see him. My entire body responds with flutters and excitement boiling inside of me until I think I might burst. It’s the best feeling and I hope it never vanishes if we stay together for a long time.
Today none of those things happen because he’s standing at the edge of the lake with a woman. A blonde who’s smiling up at him like he’s her savior and not in a brotherly type way. She’s all teeth, tits and toes out. She’s wearing a short mini skirt with a tight tank top, the strings of a bikini peeking out and wrapped around her neck. She’s also much younger than me.
I watch them for a moment, and I know why I’m doing it. Back before I’d been burned, I would have stalked up to them, slid my hand through his arm, and claimed him just like he did me at Torrio’s the other night.
But this is after and so I keep my distance, investigating and scrutinizing every smile, every shifting of weight and every look they give one another.
Roarke’s hands stay tucked in his shorts. He never leans forward toward her, but she steps closer with every word. With his back to me, I can’t see his face, but damn I wish I could when she grabs the hem of her shirt, stripping it off her body to reveal a large pair of tits along with a smooth and taut stomach. Tucking her tank top in the back of her shorts she uses the excuse to push out her tits in his direction.
The war inside of me continues. Do I want him to take the bait just to prove my notion that all men cheat?
Lucy pulls and the leash slips from my grasp.
“Shit!”
Lucy barrels through the picnic goers and I quickly make chase.
“Mommy, that lady swore,” one little girl tattles as I race by.
I glance at the mom with apologetic eyes as I run by. “I’m sorry!”
I’m sorry seems to be a chorus as I weave around families trying to enjoy a nice summer afternoon without a dog trampling them.
“Lucy!” I scold, but she completely ignores me, her attention set on something, her feet galloping like a damn horse.
Her tail wags and she jumps off a poor boy’s back, skidding to a stop right on the edge of the grass and the sidewalk along the lake.
“Lucy!” I step on her leash until my hands can wrap it around my wrist twice. “I’m so sorry.” I apologize and glance up, finally seeing what’s in front of me.
Roarke.
His face pales, but without missing a beat, he bends at his knees and pets Lucy.
“Lucy girl. Why do you give your mom such a hard time?” He smiles looking over her to me.
I’m sure my face is beet red from the running and the embarrassment of having ruined people’s picnics.
“You asked me to bring her why?” My tone is that of an ungrateful thirteen-year-old who was asked to watch her baby brother.
“It’s a gorgeous day and she needs to get out of that condo.” Roarke leans over my out-of-its-mind dog, placing a chaste kiss on my lips. “This is Aspen.” He holds his hand out to the pretty young girl who was flirting with him.
As usual, I plaster on my wonderful to meet you smile and extend my hand. Her small dainty hand slides into mine for the briefest of seconds before her vision shifts back to Roarke. “Nice to meet you,” I say.
“Aspen, this is Hannah, my girlfriend.”
Roarke might miss the slight fall of her smile, but he’s not a woman. A woman who is scrutinizing this entire situation.
“Oh,” she says. “I didn’t know.”
“And you two know each other how?” My finger wavers between the two.
Roarke runs his fingers through his hair. A telltale sign that it’s a question he’s unsure how to answer and for a second I regret asking. Until the independent woman stands strong inside of me and says it is my business.
“Well…” Aspen looks to Roarke for an answer.
“We’re friends. I helped her out once.”
Helped her out with an orgasm, I’m sure.
Then it dawns on me. I guess she could be a client and under the client-lawyer confidentiality agreement Roarke might not be able to tell me much more than what he said.
“That’s nice. How he always helps everyone out.”
Even I realize how stupid my comment is, but this is uncomfortable and I have a dog that won’t stop pulling on her leash every damn time a bird flies overhead, which