The Ex-Wife (10 page)

I gasped at the thought that whoever had my car keys also had my house keys. Cam said, “It’s going to be OK. We’ll get your
locks all switched tomorrow.”

“This is just so random.”

“Yeah, I know. We may as well just go to my house tonight and relax and deal with the rest in the morning.”

“Are you sure you’re allowed to have company?”

“I’m a single man. Why wouldn’t I be able to have company?”

“Well, your ex-wife thinks you guys are still together, so…”

He laughed. “She’s delusional.”

“I just don’t want any drama.”

He reached for my hand and I gave it to him. “No drama. I promise.”

“Pinky swear,” I said jokingly.

“Pinky swear,” he said with a wink.

When Cam jumped on Route 400 heading to Alpharetta, I said, “I thought you lived in Buckhead?”

“Yeah, I have a house there too, but…”

“Are you taking me to the incognito spot?”

“Nah, I’m taking you to my home. My Buckhead spot is just somewhere to rest my head and keep my son.”

“Your son doesn’t come to your home?”

“His mom is obviously psycho and I don’t want her to know where I really live. I have to keep as much as possible away from
her.”

I nodded, appreciating that he put effort into keeping her at bay. “How do you pull off living in two places?”

“Right now it’s really easy. Most of my belongings are in Buckhead. I haven’t really moved into the house yet.”

“What you waiting on?”

“I bought it because I got predevelopment pricing, but I didn’t want it to come out during the divorce that I owned it. So
I kept it on the low.”

“How did you manage that? If you don’t mind me asking.”

He chuckled and looked at me. “I don’t mind at all. This may sound shady but I assure you, I’m not a shady person. I started
a business in my mother’s name and purchased the home with that business. Now that the divorce is final, I can transfer the
title to my own business.”

I laughed. “Whoa, that
is
shady, Cam.”

“Like I told you when I met you, I want to remarry and I want to have at least two more kids. I got a deal I couldn’t resist
and I hopped on it. Even though I wasn’t in a domestic situation, I looked at it like I was buying this house for my family.
It would just be there, waiting for the right woman to walk through the door.”

Maybe it was in my mind, but it seemed that he gave me a look as if to say that she was me. I wondered if I was the first
woman to enter the house since he’d bought it or if there had been others. I momentarily felt uncomfortable, because my mind
was going places that I was too mentally disciplined to permit, so I changed the subject to halt the thought that Cam and
I were meant to be together from flooding my mind.

I said, “Oh, I forgot to mention I like your car.”

He blushed. “Do you really?”

“Yeah, I like the
B
with wings everywhere.”

He laughed really hard, obviously catching on that I was insinuating that the
B
stood for my last name.

“Yeah, I’m glad you like that. I usually drive this car when I’m trying to sell million-dollar homes.”

“I can see why.”

“Yeah, money likes to see money.”

“That’s so crazy.”

“It’s the nature of the business. When I mentor agents that are new to the game, I try to tell them they have to look the
part to seal the deal.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, sometimes you have to take the risk of buying a two-hundred-thousand-dollar car in order to sell that five-million-dollar
house.”

“What happens if you don’t sell the house?”

He laughed. “You’ll be broke.”

“That’s a shame. I don’t believe in buying things to impress people.”

“You don’t have to in your field. In sales, you have to look the part. It’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is. People don’t
take chances on someone that looks like they need money. When you look like you have money, the trust is almost immediate.”

“I guess I see your point.”

As we drove, we passed several communities with sprawling estates. Cam pointed out the homes he had sold. It was obvious that
he was doing well. Finally we pulled up to a golf course community and Cam entered. The houses were mini-mansions and I was
excited to see what Cam had selected for the family he anticipated. I didn’t want to seem as if I’d never seen nice houses,
but these places were fabulous. “How long has this community been here?” I asked.

“Last house went up this past August.”

“I love this community.”

As we pulled into his driveway, I took a quick glance at the quintessential Colonial with an exterior of stone and beige stucco.
When he pulled into the side-loading three-car garage, he stopped and smiled at me. Looking into my eyes he said, “Good. I’m
glad you like it.”

