The Wild Side (The Wild Side #1)(12)

“I hope you don’t scare easily.  She can be a little sharp.”  That was the nicest way I could word it.

“I’m sure I’ll survive.  Come on, champ, let’s go do this.”

I laughed.  I loved her attitude.

Tammy was ready to ambush us the second we walked in the front door.

She’d put some time and care into her looks today.  She wore a tight leopard print dress that I’d have sworn she never would have been caught dead in a year ago.  She was thin, the only shape on her body given to her by her prominent bones.  What there was of her chest was being tortured into making cle**age that spilled out of her top.  The dress was flattering, if you liked a woman thin like that.  I found that I didn’t care for it at all, anymore.  Had I ever?  I couldn’t even remember.

She wore very high red stilettos that, again, you couldn’t have made her wear a year ago.

Her hair was down.  It was her pride and joy.  It was dark, thick and wavy, and she kept it very long.  She’d done something to it, gotten highlights that were a touch too brassy, and made it look fried.

Her makeup was heavy and dark, her chocolate brown eyes lined thickly.  She was a beautiful woman, I’d always thought so, but I found suddenly that she just looked tired and worn-out.  And mean.  And, frankly, old.  I wasn’t proud of myself for thinking it, but hell, the woman had done a whole lot to earn my contempt.

As soon as her gaze caught Iris, they became glued to the other woman.

“Oh, God, Dair, what are you doing?  What is she, eighteen?  I come to see you, to talk like mature adults, and I find this?”

Iris was unfazed.  Completely unflappable.

In fact, she smiled.

I decided then and there that I just might already be falling for her.

“Iris, this is my ex-wife, Tammy.  Tammy, this is Iris.  She’s twenty-four, if you must know.”

“Nice to meet you, Tammy.  Hope you two get this issue cleared up.  I’m going to take a shower.  I’m all sweaty from the gym.”  She looked at me, batting her lashes.  “And just plain filthy.  Excuse me while I go get clean.”

Tammy watched her leave, mouth agape.  Her eyes were on the younger woman’s ass.  She seemed to be taking particular exception to that spectacular ass.

I watched Iris leave, as well, trying not to drool.

“Really, Dair!  That is just too much.  What are you thinking?  She’s so young!  Is she a prostitute?”  Tammy asked shrilly, with Iris very likely still in earshot.

I shut my eyes tight, so annoyed I wanted to drag my ex bodily out of my house and never see her again.  “Of course she isn’t,” I said coldly.  “And you’ve got no right to judge anything that goes on in my life.”

“You do realize she’s a gold digger?!”

I took a few deep, calming breaths.  “Well, you would know how to spot that.  And I doubt it’s possible she could do more damage than you have.  Certainly, no other gold digger could make a man so miserable, and take as much money, as you have.  What have I really got to lose at this stage in my life?”

She gasped in outrage and went on a rant.  I realized, as she went on and on, that this woman had no power over me anymore.

Well, aside from the power to annoy me.

The thought was liberating.

I moved through the house to the kitchen.

She dogged my every step.

“Is this how you ask me for money?” I finally asked, interrupting her tirade.  “Does this seem like a smart way to approach a man that you’ve already milked dry in terms of legal rights?  Have you ever thought of asking nicely?”

She flushed.  “It’s just a loan, until we get more of my money freed up.”

I didn’t miss the we of that, and for once I didn’t care.

Or the my money part.  That part still smarted, but it was more about the bitterness of it.  She’d never worked a day, never cleaned a dish, never gone out of her way to make my day f**king sunnier, and she got half?  What the f**k kind of sense did that make?

I kept all of that to myself, instead asking, “How much?”  I’d pay a lot to just get her out of there.

I wasn’t an idiot.  I knew it wasn’t a loan.

“A hundred thousand.”

My eyes widened.

The bitch had lost her mind.  “Is this a joke?”

She rolled her eyes.  She’d never lacked nerve.  “I know how much money you have.  You can spare that much for a few months.  Hell, even if we didn’t pay you back, I know you’d never notice.  You just like to let your money sit in a bank, anyway.”

I opened my mouth, to say something suitably outraged, I presume, but suddenly, all rational thought left my brain.

Iris was back, still in her little workout getup, still un-showered.

She smiled at me, just the sweetest smile.  “I’ve decided to swim before I shower.  Are there any spare suits around?”

I shook my head, my eyes on her body, really wishing I had one for her.  I wanted to see that so badly.

She winked at me and turned to Tammy.

I still didn’t know what the f**k her little winks meant, but I loved them.