From a Night Stand to a Lifetime

002

Zara’s Pov

"You bastard!"

A woman's snarl brought me to my senses and I pushed the dark-haired stranger off me.

I turned to Taylor, wide-eyed, wondering if she had set this up, but by the look on her face, she was just as surprised as I was.

"You heartless asshole!" The woman screamed again and I turned to see a woman standing behind the man. The woman was a golden-haired beauty in a white pantsuit and a silver bralette.

And she looked furious, "I thought you loved me."

The stranger didn't spare her a glance, his stormy grey eyes still fixed on mine, "When did I ever give you that impression?"

The woman's eyes flashed and then she scowled at me, "If I were you, I wouldn't bother getting entangled with him. He's only good-looking on the outside. Trust me, he's completely rotten on the inside."

"I'm not entangled with him," I blurted out.

"Ugh," she rolled her eyes, turned on her heel, and stormed off.

"Thanks love," the man said, "Now if you don't mind. I'd like to make use of the elevator."

"You kissed me!" I roared.

"You're welcome," his mouth curved into a cocky smirk and I immediately believed everything the woman had said about me.

It was obvious that he thought he was God's gift to women and probably went around from one woman's bed to the other, leaving a string of broken hearts and STDs in his wake.

I had spent my life avoiding men like him. They were a dime a dozen in the world I grew up in. Thank God I had been lucky enough to find the rare decent man left in the country.

My hands curled into fists at my sides and I was just about to tell him exactly what I thought about him, "You're_"

"Not worth it, Zara," My sister immediately cut in, grabbing me by my elbow and steering me out of the elevator.

"You're right," I said loud enough to hear, "He wasn't even a good kisser."

"Tell me something I don't know." Taylor mocked.

As the elevator doors slid shut, I could swear I saw the man's face split with a smile.

"Who was that guy?" I asked my sister and she only shrugged in response.

"I have no idea," then she smirked, "Was he really a bad kisser?"

"Taylor!" I cried, feeling my cheeks heat up, "You can't ask me that. I'm going to be married in less than a week."

I ducked my head to hide my flaming cheeks when she gave me a knowing smile. But she immediately sobered up.

"That's exactly what I want to talk to you about," she said, "Come on."

She led me further down the hall and then to room 406. She knocked on the door and waited.

"Who's there?" A muffled voice asked.

"It's room service," she said in a sweet voice, "I have your bottle of champagne."

I shot her a look, "What do you think you're doing? This is illegal. You can't do this. Let's get out of here, Taylor. I'm not ready to play all these silly games with you and_"

The door opened and I met familiar brown eyes. My mouth dropped open, "Asher? What are you doing here?" I glanced at my sister whose face was twisted up with disgust, "Is this a surprise?"

"Babe? What's the hold-up?" A woman's voice called from inside.

Babe? My brain came to a screeching halt as my best friend came into view behind my fiance.

My eyes shifted from Asher who was in briefs to Tamara who was in a Terry robe. I refused to believe what I was seeing.

No!

No, I couldn't believe this.

"W-what's going on here?" I stammered.

"What does it look like?" Taylor spat, voice filled with anger, "This asshole is cheating on you with this bitch."

"It's not what it looks like, baby," Asher reached for me and I recoiled.

"We were planning your honeymoon!" Tamara blurted out, waving two tickets, "We wanted it to be a surprise so we came here so no one would overhear us. You know there's a lot of_"

"Oh shut up, Tam Tam," my sister snarled, "You're a shitty liar. It's the only thing you're only remotely good at and look how bad at it you are."

"Shut up you freak," my now ex-best friend snapped.

I turned blazing eyes at her, "Don't you dare call my sister a freak and how long has this been going on? How long have you been cheating on me?" My voice broke on the last question.

I had thought Asher was the last decent man left on the planet. I had thought he loved me. I had thought he would never do anything to hurt me. All those times he had told me he was busy with work, had they all been a lie? Had the both of them been laughing behind my back even as Tamara praised him to my face?

Oh my God.

I had been such a fool.

"You had no right to stalk us," Asher hissed, "I was going to tell you at the right time."

"When was that?" I roared, "When were you going to tell me? After the wedding? After our fifteenth anniversary? Hunh? When?"

He dragged a hand through his brown hair, "This means nothing, okay? Nothing has changed, I'm still in love with you." He reached for me again and this time around, I couldn't control myself.

My hand flew into the air and came down across my cheating fiance's face, "You asshole! How can you have the audacity to say you love me when you've been cheating on me? I'm calling off the wedding and I never want to see you again."

"You're being too childish," Obviously pained, he hissed at me, "And you can't blame me for cheating on you. After all, you're a frigid b***h who can't even satisfy a man."

My heart dropped from my chest and plummeted to the ground, shattering into a million pieces at his cruel words. Tears filled my eyes and I staggered back.

"And one more thing, baby," one side of Asher's mouth curved up, "If you call off the wedding, you're only going to hurt yourself because your father's business is on its last leg and I'm the only one who can save it."