by Jessica Gray
Then he exited the room and stalked to his office, slamming the door behind him. He’d given into the delusion an uptown girl like Irena might be interested in more than his body. It was actually better that she’d called it off, because she was so far out of his league. The kind of woman he might want to trust was exactly the one he couldn’t have.
God damn it! She played with me and I walked straight into her trap. Women can’t be trusted. I’ll never forget it again.
Chapter 10
Irena quickly gathered up her water bottle and towel and left the gym in a huff, her lips tingling from the earth-shattering kiss. Every single inch of her body hummed with need. Need to feel Ben’s body pressed against hers again.
Despite the fact that she’d stopped the encounter, she needed to blame him – or she’d go right after him and finish what they’d started. Her mind raged at the emotionless way he’d kicked her out, as if they hadn’t shared the hottest kiss in history just a few seconds earlier. That hypocrite. How dare he judge me?
She hailed the first cab she saw and was still fuming mad when Georgia arrived home.
“Hey! How was train….” Georgia broke off, seeing the clenched jaw and fiery expression on her friend’s face. “Okay, let me start again. What happened?”
“Ben Moretti is a piece of shit!”
Georgia eyed her and took a seat at the other end of the couch. “Spill it girlfriend. What did he do? Make a pass at you?”
Irena blushed and nodded. “He kissed me and I kind of kissed him back.”
“Woohoo! And he kissed worse than a frog?”
“No. The kiss was earth-shattering. Absolutely awesome. I mean, I was lying on top of him and fireworks of sensations ran down my entire body—“
“Stop! Oversharing!” Georgia covered her ears and Irena blushed some more. “So why are you so angry if you’ve just had the best kiss of your life?”
Irena sighed. “Because he walked out of the room, told me to get lost and never come back.”
“Hmm. You were rolling on the ground kissing and then he got up and walked away?”
“Well kinda.”
Georgia pinned her in place with her stare. “Aha. And now tell me what really happened.”
“Okay.” Irena touched her lips as if she could return his lips to hers with that gesture alone. “I may have told him the kiss was a mistake because I’m still married.”
Georgia clucked her tongue and shook her head. “That might have been a reason to get angry, don’t you think?”
“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side!” Irena furrowed her brows. “This man has been in jail for attempted murder and yet, he has the nerve to play holier than thou with me because I kissed him while I’m still married to my abusive jerk of a husband?”
Georgia’s eyes clearly showed that she didn’t believe Irena’s supposition, but she was wise enough to keep her mouth shut.
“You know what? I don’t care. Ben thinks he’s such a tough guy, with all of his tattoos and muscle, but instead of celebrating the fact he’s lured me into kissing him, he has an attack of conscience. What kind of guy runs at the mere sight of a problem?”
“The kind of guy who’s unwilling to commit,” Georgia answered dryly.
Irena’s eyes opened wide. “I never asked him to commit.”
“See the positive side. The two of you never had a serious chance anyways. Better to end it right now. Bad boys and sweet girls like you don’t mesh. I mean, I really don’t see what the allure is? I can’t ever imagine falling for a guy from the wrong side of town.”
Irena stared at her. “You can’t tell me he wasn’t scorching hot.”
“Sure he is…but that’s all he has going for him. A fantastic body that any girl would like to get her hands on, but after the sex… what then? It’s not like you can have a heartfelt conversation with a man like him. No, I prefer a nice, friendly, warm-hearted man any day of the week.”
“Sounds boring.” Irena had almost forgotten her anger as she remembered the hours with Ben.
“Come on, Irena. Let’s face reality. You’re better off without him.”
“Maybe, but there’s something about him…he makes me feel good.”
Georgia chuckled. “I bet he makes all of the girls feel good. Look, forget about him. He wasn’t for you and I’m not going to sit here and watch you mope over a guy you never had a chance with.”
“I can mope if I want to,” Irena said, hugging one of the throw pillows to her chest and feeling sorry for herself.
