Page 16 of Homewrecker

Even though he might deserve it since hehadcheated on Mrs. Black, regardless of the fact that she’d cheated first, Ashley didn’t want to be a part of bringing him down. She was already going to have enough guilt about being the other woman and fucking Rebecca’s dad, even if Rebecca had done it first.

Even if it had been the hottest sex of her life.

Especially because she didn’t regret it.

9

Lincoln

Wishing he was in the car with Ashley, driving off into the darkness rather than having to return to his real life, Lincoln wondered why he didn’t feel worse about what he’d just done. He knew he should regret it, should be guilt-wracked over making some really terrible decisions. Over cheating on Janet, even if she’d done it first.

Over having sex with a drunk young woman almost half his age, even though he’d also had a bit too much to drink.

So many excuses. So many equivalences.

All of it boiled down to the fact he didn’t actually regret it at all. He’d meant what he said to Ashley. They shouldn’t have done it, but he couldn’t find himself wishing they hadn’t.

He felt guiltier over not feeling any guilt than he did over what they’d actually done.

Did that make him a bad person?

Walking back into the reception—with the music, lights, laughter, and conversation—was jarring. No one knew the change he’d just gone through. They were living their lives unaware of what had been happening just down the hall.Rebecca and Wiley were still on the dance floor, practically humping each other.

It didn’t bother Lincoln as much as it had before. Which probably did make him a bad person.

There was Janet, dancing with Marshall. They were keeping things appropriate, but they were still dancing together, which made him feel a little better about the fact that he’d just cheated on her too. Clearly, she hadn’t missed him. Then he felt like shit because that wasn’t why he’d done it, and it made what had just happened with Ashley feel tawdry. As if it wasn’t already since he was already married.

He was too numbed to feel regret, though.

“Some day, huh?” Kellar Vaughn sidled up to Lincoln’s side again. “Did I see you following Ashley out?”

For a moment, Lincoln panicked, wondering if they’d been caught, but the mild tone of voice and Kellar’s unbothered expression didn’t seem like that of an outraged uncle.

“Yeah, I wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to drive. I stayed with her while she waited for a car to pick her up.” That was a very edited version of events, but it was what he was going with. If Kellar thought it was odd how long it had taken, he didn’t say so.

“That’s good. She doesn’t need to be here for this.” Kellar made a face as Wiley spun Rebecca around. “She would have had a meltdown right about now—this was her parents’ song at their wedding.”

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

He knew Rebecca had personally gone through and chosen every single song the DJ was playing tonight because she hadn’t trusted the man not to play something she didn’t like. What he didn’t know was whether or not she understood the significance of this song. If she didn’t, Wiley sure wasn’t giving it away. He didn’t seem fazed at all, which meant he either knew it wascoming or he had forgotten his song with his previous wife. Or he was an incredible actor.

None of those options were reassuring, and that the man hadn’t even noticed his daughter had left made Lincoln want to storm over and shake some sense into him. Ashley deserved so much better. So did Rebecca, as far as he was concerned, but she’d made her choice for a husband. Ashley hadn’t been able to choose who her dad was.

“I wish I wasn’t here for this,” Lincoln muttered.

“Tell me about it. I’m probably headed back to my room soon. If I were you, I’d escape while you can.” Kellar turned to look at a different part of the dance floor. “Maybe take your wife with you. She seems like she might have overindulged a bit.”

That was a nice way of saying she’d been spending so much time with her lover on the dance floor, she hadn’t noticed her husband had just stepped away and fucked someone else down the hall from the party. Not that Kellar knew that last part. He seemed like a good guy. If Rebecca had to marry a man twice her age, why had she chosen the married Wiley instead of the unmarried Kellar?

They looked alike, but so far, Lincoln liked Kellar about a thousand times better than his new son-in-law. He seemed like a really good guy. If Lincoln had to have a son-in-law who was older than him, he would have vastly preferred Kellar.

“Thanks,” he said, rather than telling Kellar he was going to let Janet have her fun. It didn’t matter to him anymore. Besides, considering his own activities tonight, he wouldn’t make himself into an even bigger hypocrite by trying to keep her away from her lover. “Can you check in on Ashley tomorrow to make sure she got home okay? Also, she left her car here.”

He couldn’t check in on her of course. Or offer to bring her back to her car.

“Yeah, I’ll be seeing her and Sara tomorrow.” There was something in Kellar’s voice when he said that, but Lincoln didn’t know him well enough to decipher the underlying message. “Have a good night. And uh, congratulations, I guess.”

With that rather unenthusiastic rejoinder, Kellar nodded his head and turned, walking out and leaving Lincoln standing alone again. Sadly, that was how he wanted it. He didn’t feel like talking to anyone there. Not for the first time, he regretted letting Janet talk him into leaving his men off the list.

---