Luckily, Stacy called and distracted me from going crazy. “Guess what?” she screamed into my ear. “The scene went really well! The director even said I did a good job.”
“That’s great, Stace,” I said warmly, even though I suspected the perv had focused more on her breasts than her acting abilities. “I’m so proud of you. Listen, sorry to change the subject, but can you do me a favor?”
“Anything for my best critic.”
“Well, you probably want to have a celebratory drink tonight. But I really need to see Hunter. So I was wondering . . . maybe you could celebrate with Wally and get him out of the penthouse for a couple of hours?”
Stacy sighed good-naturedly. “I’ll do better than that. He can stay over at our place, how does that sound? Then you and Hunter can have the penthouse all night.”
My mind went into overdrive just thinking about all the high jinks we could get into. “I owe you big time, Stace. And you and I can have a belated celebration tomorrow, okay?”
“It’s a date.”
As soon as we hung up, I began making plans. I wanted to surprise Hunter by cooking him a home-cooked meal. But first, I had to shop for some groceries. And to do that, I needed to leave the office early.
Pulling my shoulders back, I stood up and knocked on my boss’s glass door.
“Go away!” she shouted, her manicured fingers flying all over the keyboard. I stared at the glowing desktop screen, wondering what nonsense she was spewing forth this time. I prayed it didn’t involve the same aristocrat irresponsibly wielding his diseased-looking man sausage.
“Sorry to bother you, Helen. Looks like your muse finally decided to pay you a visit.” When she didn’t reply, I decided to ask my question when she was most distracted. “Can I leave early today? I’m feeling a bit ill.”
“No, I don’t want coffee!” she shouted in exasperation. “Just leave me alone.”
I let out a fake cough. “Thanks for letting me take the rest of the day off. I really appreciate it.” The woman was so consumed by her made-up world that she had no idea what I was saying. It was pretty impressive, actually.
She shooed me away again, so away I went for the rest of the day, with a little song in my heart.
After Wally texted me the password to the penthouse, I went to the nearest supermarket to buy a bunch of ingredients. Once that was done, I drove to their building and quickly took the bags to the top floor, punching the password into the digital door lock. Wally had told me that Hunter wouldn’t be back until eight. That would give me plenty of time to make Steak Diane for dinner. With a smile, I padded into the living room, heading straight toward the kitchen.
Muffled voices from Hunter’s bedroom soon reached my ears.
I froze, confused. Surely I was hearing things. After all, Wally had specifically told me that no one would be home. I set the bags on the floor and strode toward the bedroom, my steps slowing down as low voices sounded once more.
I was not imagining it this time.
The door was slightly open. A part of me wanted to leave and go home, but the other part – growing more dominant with each second – wanted to see what the hell was going on.
Predictably, curiosity won out in the end.
I peeked into the bedroom. Hunter was sitting on the edge of his king-sized bed, his back facing me. His body was stiff, the muscles in his shoulders bunched beneath his white T-shirt. I craned my neck to the right and let out an inaudible gasp.
Roxy was standing before him, topless. Her breasts were full and gorgeous, the nipples a rosy pink. Before my mind could make sense of what was going on, she leaned forward, reaching between Hunter’s legs.
“Don’t.” He gritted out, grabbing her arm forcefully.
“Oh, but I will,” she said, her voice taunting. “I don’t care about your homely girlfriend, Hunter. But keep it to yourself; your popularity depends on it. And in the meantime, you will do what I say if you want to work in Hollywood and New York.” Her tone grew softer, dangerous. “I can make you a pariah in this industry, Hunter Cox. Do not test me.”
This time, when Roxy went down on her knees to blow him, he didn’t stop her. Stunned, I stood there as she sucked him, listening to her little satisfied noises as she ran her red-painted fingers up his thighs. He sat there, still as a statue, but I knew he couldn’t hold out much longer. About a minute later, I was proven correct; he let out a tortured groan, throwing his head back as he roughly fisted Roxy’s hair. Their pace turned frenzied and desperate as Hunter fucked her mouth with ruthless greed. When he finally came, he groaned out my name once, a single word in the wake of his powerful release. Something about the way in which he said it sounded like he was saying goodbye.
