Jaded (The Butterfly Memoirs) (19 page)

“Done.” He refrigerated the salad and cleaned off the counter.

I put noodles into boiling water and set the timer on the stove. “The sauce is simmering, that leaves us about…ten minutes before the noodles are done.”

“Perfect.” Zack slipped his hands around my waist, and began kissing the side of my throat.

“Mmm…what are you doing?” Unable to resist the contact of our bodies, I reached behind me to run a hand along the side of his jaw.

“Making the best of the next ten minutes,” he murmured against my skin.

“Why? It’s not going anywhere tonight.”

“So? I still want to touch you, kiss you…,” his hands ran along my hips and drew me against him. For extra emphasis he ran his tongue below my ear to the one spot he knew made me gasp. “Hear you moan…”

I turned around, ran my hands over his low cut waves, massaging his head. His eyes closed and he exhaled satisfaction. Feeling wicked; I sucked his lip into my mouth. He reciprocated by pulling me in tighter, delving deeper into the kiss.

“I can still take care of you,” I whispered in his ear when my mouth was free. My hand drifted to the front of his pants and rubbed his growing erection.

“Yeah, but that wouldn’t be fair.”

I drew back to study his face. “You don’t want me to?”

“I can wait,” He kissed me again. “You’re worth the wait. Besides, this is foreplay.”

I laughed. “Foreplay is when you plan to satisfy the need. This is playing with fire. We can’t put this out tonight.”

Zack slid his hands to my hips, around my butt, and up my back. Shivers of untamed desire forced me to curse Mother Nature.

“I like foreplay. Besides, this will make having sex again hotter. I’ll be thinking about you all week.” His mouth came for mine again and this time he was merciless in his pursuit of my tongue.

He would be thinking about me all week? He wanted to fool around even though he wouldn’t be getting off at the end of the night?

I forced myself not to over think the situation. I wanted more with Zack than what we’d agreed to, but had no idea where his head was. At this moment he displayed signs of a man in love with the woman in his arms.

Could he possibly be in love with me?

The doorbell rang, giving me a moment of relief.

I pulled away from the kiss. “Aren’t you going to get that?”

“No.” Zack eyed my mouth before delving in for another kiss.

The doorbell rang again. His mouth traveled to my chin.

“It could be someone important.”

Zack didn’t stop. “There are three people who are important to me. My mother, who is home in bed by now,” he kissed my throat. “Nick, who knows not to come near here on Friday nights,” he kissed my cheek, “and you,” he whispered in my ear. “Everyone else is uninvited.”

I laughed as the bell rang again, this time accompanied by a knock. “I don’t think they plan on leaving.”

Zack groaned as the timer went off. “Fine, it better be important.” He stomped over to the door.

 I began stirring the sauce again. I ran my fingertips over my lips which still tingled from his kiss. I was important to him; warmth filled me from head to toe.

The question was, how important?

I reached for the strainer to drain the noodles as I heard the door open.

“What are you doing here?” Zack spat.

The bitterness in his voice drew my attention.

“Why, Zacky, is that how you greet the love of your life?”

What. The. Hell
???

“Melissa, never call me that again.”

Melissa??? My grip on the colander tightened. What was she doing here?

From where I stood in the kitchen, a wall blocked my view of the front door, which also meant I couldn’t be seen. I leaned against the counter with weak knees and listened.

“Come on, Zack, I was wrong. I thought you’d forgiven me by now.”

“Are you serious?”

There was an overly dramatic pause. “Your mom didn’t mention I was looking for you?”

What? She spoke to his mother? When? I swallowed a curse and quietly set the colander on the counter before inching my way to the corner to sneak a peek at his ex. My heart dropped to my knees. So much for wishing she was some toothless hag.

Melissa was beautiful. Long dark hair flowed over the caramel skin of her bare shoulders and damn near to her breasts. Thick lips and big brown eyes fit perfect features with cheekbones to die for. I stopped gawking at her face; everything on her body was to die for. Though comfortable in my skin and loving every God-given curve of my body, my B-cup breasts were no match for the over-the-top C-cups spilling out of her low cut and snug fitting tank top. Not to mention she’d practically poured herself into skin-tight jeans.

