“We’ll see about that.” I pushed the door open. I couldn’t get out of the Blue Ginger Hotel fast enough. My gut told me I hadn’t seen the last of him.
I went back to the Ernye station. My ship, Orient Fevre, was scheduled to depart to the Froste system in six standard hours. We were an intergalactic transport company delivering high-ticketed goods, and sometimes, escorting VIPs to their destination across the universe. I worked on the Orient Fevre as Captain Hawk’s Chief Mate. That was why I was so anxious when I realised I hadn’t returned to the ship last night. I had never been this slack.
Another surprise waited for me. My ex, Mac, frowned as soon as he saw me walk past the front door of my stateroom. “Where were you last night?”
“It’s none of your business.”
Mac took a good look at me and flipped out. “You fucked somebody.”
Man, why was I so easy to read? I must have had a sign “Just Had Sex” stencilled on my forehead. “What do you care? I caught you bench pressing your assistant.”
He stiffened, and his big, brown eyes softened, pleading at me. “I made a mistake. Give me another chance, Violet.”
“I don’t think so. We’re through.”
Mac didn’t give up that easily. “I’ve never been unfaithful to you and I slipped. I’m not making an excuse for myself. What I’ve done is unforgivable. But we’ve been together for almost a year. I don’t want us to end this way.”
Honestly, I didn’t know what to say. I loved Mac. I always had. But he’d fucked his assistant just a month before our wedding. Had he done this before without being caught? I was a firm believer in giving someone a second chance, but when I thought about what he’d done, I couldn’t forgive him as much as I wanted to. Then there was Levy Frye…
Seeing me quiet, Mac took my hands and brought them to his heart. He kissed my fingertips tenderly. He could be a prince charming if he wanted to, but he rarely showed it. His job as the Chief Security Officer on this ship meant Mac treated everything as if he was in the battlefield. He’d been a colonel in the army before taking a civilian job on Orient Fevre. I guess it was his badass attitude that had attracted me to him in the first place.
I took a step backward. “I don’t know, Mac.”
“What can I do to make it up to you?”
“Listen, I’m not ready to have this conversation. I need some time alone.”
He looked disappointed. “Can we discuss it during dinner?”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing to discuss.”
“You’re punishing me.”
“I’m not punishing you.”
“You were punishing me by sleeping with whatever guy you picked last night.”
“Maybe, I was.”
“Then we’re even. We should get past this nonsense and move on.”
Mac was never this thick. He looked rough on the outside, but on the inside, he was always gentle and caring towards me. He adored me—treated me as if I was his princess. But over the past week, he’d morphed into an insensitive son of a bitch I didn’t recognise.
I pointed to the door. “Out!”
Mac stiffened and straightened his hulking figure, his eyes flashing angrily. He looked so pissed that the roots of his close-cropped blond hair were also flushed. “I’m not giving up on you, Violet.”
“Out! Out! Out!” I wasn’t in the mood for civility. I had to go to work in twenty minutes and the last thing I needed was dealing with this bullshit.
“We’re not finished.” He stormed out and slammed the door.
Geezes. What was with the men I’d had to deal with this morning? First Levy and now Mac. I strode into my cramped kitchen. My hamster, Fluffy, greeted me like always from his cage on the kitchen counter. He lifted his front paws, begging for his morning treats. I fished out a handful of sunflower seeds from a cookie jar and piled them in his bowl. Fluffy ate them with greed.
“Men are assholes, aren’t they?” I griped to Fluffy.
He gave me a sympathetic look and continued to eat his meal.
“If only somebody could invent vibrators that were as good as a real cock, then we wouldn’t need men anymore, don’t you think? Life would be less complicated.”