by Remi Wild
We don’t speak on the way home. I can’t look at him, can’t say the words she spat my way. I’d die if he gave me any inkling to their truthfulness.
Eric.
My everything.
Look forward, not back—I promised.
He helps me into the house and into bed, taking a seat on the mattress beside me, he stokes my hair from my face. The look of concern in his eyes causes me to tear.
Shaking my head, I refuse to answer his question before it leaves his lips. “What happened?”
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to pull it together. “I was just suddenly overcome—I think it might be another stomach thing.”
He eyes me like he doesn’t believe me but then his face softens, and he pulls the blanket up over me. “Well, I’ll let you get some rest. I should be home by six.” Leaning in, he kisses my forehead. “I love you, Becky.”
“I’m sorry about our lunch. I love you, too.”
He rises to leave but then stops and turns, eyeing me like he wants to say something. I return his look, wondering.
Sighing, he plops back down and looks me dead-on. “What really happened?”
He knows me too well. Dammit. I burst, sobbing like a baby while turning away from him into fetal position. Rubbing my back, he remains quiet, waiting. I turn my head and look at him, ready to tell him.
“Fiona…” Her name pains me as it crosses my lips. Anger paints his features, his jawline twitches with it. “She cornered me in the bathroom and…”
“And?” He’s furious.
“She said you wanted it, that you invited her to bed…that you called her name as you came.”
He closes his eyes, visibly trying to compose himself, his cheek twitches with rage. I’m reading his features, waiting for a sign, anything to tell me that it didn’t happen the way she said it did. He opens his eyes and tilts his head with a soft reassuring smile.
“Remember what Linda said?” he says, making eye contact. I nod slowly, but I want an answer, and he knows it. “I can’t say one way or another what happened that night because I honestly don’t remember, but I don’t believe for one second that it went down that way, Becky. You, are the only woman I have ever wanted. What Fiona did to me, to us, it’s despicable…she repulses me.”
Raising my hand, I shake my head. “Stop.” The sincerity in his voice is all I needed. He isn’t lying. “I’m good now. I’m sorry I doubted it for even a second, but she just has this way of getting under my skin, and after seeing the flowers…”
“What flowers?” He looks confused and then a light bulb goes off. “The flowers on Sharon’s desk?”
“Yeah. They were Fiona’s, and the card was signed E. Sharon said Fiona left them there because of her allergies, but…”
“That conniving…I never sent her shit.” He rakes a hand through his hair. “Fuck.”
Sighing, I shake my head as laughter rolls from my belly. He gapes at me, like I’ve lost my mind, but I can’t stop, can barely catch my breath. Astounded, he watches me grinning and waiting. “Honestly…she really is insane…”
He laughs but it’s not a funny laugh, it’s a concerned one. Grabbing my hand, he raises it to his lips, kissing the tips, just the way I like it, the surefire way to drive me freaking insane. I yank him forward and take his lips.
Chapter Eighteen
I’ve just wrapped up our third surgery of the day and am getting ready to head home when a familiar scent enters the locker room. I inhale, closing my eyes—he always smells so exotic, so delish.
I spin, smiling as I greet Leo. “Well, hello.”
“Well, hello yourself, Becs.”
“Listen, I never thanked you…for taking care of Chia while we went away. I don’t think the little traitor even noticed we were gone. Anyway, we really appreciate your help, your understanding…”
“No thanks necessary.” He yanks me into a quick hug and then kisses the side of my head before releasing me and strolling away, saying. “Just glad you too got your shit together.”
I grin after him. “Me too.” Then I remember, I need to ask him about the party. “Hey wait up.” I chase after him and he stops, turning to me, an eyebrow raised in question.
“I wanted to make sure you were going to be able to make our bar-b-que next Saturday. It starts at two, but you can come by whenever…and bring a date.”
He chuckles. “So, you’re not pimping me out this time?”
I deserved that. “Nope.”
He grins, it’s teasing and dead sexy.
