The Wives of Beverly Row 2: Lust Has a New Address Read Online Free PDF Page B

things working out after that.”
    Ariel looked again at Hank. She didn’t mean to keep looking at him but she couldn’t believe he was so blind. She’d only just met Matt and already she was sure something was going on between him and Veronica. Cathy had been right. Sure, she was loopy, you can’t go attacking women with scissors, but there was definitely something going on. The way Matt and Veronica looked at each other, it was clear as day!
    *
    A FTER DINNER MATT WALKED ARIEL to her car.
    “That food was great,” she said after they’d said their goodbyes to Veronica and Hank.
    “It’s always great here,” Matt said. “We’ve been coming for years.”
    “With your ex?”
    Matt nodded. Ariel looked up at him. He took her hand in his. She wanted to hold his hand, she wanted him to take her to his car and bring her home with him. He was hot as hell and she wouldn’t have thought twice about starting something, but she couldn’t get the thought out of her mind of Matt with Veronica. She took her hand from him.
    “Sorry,” he said, “that was forward.”
    “It’s fine, Matt,” she said. “You seem like a really great guy.”
    “You’re just not ready to start something right now?”
    “Well, it’s not exactly that.”
    “It’s me then,” Matt said and ran his hands through his hair.
    “Calm down,” she said, laughing. “It’s not you, it’s just.”
    “What?”
    “Well, you know.”
    “Know what?”
    “Veronica.”
    “What about her?”
    “Come on! Don’t give me that. There’s something between you two. It’s as clear as day!”
    “Ariel!” Matt said. “Are you kidding me? She’s a married woman.”
    “When did that ever stop anyone?”
    “It’s stopped me and Veronica.”
    Ariel looked him in the eye. “Are you for real?”
    “For real. I’ve never laid a finger on her.”
    “Oh. I’m sorry. I misjudged you. I really thought I could see that there was something between you two.”
    Matt sighed. They were about to get their cars back from the valet but Matt paused. “You want to know the real story?” he said.
    Ariel looked at him and nodded, slowly.
    “Then lets have one more drink.”
    *
    T HEY WENT BACK INTO THE restaurant and sat at the bar. It was getting late and the dining room was emptying out. Lone men sat in booths or at the bar, a few couples were tucked away in the corners.
    Matt ordered a scotch. Ariel had a martini.
    “So, what’s the story? I could tell from the moment I arrived that there was electricity between you and Veronica,” Ariel said.
    Matt shook his head. “That’s it,” he said. “That’s exactly it. There’s been electricity between me and Veronica for years. There’s always been electricity.”
    “That was what bothered your ex?”
    “It was a bad situation. I feel bad for putting her in the position she was in.”
    “What position was that?”
    “She knew that I had a thing for Veronica. I couldn’t help it. I just had to spend time with her. I even love spending time with Hank because of her.”
    “You’re in love with her?”
    “I don’t know if I’d go that far. It’s a friendship.”
    “It’s a friendship that you lost your marriage over.”
    “Well, Cathy just didn’t trust me. She’d see the way I was around Veronica, the way she lit me up, and she just convinced herself that we were having an affair. What else could she think? I never lit up the same way when I was just with Cathy. She had to tell herself something.”
    “And you weren’t having an affair?”
    “No. I’m no saint, I’m sure Veronica’s not a saint either, but neither of us ever crossed that line. That’s the God’s honest truth. I’ve never so much as laid a finger on her.”
    “You’ve just admired her from the distance.”
    “Yes, and I know that’s a sort of infidelity of its own. I just didn’t feel about Cathy the same way I feel about Veronica. That, ultimately, was why my marriage fell apart. She could sense