VICTORIOUS (A Quantum Novel)(65)

“But there’s more, right? Things you want to show me and teach me?”

“The variety and options are endless. We’re only limited by our own imaginations. But none of it has to happen in public if that’s not your thing—and I’d completely understand if it isn’t.”

“I haven’t decided anything yet. I’m reserving judgment until I have more information.”

“That’s a very wise way to approach it.” I look up to see that while we talked, we’ve driven almost to Redondo Beach. “Want to go check out the beach?”

“Can we do that?”

“Sure.” I grab my Dodgers ball cap from the backseat and put it on. “I’ll just send Seth a text to tell him we’re getting out.” We find a place to park and manage to get onto the beach without anyone noticing us. Natalie has her long, distinctive dark hair up in a bun that makes her look much younger than her twenty-three years. I’m feeling brave and daring today, so after a long walk on the beach with her and Fluff, who had a nice nap in the backseat while we were on the road, I lead her to a beachfront café, where we sit outside and enjoy the warm sunshine, drinks and an appetizer with a minimum amount of fuss from the waitstaff.

Josh and Seth are at a nearby table, keeping an eye on things. They are close enough to get involved if need be but far enough away to give us some privacy.

“This was a really nice day,” she says when we’re heading back toward the city.

“It was good to get out and get some air.” I’m driving because I want her to take a nap on the way home. I worry about her becoming overtired after being so sick. She truly scared the hell out of me with the way she went from fine to not fine in the matter of an hour and then spent two days in and out of it.

At one point, her fever had registered at one hundred and three. I was awake for two days keeping an eye on her and caring for her. I’ve never been so happy to see my mother as I was when she came to the hotel to check on us the second day. I hadn’t wanted to expose her to the flu, but she’d cried nonsense and spent half a day with me, keeping me company as I worried obsessively about Natalie.

The doctor had to tell me more than once that it was “just” the flu, and I had to be talked out of taking her to the ER on two different occasions. Thank God she’d rallied and was now almost fully recovered, but I won’t soon forget the fright of her illness or the loneliness of having her close by but unavailable. I hated that almost as much as I hated that she was sick in the first place.

I glance over to check on her and see that she’s asleep with Fluff rolled up in a ball on her lap. The two of them are so damned cute together, even if one of them likes to bite me.

I can’t wait for tonight, to take Natalie to the club and to introduce her to yet another facet of my life. I feel confident that she’s ready, that we’ve talked it all through and she’s prepared for what to expect. When I get home, I’ll text the others and let them know I’m bringing her by. They’ll appreciate the heads-up, and I fully expect them to be thrilled to welcome her.

Hayden, in particular, has expressed concern about me marrying someone outside our lifestyle, as that had been such a spectacular failure the last time around. That makes me think of Valerie, and I wonder if she has gotten the offer we arranged—to appear on a reality TV show about a fishing boat in Alaska.

Rather than confronting her and making her day with my rage over what she tried to do to Nat and me, Hayden suggested this route, and I have to admit it’s f*cking brilliant. I smile to myself when I picture her in an environment she will find so far beneath her, but I’ve made sure it’s the only offer she’ll get for the immediate future.

She’ll have no choice but to take it, which will get her out of town and out of my hair for the time being. Our manager, Danielle, who took on Val only because I asked her to when we were married, was happy to facilitate something as far beneath Valerie’s self-determined standards as she could find.

When Danielle came back to us with the Alaskan fishing boat show, Hayden and I laughed our asses off and told her to go for it. Make it happen.

I’m fairly confident Valerie will have no doubt how she ended up in Alaska. She might blame me until the cows come home, but it isn’t my fault that she has no other options. Her reputation as a self-aggrandizing prima donna makes it so no one wants to work with her. That’s on her. The affair she had with our director at the end of our marriage won her no friends either, especially when it came to light that she broke up the director’s marriage to exact her revenge on me.