Page 24 of Southpaw Slots
“And who is the head of his household?”
Swallowing, he waits a moment before replying, “Mrs. Donovan?”
“That’s right. Not his lawyers or security or staff. He isKingand I amhis Queen. I’m not askingpermissionto leave. I’m giving you the grace to know where I am. But his spies can easily inform you of my whereabouts. Now, something youcanhelp with. I feel like Mr. Donovan needs a healthy lunch.” Thinking about his antics of jerking off on me this morning and pushing me in the pool yesterday, I lower my voice and add on, “With lots of prune juice.” With a wink and a spin, I barrel toward the garage before they can physically stop me, leaving the two men glancing at each other sheepishly.
Once I find her, I slide on my bike and start her up with a roar, then slowly edge out onto the driveway. Before I leave, a small movement from above catches my attention. Asa stands leaning over a balcony, his rippled forearms holding up his bare tattooed chest. His eyes sparkle with mischievousness as his lips lift into a small smirk as I ride away. Looking into my side-view mirror, I watch his strapping back ripple as he turns to walk back inside, and my belly does a flip.
Maybe giving him my virginity won’t be such a bad thing.
When I reach the motorcycle shop, I can tell all the guys are annoyed with me just by pulling into the parking lot. The big one rolls his eyes dramatically and lifts his face, so he stares into the sky. The others turn away. Wyatt, fortunately, is near his bench, so I stroll past the crew and head straight to him with a toss of myhair over my shoulder. I don’t care what these assholes think of me.
His broad shoulders slump as he hears me approach, but he keeps his back to me, working on something. “Ari,” he says, like an exasperated warning.
“Don’t call me that. Call me vixen.”
Spinning around, he eyes me with pain in his deep-set green eyes. “Let’s talk in the office.”
Perfect. My sly grin is unstoppable. I know what that means. He’ll make love to me on the desk and all will be fine again. His fingers lace through mine as he pulls me into the back room, the dust kicking up and making my nose itch with a sneeze. Swinging around his large frame, I plop my ass on the edge of the desk and grip his hips, but he stands as far away from me as he can. I loop a finger through his jeans and tug, giving a little whine, but he refuses to budge.
“Asa said you can come over,” I say with a pout of my bottom lip.
Rubbing his face with a palm, he narrows his eyes at me. “Arianna, you’remarriednow.”
“He said we can have an open relationship. Just that you can’t impregnate me. We haven’t had sex or anything. Not even kissing.”
“That’s not the point.”
With my feet, I dig into the backs of his thighs until he’s forced to take a few steps closer, then he leans forward, his taut arms locked on either side of me. “I thought you loved me,” I say.
He tilts his head slightly, staring at my lips. “I do, vixen. More than anything. I love you. But I need to think about this. Think aboutsharingyou with another man. One I don’t particularly like.”
“I don’t like him, either.” Though my thoughts immediately switch to how he held me last night, comforting me from my nightmare. How sweet he turned out to be. And that tug of commonality I feel is binding us together. Doesn’t mean Ilikehim…
Nodding, he inhales as his lips separate before he brushes them against my own. When I try to deepen the kiss, he backs away. “Let me think about it. I just don’t know if I can see you two together without wanting to kill someone. Does he know you’re here?”
Shrugging a shoulder, I tell him, “He didn’t ask.”
A large breath plunges out of his mouth as his head drops back. “Arianna,ifwe’re doing this, we need to keep things in the open. Not hidden from him. I don’t respect him, but I do respect his position. If I were your husband, I wouldn’t like it. So…please. Go home to him. And I’ll let you know sometime.”
Tears spring to my eyes as I contemplate him never seeing me again. Is he just putting me off so I’ll leave him alone? Is this it for us?
When we started, it was all hurried passion. All he seemed to want was me. And he was someone so new, not likeanyoneI’d ever met before. But there’s always been this untouchable wall I couldn’t climb, something my manipulations couldn’t touch. Despite how closewe’ve become, sometimes he still feels like a stranger. While my new husband feels like someone I’ve known my whole life.
Every time we’re together, it’s felt like the end before we ever began. And I know that if he would just agree tobewith me, it would be amazing, peaceful, fulfilling. Instead of this constant tug of war we’ve started.
Standing, I shove him back to make room, then put my hands on my hips.
“‘Let me know sometime’? Wyatt Steele, I’m worth more than waiting aroundfor you. How about I’ll letyouknow if I want you to come over or not.” I swish by him, lifting my fingers and wiggling them as I head out the door. “Ta ta.”
Jumping back on the leather saddle of my bike, I plunge the helmet over my head and jet toward the south, skipping my brother’s place. I’m too angry to see the happy couple right now.
Well, I’m more hurt than anything.
And I can’t tell a soul why. Max would literally kill Wyatt if he knew about us, and Livia would only give me a lecture that I don’t want to hear. That he’s not good for me. That this will only cause us problems. That I have a husband now…
Yeah, one who doesn’t give a shit about me and just needs me to bear him an heir. Which is fine. At least then I could have someone to love me. And maybe Asa would come around for the children. If not, he couldhave his mistresses and I could have someone, too. Isn’t that how things are done in this world?
Just thinking about that makes the ache in my heart turn to stabbing pains. All I wish is that I had what my parents did. Pure love and a deep friendship with respect. But maybe some of us aren’t meant to have that.