A smirk curved his lips—lips that wanted to kiss my wife. “If you do love her, then you need to think about what you’re doing.” Brent was actually lecturing me, and it should have infuriated me more than ever. Maybe it did, on some level, but I was also just listening to every word he said. “You could call this plan off right here and now and just be with the woman you love.”
He had purposely provoked my jealousy. The sneaky bastard. And one hell of a best friend.
I backed off as the urge to hit him retreated. I fell into my chair and my eyes were fixed on him, but I was hardly seeing him.
Why wasn’t I calling the whole plan off? From what Brent was saying, he would back right off if I made the decision not to go through with it, and I could have Kaye all to myself.
I was in love, but what it came down to was simple. Love wasn’t forever. I had my own mother’s example to prove it. She had been in love with my father once, at least presumably, and I knew he’d been in love with her.
Love doesn’t last.
What did last, at least if managed right, was money—money and the legacy I would build in my grandfather’s name. My father’s too. Women wouldn’t stay around, but the money would.
“Fine.” My voice was dull and flat, and I refused to look at the other man. “Fine. I don’t give a shit. Take her. Do what you want with her. It’s none of my business, as long as you hold up your end of the deal and seduce her in the first place.”
If Kaye ever did cheat on me, as the plan was meant to make her do, I couldn’t be around her anyway. She had held out this long, but what were the chances she would continue to do so? She was sweet and loving and loyal, but she was also human.
“Are you sure?” Brent asked, and I could hear eagerness in his voice. He was a good friend, though, I supposed. He cared enough to let me know what his plans were, so that was something. “I’ll back right off. You just need to give me the word and she’s all yours.”
Tempting. Far more tempting than I ever would have thought when I put this whole thing into motion in the first place. In the end, though, old habits won. Brent would seduce her—I couldn’t imagine a scenario where she didn’t eventually give in to him—and then I would want nothing to do with her anyway.
“I’m sure,” I said, then sighed softly. “Get out of here, man. I have work to do.”
Mercifully, he left, leaving me with my own shattered, depressed thoughts.
I’d made the right choice. I knew it. But if that was the case, why did it feel so very wrong? Why did it nag at the edges of my mind, no matter how I tried to ignore it?
Should I have told him the truth—that I loved Kaye and probably always had?
Chapter 20
Kaye
I’d gone all out, decorating the lounge with some funky purple and green Mardi Gras decorations I’d found at a thrift shop in town. I didn’t want it to feel pretentious. My friends weren’t wealthy, and I didn’t want anyone to feel any different than anyone else. It was working—everyone was getting along well.
The party was hopping—the music was fun and upbeat. People were dancing, talking, drinking, and mingling all around me, but there was something very important missing from it for me.
Something. Or, to be more accurate, someone.
David wasn’t there.
He’d said he would be here eventually, and I settled in to wait. At least the party was fun, and I got to watch Brent meeting my friends, talking to them, laughing, flirting, and just generally seeming to have a good time.
Eventually, he and Angela paired off, and I smirked to myself. I’d sort of called it. My guess had been that, if he was going to be interested in any of my friends, it would be her. They had the same sort of sense of humor.
The drinks were flowing freely and I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, Angela and Brent would want to get to know each other better. They certainly seemed to be talking intently about something, though the music was far too loud for me to be clear on what it was.
After awhile, Angela broke away from Brent and grabbed herself a fresh drink. She came to sit down on the couch with me, and I smiled at her. She wanted to talk to me, obviously, and I thought I might have some idea why.
What she said, however, was not something I expected.
“What’s Brent’s deal?”
I frowned. What did she mean? I arched an eyebrow, encouraging her to continue. “What do you mean, what’s his deal?” I really had no idea what she could mean. They seemed to be hitting it off so well.
“I mean, what’s his obsession with you? Is he in love with you or something? David must be pissed off about that.” Her words dropped my heart into my feet.
Was Brent really in love with me?
And why the hell would he be? Why would he do that kind of thing to his best friend?
Blushing, I shook my head. Angela didn’t know what she was talking about, that was all it was. Once, I might have thought she was right, but I’d had a really good talk with him and I thought I had made myself quite clear about where we stood.
“No way,” I insisted, and Angela gave me a deeply knowing look, one that irritated me immensely.
“He does. He has a thing for you. He wouldn’t stop talking about you and asking about you …” Angela smirked at me. “You have yourself a problem, pretty lady. Married lady. Wow, two completely hot men have fallen in love with you right at the same time. What are the chances of that happening?”
I had no idea what those chances might be. But I did know one thing for absolute certain: I loved David. I loved my husband. Brent was not going to derail our marriage, no matter how he felt about me.
I bit my lower lip and looked over at Brent. He was looking over at us and he did seem to have a somewhat besotted look on his face. He could have been looking at Angela, though.
“You’re crazy,” I told her affectionately, and she grinned at me and shrugged a little, as though to concede the point. But I wasn’t thinking she was the crazy one. It was probably Brent who was the nutty one.
