A glance around the bar said he probably didn’t—the place had cleared out almost entirely since he first snuck into the resort’s main bar, stealing a stool in a darkened, semi-discreet corner. He’d followed Maddie back to the villa, because pissed as he was, he wasn’t a complete asshole. She was still his wife and this was still Party Central, Mexico. He half entertained following her to their room and fucking Armando out of her head, but he wasn’t an asshole. No matter how badly he wanted to be.
That didn’t mean he felt the slightest bit sorry for her either. She was probably worrying herself crazy about where he was, but that wasn’t his problem right now. Not after she’d let another man put his hands on her and suck on her fucking neck.
A slow burn crept up his spine, spreading like wildfire along his nerves. She hadn’t done this before, had she? When he wasn’t there to catch her?
Fuck! He couldn’t even let the idea turn around in his head without wanting to throw up. Or smash the shit out of something.
“What’d you do?” the bartender asked, still assessing him.
“I didn’t do anything.” He tipped back the last solitary drop of whiskey in his glass before slamming it down on the bar. Hope flickered to life once again when the bartender took the tumbler and filled it with ice. But when he topped it off with water and set it back in front of him, Dan growled.
“Okay, then—what did she do?”
Dan shook his head, because there was no way he could verbalize what he’d witnessed. No way could he put Maddie in the same sentence as the word ‘cheat’.
But that wasn’t quite right. Disgusted as he was, he couldn’t logically say that what Maddie had done constituted cheating. If it had been any of his friends’ women, he might’ve rolled his eyes and told his buddy to man up and go reclaim his girl. With Maddie however, it stung. Like hell. And it wasn’t something he ever wanted to experience again. But it wasn’t cheating. Not really.
“You got a girlfriend...” He broke off, gesturing toward the bartender with a roll of his wrist. “Shit, I didn’t even get your name.” He extended his hand. “I’m Dan.”
“Mike.” The guy stepped forward with a chuckle.
“So, you got a girlfriend, Mike?”
“Nope—I have a wife.” He held up his hand, revealing a wedding band much like his own.
“Ah, sorry about that, bro.”
Mike shook his head. “I’m not.”
Dan ground his jaw. Yeah, he wasn’t really either, and what kind of pathetic loser did that make him?
“How long you been hitched?” Mike asked.
Making a show of checking his watch, Dan sighed and spoke with a sarcasm dripping from every syllable. “Oh, about thirty-six hours or so. You?”
“Three years. Dude, you shouldn’t be feeling suffocated by that ring already. She must’ve done something pretty epic.”
Epic. That was one way of putting it. “To be honest, I don’t know what the hell happened. One minute she was blowing me and the next, she was letting some guy lick her neck.”
Mike’s eyebrows rose. “Body shots?”
“Dancing.”
“Damn.”
“No kidding. Ain’t pretty seeing another dude all over your wife. Tell me you’re not into that shit. I mean, that sharing crap only happens in college and in porn, right?”
The bartender chuckled. “This is Cabo, man. Lots of crazy shit goes down on the Baja.”
Was that why Maddie had been so insistent they spend their honeymoon here? Maybe she wanted a taste of that ‘crazy shit’.
Fucking fuck. Was she trying to tell him she wanted to add another player to the game? Live a little on the wild side while they were here, because it wasn’t something she could get back home?
He could barely conjure the image without his blood pressure skyrocketing and blowing the top of his friggin’ head straight off. He didn’t mind seeing Maddie flirt. In fact, he liked other men wanting her, because he fucking loved that, at the end of the day, she was his and only his.
But what if that wasn’t what she wanted? He didn’t roll any other way, no matter how much he wanted to please his new bride.
His new bride, who was probably beside herself right now, wondering where the hell he was. He pulled out his phone to see if she’d texted, but since he’d silenced it earlier, it had gone dead. The thing wouldn’t even power up.
“I should go,” he muttered. He couldn’t avoid her forever, but he genuinely feared what came next. They’d have to talk about what happened and he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear her explanation. Wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle it without going totally postal.
“Good luck, man.”
“This isn’t a matter of luck.”
“Never is when it comes to women, is it?”
Dan stood, swaying a bit on his feet, more from the ache in his chest than the booze flowing through his body. “Thanks for the company.”
“No problem. Hope it all works out.”
“Yeah, me too.” And he meant that. Meant it so damn much, it hurt.
He strode to the exit, his fingers absentmindedly rubbing at the patch of skin right over his heart. He loved Maddie more than life itself. But was he a strong enough man to give her what he suspected she wanted?
More importantly, did he risk losing her if he didn’t?
Seven