Page 6 of Desire

“It certainly is. The house I grew up in was haunted by an old lady who’d died there years before. I’m sure mymamátold me she’d fallen down the stairs, chasing another ghost out of the house. Then again, mymamáwas always making up stories like that to scare me.”

“She sounds a lot like mine.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Alexis on the dance floor with a girl. His hands are all over her. My friend is definitely the male slut of the show. He adores the attention from the females.

“Did you grow up here? I thought you were a dancer from the show.”

“So that’s why you singled me out.”

I wink, and Delia blushes crimson.

“My friend was after Alexis. She’s dancing with him now. She dared me to speak to you and have some fun.” Delia rolls her eyes at the last word.

“I’m guessing you don’t really want fun?”

I pick up from her tone that something is wrong, and maybe she’d prefer to be at home with a cup of hot cocoa rather than here, talking to me.

“I’m sorry. I’ve probably acted like a real tease. My boyfriend and I broke up last week. We’d been together for five years, and my friend, Anna-Marie, thinks I should jump straight back on the horse, so to speak, and move on.”

“Five years is a long time.”

I peer over Delia’s shoulder and see Alexis leading her friend off the dance floor and to the back of the bar.

He winks at me, and thrusting his hips, he mouths, “Go for it, Latin king.”

Turning my attention back to Delia, I watch as she circles her finger around the rim of her wine glass a few times. She’s not drunk any of it, and the beer in my hand suddenly feels like it’s warm and three days old.

“You know what, I think Anna-Marie might be with Alexis for a few hours. Why don’t we get a bite to eat, and then I’ll drive you home?”

“Just home?”

“Just home. You need to get over your boyfriend before you go riding any more horses.”

Delia chuckles softly.

“Thank you…”

“Leo, Leo Westwood, I’m the newest dancer on the show, but I’m going to be the winner.”

“Well I’ll be voting for you, for sure,” Delia says, taking my hand as we leave the bar.

Later that night while holding my dick and pleasuring myself, I can’t help my thoughts drifting to the only woman I’ve ever considered marrying. Her sweet laugh, her brunette hair cascading down her back, and the sparkle in her eyes full of optimism for her future. We drifted apart, but I don’t really understand why I let it happen. I’ll probably never know, which makes me think I’m destined to live alone for the rest of my life.

Chapter 3

Elise

“You stupid, fucking bitch, how could you think you’d show me up in front of our friends and get away with it? Are you thick in the head or something? I can’t believe it,” Simon screams at me.

His booming voice fills the room, and he’s shaking his fists around like a madman, gesturing his anger as well as voicing it. I’m not entirely sure what I’ve done. Tonight we went to a fundraising event for a local charity. There was a stunning portrait for auction of a little girl playing with a ball on a beach in Malibu. I adored it and thought it would go perfectly in my office, so I bid on it. I got it for a price I could easily afford, considering I earn a few million each movie I make, but it seems to have angered Simon that I’ve purchased it. He stomps over to where the picture, wrapped up for its protection, leans against our white leather sofa. Before I have a chance to stop him the picture is flying through the air and hits the wall on the opposite side of the room. Next thing I know, Simon rushes over and starts jumping on it.

“Stop, please.” I’m desperately trying to plead with him and rescue the painting at the same time, but it’s little more than firewood now—the canvas is ruined, and the frame smashed.

“You picked the most idiotic thing in the room to purchase, and I told you to stop bidding, but you didn’t. You made it look as though I can’t control my own wife. Everyone now thinks I allow you to spend money like it’s going out of fashion and especially on rubbish. The artist was crap. In fact, the whole event was a waste of my time. It’s the last charity event I do. It’s just another means to take advantage of us.”

“Simon, really? That’s not true.”

I’ve never seen him so angry before. It’s scaring me a little. We married two years ago after a whirlwind romance. Our feelings for each other blossomed when we presented an award together and went for a drink afterward. I wasn’t sure at first about starting a relationship as I’d only been in Hollywood a year, but I’d made exceptional progress and had just been lined up for my first major starring role. Simon was a couple years older than me and was already a household name in the action movie scene. We married in his mansion with all our friends from Hollywood watching. The rights to the wedding pictures were sold to a celebrity magazine, and I spent the entire day with a camera in my face. It wasn’t exactly how I envisaged my big day, but I knew Simon had an important project coming up, and the advertising was good for him.

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