If she’d been looking in the mirror, she would have seen the evil glint in her eyes. No, she wasn’t going to wear a black sheath dress. First of all, the black would be too hot. And secondly, did she really want to shy away from a challenge? Reid thought he’d won by seducing her. Just like…No!
She was a different person now and she would never cower as she had in college. She would stand tall and proud. No more tears! At least…glancing at the clock, she realized that she didn’t need to dress for another several hours. The media and models weren’t scheduled to arrive until five o’clock tonight.
In the meantime, this was her opportunity to do something she should have done weeks ago.
She grabbed an old pair of shorts and a tee shirt. Slipping on a pair of sneakers, she hesitated. Her purse and keys were in Reid’s house. She’d dumped them right by the front door where she normally put them.
Not a problem, she thought with determination as she pulled her still-wet hair into a messy bun, unconcerned with the bumps and ripples since she hadn’t combed it out first. She didn’t care about makeup either. She had things to do and not a lot of time to get them accomplished.
Stepping out into the bright sunshine, she wiped her eyes again, wishing she had a few slices of cucumber to take the redness away. But no matter. She wasn’t stopping. Reid and Brant were probably out of the house anyway, off doing whatever it was that horrible men do when someone else was cleaning their house. God forbid the man actually clean his own toilet! He probably didn’t even know how!
Why it was so important that the man learn to clean a toilet…well, she wasn’t sure why it was important. Perhaps it was simply another example of how the man had an entitlement complex. He felt he was entitled to seduce any woman, even if she didn’t want to be seduced!
Okay, that wasn’t fair. Selena knew she’d gone into this relationship with her eyes open. She knew exactly what she was doing. If she hadn’t wanted to be seduced, then it wouldn’t have happened.
Take responsibility for her own desires, she thought with finality. She’d wanted sex with Reid. She’d wanted to fall in love with him. It was just the right time in her life for a romance.
She’d gotten it. In spades! But now that his true colors were showing, she wasn’t interested. He was a demeaning, disgusting jerk who thought it was okay to share her, to objectify her and treat her like…like a piece of meat.
No more!
“Good swim?” he called when she slipped by his office.
“It was great!” she called out, smiling stiffly in his general direction as she turned and headed up the stairs. Two hours ago, she’d felt like this was her home. She’d started to feel comfortable here. Now it felt odd to walk up the stairs without his permission even though more than half of her clothing was in his bedroom and her cosmetics were in a drawer in his bathroom.
She’d get everything later. Once she had a place to put them, she reminded herself. And even if she couldn’t find a place, she’d move into a hotel before spending another night here.
Something else occurred to her. Revenge dress, she thought with relish as soon as she spotted her purse and keys. Grabbing both, she hurried back out of the bedroom, not even glancing towards the bed for fear of the memories causing her tears to start flowing again.
It was over. Nice while it lasted, but over!
Hurrying out, she raced down the stairs, gripping the bannister so she wouldn’t trip and fall. That would be the ultimate indignity, she told herself.
“Hey, Selena…?”
“I have to go,” she called. He was still standing in the doorway to his office, looking amazing and virile. He was all of that, she knew. And a petty, juvenile jerk.
“Wait…”
“Can’t wait!” she called with a wave.
“Selena!” he yelled.
She cringed slightly, hearing his anger. And there had been confusion in his eyes a moment ago as well. Bracing herself against such a look, she hurried out the door, ignoring him. She couldn’t stop. Couldn’t slow down. If she did, there was a high possibility that she would yell at him, reveal what she’d overheard, and she couldn’t let him know how much he’d hurt her! No way!