Pulling it together, I smile, trying to exude innocence. “Come as you are or with a plus one…it doesn’t matter, we’d just like you to make it. It will be mostly Eric’s firm attending, but I invited you and Mel, and a few of Eric’s cousins, too.”
“Will Fiona be there?”
“I’d like to say no, but totally expect that she will show up just to torture me.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “Hopefully, she doesn’t…”
“Oh, she’ll be there…” My voice cracks, but I hold it together. I won’t let her get to me.
“Well, in that case, I wouldn’t miss it.” He winks, grinning. “Mel and I will have your back.”
“Thanks.”
He pulls out his phone, and starts flipping through it. “I’m on call, but I’ll still come by.”
“Great. See you then.” He nods a goodbye and walks away.
I’ve been planning this party for months. It’s our year to host the firm’s summer bar-b-que, and I can’t wait to show off my hostess skills. I’m no southern belle, but I can be as hospitable as the best of them.
“Rebecca,” Helen, the nurse supervisor calls out to me as she enters the locker room.
Crap! This won’t be good.
“We have a femoral fracture coming in. I need you. Can you stay?”
Just say no… “Of course, just let me text Eric.”
The surgery went later than expected. It’s almost ten o’clock when I reach my car in the parking garage. I’m dead on my feet, so when I attempt to start my completely dead car, my exhaustion catches up with me, and I burst into tears.
Everything was going so great.
Why?
“Stupid car.”
I reach for my phone to call Eric out on a rescue mission, but the battery is drained. Just my luck.
Rolling my eyes, I look to the heavens. “Why, why, why?”
There is a tap on my window. I jump, looking over to see Leo standing outside. Opening my door, I wipe the tears and sniff.
“My car is totally dead. Would you mind giving me a ride home? I hate to make Eric come all this way.”
“No problem.” He eyes me. “Why were you crying?”
“Just tired and this didn’t help…” I laugh. “Seems poetic though, after that surgery.”
“Sorry about that, but it was a bloody job placing those pins.”
We’re mostly silent on the way to our house, but when he pulls in, I turn to him and smile. “Thank you. You totally saved me.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “No worries, Becs.”
He knows I’m a disaster, we all do, no need to say the words.
Reaching over, he pulls me into a hug. God, he smells divine. Lingering a second or two more than I should, I indulge, then pull away and kiss his cheek. It’s totally innocent, a gesture between friends—he just smells so damn intoxicating.
As I jump out of the vehicle, I see Eric standing in the open doorway, waiting. I run up to him and throw my arms around him, crashing my lips to his, but I notice he stiffens slightly. I pull back, searching his face, confused.
“I thought you had a surgery…” He’s definitely upset…
“I did, but it went late and then when I got to my car it wouldn’t start, and then I had a breakdown when I noticed my phone was dead. Leo offered me a ride.” I grin, slightly, flattered that he’s jealous, but also worried. We’ve been down this road. “Leo is your friend, mine too, that’s all. Yo
u are the man I love, the one I can’t live without.”
Nodding his head, he sighs. “I know, it just bothers me when I see you too together, still…” He tightens his arms around me and takes my lips. His kiss is demanding, purposeful, like he wants me to know how much he loves me.
My stomach flutters and the painful longing between my legs begs for more, for release. When he kisses me like this, my toes almost always curl, and right now they are practically pushing my feet from my pumps.
Backing into the house, we move to the couch, still kissing, touching, groaning like a couple of wild dogs about to fuck. He straddles me on his lap, his hands slide under my dress, pushing it up over my waist and then he tugs on my thong, shredding it and tossing it aside.
I’m drenched, ready and willing as I free him from his shorts and take him in. Gasping, he cradles my neck with his hand while fisting my hair with the other, holding me to his lips as his tongue invades my mouth while we grind against each other.
What started out as rabid fucking, slows—we calm, rocking against each other, our hands and lips worshipping, caressing, teasing. He pulls me hair, tipping my head back and then savagely attacks the groove of my neck, the tingles ignite and I explode, coming with such intensity that I think I squirted, but I grind harder, loving it, taking it all as he comes inside me, lifting his hips to reach even deeper.