The last thing I saw was Hunter jerking away from Roxy’s touch as she reached over to smooth his hair.
Numb, I forced my leaden legs to move toward the kitchen, where I’d left the grocery bags. Hunter had chosen his budding career over our relationship. Deep down, I understood. I was just one woman among many. But Hollywood was a fickle bitch and you didn’t mess with her, not if you wanted a shot at making it big.
And Hunter was destined to be a star.
Blinking back tears, I told myself that life had simply righted our course. The idea of Hunter and me as a couple had been a ludicrous fantasy on my part, anyway. But unlike five years ago, I didn’t feel anger or betrayal this time. I believed everything he had told me, and I believed that his intentions toward me had been genuine.
Still, here was where it ended. Our paths had momentarily crossed, but each was headed in the opposite direction.
Taking in a deep breath to calm myself, I picked up the bags, went to the front door, and opened it. Then I slammed it shut as loud as possible.
“Hey, Hunter! Are you in here?” I noisily dropped the grocery bags on the floor. “I wanted to surprise you, so Wally gave me the password. I hope you don’t mind – ”
“Good evening, Rosemary.” Roxy sashayed into the living room, looking all perfect and business-like as if she hadn’t just been on her knees, sucking Hunter off. She gave the grocery bags a cursory glance. “Are you cooking tonight?”
I forced out a smile. “That’s the plan.”
“How quaint of you.” Roxy smirked as she headed to the door, adding, “Don’t bother yourself. I’ll see myself out.”
“The thought didn’t even cross my mind,” I muttered, carrying the bags into the kitchen. I immediately set to work seasoning the beef fillets and searing them in a skillet. As I was removing them to a large plate, Hunter came up from behind and hugged me.
“I thought I was taking you out to dinner tomorrow.” He murmured into my hair.
“I know. But I couldn’t wait until then.”
He pulled me in closer, trapping my arms. Feeling his rapid heartbeat against me, I wondered if he also knew this could well be our first and last dinner together as a couple.
“You were here just now, weren’t you?”
There was no point in denying it. “Yes.”
“You saw and heard everything.”
“I did.”
His response was to squeeze me tighter and bury his face in my neck. “And yet you stayed.”
“Because I wanted to make you dinner.”
“Is that all?”
I turned around, smiling up at him. “No, that’s not all. Wally’s staying over at my apartment tonight. So we have the penthouse to ourselves.”
I quickly returned to our steaks, finishing up by garnishing the sauce with chopped parsley. Once we were seated at the dining table, I kept up a light conversation between us by talking about anything and everything under the sun that didn’t involve Roxy. The whole time, Hunter didn’t take his eyes off me.
When we finished our dinner at last, he rose from his seat, his breathing ragged. “What are you doing, Roe?”
“What do you mean?”
He briefly closed his eyes. “You’re bloody tormenting me, you know that? Why a
re you acting like everything’s fine? Why aren’t you screaming at me for –”
I stopped him with a hard look. “Don’t go there. Not tonight. Can you do that for me?”
He rubbed his face, frustrated, then finally gave me a reluctant nod.
“Thank you,” I whispered. Remaining in my seat, I slowly unbuttoned my blouse to reveal the sheer bra inside. Hunter stared at my hardening nipples, his eyes glittering with growing need. As I bunched up my skirt to my waist, I looked at him expectantly.
“This is dessert. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Don’t mind? I’ve only been waiting for five fucking years,” he said hoarsely, striding over to crouch before me. After pulling my panties down my legs, he grabbed my ankles, pushing my knees up. The vulnerable position made me instinctively resist him, but Hunter stopped me.
“Don’t,” he ordered, lowering his face to my pussy. “Don’t ever hide from me.” He planted a rough kiss on my inner thigh, causing me to tremble. “I can’t wait to taste you, Roe. It’s been so long.” Groaning, he lightly flicked his tongue over my throbbing clit.