“No you can’t. Not at my place.” Georgia yanked the pillow away, “I tell you what. We’re going to find a bar, drink too much, and forget all about the hunky trainer and your asshole husband.”
“I don’t want to go to a bar.”
“Girlfriend, you need to live a little. You’re finally free of Fred and we should celebrate.”
“I’m not really free of him, not yet anyway.”
“But you’ve taken the first step. Reality will rear its ugly head soon enough. Come out with me tonight and let’s forget about everything for a while.”
Irena didn’t really want to go anywhere, but Georgia was right. She’d finally found the courage to leave Fred, and even though she was bemoaning the fact that she’d just lost Ben before she’d even had a chance to get to know him, she did owe it to herself to have some fun. It had been much too long since she’d gone out to a bar, drank as much as she wanted, and not had to worry about Fred berating her for embarrassing him in public.
Irena nodded. “Fine, let’s do it. It can’t do any harm.”
Georgia grinned and pulled her up off the couch. “Great. Go put on something sexy. We’ll leave in half an hour.”
Chapter 11
Ben went about the rest of the day at the fitness studio with a scowl on his face that kept everyone at distance. His mood improved only slightly as the hours ticked by. Late in the evening, Fernando came in and stopped to chat with him.
“Hey, you’re still here? Where’s Tim?” Fernando looked around and raised a brow at how empty the place was.
“I sent everyone home.”
Fernando looked surprised at the unusual answer, but knew Ben too well to ask any questions. Instead he leaned against the front desk and asked, “Got a minute for me?”
Ben nodded. Whatever Fernando wanted to share with him, his day couldn’t become worse. “Shoot.”
Fernando kept hemming and hawing before he eventually spit it out. “Look, man. You saved my ass and if it wasn’t for you, I’d be back in prison and not living with Gwen…”
Unfamiliar emotions rushed through Ben’s mind and body. “Nothing to speak of. You did all the hard work. I just gave you a job.”
“Man. It was a lot more than a job; it was a lifeline. And I’m grateful. A lot.” Fernando looked down and then took a deep breath. “I asked Gwen to marry me.”
“Whoa. Congratulations.”
Ben tried to be happy for his friend, but all he could think about was Irena and how he’d just lost her forever. Before he really even knew he’d wanted her. He’d seen the hurt in her eyes when he’d sent her away. But it was her fault; because after sharing the best kiss of his life, she’d told him it was a mistake. I’m a mistake? The princess in pink had turned out to be not one whit better than all the other women on earth – maybe with the exception of Gwen. He was better off without her.
“Ben, did you hear me?” Fernando asked.
“Sorry, no. Too much stuff in this old head of mine.” Ben tipped his finger against his bald head.
“Would you…I mean…you know…be my best man and all that shit? I know Gwen’s going to want all the fancy crap and frankly, I need some support.”
Ben stared at his friend as if he was an alien. “You want me to be your best man?”
“Yeah. Will you?”
Hell no! The last place on earth Ben wanted to be was a wedding, but seeing the hopeful expectation on Fernando’s face, he couldn’t do
anything but nod his head. “Sure man.”
Fernando slapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks. Freaking awesome. I’m not good at that emotional stuff.”
Neither am I. “You gonna train?” Ben asked.
“That’s why I’m here.” Fernando flashed his trademark boyish grin and Ben understood why Gwen had fallen for him in the first place, even though she’d been his probation officer back then and their relationship was nothing short of a crime.
“Up to some sparring?” Ben asked.
It would be the perfect way to release his pent-up frustration. A few rounds of hard punches and Irena would be a distant memory, unable to get him bothered just by the image of her sexy smile and those meaningful brown eyes.
“Sparring sounds fun. Maybe you can show me some of the moves you taught the uptown princess,” Fernando teased him.
“What makes you think I showed her something?” Ben scowled.
“Word travels fast.”