When we got out, we headed into the kitchen. There was a card table with four folding chairs, similar to the table in my empty
condo. The kitchen was large, with antique white cabinetry and multicolored brown granite countertops. His appliances were
all stainless steel, but the massive home looked lonely and unloved. I took a few steps to see the rest of the place and my
footsteps made an echo.

Cam noticed my confused look and said, “I figured I’d wait for you to decorate.”

I laughed. “Wait for me?”

“Yeah, I settled on the house last July and since I had to keep it on the low, I really haven’t settled in yet. You know?”

“She really doesn’t know you live here?”

“Nah, she would act a fool.”

“Is this the one place you feel like she’s not watching?”

“Exactly.”

“Do you think she’s a stalker?”

“She’s a harmless stalker but yeah. Her whole mode of op is to tell women I date that we’re still married. She can’t do that
anymore. And most of the time, I was going on dates for the hell of it. I wasn’t really into those women. So when they would
question me about me and her, I usually wouldn’t fight to get them to understand.”

“Kind of like you did with me?”

“Nah, I knew for sure I was going to fight for you. I just had to come correct.”

“Why were you so sure that you wanted to come back for me?”

He laughed. “Having an older mother gives you a certain kind of wisdom that the average dumb dude doesn’t get. My mother taught
me what I should be looking for in a woman, so I’m only attracted to a certain type of chick.”

“What kind of woman is your ex, if you don’t mind me asking, because obviously you have a character requirement when it comes
to women. It just seems like she’s not that certain type. I mean, based on what you’ve told me.”

“It takes a certain level of maturity to really get the lessons you’re taught as a young man. When I met Yasmin, I had just
graduated from college and I knew I wanted to be a businessman. And all the successful businessmen I knew had a wife at home
taking care of the day-to-day while they provided for the fam. I wanted that. She was cool and fun. She didn’t have a close
family, so she just fell into line. We got married and she was cool until after we had Caron. I sometimes think she went through
postpartum depression and never recovered. The woman I took to the hospital ain’t the same one that came home,” he said, chuckling
nervously.

“What initially attracted you to her?”

“To be honest, Yasmin is very pretty and she can pretend to be normal.”

“I’m sure there were signs.”

“Yeah, there were some signs, and even after we got married her personality changed.”

“Do you think she had bipolar disorder or something?” Before he could answer, I said, “Does anyone in her family suffer from
mental disorder?”

“Well, not that I know of. She’s never been diagnosed, but she does take medicine for anxiety.”

“Really? You know that anxiety disorder is a mental illness.”

“Word? I didn’t know that.”

“Anxiety can be caused by chemical imbalances, other changes in the brain, or environmental stress. Treatment for anxiety
isn’t always effective, especially if her therapists haven’t fully identified her triggers.”

He said, “I wish someone would have explained that to me a long time ago.”

He looked slightly saddened that he was just discovering this information. I wondered how he would have handled their relationship
if he had known.

“Do you think you two would still be together if you would have known?”

He shrugged. “Doubt it very seriously, but I probably could have handled her differently.”

“Yeah. It’s never too late.”

His neck snapped back. “Oh, it’s definitely too late for me and her.”

“I’m saying it’s not too late to help her.”

“In that case, you’re right.”

I could tell it was still emotional for him. From all the body language, I knew he was ready to scrap that topic and move
on. I hugged him.

“I’m sorry I brought her up.”

“Nah, you’re good. Sometimes you got to put the car in reverse to get to where you’re going. Right?”

“You’re right.”

“I come across a lot of women, especially in my profession because I network so much, but most of them aren’t even sure of
what they want in a relationship. If I just want to get laid, I can do that every day, four and five times a day if I want.”

“Spare me.”

“Nah, I’m just saying. But that’s not what I want. I like having a relationship, but it has to be with the right woman.”

I was puzzled. Either he was speaking generally or he was saying I was the right one. Or was he saying he was still looking?
I didn’t know so I just nodded. “Understood.”

“When a man gets ready he’s ready. But I guess you already know that, Dr. Blue.”

“Yes, I do.”

