7
I was imagining things. I had to be. Except that I wasn’t. Bill was disheveled. He was fuming. And he was marching in my direction, as real as the ground under my high heels.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as he approached.
“Are you trying to make me look like an idiot?” he accused.
“What—”
On his last stride, he thrust a finger in my face, and I stumbled backward. “How dare you ask me to buy you that house when you knew that son of a bitch was going to make an offer?”
My heart dropped to my feet. He’d found out that David had made an offer on the Oak Park house. But how? It didn’t matter. Any way he’d heard would be a shitty way, especially because it hadn’t come from me. “I know how this looks,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm, “but I had no idea David planned to buy it.”
“Bullshit. I’ve tried to be patient, but this is too far.” He gritted his teeth. “Did you guys meet there to screw or what?”
I covered my mouth at the horrible accusation. David and I had made plenty of mistakes, but none of it had been premeditated or intended to hurt. “No,” I said, choking back a sob, but the look in Bill’s eyes told me he wouldn’t believe anything I said.
“Playtime is over, Olivia. I tried making this easy. I tried giving you space. Now we’re doing this my way.” Bill seized my arm and dragged me out of the lounge.
I tried to wrench my arm away, but he held it in an iron grip. “Let go,” I said.
As we crossed the lobby, conversations stalled when people began to look at us.
“Olivia!” Gretchen called from somewhere behind me.
“Bill, stop,” I said, trying to stop but handicapped by my high stilettos. “My purse—”
“We’ll get it later. You’re coming home with me right now,” Bill said, “and we’re going to forget this ridiculous shit ever happened.”
“Bill, calm down, and let go of me,” I implored. “Please.”
He halted abruptly and whirled to face me. “Why?” he asked. “Afraid I’ll make a scene at your little party?”
I stared at a face as familiar to me as anything, but I barely recognized Bill through his ugly sneer.
Over my shoulder, Bill barked at a partygoer, “What the fuck are you looking at?”
“I know you’re angry,” I said to him, “but this isn’t you. Please, you’re hurting me.”
His grip loosened. “Why’d he buy that house?”
My throat dried. I didn’t know how to explain it like this, with people staring, with Bill only able to hear what he wanted to believe. “I—I don’t . . .”
“Jesus,” Bill said, drawing back to look me over. “Did he buy you this dress, too? Is that what you want, to be treated like a spoiled brat? You’re looking for someone like Daddy?”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked through a haze of tears.
“You’re the one doing this.” He gripped my arm again and yanked me forward. “And I had to hear it from our goddamn realtor—”
“Liv!” Gretchen screamed behind me.
“Stay out of this, you nosy bitch,” Bill called over his shoulder just as Brian Ayers hopped into our path.
“Hey, now. You don’t speak to a lady like that,” he said as Gretchen caught up. Brian’s eyes shot to my elbow. “Olivia, who’s this?”
“I’m her husband,” Bill said. “Who the hell are you?”
“Just let go, man,” Brian said, pursing his lips, “and we can have a rational discussion about this.”
“Great,” Bill said, twisting to look at me. “Are you doing this guy, too?”
“I beg your pardon,” Brian said, grabbing Bill’s arm. “I said fucking let go.” Bill tried to shrug him off, but Brian pried his hand away just as heavy, determined footsteps bore down on us from behind.
“What the fuck?” I heard David ask. As soon as the question was out of his mouth, he’d shoved Bill out of the way before positioning himself between us. “Don’t fucking touch her.”
“You,” Bill snarled at him. “Don’t tell me that I can’t touch my wife.”
“She’s not yours anymore,” David said.
“Oh, yeah?” Bill strode up to him. “And what happens when you get tired of her? Then she’ll just be a washed-up divorcée nobody wants.”
“Bill, please—I know you don’t mean that,” I said, trying to get between them, worried someone would go too far.
“Get back,” David said softly and ushered me behind him with obvious restraint.
