Chapter Two
Every nerve in Carmen’s body tingled in anger as she drove off the grounds of the Seven Oaks Farm. After Matthew’s kiss, no doubt rumors of a possible reconciliation would begin circulating again. Feigning a headache to several people, she had gotten into her car and left.
It was a beautiful July day and as she drove past the stables in her convertible sports car, she doubted if Matthew even cared that he’d ruined what would have been a perfect afternoon for her. He’d probably known when he’d shown up what would happen, which only proved once again what a selfish person he was.
Somehow he had lost sight of what she’d told him about her parents’ marriage—how her father’s need to be a successful financial adviser and her mother’s drive to become the most prominent real-estate agent in Memphis had isolated them from each other, which eventually led to their divorce. She had wanted more from her marriage to Matthew, but in the end, he had somehow given her even less.
Glancing around, she admired the countryside and regretted she would have to leave though she’d just gotten here yesterday. Her summer vacation had been spoiled. She pulled in a frustrated breath, wondering just what kind of business deal he’d made that would take him from California. As her hair blew in the wind she decided she really didn’t care. What he did was no concern of hers.
Moments later she turned down the narrow street that led to their estate and within seconds, the sprawling beachfront home loomed before her. She could remember the first time Matthew had brought her here, months after they’d married, promising this would be the place where they would spend all of their summers. She had come every summer after that, but he’d been too busy to get away. His work had taken precedence over spending time together.
As she parked in the driveway and got out of the car, she couldn’t help wondering if Matthew had plans to bring Candy Sumlar here. Would he spend more time with his girlfriend than he had his wife?
The thought that he probably would annoyed the hell out of her. She fumed all the way to the front door and slammed it shut behind her before glancing around. When she’d walked through the doors yesterday evening upon arriving, she had felt warm and welcomed. Now she felt cold and unwanted.
She quickly went upstairs, determined to pack and be miles away by the time the polo match was over and Matthew returned. There was no way he would do the gentlemanly thing and go somewhere else. It didn’t matter one iota that she had been here first.
Entering the bedroom, she stopped. He had placed his luggage in here, open, on the bed. Had he been surprised to find she was already in residence? He’d wasted no time finding her to let her know he was here. And he had kissed her, of all things. She placed her fingers on her mouth, still able to feel the impression of his lips there.
Shaking off the feeling, she went to the closet and flung it open. She sucked in a deep breath. His clothes were already hanging in there, right next to hers. Seeing their clothes together reminded her of how things used to be, and her heart felt heavy and threatened to break all over again.
She pushed his clothing out of the way and grabbed an armful of hers, tossing it on the bed. She was glancing around for her luggage when she suddenly felt stupid for letting Matthew ruin the summer she had been looking forward to for months. Why should she be the one to leave?
She was tired of running. For a full year following her divorce, she had avoided going to places where she thought he would be, and had stayed out of the limelight as much as she could. She had practically become a workaholic just like him, and now she wanted to have some fun. Why was she allowing him to rain on her parade, to make her life miserable when really she should be making his miserable?
Suddenly, she knew just the way to do it.
She hung her clothes back in the closet. It was time to give Matthew Birmingham a taste of his own medicine, Carmen style. She would work him over, do everything in her power to make it impossible for him to resist her, and then when he thought he had her just where he wanted—on her back, beneath him in bed—she would call it a wrap and leave him high and dry...and hopefully hard as a rock.
She smiled. The taste of revenge had never been sweeter.
Matthew walked into the house, closed the door behind him and glanced around. He’d been surprised to see Carmen’s car parked in the driveway. He’d expected her to be long gone by now.
Ardella Rowe had sought him out during divot stomping to let him know of Carmen’s headache. Of course, to keep his ex-wife’s charade going he’d had to show his concern and leave immediately, though he knew she had used the headache as an excuse to slip away.
He heard her moving around upstairs and from the sounds of things she was packing. Now that she knew he was here, she wasn’t wasting any time hightailing it back to wherever she’d been hiding the last few months. She was good at disappearing when she didn’t want to be found.
Moving toward the stairs, he decided to wish her well before returning to the polo fields, hoping to catch the last match if he was lucky. His footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor as he walked toward the master suite. Her scent met him the moment he stepped onto the landing. It was an alluring fragrance that he knew all too well, and it was so much a part of her that he couldn’t imagine her wearing any other perfume.
Jamming his hands into his pockets, he continued his stroll. This would be the first time he’d be here without her. He shook off the dreary feeling that realization had brought on. He was a big boy and could handle it. Besides, Carmen had done enough damage to mess up his life. He doubted he would ever forgive her for breaking his heart, for making him believe there was such a thing as true love and then showing him there really wasn’t.
He’d stopped trying to figure out at what point they’d begun drifting apart. He would be the first to admit he’d spent a lot of hours working, but all those hours he’d spent away from her were meant to build a nice nest egg so they wouldn’t have to work forever.
And although she was paid well for her movies, as her husband, he’d still felt it was his duty to make sure she got anything and everything she wanted in life. They had talked about having a family, but she hadn’t understood that knowing he could provide for her and any child they had was important to him.
Her parents had had money and unlike him, she hadn’t grown up poor. More than anything, he’d wanted to keep her in the lifestyle she’d been accustomed to. What in the world could be so terribly wrong about wanting to do that? To this day he just couldn’t figure it out, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
He had built his world around her. She had been the only thing that truly mattered and everything he’d done had been for her. But she hadn’t appreciated that. So now, because of a decision she’d made without him, he was a man whose life was still in turmoil, although he fought like hell to keep that a secret. And he placed the blame for his shattered life at her feet.
He reached the bedroom’s double doors and without bothering to knock, he pushed open the door.
And stopped dead in his tracks.