Page 137 of Perfume Girl
“Hey,” she said. “That was Damien on the phone. He wasn’t expecting you.”
“Would you rather I wait until he can be here?” I asked kindly.
“I think it would be best.”
“I can come back. I’ll be in the area for a while.”
“Oh?”
“I’m visiting Astor.” She didn’t need to know our relationship had crashed and burned last night. I ignored the way she glanced around Damien’s office to see if there was anything missing.
We walked back toward the front door.
“I have to get ready for work,” she said in way of an excuse.
“Of course. I should have called you. I thought Damien would be home.”
Her face became unreadable. “He told me he spoke to you about what my father heard about the Beauregard family.”
“I’m taking it all with a grain of salt until I know more.”
“You like him a lot, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.” And even now after everything we’d been through, I missed him.
Her sigh spoke volumes. “Be careful. He comes across as a bit of a playboy.”
“That was my first impression, too.” And I’d not forgotten how she’d batted her eyelashes at Astor, either. My ex was no match for him.
“We just don’t want you to get hurt,” she added.
“Well, first impressions can be wrong,” I said. “Take the first time I met you—thoughmetisn’t really the right word for it. Your ass was in the air and my husband’s dick was in your pussy. Understandably, I jumped to the conclusion that you were a whore.”
Her back stiffened. “Damien told me you were separated.”
“Which you later discovered was a lie, right?”
“You were having problems.”
“Another lie, Embry. One which you fell for.”
She raised her chin. “The fact you had no idea your marriage was failing—”
“Not a fact, a lie.”
She gave me a thin smile. “You’re divorced now so it’s all in the past.”
“It still hurts.”
“People fall in love.” She shrugged.
Yes, bitch, I was in love with my husband before you swept onto the scene like one of those hurricanes you’re so fond of and then decimated my life.
Or maybe, just maybe, she’d set me free…
“Just get to know Astor better, okay?”
“Your concern is touching, but I already have. He’s a great man.”