“You’re just a phase,” Bill said to David, “and that phase is over. Move. I’m taking her home.”
“Just try me,” David said evenly.
“You think you’re a real big shot, don’t you?” Bill asked. “You bought her a house so you could get in her pants? Do you think she’s some sort of whore?”
David lunged forward and grabbed Bill by the shirt. “Watch your mouth, motherfucker. All I need is an excuse to level you,” he said.
It wouldn’t be a fair match, and I’d never known Bill to get in a physical fight. I didn’t want to find out how that would go. “David, let go of him,” I said, and David pushed Bill off.
“Come home with me, Liv,” Bill said, unruffled. “Let’s fix this. He can’t make you happy.” His tone softened. “You know he can’t.”
David’s body tensed, and I refrained from touching his back to show comfort. “I’m sorry, Bill,” I said. “But leave David out of this. It’s not his fault.”
“Not his fault?” Bill’s breathing deepened, and his lips curled back as he looked at David with disgust. “Does he have you brainwashed?”
My eyes jumped between them as they stared each other down. I tried a few tentative steps forward, but David’s arm shot out to catch my shoulder. I walked as far forward as he’d let me. “We can talk next week once everyone has had a chance to cool down,” I said to Bill. “I’ll explain everything about the house.”
“Come home now, Olivia.” Bill’s eyes pleaded with me. “I’m not messing around.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as David’s hand tightened on my shoulder. It tugged at my heart to say the words, but I knew David needed to hear them just as much as Bill. “I’m sorry, but that’s not my home anymore.”
Bill’s eyes locked on David behind me. “You son of a bitch,” Bill said, his voice cracking. “You stole my wife. You stole my wife!” He lunged past me to throw his palms into David’s rigid body. I jumped back, tripped over my dress, and grasped at air as I fell.
David whirled to catch me as Bill raised his fist.
“Watch out,” I screamed as Bill landed a punch in David’s side.
David threw up his arm to block Bill’s next blow, then threw a right hook into Bill’s nose. With great effort, Bill pummeled him to the ground, where David flipped him over and gained the upper hand within moments.
David jumped up and pulled Bill’s torso off the ground by his shirt. “Stay away from her,” he said with a hard shake. “This is your only warning.”
“Yeah, you can have her, the trashy slut,” Bill responded, grimacing when he sniffed. Blood streamed from his nose as he looked over to where I still lay on the ground, too shocked to move. “On your back where you belong.”
“Get up,” David said, his face darkening.
“David, don’t.” He looked beyond control, and I was terrified of what he might do. “He doesn’t mean it.”
David ignored me as he hauled Bill to his feet. “I should fucking destroy you for that comment.”
Bill flinched as David drew back his fist and went to hit him but stopped short. “Ever speak to her like that again, and I will. And if you ever touch her like that again, you’re good as dead, motherfucker.” David released him with a forceful push. Bill launched himself toward us, but Brian and Greg pushed between both of them. Greg held Bill back a few feet, restraining him while he cursed at us.
Gretchen squatted and extended her hand t
o me, but not before David swooped down to help me onto my feet.
Bill wiped blood from his nose. “I’m done with this shit, Olivia,” he said. I felt the need to run and comfort him, but David’s powerful hands grasped my shoulders. “Divorce is on, and you aren’t getting shit, do you hear me? Screw you. All of you.”
He turned and stalked off, leaving the five of us to look after him.
“Oh my God,” I stammered. I turned in David’s arms and touched his face and then his side lightly. “Are you okay?”
When I looked up, I stopped as his eyes turned black with rage. “You are never—I mean never—allowed to be alone with him,” he said. “Am I clear?”
“He has a right to be upset, but he let his temper get the best of him,” I said. “As did you.”
“Am I clear?” David boomed into the quiet lobby. I shivered, acutely aware that everyone’s eyes were on us. He stared at me. I stared back. He couldn’t keep me from seeing my own husband. But after a moment, I gave in and nodded. We’d discuss this later, when we could have a rational conversation away from here.
