Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Neil ordered whiskey, a double, and I followed suit with a Jack and Coke. Short drinks, for what might end up being a short night.
“I’m sorry we could not meet under our usual circumstances,” Emir said, once the waitress had left. “But I come with some rather unhappy news.”
I took a breath to brace myself. I saw the rise of Neil’s chest and knew he was doing the same.
“Best to get all the unpleasantness out at once, don’t you think?” Neil said softly.
Emir took a sip of his wine and nodded. “The more I say it, the less difficult it becomes. My wife and I are divorcing.”
My brows raised a notch. Neil and I were silent; I didn’t know how to react to this.
“Things have ended…poorly,” Emir continued. “Her girlfriend has grown jealous and demanded that my wife make a choice. She did, and she didn’t choose me. She plans to take our daughters to France to live full time. Naturally, I cannot allow that.”
“Daughters?” Neil leaned forward, glancing up warily at the server who returned with our drinks.
I took a huge gulp from mine.
With an elegant shrug, Emir dismissed Neil’s question. “I did not feel it was appropriate to mention them before. Not within the boundaries of our relationship.”
I winced as I swallowed; the booze to pop ratio was terrible. “Totally understand,” I assured him.
“You will also understand, then, that as I pursue a better arrangement for them, I must be circumspect in my personal life.”
This was it, then. This was where he was going to break up with us.
I held my breath.
He looked from me to Neil as he spoke, his brows drawn together in concern and regret. “So, until this messy business is over, I believe we should temporarily suspend our encounters.”
“Temporarily?” I squeaked.
“Oh, thank Christ,” Neil said, his breathing audibly affected by his relief. “We thought you were breaking up with us.”
“What? No!” Emir looked horrified at the prospect. “I simply need to distance myself for now. In a few months, when the divorce is settled, I would love to see you again.” He lowered his voice. “Perhaps I could show you how to fuck him, Chloe.”
Neil blushed bright red, from his collar to his forehead. “Yes, well, that’s always a possibility.”
I considered it. Pegging Neil… It did have a naughty kind of fascination for me.
But that wasn’t the issue at the moment. I reached across the table and covered Emir’s hand with my own. “Are you all right?” Was it okay for me to be asking this? “Is there anything we can do?”
“No, no,” he said gently. “None of this is your concern. I just wanted to make both of you aware that my withdrawal from communication is not a reflection of my feelings for you.”
“Well, I’m very sorry this has happened,” Neil said, taking a sip from his glass. “I’m divorced, myself. They aren’t easy.”
“No, but sometimes—” Emir nodded to me, “the outcome isn’t too bad.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Neil said with a chuckle, and he lifted his glass to clink against Emir’s.
In the car on the way home, I leaned my head against Neil’s shoulder and closed my eyes. “You don’t think we’ll ever get to a point like that, do you? Where we get…territorial over each other?”
His chest rose under my hand with a deep breath. “I already feel territorial. As much as I enjoyed sharing you with Emir—and given the right partner, I would do it again—I think it’s only natural that I experience some jealousy as part of the process.”
“We’ve already established that my lack of jealousy over Emir has to do with my ignorance regarding your bisexuality.” I felt so bad about that, but it was hard to shake myself out of my previous stupid thinking. “Be sure to keep reminding me about that.”
“I certainly will,” he said with wry amusement in his voice. “You never know. You might feel equally unthreatened if I were to sleep with a woman.”
“But I won’t know until it happens.”
“Do you…” Neil paused. “My friend, Ian, and his wife, Gena, are swingers. And they did drop some hints at my birthday party. Would you be interested in having a date with them? We could see where it goes.”
I would definitely not have an issue sleeping with Ian. He was Neil’s age, seriously cool, had the crudest language I’d heard from anyone who wasn’t Deja, and wasn’t bad looking, either. Gena had been really friendly, and she was a gorgeous, curvy redhead with mountains of cleavage—basically, Neil’s ultimate sexual fantasy.
That did intimidate me, a little bit. I seemed to be the exact opposite of Neil’s ideal physical type for a woman. I was short, brunette, and my tits were on the small side when compared to Gena’s lush body. The firm, perky, small side, but still.