Tempt The Boss (Tempt 1)

I can’t stop the angry laugh that bursts from my mouth. I’m that oblivious spouse who everyone makes fun of. I’m that wife who said it would never happen to me. I’m that woman who they all feel sorry for. I’m her. That poor, clueless woman who can’t seem to keep her husband from falling dick first into a sexy, twenty-something woman. I look around to see who else is looking at us.

The secretary, the principal, Colleen, and four of her posse, who are there trying to get parents to join the PTA, Jake, and her. “Does everyone know he was having an affair? Was I the only one who didn’t know?” I throw my hands out to the side, turning on my heel as I walk out of the school, vowing never to return.

I get in my car and make one phone call to Kaleigh, my sister. I don’t know how much she understands between the sobs and the yelling, but ten minutes later when I pull up to the curb of my perfect house, she is there throwing Jake’s clothes out of our bedroom window. They land right in the front of my house on the lawn.

It takes her a full five minutes to toss everything out. I stand here, still in shock, still in a daze, looking at the mountain of his clothes. Clothes I bought him. Clothes I picked out. Clothes I washed, ironed, and put away. I don’t see Kaleigh come from the side of the house with the gasoline container in her hand. I just see her pouring it all over his clothes. She walks over to me, handing me the packet of matches. “Let’s burn this motherfucker down.”

And we do. Till one of the neighbors calls the fire department, who rush out, three full trucks, lights blaring in the night, an EMT, and one police cruiser. I sit here on my lawn, watching the flames rising up from the pile of everything that he owns before the whole mess is drenched in water.

The second alarm sounds, bringing me out of my trip back into that nightmare.

“Gabe! Rachel! Time to get up, guys! Mommy starts her new job today,” I yell, hoping they hear me. I take another sip of my coffee before I make my way upstairs to get ready for my new job. Yay me.

Chapter Two

LAUREN

I look at myself in the mirror, smoothing the front of my skirt down. What a difference six months make. Gone is the extra weight that had been lingering on my petite frame for the last six years, thanks to some cardio at the gym and the fact that I stopped eating. You would think that your husband leaving you would have you drowning your sorrows in carbs, ice cream, and cheese, but it was actually quite the opposite for me. On the rare occasion I actually have a little bit of an appetite, the second I put something in my mouth, I feel sick. So, I am getting there slowly but surely. I have grown out my hair, adding layers into it instead of just the ‘mom bob’ I had been sporting. I also added some golden, honey-colored highlights.

I’m dressed in a tight, gray knee-length pencil skirt that I paired with a light pink silk shirt with a ruffled collar and cap sleeves. I’ve added my very favorite Manolo Blahnik black Mary Janes, a Mother’s Day present from three years ago. If nothing else, he left me with two beautiful children and a closet full of designer heels.

I take a deep breath. This is it.

My phone beeps again. “Ten minutes, guys, let’s go.” I walk out of my room, heading down the stairs while watching my ten-year-old put his cereal bowl in the sink and grab all his papers from the table, shoving them in his backpack. “Rachel, don’t forget to pack your reading log that’s on the couch.”

I look over at my sister, who is nursing her second cup of coffee. She sits with her legs crossed, watching it all. Dressed in her yoga pants that mold perfectly to her thin, five-foot-seven-inch body and a loose sweater that falls off one shoulder. “How do you remember this stuff?” she asks.

“It’s magic. Once you become a parent, you’ll get a brain,” I tell her with a smirk.

“Then what happened to Jake?” She smiles back while taking a sip.

“Okay, I take that back. Once you become a mother , you get a brain. I mean, I don’t think all men are dicks. Look at Dad,” I tell her while I put the milk back in the fridge and pick up the cereal box, putting it back into the cupboard. My phone alarm sounds again. “Two minutes, guys!” I have my phone set to different times so I never run late. It’s another thing I got when I became a mom.