by Piper Rayne
“Turns out not the good ones.” I smile, hoping to ease some of the sting.
He cups his hand over the cigarette and lights it, blowing a stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. “Shit. You just ran me over with a dump truck. I thought you were gonna ride my ass about her routine or some shit. Not the fact that you’re dating…my best friend.”
“He’s not your best friend. When’s the last time you talked to him?”
He thinks again, his eyes staring up at the dreary gray sky. “I don’t know. Maybe six years ago? You’re happy?” he asks, looking back down at me.
I nod and smile, thinking this is going to be fine. That I worried for nothing.
“I am.”
“You look like you lost a few pounds.” He smiles, looking me over.
“Gee thanks.” I pat his flat stomach. “Cool it on the beer, yeah?”
He laughs. “You and Reed, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Sneaky bastard.” He inhales and exhales the smoke. The cigarette hangs from his fingers. “That’s it though? Just dating? No wedding on the horizon? You’re not knocked up or anything?”
“No, I practice safe sex after I ended up stuck with you for seven years.” I give him a saccharine smile.
His eyes crinkle at the edges. “She’s the best thing we did.” He glances over to the school.
“That’s the truth.”
He swings his arm around me, flicks the cigarette into the street and walks us the rest of the way to the school. “She was worth all the fighting and screaming and losing my youth.”
I hip check him. “Um, I’m the one who lost my youth.”
He doesn’t say anything and eventually his arm falls off my shoulders, but the silence between us is content and easy.
Why did I worry so much?
The minute we break the tree-line and the courtyard opens up, all eyes are on Pete. Darcie and Georgia’s mouths hang open and a few others whisper to each other as they wait for their kids.
“Mean moms?” He nods at Darcie, able to pick the head viper out of the pack.
Back in Los Angeles, Jade went to a private school and he was familiar with their kind.
“Yep.”
“Wanna fuck with them?”
“How so?”
“Do they know you’re with Reed?”
I glance away from Pete and see Darcie approaching. Of course. She’s like the fucking police of a small town. No one enters without being questioned.
“Yes, they do.” I shrug.
“Vicki,” she says.
Pete’s hand slides into mine. I feel none of the warmth I do when Reed holds my hand.
“Darcie. Georgia,” I say each name with the annoyance I feel toward them.
“Who’s this?” she asks, her eyes rolling over Pete’s body.
“This is Jade’s father, Pete.”
He puts his hand out to shake without ever letting go of mine. “Hi. I’m in from Los Angeles.” They shake hands.
“Vicki, I thought you were with Reed?” Darcie asks with a glance at our joined hands, trying her best to stir up trouble.
Pete stares over at me for a moment, I think he’s going to act like we’re not divorced and he’s just found out I’m cheating on him. “They know about Reed?” he whispers to me, loud enough for them to hear.
I nod, still not understanding where he’s going with all this.
“Are you two still married?” Georgia asks.
Pete leans forward. “Who said we were ever married in the beginning? She’s a Clarke. I’m a Keebler. Jade’s a Keebler.”
They look at one another, trying to figure out the puzzle he’s presented them with. Are they dense enough to not realize I took back my maiden name?
“Oh, so you,” Darcie’s eyes drop to our entwined hands. “Are together?”
Pete closes the gap between us and the bell rings to say school’s out. The principal opens the doors, waiting for the kids to pack up their backpacks and get out. Jade’s expecting my mom, which will make Pete being here that much more special to her.
“We’re all together, if you know what I mean.” Pete winks.
“Oh,” Darcie’s hand covers her chest. “Like?”
Georgia’s eyes crinkle, her head flipping from Darcie to Pete then me.
“Open relationship.” He winks again, and she steps back like she could catch whatever we have.
“Open?” Georgia stares around all of us trying to figure out what the hell we’re talking about.
I bite my lip to keep from laughing.
The kids are running out of the school and racing down the stairs.
“Please though, keep it on the down low. You know how some people judge.” He cringes.
Jade runs down the stairs, spotting Pete.
“DADDY!”
He releases my hand, bends down and scoops his little girl up in his arms. They swing around, and I almost feel like I’m in a movie as I watch on. The pit of my stomach burns over the fact that I took her away from him.
“Hi, Henry,” I say, patting his head as he stares at Jade with her dad.
The entire courtyard seems enamored by the scene.
When Pete places her back down, Jade wipes tears from her eyes and Pete stares down at her with water in his own. “I missed you,” Pete says, and Jade wraps her arms tight around his neck.
“I missed you,” she murmurs into his jacket.
A horn honks and Henry looks up. “My grandpa is here. Bye, Jade, have fun this weekend.”
“Wait,” Jade says, halting Henry in his tracks. “Daddy, this is my friend, Henry.”
Pete puts out his fist and Henry bumps it. “Nice to meet you,” Pete says. “I heard you’ve never seen the ocean?”
He shakes his head.
“Never, Daddy,” Jade confirms.
Pete digs into his pocket. “Here.” He pulls out a bottle of sand with ocean water floating at the top. “It’s sand and water from the Pacific Ocean.”
