Chapter Thirteen
Eric cursed as he roared away from the building. As it disappeared in the mirror on his bike, he felt a twist in his gut that he hadn’t expected. He should have known it wouldn’t work between Jen and him. How was he supposed to compete with Mr. Suit with his slick hair and immaculate outfit?
“What the fuck was I thinking?” he muttered.
His hands tightened on the handle bars the more he thought about what had happened. From the moment he’d stepped into her apartment, Eric had felt how out of place he was. Jen was top shelf, and he was rot gut. Maybe it was time he finally got that through his thick skull.
Besides, it wasn’t like Eric wanted more than a night with her. She was his employee, and anything more than a little fun wasn’t on the table. He’d already been in love and knew that was the last thing he should ever think about.
Still, his heart clenched the more he thought about that slick weasel being within a foot of Jen. She deserved better than that prick and certainly better than he could give her.
Eric sighed as he pulled up to a stop sign. He could go to the bar and drink himself stupid. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done that and stayed the night at the bar. All his problems would go away, if only for a few hours.
The night was still around Eric. The city was normally bustling, but sometimes moments of quiet over took it, and when he closed his eyes, he could almost believe he was the only person awake.
Eric slowly opened his eyes until he was staring up at the night sky. The bright lights of the city washed out most of the stars, but one shined brightly in the sky, almost as if it were a reminder. Maybe a beacon of hope.
The longer Eric stared at the bright star, the less he wanted to go to the bar and drink away his problems.
He’d been laying off the booze lately. Despite what he wanted to tell himself, Eric knew that Jen was the reason, particularly the way she’d watched him in the bar that first night. At first it just pissed him off. How could some prissy bitch come into his place and start judging him?
But then Eric got to know her and realized that Jen wasn’t judging him. She was pitying him. He grunted at the thought.
He was used to everyone hovering over him, worrying about his every move, but pity was a new one. The taste of it was bitter and sent a new sort of life through him.
Eric was not a man to be pitied, and if someone new was seeing enough in him for that, he needed to make some changes. He’d be damned if he was going to let himself keep going down the same hole. For too long he’d spent his days drinking to forget. It was time he started living again.
He turned the bike’s engine back on and sighed. The idea of heading back home to his quiet house lacked its normal appeal.
Despite how much Eric didn’t want tonight to mean anything, it did, and he’d be damned if he was just going to roll over and pretend it never happened. He turned the bike around.
* * *
“What are you doing here?” Jennifer said. She gaped at Charles as he stared at her from the couch.
His eyes slowly roved over her body in silent approval.
Her hands gripped the small black robe tighter around her chest. The way the man looked at her sent chills down her spine. Whatever she might have once felt for him had long since passed. She’d been given a taste of freedom, and she wouldn’t give it up to be with a controlling bastard like him.
“Your… friend let me in,” Charles said slowly.
Jennifer narrowed her eyes. “What did you say to him?”
Charles shrugged and placed his arms wide on the back of the couch. She could see he’d come from the office since he was still wearing his suit from the day. Even on the weekend, he worked late.
“Nothing. He said he had somewhere to be,” Charles said with little interest. “I tried to come by for dinner, but you’d already left the restaurant.”
Jennifer frowned and made her way to the open picture window. She stared down at the trickle of traffic below.
When a hand landed on her shoulder, she jumped at the feel of it.
“I was hoping we’d be able to talk things out,” Charles said in her ear, his mouth so close she could feel his breath as it tickled the hairs there.
Jennifer stepped out of his grasp. “We have nothing to talk about. We’ve already both made our feelings clear.”
She could see the man’s face reflected in the glass, including the disapproving way he stared at her. Likely he wanted to tell her that walking away from him was rude but knew he was in no position to pressure her.
“Just because we had a little spat doesn’t mean we’re over,” Charles said.
Jennifer whirled on him. All the anger that she’d been feeling bubbled up all at once.
“Are you serious right now?” she all but shouted. “You took me to dinner to tell me that you didn’t think it was working, and we should see other people. There was no spat. It was you, like always, deciding what our relationship was going to be and treating me like a possession you’d become tired of.”
The frown lines Jennifer knew so well formed once again on his face. His brow slanted a little in irritation.
“Only because you refused to comply with a few simple requests,” Charles said. “You’re the one being unreasonable here.”
Jennifer stepped forward, her hands shaking. “Those weren’t requests. They were demands, and they were unrealistic. You don’t want someone to spend time with; you want a robot to do what you say.”
Charles threw out his hand wide. “So you’re just going to throw away all our time together for some drunk at a bar?”
His words stung. Eric was troubled and obviously had turned to alcohol to soothe his worries. She didn’t know why exactly, but Charles’s statement wasn’t totally untrue.
Jennifer turned away from him, unable to find the words. Above all, she wanted to defend Eric, but she still wasn’t quite sure exactly what she was defending. He was still such a mystery to her.
This time Charles’s hands landed on both her shoulders, and she didn’t shake them off. What he said made sense. They did have history together. Could she really just throw all that time away? Had it really meant nothing to her?
