Alexandra stared around the restaurant, waiting for her boyfriend, Jack Masterson, to get off his cell phone. His disregard of her seemed to be happening more and more.

When they first hooked up, he was nearly perfect for a boyfriend. He wanted to settle down and have a family. He was courteous and thoughtful. And not bad in the sack, when she could get him in there. But now, the true colors where showing.

He called himself a highfalutin real estate developer—emphasis on highfalutin. Oh please. High full pain in the ass was more appropriate. Sometimes Alexandra wondered why the hell she was dating him.

Jack looked around the immediate area at those seated nearby then turned in his chair to face the window. His voice dipped lower, but she still heard what he said.

“I don’t give a fuck. Slip in whatever you have to but bury it deep in the contract so Carter doesn’t see it. He won’t sign it if he does.” He paused. His face turned red as if his blood pressure was about to pop his head off like a zit. “I want to take him for as much as we can.”

That caught Alexandra by surprise. Who was Carter? What kind of person purposefully meant to hurt others? Yes, Jack could be a prick sometimes, but what man wasn’t? She couldn’t believe this. She’d not see this side of him. How much more had he hidden from her?

After he finally hung up, she asked, “Who were you talking to? You can’t mean to consciously inflict harm on someone. Jack—” At his name, he snapped his head up, anger-filled eyes drilling into her.

“Eat your salad, Alexandra, and don’t worry about my business.”

And that was another thing. Why did she always have to eat salad while he ordered steak? She was so sick of lettuce, she could vomit. On his shoes, preferably. That image brought a smile to her face.

“What are you smiling about?” he grumped.

“Oh, nothing. Just contemplating my dinner salad,” she replied.

He picked up the steak knife and sawed at the slab of meat on his plate. “Stop contemplating the damn thing and eat it.” She gave a silent sigh before he continued. “You’re going to lose weight if it’s the last thing you do.”

The fork fell from her fingers, clanking onto the ceramic dish piled with rabbit food. “What the hell are you talking about?” she blurted in a whisper. “I don’t need to lose weight. The doctor says I’m as healthy as any other thirty-something. I’m happy the way I am.”

Jack glared at her. “Well, I’m not happy and I’m the one who has to look at you. I want you into a size two by the end of the year.” Returning his attention to his food, he tried to let his words be the last.

She called bullshit.

Throwing her napkin on her plate, she launched to her feet. “Well, I’m not happy with the size of your dick, and I’m the one who has to fake it all the time,” she countered. Even for her, that was a bit over the top for a comeback. Just proved to her more that she needed to end this relationship.

When the neighbors at the other tables stared with wide eyes and shock, her face heated. She grabbed her purse and headed for the exit.

“Alexandra,” he called after her. She didn’t stop or look back. “Alexandra—” his hand grabbed her arm, stopping her, “don’t make a scene,” he growled.

She snatched her arm from his painful grip and narrowed her eyes at him. “Scene?” her voice raised, “I’ll show you a scene, asshole.”

“Alexandra, please calm down.” His tone sounded apologetic so she backed down and continued her path to the door. Unfortunately, he followed, whispering loudly, “Alexandra, I order you to stop right now.”

And stop she did. She spun around and jabbed a finger into his chest, breaking a damn nail in the process. Now she was more pissed off. “You have no authority over me. Especially now that I’m no longer your girlfriend.”

“W-what?” he stammered. “You’re dumping me?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. His insinuation wasn’t even dignified enough for a response. She whirled around stepped through the door the hostess held open for her. How arrogant could someone be? She managed to find the cream of the crap.

Digging in her purse, she felt her keys and pulled out the fob, clicking it to start her car. The echo of her feet stomping across the parking lot was loud. Her eyes searched for anyone getting into or out of a car. Nobody. Just her and Tiny Dick.

“You cannot just walk out on me,” Jack said behind her.

Her head turned over her shoulder. “Why’s that? Can Mr. Masterson, real estate mogul, not think that a woman wouldn’t want him?” She snorted. “All the money in the world is not a replacement for no intimacy, Tiny Dick.”

He snorted. “No intimacy is what I got from you,” he said. “I have to fuck someone else to get any satisfaction.”

Jerk-off Jack had been cheating? Questions that had never existed before rose with his words: “You’re a control freak, Alexandra. No man wants a woman telling him what to do in the sack. Sometimes I want to be the one leading. You’re too aggressive. You’re a good fuck, but not someone I could ever be with long-term.” Oh yeah, Jerk-off Jack had definitely let loose.

As she reached her car door, Jack swung her around and slapped her face, throwing her against the vehicle. She glanced at the light pole next to her parking spot and pointed up. “Look up there and say cheese.”

He twisted around and tilted his head back. “What the fuck you talking about?”

“That’s good,” she continued. “The police can use the video just recorded as evidence when I press charges for assault.” With that, she kicked him in the crown jewels. He went down, hands covering his cajones.

Through gritted teeth, he spit out, “I will kill you, bitch.”

Alexandra opened the driver’s side door. “I’ll make a deal with you, Tiny Dick. You stay away from me and I won’t go to the media with all I’ve discovered about you.” That was totally a bluff. She had no idea he was doing immoral things. Only going off the phone call she heard inside. The guess seemed to be right, if his reaction was any indication.

His face blossomed red. Really red. She’d never seen that shade on a person before. She feared he may have a heart attack or bust a nut. Wait a second. After all he said to her inside the restaurant, why should she care if he dropped dead? She repeated her warning.

“Stay away from me and I’ll stay away from the media.” With that, she slammed her car door shut and sped out of the parking lot.

Anger surged through her, changing her foot into lead. By the time she reached the on-ramp to the expressway she was doing seventy. She had her life back and she’d be damned if she let someone tell her she had to do this or obey that. If her next man so much as stared at another woman, she would kick him to the curb.

Alex shook her head. She wasn’t that kind of person. The paranoid, untrusting woman Jack had formed her into. Could she get back to the person she was before Jack?