Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
“Asshole. Well, you drove me here, and I don’t want to listen to you practically drool at my feet, so let’s make this fast. You get one fucking hour, brother.” This is more for him. David likes women, all kinds. He will never settle down. Strippers, even when I was single, were never my thing. Sure, they are beautiful, and I respect the hustle, but I don’t need any of that. I have everything I need in Scarlett. She can be a wife, classy, have an attitude, play mom and proper in public, but then she does everything and more than my fantasies desire. There isn’t anything anyone could offer me that I don’t already graciously have all to myself.
“Grump. Let’s go.”
Reaching into my wallet, I pull out a hundred-dollar bill to pay the entry fee, but David stops me.
“I got it.” He hands the bouncer at the door two hundred dollars, and he lets us in. Instantly, I’m hit with the smell of Chanel perfume, cigars, and leather.
The place is packed, but there is an area marked off as Reserved, and I know it’s for us when we head toward it. A younger waitress greets us and asks what we would like to drink.
“Cristal,” David says.
“And a water.” I don’t plan to drink tonight. I want to be sober when I get home to Scarlett. I didn’t even drink when we were at the bar. With a flirtatious smile and wink at us both, she turns to go fill our order.
I take no more than a one-second glance at the woman on the stage. Not impressed. Not only am I not drooling or turned on, because I have Scarlett, but I’m a plastic surgeon. I see women’s breasts and all other body parts on the daily. And I wouldn’t be surprised if those fake breasts on the stripper were done by me.
“Hey, guys!” A familiar voice that I would not and should not expect rings out as the woman walks toward the table.
“Hey, sweet thing. Come here,” David says, and I look in the direction of the voice and find Jessica bending at the waist to kiss him on the cheek.
“What in the hell is she doing here, David? She is my fucking employee. This is inappropriate.”
“She dances here three nights a week. That’s how I got this space reserved.”
Rage overtakes me, and I start to get up to leave, but before I can stand fully, she pushes me back in my seat and straddles me.
“Wow, Jessica. What the hell? This wasn’t in the plans,” David says, his voice a mix of nervousness and regret.
Turning to look at him before I get ready to shove her off of me, I ask, “What plans?”
And then it happens. Without warning or enough time to stop it from happening, Jessica grinds down on me and cups my face, kissing me full-on the mouth. My brain registers what’s going on in less than three seconds, but it’s too late.
“Fuck!” David curses, standing and putting his hands on his head.
I push her away and off of me, and I feel the shift in the room, the same one I felt eight-plus years ago when Scarlett walked into my office that first time.
Looking past David, I see my angel, my love, my everything. Even from this far, I see the pain overtaking her face and her eyes watering with betrayal. I call out to her just as she turns and runs away, taking something from Trish, her best friend. It looks like keys, and I know I have to chase her, to stop her before she gets away.
“Keys! Now!” I yell at David, and he fumbles, reaching into his pocket and grabbing for the silver Mercedes key fob. Finally, he gets it to me, and I run for the exit.
What the fuck just happened?
What the hell did I just do?
Chapter 7
Scarlett
My heart does what I have never felt before; it crumbles after severing straight down the middle. Jealousy, rage, heartbreak, but most of all betrayal consume me. Trish and Laney wanted to take me to a strip club with them for my bachelorette party, but I warned them that Gideon would lose his mind if he found out that another man was in my general line of vision without clothes on—hell, even with clothes on. Like I said, we’re both creatures of jealousy and habit. I don’t dare nudge the beast to life if I can help it.
When she told me it was an all-female strip club, I still protested. I had zero interest. Finally, she had to spill the surprise and tell me everything. This was a dual bachelor and bachelorette party, and we would be meeting Gideon and David there. That was enough to have me on my feet, getting dressed up more than normal, and heading out the door faster than you could say “fuck that.” To know he was going to be surrounded by beautiful naked women was enough to convince me.