Page 68 of Kyle
"No." He shook his head. "I didn't. I thought I wanted to marry her, eventually. And it would have been a mistake. Christ!" He used his free hand to rub the back of his neck.
"It would have been a bloody mistake that I would have lived to regret." His eyes were bright as they stared at her.
"I wouldn't have discovered there was more. I would not have found the love of my life. Found you."
"But you have." She tugged him closer. "We both did. It wasn't something we planned on, but it found us." She went to him and burrowed, inhaling his scent.
The masculine scent of him and the sheer beauty. She loved him completely.
He wrapped around her and took her in. He knew every curve and dip of her body, the way he knew his. But he was still discovering more.
And was going to spend the rest of his life loving every inch of her.
Chapter 15
She planned it carefully and with great consideration. She would have dismissed the idea of hurting the bitch, if it had not been for the slight at the Alzheimer's benefit at the end of June. There she was, as big as a fricking house wearing a hammered gold dress that swirled around her from bosom to knees, with that asshole who had dumped her, fawning over her.
And the press lapped up every word that came out of her fricking mouth. She had been forced to smile and bear the humiliation and pretended to the bitch and her ex that she had moved on and was doing just A-okay. The press had been particularly cruel, snapping pics of her as she gazed over at the couple and snidely hinting that "a certain actress had a longing look on her face."
She had shredded several expensive gowns and smashed a priceless sculpture given to her by the same asshole and ended up going to bed with a massive migraine. One that had lasted two whole days. It was then she resolved to get her revenge. And the means had fallen like a ripe plum in her lap.
A blast from her past had come begging for handout. Billy Gayle had been a neighborhood good for nothing and hadn't changed a bit even though he was a lot older. He was even worse now. Zoned out on hard drugs and barely recognizable.
She had been visiting the old neighborhood. Her annoying agent had suggested that it would help to boost her image if she wasseen walking the dumpy place where she had grown up and smiling for the camera while handing out gifts and treats to old people and children.
"Your image has been shot to hell since that delicious man dumped you honey." Ruth had told her the relentless and painful truth. "And that fundraiser in June clinched it. It's clear the guy is crazy about his wife, so your story about the marriage being an arrangement is shot to hell. You looked like a jilted lover. Time to get some good press."
So, she had reluctantly agreed and smiled until she felt as if her lips were frozen. She was about to knock off the good cheer, when Billy came sauntering up asking for money. She had barely recognized him until he said his name. And was about to dismiss him, when the idea suddenly came to her.
She paused, considering the opportunity with a calculating glint in her eyes. The pieces were falling into place, too perfectly. Billy's sudden reappearance seemed more like fate than coincidence, and she knew she could use his desperation to her advantage. The plan was beginning to take shape in her mind, fueled by the sting of public embarrassment and the hunger for vindication.
She would give him cash of course. Who cares if he was just going to snort it up his nose. Certainly not her. So, she arranged for a discreet meeting and impressed on him that they could not be seen with each other. He was desperate enough to agreeto anything. It helped that he was also smitten. Good, that combination was what she needed.
Feeling much brighter and silently saluting Ruth for the idea, she cheerfully spent the rest of the time beaming and handing out gifts.
*****
"Teal or aqua?"
She leaned back against him as he rubbed his hands intimately over her considerable bulge. They were having a son, and the pregnancy was breezing right along.
"Does it matter what I think?"
Her husband asked mildly as he contemplated the different swatches of wallpapers that had been sent over by the designer for their approval.
"Of course it does." She chided.
"You rejected all of my ideas so far, so I'm not falling for that again."
He kissed the top of her head and felt the familiar flood of emotions storming through him. She laughed, swatting at his arm playfully, but her eyes sparkled with affection.
"All right, maybe I have veto power, but I still want to hear what you think."
For a moment, the tension of recent weeks melted away, replaced by the quiet intimacy of shared anticipation and the soft flutter of excitement that colored their preparations for the new arrival.
"Teal."
His eyes narrowed as she moved out of his arms to slide her hands through the different shades.
