Free Twisted Affair Vol. 2 by M. S. Parker Page B

putting frozen meals in the microwave. I could count on one hand the number of times I'd used my oven for anything other than keeping food warm.
    As I started to put together breakfast, I realized that there were groceries in the cabinets and refrigerator. Livie must've gone shopping yesterday before coming to the club.
    I frowned as I grabbed an energy drink. I still didn't get it. Even if she had been so drunk that she didn't remember the two of us sleeping together, she'd remember meeting me at the club, right? Why would she want to deny that?
    Everything before the kiss had followed her previous 'rule' about physical contact. In fact, the things we'd discussed had only set up a few guidelines about living together. I would've thought she'd want to remember that part, especially considering her recent parting comment about boundaries.
    I sighed as I sat down at the table. I'd spent a good part of my life since I was fifteen hitting on women, charming them. I'd never had a hard time figuring out what they wanted. Most men acted like women were so complicated, but I'd never found them to be. Focus on one at a time. Or two, if they were okay with sharing. Buy them expensive drinks and occasionally offer expensive gifts. Take them to exclusive clubs and hard-to-get-into restaurants. Let the paparazzi snap a couple pictures. That's all they wanted. Nice shit and fame.
    Then there was Livie. She'd been upfront about wanting the connections I could offer as she worked on her clothes design business, but she'd made it clear that she wasn't going to ask me to pull favors. She wanted to leverage my family name to help get a business loan, but didn't want my help paying it back. She didn't ask for gifts and had even been reluctant to accept the engagement and wedding rings I purchased. She hadn't wanted to buy anything on our honeymoon either. I'd had to convince her that it would make our marriage more believable.
    I didn't get her at all.
    She was kind and intelligent, but didn't let anyone close. When she needed something, she was clear and honest about it and anything she kept to herself wasn't used to manipulate me or anyone else. The woman didn't have a deceitful bone in her body. Or at least I hadn't thought so. Not until now.
    Yet one more way her reaction didn't make any sense to me.
    I munched on the bacon and leaned back in my seat. Women. Go figure.
     

Chapter 2
    Livie
    Things with Blayne were going far better than I'd imagined. I had assumed he and I would spend at least the first couple months adapting to each other’s schedules, apologizing for tripping over one another. I thought for sure there would be many awkward moments, times when we would see more of each other than we wished to. It would be difficult, I assumed, to go from being a bachelor who was used to walking around in various states of undress and having half-naked women running around to living with a woman he wasn't sleeping with and who had no desire to see him naked. No desire at all.
    The honeymoon had gone well and when we'd gotten back, things had continued to go smoothly over the last couple days. We'd seen each other a few times, but it had always been polite, cordial.
    Until this morning.
    I'd gotten up hungrier than usual, but that wasn't exactly a surprise. I had been so caught up with work yesterday that I was fairly certain I had forgotten to eat dinner. I was like that sometimes. My sister often teased me about how focused I became when I worked. I never denied it. There were times when I would spend hours at my computer or my sketchpad. I’d become so focused that everything around me faded into the background. Last night wasn't the first time I'd forgotten to eat.
    I'd gone down to the kitchen and pulled out some of the food I'd bought. I'd actually been feeling pretty good. I'd dressed more casually than usual, finally starting to feel like this could be home. The food was cooking and I'd actually been relaxed.
    Then he'd walked over