Henry takes it and stares at it for a long moment. “Thanks,” he says, with wide, awestruck eyes.
The horn honks again and Henry turns. “I gotta go.”
“Bye, Henry,” Jade says.
“Bye.” He glances back to me and I wave.
“Where’s mine?” Jade asks.
Pete pretends to forget her and Jade pouts. “Would I ever forget my girl?” he asks, pulling another bottle out of his jacket.
In that moment, Pete has won every person in that courtyard over. Here, he’s the charming dad who loves his daughter so much it brings him to tears. Hell, for a second, I was right there with them. There’s a reason why he’s the best defense attorney in Los Angeles.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
On the taxi ride over to Reed’s, the melancholy of not having Jade all weekend while she visits Pete’s parents with him sets in. Not knowing where she is, or what those poisoned people Pete calls family will say to her. I try to push it out of my mind. Pete only wants the best for his daughter so I have to trust he won’t let them say anything disparaging about me in front of her. The same way I won’t let my mom talk shit about Pete when Jade’s around.
The taxi stops, and I climb out, this time able to get through the revolving door the first time through. #winning
“Hi, Connor,” I say.
He stands, waves and digs through his drawer, holding an envelope in his hand.
“I have something for Mr. Warner, do you mind taking it up with you?” He meets me at the elevator. Pressing the up button and then scanning his card to allow me up to the floor.
“Sure.” We exchange the envelope.
“Nice to see you again, Ms. Clarke.” He tips his head as the doors shut.
“Nice to see me not stumbling and shit-faced,” I say to myself in the silence of the elevator. My face reddens just thinking of the spectacle I made of myself the last time he saw me. Not my finest hour.
Reed’s already leaning against his doorframe wh
en the elevator doors slide open. He’s biting an apple with a grin on his face.
“Hey,” I walk up to him, dropping my overnight bag at our feet.
The sweetness of the apple has me craving more of him as our lips meet and his tongue slides into my mouth.
“Hey,” he says after he ends the kiss. Bending down he picks up the bag. “How are you?”
I nod. “I’m okay.”
On the counter in the kitchen, there’s a bottle of wine with a glass already poured. “Figured you might—”
I glance over.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know what shape you’d be in.” He chuckles, and sets his apple on the counter then places my bag against the wall in the hallway that leads to his bedroom.
“I’m fine. Really.” I retrieve the glass, toe out of my shoes and sit down on the couch.
He sits down next to me, his arm slung across the back of the couch, wrapping my hair around his fingers. “How’s Pete?”
My head falls back, and I turn his way. “Surprisingly, good.”
He raises his eyebrows. “You told him?”
“I did.”
He leans forward and kisses my lips. “I would’ve handled it.”
“I know.” I kiss him this time, sliding closer into the nook of his arm. “I had to do it.”
“How excited was Jade?”
I lean forward to set the wine glass on the coffee table and then lean back into Reed. My arm stretches across his stomach, his thin sweater smelling of his cologne.
“So excited she cried.”
His lips dip because he’s so aligned with my feelings.
“Am I horrible for moving her here?” My knees come up to my chest and I nuzzle into him more.
His arms tighten around me. “If you hadn’t moved, we wouldn’t have reconnected, so my answer is no.”
I giggle and kiss his jaw, the stubble pricking my skin.
“You’re biased.”
“You did what you had to do. Pete could move here. You don’t have to always be the one to make the sacrifice.” I stare at him with love in my eyes, my hand landing on his cheek and inching up as he inches down until our lips meet.
For a moment, I’m lost in Reed. In his sweetness, his capability to take on my problems with ease, in his feelings for me.
“Okay!” I stand up suddenly with enough enthusiasm to startle Reed. “I am not ruining our first kid-free weekend.”
He chuckles, kissing my stomach. His hands move up the back of my legs until each hand has a chunk of my ass in them.
Using all his force, he pulls me down onto the couch, rolling me to my back. Climbing on top of me, I widen my legs to make room for him. “I have a great idea.” His lips travel up my neck to my jaw until he claims my mouth.
I don’t object to his hands finding their way under my shirt or when they explore down the front of my yoga pants, and I definitely don’t stop him when he reminds me how good we are together on his couch.
He always has the best ideas.
The next night, Reed and I go to dinner and to a late show. We’re standing by the bar, me drinking wine and him a whiskey on the rocks waiting for the Broadway show to begin when someone calls out his name.
Lost in our own world, Reed doesn’t hear it right away, so I tap him on the arm. “That guy,” I say, pointing to a man in a suit approaching us.
He’s probably Reed’s age, dressed in a nice suit with a woman trailing along behind him.
“Reed,” he says, putting his hand out.
“Hey, George.” Reed shakes his hand.
The woman smiles at me and I smile back. Reed pulls me into his side, his hand protectively on my hip.
George drops the woman’s hand and since they’re both wearing wedding rings, my guess is it’s his wife. She looks around at the people surrounding us like she’d rather be talking to one of them, apparently not at all interested in the conversation that’s about to commence.
“I haven’t seen you since you were handed the Weinstein case. Is it still expected to go to jury next week?” George looks like an eager puppy whose master just said treat.