I let out a shaky exhale as Hunter grabbed my hips and pulled me forward. He pushed up my flimsy bra, kneading my breasts as he hungrily licked and sucked my pussy. It felt like I was being devoured whole. My legs shook uncontrollably as the first orgasm hit me hard.
“Take me to your bedroom.” I gasped, tightening my hold on his thick hair. “I need to be on your bed when you’re inside me.”
That was all Hunter needed to hear. He quickly scooped me up in his arms and carried me toward his bedroom, his green eyes almost frightening me with their sheer intensity.
We stayed up all night kissing, touching, and fucking like there was no tomorrow. The first time he entered me, I winced slightly, unaccustomed to his large size. But I didn’t ask him to slow down or be gentle; rather, I grabbed his arse and pressed him even closer to me, desperate to feel every inch of him. The fact that this was the first time he was actually fucking a woman in five years didn’t escape my attention as he slid into me again and again. It was like he wanted to take permanent residence inside my pussy.
Sometime around four in the morning, Hunter fell asleep, his gorgeous face buried between my breasts.
I played with his hair as his intoxicating male scent filled my senses. My heart tore at the thought that I would never have this again. Blinking back sudden tears, I carefully disentangled myself from Hunter and sat on the bed, staring at the amazing view outside the floor-to-ceiling glass window. It brought me no pleasure. Afraid that I might start sobbing and wake him up, I rose to my feet and dragged myself to the en-suite bathroom to take a quick shower. It was only when I was standing beneath the showerhead that I allowed the tears to flow freely.
Fifteen minutes later, I padded back into the bedroom to retrieve my stuff. The last thing I wanted was a face-to-face confrontation with him, so I made the decision to break off our relationship via a long text.
—Hunter, thank you for last night. But you know as well as I do that we can’t do this anymore. You chose your career over me the second you let Roxy go down on you. But you know what? It’s okay because I do understand. I just want you to be happy and successful.
For my sake, please don’t contact me ever again. Let’s just end things amicably and go our separate ways. I will always cherish the time I shared with you. Love, Roe.
My fingers were trembling when I pressed “send.”
It was done. Hunter and I were over.
Fresh tears welled in my eyes once more. Swiping a hand across my face, I strode toward the door when a cluster of photos hanging on the other side of the wall caught my attention. One of them was a large photo filled with rows of grinning students, whose blue-and-green uniforms felt strangely familiar. Curious, I stepped closer to get a better look.
It was a Year 7 photo from River Vale High School, a public school I had attended for three short weeks before my parents whisked me away to an expensive private school in the city as soon as my name was taken off their waiting list. For obvious reasons, I hadn’t made any friends at River Vale.
My eyes scanned the rows of students, then stopped when they landed on a thirteen-year-old Hunter standing in the back. He’d been tall even then, his features beautiful with a softer edge. Shit, how the girls must have loved him. My heart thumped at the knowledge that our paths had crossed much earlier than I’d believed. But I hadn’t noticed him then; I’d been too busy feeling sorry for my lonely and miserable thirteen-year-old self.
Still, this wasn’t going to change anything. It was merely an interesting tidbit about our past. That was all. Biting my lip, I headed into the kitchen to clear the plates away from last night and wash them clean. Once everything was finished, I returned to the bedroom to take one last peek at Hunter’s sleeping form.
“Goodbye,” I whispered. “And be happy.”
Before I could change my mind and delete the message on Hunter’s phone, I hurriedly left the penthouse without another glance back.
Chapter 13
For the next two weeks, I busied myself with work and spent the remainder of my waking hours watching zombie flicks one after another. They helped numb my brain so much that, instead of wallowing in self-pity, I was soon wallowing in squalor and filth. It got so bad that Stacy snatched the remote control from my grubby hands one late Sunday afternoon.
“Urmph!” I protested, sounding like a zombie myself. Noticing a partially eaten chocolate chip cookie wedged between the sofa cushions, I reached over to grab the delightful morsel and pop it into my gaping mouth.
