Roses are Red by Jasmine Hill Read Free Book Online Page A

little incident and what she must be thinking of him. She needed some space at the moment and he expected that he was the last person whom she wanted to see, but he needed to explain.
    He pulled up outside Lucy’s house and cut the engine. Taking a deep breath, he rehearsed briefly what he was going to say to her. Approaching the front door, Rhett noticed that it had been left ajar. Apprehension pricked his skin as he stepped over the threshold. Why had the door been left open? He hoped fervently that Lucy was all right. Cautiously, he moved towards the lounge room where he heard lowered voices, one of them a man’s, and he immediately relaxed. Whoever it was with Lucy, she obviously knew him.
    He moved closer so that he could make out what was being said.
    “I still don’t understand why you are here, James,” he heard Lucy say.
    Rhett froze and peered into the lounge. Lucy was in front of the fireplace. A man was standing before her, too close, almost touching. He was probably about five feet nine, fit-looking and ruggedly handsome—the ex-husband? What the fuck is he doing here?
    “I want us to try again. I miss you. We had over twenty years together, Lulu. I was stupid for leaving you. Call it a midlife crisis—I don’t know—but I want you to give me, to give us another chance.”
    “You should have thought about that before you ran off and had an affair,” Lucy responded bitterly.
    As Rhett watched unobserved from the doorway, James reached out and caressed Lucy’s cheek. “Please, sweetheart,” he murmured. He leaned towards her and brushed her lips with his own.
    What the fuck! Rhett didn’t wait to see any more but strode purposefully into the room.
    “Get your hands off her,” he ground between clenched teeth. “You forfeited your rights when you fucked around behind your wife’s back.”
    Lucy and James jumped, then moved apart, startled by his presence and his vehement outburst.
    “Who the hell are you?” James asked, eyes wide and incredulous.
    “I’m Lucy’s friend. In fact, I’m more than a friend and I take it that you are her ex .” He wanted to remind the guy that he no longer had any claim over Lucy and that she was free to see whomever she wished. He recognised that after what had transpired earlier in his office, he had no right to get angry, but he couldn’t help himself. He knew that this jerk had cheated on Lucy for a year with his secretary before he’d walked out on her and demanded a divorce. He couldn’t believe the audacity of the prick to come back and beg her forgiveness.
    “You’re sleeping with this guy?” James asked Lucy incredulously. “Don’t you think he’s a little young for you, Lulu?”
    And there it was, out there in the open, sneered by her prick of an ex-husband. The one thing that Rhett knew was guaranteed to upset Lucy and play on her insecurities.
     
    Lucy felt like James had slapped her hard across the face. It was the second time that day that she’d felt the air leave her lungs at a hurtful pronouncement. Hearing those words come out of her ex-husband’s mouth made what she had shared with Rhett seem depraved and cheap.
    She looked from James to Rhett. She could tell that Rhett was seething with anger. His jaw was clenched, a muscle ticking in his cheek, hands fisted by his sides.
    James looked arrogant and self-satisfied, obviously pleased with himself and his observation of her relationship with Rhett.
    What the hell is Rhett doing here anyway? Why isn’t he with his fiancée?
    Finally, Rhett responded to James’ last statement. “That’s none of your business, arsehole.”
    “There is nothing going on between us,” Lucy muttered. “Whatever we had going, whatever it was, is over.”
    Rhett turned towards her. “Don’t say that, Lucy. I came to explain, please, hear me out.”
    “I have had enough of men today. I want both of you to leave,” she said frostily and walked towards the front door.
    She was suddenly exhausted. The