“Fuck,” I murmured, knowing very well that Shannon’s execution of torture had worked if I was thinking this way hours after her obnoxious visit.
Taking a moment to clear my head from all the negativity that was flowing through me, I then texted my response.
All right. Drive safe. Love you.
Drake’s reply was almost instant.
I love you.
He loved me, so my silly butt had nothing to worry about. Seriously.
Chapter 6
Drake
The dinner with the Thompson’s took longer than expected. Regardless, it was a relief that the deal was safely done. Once we found the perfect director and started casting, we had a green light.
Excusing myself to use the men’s room, I was still reeling from the high of securing the deal when I missed the person trying to get my attention.
“Hey, you,” the voice purred before a hand with long claws gripped my arm, stopping me in my tracks. “Long time, no see. Or, shall I say, long time, no fuck?” Maritza smirked before roving her greedy eyes over me while seductively biting her lower lip. “Oohh. You are always a delicious one, aren’t you, Tatum? What the hell happened to you, Drake?”
An ex-lover from a couple of years back who travelled to and from LA and New York. Since I had been always busy flying the same route, she and I had casually hooked up sporadically. However, all of those wild shenanigans had stopped once I had become set on winning Lily.
“I’ve been around.” Smiling awkwardly, I slowly unwrapped her claw-like grip from my arm. “I’m a married man now, so things have definitely changed on that score. There’ll be no more fucking going on other than with my wife.” Hopefully, the emphasis of my point would be taken seriously.
“Why not?” She pouted. “I usually don’t go for married men, but I’ll make an exception for you. You were a great fuck.”
Right. That line was so overrated, most especially here in Hollywood where cheating spouses ran rampant. I wouldn’t dare join that club. Those days were long gone. I was a changed man. No matter how much convincing I endured, I would not sway from my decision. This city was surrounded by women I’d had “something” with, and it was a given that I would run in to them because of the nature of our business. I only hoped Lily wouldn’t be bothered by it, because I knew these wanton offers would keep coming. They always did. Even if it was a known fact that I was now officially off the market, it wouldn’t faze the determined ones who didn’t give a flying crap about anything other than themselves. The city of angels… angels who were so vain that morals didn’t even get past their Botox-injected faces. The likes of Maritza Hart were a common bore. Sad, but so fucking true.
“Sorry, babe, but you’re shit out of luck with me.” I made a careless shrug, hoping she would leave me be. “You should try the men over at the bar.” My head cocked towards the bar’s direction before giving her my million dollar smile. “They look like they’d be down for a one night stand.” Slightly patting her shoulder, I made a nonchalant face. “Don’t forget to use a condom. Better safe than sorry.”
“You’re such a fucking asshole. If you weren’t so fucking hot to look at, I wouldn’t fucking waste my time on you. Fucker!” she hissed at me, clearly insulted that I was rejecting her offer, or maybe it was the fact that I was pointing out that she was a loose screw. Either way, she was royally pissed off.
Good riddance, I thought to myself as I carried on towards the men’s room.
“Man whore,” I murmured much to myself.
How many women had I really screwed? Fuck. Like I was the kind who actually counted. Those were for the ones who couldn’t get an easy lay, which hadn’t been the case with me. I could admit that I had used my charms and good genes to charm the opposite sex, but it wasn’t a crime to fuck ‘em and leave ‘em when they themselves didn’t value their bodies, was it? They didn’t even try to downplay and use the old trick of playing hard to get. They simply giggled and took their clothes off without me even asking them.
They were easy fucks. Plain and simple. Therefore, I didn’t understand why, when a guy declined these so called ‘easy fucks,’ the women instantly became sour and bitchy. I wasn’t sure what they were expecting. Just because a woman had sex with a man, no matter how often or not so often, no party should have any gripes about it when it’s through.
Shaking my mind from the old, dastardly days, I was ready to call it a night. The thought of Lily sleeping and how much I wanted to feel her warm body against mine was all I needed at the moment.