Page 113 of Past Due

“Dan broke up with her yesterday,” Briana explained in a hushed tone.

“I thought they were working it out?” Carly asked.

“So did Nicole,” Briana said, “but apparently, Dan never actually broke it off with his dentist and now she’s pregnant.”

“Isn’t she, like, forty?” Aston asked, aghast.

“And divorced from her husband who never wanted kids,” Briana said. “Dan came home last night, packed a bag and told Nicole he’s done. He’s going to do the whole married with kids thing with the dentist!”

“Why didn’t she say anything?” Marley asked, clearly worried about her friend.

“She didn’t want to ruin your night,” Briana said.

“Except she did,” Logan pointed out, and Besian decided he really liked her. “She made it weird and uncomfortable.”

“She’s hurting!” Marley insisted.

“She’s lucky you held me back or else she’s be in a whole world of pain right now,” Aston grumbled.

“You aren’t really going to call her boss, right?” Marley asked, gazing up at him with those beautiful eyes.

Unable to deny her anything, he relented. “No, I won’t call Marissa.”

“Tell her that,” Marley urged Briana. “I don’t want her worrying about her job on top of everything else.”

“I’ll make sure she knows,” Briana promised, hugging Marley.

As Briana left to collect Nicole from the front door, Marley placed her hand on his chest. “Thank you for not calling Marissa.”

“You’re welcome.” He bent down to kiss her. “Don’t forget Jet is coming over later.”

“I know.” She had agreed to let one of his men stay at the penthouse until he came home in the morning, just to be sure she was safe.

“I left the papers we talked about on my desk,” he reminded her.

“Okay.”

“I’ll be home very late so don’t wait up.”

“After all the wine we’ve had,” she gestured to the empty bottles on the counter, “that won’t be a problem.”

He claimed her mouth one last time as the other women returned to their drinks and snacks. He was loathe to leave her, but his businesses needed his attention.

“You know, Nicole wasn’t totally wrong about the exploitation thing,” Hannah said as he got closer to the door. “There are some real scummy places that exploit the fuck out women who have no other options.”

“So do hotels and construction companies and any other place that hires illegal immigrants for a couple of dollars an hour under the table,” Abby pointed out defensively.

“If I had tits,” Logan said matter-of-factly, “I would dance at one his clubs in a heartbeat. Some of those girls make four figures a night. A night!” she repeated. “Can you imagine how fast I could pay off my student loans?”

“You have perfect little boobies,” Aston remarked. “You just hide them really well. Hey!” Aston shouted suddenly, as if she had just had a great idea. “We should go to Amateur Night!”

Someone spluttered on their drink, and Besian froze with his hand on the door knob. Aston couldn’t be serious. Right?

“I mean it!” Aston insisted. “Look at us! I bet we could set a record!”

“Of brawls and parking lot fights?” Abby asked. “Because if you get up there and dance naked on a pole, Ben is going to lose his shit on every man that looks at you.”

“Maybe,” Aston allowed, “but the sex after would be incredible. I mean—like wild. You know? All that jealous passion? Like rip the sheets off the bed, screaming, sweat, bed breaking sex.”

“You are a terrible influence,” Carly decided, laughing hysterically.

Besian couldn’t agree more. God help him if Aston managed to convince Marley to try it. Because the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to see his wife let go and dance with uninhibited, sensual abandon.

Irritated that he had to work, he sighed heavily and left the apartment. The sooner he finished his business, the sooner he could get back to his bride and do all the wicked things she loved.

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