“What happened?” David demanded, looking between all of our startled faces. “What happened before I got here?”
“I don’t know, man,” Brian said. “I ran over here when I saw him dragging Olivia away, and he was calling Gretchen names.”
David’s gaze whipped back to me. My entire body flinched when he reached for me. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said incredulously.
“I know.” I offered my arm. “I’m sorry. I’m just shaken up.”
“Does it hurt?” he asked, touching my elbow.
It smarted a bit from being gripped and twisted, but it was nothing compared to what David had been through. “I’m fine,” I said, my hand hovering where Bill’s punch had landed. “I’m more worried about you.”
“Don’t be,” he said, grasping my face in his hands. “I’m so sorry. That must have been hard to watch, but he had it coming.”
I shifted in my heels and held David’s gaze. “I know you want him to be the bad guy, but he’s not. He’s going through a lot, too.”
“There’s no excuse for coming at you like that.”
“Are you okay, really?” I asked.
He leaned in and pecked me on the lips, then rested his forehead on mine and sighed.
“David?” I asked. “Are you hurt? What about your hand?”
“It’s good.”
“What if you broke something? Should we get an x-ray?”
“No,” he said with a small smile. “I know how to properly throw a punch.”
“Ahem. Um . . .” Brian tapped David on the shoulder. “Excuse me?”
David pulled back and looked me in the eye. “Next time come get me. Scream at the top of your lungs if you have to,” he whispered. “Don’t try to do this on your own.”
“Can someone please inform me what the devil is going on?” Brian asked.
We all looked at his confused expression.
“Oh, God, you are so out of it,” Gretchen said.
Brian frowned. “You’re welcome for sticking up for you, princess. I didn’t exactly see your boyfriend helping out.”
“I was in the bathroom,” Greg said defensively.
“Jesus Christ,” David muttered, looking over at Greg and Brian. “What would’ve happened if I hadn’t been there?”
“I would have defended her honor,” Brian said, puffing up.
There was a moment of crackling silence before everyone except David burst into laughter.
“What?” Brian asked.
“You’re such a kook,” Gretchen said.
David stroked my hair. “Now can we go home?”
“I’m sorry, home?” Brian interrupted, leaning between us. “Am I to understand that you two are . . .?”
“Dude,” David said. “Yes, we are. Get lost.”
“I didn’t realize you were looking, Olivia,” Brian said. “I would’ve thrown my name in the pot.” I laughed, but with David’s menacing snarl, Brian covered his nose. “Don’t punch me out,” he said. “I’m only ribbing you, Dylan. Anyone with two eyes could see you’ve been smitten with her for a long time.”
Sneaky Brian. He’d known all along? No wonder he’d teased David months ago at the Meet and Greet when he’d tried shooing him away to meet one of the female attendees.
Brian sighed loftily and kissed me on the cheek as David fumed. “I’ll leave you to it then. Good evening,” he said as he pivoted and walked away.
As my adrenaline wore off, and reality sank in, I grimaced. “I’m so embarrassed,” I said. “I ruined your night—and in front of all your colleagues.”
“I could give two shits right now. I just want to take you home,” he purred into my ear, and I shuddered at his breath on my neck.
I needed no more convincing than that. “We have to go,” I announced to Gretchen and Greg.
Gretchen knowingly rolled her eyes and handed me my purse. “I thought you might need this.”
“Thank you,” I said, clutching the handbag to my breast. “I mean it.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll talk later. Bye,” she sang and turned to Greg. “Come on. Let’s get another drink.”
“Or we could go home and do what they’re going to do,” he suggested, glancing back at us. I laughed as they walked off.
David already had his phone to his ear. “We’re ready to leave,” he said into it. “Bring the car, and make it quick.” He hung up and tucked his phone into his tuxedo jacket. “Brian’s such an asshole.”
