The Wives of Beverly Row 1: Lust Has a New Address by Abby Weeks Read Free Book Online

me. So not only did I have a reason to divorce him, but all of a sudden I had the means to start a new life too.”
    The three women looked at her wide-eyed.
    “Good for you,” Trudy said.
    “Yes,” Veronica said. “Good for you, Ariel. You took back control of your life and did what you needed to do to get a sense of security and peace for yourself and your daughter.”
    “I hope so,” Ariel said.
    They each took a sip of their drinks. And then, Zola burst into tears.
    “Oh, honey,” Trudy said, comforting her.
    “Zola,” Ariel said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
    “Oh, I’m just being silly,” Zola said. “It’s just, sometimes I feel like you women have gone through such difficult processes to get to the places you are in life. You’ve all made sacrifices and difficult decisions and now you’re happy.”
    “I’m not happy,” Trudy said with a grin.
    “Me neither,” Veronica said. “Are you, Ariel?”
    “I just got divorced,” Ariel said. “I’m completely alone, a single parent, and my only friends are you three!”
    Zola smiled. “Thank you, girls. It’s just, I know I have some difficult decisions of my own to make. Things I’m going to have to face if my future’s going to be a happy one.”
    “Have you thought about leaving Jake?” Ariel said.
    Zola looked up at her. “Truthfully,” she said, “I think about it all the time, but I just don’t know if I have the strength. I’d be leaving with nothing. I signed a prenup before we got married. I’m just afraid of loosing my home, loosing my security, and starting over from scratch with nothing. That scares me. I don’t know if I have the courage to do that.”
    *
    A RIEL GOT UP TO GO to the washroom.
    “You girls want another round?” Trudy said.
    “I do,” Zola said.
    Veronica got up from her seat. “Ariel, I’ll join you. And yes please, Trudy, order another round.”
    The washroom was as opulent as the rest of the bar with white marble fixtures and cut glass lighting. The cocktails had gone to Ariel’s head and she said something to Veronica that she ordinarily would have been far too shy to bring up.
    “Veronica, can I ask you something?”
    Veronica looked at her and grinned. She was a little drunk too. “I think I know what you’re going to ask but go ahead.”
    “What was the kink that Alejandro was so good at satisfying?”
    “It’s nothing, really. It’s just something I mentioned one time and now the girls will never let me live it down.”
    “I take it that it’s something that Hank has no interest in?”
    “Hank? Ha! He doesn’t have an erotic bone in his body, pardon the pun.”
    “He’s conservative?”
    Veronica sighed to herself. She was touching up her makeup in the mirror. “Hank’s a great guy,” she said. “He’s good to me, he’s good to Kyle, and I’ve seen enough of the world to appreciate that much. He’s a good man and I love him for that.”
    “But he’s not a passionate lover?”
    “His idea of a romantic night is making all the spreadsheets in his accounting software balance up! He’s an accountant, through and through. He’s really quite boring.”
    “And you’d prefer someone more adventurous .”
    “Honestly, yes. What I had with Alejandro was perfect. I’m dying to be treated like that again. He was a man who knew what a woman wanted. A woman like me at least.”
    “And what is that?” Ariel said, intrigued.
    Veronica turned from the mirror and looked right at her. “I want to be taken . You know? I want a man who wants me and isn’t afraid to do what he wants to me. I want a man who isn’t afraid to take me and take me hard . That’s what I want. I want to be taken .”
    “And that’s not Hank.”
    “That’s not Hank at all. He’s so gentle. He’s kind. But he’s too gentle, if you know what I mean.”
    “I think I do.”
    Ariel looked at Veronica. She really was a beautiful woman and now Ariel saw that there was so much more to her than