Lost in Time (Forever and Always #20) (5 page)

Okay…

She leaned over the table and placed her chin
on her hand, giving me a playful look. “And I’ve kept their
secrets. Their wives have no idea and everyone wins.”

I slept with a lot of girls in my youth, but
never once did I sleep with a married woman. Actually, other than
my brother’s girlfriend, I hadn’t even slept with a girl who had a
boyfriend. Not my style. I thought it was immoral and wrong. I may
never have wanted to get married, but that didn’t mean I didn’t
respect the institution. The fact she was okay with that lifestyle
made me dislike her. But I wasn’t here to judge her on a personal
level. She had something I wanted for my company, and insulting her
would get me nowhere.

When I didn’t say anything she pressed
forward. “I know we just met, but I can already tell I like you…”
She reached her hand out and placed it on mine. Suddenly, her words
made sense to me. She wanted to have an affair. I pulled my hand
away quickly. The first thing I wanted to do was call her a whore
then storm out, but I had to control myself. She was a very
important client. “I’m married—happily married.”

She smirked. “Marriage is a despicable
practice. I can guarantee that people would never commit to another
person for the rest of their lives if it weren’t expected in our
society. The divorce rate has never been higher. It’s a waste of
time.”

“You have the right to your own opinion, but
I respectfully disagree. I’ve never been happier in my life. I
never want another woman as long as I live. If soul mates exist,
she’s mine.”

She gave me a sympathetic smile. “It’s
obvious you’re a newlywed.”

It was getting harder and harder not to snap.
She said she appreciated the fact that I didn’t harass her, but
yet, she was doing the exact same thing to me. “I’m not interested
in other women. Can we get down to business?”

She sighed. “I suppose.”

“I’ll meet your demand for full exclusivity.
I think your asking price is too high, but I’ll compromise.”

“If you thought it was too high, you wouldn’t
agree at all.” A condescending smile was on her face. “But I’ve
changed my mind about it. Actually, my father has.”

This was bullshit.

“The same asking price, but we want a thirty
percent royalty on all your sales.”

Thirty percent? You’ve got to be fucking
kidding.
“With overhead, employees, and taxes, that would leave
me with two percent—that’s not a fair asking price.”

She sat back in her chair and shrugged. “You
either want the operating system or you don’t.” Judging the look in
her eyes, she wasn’t bluffing.

The waiter placed the food in front of us
then walked away. I wasn’t hungry at all. This woman offered to
have an affair with me then changed the terms of our deal. A more
unethical woman I’d never known. She may be beautiful, but she was
hideous deep down inside.

She ate quietly, picking at her food.

I had nothing to say so I concentrated on my
meal.

“I’ve given you five minutes to think about
it. What say you?”

“No.” I didn’t need five minutes to think
about it. “It makes no sense for me to sell something with no
profit. I may as well utilize what I have and hope I can compete
with the competition.”

“But you never will.”

“Be that as it may.” I opened my wallet and
through down ample cash to pay the tab. “It was nice meeting you.”
Not really.
“Good luck.” I stood up and pushed my chair
in.

“Wait.” She sat up, panicked.

“What?” My patience was waning. “I don’t
negotiate with someone so unethical. Once we agree on a new price,
you’ll change your mind. That’s not a type of business partner I
wish to have dealings with.”

“That order came from my father, not me.”

“I really don’t care where it came from.”

“Sit down,” she commanded.

Only one woman bossed me around and got away
with it. I stayed on my feet.

“I’ll offer you something else instead.”

I sat down, interested to hear her deal.

“I can convince my father to change his mind.
But you need to do something for me…”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“I want you to make love to me like you do
your wife. Then I’ll persuade him.”

“You’re blackmailing me?”

“No, I’m offering you a deal. We both get
what we want.”

“Are you always this unethical?” I
snapped.

“Let’s cut the crap, Mr. Preston. Don’t act
like you don’t want to be with me. Only a gay man wouldn’t.”

I laughed. “Wow. You’re really full of
yourself.”

