit it until now. Ten years was a long time to deny her own needs or the strong yearnings that unexpectedly swept over her. Surprised by her admission, Myles stared at her in disbelief.

  “Why are you looking at me like that? Would it be less shocking if the roles were reversed, and you were the one saying that you wanted to have sex with me?”

  “Is that what you want from me?” he asked, recovering his composure.

  “Sure, but only if you’re up for it,” she countered. “It would just be for the summer.”

  “What about Adam?”

  “What about him, Myles?”

  “You can’t expect me to sleep with you while he’s in the house.”

  Zabrina was hard-pressed not to laugh. For the first time in years she felt empowered, dictating what she wanted or didn’t want to do with every phase of her life. Although she’d refused to pretend to be the dutiful wife when Thomas wanted her to accompany him, legally she’d been his wife. Even after her father had passed away, Zabrina still hadn’t been willing to divorce Thomas. As long as he didn’t try to exercise his conjugal rights or interfere with her relationship with Adam she’d continued to play out the charade.

  “We can sleep together at your place whenever Adam stays with his relatives or has a sleepover with his friends.”

  “What happens at the end of the summer, Zabrina?”

  Myles was still trying to grasp the enormity of her unusual suggestion. This was a Zabrina he truly didn’t know. When it came to women he’d always been the one doing the propositioning and usually not the other way around. This was not to say that women hadn’t let him know they were interested in more than a platonic liaison, but they’d never been as candid as Zabrina.

  “We go our separate ways to live our separate lives.”

  Damn, he mused. When had she become so insensitive? “Why me, Brina?” he asked. “Why not choose some other man to be your sex toy?”

  “Why not you, Myles?” she said, answering his question with another question. “We have a history. And if people see us together they’ll think we’re just old friends hanging out together for the summer.”

  “Friends who were once engaged,” Myles reminded her.

  “That, too,” she countered. “There are a lot of couples who were either married or break up and are still friends.”

  Her initial bravado fading quickly, Zabrina chided herself for broaching the subject of sleeping with Myles. Her ego and vanity had surpassed common sense. She tilted her chin in a haughty gesture. “Forget I mentioned it.”

  Reaching out, Myles pulled Zabrina close to his chest. A mysterious glow fired the raven orbs staring back at her. “I can’t forget it any more than I can forget what we had, or what we once meant to each other. If you want a sex partner for the summer, then I’ll oblige you. And don’t concern yourself with birth control, because I’ll assume responsibility for using protection.”

  Pinpoints of heat flamed in her face. She’d just propositioned her former fiancé, and he’d accepted. At thirty-three she’d become not only reckless, but shameless. Sleeping with Myles meant she didn’t have to troll the clubs or the Internet looking for a man.

  “Thank you.” It was apparent he’d remembered the number of times she’d had to change contraceptives because of the side effects.

  “You’re welcome,” Myles whispered, seconds before he sealed their arrangement with a searing kiss that weakened her knees. Nothing had changed. It was as if a day rather than a decade had passed between them. Her arms came up, she pressing closer as she wound her arms around his neck, while reveling in the taste and feel of his mouth on hers.

  Zabrina clung to Myles as if she depended on him for her next breath. She loved him. She missed him and the passion he elicited with a single glance. Her fingers grazed the nape of his neck. Zabrina wanted Myles, wanted to strip him naked and lie between his legs until he assuaged her pent-up sexual frustration.

  The doorbell rang for the second time, and she went completely still. “That’s Rachel,” she whispered against Myles’s parted lips.

  Cradling her face between his hands, Myles winked at Zabrina. “Send her away.”

  With wide eyes, she said, “I can’t. Rachel has been really looking forward to going out tonight.”

  His eyebrows lifted as he brushed his mouth over hers. “What about you, Brina? Are you looking forward to going out, too?”

  “Yes, I am,” she said truthfully.

  “Okay. To be continued.”

  “To be continued,” she repeated. Hand-in-hand, they walked out of the bedroom and down the staircase. Zabrina reached for her small leather purse while Myles opened the door.

  Rachel Copeland had morphed from a suburban housewife into a seductive siren. Her blond hair was a mass of tiny curls, and a body-hugging tank dress and matching strappy black sandals had replaced her ubiquitous T-shirt and jeans. Despite having given birth to two children there was no doubt she still could get modeling assignments.

  Zabrina gasped. Rachel was certain to turn heads with her revealing outfit. “You look incredible, Rachel.”

  Rachel tossed her head and her flaxen curls bounced as if they’d taken on a life of their own. She looked every inch the model with her expertly made-up face. “Thank you. And, you’re one hot-looking widow!”

  Zabrina winced. Rachel was the widow of a war hero, and she saw herself as a single mother. Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled at Myles. “We’re ready whenever you are.”

