Catering to Three by Kalissa Alexander

this before. He was bringing out strange feelings in her with very little effort. She took a breath. Knowing she shouldn’t but unable to stop herself from playing into his sexually charged banter, she said, “I’m here to please, Mr. Jamison.”
    “And you do,” he said silkily. “However, even though we’ve spent a lot of time together over the last six weeks, I don’t feel like I know you as well as I would like to. It would please me to know more about you.”
    “Why? What is it you want to know?” Julie knew she should steer the conversation away from herself. It was dangerous ground to become too personal with a client. However, she was feeling so comfy sitting here in his kitchen drinking coffee. Possibly letting her guard down a little might not be such a bad thing. He was, after all, her number-one client, and she didn’t want him to think she wasn’t appreciative of the opportunity he had given her.
    “For starters, I know you’re divorced, but you never talk about your marriage. I just can’t imagine any man would let you go easily.”
    “I didn’t realize you knew I was divorced.”
    “I make it my business to know the people I work with, Julie, remember?”
    “Yes, that night in the limo,” Julie said, remembering how he had told her he had conducted a background check on her business. She hadn’t realized that he’d done a personal one, too. She could have been offended, but she was sure she wasn’t the exception and he did them on all the people who worked for him. Although her marriage wasn’t something she liked to discuss, it wasn’t as if it were a secret. If anything, she felt slightly flattered that he wanted to know more about her.
    “We grew apart, and I didn’t do anything to stop it. In the end, it was a mutual decision. I’m not proud of how easily my marriage ended. I find it’s best to keep the past where it belongs.”
    “I agree, but I’m baffled that someone like you, who works so hard to make whatever she touches a success, didn’t work harder to save her marriage.”
    Julie blinked, her body going stiff. She felt as if he had knocked the wind out of her. Did he really think that hiring her for his event gave him the right to question her in this way?
    “I’m sorry, Julie. I shouldn’t have asked that. I’m way out of line.”
    “We didn’t fight to keep our marriage going because…we were never in love the way we should have been. We were friends who thought that was enough. We were wrong.” Julie had never voiced those words to anyone before. She couldn’t believe she had now.
    “Julie, I’m sorry. I really am.”
    “Me, too.”
    “My story is not so unlike your own. Deanna was an author that I met at a conference, and it wasn’t until after we were married that I realized she had needs that far outweighed what I was able to give her. Except my ex wanted anything but a divorce. She liked our arrangement.”
    “What happened?” Julie asked when Noah had gone silent.
    “She was older than me and came into our marriage with a lot of excess baggage that included substance abuse and sexual desires that took her outside our bedroom. So like most out-of-control addicts, she made decisions and took what she wanted without thought to the consequences. By the time I finally figured it out, no matter what I tried to do to help her, it wasn’t enough.”
    “She hurt you,” Julie said softly, reaching for Noah’s hand, but thinking better of it, she took another sip of her coffee.
    “You can’t end something like a marriage and not be hurt. However, she hurt herself a lot more. She has a destructive nature.”
    “Did you love her?”
    “Do you think I would marry someone I didn’t love or at least thought I loved?
    She felt his anger. She should have never asked that. It was rude and none of her business. Looking for a way out, she glanced up at the clock above the archway leading into the pantry. “I can’t believe the time. I have to get to work