“Okay, say one o’clock?” Ayden asked.
“Perfect!” They exchanged telephone numbers and Kayla saved his information in her cell phone. “I’ll call you with a place.”
“Okay, see you then.” Ayden leaned down and brushed his lips across her cheek before leaving. “See you, Courtney.”
“Bye, Ayden.” Once he’d gone, Courtney turned to Kayla. “Can you believe that?” she asked. “You and the dictator are having problems and suddenly Ayden drops back into the picture? What are the odds?”
Kayla shook her finger at her sister. “I see your mind turning, and just stop it, okay? Ayden and I were through a long time ago.”
“That may be so, but did you see how he was looking at you? You could still have a chance with a man you actually loved.”
Kayla didn’t comment because little did Courtney know that she was actually already in love, in love with lying, deceitful Ethan, a man who showed little regard for her feelings and who didn’t love her, never had. “That’s why I love you, Courtney, you and your vivid ideas on romance, but my fate has already been sealed.” And soon it would be unsealed.
“Hey, babe.” Ethan rose from the bed where he was reading to kiss Kayla when she walked into the master bedroom later that evening.
“Ethan.” Kayla nodded and walked past him to go into the bathroom to shower. She was removing her tennis clothes when she noticed Ethan standing at the doorway watching her. She stopped and held her bra against her bare breasts. “What are you doing?”
“Just watching my wife undress.”
“Oh.” A lump formed in Kayla’s throat and she turned around and continued taking off her clothes. She’d done her best to avoid sleeping with Ethan for over a week and she’d done a good job up until now. She knew the passionate look in his eyes. He wanted her.
When the last piece of clothing dropped to the floor, Kayla went to head to the shower, but out of nowhere, Ethan was in front of her. His eyes raked boldly over her. “I’ve missed you. I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he said, before gathering her naked body in his arms and lowering his head. His lips brushed hers softly, and then he pushed them apart. He slipped his tongue inside and merged it with hers while his hands roamed her backside.
Kayla needed to pull away, otherwise her body would betray what her mind knew to be right, which was he couldn’t be trusted. “Ethan.” She pushed him away. “I need to shower. I’m all hot and sweaty from tennis.”
“Well, that’s how we both can be, if you give it a chance.” He went to lower his head again, but Kayla pulled away and reached inside the shower to turn on the taps.
“Not now.” And before Ethan could say another word, she’d hopped into the shower.
When she emerged, Ethan was sitting at her vanity table. She wrapped the towel around her bosom and casually walked over to the sink counter to lotion her skin and add moisturizer to her face.
After several long, excruciating moments, Ethan finally asked, “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” He’d been watching her body language and she was tense, which meant she was on edge about something.
“Wrong?” Kayla asked, rubbing the lotion into her skin.
“Don’t play dumb, Kayla. It doesn’t suit you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She dropped her towel to the floor, reached for her robe on a nearby hook, wrapped it around her and tied the knot.
“I’m talking about the fact that we haven’t made love in well over a week,” Ethan responded with a hint of sarcasm.
“Oh, that.” Kayla laughed. “Why are you making a big deal about it? I was feeling poorly. And married couples have lulls.” Or so she’d heard. It sounded reasonable to her.
“We don’t.”
Kayla didn’t have a smart comeback because he was right. Since their wedding and the week they’d been mad at each over about Hypnotic’s new spokesmodel, they had made love every night or every other night. Ethan was staring at her from the vanity to her left, but Kayla refused to look at him, staring straight in the mirror and reaching for her hairbrush.
When she didn’t respond, Ethan acquiesced and said, “If I’ve done something that you’re upset about, just let me know and we can talk about it.”
“So you can win?” Kayla asked calmly.
“No!” Ethan rose and came to stand behind her in the mirror. “Because I hate this distance between us, don’t you?” He rubbed her shoulders, but she recoiled from his touch.