Her eyes burned in offense.

“My company could be on the threshold of
going under without this deal and I still wouldn’t take your offer.
My wife is everything to me. I could lose everything; my job, my
house, my family and I still would be happy as long as I had her. I
don’t want you and never will.” I stood up and adjusted my tie.
“The meeting is over. I’m not interested in anything you have to
sell, Ms. Augustine.” I stormed out, not looking back at the whore
who couldn’t catch my attention if she tried.

I stayed at work a little later than usual. I
was pissed at how my day went. I really needed that operating
system, but it wasn’t worth it if I had to deal with that slut. My
dad said the new technology would help the company and Cortland
agreed, but I couldn’t sacrifice my marriage to attain it. They
would both understand. And even if she didn’t ask me to whore
myself out, the other deal was ridiculous. We’d figure out some
other way.

Scarlet texted me.
Are you still at the
office?

I stared at the screen for a moment before I
responded.
Yes.

Are you coming home soon?

Yeah. Leaving in 5.

Good. I miss you.

My heart pained in longing at her words.
I
miss you too.

Drive safe.

Always.

I put my phone down and sighed. Should I tell
her what happened? She knew that the company was trying to acquire
new software but she didn’t know the details. I didn’t talk about
work when I was at home. I just concentrated on her.

But then I remembered what she said. She
didn’t care if women hit on me, and it didn’t make her jealous. She
trusted me so there was no reason to be suspicious or doubtful.
So why should I even bother? Was it even worth mentioning? No, I
guess not.

When I came home, she greeted me at the door,
giving me a hard kiss. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” My hand moved into her
hair while I held her close to me. Her breasts were pressed against
my chest and I felt her baby bump. I was hot for her the moment I
felt her. It disgusted me that Aris had no respect for marriage.
Maybe other people married for the wrong reason, and maybe they
were unhappy with their partners, but that wasn’t the case for me.
I had the most amazing woman in the world. I loved her with my
whole heart and never wanted anyone else for as long as I lived.
That skinny French bitch had nothing on my wife. “I want to make
love to you.”

Scarlet gave me a playful look. “You always
say that.”

“This time, I need to.”

Chapter 4

Cortland

Monnique got rid of her apartment then moved
her stuff to mine. When we were living together again, we were
doing it like animals. It was like neither one of us ever had sex
before.

She lay on top of me, my wrists tied to the
post with her panties, and she was riding me hard and fast. “Mmm…I
could do this all day.”

I rocked into her from below, loving the feel
of her bare pussy. It was the best thing on this planet.

She dug her nails into my skin then moaned
loudly, practically screaming. Her breasts shook while she took me
in deep and far. “Oh yeah…” She leaned her head back, looking like
a goddess. I like knowing my body was giving her so much pleasure.
The panties restrained my wrists, but let’s be honest, I wasn’t
putting up much of a fight. I liked it when she fucked me like
this.

She slowed down for a second, catching her
breath as she came down from her high. “God, he feels good.”

I moaned in response, wanting to come inside
her pussy.

She leaned over me then kissed me, moving her
lips slowly. I writhed under her, somehow even more turned on by
the feel of her mouth against mine. I rocked my hips, trying to
move inside her, but she wouldn’t let me. She kept kissing me,
building me up.

She finally broke our kiss then moved from
her knees to her feet.

I knew I was in for a treat.

Balancing on the balls of her feet, she took
me slowly.

I clenched my jaw and breathed because it
felt so good. I was so close to reaching my threshold.

Monnique did it again then sped up.

That was all I needed. I came hard and long,
filling her for a few seconds. I loved coming inside her. It was
pure heaven. I lay back when I was finished, catching my breath.
She leaned over me and gave me a gentle kiss before she removed my
flimsy restraints.

My free hand moved through her hair and
pulled her to the bed next to me, wanting to snuggle with her all
night. Forget dinner. Lying in bed with her was better.

“Cortland?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t you think we’ve waited long
enough?”

I knew what she referred to. “You want to
tell them?”

