Page 16 of A Savior for the Arrogant Dragon

“Oh, I forgot,” she said, plopping down at the table. “I can’t believe it slipped my mind, I really have to get myself together and stop thinking about Simon. This is ridiculous.”

“Last night must have gone well,” Mary Beth said, grinning at her. “Did he kiss you?”

“Did he kiss me? Mary Beth we’re barely friends. Of course he didn’t kiss me, that would have been easy to handle,” she said, then sighed. “He was a perfect gentleman, he even opened up to me about his first love, and well……some other stuff. He was way too human last night, he didn’t make one rude remark the whole time, and he can cook, Mary Beth. I never should have gone over there last night; it was a big mistake. Now I think I like him even more.”

“So, what’s wrong with that?” Mary Beth asked. “There are worse things than liking a man, and if you like him that means you can sleep with him now.”

“Is everything about sex with you?” she asked with an exasperated sigh. “Let’s just change the subject, okay.”

“Fine, I won’t say another word about it, but you’re missing out,” she said, shaking her head. “I got an email from my secretary, the paperwork from the courtis ready. She’s going to run down to the courthouse and pick it up this afternoon. The judge signed off on everything you wanted, sole custody of Kiley, a generous amount of child support, and the restraining order against Virginia. He did give Edward one supervised visit a month, but he has to come to you, and he has to come alone unless you approve it ahead of time.”

“So, it’s really over?” she asked. “That’s the end of it.”

“Yep, you won, Kira,” Mary Beth said, smiling at her. “You showed that bastard he messed with the wrong woman.”

“We won, Mary Beth. I couldn’t have done it without you,” she said, a huge weight lifting off her shoulders. “A year ago, I thought I was going to lose my baby. Instead, she’s all mine, and I have everything I need to give her the best life possible.”

“Seeing Edward pay for what he did to you was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. He was a real piece of trash; I still can’t believe he served you with custody papers the day you gave birth,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m just glad I was in that room with you. The jerk might have gotten away with it, and I can’t even bear to think of you and Kiley being separated.”

“Well, thanks to you, that will never happen,” she said, then sat up. “We should celebrate, do something fun, or eat something really bad for us.”

Mary Beth looked out the window, “As long as we can do it inside, I’m in,” she said. “What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know, but we won’t figure it out hanging around here,” she said, getting to her feet. “I’m going to go get dressed. Let’s make a run for the village, maybe that will spark our imagination.”

CHAPTER 10

***SIMON***

Simon woke up on Max’s couch the next morning, his phone buzzing in his pocket, and it took him a few seconds to figure out what it was. Since he’d been on the island the phone had been completely silent, but he’d still been carrying it around with him everywhere. Now, he wished he’d left the stupid thing in his cabin. When the phone finally went silent, he let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes again, so tired he could barely keep them open.

Only a few seconds later, the phone began to buzz again, and with a groan, he sat up, dug it out of his pocket, and tried to focus on the screen. The numbers and letters were blurry and seemed to switch places for a while before he was finally able to see them clearly, and his heart sank when he realized who was calling. Tempted to ignore the call again, he stared at the phone, willing it to stop ringing, then finally gave up with a huge sigh and connected the call.

“Hey, Dad, I’ve been meaning to call you,” he said, his head still swimming just a bit. “What time is it there?”

“Where the hell are you?” his father demanded. “We’vebeen waiting for you to show up, and the cook is having a fit because dinner is going to be ruined.”

“Dad, what are you talking about?” he asked, running his hands through his hair. “I’m with Max St. Clair, don’t you remember? I told you I was going to spend two weeks at his new resort.”

“And I told you to cancel those plans,” his father barked. “Simon, this is the last straw. I was prepared to give you one more chance to do what’s expected of you, but I can’t do that because you’re not here. You’ve wasted your chance. I’m done supporting your lifestyle. If you want to continue to be a party boy, you’ll have to find another way to pay for it. As of this moment, you’re cut off, I’m canceling your credit cards, closing your bank account, and you have thirty days to be out of the condo before I have you evicted.”

“Wait, what?” he asked, sure that he’d heard his father wrong. “You can’t do that, I’ll be out on the street, I have no place to go.”

“Maybe your good buddy Max will let you stay a while. Even better yet, maybe he’ll give you a job,” his father said. “Oh, no wait, I forgot you’re too good to work.”

“Dad, come on, let’s talk about this,” he said. “I want……”

“Simon, I don’t care what you want any more,” his father said. “This isn’t open for discussion, I’m done with you, so is your mother, and I don’t even want to tell you what your brother had to say about you. Goodbye, son, I hope you grow up someday and accept your responsibilities like a real man.”

The line went dead before he could say anything, and he pulled it away from his ear and stared at it for a second, too shocked to even react. “Well, that didn’t sound good from this end,” Max called from the kitchen. “The coffee is ready, I bet you could use a cup.”

“My dad just cut me off,” he said, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth. “He said he’s not going to pay formy party lifestyle anymore and gave me thirty days to get out of the condo. I knew he was unhappy with me, but I didn’t think he was that upset. I mean, just because I’ve missed a few family functions, that’s no reason to go all crazy.”

Max was silent for a second, “I’m guessing it was more than just missing a few family dinners,” he finally said. “Come on, Simon, you’ve been doing so good this week, don’t start lying to yourself now.”

“It’s too early for this crap,” he said, rubbing his forehead where he was starting to get a headache. “I need some coffee before I even think about this.”

“Coffee isn’t going to help, only a good dose of reality is going to do that,” Max said, his footsteps crossing the kitchen. “It sounds like you just got that.”

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