B00BR2BOUU EBOK (3 page)

“You were saying?”
Nothing, absolutely nothing, do not
listen to me.

I moaned very lightly, and that was enough for him to caress
my mouth. His lips were warm and tasted ever so slightly of blueberries. I
gently licked them and savoured the taste.
Mmmmm, he tastes so good.
We
deepened our kiss, but kept it very controlled and sensual, it was simply
wonderful. Suddenly, he broke away and stood up. “Don’t make promises you can’t
keep, Ms Summers.”
Grrrrrrr, he is winning too many of these challenges!

“I hate you,” I said sulkily as I recovered from his
spellbinding tease.

“No, you don’t.” He sniggered back at me as he walked away.
No,
I don’t.

***

Bryce began cleaning up the tipped over table and leftovers
from breakfast, and watched me as I walked up the stairs. He still wore a
secretive and mischievous smile, so I poked out my tongue and followed with a
rather loud raspberry in response to his annoying expression. This only seemed
to add to his already private joke, so I glared at him then disappeared to his
room to freshen up after our marathon of fuckery.

As I entered his bathroom, the reflection in his mirror
stopped me in my tracks, finally revealing what his bloody secret was.
Are
you kidding me? Oh very funny, Mr. Clark.
Stuck in various spots amongst my
hair were approximately five rose petals. I looked like a freaking human bird’s
nest. I couldn’t help but let out a little squawk, the joke was already on me,
so why not?
Cheeky bastard. Alexis Summers does not forget things very
easily.
As I plucked the petals from my hair, ideas of revenge started
floating around in my head. I stepped into the shower and ran through them.
Right,
the good old fashioned hug him and stick a note to his back! Or, kiss him on
the cheek with a bright red lipstick.
Unfortunately, none of these
satisfied my building urge for retribution.
Patience, Alexis. Was it not Mr
Hotpants Clark that said ‘Good things come to those who wait?’ Well wait I
shall.

***

It was Tuesday morning and technically a work day, so I made
my way to the walk in stadium.
Yes, stadium! I still cannot get over how big
his closet actually is.
I found it quite overwhelming standing in this
enormous space staring at the numerous high-end fashion choices. I think the
fact there were so many items to choose from actually made it much more
difficult to make a decision. I did, however, make a decision; finally deciding
on the Versace square-neck lace dress. I picked this one because I knew he would
like it, a lot. It was tight—very tight—clinging snuggly to my breasts, and
with the assistance of my Aubade push-up bra, made them look about ten years
younger.
Ha, check these puppies out! Not bad...this will teach him.
The
dress was predominantly an ivory colour with black laced chiffon over the top.
It had long sleeves, and the hemline rested just above my knee. I completed the
revenge outfit with a pair of black patent, Jimmy Choo Mary Janes, then I blow
dried my hair, and applied the very minimal makeup I was now used to wearing. I
assessed my vengeful attire in the mirror.
Alexis you are getting quite good
at this.

I reached for my phone. The clock read 10a.m. already.
Lucky
you sleep with the boss, or you’d be fired!
There were also five missed
calls and two text messages from Rick.

Message 1 -

Babe, I’m sorry. It’s not what you think, really it isn’t.

You never gave me the chance to explain myself.

Please call me back, Rick

Message 2 -

Alexis, obviously you need time and don’t want to talk.

I respect that, take the time.

But by the end of the week,

if you have not returned my call or messaged me

I will track you down.

By the way, you looked stunning on TV last night, and I miss
you xo

It’s not what I think? What am I
supposed to think then? You accidently tripped over, and your dick just
happened to land inside of Claire?
I closed the messages. I was beyond
hurt, now I was mad. How dare he try and defend himself and brush it off as
though it was nothing, our twelve years of marriage was now flushed down the
toilet. The worst thing about it though, wasn’t that he’d been tempted to
cheat—I knew how that felt. It was the fact he had lied to me for so long about
it, he had kept it a secret for five friggin’ years.

