The Beauty of Us (Fusion #4)

“I don’t think it’s recent,” Kat continues. “I mean, his hair is a lot shorter in that picture, and he just looks younger, you know?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t look recent.” But what in the hell is going on? Without missing a beat, I grab my phone and call Trevor’s number, but it goes to voice mail. “Hey, it’s me. I need to talk to you. Please call me back as soon as possible.”

I hang up and pass Kat’s phone back to her.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she says.

“I guess we’ll see when I talk to him.”

“What are you going to say?”

“I’m going to ask him if he’s seen this, and if so, why does it even exist? I mean, why won’t this chick just go away? She’s seriously pissing me off.”

“You don’t think he’s got something going on with her?”

“No.” I shake my head impatiently. “I believe him. I think this is her trying to make waves again, and I just don’t understand why she won’t go away. Trevor spoke to her and told her to hit the road.”

“Sounds like she’s psycho,” Kat replies. “And I’m a psychiatrist, so I can say this with some authority. Be careful. People like her are dangerous.”

“She doesn’t live anywhere near here,” I reply. “Maybe it’s time for me to take a break from social media for a while.”

“Is that even possible for you? With all of the social media stuff you have to do for Seduction?”

“No.” I rub my forehead with my fingertips. “You’re right, it’s not possible. But I can delete the apps from my phone and just post stuff on the computer when I’m here.”

“That could work,” Kat says with a nod, and turns to walk away. She spins back around, sticking a finger in the air. “Oh! Forgot to tell you. There’s someone named Stephanie here to see you.”

I frown and glance at my schedule. “I don’t have any appointments today.”

“She didn’t say what she wanted, just asked for you.”

“Okay. Thanks. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Kat nods and shuts the door behind her, leaving me in the office by myself. I wish Trevor would call me back now. I wish he would truly talk to me and tell me what’s going on with him. I wish his stupid phone would work right.

I trust him.

But I miss him.

And it hurts more than I ever thought it would.

It doesn’t look like he can call, so I walk out of the office and to the hostess area. There’s a beautiful brunette sitting on the bench, her hair and makeup perfectly seen to. She’s in a red sweater and black slacks with red heels.

“Stephanie?” I ask as I approach.

“Yes,” she says, and smiles. Her teeth are almost blindingly white against her red lips. “You must be Riley.”

“I am. I’m sorry, did we have an appointment?”

“Oh no.” She blushes and smiles with apology. “I’m sorry I didn’t call ahead, I just thought I’d take my chances that you’d have time to see me today.”

“I wish you had called. I’m afraid we’re not hiring right now.”

“Oh, I’m not here for a job.” She shakes her head and hooks her expensive designer bag over her shoulder. “This is a personal matter.”

“I see.”

I don’t fucking see at all.

“Come into my office.” I motion for her to follow me, and when I get there, I hold the door open for her. “Go ahead and have a seat over there. I’ll join you in a moment.”

“Thank you.”

I rush into the bar and find Kat behind it.

“I’m meeting with this woman in the office. I don’t know her, and she says this is personal, not regarding the business.”

“I’m coming along.”

“Wait.” I hold my hand up. “I don’t think I have a reason to be afraid, but I wanted someone else to know I’m in there with her.”

“I think I should go in with you.”

I chew the inside of my cheek for a moment, and then nod. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to be careful.”

We both walk into the office, clearly surprising Stephanie.

“I’m sorry,” she says, clearly not sorry at all. “I was hoping to speak with you privately.”

“Kat is my business partner and my best friend. Anything you have to talk about can be said with her here.”

She sighs, and then nods. “If that’s the way you want it.”

I don’t reply as I sit in my chair opposite her and cross my hands over my desk. Kat sits at her own desk, facing us.

“My name is Stephanie Cooper.”

I blink at her for several seconds. She doesn’t elaborate, as if I should recognize her name, but I don’t.

“Okay.”

She licks her lips and frowns. “You don’t recognize my name?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Riley—” Kat begins, but Stephanie speaks over her.

“I’m Trevor’s wife.”

And just like that, a cold sweat spreads over my whole body and my heart pounds against the wall of my chest.

“I can see that I’ve surprised you.”

“I’m not sure what you’re doing here,” I reply, proud of myself for sounding so calm.

“Well, I wanted to come meet you in person. You see, Trevor and I divorced a few years ago.”

“I’m aware.”

“So he did talk about me, then,” she says with a happy smile.

“He mentioned an ex-wife, but he didn’t ever say your name.”

Her smile falters now, and that gives me a sick sense of satisfaction.

“Yes, well, we parted on decent terms.”

“Despite you deciding to have an affair,” I add. Kat gasps, but neither of us looks over at her. “What do you want, Stephanie?”

“I don’t honestly know,” she says. “I thought I wanted to come here to tell you to stop seeing him.”

“I’m not seeing him,” I reply. “He’s in L.A. and I’m in Portland.”

“Oh, so you’re not together.”

“We’re together. What I’m saying is, it’s gone past just seeing each other. We’re in a relationship, and we’re in love with each other.”

“Oh, honey.”

“Don’t fucking ‘oh, honey’ me.” I stand and walk to the door, holding it open for her. “If you’re warning me off, you came all this way for nothing. I haven’t done anything wrong. You’re not married to him anymore.”

“You’re right,” she says. “I’m not. I’m actually married to another man, who’s also a very good person.”

“So, do you just get off on fucking around with people? Why do you care who Trevor is with? You moved on.”

“It was a mistake.” Her eyes fill with tears, and I give zero fucks. “I made a horrible mistake.”

“Yes, you did.” I stare down at her, not feeling even one ounce of sympathy. “Women like you just think that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. What you don’t realize is, if you just took care of your own fucking grass, it would be just as green.”

“I’m not much of a gardener,” she says with a frown, and I can’t help but bust out laughing.

“Like I said, you’ve wasted your time. Now get your ass out of my restaurant, and don’t contact me again.”

“I was hoping that I’d be able to talk to you, woman to woman, to make you understand how much I love him. I guess that isn’t going to work.”

“Um, no, it’s not. That’s what I meant when I told you to get the hell out of my place.”