When we come together, an orgasm becomes something epic, something more powerful—it’s enough to make my entire body weak, my mind mush. As I throb against his cock, each pulsing movement is the kindling for another momentous orgasm that rips through me, blinding my vision with light. I fall against him, breathless, lost.
If I die right now, it will be Heaven.
Eric, apparently still has more in him. He flips us, tipping me back against the couch, as he kneels between my legs, leaning in to suckle a breast. My hands find his hair holding him to my nipple as he nibbles, and sucks, sending lines of fire to my clit. He throbs inside me—I can feel him twitch and then with one last pound into me, he comes again, growling as his teeth nibble my breast.
He falls limp against me, his head resting on my chest, we’re breathless, amazed. No one has ever fucked me like my husband, and I swear to all that is mighty, no one ever will.
Our bodies were meant to be together, and in moments like this, there is no denying that fact.
He wraps his arms around me and pulls me to the floor, where I snuggle in to the nook, draping my body across his. He strokes my arm, calming us both.
“I love you,” he whispers as he tilts his head to kiss the top of mine.
Sitting up on my elbow, I gaze into his eyes. “You know, you don’t have a thing to worry about—I’m pretty sure you’ve ruined me for all other men.”
“Perfect.”
“Yes, we are, aren’t we?” My smile widens, dictating my bliss as he leans up to capture my mouth.
Chapter Nineteen
Melanie and I have spent the afternoon shopping, blowing up our credit cards. I’ve missed my bestie these last couple of weeks. She doesn’t mind telling me what a shit friend I have been.
“You realize it’s been over two weeks since I’ve seen you. I thought you promised to be a better friend.” Her tone is serious but her grinning face tells me she’s only half-serious.
“Eric and I had, have, a lot to work through.”
“You mean, you have a lot to work through.” She knows me so well. Tilting her head, her expression hardens. “So, you forgave him…no divorce?”
“Divorce is not an option.” I swallow hard as my eyes instantly tear at the thought. “I’d die. Besides, I’m not about to give in to Fiona and her designer fuck-me pumps.”
She bursts into laughter and nods. “That’s my girl. You had me and Leo worried though. We were expecting the divorce announcement.”
“We saw a therapist.” Swallowing hard, I feel stupid admitting it.
“There’s no shame in trying to save your marriage. I admire you for not tossing his ass to the curb. I think I might have.”
“That’s the problem with people today, they give up too easily.”
“True dat.” She raises her cappuccino to toast. We clink mugs and sip our gourmet coffee, enjoying the sun on our face.
“I’ve been working really hard to bury the jealousy thing. I’m seeing our therapist alone tomorrow. It’s been hard on both of us. He almost lost his shit when Leo gave me a ride home yesterday. It didn’t help that I kissed Leo goodbye…”
“You kissed Leo,” she interjects before I can finish, the surprise in her voice causes it to squeak.
“On the cheek, jeez.”
“Oh. Well, say that next time…I almost peed.” She looks relieved.
“Leo and I are just friends. That’s all. I wouldn’t in a million years go down that path again. I’m not saying I don’t check him out—he is something to admire.”
“Meh. He’s Leo.” She shrugs like she doesn’t notice and then a grin curves her mouth, and I know she gets me.
“Exactly. Still, the history is there and that is where Eric and I stumble. In the back of his mind he worries about Leo, and I worry about Fiona.” Her name spits off my tongue, I despise even saying it.
“Fiona is a non-issue. I guarantee it’s just a game to her—I know her type.”
“She cornered me in the bathroom at the firm, told me he wanted it…among other things.” I squirm in my seat as heat rises to the surface of my cheeks.
“Wow. What did you do?”
“Well, I was in a stall peeing, so not much, but when she left…I lost it to the point that I vomited.”
“That just proves my point—she just wants to mess with you.”
“Well, it worked…”
“Not really. You and Eric are still together. She hasn’t won, not even close, but I guarantee she isn’t through with you, not yet.”
