Page 37 of The Inmate
I don’t like the idea of Melinda thinking it’s my fault her marriage fell apart. When she found out about me and Seth, she didn’t take it well that her husband was sleeping with his employee, who also happened to be fifteen years younger than she was. There were threatening calls and notes—the calls would rouse me from sleep at two in the morning, a female voice hissing in my ear that I was a “husband stealing whore.” Even when I blocked her number, she’d find a way to call. Once I saw her tan Lexus parked across the street from my house late in the evening, and I almost had a heart attack.
That’s when I got the can of mace and started keeping it in my purse at all times. I considered a restraining order, but it turned out that breaking up with Seth ended the harassment almost instantly.
“I love you, Nat.” He squeezes my body close to his as he says the words. “I don’t think I even realized how much until you broke it off.”
“Hmm. Your timing is kind of bad on that.”
“I know.” He sighs. “I screwed up. I wanted to do the right thing, but I didn’t know what the right thing was. I haven’t loved Melinda in years. Even before you came around, we were like two strangers living in the same house. Maybe it would have been different if we had kids, but she couldn’t and… I don’t know.”
Seth told me about Melinda’s heartbreaking infertility issues. And about how she never forgave him for refusing to adopt.
“Anyway,” he says. “By the end, I could barely stand being around her. And that wasn’t fair to either of us.”
I pull away from him and prop myself up on my elbow. “You know I’m dating someone else now.”
“I know.”
“And you’ve been separated from Melinda for…?”
“Two weeks.”
“Oh God,” I groan. “Seriously, Seth. I think it’s better if we stay friends.”
His eyes shoot down to my naked breasts and he wags his eyebrows. “Friends?”
“I told you, this was a one-off!”
He slides his hand down my thigh as he grins at me. “How about a two-off?”
I want to tell him no. I should definitely tell him no. I’ve got a boyfriend who I like a lot. And he is two weeks separated from his wife of twelve years. He is stillmarried. There are so many reasons not to do this.
But then again, he’s already here. So why not?
ChapterTwenty
FOUR MONTHS EARLIER
To: Natalie Farrell
From: Kimberly Healey
Subject: DS
Do you think she’s a virgin?
To: Kimberly Healey
From: Natalie Farrell
Subject: Re: DS
Omg obviously! Can you imagine that woman ever having sex?
To: Natalie Farrell
From: Kimberly Healey
Subject: Re: DS
