“Who are you?” He asked the former supermodel standing beside him.
“Are you kidding me, you know who I am!”
“Ma’am, if you were that memorable, I wouldn’t have asked the question.”
“Bastard!”
“Your parents called you bastard, you have my sympathies.” Finished with her, Josh turned away to look at Aviva, who still seemed to be attempting to coax Lux towards the bar.
“Nobody treats me this way!”
Knowing she wasn’t going to leave unless he went in hard, Josh drew in a deep breath. When he stood to address her, they were nearly on eye level.
“I obviously fucked you at some point. I get that you want seconds, but I rarely double dip. If it had been any good, I would have at least remembered your name.” Seeing she was about to speak, Josh raised his hand to silence her. “I get it, honestly I do, you want some more of me. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same.”
“Bastard!” The woman exclaimed again.
Looking over at an amused Jason, he shook his head as he spoke to his brother. “See what I mean, repetition is never a good thing.”
“Lady,” Jason said with deadly coldness. “If I were you, I’d go back to my table and try to forget I made such a fool of myself.”
For a moment, Josh thought she’d refuse. When she reached for his wine glass, he knew exactly what she was going to attempt. Before her hand made contact, he’d already passed it to Jason.
“Final warning, go away or I’ll make you.” Josh was done with her and the sooner she realized it, the better. Sticking her nose in the air, the woman turned and stalked off.
Retaking his seat, he looked over at his brother, who was again sitting in his reclined position. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re going to be eating crow three times a day for the foreseeable future.”
****
Against her better judgment, Lux allowed Aviva to persuade her to stay; even though she’d never been so humiliated in her life. She wasn’t a fool, she understood that Josh was a man and had needs. She was the one who walked out on their marriage, but being humiliated by the presence of two of his women was too much. To cap it all, they weren’t the average run of the mill women, they were stunning.
Why couldn’t he have just chosen ordinary women? Lux knew she was clutching at straws. It didn’t matter who the women were. They could be trolls and she would still have the overriding urge to rip out their throats. That they were beautiful made her twitch and not in a good way.
Lux didn’t feel inadequate at seeing her husband’s lovers. She was a confident woman and knew her worth. Her anger stemmed from the fact that they dared to approach them while they dined. It was obvious two couples were having a meal. Throughout all the thoughts that ran through her mind, she couldn’t fool herself. But she would die before she acknowledged it. She was as jealous as hell.
It also hurt more than she thought it would. While she’d been celibate all the years they’d been apart, Josh had been making love with different women. She’d tried to convince herself she was fine with him having lovers during their separation, but faced with the women; a little part of her died.
“Thank you for staying.” Aviva broke into her thoughts.
“Don’t thank me. The way I feel I could walk out of here, board a flight and be back in the Caribbean in a matter of hours.”
“I know, just as I’m aware that’s not what you really want.”
“You think you’ve got this all figured out don’t you?” The comment was harsh, but Lux wasn’t concerned with pacifying Aviva’s feelings, so she let it stand.
“I understand much more than you think I do.”
“Not about me. You don’t know shit about me so why don’t you just keep quiet!” Lux snapped. Expecting a like response, she was surprised when it didn’t come.
“I guess I’m the one you’re going to take all this out on, right?”
“You’re the one who stopped me from leaving!”
“I only stopped you because Josh asked me to and I can assure you I had my reservations.”
“Do you do everything Josh asks of you?”
“Only if I want to.”
“I would have thought you’d want to see the back of me, not stop me from leaving.”
“Why is that, Lux?”
In the heat of the moment, she allowed her emotions to run away with her, and ended up saying and giving away more than she should. “Are you about to sit there and tell me there’s nothing between you and Josh?”
“No, I’m not going to tell you that.”
“Does Jason know?”
“Know what, Lux?”
“That you’re fucking his brother, and if you’re not doing it now, you were in the past!”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes I’m serious.”
“My God, you really don’t get it do you?”