Stacy shot me a look of pure disgust. “That’s probably from last week, Roe.”
“Don’t knock it. It’s still a cookie!”
“You stink. When was the last time you took a shower?”
I scratched at my greasy scalp. “I dunno. Maybe three, four days ago?”
“You’re stinking up our apartment. Lorenzo had no choice but to take his clients elsewhere.”
I let out an inarticulate sound in response.
Gingerly, Stacy sat down beside me. “Look, breaking up with someone is never easy. But you need to get a grip.” She tossed me a careful glance. “So, to help you achieve that, I’ve . . . ah, contacted someone.”
An alarm went off in my head. Surely she wouldn’t have called Hunter for help! That would be way beyond embarrassing and sad. I stared at the cell phone Stacy was holding out for me, uncomprehending.
“What, you mean right now?”
“Yes, right now! C’mon, take the damn phone.”
Confused and a little bit wary, I pressed the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
There was a wheezing noise. “Is that you, possum?”
“Grandma!” I closed my eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. “Geez, you scared me. I thought you were someone else. How are you?”
“Still alive, it seems.”
“And how’s Fluffy Poo?” It was an apt name for Grandma’s Bichon Frise, especially since its head was deliberately coiffed to resemble a giant cotton ball.
Grandma sniffed. “Fluffy Poo is dead. I couldn’t bear to bury or cremate him, so I had him stuffed instead.”
“Oh, Grandma!” And here I thought I was the one going bonkers from all the heartbreak. “Isn’t it a bit creepy, though?”
“On the contrary. It’s as if Fluffy Poo never left.” Her voice suddenly grew stern. “Now, I hear you’ve been moping around. Should I be concerned?”
I fiddled with my food-stained sleeve. “I’m just trying to get over a guy, that’s all.” Probably the love of my life. “Really, it’s not such a big deal that Stacy had to contact you.”
Grandma sniffed again. “Well, I’m glad she did. In fact, I missed you so much that I impulsively purchased a plane ticket to L.A.” She paused for dramatic effect. “Possum, I’m coming to visit you!”
My first reaction was to eye the cramped apartment. Where the hell was Grandma supposed to sleep? And what i
f Lorenzo decided that Grandma needed a professional hug?
“I know what you’re thinking,” Grandma said, “and you needn’t worry about where I’m staying. I’ve spoken to Betty Henderson. She’s going to call her grandson, and I’ll be staying with him.”
Betty Henderson? Was she in any way related to Wally Henderson? My eyes widened in horror as I belatedly realized what this meant.
She’s going to be rooming with Hunter. And she won’t leave him alone.
“Grandma, I really don’t think that’s such a good idea –”
“Oh, pishposh. It’s a lovely idea. And besides, Betty owes me.” Her breathing grew erratic over the phone. “You think Henderson’s Dry Care was her idea? No, the disposable adult nappy for sensitive skin was my idea. And she stole it from me.”
“Wally’s trust fund is from adult nappies?” No wonder he’d been so secretive about where his wealth had come from. “I used to think he was some kind of drug lord because he lived alone in that nice house across from ours.”
“That used to be Betty’s house. She and I grew up on the same street.” Grandma still sounded pretty pissed as she muttered to herself, “I’m going to trash her grandson’s penthouse, just wait and see.”
An image of Grandma ramming her wheelchair into walls and kitchen appliances surfaced before me, and I couldn’t help but grin.
“Go easy on him, especially since he’s not the only one living there.”
“I’ll be arriving at the LAX on Friday morning.” She announced suddenly.
Grandma was coming earlier than I’d thought. “Uh, okay. Let me know what time. I’ll try to get off work and –”
“No, don’t bother yourself, possum. Waldo will pick me up.”
I raised my brows, amused. “Does he know about it?”
She chuckled with wicked delight. “I suspect he’ll find out later today when Betty calls and informs him of my visit.”
The whole situation felt surreal, but in a good way. My mood was already improving. “I can’t wait to see you, Grandma.”
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