“Want to tell them?” She smirked at me. “I’m
dying to tell them.”

“I don’t want to keep my fiancé waiting.”

She extended her hand. “Make it
official.”

I opened my nightstand drawer then looked at
the box. It’d been sitting there for almost a year. In the back of
my mind, I held onto it because I hoped I’d be able to give it to
her. Even after all the hardship we had, I still kept it, hoping
she’d wear it someday. That ring represented a lot more than just
love. It represented the hard work we both put into this
relationship, saving it even when there was no reason to. I grabbed
it then turned back to her, popping the lid.

She stared at the simple ring embedded with
diamonds. The rock in the center was a little big, catching the eye
of anyone who saw it, but I saw Monnique’s face the second I lay
eyes on it. I knew it would complement her perfectly. I spent a
fortune on it because I didn’t believe in upgrading. This was the
ring I wanted her to wear for the rest of our lives. It was the
ring I wanted her to be buried with.

Her eyes watered. “It’s beautiful,
Cortland.”

I pulled it out of the box then slipped it on
her finger. “Just like you.”

She stared at her hand for a long time,
watching the diamonds reflect the limited light in the bedroom. Her
eyes showed her fondness for the ring. “I love it.”

“I can tell.”

She cupped my face and kissed me. “I’ll never
take it off.”

“Good. That’s what I was hoping for.”

“Let’s get married,” she said impatiently.
“I’m tired of waiting.”

I smiled. “Are you sure you don’t want to
have a big wedding? We can do whatever you want.”

She shook her head. “Weddings are overrated,
expensive, and cliché. Cortland, I just want you to be my husband.
I want our closest friends and family to be there, but that’s it.
Then I want to start our lives together.”

“That’s exactly what I want.”

She hopped up and down. “Let’s invite
everyone to dinner and tell them the news.”

“Like, now?”

“Yes, now.” She gave me a firm look. “I want
to show this off.”

I smirked. “It makes Scarlet and Cassandra’s
rings look tiny.”

“It’s not the size I love,” she said. “It’s
the fact you picked it out for me.”

That warmed my heart. “I knew it was the
right one the moment I saw it.”

She got out of bed then looked through her
closet. “God, what am I going to wear?”

“How about we invite everyone first?” I said
with a laugh.

She threw a shirt at me. “Then call
them.”

“Okay, I’m on it.” I texted everyone and told
them to meet us in the city for dinner. Luckily, everyone could
make it. But it wasn’t that surprising. If we weren’t hanging out
together, they obviously weren’t doing anything. Very few of us had
friends outside the group. “Everyone can make it.”

“Yay.” She walked out of the closet wearing a
black dress and nude pumps. Her hair was pulled back slightly and
there was no back to the dress. She looked sexy as hell. “Get
ready,” she hissed at me.

“Nah.” I pulled her back to bed then lifted
up her dress. “I want another round before we go.”

“Cortland, we—”

I thrust inside her and that shut her up.

Even though it was our party, we showed up
late. Everyone was already sitting at a table, laughing while
downing their drinks. It was nice to hang out with my friends and
not be the only single one in the group. It was a nice change.

“Dude, you’re an hour late.” Ryan’s arm was
over the back of Janice’s chair.

“I had to take care of something,” I
lied.

As my best friend, he could read my mood
better than anyone. “You were fucking Monnique, weren’t you? Next
time, invite us when you’re done, not between sessions.” He
swallowed his whiskey and put the empty glass on the table.

“Don’t mind him,” Janice said. “He’s already
drunk.”

“Drunk on you.” He leaned toward her, his
lips near hers.

She waved away his breath. “He reeks of
scotch and brandy.”

“Monnique and I will steer clear.” I pulled
out the chair for her and allowed her to sit down. As soon as she
rested her hands on the table, all the girls gasped and their eyes
widened.

Monnique smiled then held up her hand. “We’re
engaged.”

“Oh my god!” Janice jumped out of her chair
first then hopped in place.

Ryan stared at me like a bolt of lightning
struck him—twice.