The Lion's Den (Faraway Book 2) (26 page)

Amit glanced down at my legs, smiled back at me, and then winked at Brad. “Goddamn, you are one lucky bastard, Brad.” Amit was loud and boisterous. He was easy to love, a complete flirt, and always fun. Heads began to pop out of cubicles, and I could feel Dharma’s presence by the stiffening of Brad’s neck next to me.

“Let’s go in my office.” Brad rushed me along.

I hugged Amit one last time and followed Brad into his office. He shut the door behind me, and a slight sense of relief fell between us. “Now what did you have to show me?”

I lifted the turtleneck over my head, making sure to mess up my hair as I raised it. I took my time. I walked to the chair in front of his desk and draped it over the back. I knew Brad was looking at my ass even without turning around.

“Meredith?”

I walked to my husband and stroked his dick through his pants. Brad’s eyes bulged. I stopped before he was completely hard. I unhooked my bra from the back and let it fall to the floor as I held my forearm across my nipples. I turned and displayed my side to him. A small infinity symbol was tattooed there, right on my ribs.

“What the hell is that?” Brad forgot where he was and who he was hiding from.

“It’s a tattoo. An infinity symbol.” I moved my hand farther to the side and then completely let it drop, exposing both my breasts. Brad’s eyes darted from the tattoo, to my nipples, and back again.

“I can see that.” He leaned down, examining the tattoo, and I let my fingers caress my nipple closest to his face.

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah.” He shook his head, still in disbelief. “I love it.” His breath was hot on my skin. “It’s sexy as fuck.” Brad stood up, and I unzipped his pants and released him.

I pushed him back to his desk and pulled his pants down. The idea of his dick anywhere near me made me sick, but some things were necessary.

“Since when did you want a tattoo?”

Brad sat on his desk, and I stroked him harder, praying he could come without touching the inside of me. “It reminds me of you.”
And how our love is nothing of the sort. It has a very finite end point.
I let my hot breath caress his ear and took his lobe in my mouth, moaning.

“Fuck, Meredith, I’m going to come.”

“You should. Come, Brad.”

He dropped his head back and lifted his shirt before coming all over his stomach.

I released him and waited for his breathing to return to normal. “Well, I won’t keep you. I have to get back for carpool,” I said, and Brad grabbed a tissue from his desk to clean his stomach and pulled his pants up.

“It’s hot, Meredith.” He gathered me into his arms and kissed me. My insides turned at the prospects of where his lips had been. He held me close and his hands ran through my already tousled hair. His breath was heavy when he finally released me.

“I’m glad you like it.”

I redressed in my bra and turtleneck, only tucking in half of my top. I pretended to smooth down my hair, and I grabbed my purse before opening the door to Brad’s office. Dharma was leaning into a cubicle ten feet away. She straightened as she saw me, and I smiled, having recognized her from the holiday party and having just sent the message that her boyfriend was still fucking his wife. I waved to her and turned to smile at Brad one last time before I walked out.

Brad didn’t come home until after ten that night. He was exhausted.

“CAN I TALK TO YOU
a minute?” I asked Vince as soon as I got to work, as if the answer would ever be no.

He stopped pouring his coffee. “Of course,” Vince said and then paused to look at me.

Things had settled into a serene calm between us. Vince kept his distance. We stayed professional and away from personal topics, and I continued to dream about him. I grabbed a tablet and closed his office door as I walked through it. Vince sat rigid in his chair, his light demeanor gone.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Are you going to tell me you’re quitting?”

“No. Not yet.”
Not ever, I hope.
“I need to talk to you about security for the spring fair at the elementary school.” Vince laughed and leaned back in his chair. “Apparently, the sex was so good with you I actually lost my mind and started volunteering to chair horrible committees.”

“It was that good.”

Our laughter trailed off and was replaced by a deep need suspended between us. I couldn’t breathe.

I might have needed mouth-to-mouth.

I cleared my throat. “So, what’s going on with you? Are you seeing anyone?” I joked, but the assumption that he’d wait for me was ridiculous. I wasn’t the only person in this town dreaming of Vincent Pratt. Jenna had already informed me that every woman was talking about our very hot, and recently single, chief of police. They were shameless. But even if Vince moved on, I’d still love him forever.

“No.” Lost in my own depressing thoughts, I had forgotten what I’d asked him. I looked at Vince, confused. “I’m not seeing anyone.” A deep sigh took over my confusion. “Why? Do you want to see me?”
God, I would love to.
“Naked?” he added in with a slight smile on his lips.

“Is this how the spring fair security meeting usually goes?”

“No.” Vince shook his head and never took his eyes off me.

“How come you never tell me I’m beautiful?” In all the time we’d spent together, with and without our clothes on, he’d never used the worn-out “beautiful” compliment.

“You are.”

“But you never tell me.”

“Because I don’t think you consider it a compliment. You prefer to be utilized rather than idolized.”

“Why are you so different today?” There wasn’t an ounce of displeasure in my voice. I’d missed him flirting with me more than I let myself realize. “So forward?”

“I’ve been on Facebook.”

“I thought I suggested you stay off there.”

“You did.” He nodded, still smiling. “And I behaved for a while, but I couldn’t help myself. You post so often now that it’s as if you’re trying to communicate with someone.”