“Maybe. But it’s probably good David’s not here anyway. He strikes me as a bit of the jealous type.” She frowned and looked around. “Where is your Prince Charming, anyway?”
I bit back a sigh, covering it with a bright smile. No need to let her see how upset I would be if I let myself. It bugged me, though I would try to hide it. My husband couldn’t even be bothered to show up for our first party.
“He’s just busy. He’s upstairs, doing work stuff.” I kept the smile pasted onto my lips instead of giving in to the frown trying to take over. I got it. David was obsessed with work and with making his company into a big deal. But so was Brent, and Brent was right there across the room, having a good time, and putting work to the side for a little while.
Why couldn’t David do that too?
“Huh.” Angela turned her gaze to me, and I wanted to shy away from her knowing eyes. She always did see too much, but I’d never had much I wanted to hide from her before. “Don’t you think that’s a little …well …strange?”
I sighed softly. Truth be told, I did. It’s what I got for being married to someone who was so career-focused, though. I had known it wouldn’t always be easy. But I didn’t want anyone to think badly about my new husband. “No, it’s not weird for David. He’s a driven man. That’s what you get when you marry a man like him. I don’t mind it—really, I don’t.”
Our conversation was interrupted, making me look up in surprise. “Hey! Kaye, Angela, are you in?” At some point, while we were talking, Brent had walked over to us. I had been so wrapped up in the conversation with my friend, I hadn’t even noticed.
The man was stealthy, I had to give him that.
“Are we in for what?” Angela pulled herself together before I did and even managed a slightly flirtatious smile for the handsome man. She always had enjoyed the sight of a beautiful male, and even I could see that Brent fell into that category. I wasn’t interested, but I had eyes. I
wasn’t blind to how attractive he was. But David captivated me. Brent was merely nice to look at, and most of the time, nice to be around too. But my heart truly belonged to my husband. Of that, there was no doubt.
“One of my favorite bars is just a ten minute or so drive away.” Brent grinned at us impishly. “They have karaoke there and we’re all just drunk enough to find it fun. Wanna come?”
I’d had just enough to drink to make it sound like a lot of fun. It had been a long time since I’d done something just because it sounded like a silly, fun, good time, but I knew I couldn’t go.
“You guys go ahead.” I smiled at Angela. It was easy to tell she wanted to go. We were surrounded by people from work, and she was bound to have a good time. I couldn’t claim not to be at least a little bit envious though.
“Are you sure?” Angela asked, and she leaned over and hugged me when I nodded firmly. Yes, I was sure. It sort of sucked, but it was the right thing to do.
“Yeah, I’m sure. When David gets done with his work, we’ll catch up with you guys, maybe.” I smiled at both of them and watched as people trailed out of the house, off to the next fun thing.
As everyone else filed out, I turned off the music. Silence ruled in the house and I let out a soft sigh to release some of the tension I was feeling.
“Hey, you okay?” Brent asked, and I turned around, surprised. I had thought he’d left already, but there he was, standing a completely proper distance away from me and looking worried.
Angela’s suspicions raced through my head, and I searched his face to try to see anything inappropriate. I didn’t. He just seemed a little concerned. Nothing more.
“Yes, of course,” I murmured, and just to have something to do, I started to clean up after the party. It was better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself. After all, this was my choice. David hadn’t forbidden me to go, or I surely would have gone just to spite him.
Of course, in order for David to forbid me to do something, he would have to be around. I’d barely seen him at all, he’d been so lost in work.
“You want to come,” Brent commented, and he wasn’t really asking a question. More making a statement of truth, and I couldn’t even deny his words. I did want to go do something silly and brainless, but I couldn’t.
“Yes,” I admitted. There seemed little point in denying it. He obviously already knew the truth.
“So, come. David won’t mind,” Brent coaxed. “It’ll be so fun, and way more so with you there. Everyone wants you to go. David’s so busy that he probably won’t even notice if you’re here or not.”
Ugh. Probably true, as well. With how busy David was, I could probably strip naked and do a belly dance for him, and he wouldn’t even notice. He got snarly when I even came into his office while he was working.
So why not go?
I could. Even if David did notice, I could send him a text or something, inviting him to come if he wanted to. I would be able to perfectly defend my actions, too, if he got into it with me.
The least he could have done was come down to say hello to our guests. The more I thought about it, the ruder I found his absence. He could’ve at the very least come in for a few minutes, said hello to everyone, then excused himself. Hell, his friends were there too. But he hadn’t even bothered to do that much, and he’d known how much I was looking forward to this get-together.
Brent was charming and breezy, and being around him would lead to a good time. With him and all of my friends around me, I knew I would have a much better time than if I sat around here sulking and cleaning up the mess.
Maybe I should just do it.
I looked down at the garbage I’d been collecting and I could picture myself doing it. Drop it. Deal with it later. Go out and salvage this evening for myself.
