his hands along my back. When he broke away and trailed his lips down my décolletage, I shivered from the feelings running through my body.
The ache inside me was building, and I wanted Jack. Now. No feeling of shame, just a need for sweet release. I reached down to unbuckle his belt.
Jack took my hand and stopped me. He gently slid me off his lap.
My heart was beating uncontrollably. “Why did you stop me? I felt your response. You want this, too. Don’t you think I’m sexy enough, like all of Jeremy’s whores?”
“It’s not that, Caitlyn. I want nothing more than to whisk you off to my bed
and make love to you for hours. We could have a quick one, right now, but you
know this is wrong. The time isn’t right. This isn’t you. This isn’t what you want,” he said softly. “You’re better than him, Caitlyn. You would regret these ten minutes of desire for the rest of your life.”
He was right. I was better than Jeremy. I shifted back to my seat, and we rode
in silence. After a few minutes, Jack reached over and put his hand on mine. The
small touch, the small act of tenderness, filled my heart more than what I had almost tempted him to do. Tears fell from my eyes.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a monogrammed white handkerchief.
“Here. This is clean.”
When he dropped me off at the boutique, I kissed him on the cheek and crushed the handkerchief into his hand. “Thank you, again… for everything.”
“If you need anything, Caitlyn… anything, you let me know.” Jack folded the white linen and handed it back to me. “Keep it. I have others.”
My heart fell as I left the company of a real man, knowing I would soon be
back to pretending I was the perfect wife to someone who didn’t deserve me.
The only consolation I had was the tools I needed, which Jack had armed me with. I was more confident than ever that I would be able to bring Jeremy down.
I hid the envelope of Jeremy’s indiscretions and the handkerchief with the manuscripts I was editing. Jeremy’s demands that I always dressed in the latest
fashions ensured I had a walk-in closet of my own. He never went in there. Just
in case, I made sure to hide everything deep in the back, behind the rows of
clothing.
Seeing the pictures had confirmed what I already knew; we were over. There
was no chance of saving us. I wanted revenge, but my plan had changed. Oh, I
was still leaving Jeremy, but now, I had a new task.
Step one had been ensuring my financial future was secure. In addition to my
own income, I made it a point to hide every last dime I could get out of Jeremy’s excessive grocery allowance. I found ways to cut corners. He couldn’t tell I bought discount chicken or store-brand products. As long as I was careful to hide the evidence, he would never find out.
Jeremy’s favorite scotch was not reordered. Instead, it was magically refilled
with a cheaper, less expensive brand. As long as the bottle held the impressive
name, Jeremy never noticed. He held the glass, letting the ice cubes melt most of the time. I doubted he really knew what a good scotch should taste like.
The same plight fell upon his designer shampoo, protein powder, coffee, and
cologne. All were refilled with a lesser-priced version. Anything I could swap out was changed.
The same applied to my clothing allowance. Second-hand clothing came
home with expensive tags. One of the easiest ways to have Jeremy hand over cash was for me to talk about cosmetic issues. Jeremy thought my endless Botox
and facials kept my face young and new.
Over the eight months since I went back to him, I squirreled away almost half a million dollars. Neat hundred-dollar bills were bundled and stacked in shoe boxes. At first, I was nervous the penthouse would burn down, but I couldn’t risk putting the money I earned into a bank.
I justified every dime I hid. Every time we had sex, every meal I made, every
event I attended as his date, I considered it a job with a payment due. He never
went without, so I didn’t feel any guilt. Legally, half of everything was mine. I was his wife, and there wasn’t a prenup.
Jeremy wasted our money on his mistresses. Ginger was set up. I had to worry about me. With that decision, Step Two would shake up his world.
