not the only one who is good at things. I think we’re both very skilled in certain areas.”
Her breath stops for a second. She turns her head, looking at me, her expression practically dripping sex. “Oh yeah?”
“Oh, yeah.” I chuckle. “And you know what they say… practice makes perfect…”
Cate surprises me by pushing up onto her tiptoes and kissing me. It’s no coy kiss either; long and deep, it invites me to do much more.
My hands find her waist. I sigh against her lips, growing frustrated that I can’t just bend her back and strip her right here.
Cate leans against my torso, reaching up to be kissed. My office isn’t that far away. We can have a modicum of privacy there, enough that even Cate probably won’t have anything to say.
I turn her around, ready to start walking her back towards the office. I look up, glancing directly into Madisyn’s crying face.
“Oh, Luca!” she sobs. Completely ignoring the fact that I’m holding Cate, she latches onto my arm, seeming to have trouble standing up.
And fool that I am, I let go of Cate to steady Madisyn. Cate steps back, her expression guarded. I look down at Madisyn, who flattens herself against my body with a howl.
“He’s such a bastard!” Madisyn cries.
“Err…” I try to create some distance between the two of us, but Madisyn acts like she’s suctioned to my body. “Get off of me, Syn.”
Madisyn just starts bawling harder and clinging to me more insistently. “He did me wrong, Luca! Reggie cheated on me! You should go beat him up…”
Making a face, I force Madisyn to step back. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, Syn.”
I glance toward Cate. She’s biting her lip with a frown, just beginning to turn away. “Cate, don’t go anywhere.”
Cate shoots me a glare and then heads back toward the bar. I need to get rid of Syn, as soon as possible. Otherwise, I’m afraid that Cate will leave the party altogether.
Or worse, she’ll pack her shit and leave my house.
“Madisyn, what the fuck?” I complain. “You just alienated my…” I stop, fumbling for what Cate is. “Stop cock blocking me.”
Madisyn wipes at her mascara which is running down her cheeks. “But Reggie cheated on me! And I know that you are still hung up on me—”
A sharp bark of laughter escapes me. “No, I’m not. Now if you’ll excuse me—”
Madisyn digs her nails into my arm. “You aren’t over me. No one is ever over losing the best thing that’s ever happened to them. And I am definitely that for you.”
She tries to kiss me then, ignoring my body language. “Madisyn, stop!” I push her away, anger boiling up from somewhere deep inside. “I don’t want to kiss you. And by the way, you weren’t the best thing I’ve ever had. If anything, you leaving was better.”
She screws up her face, rage showing in her eyes. “Luca, you better be careful how you talk to me. I swear, one more word and I won’t take you back…”
Her chest heaves. She looks like some kind of demented clown, trying to clutch at my arm.
I shake my head and start to back away. “You’re not listening. I don’t want you, Syn. I’m happier without you. Now I’ve got to go and find my… my wife.”
Madisyn grimaces as I turn and walk away. “Don’t you dare leave, Luca! Luca!! I won’t come back…”
I put my head down and keep moving through the crowd of partiers, looking for Cate. I spot her dark head disappearing into the back hallway and I speed up.
I have to catch her before she tries to leave.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Luca
“Cate!” I call out. I walk down the darkened back hallway, spying her as she pushes the door to the parking lot open.
She turns around in the doorway, her dark eyes fiery. “What? What could you possibly say to me right now?”
“I didn’t want that,” I say, gesturing to the front of the bar. “I had no way of knowing Madisyn would be here.”
Her lips pull into a frown. “So what, she just showed up?”
I sidle closer to her until I close the gap between us. She shivers and licks her lips, gazing up at me. I widen the opening of the door by placing my hand over our heads. “I swear. I didn’t want her to. I told her to fuck off.”
I scan her face, trying to guess what she’s thinking. Her brow is knitted. She’s sucked her lip between her teeth and