  He waited for Zabrina to punch in the code for the security system and lock the door. He escorted both women to where he’d parked his SUV. Opening the passenger-side door, he scooped up Zabrina and placed her on the leather seat, then helped Rachel into her seat. He’d doubted whether either of them would’ve been able to get into the vehicle unassisted because of their footwear.

  Try as he could, Myles didn’t understand why women insisted on wearing such high heels. However, there was an upside to stilettos—they made a woman’s legs look incredibly sexy.

  After all, he was a leg man.

  Chapter 8

  Myles pocketed his valet stub, then escorted Rachel and Zabrina through the restaurant’s parking lot to Whispers. The upscale supper club had a three-week wait
for dinner reservations, but Myles had jumped to the head of the list because he and Hugh Ormond had played on the same high-school football team. They’d lost touch after graduating, but reconnected the year before at their twentieth high-school reunion.

  A doorman opened the door for them, his gaze sweeping over the two women clinging to Myles’s arm. “Welcome to Whispers. I hope you and your ladies have an enjoyable evening.”

  “Are we your ladies, Myles?” Zabrina teased, sotto voce. His response was to narrow his gaze.

  “How on earth did you get a reservation to this place?” Rachel whispered to Myles.

  “A friend owns it.”

  “I’m going to like hanging out with you and Zabrina.” Rachel had read about the grand opening of the club in the entertainment section of the local newspaper. The food critic had given the cuisine, decor, ambience and live entertainment his highest rating.

  Myles approached the hostess. “I have a reservation for three at seven.”

  The young woman smiled at Myles. “Your name, sir?”

  “Eaton.”

  Her smile brightened when she signaled the maître d’. “Mr. Ormond wants you to let him know when the Eaton party arrives.”

  The dark-suited, slightly built, balding man bowed elegantly from the waist. “Monsieur, mesdames. Please follow me.”

  Zabrina shared a smile with Rachel. The establishment was intimate and aesthetically pleasing, confirming it was the ideal venue for a rendezvous. Tables with seating for two or four were positioned far enough away from other diners to insure privacy. If they’d been placed closer, the restaurant’s seating capacity would have doubled.

  Whoever had designed the restaurant had incorporated elements of feng shui. The interior had come alive with live plants, the soft sound of gurgling fountains and an enormous fish tank, filled with colorful exotic fish, that spanned the entire length of the wall.

  They were shown to a table with seating for four near the band playing Latin music. Several couples were up on the dance floor, swaying to the seductive rhythm.

  Myles pulled out a chair, seating Zabrina, while a waiter came over to seat Rachel. Myles glanced up when a shadow loomed over the table. Rising to his feet, he gave Hugh Ormond a rough embrace.

  Hugh pounded his former schoolmate’s back. “I’m glad you could make it.” He took the empty chair as Myles made the introductions.

  “Hugh, the lady to my left is Zabrina Cooper and the one on your right is Rachel Copeland. Ladies, Hugh Ormond, owner and executive chef of Whispers.”

  Zabrina and Rachel gave the obligatory greetings, both enthralled with the man who exuded charm effortlessly. Tall and solidly built with cropped sandy-brown hair and sparkling gray eyes, Hugh Ormond had a quick smile and a velvet voice. When he ordered a bottle of champagne for the table, Zabrina felt the heat from Myles’s gaze on her face. She sat up straighter when his hand caressed the small of her back.

  “Don’t worry, baby. I promise not to take advantage of you if you have more than one glass,” Myles whispered in her ear.

  “I’m not worried, darling,” she said softly. “I trust you.”

  The moment the endearment slipped from her lips Zabrina felt as if time stood still, as if the past ten years hadn’t happened. A slow warming began in her chest and wove its way down her body and settled between her thighs.

  She’d thought herself brazen when she’d told Myles that she wanted him to make love to her but realized she was being honest. It was the first time since before she’d called her fiancé to tell him that she was in love with another man that she was honest with him and with herself.

  What Zabrina had tired of was: pretending she was a dutiful wife when she posed with Thomas and Adam for an official family photograph, pretending all was well whenever they were forced to share the same space, pretending to grieve the loss of her husband and pretending to be strong for her son when he had to deal with the loss of his grandfather and father within months of each other.

  Adam loved Thomas, but adored his grandfather. Isaac was always there when Thomas hadn’t been. And whenever his father was around, the young boy did everything possible to get Thomas’s attention. Once Thomas was appointed to fill the vacant senate seat, spending more time in D.C. than he did in Philadelphia, Adam transferred his affection from his father to his grandfather.