He invited me up to his bedroom. It was the only place in the house that looked lived in. He pulled his shirt over his head
and I stood in the middle of his large bedroom, feeling awkward. He walked over and kissed me.

“I like being with you.”

I was so wrapped up in the unveiling of the real Cameron Small that I had forgotten about my car, so my response to his compliment
was an irritated huff. “This is so crazy.”

He backed up. “What? Me and you?”

I laughed. “Nah, my car.”

“We’re going to handle it tomorrow. Don’t worry. You need something to sleep in?”

“Yeah.”

He went into his walk-in closet and tossed a T-shirt to me. “Here you go, baby.”

His voice felt so good to me. Everything about him turned me on. He stood there in his boxer briefs with a towel over his
forearm. “You want to take a shower with me?”

I shrugged, because I did but I didn’t. I wasn’t sure if we were doing too much too soon. As I contemplated, he went in the
bathroom and turned the water on. I walked to the bathroom door and said, “I need a towel too.”

I didn’t want to get my hair wet. Despite having a weave with Remy wet and wavy hair, I wasn’t totally comfortable being this
free with him. He said, “Yeah, go in my closet and the towels are in there.”

I stood in his closet and looked around at all the clothes he had. It was like a miniature men’s store. He had a wall of drawers
and cubbies to store his things. His cologne took up two shelves. I’m not certain how long I was there, but it must have been
a while because it stunned me when he walked up from behind and said, “You don’t see the towels.”

I jumped and he pointed. “Right over there.”

“Oh. I didn’t see them. I was admiring all of your nice clothes,” I said. “I guess you figured you could fill up the closet
since you’re the only one living here.”

He shook his head and gestured for me to follow him. He opened the door catty-corner to his closet and there was an even bigger
walk-in closet. It was completely empty. He said, “This would be hers.”

I said, “Hers or mine?”

“I told you that I want you to be her.”

I sucked my teeth. “Cam, you did not tell me that.”

“I’ve been trying to tell you that since we met.”

I shrugged. “We’ll see.”

We headed to the bathroom and the glass doors to the shower were steamy and inviting. I took off my dress and Cam stepped
out of his boxer shorts. He opened the shower door. “After you?”

When he got in, he wrapped his arms around me from behind. He pushed my hair to the side and kissed my neck. Chills rushed
through my body as the steamy hot water splashed on my skin. He turned me around and put his tongue in my mouth. Water ran
down our faces and through my hair and it didn’t even matter. Cameron’s muscular body was beautiful and he was close to me.

I was falling in love with this man and now I wondered why I’d just purchased a condo when he had prepared this palace for
us.

I tingled all over and as Cameron washed my body gently I rubbed every inch of his torso in amazement. How could one person
feel so perfect? How could he have every outrageous quality I’d dreamed of? How could he be saying everything I needed him
to say? He sat down on the shower seat and invited me to sit on top of him. I sat down, and he stroked his tongue up and down
my spine. My back arched as he held me in his arms, pulling me closer. His penis pressed against my lower back. I squirmed,
and his hand traveled up and rubbed my breasts. Then he slid one hand down between my legs. He cupped my vagina and stuck
his middle finger inside, sliding it in and out.

“You want it this way or you want me to turn around?” I asked.

“Turn around, baby.”

I stood up and turned around to straddle him. I lowered myself down and he positioned himself to slide into me. As soon as
we connected, I kissed him. I wanted to be closer than we already were. I twirled on him and he rubbed my back. He made sounds
like he was trying to hold back. I wanted to bring it out of him. I said, “It feels good to you.”

“Yeah.”

“You want it all the time?”

“Every day.”

“What are you going to do to get it every day?”

“Everything.”

I liked that answer so I figured I’d stop talking and enjoy him. He put his arms under my legs so he could take control. He
aggressively shoved himself into me over and over again. I moaned and thanked him for making my body feel so good. I worked
harder, and finally he released inside me. It wasn’t until that moment that it hit me: we hadn’t used protection.
What the fuck was I thinking? Shit, I wasn’t thinking. Oh my, I like Cameron but I don’t know enough about him for this.
My post-sex exhilaration was immediately overpowered by frustration.
How the hell could I have been so caught up in the moment?