Page 35 of A Sip of Sherry

I needed to shower and get my shit together.I had a date with the one woman I should’ve stayed the hell away from.

I finally got what I had wanted for so long, and like always, the universe broke into my life to remind me, anything I ever dared to want.It was never mine to keep.

It was only a matter of time before I lost Sherry.

Before I lost myself.

But damn it to hell.I was going to savor every stolen second of her before it all blew up in my face, and I went down in an inferno of my own doing.

***

A couple of hours later, the sun had sunk into the horizon, and I pulled up to Sherry’s house.I should have been fucking thrilled.This is what I wanted.What I had been chasing for months.But Dad’s words kept replaying in my head.Disgust ran through my veins, thicker than my blood.

I gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white as I forced down the part of me that wanted to pretend I was just a guy and Sherry was just a woman I happened to have some strong connection with and amazing sex.But I knew better.I knew how this was going to end.

It should have been enough to throw the damn car in reverse and get the hell out of here.Leave Sherry alone and let us both go on with our lives.But the porch light flickered on, and she stepped out in a black dress that hugged every perfect curve, stopping at mid-thigh, revealing her toned legs.

I was screwed.Hopelessly and utterly screwed.

I hopped out of the car and walked straight toward the one thing I could never keep, but would tear the world apart to hold onto anyway.Because somewhere along the way, I had fallen for the enemy.

We were royally fucked.Two people destined to crash and burn.But no matter how fucked we were and no matter how deep in my father’s pocket I still was, for tonight, I was hers.

And I would burn it all down just to prove to her it was worth it.Even if the truth would destroy us both.

Maybe that made me a selfish prick.I didn’t care.Not when I reached for Sherry to help her down the stairs, and she slipped her hand into mine, a smile curving her sexy red lips, and a sparkle in those pretty eyes.

Somewhere between the lies and the secrets, she had become the only thing that felt real.The only thing in my life that made any sense.

Nothing else mattered anymore.

Chapter 12

Sherry

I hated how good he looked.I hated how he was an absolute gentleman who met me at the stairs and held his hand out for me to take.I hated how he told me I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.I hated how he opened the car door and waited for me to be comfortable before shutting the door and rounding the car to the driver’s seat.I hated that when he sat in the seat, he looked over at me and smiled that charmingly adorable smile that made me want to say screw the date and drag him to bed.

He made me want things I didn’t trust.He made me throw my rules out the damn window.

Being adored, being taken care of, being seen even… that was dangerous.What if he finds out underneath all the control and planning, I was just barely holding it together?

“Ready?”

“Where are we going?”I never asked.I had no idea if I was overdressed, but as soon as he told me to wear a dress, I remembered this little black number in the back of my closet just waiting for its moment.

“The resort.I figured it would be less pressure if we weren’t surrounded by the locals.”

“Afraid of running into Odette?”

“Yes, that woman scares me.”

A laugh burst from my lips, too loud and too aggressive.I slapped a hand over my mouth and tried to silence my outburst, but it was too late.“She’s harmless.She cornered me at the grocery store and grilled me about my mother’s maiden name, my blood type, and whether or not I liked summer weddings.”

“She means well.”

“She was wearing a flamingo print matching set and had lipstick on her teeth,” he muttered.“I thought I was being interrogated by a cartoon character.”

“Wouldn’t she make a fabulous cartoon character?Disney should get on that.They’d make millions.”I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and refocused.“She just likes to know everything about everyone.If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about.”

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