R Is for Richer

by Tara Hart

  “Selina, where the fuck are you?” he asked. It was an accusation without him knowing what he was accusing me of.

  “I just woke up,” I said, my voice tiny and hesitant.

  “I’ve been calling the hotel room. Why haven’t you picked up?”

  “My phone’s not working,” I said. “I reported it to the reception, but they haven’t fixed it yet.”

  He exhaled into the phone as if he was breathing a sigh of relief. “I was just worried, you’re halfway across the world and I couldn’t get in touch with you. When your driver contacted me, I just thought the worst.”

  The driver. Fuck. He would’ve been waiting at the hotel for me for hours.

  “Sorry,” I said half-heartedly. I wasn’t sorry, not even close.

  He mumbled something into the phone that I couldn’t quite catch. Perhaps he sensed the lack of sincerity in my voice. Or maybe he sensed that I sounded happy for once. There was a lightness in my voice, I heard it too.

  “I was just exhausted, babe. I slept so late that I guess I missed my flight.”

  He paused and I found myself holding my breath in anticipation of his response.

  “Just catch a later flight,” he said. “If you’re tired, stay another day or two. No use traveling when you’re already run down.”

  My eyes went wide. It’s like he was inviting me to sleep in the arms of another man. I was speechless.

  “Okay, sweetheart,” I said. “I’ll let you know the new flight details when I reschedule. Love you.”

  I felt dirty, but the lies came easier than they should have.

  “You too.” He didn’t think I noticed, but he hesitated. The line went dead and the house was eerily quiet.

  I looked at the black display, tears surfacing in the corners of my eyes.

  I don’t know what I was feeling at that moment. I was relieved that the call was over, but upset that Jared hadn’t questioned me further. He didn’t seem to care where I was and was in no hurry to have me back by his side.

  I heard noise from the other room and immediately stood up to investigate.

  Theo was standing at the kitchen counter, his hands resting on the edge as he looked out the small window into the garden that we’d been sleeping in just moments ago.

  I walked up behind him, my arms slipping around his waist, my cheek resting against his bare back.

  He covered my hands with his own, gently stroking my skin back and forth. It caused goose pimples to rise on the surface. I loved it when he touched me.

  “You spoke with your husband?” he asked, his body all of a sudden rigged in my arms.

  When Theo closed off, the whole room felt it. He could be colder than ice and it intimidated me to be in his presence when he was so aloof.

  “Yes,” I spoke softly.

  He turned in my arms, his body facing me, but his head cast to the side.

  “I think you should leave,” he said.

  My mouth fell open. I didn’t want to leave, I wasn’t ready. Not even close.

  His head hung forward as his shoulders slumped.

  “What’s he like?” he asked without looking at me.

  “What?” I practically choked on the word.

  “Your husband, what’s he like?”

  I shook my head, partly because the question was absurd, but mostly because I had to really think about it.

  What is Jared like?

  “He’s different,” I started. “He’s determined and driven. He wants nothing more than to succeed in this world. He has power and money and he likes having everything he could ever want without waiting a single moment…” I paused, moving around his body until I could see into his hooded eyes. “He’s very different to you,” I whispered, my gaze holding his.

  “How so?” His eyebrows reached up his forehead.

  “You.” I smiled, warmed by my thoughts. “You are passionate and warm and you are the only one who makes my heart beat like this.”

  I took his hand in mine and pressed his palm flat against my chest.

  His lip twitched but didn’t eventuate into a smile. He could feel it though, the way he made my heart thump against my rib cage. He was the only man to have that effect on me.

  He pulled his hand away slowly, his gaze reaching my face for the first time since I got off the phone.

  “Do you love him?”

  “Yes,” I answered honestly. “But not in the way you think. I love what he offers me, I love that he’s a provider. I love that he spoils me without me even asking.” I swallowed roughly. “But he doesn’t make my heart pound deep in my chest when he touches me.” I drew my hand up between us and ran my fingertip along the bow of his lip. “It’s nothing like when you touch me.”

  He drew in a breath and then dipped his head, crashing his lips against mine with such intensity that I lost my own breath. I fell back against the wall, my back flush against the uneven bricks. My hand wrapped around his neck, drawing him closer, not wanting to lose contact for a single second.

  Rough, forceful hands connected with my back, pulling me flush against his crotch, making me feel how aroused he was.

  His lips parted and his forehead met mine while the pad of his thumb brushed against my cheek.

  “Do you know how our story ends, mon cheri?”

  My eyes opened and traveled to his face. He squinted his eyes, the deep lines coming to the surface, revealing many years of deep thoughts.

  I was intrigued. “Tell me. How?”

  He smiled faintly, his lips lifting so slightly that I could have imagined it.

  “It ends with us.”

  I scrunched up my nose. “How do you mean?”

  He titled his head to the side, his fingers scratching the overgrown hairs that lined his chin.

  “It ends with you and me together.”

  I couldn’t fight the smile from my face.

  “Promise?”

  He shrugged his shoulders as he pursed his lips.

  “I don’t have to promise you.” He lifted his finger and pointed at me. “It’s inevitable.”

