Page 2 of His Secret Virgin
“I see that.” With a nod, I’d let her move in; life returned to a bit of the routine I’d left behind when I moved out of our family home.
Having them in the house wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been with their mother around to stir things up. The girls didn’t bicker with each other as much as they had when we all lived under the same massive roof. They got along quite well, as a matter of fact. We all did.
Of course, I didn’t try to make them do much of anything. They came and went as they pleased. Each had their own credit card that I would pay off each month.
They weren’t completely spoiled. I did set limits on their cards. Only fifty thousand a month. If they met their limit, then they had nothing more to spend until the next month came around.
I thought it fair enough.
Somewhere deep inside I knew I should point my girls in some kind of direction. I wasn’t getting any younger, and I wanted to make sure my girls could take care of themselves if anything should ever happen to me.
“I think you two should start thinking about college or a career or something.”
“Why?” Ashley asked as she rolled her blue eyes. “We’re just kidding about your age. You’ve got tons more time. No reason for us to get all worried about money right now.”
Lauren smiled at me as she batted her long, dark, fake lashes. “Yeah, Daddy, why start worrying now?”
Taking another sip of Scotch, I wondered how I could possibly explain something as profound as doing a job, because you should be skilled in at least one thing in life. But nothing came to mind. “Okay, forget it.”
“Even when you do kick it, we’re set.” Ashley reached out, taking the glass out of my hand. “You should stop drinking and maybe take up yoga so you’ll live longer.”
I took my glass back. “I don’t need yoga when there’s alcohol to help me relax after a tough day at work.” Inspiration struck. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. You girls should know how it feels to do a good day’s work, to reap the rewards from doing that. It feels great to accomplish something. To set goals and to be able to see them through—it’s more than satisfying.”
“Um, no,” Lauren spouted. “Mom says that we don’t need to work. She says we’re always going to have money. She made sure that you made tons of money, so she would never have to worry about it. And that money will continue to make more money until the day you die, and then it will still keep growing because of the investments you’ve made.”
My God, these girls are spoiled rotten!
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I had to remind myself that I’d married their mother at the tender age of twenty. I’d been a dumb kid who’d fallen for the first female willing to suck my cock. Granted, she’d only done that while we dated. That shit went out the window as soon as my ring was on her finger.
So many things went out the window once I said ‘I Do.’
The sweet way she’d say my name in her quiet, shy voice, “Christopher, come here, baby.” That all changed. I was no longer her beloved Christopher; she’d started calling me Chris after our vows were said. Sweet names were no longer part of the marital package. And I didn’t understand why.
After our graduation, Lisa began the daunting task of finding just the right job for me. I’d never thought about working in the food industry until she found an opening at a wholesale food company. I came in as a manager, and after I’d climbed the ladder to the top, she came to me with a new idea.
“Why not start your own company and take this one out of business?” she’d asked me one day. “I’ve made sure our credit is excellent. You could get a business loan and start building up our company as soon as you want to, Chris. What do you say?”
I’d said yes. I did it all, just like she told me to. But I didn’t make her my partner in any of it.Thank God!
She might’ve had the idea, but her involvement and interest in the company ended there. As long as I was bringing in money, she didn’t care about anything else.
My divorce lawyer had been damn proud of me for leaving her out when I’d asked him to help me keep as much as I could with the divorce. Lisa had wanted half, and she wasn’t budging on that.
Thanks to her infidelities, she got way less than half. I gave her our home, and she got to keep the three cars I’d paid for. In the end, all I had to provide her with was one billion dollars from my company, Global Distributing.
I counted myself lucky to have gotten away only losing that much. But I had to admit, she took much more than money from me. My ability to trust—to love—had crumbled along with my marriage. My desire to have a woman in my life was gone too. All I really wanted was to live happily ever after—alone.
Well, my girls could be around. But no romance was required, or even desired, in my life. Too many years of living with a self-serving narcissist had taken its toll on me. Love, lust, and even attraction were lost to me.
“Daddy, did you hear me?” Lauren asked.
I hadn’t heard a word as I’d drifted off in my own thoughts. “No.”
“I said that you should think about letting Mom come over for at least a cookout or something. You know how much she’s always loved this lake. We could take her out on the boat. She’d love that. And she really wants to be your friend, Dad. She talked about you all weekend.” She patted my hand. “Please.”
I always had a hard time saying no to my girls—except when it came to their mother.
“No way in Hell, precious. I don’t want your mother to come here. This is my place. One day, when you fall in love, you’ll understand better. I don’t hold any grudges or hate in my heart. That said, I don’t want your mother involved in my life in any way.”
Ashley swiped blonde locks so similar to her mother’s out of her face. “See, I told you, Lauren. He can’t get over what she did to him.”
“Oh, I’m over it.” I got up to go inside, needing to leave the whole conversation behind me. “And I want to stay over it. Night night, girls.”
Aside from my daughters, women weren’t something I wanted in my life, friend-wise or romance-wise.
I’m done!
