Page 84 of Pure Abandon

“Holy God in heaven. Your father was Catch Grayson?” Thompson throws his hands in the air in surprise. “Fine ball player. Mighty fine ball player. I saw him in New York right before he died. What an arm. What an arm!”

“Thank you, sir. He was a good man. It warms my heart to hear you speak so well of him.” I will never tire of hearing stories of my father.

“I think this conversation calls for some champagne.” Thompson waves over a waiter and we each take a flute. Once she has a drink in her hand, Ellie looks pleased for the first time all night.

As Thompson and Ellie take a sip, Asher leans into me, his voice low, “Be careful with this one.” He steps back and eyes Thompson. I roll my eyes at him and sling back my glass of champagne. “I can handle it.”

The four of us toast and Asher steps away as Thompson and I spend the next thirty minutes or so sharing sports stories. He asks me what it was like growing up as a kid on the road, and I ask him about his minor league career and thereafter.

The evening is going beautifully until Asher returns, letting me know there is someone he’d like me to meet. His voice is commanding, as if he thinks I’m going to say something wrong to Thompson and he wants me away from him.

“I’ve been enjoying the company of your date, Asher. Where did you find such a woman?” Thompson says.

His lips in a tight smile, Asher replies, “Not my date. Mrs. Monroe here is already spoken for.”

Thompson looks from Asher to myself and then winks at Asher. Their exchange is halted when someone taps Asher on the back. Both Asher and Thompson can’t take their eyes off the busty brunette that enters our circle, and my mouth falls to the floor to see it’s Simone, the woman I saw many weeks ago exiting Asher’s office.

She’s dressed in a skintight fuchsia cocktail dress that leaves little to the imagination. Her long, dark hair cascades down her back, with one side tucked behind her ear. Her hazel eyes look up at Asher and from under her lashes, I can see her giving him “the look.” The one that’s says, “I’m not wearing anything underneath this dress.”

“Sorry to crash your party, but I was hoping for a dance,” Simone says.

Asher looks over from Simone to me to Thompson, his eyes landing back on Simone in agreement. “When a beautiful woman calls…” He smiles and slowly backs away. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Thompson’s eyes are fixated on Simone’s backside. Ellie doesn’t seem to care.

I watch as Simone leads Asher to the dance floor. There are very few people dancing so it’s hard to not watch. She leans up and wraps her arms around him. Her short fuchsia ensemble climbs higher up her thighs as she dances. Asher places his palms on her hips as he did with me yesterday, and a pit drops in my stomach.

Their bodies are so familiar to one another. They’re graceful and fit together perfectly. The pair is also so perfect together. Her dark skin against his bronzed statuesque figure, they look like a Rodin statue in a heated embrace at the gates of hell.

The gates of hell, the exact place my thoughts have gone time and time again with this man. The place my thoughts are right now.

“If you continue to stare like that, your eyes will fall out of your head,” Ellie says with a mischievous laugh. Thompson chuckles along.

Snapping out of my daze, I turn back to my company. My cheeks redden and I fluster.

“It’s okay, girl. It’s hard not to be taken by Asher. He has so many… assets.” Thompson sneers.

My mood turns quickly from feeling foolish to furious.

“I am a married woman, Mr. Thompson. The fact that you think I would be interested in Mr. Asher for his… assets is the most intolerable thing I have ever heard.” I declare and then regret raising my tone to the man I came here to beg for money.

I’m relieved to see Thompson chuckling again. Okay, so he’s not insulted by my outburst. He looks at me knowingly.

“Asher was wrong about you, Ms. Grayson, or shall I say Monroe?” The little man continues to smile.

“Excuse me?”

Thompson rests on his heels, his finger pointing at me in an accusatory manor. “He said you didn’t lie.”

I’m so confused. I don’t know what to do with myself. I excuse myself and stalk toward the exit, glancing at the dance floor, but notice Asher is gone. I stop and scan the room, looking for his white dinner jacket, but I don’t see him… or Simone.

My stomach drops and I quickly make my move toward the lobby. Where did they go? I can’t believe he left me like that, again.

I shouldn’t be surprised he would leave my side the second a sexy brunette approaches. He is a cad and a snake. He uses women like I use Kleenex.

I spot a waiter walking into the party with a tray of champagne glasses and a bottle in his hand. I grab a glass of champagne and quickly pound it before grabbing another. I drink that one before cutting to the chase and grabbing the entire bottle of Veuve Clicquot from his hand.

Briefly considering entering the party again, I think of what a fool I’ve made of myself and turn in the opposite direction. Heading out a glass door, my bottle and I follow the path to the beach. My steps start by walking and speed up quickly. Faster my feet move toward the shore until I’m running. Faster and faster. The champagne spills out of the bottle as I leap across the sand. In the darkness of night, the only sounds I can hear are the waves crashing. There is nothing. Just me in the darkness where no one can hear me.