  Chapter 14

  I called the airline to book another flight, but they didn’t have a first class seat available for another four days. In normal circumstances I would have been outraged, in this instance I was relieved. Four more days with him.

  “I’ve rebooked my flight,” I told him.

  His eyebrows reached high, but I could tell he was trying to play it cool. “When do you leave?” he asked after a considerable amount of time had passed.

  I cleared my throat. “On Thursday evening.”

  He looked surprised.

  “So now you will return to Paris?”

  I shrugged my shoulders, suddenly unsure of myself. “Will I?”

  He stood up, walking over to where I was sitting on the couch and kneeling on the ground before me.

  “You can stay with me.” He rubbed his thumb over my cheek delicately and I noticed the hopeful glint in his eye.

  I nodded my head as I bit the corner of my lip. “I’ll ask the hotel to hold my room, but I don’t want to leave you until the very last day.”

  He stood up, running his hand through his hair as he muttered something in French.

  “What is it?” I questioned.

  He paced the room. I wasn’t sure what was happening—was something wrong?

  Then he turned to me, a crooked smile hung on his lips. “This is great. I can show you around France,” he said excitedly. “I can borrow a car from a friend. We’ll drive with the windows down and the music loud and it will be like an American holiday.”

  I smiled. “A road trip.”

  He nodded his head, agreeing with me. “Yes. A road trip. We can drive through the countryside and I can take you to visit my friends and my sister.”

  I froze at the mention of meeting his sister. It all seemed too official, especially since I was married to another man, but I wasn’t about to rain on Theo’s parade. I loved how excited he was. I love
d that he wanted to show me around the place he called home.

  “We’ll drive in the night and rest during the day. We’ll stop for coffee and drink wine while we watch the sunrise. It will be perfect.”

  I looked at his face. My sentiments exactly. Everything was perfect.

  The car was old, and no, I wasn’t exaggerating. The paint was peeling away from the body and the doors squeaked when they swung open.

  He opened the passenger door, an adorable smile on his lips. “For you.”

  I hesitated. The car was clean enough, but the passenger seat had a hole ripped in the center. It was a bomb and back in the good old U.S of A, it would have broken all sorts of laws to take this thing on the open road.

  The smile fell from Theo’s face as he sensed my hesitation. He reached for the collar of his sweater and before I could stop him, he was pulling it over his head and placing it flat against the seat.

  “Better?” He smiled, revealing a dimple in his cheek.

  I slipped inside the car. His sweater felt good against my bare legs. “Much better.” I smiled genuinely.

  He nodded his head, obviously happy with himself as he swung the door closed.

  That’s what I loved about Theo. Everything was easy. Jared would call me a diva in the same scenario, but Theo was levelheaded.

  He put his bag in the trunk and slid behind the wheel with ease. Slipping his aviator sunglasses over his eyes, he offered me a sideways glance.

  “Where to my American girl?”

  I smiled. I always did when he called me that.

  I looked down at the green dress that I’d been wearing for the better part of two days. “If I’m not going to back to the hotel, I should really buy another outfit or two.”

  He started the car and put his foot on the gas. “Say no more,” he started. “I’ll take you to the best boutique in all of France.”

  I liked the sound of that.

  “Although I do love you in that dress.” He smirked. “The color really brings out your eyes.”

  I smiled, but it was short-lived. Jared always loved that about me—how green my eyes were—and for Theo to comment on the same thing, it felt wrong. I brushed my hair behind my ear as Theo’s attention turned to the cassette player. He pushed the tape in the player and his fingers drummed against the steering wheel as he hummed along with the acoustic French songs. I had no idea what the French woman was singing about, but I could only assume it was something beautiful to match the smooth ember tones of her voice.

  My gaze traveled out of the window as Theo drove through the winding hills. I grasped the side of the seat as he traveled fast, narrowly missing the dirt on each corner. I began to wonder if he even had a license, but I was too polite to ask.

  We drove for hours without stopping. Just when I thought I might drift off to sleep, the car came to a halt in front of a white stone cafe.

  The street was narrow, old oak trees lining the sidewalks as bicycles zoomed by and pedestrians strolled slowly without a care in the world.

  “This place is cute.” I turned to Theo who was already unbuckling his seat belt.

  He nodded his head towards the cafe. “First coffee, then clothes.” His tone was serious.

  “Okay.” I held my hands in the air as if surrendering.

  He reached for his door handle, his eyes meeting mine. “Always in that order,” he said, confirming his stance on the situation.

  I drew in a breath before stepping out of the car. Theo could be so darn precious when it came to his coffee. I made a mental note not to never get between him and his coffee.

  A high-pitched bell chimed when we pushed through the old wooden door of the cafe. A few elderly men turned to look at us as we walked up to the counter. They were huddled around a small table, drinking coffee and playing cards.

  They could tell I wasn’t from France in one look. American was practically plastered on my forehead like a neon light, but Theo didn’t notice the attention I was receiving. He was too busy ordering everything on the menu.

  He handed over some cash and pulled me by his side, his hand settling on the small of my back. “We will eat,” he said quietly. “Then you can buy some clothes.”