And her hands were working their way around Zack’s neck.

Steam felt as if it were coming from my ears.

“I know you missed me,” she paused and looked down the front of Zack’s body. Her pencil thin eyebrows rose. “Looks like someone else missed me, too.”

Zack wrenched her arms away from his neck. “Why are you here?”

“I’ve missed you.” Seductive poison flowed from her pouty lips.

Zack laughed sarcastically. “Yeah…right. Didn’t you move in with your old boyfriend?”

 Melissa rolled her eyes. “I needed emotional support. I was too embarrassed to go to my parents.”

“You were embarrassed? I was making sure my mother’s health was taken care of, and my fiancée, my girlfriend of the last two years, left me weeks before the wedding and moved back in with her ex-boyfriend. You chose to leave, Melissa. I didn’t do anything to deserve the way you treated me or our relationship.”

“What else was I supposed to do? You didn’t want me anymore.”

“What the…why would you think that? Of course I did.”

Melissa pouted. “You stopped coming home at night. You didn’t let me know what was going on. What else was I supposed to think?”

Zack huffed and threw his hands up in what appeared to be disgust. He stepped away from the door and ran a hand over his face. “That’s a lie. I asked for your help, but you always had some excuse. I told you every day what was going on. My mother’s wellbeing wasn’t your concern. Your focus was on how much we had to pay for the damn place settings for the dining room table.”

There was silence for a moment. I hoped his response would be enough to make her leave. Without warning, she smiled, stepped closer to Zack, and pushed him against the wall. Her hands were all over him.

“Stop, Melissa.” He deflected her attempt to kiss him and pushed her away.

“Come on, Zack, it’s time we let the past go. Your mom is fine. I was wrong for not helping…let me make it up to you.” Her head cocked to the side as her voice took on a whiney quality. “I’ve missed you, baby. We were always good at this…” Her hand trailed down his chest and grabbed the front of his sweat pants.

Okay. That was it.

I unfastened my jeans and kicked them off before unhooking the first few buttons of my shirt. I ran fingers through my hair leaving it disheveled.

“Zack…,” I put on my most seductive walk and headed to the door.

His eyes focused on me and traveled down my naked legs to the unbuttoned part of my shirt that left little to the imagination. He licked his lips.

Melissa froze and stared at me.

Now she knew why he had a hard-on.

“Who is she?” Melissa spat.

Zack opened his mouth to reply, but I cut him off.

“I’m the woman who’s taking care of everything he needs.” My eyes cut to where her hand gripped Zack. “Get your hands off
my man
.” I allowed every ounce of hatred and jealousy to be evident in my voice.

Her eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

I walked over and stood next to Zack, ignoring the confused expression on his face. I looked down; Melissa’s hand hadn’t moved. I cocked an eyebrow and sucked my teeth.

She dropped her hand and stepped away without uttering a word.

I stood in front of Zack and staked my claim. “Now, if I heard right, he doesn’t want or need you.” Her perfect lips opened as if to argue. I stuck my manicured nail in her face. “If you want to keep that cheap lace front wig for the next man you want to seduce, keep your mouth shut and leave before it ends up on the floor.”

Melissa stared at me, then angled her head so she could see Zack. Since he stood behind me, I had no idea what expression was on his face. Whatever it was, it forced her mouth shut.

She smirked while studying me. “Well, Zack, I see you’ve found a little playmate. She must not be as good as me or else you wouldn’t have answered the door.”

“What the…oh hell no!” I reached out for that stupid wig, but she slipped out of my grasp and into the hallway. Zack grabbed my waist, drew me in the door, and kicked it shut.

I struggled out of his arms and straightened my shirt, fuming that she got the last word.

Zack stepped in front of me, his expression a mixture of shock and lust.

I stomped past him to the kitchen, buttoned my shirt, and stuffed my legs into my jeans.

He followed.

“What?” I snapped, glancing over my shoulder.

“Did you mean what you said?”

“Hell yes. If I had gotten a hold of her that wig was coming off.” Dressed again, my focus went to the simmering sauce on the stove. “I better not see her ass in the street—”

“No, not that…you said I was your man.”