  In order to help her son cope with the loss of two important men in his life Zabrina had arranged for him to see a child psychologist, and what was revealed in those sessions had rocked Zabrina to her very core. Adam had said Thomas always made him feel like a dog as he patted his head whenever he told him he’d aced a test. It’d been Grandpa who took him to baseball and football games when his father was too busy. It’d been Grandpa who accompanied his mother to parent-teacher conferences and it’d been Grandpa who’d saved every one of his drawings and had them bound like the many books lining the mansion’s bookshelves.

  She was forthcoming when she accepted blame for the distance between father and son, because Thomas had never really wanted children. Zabrina didn’t tell the psychologist that she’d been blackmailed into marrying Thomas Cooper, but knew eventually she would have to tell Adam the truth. She wanted to wait until he was old enough to understand the reason she had to protect his beloved grandfather.

  “Are you all right, Brina?”

  She blinked as if coming out of a trance. “Yes. Why?”

  Myles gave Zabrina a long, penetrating stare. She appeared distracted, and he wondered if it was because they’d agreed to sleep together again. Cupping her elbow, he leaned closer. “Come dance with me.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes, now.”

  Myles wanted to talk to Zabrina, but he didn’t want Hugh or Rachel to overhear what he wanted to tell her. He stood up and then eased Zabrina to her feet. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he led her to the dance floor. Easing her into a close embrace, he molded her length to his.

  “What’s the matter, Brina?” He felt her stiffen with his query before she relaxed again.

  “What makes you think something is the matter?”

  “You’re distracted, and I’ve never known you to daydream.”

  Zabrina closed her eyes. “That’s because I’ve changed, Myles. I have a lot more responsibility now.”

  “That may be true, but it’s more than that.”

  “What are you getting at, Myles?”

  “Why did you really ask me to sleep with you?”

  Zabrina knew she couldn’t tell him that her husband had never consummated their marriage, so she said the next best thing. “I’m lonely, Myles. I’ve been lonely for a very long time.”

  Myles missed a step with Zabrina’s admission, but recovered quickly. It was apparent her marriage to Thomas Cooper was far from ideal. But then, what had she expected from a politician? It was apparent her late husband had neglected her and she wanted Myles to make up for the loss of affection.

  “I can’t be a substitute for your late husband, Brina.”

  “There’s no way you would ever be a substitute for Thomas.” Myles visibly recoiled as if she’d struck him. “We slept in separate bedrooms.”

  At first Myles thought Zabrina was comparing him to Thomas in bed, and now her revelation that she and her late husband did not share a bed was too much for him to grasp.

  He pressed his mouth to her hair. “I really don’t want to know what went on between you and Cooper, because what goes on between a man and his wife is sacrosanct. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t have feelings for you because I do. I realized that the day I saw you in the restaurant with my sister, and the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to face in my life was not making love to you Saturday night. You were in my bed, naked and I still couldn’t bring myself to touch you. I also have a confession to make.”
/>   “What’s that?” Zabrina asked.

  “I would’ve asked you to sleep with me even if you hadn’t asked first. It doesn’t have to be tonight or tomorrow night, but when it happens it will be the right time and we’ll both know it.”

  Zabrina wound her arms around Myles’s waist inside his jacket. Hot tears pricked the backs of her eyelids as she struggled to bring her fragile emotions under control. He’d just validated why she’d fallen in love with him so many years before. He’d never put any pressure on her to sleep with him, and when she had finally offered him her innocent body, the shared experience was one she would remember forever.

  “Myles?”

  “What, baby?”

  “Why didn’t you marry?” she asked softly.

  “If I had found a woman like you, then I’m certain I would’ve married her.”

  Zabrina wanted to believe he’d waited for her, that he couldn’t forget her just like she couldn’t forget him, but she wasn’t that vain. What she did believe was that there were people who were destined to be together. It’d been that way with her and Myles.

  The song ended, and Myles escorted Zabrina back to their table where Hugh and Rachel were talking quietly to each other. There was something in the way the restaurateur was staring at the attractive blonde that made Myles pause. Hugh had married his high-school sweetheart, but the union had lasted less than three years. He’d admitted to several long-term relationships, but wasn’t ready to commit to marrying again.

  Hugh came to his feet with Zabrina’s approach. “I’m off tonight, but I was just telling Rachel that if you want something that’s not on the menu, then I’ll prepare it for you.”

  Rachel shook her head as she ran her fingers through her hair as if fluffing up her curls. Zabrina caught her meaning immediately. “That’s not necessary. I’m more than willing to order from the menu.”

  “I’ll order from the menu,” Myles said, agreeing with her.

  The sommelier arrived with a bottled of chilled champagne and four flutes. Hugh sampled the wine, smiling. “It’s very good.” The wine steward filled the flutes, nodded, then walked away.