Shame on Me

“I wish my ex only read graphic design magazines. He subscribed to more magazines than any woman I’ve ever met so he could pimp me out to every magazine editor he could find.”


Shut up, Paige. He doesn’t need to know your life story!

“All my ex cared about was my money, so it looks like we both made huge mistakes in our lives,” Matt confides.

Wait, ex? Is he talking about Melanie or another ex? According to what Melanie told Kennedy, they’re still married.

“So you’re divorced?”

Matt sighs deeply and takes a sip of his Jack and Coke. “Separated. Honestly, we probably should have never even gotten married. We met in college and all of my friends tried to warn me about her. She didn’t show her true colors to me until we were married, though.”

And now the investigator in me wants to know everything about her. Purely for business purposes, of course. It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s easy on the eyes.

“What kind of true colors are we talking here? Crazy possessive female or was she really a man?” I ask, trying to get him to smile again.

It does the trick. He barks out a laugh. “No, definitely not a man. I’m pretty sure she only married me because she saw the dollar signs. She’s going to try and take my father’s company and there’s no way I can let that happen.”

I take a sip of my wine so I’m not tempted to reach out and comfort him. “Wow, that’s not good. I’m so sorry.”

Matt shrugs. “And to add more to my pathetic life story, I’m positive she’s been cheating on me. All I need is proof so I can end this bullshit charade of hers and make sure the company stays in the family.”

My mouth drops open at all he’s admitted to me. He could be lying. This could be how he gets chicks—by laying it on thick and playing the “woe is me” card, but something tells me that’s not the case. His voice immediately takes on a tone of sadness when he talks about his father’s company, and my senses are screaming at me that he’s telling the truth.

“You think your wife is cheating on you?” I whisper.

This is too weird. Even for me.

“I can’t believe I’m telling you this. I barely know you and I feel like a jackass for unloading all of this on you right now. You’re a really easy person to talk to.”

He feels like a jackass? I feel like a jackass. I should just tell him right now that his wife hired me to find out if he is cheating, but I can’t. I can’t do anything until I know for sure.

“We haven’t been happy for a really long time. Fuck. We were probably never really happy. A friend of mine told me she was going to be here and I guess I was just hoping to finally have a solid reason for not wanting to be married to her,” he admits.

Jesus, the two of us could be a match made in heaven under different circumstances. Finding out Andy had a gambling problem had been just the catalyst I needed to kick his ass to the curb.

“What are you going to do if you find out it’s true and she’s really cheating on you?” I ask.

“If I have proof that she’s been unfaithful, I can threaten to out her to her family as a cheater. She’ll leave the company alone so they never know her perfect character is tarnished.”

Goddammit all to hell! I believe him. I believe him and now I want to help him. This is not good.

“I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”

Tell him the truth! Tell him his wife hired you and you feel awful and want to help him instead.

Before I can open my mouth and make a huge mistake, I watch as Matt’s eyes widen as he stares across the bar.

“Oh, shit. She’s here,” Matt says under his breath, ducking his head to hide behind me.

Turning my head, I see his wife, Melanie, coming through the doorway on the arm of a very large, very badass-looking man who’s got to be twice her age.

“She’s heading this way. Matt, she’s totally going to see you. Shit! Hide under the bar!”

Matt tries turning sideways to quickly dive under the bar, but his elbow slams into my glass, knocking it over and spilling wine down the front of my dress.

I let out a squeal as the cold liquid seeps through my dress and Matt quickly grabs a pile of napkins and starts blotting at my boobs. My breath gets caught in my throat as he presses his hands against my breasts and glances over his shoulder distractedly to see where Melanie is. He turns back and notices the shocked expression on my face and his eyes drop to his hand that is now just resting casually on my boob, practically cupping it.

I tear my eyes away from his hand and how good it feels against my chest and see that Melanie and her beefcake are a few feet away at this point and heading right toward us. If she looks away from her date, she’s going to look right at Matt. There’s not even any time for him to get up and run to the bathroom. He’ll barrel right into her. Suddenly, the tables have turned and I’m on Matt’s side. I want him to catch her in the act. I want him to be vindicated so he can move on with his life.