“He wasn’t with us Saturday.”
“Which I regret. I don’t need an angry husband breathing down my throat.”
She rubs her neck. “Josh is out of town and Georgie’s out of our way. She’s in the hospital. They’ll never know.”
At her callous words, my attempt to let her down easily comes to an abrupt end. Her selfishness disgusts me, evaporating my pity towards the situation she’s in with her husband. “I don’t want you.”
Her mouth drops open and her spine stiffens. There’s nothing more I have to say. I’m not too far from the studio, so I decide to walk there, hoping someone recognizes me to remind me just what my music means to me.
Cassandra
“This is Abby, Cass.”
I smile tightly as Parnell presents a blonde woman to me. She’s about twenty-six or seven—and that’s pushing it. But she lights up a room, commands attention with her expressive brown eyes and pretty face.
Abby’s perfume fills the space in my peach, silver, and white study. She’s standing here as if she owns it.
“Nice to meet you, Cass,” she says in a sultry voice, not bothering to wait for my invitation to sit, just taking it upon herself to do so. She’s wearing little white shorts and a tank top that just covers her breasts. Nail art decorates her toenails, showcased in white flip-flops.
I have no idea why she’s making me so uneasy. I’m still floundering from Sloane’s unanticipated rejection yesterday.
“She’s joining us today,” Parnell announces.
Protest rises to my throat, but I only shake my head. “Where’s Sloane? He was supposed to join us. You promised you’d call and convince him to participate today.”
At the mention of Sloane, Abby titters.
“Something funny?” I demand.
“Not in the least,” she responds but the joke is on me. She knows something that I don’t.
“Sloane can’t make it,” Parnell informs me.
He doesn’t meet my gaze, so I know he didn’t make an attempt to contact Sloane.
“So you’ve found a replacement? Shouldn’t it be another man?” I press.
Abby bends and kisses me on the mouth, catching me off-guard. She pinches my nipples before sliding her hands to the waistband of my slacks. “I can make you feel good, too,” she swears, gazing at me through her lashes. “Parnell can fuck me while you watch and decide if you’d like me to taste you.”
I wait for him to offer an alternative, answer my questions, and not be so enraptured by the woman in front of me. Since we’ve started bringing others into our bed, I’ve been with women. But something about this is different, too much so for my liking. Unable to pinpoint the problem, irritation surges in me.
Maybe, Georgie being in the hospital has thrown me off. What I am aware of is how much I feel as if I’m floundering, that an inferno is raging around me and it’s threatening to consume me. I’m old, but not so old where my feelings have atrophied. I’m still young. Age is only a number, so why does Parnell only have eyes for the young woman he’s ushered in. I’m invisible to him.
Narrowing my eyes at my husband, I clear my throat. “I don’t want to do this today. I want you and I to spend some alone time together.”
“Not today, Cassandra,” he says absently, his hand at the small of Abby’s back.
Guiding her to the spot next to me, Parnell kneels down. Abby doesn’t hesitate to remove her shorts and throw open her legs. Without responding to me, he swipes his tongue over Abby’s plump clit and groans in satisfaction.
He loses himself in eating her juicy cunt, forgetting my presence entirely.
Chapter Six
Georgie
Still breathing with the help of oxygen, I flick through the television, finding nothing interesting, pausing on the hospital access channels out of sheer curiosity. Who’d watch this shit by choice? Aggravated, I switch to the next channel, but give up when I see a rerun of Matlock.
It’s bright and sunny beyond my window. It should be storming to match my mood. That it isn’t depresses me further. Focusing on yesterday’s visit from Sloane cheers me up. I wish I could’ve talked to him longer, ask how his concert went. Without my cell phone and iPad, I don’t have much to go on. There was just a brief mention on the local news and a small clip of him onstage. Nothing more than I already know.
My door opens and I sigh. I’m sure it hasn’t been two hours since my vital signs were checked or my blood was drawn.
“Here for vampire food?” I ask and look up, unable to stop my fluttery heart or my huge smile. A warm glow flows through me at the sight of the gorgeous man with the brown-black hair and clear blue eyes. “Sloane?”
“Need company?”
He raises an acoustic guitar and I almost swoon from giddiness. I suck in an extra dose of oxygen. “As long as it’s you, I’m always open for company.”