“Ethan, I’m really tired.” Kayla brushed her hair. “And I am not in the mood to argue because you’re horny and I’m not.”
“That’s not it at all, and you know it!” Ethan replied. His temperature was steadily rising, but Kayla appeared calm, and it infuriated him further. “Stop acting like I’m some horndog after your body. You like sex as much as I do.”
“And I’m not in the mood, okay?” Kayla said, turning to face him.
“Don’t dismiss me. I’m your husband.”
Fury boiled inside Kayla. He had some nerve to talk about his rights as a husband. All he cared about was getting her into bed, not what was in her mind, in her heart. He was callous and unfeeling. “I’m well aware of that. And before you remind me of our agreement, I know my wifely duties, so go take a cold shower.”
She stormed out of the bathroom and went into the closet to find a nightie. When she came out, Ethan was thankfully gone.
Kayla breathed a sigh of relief. If he’d pressured her or turned on the seduction, she wasn’t sure she would have been strong enough to resist him. He had a way with his mouth and tongue that brought her to her knees, but apparently he wasn’t interested in coercing a response from her.
Seconds later, she heard the roar of an engine in the distance. Ethan had left without a word.
Ethan made his way to one of his old stomping grounds to blow off some steam—the gentleman’s club he and Daniel frequented before he’d gotten married.
It was somewhere he could let down his hair without being judged, and he desperately needed that right now. Kayla had worked his last nerve. She’d outright refused to sleep with him, and he was mad as hell because he didn’t know why she was upset.
A strong drink was what he needed, and maybe a few more after that. Perhaps he could get over the sting of his wife’s rejection.
Kayla woke up the next morning before daylight and Ethan’s side of the bed was untouched, which meant he’d stayed out the entire night and never come home. Was he out with that harlot? How could he talk about her neglecting her wifely duties, when he was having an affair?
She dressed for work and made her way to the office. She was happy to get off the estate and to a place where she belonged, where she understood what was expected and could meet those expectations. Not a fake marriage, in which she felt used and useless.
As she was pulling her Porsche into her parking space, Shane was pulling in next to her at the same time. He jumped out of his car first and opened the driver’s door for her. “A bit early for you sis, ain’t it?” he asked, looking at his watch. It read 7:30 a.m.
“Not today, Shane.” Kayla frowned.
“Care for a cup of coffee?” Shane inquired. “We could talk.”
“Okay, I guess.” Kayla leaned over to grab her briefcase and followed Shane inside the Adams Cosmetics building. Kayla greeted the security guard at the front desk and pressed the elevator call button.
“A bit anxious today?” Shane inquired.
“I didn’t sleep very well,” Kayla replied. Truth was she’d barely slept at all, tossing and turning because she’d been waiting for Ethan to return, and when he hadn’t, around 3:00 a.m. she’d finally drifted off to sleep.
“Then a large coffee is definitely in order.”
They stopped in the cafeteria first and Kayla grabbed a large coffee and blueberry muffin. Shane motioned for Kayla to join him at a nearby table where she began scarfing down the muffin.
“One, slow down,” Shane sai
d. “That muffin isn’t going anywhere, and two, spill it. Whatever is going on with you, that is. You only eat like this when you’re stressed. Matter of fact, since when do you like blueberries?”
Kayla glanced down at the remainder of the muffin on the plate. She picked another piece off the side. “Hmm…I don’t know. It’s a craving, I guess.”
“So what’s going on? And don’t lie to me, you’re obviously very unhappy and it breaks my heart.”
Her head bowed and her body slumped over in despair, she couldn’t talk about it. She’d made a horrible mess of things.
“Okay, since you won’t talk, I will.” Shane placed his hand over hers. “You’re miserable in this marriage and you know what? I should never have let you go through with it.”
Kayla shrugged in mock resignation. “Don’t blame yourself. It was my decision. No one forced me.”
“Didn’t he? Ethan knew how much AC meant to you, he played into your savior complex.”