“Facebook is designed to connect people.”

“It seems like you’re trying to connect with new people.” He was taunting me, chiding me into telling him what was going on. Vince turned to his computer and pulled up my Facebook profile. He scrolled through my pictures and clicked on one of Brad sitting on a barstool, with me draped over him, kissing his cheek. “I know you, Meredith. You’d never post a picture like this unless you were up to something.”

“Me?” I raised my hands to my chest. “I just thought it was time to start sharing more with the world.”

“Has Brad noticed? Because he knows you pretty well, too.”

“I don’t think so. He’s been so busy. What with work and all.”

“Of course.” Vince’s face turned dark. “Be careful.” He stared right into my eyes. “You’re playing with fire.” He looked back at the picture on his screen and then shut the window on his computer. When he turned back, his playful demeanor was gone. I was hurting him, and I hated it. I wanted to step behind his desk and fall into his lap. I wanted to kneel between his knees and take him in my mouth. I would have climbed into his truck and raced to his cabin.

“Vince—”

“It’s okay.” He stood, and I rose to my feet. I needed to get out of his office. I needed some distance. “I know this is what it is for now. We’re friends, and if it’s the only way I can have you, then I’ll take it.” He took a deep breath. “It’s just nearly impossible not to love you.” His words sank down between us. I loved him, too.

“I can quit. You won’t have to see me every day.” The idea tore my heart from my chest. I needed to be near him every waking moment. I’d convinced myself it was enough just to be in his presence. Quitting my job would be yet another layer of misery, but I wouldn’t spend my days hurting Vince.

“No. I don’t want you to leave.”

I owed him so much more than I could give him while I was still with Brad. I wouldn’t have another affair. I took two steps toward him and selfishly laid my hands flat on his stomach. The fabric of his uniform was rough under my palms. He watched as I slid them up to his chest. “I’m going to be honest.”

“Always.”

“Deadly so,” I said, and Vince finally looked from my hands to my face. “I’ve been thinking. A lot. Pretty much every hour I’m awake, I am trying to figure out what happened last year. What would have made me cheat on my family the way I did.” I felt him tense beneath my hands. His chest rose as he breathed in my dismissal of our love. “I was unhappy—horribly unhappy—and lonely. I let you fix what you never broke. I let you fill a spot you never vacated. I slipped into the darkness, because I’d follow you to hell if you asked me to.”

Vince placed his hands over mine on his chest. He moved them close to his heart. “I won’t apologize to anyone about last year.”

“You’ll never have to apologize to me for it, but I can’t live in the dark anymore. I want to have a real life.”

Vince took my hands in his own, and his warmth filled me like soft candlelight in a dark room. The heat became unbearable, sticking my clothes and my hair to my skin.

“If I were to tell you the truth right now,” my voice cracked a little as I spoke. “I would tell you that I love you, and I want to be with you every moment of the day.”

Vince lowered his head, and I pulled it to my shoulder. We were becoming champions of impossible situations. I tightened my arms around his neck and inhaled him, letting him fill me, because even just that was enough.

I stepped back from him and steadied myself. “I need to talk to you about security for the spring fair.”

“You are relentless,” he said, finally laughing.

“You hope.”

HOW LONG? HOW LONG WAS
this whole thing going to go on? It’d been five weeks already and besides watching Brad’s misery increase, nothing had come out of it. Brad had left for Singapore, so I wouldn’t have any new pictures to post online. I wasn’t sure if Dharma was with him, and I wasn’t willing to stake out her apartment to find out.

“Allison said I’m invited to her birthday party,” Liv said as I put her lunchbox in her backpack. We’d been in the new house less than a week, and the three of us were already feeling like we were home. There were constant construction crews still there, but the bulk of the work was done.

“That’s nice. Allison Pratt?”

“Yes. The colonel’s daughter.”

“I know who you mean.”

“Aren’t her parents getting divorced?” James said, and both Liv and I turned to him in shock. It was completely unlike James to talk about anything personal about himself or anyone else.

“Who told you that?” I asked, and James shook his head. I took the clean bowls out of the dishwasher and placed them in the cabinet.

“They are divorced,” Liv said. She barely looked up from her cereal bowl. “Mommy, why do people get divorced?”

I stopped everything I was doing. “I don’t know why Allison’s parents got divorced. I don’t know why anyone gets divorced. It’s something very personal between a husband and a wife.”

“And their children,” James added.

“The divorce changes children’s lives forever, but the causes are always about the parents.” I paused and made sure both of my children were listening. “It’s hard to explain, but the love a mommy and daddy have for each other is different than the love they have for their children. There is no such thing as divorce when it comes to a parent and their child. It is absolutely impossible for a mommy to stop loving her son or daughter.”

“It’s an infinite love,” James said.

“Yes. It goes on forever.”

“If you and Dad get divorced, are you going to move away?” Liv asked.

“Never,” I answered too quickly, and then regretted it. I had no guarantees about the future. “Wherever you guys are is where I’ll be. I would be horribly lonely without you.”

“True, probably Dad will move away. He’s used to not seeing us.”

“You know, even when Daddy is away, he loves you just as much?”

“I know.”