Chapter Four
“You’re late.”
Bentley stared back at her, a boyish smirk curving his lips. “I didn’t know I was on a tight deadline.”
His sarcasm drilled straight through her. Lately, the charm she once found attractive now felt more like patronizing.
Aasia stepped back to let him pass then closed the door behind him. “We made plans for dinner. Remember?” This seemed like the pattern these days. Plans made. Plans changed.
He fiddled with his watch. “You know I’m a busy man. With the campaign, with all my businesses.”
“I’m busy too.” Why did he always somehow forget that she also worked?
His sigh reverberated off the walls. “You’re being dramatic.”
She clenched her teeth, biting off the words that would most certainly lead to an argument.
As of late, they were arguing more and she was tired.
Done with trying to understand him. They hadn’t even squashed the last quarrel that tore through their relationship like a cyclone.
They had lost anything good that had ever been there between them. And yet, she asked, “Are you hungry?”
“I ate. I had a dinner meeting.”
“You had a dinner meeting?” She snorted.
This conversation felt like a broken record.
She couldn’t count how many times he’d been late, and sometimes not even showing up at all, even at times not even calling.
“Wine then?” She wasn’t really asking for him but more for herself. She could use another glass, or two.
“No.” He tore a hand through his hair, sending the flawless gelled style on a haphazard journey. “We need to talk. Sit down.” Discomfort etched crinkles around his eyes. At thirty-five he could be considered in prime shape, but he was starting to look older. Tired too.
“Can I get a glass of wine first?”
He shifted his gaze from the glass sitting on the table back to her. “Another?”
She didn’t feel up for a lecture from him tonight. What had she done this time to irritate him? Plopping down onto the sofa she tucked her feet under her, getting comfortable because it could be a while. He sat down at the other end, not making eye contact. “What is it?” she asked.
He leaned back, his gaze narrowing on her like two microscopes. “You know how much this campaign means to me.”
“I do. That’s why I said I’d support you.”
His lips twisted at the corners. “You also know how important it is that I have no demons hiding that can be exposed and ruin my chances.” He rubbed his bloodshot eyes. “My campaign manager found something that has me concerned.”
She wasn’t following. “What did he find on you?”
“Not on me, but you.” He pulled out his phone from his pocket, pressed a few buttons then laid it down on the coffee table, screen facing up. “Take a look.”
She leaned forward, seeing the picture. “You’re showing me a photo of someone’s bare feet?” She laughed but he stayed sober. Then it registered. Those were her feet. How did he have the pictures? “Bentley, those pictures are from a long time ago. Ten years to be exact.”
“So, it’s true? You were selling pictures of your feet on that sleazy site Cowgirl Delight.” His frown became ugly and his gaze intense. He stared in a way that unsettled her—a stare that made her feel like she was nothing more than a stain on his sheets.
This opened the vault to her past when she felt ashamed of being that girl. The one who didn’t have nice clothes, or nice things. She didn’t have a house that she invited friends back to. The girl who pretended she was on a diet so no one would know she didn’t have money for school lunch.
“Do I really need to explain?” she asked.
“Yes, I think you do.” His voice was laced with disgust.
“I was eighteen and saving money for college. Although I was lucky and received financial help, I still had to cover for books and any unexpected needs. I had already been working double shifts at the grill and had been cut off. Tansy—”
“Oh, I should have known Tansy would have had a hand in this,” he groaned. “She’s about as bad as...”
“As what? As me?” She leaned a few inches closer.
“Finish,” he said.
“Tansy had a friend who sold some photos online and she made enough to cover college for four years. I posted some pics of my feet and did well enough to pay for my books and a cheap car. I never did it a second time. It’s not like I was selling nudes or doing cam shows.
I don’t even understand how these photos were found. ”
His silence seemed to stretch on forever as more disappointment grew in his gaze. “I guess I’ll have to take your word for that.” He swiped up his phone and shoved it back into his jacket pocket.
“What exactly are you accusing me? Lying or earning a living?” She felt the stab of his indictment through the center of her chest. What had come over him? Where had that kind man she once knew gone? Did he no longer exist, or had he ever existed in the first place?
“You sold pictures to perverted men online,” he said with revulsion.
“Yes, I did, because I didn’t have rich parents who could pay my way through college.
I couldn’t ask Pedora for more help.” She clamped down on her tongue to keep from saying anything more that she couldn’t take back.
Frustration ambled through her and it seemed to be happening more when he was around.
“Don’t you see how this looks? Your less than desirable childhood is enough to set off a media avalanche, and if this…
this foot porn problem is discovered it could ruin my chances to be elected.
I’m running as a conservative on a family values platform.
What will it look like to voters that my girlfriend is a complete opposite of what I stand for?
” His words were said with such distance as if he were discussing something as insignificant as the weather.
“You had your manager dig up my past?”
“Aasia, don’t look so shocked. You’re a smart woman. You know the consequences of a close race. Hamilton and I are neck-to-neck in prediction polls. It becomes a smear campaign for every running mate. This is a big deal. I can’t believe you’re acting like it isn’t.”
“Because I don’t think it is that big of a deal. I didn’t choose my childhood, so I don’t owe you, or anyone, an apology.”
He blinked. “This could embarrass a lot of people.”
Then it struck her. “Your mother was the one who did the digging, wasn’t she?”
“Aasia—”
“No, I don’t need you to answer because I already know the truth.
She’s been trying to conjure my demise since she walked into your house and found me naked in your bed.
It’s not my fault that she doesn’t believe in knocking.
” Another argument about his mother…go figure.
It had become a thorn in the proverbial ass of the relationship almost from the start.
“Mother doesn’t tell me what to do,” he said stiffly.
“Oh? Who demanded you run for senate?”
“You’re exaggerating. There’s nothing wrong with someone aspiring for something grand.” His accent became prominent, which it did when he was angry or flustered.
“As long as those aspirations are something you truly want,” she said quietly.
“I do want this. I’m willing to do anything to get it.”
She knew without doubt what he meant. “Are you ending things with me because of the pictures or is it because I don’t fit in a suitable mold that pleases Francine?”
His sigh resounded. “I don’t have a choice. You understand?”
Her laugh came out as a cackle. “That takes a lot of nerve.”
“Aasia—”
“Don’t,” she raised a hand to cut him off.
He straightened his spine. “I also think it’s best we no longer work together.”
She tilted her head as if she’d get a better view of him. “What? You’re firing me?”
He cleared his throat, all emotion gone from his features. “We should end all affiliation.”
She wanted to scream at him, throw her wine in his face, but all she could muster was a palpable silence.
“I guess I should go.” He was already standing and heading to the door.
“There’s nothing left for us to say to each other,” she said to his back. “I don’t want to ever see you again.”
He opened the door and stopped in the threshold to look back at her. “If it means anything, I did care for you.”
She stared in disbelief as the door clicked. What she wanted to do was throw the wine glass “just because” but reminded herself it wasn’t worth the mess she’d have to clean. She’d cleaned up enough messes where Bentley was concerned.
Getting up, she went into the bathroom to splash her face with cold water. She felt a sense of relief. She would have completely lost herself had she stayed in a relationship with Bentley. She knew for a long time it was over.
Aasia stared back at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. “Girl, count yourself lucky.” A rock had been lifted off her shoulders.
A knock came on the door.
Anger shot through her veins as she stomped down the hallway, through the living room, and whipped open the front door. “How dare you come back—” But the sentence trailed off as she made eye contact with her nemesis. Francine.
For the second time that night, Aasia was shocked into silence.