ROMANCE: Sleeping With The Sheikh (Billionaire Alpha Male Sheikh Romance) (New Adult Forbidden Series Short Stories) Read Free Page B

a last minute decision or a spur of the moment night out. He had promised to go nearly two months ago.
    Donald waved her off, a signal that he wasn’t interested in fighting anymore. Normally, it told Clarice that there was no point in fighting anymore, because he wasn’t going to change her mind and she would just end up hurt and frustrated by the end of it all.
    But tonight was different. She wasn’t going to let this one go.
    “This function has been planned for months and you agreed to go over two months ago,” she reminded him, putting as much cool force in her tone as possible. Getting angry wouldn’t work; that would just tell him that she was an “irrational female” and give him the excuse to tell her that he wouldn’t deal with her when she was like this.
    Donald finally looked over at her, a frown on his face. “Clarice, darling, I’m a busy man, you know that. I have commitments and—”
    “This is one of those commitments,” Clarice reminded him, folding her arms across her chest and staring at him pointedly. “I presented you with the invitations and made sure your secretary cleared the evening so that you wouldn’t have any conflicts, remember?”
    For a moment, he looked almost panicked. Donald wasn’t use to being the one who was cornered with limited options and admittedly it’s because he usually wanted. In their marriage it was Donald who carried all the cards and there was no question now that the tables had turned, Clarice was taking some pleasure from it.
    That was part of the reason she was being so insistent on him going. In all honesty, she had long since accepted that her husband attending her functions wasn’t all that much fun for her. It often left her alone, feeling inadequate and once again overshadowed by all the many business acquaintances that weren’t supposed to be nearly as important as she was. But were.
    The other part of why she was being so insistent, however, had little to nothing to do with her. Yes, she had helped organize the function since she was on the committee, but none of the benefits went to her and she really didn’t get anything from it. But this function promised to match one thousand dollars for ever individual who attended the function—meaning two thousand should the both of them manage to make it—as well as take additional donations. There were other parts to the function as well including a raffle, a donation box, and wares and goods that were being sold at outrageous prices in order to give the majority of the proceeds to the fund.
    All of that was good. All of it would go to the children’s literacy fund which would donate books as well as literacy education for children from lower income families. It was an important charity that Clarice felt whole heartedly about, especially since she had come from a poor family in a small town that couldn’t do a thing for her.
    She wasn’t sure if Donald even knew what her charity was for, come to think of it.
    “Honey, I really don’t think—” Donald tried one last time, but Clarice wasn’t listening. She had already gone into his closet to pick out his tuxedo and brought it out for him to put on.
    “You’re going,” she said firmly and for once it was clear that she broached no argument.
    ***
    As soon as Donald and Clarice arrived at the fund raiser they were greeted by a host of people. Many of them were committee members who wanted to congratulate her on a job well done—the whole idea had been hers. By the time Clarice had shaken two hands and said hi to three husbands, her own husband was gone. She looked around for him, halfheartedly, and spotted him chatting to a group of older men who wore business suits that Donald probably would have preferred as well.
    Though she was disappointed, Clarice couldn’t force herself to be surprised. This was to be expected. Really, she should be grateful that she’d convinced him to attend at all. Even so, it stung to see him forgetting her so