Page 1 of Dirty Rotten Cheating Husband

CHAPTER 1

Clementine

There were stars in my eyes as Grayson and I headed for our seats at the Bellevue Theater. The tickets clutched in my hot little hand were for the best seats in the entire theater—in a private box with a perfect view of the stage.

And we were going to the opening night of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

As a graduate student in costume design, I loved the theater. It was my dream to one day design the costumes for a big city play just like this one.

But I would never have been able to afford opening night tickets if my husband’s accounting firm wasn’t going.

As we threaded through the crowds, I retreated further into Grayson’s arms, wanting to melt into him as I always did.

Shy, uncomfortable with scrutiny, I always preferred to hide under his big shadow.

As usual, Grayson was by far was the tallest person around, a huge broad giant of a man with a sharp dark crewcut, ice-blue eyes, and a strong, clean-shaven jaw.

His height and stern, serious face frightened a lot of people, but not me. All that strength was my protection.

I caught a glance of myself in one of the tall, ornate mirrors, and looked quickly away. I wanted to be strong and confident, but I was always afraid of what people were thinking when they saw Grayson and I.

She’s with him?

How did you get him?

By the time a few of my graduate student friends and cousins had asked me the same thing, I started to get a complex.

I didn’t want to be gawked at, so I wore loose clothes, anything I could hide behind, tied my long brown hair into a bun, too afraid of the surprise I’d see in people’s eyes to do anything but look down at the ground or where my hands were tightly clasped in Grayson’s much bigger one.

It was always a relief to sink into our seats, and know the lights would soon dim and it would be just my husband and me.

“Look at the paneling!” I breathed, clutching my husband’s big arm. “It’s so gorgeous. I feel like pinching myself!”

“You’re trembling,” Grayson said, putting his other hand on mine.

“With excitement,” I whispered back, fumbling for the program so I could excitedly whisper all the pre-scene details to my husband.

His coworkers filed in one by one to the private box and took their seats beside us. Mr. Thomas, the CEO of the company, Vivi the CFO, Nakamura the Tech Specialist, and Williams the Tax Specialist.

They all nodded in a friendly manner, and Vivi tapped my legs with her long red nails as she went by.

“Don’t you look, sweet, honey. You’re such a little angel.”

“I—thank you,” I said.

Don’t be jealous, I reminded myself.

Vivi Sloane was the stunning, tall blonde CFO. She had legs for days and the kind of body I would have killed for. Tall, perfectly proportioned, well-dressed.

Even worse, she was everything I wasn’t. Confident, bold, assertive.

But I was not going to be the kind of wife that was jealous of every pretty woman her husband worked with.

Turning resolutely aside, I reminded myself.

I was Mrs. Grayson Bentley. Not her.

The lights dimmed and the show began.

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