Free Binding Arbitration by Elizabeth Marx Page B

on the edge of the bed.
    Palowski, Goldilocks isn’t as well rounded at the practice balls in the dugout.
    “That’s one of your problems.” I ran my hand through my hair. “You never care what anyone else wants.”
    Her lips contorted into a naughty smile. “Banford, you didn’t have to bring the Ferragamos purposefully. You could have shipped them, but I’m peachy–cleaned you didn’t.” She threw her covers back invitingly. When she shifted, her gown wound up around the top of her tanned thighs. There wasn’t a lot left to the imagination, undergarments had been an optional apparel item since she’d received her first bra.
    “I didn’t bring shoes, and I didn’t come for that—either.” I tugged the covers over her bare assets.
    “Oh my God, you got cut from the team.” She flapped her hands. “We can have more time to play together.”
    “What? No, I told you I’m signing a new contract tomorrow.”
    “You did?”
    “That’s just it, Vanessa. You’re so wrapped up in your own life that you never listen to what’s going on in mine.”
    “What are you trying to say?” If she noticed the condition of my eye she didn’t comment. But panic and fear began to rise in hers. “You love me, Banford. I know you do.”
    “No, Vanessa, I don’t love you, not the way I should. We enjoyed each other’s bodies. I thought I felt something more, but it wouldn’t be right for us to marry. You’re not ready to settle down and have a family. I’m sorry, but we don’t want the same things. You hate Chicago, you don’t want to be a player’s wife; you want to be a princess and jet set.”
    She pulled herself up onto her knees as she started to cry. I hadn’t seen the fake tears for what they were in the past but I gauged them correctly this time. “This is about the money. I’m sorry, Banford. I’ll be good from now on. I’ll live on the budget, I swear. I love you, Banford. Please, think of what you’re doing. Daddy already booked the Plaza for our wedding.”
    “I don’t want to be tied to a little girl who’s living in a woman’s body. You can keep the ring, sell it and buy as many Ferragamos as you want.” I watched the crocodile tears dry up and the jaws snarl on a death chomp.
    “Do you know who I am? I’m going to be one of the richest women in the world, when daddy dies. Do you think you can use me and be done with me whenever you want?”
    “We used each other in equal measure. I’ve tried my best, but it’s not enough.”
    Before I caught the first tremor of movement, she lashed out with her nails drawn. I felt blood run down my cheek in the wake of the burning claw marks. I stood and pushed her off me, she bellowed, her lungs heaving, hurling accusations. She became still. “This has something to do with someone named Libby?”
    I froze, dead in my tracks on the patterned carpet. “What?”
    “You said ‘oh Libby’, when you climaxed once.”
    I felt weak in the knees. I did?
    “You’ve been cheating on me, and when I find out who the little bitch is, I swear I’m going to make her life miserable.”
    What she lacks in brains, the leech makes up for in venom.
    * * *
    On the Pacific Coast Highway, I had passed painted ladies and gorgeous homes with giant picture windows overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay. I had been so stupid, not only about Vanessa, but about Libby too. If I was calling out Libby’s name in my sleep, perhaps something bigger than my guilty conscious was at work.
    Were the tangled workings of my principles reining me back to her all along? Did Cass get cancer, so I’d have to see her again? So I’d have to deal with what I’d done wrong? Maybe I deserved more than a black eye and a bloodied face. Until I’d met her, I had never had a reason to look in the rearview mirror of my life. Now it seemed I needed a major backwards glance.
    I avoided oncoming traffic along the winding road and narrowed paths populated with drivers