“And I bought it, hook, line and sinker.” She plopped the rest of the muffin in her mouth.
“And now you want out?” Shane asked.
Kayla swallowed and took a sip of coffee. “That’s not possible.”
“Anything’s possible. We just have to figure it out.”
Kayla rose. “I’ve said too much. I should go.”
Shane quickly stood up and grabbed her shoulders. “If you ask me, you haven’t said enough. You’ve kept it all bottled up and that’s not good. You should talk it about. It might make you feel better.”
“I should go.” Kayla made a move to leave, but Shane had a grip on her.
“You don’t always have to be the strong one, Kayla. You can lean on us. We won’t let you fall.”
Kayla stroked his cheek. “I know that, Shane. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that I have the best family in the world.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ll be all right. See you soon.”
“This is not good.” Ethan said aloud, looking at the morning’s paper. His assistant was kind enough to put the paper on his desk with the entertainment section open. There was a picture of Ethan at the gentleman’s club the night before. Kayla was going to be livid. Not only had he not come home last night, but he’d been caught on camera at the club.
It wasn’t like he’d done anything wrong. He’d played some pool and had one drink too many and had slept over in one of the private rooms, but that didn’t matter, Kayla was going to have him for breakfast. He immediately called her office but was told she was in meetings for most of the morning. He would have to make a preemptive strike and tell her first.
After their argument, this was the last thing he needed. Otherwise, he’d be taking cold showers for a long time to come.
Kayla was happy to get out of the office for lunch. Everyone in the office was gossiping about the paper. Her mother and Piper had left a message for her and she’d been doing her best to avoid Shane and Courtney. Ethan had been caught in a gentleman’s club! Kayla knew what happened in places like those and the sort of women that congregated there. No wonder he hadn’t come home last night. She’d called her attorney to see if they could use the fact that Ethan had visited a gentleman’s club as grounds for a divorce. Alan had agreed that it would certainly raise doubt about whether Ethan was unfaithful. When Kayla hung up, she had some hope that the tide would change in her favor.
She was happy to be having lunch with Ayden that afternoon and have a few hours of normalcy. Right now, her life was a hot mess. Not only did Ethan not love or respect her, he was humiliating her in public. Who knew what other secrets she could unearth and use to her advantage to get out of this marriage and spare her already-bruised heart?
Ayden greeted her with a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. “Kay, thanks for coming,” he said as he helped her into a seat.
“It’s absolutely my pleasure,” Kayla replied. “I’m looking forward to catching up.”
The waiter came by to take their drink order and Kayla ordered a ginger ale. Her stomach had been upset after that blueberry muffin and seeing Ethan in the paper.
“Tough morning?” Ayden asked when Kayla remained quiet at the table.
“Something like that.” Kayla didn’t want to get into her marital troubles, least of all with her ex-boyfriend. “So, tell me what have you been up to all these years?”
Ayden told her about his heading up a new office in London for his company and how his leadership caused sales to jump nearly fifty percent.
“That’s wonderful, Ayden.”
“And you,” Ayden commented, “have been very busy. I’ve read the papers. You and Ethan Graham? How did that happen?”
“It’s a long story,” Kayla said.
“Try.” He propped his chin on his hands and leaned in to listen.
“The truth?”
“That would be a start.”
“Adams Cosmetics was in trouble and Ethan came sniffing around. He pursued me, pretty relentlessly I might add.”
“He wanted you,” Ayden surmised.
Kayla nodded. “And I gave in.”
“I guess I’m not surprised,” Ayden said. “You always did have a thing for Ethan.”
“I did not,” Kayla replied, but Ayden raised his eyebrow skeptically. “Okay, maybe when I was younger, but I got over him. I mean, look how long we were together.” She sipped on her ginger ale.
“Yeah, we were together a long time, but I always knew there was something holding you back,” Ayden said thoughtfully.
“What do you mean?”