“He’s only picking on you because you react,” I said.
“I react because he’s a good guy, and that makes him a worthy opponent.”
“Opponent?” I asked.
David took my hand and walked us to the coat check. “Every man is an opponent for your attention, but very few of them are worthy.”
“I’m not a gold medal, you know.”
“Oh, but you are, my gilded honeybee,” he said gruffly, taking my coat from the attendant and helping me into it.
Once bundled up, he led me to the front of the hotel. As we stopped at the curb to wait, his eyes softened. “Are you sure you’re all right? You fell hard.”
“Nothing is that bad as long as you’re here,” I said honestly.
He wrapped me close to his side and kissed my temple. “I feel the same.”
“I really am sorry to have embarrassed you,” I said.
“Don’t say that again,” David said. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Bill’s just . . . he’s mad about the house.” I scratched under my nose. “I knew it would hurt his feelings. I was too chicken shit to tell him sooner.”
“Thank fuck you didn’t, if that’s how he was going to react.”
“I’m sorry,” I said a last time.
He glanced down at me. “I’m thanking my lucky stars every time I’m with you, even if it’s messy.”
“Yes,” I murmured to myself. “And it’s going to get very messy.”
“Anything else you want to tell me?” he asked.
Remembering our honesty pact, I pulled up Bill’s earlier e-mail on my phone and handed it to David. As we waited for the car, he read the screen, still holding me close with his other hand. His grip tightened on my shoulder, and he gave the phone back to me. “I’m a womanizer?” David grumbled. “Bill doesn’t believe it’s over between you and him—at least, he didn’t when he wrote this. Do I need to worry about that?”
“No. Let it go,” I said. “I just want to forget all of this for a little bit.”
“For now,” he agreed.
A black town car arrived, and we walked to meet it. David opened the door and motioned for me to get in. He folded his large frame in after me, and the driver pulled away from the curb.
“Come here,” David said.
With the heater on, I slipped off my coat and scooted to his side of the car.
“Closer,” he said in a lowered voice. I in
ched toward him until our legs touched. “Closer.”
“I’ll be on your lap.”
“You read my mind.”
He urged me up, and I sat across him, hugging his neck, my thighs on his. He sighed into my hair. “Did I tell you how amazing you look in this dress?”
I smiled to myself. “Yes.”
“Did I tell you that all night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the look on your face in the dressing room earlier? You, coming all over my fingers . . .”
I moaned softly and writhed in his lap. One hand dug into my hip as the other slipped inside the deep “V” neckline of my dress to grasp my breast. My mouth parted with a sharp inhale when he pinched my nipple between his fingers.
“I can’t believe I get you all to myself tonight,” he said, his thumb and index finger tightening around the small bud. His voice sank into a low, gritty rumble. “Finally, nowhere for you to run.”
“I won’t run,” I uttered, arousal whirring through me and clouding my thoughts. I bent my head to speak in his ear. “I’m all yours, all night.”
His answering groan echoed through the car. Embarrassed that the driver had probably heard, I giggled softly and buried my nose into the crook of David’s neck.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “Can’t help it.” He released my nipple but his big hand slid up and ran leisurely over my collarbone.
“What are your plans tomorrow?” I asked.
“My plans are your plans, baby. Reminds me, though. How often do you walk the dogs from the animal shelter?”
“Oh. Twice a month or so,” I said. “I know it’s not very much. I used to be more involved.”
“You’re incredible, you know that?” he asked. “I love you a little more every minute. But this minute is a big one.”
My breath caught. Nobody had ever said anything like that to me. David’s love was new, but I had a feeling it’d existed in secret for a while. I needed to tell him I felt the same, but at the thought of laying so much on the line, my heart seized up.
“Did Bill ever go with you?” David asked, completely unaware of the battle within me.
Cityscape Affair Series: The Complete Box Set Page 62