Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“I know. And I don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that you feel the same way about her. So, the only real question is, what the hell are you going to do about it?”
Beau was distracted by the sudden sound of his doorbell.
“Listen, someone’s at the door,” he said hurriedly. “I’ll catch ya’ later, okay? And thank you, Mark. Thank you so, so much.” Without waiting for a response, he ended the call.
Had the universe, sensing Beau’s desperate desire to reconnect, somehow decided to intervene in such a direct way as to make Mark’s words come true? Was Lia even now at his door?
The doorbell rang a second time, followed by loud knocking. Beau chuckled with indulgent delight. Lia was still as impatient as ever. He raced to answer, his feet barely touching the ground.
He pulled open the door, an anticipatory smile wide on his face.
Except it wasn’t Lia standing there.
It was Renee.
Chapter 25
Beau had forgotten just how beautiful Renee was. Her honey-blond hair fell in a rich cascade over her shoulders. Her large blue eyes met his as they stared at one another. She was dressed in a low-cut black dress that draped her voluptuous figure.
It was jarring to see she was wearing the slave collar he’d made for her during their first year together. It was like showing up wearing a wedding ring years after an acrimonious divorce. What game was she playing?
“Hello, Beau,” she said, her lips lifting with that hint of Lauren Bacall-like sensuality that had been one of the first things that had drawn him to her. “It’s been too long.”
“What are you doing here?” he said stupidly. “How did you know where I live?”
She lifted a perfectly sculpted brow. “You weren’t that hard to find, Professor. I’m still Facebook friends with your sister. You know how determined I can be once I put my mind to something.” She smiled coquettishly. “Aren’t you glad to see me, baby? I’ve missed you so, so much.”
Beau didn’t answer. He was still trying to get his head around the fact that she wasn’t Lia.
Renee moved closer, leading with her plump, perfect breasts. “I made a terrible mistake, Beau Bear.” Her use of that pet name, which he’d never particularly liked in the first place, was jarring.
She leaned so close he could smell her perfume, floral and cloying. “I left the only man who ever really understood me,” she continued with a pretty pout. “The only Master who knows what I need.”
She sank gracefully to her knees before him, her golden hair falling in a shimmering curtain around her face. She lifted her head to stare up at him with a beseeching gaze as she fingered the slave collar she no longer had a right to wear. Beau couldn’t help but think she was going through the motions of a carefully choreographed performance.
“This humble submissive begs your forgiveness. Punish me as you will, but please take me back, my darling.” She extended her hand to him, though she remained on her knees. An actual tear slipped prettily down one smooth cheek.
It was an Oscar-worthy performance, but Beau found himself curiously disinterested, even annoyed. “There’s nothing to forgive. It’s over between us. It has been for a very long time.”
The veracity of his words resonated within him. To forgive was to release feelings of resentment or anger toward someone who had harmed you. He no longer harbored those emotions toward Renee. They were gone, along with the passion and the love.
Instead, he felt…nothing. Nothing at all.
He took her offered hand, but only to pull her to her feet.
“What’s this really about, Renee? We haven’t been in touch for years and now you just show up out of the blue? Did your sugar daddy dump you?”
He regretted the snarky remark the instant it was out of his mouth. But apparently it hit the mark, because her beautiful face twisted into an ugly scowl. Just as quickly, the expression slid away.
“Don’t be silly,” she purred. “And don’t say it’s over between us, baby. We just took a… a little break is all.”
“A little break?” Beau blurted, not bothering to keep the incredulity from his tone. “It’s been over three years. That’s longer than we were even together in the first place. There is no ‘us,’ Renee. There hasn’t been for a very long time.”
“No,” Renee said, her voice rising in whine. “You’re just hurt, and I get that. I was a foolish, foolish girl. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, and I threw it away to chase my own silly dreams. But now I’ve come back to you, my darling.”
Before he could react, she took his face in both hands and pulled him down for a kiss, parting her lips as she pressed them against his. He was so shocked by the action that for several seconds he just stood there, letting her lap at his mouth with her tongue.