Ben rolled his eyes. ”You’d think this was a beauty salon by the way some of the guys gossip around. But there’s nothing to it. The lady wanted me to teach her how to fight, but has quickly found out that’s a mistake.”
“How so?” Fernando asked him, a speculative look in his eyes.“You made a move and she knee you in the balls?”
“Something like that,” Ben murmured.
Fernando shook his head. “You’ve got a thing for her.”
“Wanna train or gossip?” Ben fired back, grabbing a pair of lightweight gloves off the shelf and pulling them on. “I’m waiting.”
Fernando quickly changed into workout clothes and grabbed a pair of gloves himself. They entered the room reserved for sparring – the one he’d been in with Irena earlier in the day – and slowly started circling each other. Usually Ben had to hold back to give Fernando a chance to keep up with him, but not today.
Ben’s mind replayed kissing Irena over and over again, and Fernando scored hit after hit. After a particularly nasty punch that caught him in the side, he dropped his gloved hands to his knees and tried to catch his breath.
Fernando laughed. “Man, you’ve got it bad for the chick. It must be love.”
Ben didn’t even bother responding. Love doesn’t exist. At least not for me. He simply tugged his gloves off and walked into his office, shaking his head. The scary thing was, what Fernando had said was true. He was falling hard for Irena, and the feeling of despair thinking about her caused his entire body to ache. But it had been the right decision to send her away. Emotions were not a good thing.
He’d loved exactly two women in his life and both had betrayed him. First his mother and then his sister. Sighing, he leaned his head back against his desk chair and closed his eyes. Haunting memories flashed back to his childhood. From his earliest recollections, he and his sister Caroline had always taken a back seat to their mother’s newest lover. She was a drug addict with one thought in mind: where her next fix would come from. She’d been willing to do just about anything, or anyone, to make that happen, even if it meant locking her children out of the trailer at night to bang yet another low-life.
Ben had spent too many nights as a young boy, crouching in the grass, covering his ears and trying not to listen to his mother’s cries or the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. Ben and Caroline had formed a close bond, promising to always be there for one another.
As they’d gotten older, they’d started staying away from the crappy trailer their mother called home as often as possible. Ben had spent his nights on the streets, getting sucked into life as a gang member. Caroline had followed the path of their mother, who continued to cycle from one drug pusher to another, using alcohol when drugs weren’t available, and taking verbal and physical abuse in stride if she would be allowed get high afterwards.
When Ben was fourteen, one morning he arrived home to find their mother lying dead in the bathroom. The coroner’s report said she’d died from a drug overdose, and neither he nor Caroline had been surprised. A storm of grief driven bad behavior had followed. Drugs and alcohol served to help him escape the reality of his miserable life until a local politician gave him the chance to become a MMA fighter in exchange for doing the man’s dirty work.
Chapter 12
Irena ordered a margarita and watched members of the live band setting up on the stage. Georgia had stopped to talk to the bartender, leaving Irena to secure them a high top table.
“Joe says the band tonight is awesome. Electric Flow,” Georgia told her a few moments later.
“Isn’t that the band that just landed a number one song on the charts? The lead singer must have the huskiest voice on earth. What was his name?”
Georgia slid onto the bar stool, took a sip of her drink and smiled. “Good choice. Paxton something. Terrence Paxton if I’m not mistaken. Joe said they booked them several months back before their record hit the charts.”
“This was a good idea. Thanks for bullying me into coming along.” Irena tapped her foot to the rhythm of the music.
Georgia waved her thanks away. “That’s what friends are for. So…tell me about this kiss.”
Irena sputtered on the sip of her drink and hastily set the large glass down, wiping her mouth with her other hand. “Uhmm…there’s not much to tell…”
“Your expression says differently. So, come on. What was it like to kiss a man looking like Vin Diesel in his best days?”
