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removed his wedding band and placed it on the nightstand next to his bed.
    â€œThat’s fine; we don’t have to talk about anything that you don’t want to talk about. Okay, baby?”
    Quincy loved the sound of her voice. He took Candy by the hand and spun her around, almost spilling her drink. He placed her honey blond hair on one side of her neck, as he leaned forward to kiss her shoulder. Both gazed out of his Wynn Hotel Fairway apartment. He loved the seclusion that the room offered.
    There were no views of the luminous Mirage Hotel or the kiddy Treasure Island. This room offered a view of the Las Vegas desert at night and of the golf course. He just might take her out on the balcony and have his way with her on the outdoor dining table. How could a woman not be impressed with a man who could provide her with such an awe-inspiring view? Why wasn’t this life enough for Karen?
    â€œMy wife and I are going through a divorce,” Quincy muttered in Candy’s ear.
    Candy turned around and pulled back from him a bit. “You seem very happy for a man who is about to split from his wife.”
    Quincy tenderly broke her grasp, took a quick pull from his glass, and walked deliberately back to the wet bar to pour himself another drink. Quincy took a sip, regaining his composure, as he surveyed her from across the room. “Why shouldn’t I be? There is nothing that she can use to keep me.”
    â€œMoney! Money always talks.” Candy took another sip of her drink.
    Money was not the issue. Karen was unfaithful and she would not be entitled to a dime. Of course, admitting the truth surrounding his pending divorce to her would be a massive blow to his pride.
    â€œIt’s only money. There’s a ton of it out there that I can make and I have made. I couldn’t care less about the house. Too many bad memories.”
    â€œI hope she is taking it as well as you.”
    â€œWhat’s that suppose to mean?”
    Candy crossed the room deliberately. She lifted the glass effortlessly out of Quincy’s hand and took a hard swallow before setting the half-empty glass on top of the TV.
    â€œI deal with married men all the time. Most of them love their wives very much, but they desire something different every now and then. I can’t imagine being married for as long as you have and it being easy for me to walk away,” Candy surmised.
    An image of Karen in her two-piece turquoise bathing suit popped into Quincy’s head. The image came from a trip to Jamaica two years ago. Karen had a flat stomach with caramel skin and brown hair with blond highlights in it. Most men would die to be with a woman like that. But when he thought of her it was in abstract terms, like she was a house he had paid to renovate.
    All he could see was all the money he had paid to keep her forty-two-year-old frame looking like a twenty-five-year-old. He could not explain why such a random image had an emotional impact on him. Maybe it was because, for the first time, he felt lucky to be with her.
    â€œWhat do you know about what she’s going through?” Quincy asked.
    â€œI don’t know. In fact, I’m the last person to give advice about marriages and relationships.”
    â€œAll I know is that I’m having too much fun. I got a hotel room, I called you up, and we’re about to have a good time. Then I’ll go to the casino, and hit up the blackjack table before I fly back to LA to work with my architect firm. Whatever joy or fulfillment I find out here, it will be gone by the time I reach LAX.”
    â€œWell, I don’t want to hold you up, so if we could…” Candy held out her hand.
    â€œOh, of course.” Quincy pulled out his reddish-brown leather wallet and removed a stack of one hundred dollar bills. The money was so crisp that some of the bills stuck together as Quincy counted out $1,500.
    â€œHopefully, we’ll still see each other after the