Jennifer wanted to say that was true, but she knew it couldn’t be. A person didn’t spend all that time with another and walk away not caring at all. The fact that it hurt so much suggested the opposite.
“Look,” Charles said softly. His hands massaged her neck, and she relaxed a little there. “We don’t have to figure out everything tonight. Let’s sort through everything in the morning.”
Jennifer opened her mouth to say no, but the word caught in her throat. Maybe it really would be best if they tried to work things out. After all, she hadn’t really given him much of a chance to set things right.
“Besides,” Charles said, leaning forward to kiss the nape of her neck, “it’s like your father pointed out. We’ve both had our indiscretions, but in the end, we really make sense together.”
She froze as her blood ran cold, his mouth still on her neck.
“What?” Jennifer said.
Charles stopped, and she turned to stare at him.
“Well, don’t play innocent here dressed like that,” he said. “Maybe if you had worn more of this sort of thing, I wouldn’t have had to go anywhere else. But that’s something we can always work on.”
Jennifer stepped farther away from him, feeling far more violated than before. All that time she’d suspected he’d cheated on her. She even hinted that something was going on, and Charles made her feel like she was being a shrew for even bringing it up.
“You need to go,” she said quietly.
The frown popped back on his face again. “You can’t be serious.”
Jennifer walked over to the door and held it open. “It’s been a long night, and I’d like to go to bed. Please go.”
She could see the anger in his eyes as he stormed over to her. His face so contorted into rage that she trembled a little at his nearness.
“So you want to dress like a slut for that drunk but not me? What, did he do something I don’t? Maybe you like it rough.” Charles snorted.
“Just go already.”
He reached out and grabbed the back of her neck hard, his fingers biting into the tender skin there as he pulled her to his body. “You liked to be fucked rough? Is that it?” he hissed. “I can be rough. I’ll show you how rough I can be.”
Jennifer’s stomach churned, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She’d never been so scared.
“What the fu—” Charles began.
Jennifer felt his hand jerk off her neck and peeked open an eye.
Charles dangled just slightly in the air off Eric’s arms. The new arrival’s thick arms easily held the smaller man off the floor.
“This how you treat women?” Eric growled at him. “Threatening them?”
Charles struggled to pull the hands off his shirt. “Stay out of this.”
“You pathetic piece of shit.”
Eric tossed Charles to the ground with ease. His hands balled into fists.
Charles scrambled to stand. He looked over to Jennifer, and she shrank back toward the door. Tears now rolled down her cheeks as her mind started to catch up with what had just happened.
“This has nothing to do with you,” Charles said as he straightened his suit. “I suggest you leave before the police are called.”
Eric stepped in front of her as Charles made his way to her door, and she was grateful for the gesture.”
“If the police come,” Eric said, and scoffed, “they are going to ask how she got the bruises on her neck.”
Jennifer peeked around his large frame and saw the smirk slide across her ex’s face.
“And who do you think they are going to believe?” Charles said. “A piece of shit scum like you who’s already on their radar or me, an upstanding pillar of the community?”
Eric tensed just before his fist swung out and landed squarely against Charles’s nose. Blood burst out.
“You shut your fucking mouth about things you know nothing about,” Eric yelled.
Charles staggered back, groaning for a few seconds before he pulled out his phone, a bloody smile on his face. “You’ve given me all I need.”
Jennifer stepped out from behind Eric and stared at the man in front of her. The man she’d once planned to spend her life with, and she couldn’t find one redeemable quality in him. She’d been so blinded by who she should be that she didn’t see who she’d actually been.
“You make a report, and I’ll make one against you,” Jennifer said. Her voice was quiet but somehow echoed in the hall. “You want to talk about being a pillar of the community? Who do you think the police are going to believe, you or the daughter of a respected judge?”
Charles quit dialing and looked up quickly from his phone. He pulled off his tie to sop up the blood now flowing freely from his nose.
“You can’t be serious,” he said. “You’re going to protect this scumbag?”
Jennifer stared directly at him, no love in her heart left. “I will make a full report about how you grabbed me and threatened to rape me.”
Charles looked between the two of them, gritting his teeth. “It will never hold up. It’s still just your word against mine, and even with your father’s influence, you’re working in a trashy bar.”
Eric narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything.
Jennifer crossed her arms over her chest. “It doesn’t have to hold up,” she said. “A blemish like that, you’ll never get promotion. Never make it to the bench. Your career ends here and now because you want to be a controlling bastard.”
She knew his path. Had heard him say it a million times before. It had likely been the reason he’d picked her given who her father was.
Jennifer stared Charles down until he placed his phone back in his pocket. When he took a step forward, Eric pulled her back against his side, and she leaned into the warmth.
“Now, get the fuck out of here,” Eric said firmly. “Before I give you a real reason to call the cops.”
Charles stared at Jennifer for a moment. She couldn’t really read what was going on in his head, but she could only hope he never wanted to see her again. His gaze snapped over to Eric and narrowed.
“You’ll regret this,” he said. “I know people.”
Eric snorted. “Good for you.”
Charles backed up toward the elevator and stepped inside. Only once the doors closed did Eric relax and enter her apartment. There they were again, alone together.