Page 104 of Rush of Jealousy

“Of course. I have never been to this lake, and it is so pretty. I really appreciate the effort you made to give me good memories here.”

“We can come back anytime you want. I need more excuses to visit. I do love it here.”

I smile and nod, knowing that being able to go out on the water in one of his boats would be a lot of fun.

“You are like the king here. Everyone seems to know you and respect you.”

He takes a sip of his wine. “I bring them a lot of revenue.”

“Based on the exorbitant number of bottles of wine you purchased today, I can believe that.”

Our stuffed chicken and grilled asparagus arrive, and I dive into the meal, feeling the alcohol and knowing that eating is the best way not to get sick. When I have had enough, I grab my purse and excuse myself to use the ladies’ room on the other side of the dining area. Like the rest of the building, the restroom is just as elegant and decorated with the same country theme. Once I exit, I glance over the items in the attached shop and decide to buy a beautiful picture frame made out of corks and a melted glass wine bottle. It is free to ship to my townhouse via an online order, so I do that to keep it a surprise. I pay and start walking back to the dining area when the air gets stuck in my throat.

My feet halt as soon as I see the brunette woman hugging Graham and pulling out my chair to take a seat in my place. Just like that, my house of cards seems to fall. I dip back behind the joining wall and watch as Graham smiles and gestures toward the direction where I just came from. I am careful not to be seen and continue pretending to look at items off the shelf as I spy and eavesdrop on the scene. I open up a wine and food pairing cookbook and go through the typical motions of someone who is interested.

“You look wonderful,” he responds, leaning in to squeeze her hand over the tabletop. “As always.”

I can only see the side of the woman’s face, but from what I can tell, she is beautiful and model worthy. Her little black dress is classic and refined on her thin frame. Suddenly, I am self-conscious of my outfit, despite it being handpicked by Graham. When her hand reaches out to touch his, I get the urge to take off my heel and stab her flesh with it. While I am at it, I might as well stab out her eyes for eye-fucking my man. I know I am being catty, but what the hell? He isn’t even moving his hand away from hers. As much as I have fought myself to admit it prior to this trip, Graham is very much my boyfriend. And all mine. I don’t share.

I don’t know why it is so hard to say it—even in my own head—but he is my boyfriend. Today, we finally put a label on it.

I think the sound of their laughter is what sends me over the edge. I pivot and make my way to the back of the store where I am stopped by a worker.

“Miss, is everything okay?” she asks. I figure that she knows Graham—everyone around here seems to—and by association, she is probably scared to death that I am displeased with something.

“Oh, yes, everything is great,” I lie. Well, half lie. The food, the service, and the wine are spectacular. The broad bitch sitting inmyseat and flirting withmyman…well, she can go jump into the lake for all I care.

“There you are.” The timbre of his voice penetrates my ears and makes me slump my shoulders in defeat. His hands are on my waist, turning me to look at him. “Where have you been?”

“Oh, just looking around.”

He nods, eyeing me skeptically, and then continues, “I wanted to introduce you to Ria. Ria, this is my Angela.”

Behind him, the supermodel appears in all her glory, smiling her bleached teeth and putting her hand out to me in greeting. I shake her limp hand but imagine the stems of my stilettos hanging out from between her eye sockets. She is lucky I am only violent in my head right now.

“How do you know each other?” I ask expectantly, feeling the muscles in Graham’s body coil. Are you uncomfortable? Good. Serves you right, bastard. What did you expect me to do? Not ask? I put my best smile on for show.

“Well, we…” His words trail off with a sigh, and I can see him trying to collect his thoughts. No need—him not answering right away is my answer.You slept with her. If I am number thirteen, I wonder what number that makes her.

“We went out a few times. Had a hell of a lot offun,” Ria answers proudly.

Yuck.

“It just never worked out long term,” she interjects. “Maybe if I would have moved to the city…”

Her incomplete answer makes me cringe. She still thinks that she has a chance with him. I swallow down the knot forming in my throat and move my teeth to my inside cheek to gnaw. The tearing skin and the wine residue left over in my mouth mix, causing a burning sensation.

“It was a long time ago,” Graham mutters, shifting on his feet and staring down at his hand on my waist. His free hand pushes his hair back from his face—a nervous gesture I have come to know very well. “We should go.”

“Nice meeting you, Angela.” The fake tone of her voice is obvious to me but not to Graham. Ria’s perfect veneer smile is more of a sneer. “I’m glad that the coat I brought over fit you. You definitely fill it out.” She looks me up and down before finishing her thought. “We only had a larger size in stock. Looks like it works perfectly for you. Yay.”

“We have to go,” Graham answers before I can interject my own snippy response.

Damn her. And damn him! I start to take off my coat, but Graham is a step ahead of me and holds it firmly in place. I glare at him in the middle of the wine gift shop as I watch Ria’s retreating figure saunter back to her imaginary pedestal she so proudly perches herself on.

“Let it go,” I whisper, but it comes out like a strangled yell.

“It’s cold out, and I asked her to drop it off with Collins since she lives and works in the area. She has her own clothing shop attached to another winery that her family owns.”

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