Read Playing Dirty for Free Online

For the first time in years he’d been able to trade a portion of those dreams for reality. The taste of heaven he’d kept alive in his dreams was no longer a figment stored in the dark recesses of his mind.
    Holding Mattie, seeing her face in those first moments when she’d realized it was him, had been no fantasy. No way could even his fantasies have measured up to the reality of the way his wife had fallen into his arms and melted against him. She’d returned his kiss, returned it with passion, as if she too had lived with nothing but memories.
    Okay, so maybe she had moved on with her life. The logical part of his brain reasoned she’d done the right thing. Did he really want her to cling to his memory for the rest of her life? To never know happiness? To die miserable and alone? But as he held her now, smoothing his hands over her back as she cried, he knew one thing—that in those initial few seconds when she’d first seen him, he’d witnessed unmasked joy in her eyes. That one kiss had told him that even though she’d just come home from her honeymoon with another man, she still loved him .  
    And it changed everything.
    Sometime later, her sobs eventually quieted and she eased out of his embrace. She drew in a ragged breath. “I’m sorry,” she said, then hiccupped. A wavering, self-deprecating smile tugged at her lips. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
    He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek and slipped it behind her ear. “You don’t have to apologize to me, babe.”
    “Yes, I do,” she said. “I don’t usually fall apart like that.”
    He gently squeezed her hand. “It’s okay.”
    “No, it’s not,” she said, with a quick shake of her head. She tugged her hand free and dragged it through her hair, wincing when her ring caught on the long, damp strands. A ring another had placed there, claiming her as his own. The jealously pressed around him again, weighing him down, suffocating him until he thought he might explode. The ring he’d placed on her finger had been replaced with a sizeable diamond and emerald engagement ring, accompanied by a diamond encased wedding band. The stones caught the morning sunlight and twinkled, mocking him with the truth.  
    He’d been replaced.
    He didn’t give a rip. He wasn’t dead, dammit. He was alive and the law stated Mattie was still his wife. He didn’t give a damn that she’d married someone else. When she’d seen him, her heart had confirmed the truth, that he was still her husband. And as far as he was concerned, that put him one step ahead of the competition.
    She frowned. “What?” she asked quietly. “What are you thinking?”
    “About the time we’ve lost,” he lied.
    She didn’t answer, but he hadn’t expected her to. She sighed, then smoothed her palms down her thighs before gently settling her hand on his arm. “Ford.” Her voice remained ragged from her tears. She cleared her throat. “Regardless of what happens in the future, I really am happy that you’re home. Safe.”
    “I know that,” he said. “I also know the next few days aren’t going to be easy—for any of us. I’ve put you in a tough position, and I do apologize.”
    Her delicately arched eyebrows pulled into a fierce frown. “And exactly what position is that?”
    “If you think I’m going to slip away quietly and give you a divorce so you can validate your marriage to your hot shot lawyer, you’re wrong. You’re still my wife,” he said roughly. He grabbed hold of her left hand and held it up between them. The diamonds sparkled again, reinforcing his determination. “Even if you are wearing another man’s ring.”
    An undercurrent of stubbornness flickered in her eyes. She tugged her hand free. “What did you think was going to happen? I hoped and—”
    “I’ve spent the past five years hoping.” The sarcastic bite to his voice was uncalled for and he knew it, but frustration and jealousy edged out his common sense. Did she think she was the