“I always felt like there was piece of your heart you weren’t completely giving me, that you were holding back a part of yourself. And now I know why. It was Ethan Graham. I guess I always suspected, which is why I suppose I gave you that ultimatum to come with me to London. And when you didn’t…” Ayden shrugged. “Knowing for sure now helps, helps me have closure.”
“I’m sorry, Ayden.” Kayla reached across the table and touched his hand. “I never meant to hurt you. I guess I didn’t know myself.”
“And now?”
“Knowing sure hasn’t helped me much,” Kayla replied. “There’s so much unsaid between Ethan and me.”
“You can change that,” Ayden returned. “Ethan was and is the love of your life, and you have to fight for what you want.”
“Love shouldn’t be this hard.”
Ayden smiled. “C’mon, you know the best things in life are those that we fight the hardest for. So go get ’em, slugger.” He lightly punched her jaw.
From across the room, Daniel noticed Kayla having lunch with an attractive gentleman and obviously someone she knew quite well as he greeted her with a hug and a kiss. It could be purely innocent, but given the headlines that morning, was Mrs. Graham making a statement by having lunch with another man? And how was Ethan going to interpret it?
Apparently not too well, because Ethan had a cow when Daniel informed him of Kayla’s lunch plans later that afternoon. It was well after three when he’d finally had the chance to make it to Ethan’s office.
“Are you sure, Daniel?” Ethan asked.
“Of course. I would never bring this to your attention otherwise.”
“So who was it?”
Daniel smiled. He knew Ethan would ask and had tipped the host to tell him who Kayla’s lunch partner was. “Ayden Turner.”
“Her ex-boyfriend?” Ethan nodded as fury boiled inside him. “You realize she’s doing this to get back at me.” He paced his office. “She saw this morning’s paper and decided she’d get me back by having lunch with her ex.”
Daniel jumped to Kayla’s defense. “It could be purely innocent, Ethan. There doesn’t have to be a nefarious motive here. She could have had this lunch planned weeks ago and the timing is purely coincidental.”
Ethan shook his head. “I don’t think so. Kayla has been at odds with me for a while. Matter of fact, ever since the night of the launch party, I’ve noticed her reacting coolly toward me.”
“D
id something happen that night?” Daniel inquired.
Ethan had racked his mind wondering the same thing and couldn’t come up with a single thing he’d done wrong. “No. I made a point of making sure we honored the Adams family tradition by attending Hypnotic’s launch together and I stayed by her side the entire night. I don’t know what’s got Kayla bent out of shape, but I won’t have her disrespecting me.”
Daniel laughed. “Well, she could say the same thing about you after seeing this morning’s paper. A gentleman’s club, Ethan? We haven’t been there since you got married. You should know better.”
“Don’t harass me, Daniel,” Ethan replied. He was already exasperated. “Last night I was irritable because Kayla was keeping me at bay and I just went there to have a drink and blow off some steam.”
“Then you should show her the same latitude. Perhaps I shouldn’t have told you about this lunch, because you’re blowing this way out of proportion.”
“I am not,” Ethan said, “but I am going to have a little chat with my wife.” He headed to the door and slammed it behind him.
Daniel sighed. He’d never seen Ethan jealous. If Ethan was jealous that Kayla was out with another man, his feelings for her must run deeper than he had wanted to admit. Kayla was in for a battle.
When Ethan made it to Kayla’s office it was nearly five. “Mr. Graham.” Myra smiled when she saw him. “Mrs. Graham is in her office.”
“Thank you, Myra,” Ethan said. “And you are dismissed for the rest of the evening.”
“But Kayla wanted me to complete a report before I left.”
“That won’t be necessary. You can go.” He wanted absolute privacy when he spoke with Kayla.
Myra looked up at Ethan and realized he meant business and instantly logged off her computer and started packing up her belongings. She didn’t know what was about to go down, but it wasn’t going to be good if the thunderous expression on Mr. Graham’s face was any indication. “Have a good night,” she said, and made a quick exit.
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