The idea of my girlfriend’s ass on display for everyone didn’t settle well with me. Screw that. I hated it.

Girlfriend.

Where had that come from? Fuck, a few nights wrapped up in her arms, a few stolen kisses in the afternoon sun, and I had already promoted her from the fuck buddy to girlfriend. Wow. That happened fast.

I wondered how Ms. Afraid of Commitment would feel about that one. Fuck, I didn’t even know how I felt about it. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, and even though we’d never talked about it, I was pretty sure she wasn’t, either. And I sure as shit wasn’t looking for love.

Being a couple didn’t have to mean we were falling in love, though. It just meant we were two people who shared a friendship, mutual attraction, and mind-blowing sex. Exclusively. I’d already told her I didn’t share, so it shouldn’t be any surprise to her that I now considered her my girlfriend.

I smiled, nodding at nothing, as I connected the dots in my mind. It all made perfect sense.

“That makes no sense whatsoever.” Molly yanked her hand away from mine as we walked slowly down the hotel corridor a few hours later. “How much did you have to drink tonight?”

“Not a drop.”

Molly shook her head as I slid the plastic key into the lock and pushed open the door. Out of habit, Molly stayed in the hall while I did a quick visual sweep of the rooms and then motioned her inside once it was clear. “Maybe someone slipped something into your water.”

“I’m completely sober, Mols. Just think about it.”

She shook her head adamantly. “I am a girl, Mikey. And I am your friend. So if you really want to think of me as your girlfriend, I guess you can. But that means Lia is also your girlfriend. And I’m the jealous type, so that doesn’t really work.”

I chuckled, not surprised at her reaction. Unsnapping my weapon from my shoulder harness and clicking the safety on, I slid it into the top drawer of the dresser and then lifted up the leg of my jeans to pull out the .380, securing it the same way I had the Beretta.

Molly watched with disdain. “Are those really necessary?”

I nodded. We’d had this conversation numerous times already, but I wasn’t backing down. “You know they are.”

She groaned and turned away from me, but not quick enough. I caught her, wrapping my arms around her middle and tugging her to me, her back flush with my front. Kissing her neck softly, I asked, “Did you have fun tonight?”

She turned in my arms, her own circling my shoulders as she played with my hair. Smiling, she pushed herself up on tiptoes and dropped a peck onto my lips. “I did. Thank you.” Letting her hands drift slowly over my shoulders and down my abs, she started tugging my tee shirt up, exposing my flesh. “I think the rest of the night is going to be much more fun, though.”

“Yeah?” I stepped back into the wall, pulling her with me. “What do you have planned?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Something dirty.” She bit her lip and then swept her eyes over my face and down my body. “Absolutely nothing a girlfriend would do.” Before I could say anything, she’d dropped to her knees and her hands were on my zipper, sliding it down painfully slow.

My phone started to ring. I dug in my pocket, trying to find it, mentally cursing it and the bad timing of whomever was calling me. A glance at the screen had me groaning and dropping my head back against the sheetrock. “Fuck. I have to take this.”

Mols pushed herself off the floor and gave me a dazzling smile. “I’m here all night.” With a wink, she turned away from me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as I lifted my cell to my ear.

“Why would something be wrong?” my ex-wife asked, as if she really were completely clueless.

“It’s three in the morning, Jules. Why else would you be calling me?”

She sighed. “I needed to talk to someone and I knew you’d be awake.”

I didn’t say a word, waiting for her to explain as I watched Molly walk to the bathroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind her. One I intended to follow as soon as I ended this call. When she didn’t elaborate, I started to lose my patience. “Are the kids okay?”

“Yes.” She groaned in annoyance. “I used to call you all the time to talk for no reason.”

My disbelief came out in a chuckle. “Yeah, when we were married and had shit to talk about. We aren’t anymore…and we don’t. You have friends for that.”

“How is New York?”

I shook my head, not really surprised that she wasn’t getting the message. “Jake tell you where I was?”

“It’s on his map,” she explained. “Plus, you’re all over TMZ.” Of course we were. Fucking privacy-invading dicks. “You promised we’d spend a Christmas in New York one year. Go skating, see Rockefeller Center.”

“Yep.” I walked to the patio door and yanked the curtain aside, looking out at the city. “And you promised to be faithful. Guess we both lied.”

“Mike.”

The shower started in the other room. I had someplace I needed to be.

“Julie,” I countered in the same tone. “It’s late. I’ve had a long day. What the fuck do you want?”

“You’re with her, aren’t you?”

I wasn’t talking about Molly with the woman who took my kids away from me. “I’m fucking working,” I ground out.

“You’re with her,” she answered herself. “How does her husband feel about that?”

I opened my mouth, ready to tell her to mind her own goddamn business when I realized that she hadn’t been talking about Molly, and I was pretty sure she wasn’t sober. “Where are the kids?” My only thought was that it was the middle of the week and my children were home with a woman who wouldn’t be able to get her ass out of bed in the morning.

“With Gram.”

I was both relieved and pissed. “Lewis working?” I asked only because I wanted to know why in the hell she would have dropped the kids off with my grandmother.

“No.” Her voice broke with a sob. “He left me.”

There it was. She was alone and Julie didn’t do well alone. As usual, she thought I was her fucking safety net. Not this time. “Go sleep it off, Jules.”

“We need to talk, Mikey. Come home. We’ll—”

I didn’t give her a chance to finish whatever bullshit she was about to spew. I hung up and tossed my cell across the room before walking to the bed and sinking onto it. The woman was a fucking piece of work. I’d spent years letting her twist me into every knot possible, but she wasn’t my problem anymore. And I was too fucking tired to deal with her shit.

I fell asleep before Molly joined me.

Chapter Nineteen

~ Molly ~

“Tell me about Julie.”

Lia couldn’t hide her surprise, even though she tried to cover it and keep her face neutral. Setting down her drink, she put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. Clearing her throat, she met my eyes. “Julie and I grew up together. She was more like my sister than my friend. After she and Mike eloped, they made some choices I didn’t agree with, but we all do stupid shit when we’re teenagers. We aren’t friends anymore. Some days, though, I really miss her.”

“Bullshit.”

Her eyebrows rose at my outburst.

“I know all that, Red. I want the biased version. The one you don’t share with anyone but your best friends. As my friend, it is your duty to tell me what I need to know about the ex-wife of the man I’m sleeping with.”

Lia hesitated, glancing around the small restaurant. We’d agreed to meet here this morning to have some last-minute girl time before we were stuck on the buses with the boys for the next three weeks straight. Finally, she nodded her head, as if deciding she could be honest with me. “I used to love that girl. But Jules grew up to be a vicious and spiteful witch who hurts my friend every chance she gets, and I hate her for it.”