  The brown bag crinkled as I picked it up, it was filled with fresh croissants. I breathed in their scent and then placed the bag on a nearby table.

  “I’m not really hungry,” I told him.

  He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “You need to eat,” he said, pushing the bag in front of me. “Food is an important part of my life. If you don’t eat, you are not truly experiencing what life with me is like.”

  I pulled a croissant from the bag and bit into the crusty golden pastry. “Happy now?” I said between chews.

  He nodded his head before taking a sip of his coffee. “I’ll be happy when you finish it.”

  “And then we can shop?” I took another mouthful, excited by the prospect of some retail therapy.

  “And then you can shop.” He nodded his head, narrowly avoiding an eye roll.

  I loved him, but I loved shopping also. I ate the croissant quicker than I’ve eaten anything in my life. Pushing in my chair, I declared my victory.

  “Show me the way,” I begged.

  He held out his hand and sighed deeply. “Follow me.”

  I kissed his bicep as we walked, excited by the prospect of filling yet another suitcase with foreign goodies, but as we entered the store, I knew the prospect of me walking out empty handed was probable.

  French fashion has a reputation for being effortlessly chic, but the store that Theo brought me to was anything but chic.

  Lacy, embellished bohemian dresses were draped over every mannequin. I was swimming in rack upon rack of long, flowing floral dresses that I would never look twice at in any other circumstance.

  “You like it?” Theo asked, a schoolboy smile upon his lips. How could I tell him that this was my worst nightmare? I couldn’t, not with that gorgeous look of anticipation upon his face.

  “It’s wonderful,” I lied.

  I practically closed my eyes and chose a hanger from the rack. I was holding a light blue maxi dress with a subtle white floral print that ran the length of the dress. I held it against my body as I looked in the mirror.

  The woman staring back at me was someone I didn’t recognize. My brown hair was pulled high into a messy bun on top of my head. My lips were free of any color and my cheeks were missing their usual bronze glow.

  “It’s perfect.” His hands wrapped around my middle as he pressed a kiss to the side of my neck.

  “You think?” I looked in the mirror again, unconvinced that I could pull this look off.

  He sighed, letting go of my waist as he pulled away.

  “You hate this place.” It wasn’t a question.

  Turning to look at him, I shook my head. “No. It’s just different to where I would usually shop, that’s all.”

  “You say different like it’s a dirty word,” he said. “Sometimes different can be good for the soul.”

  He was right. Different can be a good thing.

  I hung the blue dress over the curve of my arm and grabbed a short yellow sundress from a nearby hanger.

  Theo’s eyes ran over the dress and then up to my face. “That color suits you.”

  Yellow. Who would have thought?

  The yellow dress joined the blue dress in my pile of purchases.

  I smiled to myself as I continued to browse through the racks of clothes. Maybe I’d get used to floral dresses and frayed kimonos.

  For Theo, I would try anything.

  Chapter 15

  Truth be told, I've never been a fan of road trips. Multiple people, piled into the same car with the windows down, hair flying all over the place, sitting on crumbs from food consumed hours earlier, drinking lukewarm drinks through plastic straws. It just wasn’t something I enjoyed.

  But with Theo, it was different.

  We'd stop at hole-in-the-wall cafes th
at Yelp had never heard of. We drank espresso from paper cups and sipped on wine straight from the bottle as we watched countless hot air balloons float above us. We drove with the windows down and the sun shining above us. My feet rested out the window as I dozed in and out of consciousness. I pulled my beanie over my eyes and dreamed of hot summer days in Paris.

  I startled awake when I felt the car abruptly pulled off the road. The car skidded as stones flicked underneath the rims noisily.

  “What are you doing?” I sat up in my seat, peering out each window as I searched the road for anything out of place.

  Had we hit something? An animal, a person? Who knew. The roads we traveled on were basically deserted.

  "Look.” He cast his arms out around us.

  I looked out the window, turning at every angle trying to find what the fuss was about. I looked at his smiling face and shrugged. “What am I looking at?”

  He reached for his door handle and jumped out of the car, running into an empty field that was overrun with grass and weeds.

  I followed him, less excitedly of course. The overgrown grass scraped against my legs with each and every step. I silently cursed that I was wearing open-toed sandals from that hippy shop when the prickles pierced my toes.

  I approached him, heaving out a sigh as I pulled the pompom from my beanie to the side. The beanie was yet another new purchase that Theo had insisted on. He said I looked cute wearing it, therefore I wore it all day long.

  Theo had his back toward me as he faced the sun that was lowering into the afternoon sky. He cast his arms wide as he breathed the fresh air into his lungs.

  “What are you doing?” I fought back the urge to laugh.

  He spun around, the smile still etched on his lips. “Just look around, mon cheri. Isn’t it wonderful that we’re here together?”

  I looked around the field and then back at his face.

  I shrugged. “Sure.”

  In all honesty, I didn’t understand what the fuss was about. I was looking forward to getting to the next coffee shop and splashing some water on my face. We’d been in the car for hours and the night was fast approaching. I was tired and grumpy and I hadn’t had a proper shower in what felt like days.