Claire was the daughter of my parent’s friends and was 27 at
the time. I had helped her get the receptionist position at Melbourne Mortgages
as a favour to her parents. I remembered back to when Rick came home after a
late shift with Claire, smelling of Red Door (which I hate by the way). I asked
him outright, 'Is something going on between the two of you?' He'd said 'No'
and informed me she’d had a fight with her best friend and was upset, so he'd
hugged her in the hope she would stop crying. I know he hates crying, so I’d
accepted his version of events, but I’d become slightly suspicious at the
Christmas party when she seemed to hang off everything he said and did. She
only worked there for another month or so after that, and apparently took off
backpacking overseas—I hadn’t heard or asked about her since.
I hope she is
stuck in the fucking Sahara Desert somewhere and being spat on by a camel.
I shivered all over and physically tried to shake the memories of her out of my
head.
Right don’t think about it, Alexis. Deal with it at the end of the
week
.

Whom I did have to deal with right now was my mother,
Maryann Blaxlo. Mum was not a stupid woman. In fact, she was as sharp as they come,
and I had no doubt she knew something was not right, not only from my televised
appearance the night before, but by Rick’s and the kids’ moods. The good thing
about Mum was she didn’t stubbornly force you to pour your heart out if you
didn’t want to, and she never judged. I sat on the edge of the bed and
hesitantly dialled Mum and Dad’s phone number.

“Hello, Alexis Elizabeth.”
Yep, she knows something. Typical
mother tactic of saying your full name.

“Hi, Mum. I’m just checking in on the kids. Are they
around?”

“Nate is on the tractor with your father, and Charlotte is
helping me with the herb garden. So Alexis, how was the Tel V Awards? That was
quite some honour being named best dressed.”
What? Holy shit. Cool, or was
it? God I hope I’m not being splashed all over Sunrise and The Morning Show
right now. Crap!

“Really!? I didn’t know that! Yes, that is an honour. It was
a stunning dress, Mum”
Change the subject, Alexis.
“Mum I really can’t
be long. Can I speak to Charlotte, please?” She murmured something and handed
Charli the phone.

“Hi, Mummy. I saw you and Mr. Clark on TV. You looked beautiful...like
a famous person.”
Lol, silly little rabbit.

“Thank you, darling. It was a very pretty dress, wasn’t it?
Hey, guess what, Charli Bear? Guess who I met?”

“Who? 4life? Who Mum?” If she was this excited at the sheer
mention of me possibly meeting her favourite band, she was going to
hyperventilate when she found out what Bryce had arranged for her the night
before; her face would be priceless.

“No sweetie not 4Life. Sierra Thomas. She signed a napkin
for you and took a picture with me!”

“Really? Awww sick Mum!”
Sick? Oh no. Not you too, Charli
Bear.

“I’ll give it to you when I see you on the weekend, okay?”

“Cool! Do you want to speak to Nanny again?”
No, not
really.

“Yeah, put her on sweetheart. Love you. Bye.” Charlotte
handed the phone back to Mum. There was silence on the other end at first, and
I knew she was waiting for me to share some more information.

“Mum.”

“Yes, Alexis?”
Really? I’m no longer a minor, lose the
patronizing tone.

“Rick and I are taking some time apart. I don’t want to get
into it with you over the phone, I will explain on the weekend when I come and
get the kids. I just want you to know I’m fine, and I’m staying at work. I have
my mobile if you need me for anything at all.” I waited for her response, which
did not come straight away.

“Alexis, love, just take care of yourself and know the kids
are fine and happy and that we love you.” Tears began to build in my eyes.
No,
Alexis, panda-eyes are not welcome here.

“Thanks Mum, I love you too. Can you tell Nate to ring me
later before he goes to sleep, please?”

“Of course, darling.”

“Okay. Bye.” I sat there staring at the phone for a few
seconds. I loved my children and felt terribly guilty—guilty, because I was
away from them at this particular moment—and guilty, because I was here having
the most wonderful time with a man who was not their father.
Alexis, you are
entitled to a break from your children once in a while. They are in good hands,
and they love spending time at the farm.
They did love it, Nate had even
said to me once that he was moving out to live on the farm and help Dad, and
that I could visit him whenever I wanted. I remember laughing at him, but the
then 4-year-old-eyes looking back at me were very serious. I explained that he
could move out when he was 18, but until then I owned him outright and he had
to stay put. I giggled to myself at the memory when I felt the bed move, and
found Bryce was standing at the end of it. I hadn’t heard or seen him come in.
He walked over and helped me up, then wiped the few tears that had stopped on
my cheeks. He kissed me softly, and cupped my face.

“It’s going to be all right, my love. I promise. We were
meant to be together, and that’s all that matters in the end.” I wanted to
believe him, more than anything, but it’s never ‘all that matters in the end’.
It’s never that simple.

