In Sickness and in Health
CLYVE
She’s a tease.
I DIDN’T know what was I thinking. My skin tingled with lust. Obviously, I was never over with her. I am stuck in this loop of raw emotions.
The moment she came with only a silk sheet covering her chest, I wanted to drag her back to the dressing room, kiss her, ravage those lips, suck those sweet baps, and fuck her until I told myself I was insane of ignoring her.
She was about to break every self-control I had left. The only thing I could do was bolt out through the back door with a bloody hard-on, unsatisfied.
“Bloody shit,” I whispered, grabbed the back of her head, and leaned over. Then it hit me hard before our lips touched.
She was married.
Temptation.
Professionalism.
And Austen was waiting outside.
Jesus!
I had to let her go and took a step back. Disappointment flashed over her face, but I couldn’t let temptation conquer me. Not again. I was better than that.
I pressed my palm and forehead against the concrete wall and took some deep breaths.
“Is everything okay?” Austen’s worried voice made me still.
Damn it! I’m losing all my shit.
He already knew that I and Westley had something. What I didn’t know was if he knew that his sister was married to her best friend when we slept together. It clenched my gut with guilt.
“Just give me a moment, mate.” I raised my hand. “I’m okay.”
“Okay, we’ll be waiting for you. Take the time you need.”
A moment later, the door shut close.
I dialed Arella.
“Hey, handsome.” Her voice was lively, unlike mine.
“Hey, you. I thought you believe that my brother is the only handsome man you’d ever seen.”
“You are his brother, and you know that you are his spitting image.” I could feel she was rolling her eyes. “So, how’s the gallery?”
“I couldn’t say it looks like one, but it’ll get there,” I answered proudly. “In fact, I have a new artist with me right now, and we’re having a photoshoot. I think he has potential.”
“And?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. She seemed to know that this call is not just to say hello.
“Clyve?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“I can sense that something is not okay. What’s wrong?” I hate that she was worried. But for fuck’s sake, I’d rather open up to her than to my brother or a shrink. And I needed to spend my time working than talking to a therapist right now.
“I like the artist, but do you think it would affect our professional relationship if I will hire him?”
“Why do you think so?”
“I was excited when I found his works posted on the website. I emailed without asking his full name, and I wasn’t aware that he’s her half-brother.”
“Wow! Half-brother of the married woman-”
“For the love of-can you please stop saying that word?”
Arella laughed. “What’s wrong with the word-fine. But, wow! Small world, huh? You are a good person, CC. What happened back there is not your fault. You were not aware. Don’t beat yourself up. If you’re over with her and not seeing her anymore, I think you can hire him if you like his work. Does he know?”
“I wanted to believe he’s like a mentalist. The first day I met him, he figured out quickly-”
“Wait a sec. What did I miss?”
“I called Westley if she knew someone by the name of Westley, then she told me the story. My mistake was, I told her to come over-”
“It was not a mistake, CC. It’s like an adrenaline rush, and it came out naturally. You probably wanted to see her. And let me tell you this, you won’t just call someone to come over if she doesn’t mean to you, and she came over because she probably wanted to see you, too.” Her words were a punch to my face. She was right. I wanted to see her, and yes, after the lies she did, I didn’t hate her-I only felt like an arse.
“Thanks. I got to get back to work.”
“Okay, good luck. You know that I love you, right?”
“I know. I love you, too.” I hung up the call and rubbed my temple.
After taking a frustrated breath, I marched towards the door only to stop abruptly. Westley was already standing in front of me, fully dressed with a deep scowl on her face.
Shit!
“What’s wrong, Westley? Are you leaving already?” I asked as I stepped closer to her. With every step I made, she was also stepping back.
“You’re with someone.” Her chin trembled. “Already? Wow!”
My brows furrowed. I was beyond confused. “With someone?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She looked down. “I-I thought, I can do this.” She shook her head. “But what we have is too much to ignore, and you ignoring me is too much to bear. I can’t just pretend that I don’t wanna jump into you every time I see you. I’ll pay every penny you cost for Keene.”
“I don’t need your money, Westley. I need you as my model, and I won’t accept another replacement either by money or a person. We have a deal, remember?”
“I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
“No, you are not. You can go home now, but we still have to continue it tomorrow. Austen will be here, and as long as I can’t capture the right angle he wants for his painting, we still need you for that job. Or would you rather post for him for hours?”
“Who’s she?”
My brow pinched, studying her. “Who’s she?”
“The-” She bit her lip. “-woman.” Then a single tear fell from her eye.
Fuck! I’m screwing this up.
I had to look away. If I would close our distance to wipe it, I would be so tempted to pull her into my arms, and I knew myself. She was my weakness, and the moment I would feel her against mine, I couldn’t or wouldn’t let her go.
“Good for you.” Her voice cracked. “I-I’m happy for you, Linton.”
“Are you sure about that? Because it doesn’t tell the same thing as what I see right now.” I propped my hands over my hips, pressing my lips together to contain my anger toward myself.
“You already moved on, I get it. You left me, but you promised me that you wouldn’t. I guess I should believe now that promises are meant to be broken.”
“Because we can’t be together. Damn it, Westley! You lied to me. You betrayed my trust. You kept me in the dark. Keene was just at that house while I was shagging you! Who insane people would do that?”
“So, that was just shagging, huh? It meant nothing to you?”
“Jesus! You know what I mean.”
“I actually don’t.”