Page 55 of Vengeful Seduction
“Let go of me.” As I said the words, I was more and more sure I was right. Something here was wrong—very wrong—and I needed to stop it before it got more wrong.
“What’s wrong?” Brent asked, and he pulled away from me a little, but kept his arm around me. It started to feel more oppressive than comforting, and I stood up, looking down at him, deeply thoughtful.
“I’m not stupid,” I told him, my breathing very rapid and my heart pounding. What situation had I gotten myself into? Whatever it was, I had to get myself out of it immediately.
“What do you mean?” he asked, but I could swear I saw a hint of wariness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I didn’t think so.
I was pretty sure it was the confirmation I needed. I needed to stop this—to halt this before it got messy. Even messier than it already was.
“You’re always there when things get rough,” I spoke slowly, letting myself feel out the words before I said them. I was going to sound insane, paranoid, and probably egotistical, but I still needed to get this all out. “You always say the right things and you always take my side over my husband’s. That’s pretty weird behavior for his best friend.”
Brent stood up and walked away from me, hands on the railing, facing away from me. I had a sudden burst of insight that told me he just didn’t want me looking at this face right then. Why? Unless I was right …
His voice was smooth, but there was an edge of sadness when he said, “I know how hard David can be is all.”
“Look, couples have arguments,” I continued on, looking at his back. “No marriage is going to be easy. I knew it going into this. Most of my friends have been divorced, so yeah, I get it. It’s never going to be a smooth road—not all of the time. I wasn’t expecting anything of the sort when I married David.”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking,” he replied, his voice strangely tight. “But you’re way off. I lived with David for years. We were in college together. I know how hard he can be to live with. That’s all there is to it.”
I frowned, trying to study him, but it was difficult when he wouldn’t even look at me. The thing was, he wasn’t quite acting like he was telling the truth. His actions were just a little bit suspicious. I always tried to see the best in everyone, but I wasn’t born yesterday.
But he was my husband’s best friend, and I didn’t want to have conflict with the man. “Are you sure that’s all, Brent?”
“I just wanted to help.” Brent didn’t look at me as he said the words. “I wasn’t trying anything else. I’m sorry if you took it that way.”
Ugh. He was trying to make me sound like I was crazy, wasn’t he? Just then and there, my alarm level jumped up, making me take a few more steps away from him. He was sorry if I took it that way.
I could swear I wasn’t taking it ‘that way’ for no reason. But he was trying to act like nothing was going on. I didn’t know if I bought it. I could be wrong, but my intuition was telling me something was going on here.
“I just want to be your friend.” Brent finally turned around and his face was completely composed. But when I looked closer, I saw tightness around his eyes and lips that I was sure he wasn’t even aware of. I was looking for the signs and I saw them everywhere. “I just want to help you and David. I want you guys to make it.”
As always, he was saying all the right things. A little bit too right. I frowned, looking him over, and searching his face—his eyes. I didn’t like what I saw. “Please don’t worry about me.” My voice sounded very formal to my own ears, but in this case, it was definitely better to be too formal than too friendly. I didn’t want him to have any hope he would ever have anything from me, other than my friendship.
I hated being so cold, especially when I’d liked Brent so much before, but I wasn’t going to lead anyone on. My allegiance was to my husband, and no other man should think they had a shot.
“As if I could stop myself.” He gave me a smile. “But I’ll butt out if that’s what you really want, Kaye.”
“David is in his office, I believe, if you came to see him. Have a good night,” I said softly, then walked into the house. My body didn’t feel big enough to hold my emotions and if I stayed any longer I knew it might get messy.
It took a lot to annoy me, but this whole situation was starting to. With David acting so bizarre, and now Brent being just a little bit too conveniently there, I’d had enough. There was only so much one woman should be expected to take and I was far beyond it.
Maybe I was insane. Maybe the signs I was getting from Brent weren’t accurate. After all, I was hardly very good at telling when people wanted me. I’d always kind of ignored the whole attraction thing, at least until I’d met David.
I was on high alert, though, and I didn’t think I was wrong. I was fairly certain I knew the look in Brent’s eyes, and it was desire. Did he want me sexually? Or worse, did he think he could have me?
Did he, for some reason, think he could take me from David? From the only man I could ever love?
Surely he wasn’t so stupid. I had never given him even the slightest sign …had I? My mind raced as I thought back to all of our interactions. There were so few of them, it didn’t take me long.
Flopping down on my bed, I shook my head. I had allowed him and David to dominate me together …and I had liked it. But it hadn’t been my idea. I never would have done it without David there, either.
Well, it was a no-brainer for me to say it would never happen again. I had to be perfectly polite to Brent, but firm. I didn’t want to make things awkward, and Brent hadn’t actually done anything, so I didn’t want to create problems between Brent and David.
But I was definitely going to be much more careful around Brent from now on.
