Before We Kiss (Fool's Gold #14)(85)

“I want to talk to Sam,” Simone said. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

Sam stepped between them. “Thank you,” he said. “But I’ve got this.” He motioned for Simone to follow him. His friends followed, stopping only when he and his ex entered his office.

Sam waited until she’d seated herself on the sofa in the corner. He took a chair opposite.

“This is nice,” she began, glancing around the office.

“Don’t bother with small talk,” he told her. “Get to the point.”

She leaned toward him. “Oh, Sam, there was a time when you were thrilled to have me talk about anything. You loved the sound of my voice.”

She’d had more work done, he thought as he studied her perfect face. Her blond hair tumbled perfectly over her shoulders. Her jeans clung to slender thighs. He remembered how his hands had shaken the first time he’d undressed her and how expertly she’d faked her orgasms. He’d only found about the latter when he’d read her book. A how-to self-help bestseller on landing a professional athlete as a husband. Making him feel like he was a god in bed was her number-one tip. He still remembered most of the passage.

Don’t worry if he can’t get you off. This isn’t about you—this is about making him feel that he’s the king of the world. Get a decent vibrator and take care of yourself later. You’re not in the relationship for sex. You’re in it for the goal. Learn to fake it convincingly and you’ll solve a lot of problems.

She’d detailed all the ways she’d faked it with Sam. And there had been many. The irony being how she’d apparently told his mother she missed him in bed.

“Sam?” she asked. “Are you listening to me?”

“No. Why are you here, Simone?”

She turned on the smile. “My publisher wants to reissue my book. A 2.0 version, if you will. I want to add some new material. I thought I could interview you, talk to your friends. That sort of thing.”

Incredible. And yet not the least bit surprising.

“No.”

She pouted. “Oh, Sam. Don’t be like that. Why won’t you help me?”

“Because your book violates every reasonable assumption of privacy a person can have in a marriage. You lay it all bare.”

“It’s a self-help book. I have to be honest so people believe me.”

“When were you honest in our marriage?”

She sighed. “I should have known you would be difficult. I was hoping you’d changed in the past few years, but I guess that’s too much to hope for.”

“It is.” He rose. “You need to leave.”

She stood and moved toward him. “I can get what I want without your help.”

“Then good luck with that.”

Her pretty face hardened as she glared at him. “You were never there for me. Not once.”

“Goodbye, Simone.”

She stalked out of his office. He heard Jack in the hallway and knew his friend was escorting her out of the building.

Sam crossed to his desk and sat down, but he didn’t return to work. Simone wasn’t the type to give up easily. He had a bad feeling he wasn’t going to like the rest of her plan.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“WHEN DID YOU start throwing like a girl?” Justice called.

Ford glowered at the other man. “What did you say?”

Justice chuckled. “You heard me.”

Sam used their momentary distraction to steal the ball. He bounced it once, twice, then jumped up and tossed it in for a clean basket. Kenny ran by and they exchanged a high five. From the sidelines came a shrill whistle. Eddie or Gladys was showing her approval.

The morning basketball game had become a fixture in all their days. Three times a week a group of them played hoops for an hour. It was a great workout and more fun than the treadmill. The small audience of two octogenarians was disconcerting, but the guys had all gotten used to them.

Justice took the ball out, passed it to Jack and the game was on again. It ended forty minutes later. Sam’s team won by four points, something he would be mentioning most of the day. He shook hands with the other guys and reached for a towel from the stack Larissa dropped off every game day. His gaze caught unexpected movement. He turned and saw Simone sitting on the bench next to Gladys. She had a tape recorder in one hand and was nodding eagerly at whatever the old woman was saying.

Sam swore. If she couldn’t get what she wanted directly, she would go around him. He wasn’t surprised.

“Want me to take care of this?” Kenny asked.

“You gonna take on the old ladies, too?” Sam asked, then shook his head. “Leave it. She’ll do whatever she’ll do and I’ll deal.”

Kenny patted his shoulder. “It’s hell to have an ex.”

“You know it.”

* * *

CLOSE TO ONE that afternoon, Sam headed for city hall. The mayor had asked him to join the business economic development council. He’d resisted, she’d insisted and here he was—going to his first meeting. He’d given himself extra time for the walk. He wanted to stop by Brew-haha and get a coffee. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be the most interesting meeting he’d attended this week.

But even as he mentally complained, he found himself looking forward to finding out what they had in mind. There were a lot of ways a community could support local business. Score’s customer base was outside of the area, but most of the other companies were tied to the geography. He figured they could learn from one another.