Irena wiped her palms on her thighs. “You’ve had enough alcohol for me to start oversharing?” She looked up at Georgia’s curious expression and giggled. “That kiss was …ohymgod…panty-wetting. But before I got carried away, I thought about Fred, and…”
Georgia reached across the table and put her hand on Irena’s arm. “Don’t go there. He’s still out of town.”
“Yeah, but I need to make sure he doesn’t find me. I thought I could go back and make him leave me alone, but you were right that’s plain out crazy…”
She stopped, clasping her hands together when she realized how badly they were shaking. “I should see a lawyer or something…get a restraining order, or…” Her voice trailed off as tears sprang to her eyes. Her initial plan had been to return to him and force him to leave her alone. Keep up the appearances, just the way Fred liked it.
But that was before Ben. After meeting him, and remembering how it felt to be desired by a man, she knew she’d never be happy again in her life if she stayed with Fred. She’d live a boring, loveless life, and she wasn’t willing to do that.
“Sweetie. We came here to relax and enjoy, not to think about him.”
Irena nodded bravely. “I know.”
“We’ll keep you away from Fred. I don’t know how, but we’ll figure it out. We still have a couple of days, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, let’s not worry about him any more tonight.” Georgia stopped talking as a handsome guy who’d been eyeing her since they first walked in approached their table. She sipped her drink and waited for him to speak, giving Irena a knowing smirk.
“Hi, I was wondering if you might like to dance?” the stranger asked.
Georgia smiled at him. “I think I just might. Will you be okay for a few minutes?” she asked Irena as she slid off the barstool.
Irena waved at her. “Go have fun.” She watched the pair walk off and then turned to see another man standing to her right.
“Mind if I join you while my friend and your friend dance?”
She swallowed back her nerves and nodded. “Okay.” She kind of wanted to tell him to go away, but then again, she was no longer alone and she reluctantly acknowledged it might be safer that way.
He nodded. “Can I get you another drink?”
Irena glanced at her half full glass and shook her head. “No, I’m taking it slow tonight. So…what do you do for a living?”
“I’m an investment banker. And you?”
Irena opened her mouth and then shut it. What do I do? That’s a really good question. “I used to do accounti
ng.” It was only a half-lie, because she had taken accounting classes at college, until she’d married Fred and he’d wanted her to drop out, because the wife of a senator has representative tasks and cannot waste her time with college.
When she didn’t offer any further explanation, her new acquaintance took it as an invitation to shower her with a torrent of words out about how important he and his work were and what a big shot he was…Boooring.
She’d just finished that thought when she was spun around by a hard, painful grip on her shoulder. “Irena!”
She choked and looked up into Fred’s furious eyes. “I’m gone a couple of days and find my wife chatting up men in a bar.”
“I didn’t. I’m here with Georgia.”
Fred sneered at her and gripped her shoulder harder. She gasped in pain and knew she’d have bruises there tomorrow. “Off course your slutty friend is behind all of this.”
The other man hurriedly disappeared muttering an apology and leaving Irena alone at the table with a very angry Fred, who speared her with a scathing look. “I can’t believe you are stupid enough to cheat on me in public and believe you’d get away with it. How many men have you slept with while I was gone?”
“I haven’t slept with anyone. We just talked a few minutes,” Irena said intimidated. Her mind raced as she tried to strategize her next move.
He let go of her shoulder and moved his vice like grip to her upper arm and yanked her off the bar stool. “Let’s go home.”
Irena flinched and tried to pull away. So much for running away. It had taken all of ten seconds in the presence of her husband and her newfound self-confidence was missing in action.
“Fred, let me find Georgia. She’s on the dance floor…”
“That bitch would say anything to help you, but I have eyes in my head. I saw you hooking up with that guy. I don’t want you to ever talk to her again. Ever, you hear me?” He punctuated that dictate by shaking her so hard her teeth rattled.
“Fred, let me go. People are starting to stare.” She pulled again and then breathed a small sigh of relief when Georgia and her dance partner returned.
