only hours before his friend had been pumping away.
She hadn’t expected Quinn to walk in and find them screwing in Nate’s office. It had been her little secret, exciting and dangerous.
Quinn’s reaction might have been the most humiliating part of all. He had laughed. Even now, years later, she could hear that abrupt bark of laughter. He had seemed genuinely amused and almost relieved. Dammit to hell, how had it all gone so wrong?
This new woman Quinn was seeing … who was she? Of course, Quinn had dated several women since they had divorced. He wasn’t a monk. But neither was he one to be caught on camera with a woman unless he wanted to be. Was this the woman who would finally take him away from her forever?
The photograph from the fundraiser had been frustratingly bad. The shot showed Quinn’s profile as he looked down at his companion. But even the bad picture made it look as though Charlene’s tall, gorgeous ex-husband was enamored of the woman. His half smile, with that sexy, quirky edge, had been for only the female beside him. The photo had just shown the back of the woman. Straight, thick hair fell halfway down her back. She was a blonde. Well, dammit, so was Charlene. And a real one at that. This bitch probably got her color from a bottle. And she was fat and wore frumpy clothes, too.
Charlene blew out a frustrated sigh. Okay, so she wasn’t exactly fat, but she was nothing like Charlene, who spent hours each week with a personal trainer, honing her body to slender, hard-bodied perfection.
But at least Charlene was right about the woman’s dress. It was definitely not designer-made and was conservative by anyone’s standards. With Quinn’s talents, he was destined to move up in his career. He had a reputation to maintain. One would think he would be more careful in his selection of dates for high-profile events.
On impulse, Charlene grabbed her cellphone from the nightstand. She couldn’t let it go … she had to try one more time. They’d had some good times, especially at the beginning. If she could just get him to stop being so uptight. His straight-shooter, Eagle Scout demeanor had been charming at first but had worn thin after a while. Living with such perfection could be damn irritating.
He answered on the first ring, his groggy “Braddock” telling her she’d woken him. She refused to feel any guilt for interrupting what was probably much-needed sleep. This was important, dammit.
“It’s me, Quinn. I need to see you.”
An explosive sigh came through the phone, making her glad she’d woken him up. The prick!
“What is it this time, Charlene?”
Her eyes roamed around the massive bedroom, trying to come up with some new hook to get him to the house. The necklace draped casually on her dresser caught her eye. She hated the thing. Her taste in jewelry ran toward bold and spectacular. The pearl-and-diamond necklace was a Braddock family heirloom, much too understated and old-fashioned for her. Quinn had given it to her a couple of weeks before they married. She’d never worn it, but when he’d asked for it in their divorce settlement, she had gleefully declined. Just one more twist of the knife. He’d been more pissed about her refusal to return the necklace than he had been about finding her screwing Nate. Yes, he would jump at the chance to get it back.
“I’ve decided to return the Braddock necklace to you.”
“Why? What’s the catch?”
Dammit, he didn’t even try to hide his suspicion.
“No catch. I hate the thing. But if you don’t want it, I’ll just—”
“Fine. I’ll come by this evening and—”
“No, I’m busy this evening. You need to come right away or I’m selling it to a jewelry store.”
The long pause that followed made her wonder if she’d played her hand too forcibly. She had tried to entice him over to the house before and had been successful only a few times. But this was something he really wanted.
“I’ll be there within the hour. Meet me at the door with it. I won’t come in.”
She smiled her satisfaction. We’ll just see about that.
“Of course, darling. Whatever you say.” She ended the call and raced to her closet. She had just the outfit for seducing a reluctant ex-husband back into her bed.
The cellphone in her hand rang. Charlene cursed, sure that Quinn was calling to cancel. She glanced down at the display. Recognizing the number, she sighed, part in relief, part in