Page 68 of Vengeful Seduction
Angela’s suspicions raced through my head, and I searched his face to try to see anything inappropriate. I didn’t. He just seemed a little concerned. Nothing more.
“Yes, of course,” I murmured, and just to have something to do, I started to clean up after the party. It was better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself. After all, this was my choice. David hadn’t forbidden me to go, or I surely would have gone just to spite him.
Of course, in order for David to forbid me to do something, he would have to be around. I’d barely seen him at all, he’d been so lost in work.
“You want to come,” Brent commented, and he wasn’t really asking a question. More making a statement of truth, and I couldn’t even deny his words. I did want to go do something silly and brainless, but I couldn’t.
“Yes,” I admitted. There seemed little point in denying it. He obviously already knew the truth.
“So, come. David won’t mind,” Brent coaxed. “It’ll be so fun, and way more so with you there. Everyone wants you to go. David’s so busy that he probably won’t even notice if you’re here or not.”
Ugh. Probably true, as well. With how busy David was, I could probably strip naked and do a belly dance for him, and he wouldn’t even notice. He got snarly when I even came into his office while he was working.
So why not go?
I could. Even if David did notice, I could send him a text or something, inviting him to come if he wanted to. I would be able to perfectly defend my actions, too, if he got into it with me.
The least he could have done was come down to say hello to our guests. The more I thought about it, the ruder I found his absence. He could’ve at the very least come in for a few minutes, said hello to everyone, then excused himself. Hell, his friends were there too. But he hadn’t even bothered to do that much, and he’d known how much I was looking forward to this get-together.
Brent was charming and breezy, and being around him would lead to a good time. With him and all of my friends around me, I knew I would have a much better time than if I sat around here sulking and cleaning up the mess.
Maybe I should just do it.
I looked down at the garbage I’d been collecting and I could picture myself doing it. Drop it. Deal with it later. Go out and salvage this evening for myself.
“No,” I suddenly said, not without regret. Maybe David was caught up in his work and he could have easily lost track of time. I often had to brave his wrath to bring him food, or he wouldn’t eat enough. I tried to think about how I’d feel if I got off of a long shift at work, only to find David had ditched me to go hang out with his friends.
It would suck for him to come out of his work-induced fog, only to find himself alone in a very messy house. I wasn’t particularly happy with him, but I didn’t want him to go through that either.
“Kaye …” Brent took a step closer to me, and I just as quickly took a step back, maintaining my distance from him. Once more, my friend’s words rang through my head.
Was Brent in love with me?
Better not to know. Better to think Angela was just being her typically dramatic self. I could be an ostrich with my head in the sand if I wanted to. There was really nothing wrong with that, if it saved a friendship, that is.
“No, I’m just going to stay here and wait for my husband.” I made sure to emphasize the last word. My husband and Brent’s best friend. He really needed to keep those simple facts in mind.
Even if he did have feelings for me, it was never going to happen, and I utterly refused to give him any false hope on the matter. I was alone, and I was pretty miserable at my own party, but I wouldn’t do anything that might even have a chance of hurting David.
“Okay.” Brent gave me one of those shiny, flashy smiles--the ones I’d already noticed he used to cover up whatever his true emotions were. In this case, I was just as happy to let him do it.
If he did have any inappropriate feelings for me, it was just as well that he hid them from me, from David, and even from himself. He couldn’t help what he felt if he did feel anything, but he needed to know it was hopeless.
“Have fun.” I gave him a big smile in return. I wasn’t as good at hiding what I was feeling as he was, but I did my very best.
Gathering up handfuls of trash, I went into the kitchen. I could have found a different garbage can, of course, but I thought it best if the conversation with him was cut off right then.
When I came back out to keep tidying up, he was gone. Despite my annoyance at having to miss the karaoke bar, I was glad he’d left.
I had done the right thing.
David had every reason to be suspicious of women, and I wanted to give him no reason to doubt me. No reason at all.
David
What was it going to take to get Kaye to be disloyal to me, in even the smallest of ways?
What sort of woman was she that she would continually pick me? I kept giving her every possible reason to pull away from me, and yet she kept trying to stay close.