CHAPTER TWO

Bryce gave me a soft smile, infecting me with his
enthusiasm. Maybe always being optimistic was the key to his success?
Unfortunately, optimism was easier said than done in my case. He gently cupped
my face and kissed me.

“Now, no more crying Hunny, you are far too beautiful to be
drowned in tears.”

“I’m fine Bryce, really I’m fine. I’m just worried about the
kids. That’s all. Thankfully though, they’re at the farm which one of their
favourite places in the world.”

“What’s their other favourite place?” he asked curiously.

“McDonalds,” I replied. He laughed, kissed me on the forehead,
then stood back and inspected my payback outfit. He ran his hand through his
hair, and of course now, I knew my plot was beginning to have its effect.
“You, Mr. Clark are in big trouble!”

“Why?” He scoffed at me, as
his private-joke face returned.

“So you like the whole bird’s
nest look, ay?”

He started laughing. “You can
pull off any look, Hunny.”
You’ll be pulling off after my next move, Mr.
Smartarse.

I raised my eyebrow at him. “It’s
fine, have your little joke. I’ll remember this.” I turned around, bent over,
and placed both my hands on the bed in an over exaggerated stretch for my
handbag; making sure I took my sweet time to retrieve it. “I will see you
shortly. I have work to do.” I took hold of my bag, stood back up, and cat-walked
toward the door.

“Ms Summers, you do realise
you have the day off?”
No, do I?

I turned to face him. “And
why is that, Mr. Clark?”

“Because your boss said so.”

“Well if it’s the boss’
orders, I can’t exactly argue with them, can I?”

“No, you can’t.”

“So, what should I do on my
day off then?” I leaned up against the door frame, sort of like the seductive
pose Sandy from Grease does in ‘You’re The One That I Want’.
Alexis, no
wonder he laughs at you. You’re an idiot.
His hands flexed, indicating my
plot was continuing to work.
Good. Make him beg.

“You should do what your boss
tells you to do, Ms Summers.”

“But it is my day off;
therefore, my boss is not the boss.” I turned back around, and exited the room.

***

I knew he would be in
pursuit, so I picked up my pace once I was around the corner. The problem was,
my Jimmy Choo Mary Janes were not made for running, therefore, I only made it
as far as the top of the stairs before his arms reached around my shoulders and
held me to him. I screamed.

“Alexis, you cannot run from
me.” He kissed the back of my neck.
Oh crap, don’t give in. Remember, make
him beg.

“I could if I weren’t in
heels. You have an unfair advantage.”

“Really?” He let me go and
moved around to my front. “I can fix that.” And with his cheeky smirk, slid
down a few steps and picked up my foot. Slowly, he traced his finger up and
down my calf, untied the buckle and removed my shoe, then repeated the process
with the other foot. “Right, we are on even ground now. You’ve got a 20 second
head start...Go!”
What?
I looked at him confused. He turned and started
counting as he walked back to his bedroom.
Shit! Hide and Seek.
I
squealed, hitched up my dress slightly, and took off, jumping over the last two
steps.

Where was Charlotte when I
needed her?
To label her a professional
at this game would be an understatement. She could hide in the smallest and most
difficult spots imaginable.
Fuck, where do I go?
His apartment was huge,
however, after desperately scanning my surroundings, I quickly concluded that I
really didn’t have many options, especially on the first floor. I had no choice
but to head outside. Luckily, the bi-fold doors were open, allowing me to sneak
out and onto the balcony without him hearing. I ran past the swimming pool and around
the corner. The doors to his dining area were also opened, thank goodness,
which gave me a second escape route if needed. I spotted a large home gym
machine up against a wall, and next to that wall was a window.
That will do.
I crouched down behind the gym machine. I could see into the apartment without
giving my hiding spot away thanks to a large potted Yucca, so I peered through
the leaves and watched him come down the stairs.
You can seek me any day,
hot stuff.
The way he walked and wore the most adorable smirk ever, plucked
at my heart strings. It was obvious he enjoyed his games, and I enjoyed playing
them with him. My heart started to pound as the adrenalin began to build in my
body. I watched him look towards the bi-folds then over to the kitchen. I
thought he was going for the latter as he started in that direction, but he
went straight to his front door and left the apartment.
Shit, where is he
going? Or is this a trick?