Page 1 of One Last Time?
Chapter 1
Taylor
* * *
God…
I’d drunk too much.
I didn’t mean to.
And look at me…
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror behind the bar and sucked in a sharp breath. The reflection of the woman who stared back at me next to the highball glasses looked terrible.That was supposed to be me.
I looked like I’d been on a bender. While my long dark locks were salon perfect, my face, however, was a whole other story. Red eyes that were normally a light brown matched my red lipstick, and the blotchy skin was a near perfect match too. At least the shade complimented the colorful icy concoction of drinks whirring around in the blender near my reflection.
The way I looked was definitely not suited to being outside around people, and absolutely not in The Glow, one of the newest, trendy cocktail bars to open in Laguna Beach.
I’d seen the place was open as I was driving by earlier and thought one glass of wine wouldn’t hurt. I just wanted one damn glass of wine to take the edge off my brain. One glass to wipe the memory of seeing Brody with that woman.His actual girlfriend.His actual girlfriend who wasn’t me like I’d thought.
One glass of wine to forget him pounding into her on his bed while she screamed for more. To which his answer was, ‘Marry me.’
There had been a heaviness in my body since the sight and my ribs tightened every time I remembered, making it difficult for me to breathe.
I’d always heard about these stories. Stories of wives and girlfriends making surprise visits or coming home early to catch their partners cheating.
I’d just joined the club. I’d joined the club and taken my seat in the presidency because catching them having sex was bad and sickening enough. But the fucking proposal as well was… Well, fuck, it put the icing and cherries all over the cake.
My visit to his apartment came about because he’d left his phone at my house last night. It was Abby, my sister, who found it this morning in the bag he’d brought me that was filled with my favorite chocolates. The thing was, in the six months we’d been together, I’d never seen him with that phone. Obviously though, I assumed it was his since it was in the bag with the chocolates.
I, being the good girlfriend, decided to leave work early to drop off his phone. I knew he was working from home today, so he’d be in. When I got there, the sight of him and the woman who looked like a hooker greeted me.
The look on his face when he saw me was absolutely classic. It was a mixture of shock and mortification, then loss. Not loss for losing me because he loved me. It was a look of loss I’d seen far too many times.
That look of loss of opportunity.
Opportunity…
That was what most guys wanted from me. Me, Taylor Cartwright, the second eldest daughter of the great Peter Cartwright.
Cartwright as in Cartwright Enterprises, the empire that practically owned eighty percent of the businesses, real estate, and sporting facilities in Orange County. Cartwright as in the company that owned the NFL football teams The Centaurs and The Gladiators in LA ,and the NHL team The Knights.
My father and his four brothers owned the billionaire empire.
Sometimes it was exciting to think about all they owned. It excited me because I’d always wanted to follow in Dad’s footsteps.
The downside was the fake people.
Fake boyfriends who screwed with me because they wanted a piece of the damn pie. It was the same thing happening all over again with Brody.
He’d, however, shocked me the most. I’d never had anyone cheat on me before. Not that I knew of, anyway, and he had the audacity to try and apologize.
How I was supposed to forgive him was anyone’s guess, and definitely not
with the girlfriend stretched out on the bed, smiling at me and letting me know he’d always belonged to her.
I couldn’t have felt like a bigger fool.
