Violation

Page 5

  Standing up from the bench, I pull my hand from Macy’s. “I know. So how much longer do I let this go on?”

  “You’re having phenomenal sex with a gorgeous man. I don’t see where the downside is to this. ”

  “The longer I stay involved, the more I want from him. I can feel myself getting sucked in deeper and deeper,” I grumble, kicking my foot out in frustration. The tip of my shoe catches a stand that has a mannequin decked out in Prada, and the whole thing wobbles precariously. Just when I think disaster is averted, the head of the mannequin pitches off the side and cracks hard against the floor, causing her nose to chip off and go scuttling across the marble.

  I just stare at it dumbly as a sales associate comes over to us with a disapproving look on her face.

  “Can I help you ladies with something?” she asks.

  “Yeah, my friend just beheaded your mannequin,” Macy says with a smirk. “I think it needs CPR or something. ”

  I bring my hand up to my mouth to hide my giggle, but the saleslady just shoots us an annoyed look, and then reattaches the head sans nose. When she leaves, bending over to scoop up the nose, Macy turns to me. “Look, Mac. You know I love you, right? I only want the best for you, and most friends would probably tell you to run as fast as you can from this guy. But not me. I’m going to tell you to stick with it, because even if you will eventually be miserable, you are at least happy right now. Even if it is only just sex… at least you are doing something that is out of your comfort zone. ”

  “Just like when you first signed me up with One Night Only,” I add.

  “Just like that. So I say take the bull by the horns… Or, in your case, by his incredibly talented dick, and enjoy the ride. ”

  “So your advice is just keep doing what I’m doing?”

  “Stay the course. ”

  “Enjoy the ride?”

  “Yes, Mac… enjoy the ride. ”

  After a few texts and an email from Cal checking up on my ‘stomach’ problem, I finally break down and meet him for lunch. He chose a little Italian place about halfway between our two offices, and I see him as soon as I walk in.

  He looks superbly handsome, and I’m not blind to the fact that a few women are checking him out. I sigh. I wish I wanted to check him out that way. But my feelings are so conflicted. First, there’s the fact that I’m completely in lust with my boss, and we spent all weekend doing the nastiest of things to each other. I mean, things that could get us locked up in certain states.

  But more importantly, and something I have only recently discovered, is that Cal had allegedly slept with Matt’s wife. I say ‘allegedly’ because I don’t know the truth of the matter. I only know the very brief bit of information that Matt told me and since he refused to talk about it any further, I just didn’t know what to believe.

  I intend to find out more today.

  Cal stands when I reach the table and gives me a hug. He looks me over and says, “You look much better. I take it you’re feeling fine now?”

  God, if only he knew how fine I felt. After the amount of orgasms I had this weekend, I was feeling loose and relaxed in a way that no professional masseuse could ever make me feel.

  “I’m fine,” I assure him. “I’m really sorry for bailing on you last week. ”

  Cal shoots me a winsome smile. “No worries. Shit happens… no pun intended. ”

  I laugh and pick up the menu to peruse it. As I’m weighing my options, Cal says, “So, I was hoping I could talk you into dinner one night this week. ”

  Glancing up, I see the earnestness in Cal’s face. He likes me… he wants to get to know me. He’s asking me out on a freaking date because he wants to build something with me. It’s written all over his face.

  I should be whooping with joy, crawling on his lap, and smothering him with kisses just before I say ‘yes’. He is everything that I lost when Pete dumped me, and everything I thought I was looking for.

  But he’s not Matt.

  Placing the menu down, I hope to hell I have the right words. “Cal… um… I don’t know how to really say this, but… I don’t think I can go out with you. Not on a date. ”

  Cal’s lips turn downward from the rejection. “Because you’re interested in someone else. ”

  He says it as a statement, not as question. I hesitantly nod at him.

  “And that someone is Matt Fucking Connover, right?” His voice isn’t mocking or even angry. He says Matt’s voice with a sort of reverence.

  My mouth hangs slightly open in disbelief. “What? What makes you say that?”

  Leaning back in his chair, Cal gives me an indulgent smile. “For lots of reasons. First, it was the way you looked at him when he arrived at the ball… like someone that was starving and he was the buffet. Second, the way you glared at Melody. I thought there might be a catfight. Third, the way Matt watched you while you were dancing with me. He hated it. ”

  “I can’t believe it’s that obvious,” I whisper, my eyes cast downward.

  The waiter comes up to the table, and Cal shoos him away. “It’s not really. What really brought it all together was the phone call I received as I was walking you back to the table. It was my co-counsel on a case we have against Matt, which we’ve been desperately trying to settle with him. He told me Matt had just called him and made an offer. Said we had fifteen minutes to accept it or not. ”

  I stare at him dumbfounded, and my mind flashes back to the memory of Matt stepping away from the table to make a phone call while I danced with Cal. “Why didn’t Matt just tell you that while we were all sitting there?”

