Page 13 of Jealous Wife

“Don’t play with me,” Zoey snapped. “I know it’s you, Ava. I’m not stupid.”

There was nothing Ava could say. She stared at Zoey, feeling heat rise up into her cheeks. She’d been caught in the act. What else could she say? There was nothing that was going to get her out of this mess. She just had to own it, and hope that Zoey didn’t mention anything to Rollo.

“You’re an idiot,” Zoey said. “Youlikedmy photo from today. I know you’ve been stalking me online. And now you’re here. Stalking me in real life.”

Zoey shook her head slowly, her eyes drifting up and down Ava’s body in disgust.

“Rollo is not going to be happy to hear about this,” Zoey sighed. “Just you wait.”

Fear gripped at Ava’s heart, forcing her to take action. “Please,” Ava cried out. “Please, let me explain.”

Zoey’s cold blue eyes stared at Ava’s face, unwavering.

“Please,” Ava whispered, “please, don’t tell Rollo.”

Zoey scoffed but Ava continued.

“Please, don’t tell him we met here,” she started. “Please, otherwise he’ll be suspicious.

“Suspicious ofwhat?” Zoey asked, the anger clear in her exasperated voice.

Ava took a deep, centering breath before opening her mouth. “Suspicious of the fact that I want you to fuck him.”

Chapter 6

Enough of your bad behavior

Thewhiteroomwasbathedinblue.Gleaming,shining,glistening.Everythingwassterile,clean,readyforscience.Mechanicalarmscontrolledbyswitchesandsupercomputerswerescatteredaroundtheroom,alongwithscreensagainstthewalls,displayingdozensofdifferentanglesofthesamespot.

Rollo adjusted the safety goggles on his face, pushing them closer to his eyebrows. The work they’d been doing was entering a delicate phase. He couldn’t make any mistakes now. They’d come too far to screw it up with the finish line in sight.

Beside him, Zoey was fiddling with switches, flicking them on and off in sequence. Rollo listened to the sounds of the buttons clicking, bringing the equipment to life.Click click, whrrrrr. Click click click, whrrrz.

All of the equipment in this lab was worth more than his entire house, his entire career. Rollo could feel the pressure on his shoulders, trying to break him. He wouldn’t be broken, though. Even if his life was falling apart around him. It didn’t matter. The work he was doing in this lab was going to be successful, even if it was the last good thing he ever did.

“Flow dynamics need to be boosted another zero-point-three percent,” Rollo said, looking at the clipboard in his hands.

“Iknow,” Zoey sighed. “I’m trying everything I can.”

Rollo looked over at her. She was wearing a white lab coat, the same as him, over her clothes. She had chosen not to button hers, though. Beneath the coat, she was wearing a skimpy tank top that was so tight against her body that it looked like it was going to rip open at her breasts. Rollo tried not to look at her chest, but he couldn’t help it.

It was always right there, asking to be looked at. Her legs weren’t that covered, either. She was wearing short shorts that barely covered her ass cheeks. Luckily for Rollo, the lab coat did that.

Zoey took off her plastic glasses and tossed them across the room. Rollo watched as they skittered noisily across the vinyl flooring. When he looked back at Zoey, she was pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes squeezed shut. Her eyebrows were furrowed deeply as her chest heaved up and down, making her breasts move and jiggle. Rollo tried not to look at them as he approached her.

“Let’s take a break,” he said.

He wanted to reach out and touch her bent elbow, but he thought better of it. What with everything going on with his wife and Zoey, he didn’t want to make matters worse. There was no denying that he loved Ava with all of his heart, even if she drove him to the breaking point.

“Sure,” Zoey sighed, dropping her hands from her face.

As she shrugged off her coat, Rollo forced himself to look at her face. She was tired, with slight bags under her eyes, hidden under layers of makeup, and the corners of her mouth were turned down.

He couldn’t concentrate on that, though. The only thing he could see were her breasts, moving from side to side as she ripped off the white coat.

Rollo gulped and forced himself to look away, taking off his own coat. They left the lab together, walking toward the break room in silence. The hallways were empty and most of the lights were off. Everyone had already gone home. They were staying late, as usual, trying to get back on track after his business meeting.

He tried not to groan as he thought about that. The board members had refused extra funding for their project. Of course, he was going to appeal their decision. They were making leaps and bounds in the robotics field, he just hadn’t adequately convinced them. Leaving his wife all alone while their marriage was on the rocks hadn’t been easy for Rollo. It was all he’d been able to think about while making his presentation. He’d stumbled over his words and made a fool of himself.