Tempted Again by Cathie Linz Read Free Book Online Page A

sounded anything but polite. “I wasn’t…I…”
    “I’m having a bad hormone day!” her mom said. “Dinner is in five minutes. If you both aren’t seated at the table by then, you’re not eating.”
    “She’s not kidding.” Her dad checked his watch. “It takes two minutes to get from here to the dining room. I’ve timed it.”
    Marissa barely had time for a quick stop in the powder room to wash her hands before rushing to her seat.
    Her mom nodded her approval before glaring at her spouse, who came ambling in as if he had all the time in the world.
    It was like watching a pair of adolescents pushing the envelope to see how far they could go before some adult stepped in and stopped the lunacy. Unfortunately, Marissa was in no shape to act that role. Instead she ate as fast as she could and excused herself, citing exhaustion from a bad night’s sleep the previous night.
    Alone in her room, she shut the door on her parents’ issues. But that just allowed the memories of her own failed marriage to wash over her.
    She closed her eyes and saw herself on her wedding day in white satin. Her father had given her away. Her mother had been teary-eyed. And Marissa had been so full of hope and happiness.
    Then she saw Brad in bed with his assistant, the other woman’s long red hair spread over Marissa’s pillowcase, her burgundy nails digging into Marissa’s husband’s back.
    In the beginning Brad had been remorseful. He’dsworn it was a onetime thing. He’d even cried. That stage hadn’t lasted long, however.
    When Marissa hadn’t given in, he’d quickly moved on, trying to use logic. Men weren’t meant to be monogamous. According to Brad, the sociologists all said so. Marissa was a librarian, he’d said. She should know these things.
    She only knew that he’d crushed her and left her broken.
    When Brad’s version of logic failed to impress her, he moved on to his angry defiant phase. He admitted he’d lied when he’d said he’d only slept with the other woman once.
    Marissa replayed their last phone conversation in her head. “Why in our bed?” The words had been torn from her throat.
    “It was the closest,” he’d said bluntly. “Usually we did it at her place or in my office after hours. Why does it matter where we did it? Are you saying you wouldn’t be divorcing me if you’d walked in on us in my office instead of in our bed?”
    His voice had been filled with such vile disrespect and fury that she’d hung up on him and hadn’t spoken directly to him since then. Her attorney had said to let her handle things, so Marissa had. She’d also changed her cell phone number.
    She wished she could change her past as easily.
    *  *  *
     
    Marissa spent the next two weeks checking the local listings for available apartments. There was nothing in her price range. The places near the college were highlydesirable by students who didn’t want to live in the dorms.
    There were a few sublets for the summer but they were in buildings so rowdy that the partying started early and never seemed to end. Marissa knew this because the beer cans were already flying between balconies when she arrived at nine in the morning. Most of the students left for the summer but enough stayed to make things noisy.
    She was running out of hope of ever leaving her parents’ house when she finally came across a promising possibility. The ad listed it as a one-bedroom apartment in a quiet and secure building.
    She called and spoke to the building manager, Sally Parelli, who sounded very nice. It wasn’t a huge complex. There were only sixteen apartments in the building.
    She made an appointment to see the place first thing the next morning before work. It was plain and basic, with a small kitchen but a walk-in closet in the bedroom. And it faced west. Plus, the rent was reasonable.
    “I’ll take it,” she immediately said.
    She filled out the renter information form and promised to stop by after work to sign a