Page 27 of The Bad Husband

“Perfect. I’ll meet you at the bar.”

Moments later, we order ice cream and never bring up men in our conversation again.

5

LILA

I start my new job on Wednesday, so I go back to town on Tuesday and shop for a different type of dress.

Skintight, sexy little numbers that make me feel like an impostor, yet absolutely necessary in my view for going on a date with that guy.

While out shopping, I pick up a two-piece swimsuit. The flamingo pink works well with my brown blonde hair.

Other than that, I manage to get the code gate every morning from the housekeeper.

Damon West seems to have left town as well, or maybe he uses his wife’s absence to sleep someplace else.

Not my business. I’m just saying.

I have the beautiful estate at my disposal. No more late-night encounters. No more sneaking food into the bedroom. No more struggling to understand who ate my last piece of the pecan pie.

I get used to working at the donut shop fairly quickly, and come Friday evening, I’m ready to go out with Keira.

I meet her at the bar.

She wears a blue dress. I wear a pink one. I’m into pink a lot lately.

Her face glows with a smile.

“Mmm. Look at you. This dress looks fantastic,” she says.

“So does yours.”

She studies the straps, scoop neckline, and the way my dress hugs me in all the right places before she whips her eyes up.

“You’re probably going to be disappointed,” she murmurs, putting a stray strand of my hair back into place.

“Why?”

“Frankie called in tonight. Someone is replacing him. And this new guy…” She sighs. “He’s more like Nicky.”

“Fuck.”

“That’s what I said. I don’t know much about him, but I can find out stuff about him if you want me to.”

I jerk my hand up, annoyed.

“No. Forget about it. I’m not doing this anymore. I mean, if it happens, fine. If not, I’m good. I don’t need to meet anyone new tonight. We’re here. It’s Friday. Let’s have some drinks.”

“Perfect. What about your curfew?” she asks, signaling to the barman to open a tab for us.

“It’s still in place. It’s not a curfew, but I’d better not go home tonight. I’m not calling these people for a stupid gate code again. So, what are we drinking?”

The place is busy and loud.

She picks up our cocktails from the barman and hands me one.

“Try this one. You’re gonna like it. It was the most popular drink with the ladies last summer.”