Reluctantly Yours(73)

“That’s not true.” Chloe shakes her head. “You care about your mother.”

“When her opinions aren’t suffocating me.”

“And surely your friendships, like with Carl.”

“I can take him or leave him,” I joke, but Chloe doesn’t laugh. “I’m an island that no one wants to get stuck on.”

“Not true. I’m here and I like it.”

“That’s because I’ve plied you with orgasms.” And blackmailed you to be my fake girlfriend.

Chloe’s quiet and I wonder if she’s thinking the same thing.

“Two more days until these nails come off.” She lifts her hand off my chest to wave her fingers.

“You must be excited.”

I press the palm of my hand to hers, then our fingers interlace.

“Beyond.” She bends her fingers, tickling the underside of my fingers. “I have gotten more used to them. I can probably do most tasks now without injuring myself or others.”

As if to prove it, she circles her nail around my nipple.

“How long is this game going to go on?” she asks.

“How long do you want to play?”

“I’m determined to win. I still can’t believe you’re that good at WordIt.”

“It must be beginner’s luck,” I say. Knowing full well luck has nothing to do with it.

We fall asleep like that. Chloe’s head on my chest and my heart beating steady under the palm of her hand.





“You’re in a good mood,” Carl comments.

“I’m in a fucking great mood,” I say, spinning my racquet before wiping the sweat from my brow, then tossing the towel onto the bench. Sleeping with Chloe in my arms last night, I was the most content I’ve ever been.

When I woke up this morning with Chloe tucked in beside me, I thought about how I could get used to that. Her beautiful, smiling face greeting me every morning. Me pressing her hands over her head so that I can kiss her even though she insists that she needs to brush her teeth first. The desire to have her building to an immeasurable level.

“You know, I have to hand it to you. I wasn’t sure we’d get Fred to come around, but you did it.” Carl takes a drink of water. “We’re still waiting to hear back from Voltaire’s legal team, but I think the deal is well on its way.”

Right. Another reason to be in a fantastic mood.

“Good,” I say, albeit distracted by thoughts of Chloe.

Carl laughs. “Good? That’s all? You’ve only been obsessed with landing this deal for the past few months.”

“And we’ll close the deal, so we’re good.”

“And then what?”

“What do you mean?”

“What’s next? You always have a deal on the back burner. The next target.”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. Carl’s right, I’m always after what’s next, never content in the present. It’s different now with Chloe in my life. What’s next is figuring out how to keep her.

It must be written on my face.

“Wait a minute. I know that look. It’s the look of a man who’s wrapped around a woman’s finger. This is about Chloe. You really like her.”

My eyes narrow.

“Go ahead. Try to deny it,” he says.

I can’t. I don’t want to, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to gab with Carl about my feelings for her.

“Should I remind you of all the advice you’ve given me? Minimize distractions, don’t make it personal, eye on the prize? Sound familiar?”

Those are my words repeated back but they sound foreign to me now. Chloe’s not a distraction, she’s the main attraction and I want to make it personal.

My eyes are on the prize and it’s making Chloe mine.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it handled.”

While Carl opts to stop for a beer in the men’s lounge, I head for the locker room, eager to get showered and get home.

On my way down the hall, I hear a familiar laugh. I turn around but no one is there.

The woman laughs again, then I hear whispering.

I wouldn’t bother with further investigation, but I could have sworn it was Frankie’s laugh. I wonder if she and Fred are here.

I back track, but there’s only the door to the stairwell leading down to the lower two levels. Deciding to not give it any more thought, I start moving back down the hallway. The laugh registers again. It’s bugging the hell out of me now. I either need to find out what’s going on or give it up and go shower.

Determination to uncover the mystery of Frankie’s soundalike laugh has me moving back to the stairwell door and looking through the window.

What I find there has me wishing I would have kept moving.

The woman is in fact Frankie, but the man who has her pinned to the wall isn’t Fred. It’s Vance, one of the tennis pros at the club.

I hear their murmurings as they echo off the cement walls. They’re kissing, which is evidence enough, but from the thrusting motion of Vance’s hips, I can tell they’re doing far more than that.

My guts twists and I back away from the stairwell door.

Fuck. Chloe’s instincts about Frankie had been right. I’d had my suspicions, a woman like that with a much older man like Fred is your typical gold digger stereotype. I’d hoped I was wrong. For Fred’s sake.