I cringed on the inside, refusing to let him read my face. “It’s what she needed to hear.”

The weight of Zack’s silent stare behind me made my hands shake. Blurting out my feelings because of the random appearance of his ex-fiancée was not how I’d intended to convince him to stay in my life.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I reached into the cabinet for the plates in an effort to keep my voice even and my face neutral.

“So…” I drained the noodles and placed spaghetti on our plates. “She’s been to visit your mom?” Unable to help myself, I glanced over my shoulder. If he lied I’d know it in a heartbeat.

He watched my every move. “Unfortunately…about a month ago.”

I cursed. “You could have mentioned it. We’re friends after all. If you needed to talk—”

“There wasn’t a need, Yasmine.”

My jaw tightened. There wasn’t a need? His ex-fiancée comes looking for him a year later and there wasn’t a need? I forced myself to remember what type of relationship we had. Friends with benefits. Just because we slept together, it did not mean he owed me any explanation of what went on outside of his time spent with me. So, I was falling in love; it didn’t mean the feeling was mutual. My goal was to find out if he’d be interested, but since he felt there was no need to mention his ex, I knew exactly where I stood.

Saying nothing more, I pushed Zack’s plate across the island to where he sat and I continued to stand. I had no desire to eat my food, much less settle in next to him on the empty stool.

“Yasmine, what’s wrong?”

I forced myself to regard him. His eyebrows were knitted together; thick lips pursed. Zack always appeared to know what was on my mind even before I said it. I engaged the lock on my heart and forced my gaze to be cool and unreadable.

Not this time.

“Are you sure there’s no unfinished business? After all, you’ve known each other for a long time.”

“I just handled that.” He studied my expression. “Why are you ignoring my question?”

“I’m not. I’m having an adult conversation with my friend. If I would have known she was looking for you, I could have avoided standing there in my underwear looking like an idiot.” I stared at my plate.

“You didn’t look like an idiot. And to be honest, if you hadn’t stepped in, I would have had to physically put her out. The last thing I need is for her to claim I touched her.”

“Glad I could help.” I stuffed a tomato in my mouth, unable to enjoy the succulent juice as I chewed.

Zack set his fork down. “Did I do something wrong? Why are you mad at me?”

My eyes narrowed involuntarily. “I’m not mad at you.” One of his eyebrows cocked. “I’m disappointed. Since we are sleeping together, I would have appreciated knowing your ex wants you back. Knowing this relationship would be ending soon would—”

“Why would it end? Nothing has changed, Yasmine. We were fine before she got here, I’d like to know we still are.”

Fine was an understatement. We were close to making out in the kitchen on a night not designated for sex. I came here to spend the evening with him when I should have been home doing anything except continuing to set my heart up for rejection.

I had no right to be angry, but it was impossible to control my emotions. Zack did nothing wrong. We had no commitment to each other except the time spent on Friday nights. I’d done my part. I came, made dinner, and we weren’t having sex… Why the hell was I still here?

I looked around the kitchen and found a disposable plastic container he normally used to store leftovers, and emptied the contents of my plate.

“What are you doing?” Zack stared at me for what felt like the tenth time tonight in confusion.

“I have to go.”

“Why?”

I placed my empty plate in the sink and felt a moment of guilt for sticking him with the dirty dishes.

“I have something to take care of at home.” I stuffed my feet in my tennis shoes, grabbed my purse, and my meal.

Zack stood from the table and reached for my arm. “Yasmine…wait a minute.”

I slipped from his grasp and ignored him as he followed me to the door. Thank God I didn’t have to wait long for the elevator doors to open. Once inside, I jerked my cell out of my purse to cut it off as it rang. There was nothing else we needed to talk about.

I faced the facts: despite my best efforts, I’d fallen in love again with the wrong man.

Chapter 23

The tension between us was unbearable.

For the past week, Yasmine avoided me as much as possible when I came over to my mother’s house for dinner. Instead of joining us, she made excuses for being out late or said she’d already eaten and instead, hid in her bedroom to read. Our evenings lacked her presence.

Yasmine’s attitude change did not go unnoticed by my mother.