Free THE GREAT PRETENDER by Millenia Black

moved over to a fan to dry her nails. At that moment, she knew she would go back on her word. She would telephone Frank. She’d promised herself that she wouldn’t be the one to call this time. She wanted Frank to call her for a change. He knew when Reginald left for Orlando.
    However, it had been two days and he had not called her, even when he must’ve realized she wasn’t going to call him. Therefore, she was going to swallow her pride and call. They had lots to discuss.
    She needed to feel him out, discover exactly what his intensions were. Why was he attentive and tender one minute, but sneering and rejecting in the next? Why hasn’t he ever mentioned the prospect of her leaving Reggie? The possibility of a future together? They’d been seeing each other for nearly four years, yet Franklin had never said anything concerning the future. But then again, neither had she.
    And why should she? Shouldn’t the man initiate such a step? Tracy also wanted to find out how Frank felt about Reggie’s sudden urgency to be a family man.
    When her nails dried, Tracy gathered her purse and keys from the table where Josie had placed them, and headed for her Jeep.
    Her mind drifted to that haunting night. The night that started it all…
     
    • 
     
    Reginald had been away in Orlando, and Frank had come to their rescue when Hurricane Donna was barreling down on the east coast of South Florida.
    Frank’s seduction had actually begun a few weeks prior to that night, with arbitrary and subtle romantic insinuations. Never one to cheat on her husband, Tracy had laughed, treating his attentions as innocuous teasing. Though she had always thought Franklin an attractive man, he was Reginald’s oldest friend, and she’d never had a romantic thought about him.
    Some doors were locked for a reason, and should never be opened.
    But on that rainy Saturday evening when Tracy and the girls couldn’t install the hurricane shutters on their own, Reginald had sent Frank to the rescue.
    Reaching category-five strength, Hurricane Donna packed winds in excess of 170 miles per hour, and Dade County was in the forecast track, facing the possibility of a direct hit. Reginald couldn’t get a flight in time, and the roadways were impossible due to the numerous mandatory evacuations. He told Tracy he would phone Frank and a couple of their neighbors to ask that they come over and help her secure the shutters.
    With the neighbors’ help, they all labored in the strong gusts of rain and wind to secure the entire house. The weather had worsened so quickly that Frank wound up staying with her and the girls to ride out the storm. Luckily, they never lost power, so for the next two days they watched lots of movies and ate lots of food. It was an enjoyable time.
    The house was dark since shutters covered every window and glass door. The rain came down in torrents; the thunder clapped. But they were all safe inside and having a good time together…
    Until the night Frank touched her.
    At first Tracy had been startled. She couldn’t believe it!
    She’d gone into the kitchen to put a bowl in the dishwasher, and he’d followed her with a drinking glass. With Valerie and Olivia laughing at Jim Carrey in the den, she and Franklin were alone. Isolated.
    “Tracy,” he’d said in a low voice.
    She had glanced over her shoulder, surprised anyone had followed her into the kitchen. “What’s up?” she’d laughed. “Haven’t had enough to eat yet?”
    Saying nothing, Frank had put his glass down and closed in on her. Taking the bowl from her hands, he gently pinned her arms to her sides. “Tracy.” He slipped an arm around her waist, bending close to her ear. “I can’t take it anymore. You know what I’m feeling…And I think you feel it, too.”
    She’d pulled away from him, so hard she nearly tripped. From a safer distance, she stared Franklin down. Tense seconds passed in silence.
    Then she slapped him—twice.
    “Don’t ever touch me like that