Not This Time Read Free Page A

cheating or messing you over. Rational
thought flies out the window on a long round-trip ticket. In the
meantime, emotions take over, they kick in, and before you know it,
something stupid’s happened. Professional shrinks call these
episodes, crimes of passion.”
    Veronique’s face warmed at his stare. Their
journey to the bedroom left little room for embarrassment, so she’d
speak her mind. After this week, she’d never see or talk to him
again.
    “ Do you like Fifty-cents?”
He asked.
    “ What?”
    “ Not what. Who. He’s a
rapper?” He leaned back in his chair, watching her face.
    She shrugged and continued eating. “Never
heard of him. You like his music?”
    “ No. Just wondered.” He
paused. “You’re wrong.”
    “ I am?” Her brow rose.
Somewhere along the line, he’d flunked first date class. Rule
number one, never tell a woman you plan to screw, she’s wrong. It
doesn’t matter at this point, red could be blue, until after you
scored. Hell, even women knew that rule.
    “ Yeah. Someone I cared about
deeply, cheated on me. I was much younger, but still, I knew how I
felt. Thought I knew how she felt. Back then, I worked hard
building my company.”
    “ What do you do?” Damn,
she’d broken another rule applying to her flings; never get to know
much about them.
    “ I own a landscaping
company.”
    She nodded, impressed that he was
self-employed. That took a lot of work and courage. “I’m sorry, go
on.”
    “ Like I said, I worked hard
trying to build something for my future. I thought she was
on-board. One day, she walks in, claims she’s pregnant and wants to
get married.” He gazed at her. “I’m not against doing the right
thing, but she seemed desperate and demanded we tie the knot
immediately. I wasn’t ready, so I told her to wait until after the
baby was born. I knew neither of our families would care when we did the deed. You
know what I mean?”
    She nodded. Her parents had thrown her out
the house when they discovered she got knocked-up in her teens. Her
baby daddy disappeared faster than the morning dew. She wound up
staying in homeless or unwed mother centers, and later miscarried.
Right now, she wasn’t feeling very sympathetic toward him.
Hopefully, he’d clear this up or she’d be heading to her room
alone.
    “ Well, she freaked and left
town without telling anyone, not even her family knew where she’d
gone. A month later, my brothers and I tracked her down. She was
staying with some dude in a house near the mountains. The guy was
shocked and scared when I showed up. I planned to kick his ass for
touching what I’d considered mine. I didn’t. He claimed they’d been
dating for over a year, she wasn’t pregnant, and they were making
plans to get married. She’d given him an ultimatum and fool that he
was, he caved. After he explained the deal, I looked at her and cut
her off. She was dead to me.”
    “ Ouch.” He considered her, his? What the hell?
    He shrugged. “The guy’s parents didn’t care
for her, thought she was a scheming whore.” He smiled. “She decided
to hedge her bets with me, I guess.”
    “ Did he marry her?” He planned to kick the guy’s ass? So the fight
with Hedrick wasn’t a fluke.
    “ I don’t know. A year later,
she contacted me, wanting to talk. My business had taken off; her
brother worked part-time for me and must’ve told her she’d made a
mistake. At least that’s what she said over the phone.”
    Veronique’s ex had done the same thing.
Pity, the grass always looked greener somewhere else, it’s only
when you smell the fertilizer you realize it’s all bullshit.
    “ I wasn’t interested in her,
talking or otherwise, and never called back. I’ve seen her from
time to time. I speak, or wave, but I’m not interested.”
    “ I hear you.” She picked up
her glass and sipped the cold beverage while she glanced at him.
Big guy. Good-looking, didn’t mind fighting if he thought it was
worth it, but would cut you off