There were lots of things she wanted in life, but that wasn’t one of them. And it wasn’t even the fact it’d been one of her friends he’d spanked or the fact Bunny had probably been in some state of undress when it happened. Cassie wasn’t completely naïve. She could guess at how things worked. But if that was something he needed to feel fulfilled, she’d be damned if she’d stand by and observe him “servicing” other women and getting off on it.
She turned onto her street and saw the reflection of rear tail reflectors on a familiar dark blue Lexus parked in front of her house. It was Bill’s car. Turning around was looking better all the time. Pulling closer as she prepared to turn into her driveway, she noted the driver’s seat appeared empty. That could mean only one thing.
“Damn it.” He’d taken the liberty of letting himself into the house. “Why didn’t I take his key or have the locks changed?” Because of the kids. It’d been a decision made with them in mind. They needed their dad as much as they needed her, and she’d decided after the divorce was final that he could come by as needed, to see them. She’d regretted the decision immediately because he was over more than he needed to be, even for meals, until she’d given him a hint that the phone worked well, too.
He was in the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of wine from the bottle he’d just opened. He grimaced after taking a sip. “How can you stand this sweet, fruity crap?”
“Well, for starters, it needs to be refrigerated first. I happen to like it, and I don’t need to justify it to your rarified tastes, Bill. And since when do you just help yourself to whatever you want around here?”
Bill drained the glass and shrugged. “Since I own this house.”
She blinked and arched both eyebrows at him. She so wasn’t in the mood for his shit. “Excuse me? What are you trying to say?”
“Merely a reminder I paid off the mortgage on this house before we divorced and didn’t force you to agree to sell it so the kids would have a place to live and to come home to after college, if need be. I could buy a larger house, which would include space for them, and then you’d be left in a tight spot if I decided it was time to sell, wouldn’t you?”
“My work around here all those years had value, and you didn’t accomplish paying off the house on your own, Bill. And don’t make it sound as if you gave me the house. I make mortgage payments as per our contracted arrangement. Are you backing out of that agreement? Tell me right now what it is you’re saying.”
Bill smirked and waved his hands at her as though he was placating a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Calm down. I’m not saying anything of the sort. I was merely pointing the fact out. Don’t get your panties in such a twist.”
She craned her head to look in the den, remembering he’d had a date with him that night. “Where’s Brittany? Was it past her bedtime? Did she have homework?”
“She got tired. I’d forgotten what a bitter bitch you can be sometimes, Cass.”
Her dentist had told her it was bad to grind her teeth, but that nickname drove her nuts—and Bill knew it.
“It comes from being under the thumbs of macho assholes all my life. What did you come here for?”
Bill took another sip of the room-temperature sangria and winced before pouring the full wineglass into the drain. “I didn’t intend to get you riled up.”
“And?”
He tilted his head and assessed her, from her high heels to the top of her head, as he crossed his arms over his chest. She stood there, waiting.
I could’ve turned around and gone back to the Pony. I should’ve heard the guys out.
“Bill, do you remember us having a talk a couple of years ago, about how there were some visits that could be handled over the phone rather than you just walking in the house?” My house. “What is it you want to say?”
He let out a long breath and then gave her a crooked little smile, his eyelids sliding to half-mast as he stared at her breasts. “I was seeing you in a new light tonight.” He shook his head and shifted his stance to lean against the kitchen counter. Her ick-meter ticked up when she realized he was attempting to inconspicuously accommodate an erection. “You were never this spirited when we were married.”
“You just told me I was a bitter bitch. Which is it?”
He firmed his jaw as he gazed at her. “I’ve had time to think about our situation.”
“Our situation? Which situation is that? The one where you committed adultery? Or the one where you abandoned me when I was facing surgery? Or by ‘situation,’ are you referring to the fact I’m doing fine making a living without you? I’m not your doormat anymore, and I don’t know what’s going through your head,” she added, flicking a glance at his boner, “but it’s not happening.”