Page 12 of The Moment You Know

And he was with Ashley.

Of all the women Paige had to see him with for the first time since their divorce, it had to be Ashley, who’d always looked like the pornstar version of Megan Fox. The comparison was even more on point tonight, as she rocked ankle boots, skinny jeans, and a cropped, off-the-shoulder sweater that showcased her young, perky tits.

They were walking close together, Ashley’s arm wrapped around David’s waist, his left hand holding the back of her neck, which Paige could clearly see, since Ashley’s dark hair was up in a sexy, messy bun. It was David’s hand that Paige found herself focusing on—that and the large, stainless steel, black dial, Tag Heuer watch on his wrist that Paige had given to him on their honeymoon.

Chapter 3

Out of the corner of his eye, David saw someone come to an abrupt stop and he glanced over, almost reflexively. For a split second his brain registered nothing more than a very attractive woman looking at him and he took a few steps forward before something made him take another look. As he did, his eyes widened in shock as his present life barreled into a head-on collision with his past, and he stopped, dumbfounded at the unexpected appearance of his ex-wife.

Paige literally looked nothing like he remembered.

With the exception of her eyes, which were still the color of aged, oak-barrel bourbon, everything else was different. Her hair was longer than he’d ever seen it and she was wearing make-up—not enough to look overdone, but enough to make her look very polished and sexy.

She was wearing leather boots, with honest-to-God stiletto heels and cropped pants that hugged the flare of her hips and curve of her ass, which he couldn’t help but notice because they weren’t camouflaged in any way. Her shirt was tight enough that he could clearly see the shape of her breasts, but perhaps the most shocking sight of all was the teasing display of cleavage.

What in the actual fuck?

She looked smoking hot and he didn’t know what to do with that, other than stare. He also didn’t know what to do with the flush of anger that crept over his skin at seeing how good she looked. The thought that their divorce had obviously agreed with her took up residence in his brain, fueled by the fact that the somewhat shy, understated woman he’d been married to was nowhere to be seen; she’d been replaced with a vibrant, provocative woman who was both put together and self-assured.

A woman who wore pink, eye-catching lipstick, owned fuck-me boots and sported cleavage.

Seriously. What in the actual fuck?

Over the years, he’d thought about what it would be like to run into her, but had never imagined it like this—a vicious punch in the balls that almost dropped him to his knees.

“What is it, baby?” Ashley looked to see what he was staring at so intently. When she saw Paige but didn’t recognize her, Ashley turned back to David, obviously confused.

David barely heard her since his focus was on Paige and the staring contest he was having with her. “Hello, Paige,” he said, striving to sound neutral and not like he wanted to flip a desk.

Ashley’s head swiveled back to Paige in surprise and gave her a more thorough look. As recognition finally hit, Ashley raised her eyebrows and murmured, “Well, this is going to be interesting.”

“Ash, stop it.”

Ash. Paige felt her stomach churn a little bit at the nickname. It was bad enough hearing Ashley call David ‘baby’ because it reeked of familiarity and affection, but hearing David call her ‘Ash’ was worse.

“Hello, David,” Paige returned, her throat tight as she gazed at him. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere but at Bender’s, standing in front of her.

She felt the same way.

“Hello, Paige,” Ashley said.

Paige pulled her gaze away from David and forced herself to make eye contact with his arm candy. For a moment, Paige thought about taking the high road and returning Ashley’s greeting. All Paige had to do was say hello and then get the hell away from her and David, which would be the smart thing to do. However, the memory of the last time Paige had seen Ashley—and the shitty things she’d said—made the simple courtesy impossible.

And that was before Paige saw the undisguised satisfaction on the other woman’s beautiful face that said, Look what I got.

It made Paige want to punch Ashley in one of her young, perky tits, so much so that Paige took a second to fantasize about doing just that. But, because she was a law-abiding citizen and unable to actually do that because she was afraid of going to jail, she did the next best thing, instead.

“You can take your ‘Hello’ and shove it up to your ass,” Paige told her bluntly.

Like a switch being flipped, the energy between the three of them went from uncomfortable to unpleasant in an instant.

David blinked in absolute shock at Paige’s deliberate attack. In their previous life together, she had been polite to a fault—meek, even.

Not anymore, apparently.

Her expression going from fake politeness to full Fuck you, Ashley took a step forward, only to be pulled back by David.

“Let it go,” he said in her ear, speaking low. As pissed as he was with Paige at that moment, he also didn’t want Ashley to engage in any way and prolong this encounter; it was clearly not going to be amicable and therefore it just needed to be over before any shit started to fly.

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