Flawless Desire

JULIET

The weekend is miserable.

I pinball from shame, to anger, to lust, to humiliation and back to pure rage again.

I can’t stop thinking about Caleb. He treats me to a lavish evening, gives me the most amazing sexual experience of my life and then…

Walks out on me.

What kind of asshole does that?

The kind of handsome, sexy billionaire asshole who dates a new woman every week, I remind myself. Caleb probably has his routine down cold. Why would I be any different?

I have a wounded ego. Not to mention a sore backside. Every time I sit down, the slight sting reminds me of him.

And just how good it felt to obey him, on my hands and knees. Begging for more.

Which is exactly how Caleb said he liked his women.

How does that saying go? When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

Well, Caleb gave me plenty of warning. He made his filthy intentions clear. I guess I just thought it would go differently.

To bed, instead of home, alone, in his swanky car.

* * *

I’m still wallowingon my bed Sunday afternoon when Kelsey pokes her head around the door.

“Really?” she asks, sounding sympathetic. “You know you’ve been moping around all weekend.”

“Your point?” I call back, but it’s muffled by a pillow.

“Come on. Have some dinner. I picked up pizza… You need the calories, if you’re going to wallow much harder.”

I sigh.

But she’s right. I need to get up. I’m going to have to go to work tomorrow anyway, so I can’t simply lie in bed forever, hoping the world—and a certain unfeeling billionaire—goes away.

Rolling out of bed, I go to the kitchen, where she’s setting out the greasy pizza box and a couple of paper napkins. I join her on one of the counter stools, but I’m not hungry.

For pizza, anyway.

“I feel like an idiot,” I sigh. “Maybe this is his big routine: Hook us, then keep us dangling.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t an emergency?” Kelsey asks. I filled her in on the details. Well, most of them.

“He didn’t say anything about an emergency. He didn’t say anything at all. Just walked out the door. While I was naked!”

“Well, he is an important guy. Places to go, people to see. And...” Her eyes land on the necklace on the end of the counter. She snatches it up. “Whoa. What is this?”

“The necklace he had me wear.”

“Real diamonds?” Kelsey’s eyes bug out of her head. “This has got to be worth…”

“A million bucks, at least.”

She drops it like a hot coal. “And you just left it sitting on our kitchen counter?”