Beautiful Mistakes

"You're something," she said, completely thrown by that suggestion.

"Is that a 'hell no'?"

Slowly, Julie had to shake her head. "No. I really… don't have any better offers," she said, trying not to think of the strange situation, wanting to ask what exactly he was planning on doing with her, but not wanting to rush things either.

"Okay. Well, we'll see what we can do."

She nodded uneasily. "Yeah… we'll see."

Chapter Six-

Julie went back to Jack's apartment the same day, and when she got there she was a little relieved that he wasn't home yet. His friend Jacob was, and he greeted her with a big grin and said, "You are one hell of a woman. Jack's never even done that."

"Done what?" she asked without much energy.

"A whole weekend with someone else without even a phone call, then the walk of shame back home," he specified. "He's left you for a night here and there, but never what you did, girl. No wonder he's in love with you."

Julie opted to ignore the senseless roommate, walking back into her bedroom—Jack's bedroom.

She and Matt had discussed what she was going to do that night. She didn't know exactly how he was going to explain it to Emma, but he seemed pretty determined to get Julie in the guest room. However, she didn't think it would be right to move in as soon as Emma got back—plus, she was a little afraid that it being their first night together after Emma's trip, they might do something she wouldn't want to know about.

Julie had felt too strange to strike up a discussion about the rules and regulations of being a mistress—are you technically available? Can you both technically continue to sleep with each other and other people, too? Was it a given that he would keep sleeping with his wife? Was it wrong of Julie to dislike that thought?

Overall, she wasn't sure she was cut out to be a mistress, but there was something about Matt that she couldn't quite describe or put her finger on, she just had this intense draw to him.

Besides, she had slept with Jack without giving half a damn about him, so sleeping with someone she actually did like didn't seem much worse, even if he was married.

She wasn't sure Matt shared this possessiveness at all, however, as he had been the one to suggest that she stay at Jack's that night, and they could work out the details the following day. Julie figured she could probably fend Jack off for the night, if for no other reason because he would be pissed off that she had abandoned him for the whole weekend, and he would undoubtedly suspect her of doing exactly what she had been doing.

With that knowledge, however, she didn't want to get too much on Jack's bad side, because she had a secret fear that he would become vindictive and tell Emma. She certainly didn’t like Emma, but she didn’t want her to know she had slept with her husband, either.

Trying not to think about it, she dedicated herself to completing some homework assignments, and she got so caught up in what she was doing that she was still sitting in the middle of the bed with her long brown hair tied back in a loose pony tail, laboring over her laptop to write a paper f

or humanities when Jack came walking in the bedroom.

She looked up, surprised, and he just stared back at her for a moment, his eyes roaming over her as if to assess the differences the weekend had made.

Finally he broke the silence, saying, “Welcome back."

Julie just looked at him, her words frozen on her tongue. Although she wasn’t sure it was warranted considering Jack’s unfaithfulness, she had an icky, uncomfortable feeling creeping up her spine. She was sure when he wasn't there in the room with her that she had planned out something to say, and she had even gone over it in her mind, figuring she would have no problem saying it to him—after all, she didn't care about him.

But Jack's presence seemed to change things. He stood there in the near darkness, his hazel eyes brighter than usual, his hands shoved in his pockets, and he looked strangely vulnerable as he looked at Julie as if seeing her for the first time.

She swallowed something that felt like guilt, and the bitter taste of it caused her to remind herself that he had undoubtedly cheated on her before.

With that thought, she lifted her chin a bit and pulled back her shoulders, emotionally hardening herself. "Thanks," she responded unapologetically.

"Where were you?" he asked unnecessarily.

"Out," she retorted, using a favorite response of his.

He nodded, his eyes averted. "I guessed as much." Then he moved closer to the bed and sat down on the edge. "I missed you."

Unwilling to lie to him, she turned her gaze away, focusing back on her computer screen as she replied, "Aw, didn't Morgan and Arianna keep you company?"

"Yes," he said unflinchingly.

That shouldn't have bothered her, but something about him brazenly admitting it wounded her pride. "Good," she said a touch spitefully. "I wasn't lonely, so I wouldn't expect you to be."