You’re still beautiful.
The number was unfamiliar. Wrong number, I decided. As I made to slip my phone back into my pocket, it beeped again.
We belong together. We always did. I hope you know that now.
The hairs at the back of my neck stood up. My gaze bounced around the park. No one was watching me. I read the message again. As I was reading the messages, a new one came in.
You were a wildcat in bed. I miss that.
My heart pounded hard against my chest. Fear came over me. It sounded like Stan. Except he was locked up in prison. With trembling fingers, I texted Ruby to ask her about Stan.
Her reply came shortly afterwards. Let me ask Elijah.
I sat stiffly on the bench, my mind arguing on whether or not it could be Stan. It was the word “wildcat”. Any man could say that to any woman. The only problem was Stan used to say it to me and he used to say it in that context. In exactly the way the text was formed.
I desperately hoped and prayed it was a case of mistaken identity. A horn blared and I jumped in fright. I felt eyes on me.
The mother of the girl was staring at me like I’d lost my marbles.
I tried to smile reassuringly.
It seemed to have the opposite effect. She got up abruptly. “Cathy, it’s time to go,” she said to her daughter.
Molly got up too and watched the puppy until it disappeared from view.
Guilt gnawed at me. My jumpiness had chased them away and it was probably nothing. “Let’s go to the swings,” I said and took her hand.
We stayed in the park for the next hour but I couldn’t still the restlessness in me. I kept glancing at the phone waiting for a message from Ruby while frightened to find another message from whoever was texting me.
With distance and time, my fear of Stan had dissipated. I wasn’t the same person he had pushed around. But he wasn’t a man you wanted near you. He was a violent man and he got a mad glint in his eyes when he got violent. I’d had a lucky escape.
I felt glad when it was time to go home. During the short walk back home, I kept glancing behind us. I only relaxed when we got home and the door was locked behind us.
Molly and I had lunch and then I took her to her room for a nap.
The chef left shortly after for a shopping spree and he had taken Molly with him. I was alone in the house when I heard the sound of a car. I raced to the front window and almost cried with relief when I saw Luke.
I was being paranoid… I scolded myself.
With Luke in the vicinity, the ice-cold fear that had surrounded my heart melted. I let out a chuckle. What silliness. It couldn’t be Stan. Of course, he couldn’t have texted me. He was away and locked up. I knew he wasn’t due out of prison for another two years.
Besides, what would he want with me?
Revenge, a voice inside me said and I shuddered. He never forgave me for leaving him and he always said, acid was too good for bitches who didn’t know their place. Then I got a restraining order and that pissed him off so bad.
I shook my head free of those thoughts.
I kept thinking the worst and it was only serving to increase my anxiety. “I’m not a victim, I’m a strong, powerful woman who can take care of herself,” I muttered to myself. Besides, he couldn’t come anywhere near me. They were the conditions of his restraining order. I repeated these words like a mantra to myself, again and again, until the knots of anxiety in my stomach untangled.
By the time Luke bounded into the house, I was actually almost back to myself. I greeted him with a lingering kiss on the mouth. It was a new experience for me eagerly waiting for a man in the evening.
I’ll never forget the dread that had always filled my stomach whenever Stan’s hours for returning home neared. When he stepped into the house, I’d search his face for signs of which mood he was in. If his top lip was slightly curled, that could mean by the end of the evening, I’d be sporting an ugly purple bruise somewhere.
Dammit, I was thinking about Stan again. He would ruin my evening and the rest of my life if I let him. I needed to erase all those terrible memories and concentrate on the present—my very eye-pleasing present.
“Hey, sweet Ella,” Luke murmured and pulled me back into his arms.
My hands skimmed over his strong arms and glided over his smooth broad chest.
“Is Molly napping?” he asked.
“No, she wanted to go shopping with Paul. They just left,” I said and then added in a suggestive tone, “I’m afraid, we’re all alone in the house.”
His hands dropped to my butt and squeezed.
Tingles of pleasure rose from my pussy. He angled his face and brought his mouth to mine. We kissed each other hungrily. His cock pushed against my pelvis. I slipped a hand between us, and cupped his cock over his pants. I stroked his hard, thick length through his pants.
Luke groaned. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to do. Let’s go to my office.” He grabbed my hand and led the way to the library.
Pulling me in, he shut and locked the door behind us and pushed me against the wall. He massaged my breasts through my top, running his thumbs over my protruding nipples.
I groaned and pushed my chest out. I needed his touch desperately. Our mouths found each other again, and we locked lips.
Every inch of my skin awakened and tingled with longing. I wanted him badly. My fingers threaded through his hair and we kissed as though our lives depended on it. The only noise in
