Chapter 11
Maybe the real question I should have asked was why the hell Katherine had her slutty ass planted on my husband’s desk. She sat to the side, her perfectly tanned legs crossed toward him, hiking her red skirt up her thigh.
Gage was busy scanning the paperwork in his hands, and Katherine had her back to me, so neither of them noticed my presence.
I stepped inside his office and let the slam of the door announce my arrival.
Gage lifted his gaze. Katherine startled, her ass sliding off his desk.
She whirled, but when she saw me, her surprised expression turned into one of calculation.
A slow smile widened her red lips. She held my gaze as she buttoned the top four buttons of her blouse.
“Get out,” I said between clenched teeth, venom dripping from my tone.
Gage stood with a sigh. “Kayla, calm down. It’s not—”
“Don’t you dare tell me it’s not what I think. Get this bitch out of your office now.”
A brewing storm darkened his expression, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t explain the fury roiling through me. Katherine had a way of getting under my skin. My jealousy manifested like a malignant tumor, reproducing bad cells faster than I could handle.
Katherine strutted toward me, hips swaying. “Piece of advice, Kayla. Men find jealous women unattractive.”
She didn’t know Gage at all, had no clue what made him tick. I did though, and I knew my jealousy fueled his desire for me. Maybe that’s why I embraced the nasty emotion, rather than shove it below the surface. We fed off each other like wild animals. We fucked like wild animals too.
I wrenched the door open. “Don’t presume to think you know shit about my husband or our relationship.” I gestured to the doorway, ignoring the watchful eyes of the people on the fourth floor. “Get out.”
She looked at Gage expectantly. “Are you going to let her treat the mother of your child like this?”
Gage parted his lips to speak, but I snapped my fingers in her face, bringing her attention to me again. “You might have popped his kid out, but I’m his wife. Conner is always welcome. You, on the other hand, are not.”
She left in a huff, her overbearing perfume poisoning the air in her wake. I slammed the door and rounded on Gage.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” he shouted.
“Why was she here?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question? You think it’s okay to barge into my office when you don’t have permission to leave the damn house?”
“Fuck your permission, Gage.” I jabbed a finger at his workspace. “What was she doing in your office, sitting on your desk? If you caught me in the same position, you’d go ballistic.”
“Well that’s the difference between you and me. I have reason to be jealous, don’t I?”
Forget the elephant in the room; Ian stood like a brontosaurus.
“No more reason than I do,” I said, willing my voice to remain steady. “The fact that you’re refusing to answer is reason enough. You’re fucking her, aren’t you?”
He gritted his teeth. “We were talking about Conner. We’d almost reached an agreement on visitation when you stormed in and threw your tantrum.”
“She needed to unbutton her shirt for that?”
He slammed his fist onto the desk. “Enough. I’m not doing this here. Go home and cool down.” He rose, meaning to intimidate me with his full height.
Was he really not going to explain? The bastard expected me to return home to my prison, tail between my legs, and ignore how I’d found him in a compromising situation with another woman.
I folded my arms. “Her buttons, Gage.” No way was I letting this go.
“You’d have to ask her,” he said, rubbing his jaw, “seeing as how I paid her little attention. I was too busy going over the parenting plan.” He came out from behind his desk. “Do you honestly think I notice anyone else? You’re all I see, Kayla. How can you not know that?”
Because he wasn’t all I saw. The truth washed over me like sour milk. The truth fucking reeked. I’d flirted with disaster, so maybe on a subconscious level, I expected him to as well. My gaze fell to the floor, and for the first time since finding her on his desk, I doubted my too-quick reaction.
“You have history with her.” He had a child with her—a DNA connection he and I might never share.
“Are you kidding me?” He covered the distance between us. “My history with her means nothing. Not when I’m obsessed with fucking you into next week!” He clenched his hands, careful not to touch me. “You’re behaving like a jealous adolescent. I mean it, Kayla. Go home.”
I jutted my chin. “I’m tired of taking orders from you. This is bullshit,” I said, swinging my hand in the air. “Have you ever heard of a courthouse? She has no business being in your office behind closed doors.”
He grabbed my chin, applying enough pressure to make me back down. “I didn’t want to punish you on the eve of our anniversary, but you’re making that next to impossible.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Gage. Punishing me is the same as breathing for you.”
“You want it? Fine.” He brought his face close to mine. “You’ve got it, baby. Go home and wait for me. If you’re not on your knees in our bedroom, I’ll give you more than my belt.”
We faced off in a hushed battle for a few moments until Gage broke the standoff. He opened the door and waited for me to walk through it.
To submit to his orders.
My gaze lingered on his desk, remembering how her legs tempted just inches from his arm, how she’d unfastened her buttons to seduce him.
She was after my husband.
And I was a hypocrite because Ian was after me. I’d behaved no better than Gage. Worse, actually, because he wasn’t attempting to hide her presence. He met with all sorts of people in this space—clients, PR people, financial advisors, employees of all levels. She was only one of many.
Afraid I was wearing my guilt on my face, I turned and fled.