“No,” I suddenly said, not without regret. Maybe David was caught up in his work and he could have easily lost track of time. I often had to brave his wrath to bring him food, or he wouldn’t eat enough. I tried to think about how I’d feel if I got off of a long shift at work, only to find David had ditched me to go hang out with his friends.
It would suck for him to come out of his work-induced fog, only to find himself alone in a very messy house. I wasn’t particularly happy with him, but I didn’t want him to go through that either.
“Kaye …” Brent took a step closer to me, and I just as quickly took a step back, maintaining my distance from him. Once more, my friend’s words rang through my head.
Was Brent in love with me?
Better not to know. Better to think Angela was just being her typically dramatic self. I could be an ostrich with my head in the sand if I wanted to. There was really nothing wrong with that, if it saved a friendship, that is.
“No, I’m just going to stay here and wait for my husband.” I made sure to emphasize the last word. My husband and Brent’s best friend. He really needed to keep those simple facts in mind.
Even if he did have feelings for me, it was never going to happen, and I utterly refused to give him any false hope on the matter. I was alone, and I was pretty miserable at my own party, but I wouldn’t do anything that might even have a chance of hurting David.
“Okay.” Brent gave me one of those shiny, flashy smiles--the ones I’d already noticed he used to cover up whatever his true emotions were. In this case, I was just as happy to let him do it.
If he did have any inappropriate feelings for me, it was just as well that he hid them from me, from David, and even from himself. He couldn’t help what he felt if he did feel anything, but he needed to know it was hopeless.
“Have fun.” I gave him a big smile in return. I wasn’t as good at hiding what I was feeling as he was, but I did my very best.
Gathering up handfuls of trash, I went into the kitchen. I could have found a different garbage can, of course, but I thought it best if the conversation with him was cut off right then.
When I came back out to keep tidying up, he was gone. Despite my annoyance at having to miss the karaoke bar, I was glad he’d left.
I had done the right thing.
David had every reason to be suspicious of women, and I wanted to give him no reason to doubt me. No reason at all.
David
What was it going to take to get Kaye to be disloyal to me, in even the smallest of ways?
What sort of woman was she that she would continually pick me? I kept giving her every possible reason to pull away from me, and yet she kept trying to stay close.
I watched that night as the party ran its course. From a hidden place on the stairs, I watched and waited for the inevitable to happen. Brent was being so charming and Kaye would surely respond in some way.
She never did though.
Oh, she was sweet—as she was to everyone—and polite to Brent. I could tell she wanted to be friends with my best friend, but there was nothing more than that in her eyes when she looked at him. Not the slightest hint of impropriety in anything she did.
She didn’t even go to the karaoke bar. Brent had clearly cooked up a plan to get her away from the house and maybe to get more booze into her, but she was having none of it.
Why didn’t she go?
It made me feel funny when I heard her sweet voice turning Brent down once more. Even when she was assured I wouldn’t mind, she decided to stay, and I had to close my eyes to fight down a treacherous lurch of my heart.
She loved me. If there had been any doubt at all remaining inside of me, it would have been blown away with this certainty. She loved me enough and was loyal enough to me to stay home while everyone else went out to have more fun—even when I was being a jerk to her.
And she’d be right to go without me. I had purposely kept away from the party that I knew she wanted to be perfect. I wasn’t working like I’d told her I was. No, I was watching and hoping for complex things—things like that she’d show how she truly felt about me. Things like that she’d finally show that side of herself that we all have—the bad side
. But Kaye didn’t seem to have a bad side.
Could anyone be this good?
Was it possible for anyone to be the angel Kaye seemed to be?
But all I could feel was absolute pleasure that she’d turned Brent down all on her own, telling him she wanted to wait for her husband. It sent chills down my spine as the love I had for her grew a bit more at that very moment in time.
There probably should have been some anger mixed in with my pleasure. After all, she’d completely denied Brent the opportunity to try to get her into bed without my presence looming between them. She’d completely thwarted my plan once again.
There was no room for anything but joy in my heart. Joy and guilt. What was I doing to her?
I watched her move around the room, tidying it.
Why not just tell her?
I could almost picture it in my head. I could walk into the room, pull her into my arms, and kiss her with everything I had in me. I could tell her I needed to speak to her about something important.
But then what?
I had no idea how to even form the words. How could I tell her how I had planned to use and betray her? How could I watch the love in her eyes turn to hatred? I was nothing but a coward, but I couldn’t do it.
Kaye put the messy room into order quickly and turned toward the stairs—the stairs where I was hidden. I couldn’t help but think it would be pretty obvious what I was doing there.
Time to go.
Swiftly and silently, using the bend in the staircase to my advantage, I slipped away before she saw me. I saw her face, lovely but so tired and just a little sad, and then I was walking down the hallway to our bedroom.
The storm that raged inside of me only grew as I paced around the room. I should tell her. I couldn’t tell her. I would for sure lose her if I did. It was the right thing to do though.
Vengeful Seduction_A Submissives’ Secrets Novel Page 20
