A Private Affair - A.C. Arthur Page 0,35

thought she could actually tear the leather apart with her rage. And still, she smiled.

“I wish Walter and his bride-to-be the very best. I’m sure she’ll be quite beautiful in whatever she wears. Now, I’ll have to say good-night.”

She started to leave and he tried to grab her arm. Riley turned quickly, giving him a glare that had him immediately withdrawing his hand and attempting a faint smile. He stuffed his hand into his pocket and backed away. Riley left him standing there and headed to the bathroom. She wasn’t sure she would make it out front for the valet to bring her car.

Pushing through the door, Riley went straight to the last stall. She eased the lock in place before leaning her back against it. Her eyes closed and tears threatened to fall. That reporter was an ass and he did not deserve her tears, but, oh, how that rock sat in the center of her chest, threatening to bury her alive.

She focused on her breathing and the fact that the anxiety attack could not last forever. In very slowly, out even slower. In and out. It would end and she could continue on with her life because she was a survivor. Her fingers eventually stopped clenching her bag and held it loosely instead. Her stomach still churned but she could swallow now without feeling as if she had a throat full of cotton.

Her phone buzzed from inside the purse and Riley jumped at the sound. She took another breath and opened her eyes, feeling confident that no tears would fall. After digging inside her purse she found her phone, relieved that it was just a text and not someone on the other end. She didn’t know if she was ready to talk just yet.

Drinks at my place?

Riley read the message and let her head fall back against the door. She closed her eyes again and wondered what was going on. Reporters were asking about Walt and his fiancée, when she hadn’t even known Walt had a fiancée. She was sleeping with the enemy and enjoying it far too much. And Production still wasn’t giving her a definite on her preorders. When exactly had her life become so chaotic?

And would drinks with Chaz make it better or worse?

She looked down at her phone and began to type.

My place, 20 minutes.

* * *

When Chaz rang the doorbell, Riley opened the door and pulled him inside. She closed the door and turned to wrap her arms around his neck before taking his mouth in a kiss that scorched every part of him.

His arms went around her waist, hands flattening over her ass and back. She tilted her head, taking the kiss deeper, and he went with her lead, stroking his tongue against hers and pressing her against his now-growing arousal. She lifted a leg, dragging it up the outside of his, moaning into him as if he were giving her everything she wanted and needed right now.

It felt good. It felt damn perfect. His body reacted instantly, dick pressing against his jeans in a hurry to get deep inside her. Her breasts were plastered against his chest. She moaned and sighed as she momentarily pulled her lips away from his. Her teeth nipped his lower lip before she sucked it into her mouth. Chaz held her tighter. He gripped her ass until she gasped, and he was just about to push her skirt down and take her against the wall right in the foyer of her house. But he stopped.

Chaz pulled back from the kiss. He kept his arms around her but looked down at her face instead of moving away.

“What happened?”

Her makeup was gone, her face freshly washed and simply gorgeous. And her hair was down. Messy and hanging past her shoulders. He continued to survey her and noticed she’d removed her boots and taken off all her jewelry. Her eyes were dry, not red at all, but there was a weary look in them. A dead giveaway that something was going on.

“Nothing.” She tilted her head. “Did we really need the preamble of drinks? Aren’t we old enough to know how this is going to play out?”

“No and yes,” he replied. “I’m also smart enough to know when a woman is using sex to mask her pain or discontent. Now, tell me what happened.”

She pushed away from him and walked into the living room, going straight to the bar in the corner near the window.

“You can go if your