  “Why indeed?” Cal says with a chuckle. “But isn’t it obvious? He knew my co-counsel would call me, and he knew he’d call me right that very moment, which happened to coincide with the time I was leading you back from the dance floor. He knew I’d then have to scramble to get up with my clients and get their permission to pay the money. He also knew my clients are in London, five hours ahead of us, and it would be extremely difficult to do so. He knew that would give him time to get you alone, and I’m assuming enough time to convince you to leave with him. ”

  “Son of a bitch,” I say, although not in a way that I’m mad about. It’s more of an ‘I’m totally f**king in awe of Matt Connover and his wicked ways right at this very moment’ sort of saying.

  “That he can be,” Cal agrees.

  “Did you settle the case?”

  Cal’s eyes flash with anger. “Of course not. It took me longer than fifteen minutes to get the permission to settle. Took me about an hour in fact. I texted Matt that we accepted, but he texted me back the next day and said too late… wasn’t within the fifteen minutes. ”

  “Holy shit, he’s like scary smart,” I say.

  “More like scary devious,” he adds.

  I look Cal in the eyes. “I’m really sorry. I tried to deny the feelings I have for him. I wish I could. ”

  Cal gazes at me in sympathy but gives me a reassuring smile. “I get it, Mac. The heart wants what the heart wants. But… please be careful. Matt is just… hard to get close to. He has the ability to really hurt you. ”

  “Matt told me that you two used to be best friends. ”

  Cal nods, and I don’t fail to notice that his face goes slightly red. “Did he tell you the rest of the story?”

  “Not much. He only said that you slept with his wife. But he refused to say anything more. Is it true?”

  It’s a pair of very sad eyes that meet mine. “It’s true. I betrayed him in a moment of drunken weakness, and it cost me my best friend. ”

  The air comes out of me in a rush, because I guess, deep down, I couldn’t believe Cal would do something like that. He seems broken up by it though… completely remorseful.

  “And you’ve regretted it ever since,” I say, because I can hear it in his voice.

  “Every f**king day,” Cal says.

  Lunch with Cal turne
d out to be quite informative. He unburdened the entire story to me, but there really wasn’t much to it. Apparently, Matt’s ex-wife came on to him after a party she held while Matt was out of state on a case. Cal was really drunk, but he also takes responsibility. He insists he should have known better, no matter how drunk he was. It’s sort of my belief that when a man is faced with a beautiful woman that has disrobed in front of him, he’s probably going to f**k her, no matter how wrong it is.

  I left lunch feeling weird. Oh, it was all good between Cal and me, and I believe we have started what may be a really good friendship. I don’t judge him for what he did. Plus, he’s paid the price. He lost Matt, and that tears him up.

  But I felt weird because Cal gave me some insight to Matt. He told me that Matt changed after he found out they’d slept together. He said the divorce was really bitter, and there was a huge and ugly fight over custody of their son.

  Yes… Matt had a son, and I didn’t even know about it.

  So, yeah… I have some weird feelings right now.

  As far as Matt and I are concerned, we settle into a weird sort of routine.

  At work, we hardly see each other but when we do, there always seems to be some sort of secret smile that we manage to pass on to each other. The two times we actually had to meet in his office to go over cases, he was extremely professional, although once he slid his pinky finger over the back of my hand. When I glanced at him, he gave me a look filled with heat and desire, and I felt lit up from within over just that slight touch.

  At the end of the day, Matt will stroll into my office and ask what I want to eat. I’ll hem and haw, and finally decide on something. He’ll then leave, and I’ll pack up to head home. About an hour later, Matt shows up at my apartment with food and then well… you can guess what happens after that.

  As if on cue, my doorbell rings and I open it up. There stands Matt, holding a bag of Chinese food and a bouquet of flowers.

  I’m stunned, my jaw dropping open.

  I mean, I was expecting Matt and the Chinese food, and I had been sitting here for the last ten minutes hoping he’d get me an extra egg roll, but never in a million years did I think he’d bring me flowers. This was way better than an extra egg roll.

  Before I can say anything, I hear from behind Matt, “Yum! Chinese! And I’m starving. Oh hey, nice flowers. ”

  Macy steps around Matt, who is still standing in the doorway, and walks into the apartment. I move back so Matt can come in. “Matt… this is my roommate, Macy. Macy… this is Matt. ”

  “Hey,” Macy says, as she looks him up and down like he’s a slab of meat. “Dayum, Mac. He is H-O-T. If you ever get tired of hitting that, let me know. I’ll take him for a test drive. ”

  I roll my eyes as Matt just stares at Macy as if she were a circus attraction, which sometimes… she might as well be.

  She saunters up to him and takes the food out of his hands. “Nice to meet you, and thanks for the food. I’m starving. ”

  Matt raises his eyebrows and shoots me a bewildered look. I call out into the kitchen, “That’s Matt’s and my dinner. ”

  She yells back. “I’m willing to share. Come on in and let’s eat. ”

  “I’m sorry,” I lean over and whisper to Matt, taking the flowers from him. “We can make up some plates and go eat in my bedroom if you want. ”

  I get a wide-eyed stare, and then he starts walking toward the kitchen as if in a trance… strangely hypnotized by Macy’s own brand of weirdness. “No way,” he says in wonder. “I want to get to know this roommate of yours a little bit better. ”

  Giggling, I follow him in and make myself busy putting the flowers in water. I didn’t even get a chance to thank him properly, but I can do that later. I know just the thing that will make him very, very happy.