Reed stands straighter, but still, his hand hasn’t left my hip. “It is.”
“You know what’ll happen if you win, right?”
Reed shrugs and takes a big gulp of his drink. “There’s no if. I have to win. That slimeball deserves what’s coming to him.”
“You will. That’s why they picked you.” George’s excited voice has a few people turning their heads.
“George MacIlroy, this is Victoria Clarke. George used to work with me until he went on his own in the defense sector.”
I hold my hand out. “Nice to meet you.”
He shakes my hand, staring at me and a moment of fear grips me, wondering if he knew Pete. Then he turns around. “This is my wife, Cassie.”
The blonde smiles, shaking our hands with no real enthusiasm.
“Nice to meet you,” I say, and she smiles, continuing to look anywhere but at us.
“Back to Weinstein. I know you’ve gotten some dirt, right? I mean you’re Reed Warner.” George apparently has propped Reed up on some imaginary prosecutor pedestal.
Reed shrugs. “You know I can’t talk about it.”
George nods. “I know, I know. But damn, I was talking to someone the other day about you and when they said you were the ADA assigned to the case I thought to myself, he’s going places.”
Reed glances down at me, and then to George. “I have to win it,” repeating himself once more.
The lights blink, and Reed’s hand tightens on my hip, leading me forward.
“Good to see you.” He nods to George. “Nice to meet you.” He directs his attention to Cassie. “Enjoy the show.”
“Yeah, maybe we’ll see you during the intermission.”
God, I hope not. That was weird.
I smile, and Reed guides us to the entrance to our seats, but before we can make our get-away, George snaps his fingers.
“That’s where I know you from.”
“Just go,” Reed whispers, but I look over my shoulder to see him approaching.
“You’re Pete Keebler’s wife.”
Reed circles around, his hand leaving my body for the first time all night. “Ex-wife.” The word comes out sharp enough to cut glass.
George covers his mouth with his fist. “You’re dating Keebler’s ex? I knew you were ballsy, Reed, but—”
“Mind your own business.” Reed turns us back around and we’re ready to enter the doors to the theater, leaving overzealous George and his neglected wife behind.
“Can I be there when he finds out?” George says to our backs.
Okay Reed, don’t hate me after this.
I circle around.
“I’m not sure where I met you before, George, but I can tell you I don’t remember you. It was most likely at some boring work-related function where you were probably so busy ignoring your wife that you happened to notice me. Tell me, were you as far up Pete’s ass that night as you are up Reed’s tonight? Let’s make one thing clear. We’re not in high school anymore.” I talk to him in a tone like he can’t comprehend what I’m saying. “The gossip mill doesn’t exist. Pete knows I’m dating Reed, not that it’s really any of your business. Go get your wife and show her some affection and then maybe you’ll get lucky tonight and you can stop bitching to all your friends down at the club about how you never get any.”
George stands in front of me, eyes wide, but doesn’t respond. Then his gaze shifts to Reed almost asking, ‘seriously?’ I’m about to turn back around when George laughs. Bent over, uncontrolled bellowing.
“Shit. No wonder you and Keebler didn’t make it. Tell me, how many times were the police called?”
Before I can respond, Reed’s brushing past me. “MacIlroy,” he warns.
I push him back by the chest before we get kicked out.
As George is still bent over, I lean down to speak into his ear. “You can f
ind humor in whatever you want but know this. Reed is the one who’s going to get his cock sucked by me tonight. He’s going to fuck me in every room of his condo and probably a few times tomorrow morning. So, while you’re beating off to porn in your basement while your wife sleeps upstairs, please remember it’s because you’re an asshole.”
George’s fake laughter stops.
I wind my arm through Reed’s and lead him through the doors into the theater.
“Shit, I’m so turned on right now,” Reed says with a groan.
“Good thing we’re in a box and I’m wearing a dress.” I waggle my eyebrows and his hand slides from my hip to my ass, grabbing it and sliding close to me.
“God, you’re one in a million.” He kisses my cheek as the guy leads us upstairs to our own private viewing section where Reed definitely got his money’s worth.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I’m so fucking tense.” Reed balls his fists as he leans against the desk in his office. “I swear if the jury doesn’t find him guilty and sets him free I might go ballistic.”
I’ve never seen this side of Reed. He’s ready to rage, to fight and something carnal inside of me wants to be the one he unleashes on so that I can tame him.
I sit in the chair in front of him—my legs crossed, my arms folded—trying to appear as if seeing him in court and how he is here doesn’t turn me on.
“I’m sure you’ll win them over just like you did my aunt on Sunday.”
A smile tips his lips for a second. “Aunts are easy. Convincing twelve people to all agree on the same verdict. Not so easy.”
Reed just performed his closing argument in the case an hour ago and now, though he says it could be days before they have an answer, here we are in his office, waiting for the jury’s verdict.
I stand, unable to see him like this and not do something any longer. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull my body flush against his. “You need to get your mind off of it.”
“I do, huh?” he asks, his hands landing on my ass and squeezing.
Some men are breast men or leg men. Reed is all ass. He admits his favorite position is doggie because he loves watching my ass while he plunges into me.