My skin crawls. I roll the crawlies off my shoulders and nod, knowing she’s probably right. “I have to stay focused—show her we’re solid.”
“You are solid. I’ve never known two people as in love with each other as you guys. You’ve got this—just don’t let her win.”
My shopping high is ruined by this conversation. Needing to change the subject, I veer in a different direction. “I hope one day, you are lucky enough to have what Eric and I have. I mean, minus the Fiona thing…I’m still sore from last night.”
“Ick! Dude, why? I don’t need the details, Jeez.” Melanie cringes, shaking her head as she draws the cappuccino to her lips.
Laughing, I lean in and grin like a devil, staring intently into her eyes. “Seriously.”
Shaking her head, Melanie places her cup down and gazes in to its contents, like she wants to tell me something but can’t quite find the words.
I pop up, eyeing her with excitement. “You met someone…you did! I can see it in your eyes.” I clap my hands with glee. “Spill.”
She shakes her head, looking away. “No, not yet. I don’t want to jinx it…”
“Oh my god! You have to give me something, don’t leave me hanging.”
Doing a hard eye roll, she sits back in her chair, grinning. “All I can say is that it just sort of happened, and I’m not really sure how I feel about it, not yet. He’s different than most guys I hook up with, and he’s a far better fuck than I ever expected. I just don’t know if it will survive the bedroom, you know?”
“What? That’s stupid. I mean, look at me and Eric—the sex has always been fantastic and it still surprises me, but he’s also my soul mate. He gets me and we have fun together…is this guy nice? Does he make you laugh? Do you think about him when you’re not together?”
Clearing her throat, she takes a sip of her cappuccino, clearly bothered but avoiding the topic. “Enough of that. Let’s hit the brick—we still haven’t found the perfect dress for you to wear to the bar-b-que.”
An hour later, we haul my purchases home, change into our suits, and head for the pool. As w
e enter the deck, we are surprised to see Leo and Eric sitting at the bar, drinking beers and watching a game. I run up, wrap my arms around Eric and kiss his neck.
He turns, grinning. “Did you buy the store?”
“Sure did.”
Leo hops off the stool and dives into the pool. Melanie runs and cannonballs in behind him, leaving me and Eric alone.
He looks serious, bothered. “Linda called to confirm your appointment for tomorrow…Why didn’t you tell me you were going to see her alone?”
I smile, hoping to assure him. “I need to talk to her about me, not us. There are some things I need to work on…and I could use her advice.”
“I thought we agreed to no secrets.” He really isn’t happy about this.
“It’s not a secret. I had every intention of telling you, I just didn’t get the chance. Eric, I need to do this…”
He nods, willing to let it go. “Leo and I got your car running—needed a new battery.”
“Awesome,” I say, welcoming the change in subject. “Thank you.” I step into his arms and kiss him, but he doesn’t engage more than a second. I hate that he’s upset.
He stands and then heads towards the kitchen. “Steaks are ready to go.”
I stare after him, wondering what to say to appease him. I don’t know if there is anything I can say. This Fiona thing is still festering, still bothering me, and I need help processing it.
I didn’t think it would upset him—I thought he’d be happy that I’m trying.
I only want to ensure I do everything I can to move past it.
I shouldn’t have to beg for understanding, and I won’t. This is not good. The trust between us is seriously lacking, but I’m determined, hell-bent on changing that.
Shaking my head, I sigh and head towards the pool. He’ll be fine. It’s probably hard for him, knowing he hurt me, knowing that the trust is broken. He’ll get over it.
Soon enough, Fiona will be forgotten.
We’ll just keep moving forward, and eventually the wounds will heal.
I believe it in my soul.
I have to.
Chapter Twenty
Linda’s office reminds me of a hippie tent. It smells like incense, there are dried flowers everywhere, a giant dreamcatcher hanging in the window, and tie-dyed linens tossed on the furniture…very hippie, but incredibly relaxing. I think it’s the incense…lavender.
