Twisted Vows of Seduction by N’Tyse

muttered.
    â€œWhere’s all this coming from?” Greg held up a hand. “You know what, never mind. I don’t have time for it right now.”
    Before Greg could say another word, he watched the tears as they formed in her eyes.
    â€œI’m trying to be patient. I swear I am,” she started. “But this is becoming…” She picked up a napkin from the table and blotted the corners of her eyes with it. “Unbearable,” she said lastly.
    Greg cringed. This was the last thing he wanted to be dealing with right now. “All I’ve asked is that you bear with me for a little longer until I get some things handled on my end. It shouldn’t be long now,” he said, speaking of the divorce he was secretly trying to position himself for financially.
    Naomi brought her pain-stricken eyes to his. “What makes you so sure that she’s going to let you walk so easily, huh? That could take months. Years. I mean…are you really going to leave your wife for me?”
    Greg was silent. “I know where I want to be.”
    Naomi didn’t appear to be convinced.
    â€œAll I’m asking is that you be patient.”
    â€œExactly what do you think I’ve been doing for the past six months, Greg? I love you and you know that, but I can’t keep waiting for you to decide when you’re ready to leave her when I’m—”
    â€œDamn it, Denise, what do you want from me!” He fought to remain calm. Fought to not cause a scene.
    Naomi drew her neck back as if he had caught her off-guard with his temper.
    â€œI’m doing everything that I can,” he continued.
    Naomi stared on as if in utter disbelief. Her mouth moved in slow motion as she opened it to speak. “Who is she?”
    Greg stopped mid-sentence and stared at Naomi oddly.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œWho is she?”
    â€œWhat are you talking about? I told you about my wife, Vivian.”
    â€œNo. I’m not referring to her. Who is Denise?” Naomi asked, enunciating the woman’s name carefully.
    Greg tilt his head and waited for that warm sensation to wash over him like it always did when he thought of Denise or heard her name. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    â€œDon’t do this. You know exactly what I’m talking about! You just called me another woman’s name and it wasn’t your wife’s.” She paused. “So this woman, Denise. Who is she, Greg? And is she the reason you were late? The reason your eyes are all bloodshot.”
    Greg lathered his tongue in a boiling soup of lies. He didn’t know how Denise’s name managed to slip out of his mouth, but it was apparent that it had. Out of the six months that he and Naomi had been seeing each other, he had never mentioned his former lover to her, and it was for good reason.
    He measured the brazen look in her eyes. She demanded to know who this woman was that he had never spoken about, and before today he had made up in his mind that she would never know. “She’s none of your concern so can we change the subject, please,” Greg stated matter-of-factly. “We are supposed to be enjoying each other’s company right now. I don’t need you hounding me about old flames.”
    â€œAre you serious?” Naomi batted her long lashes.
    â€œNaomi, please. She’s the past.”
    â€œWell then, what exactly am I ? Because last time I checked, you were still married.”
    Greg didn’t want to disappoint her. Didn’t want to tell her that Denise was the only reason he found himself doing this again. The only reason he felt anything for Naomi at all. When he looked at her, he didn’t see her for her. He saw her as Denise. The woman he had fallen so deeply in love with. Greg was never looking for a woman to replace his wife. He was looking for a woman to replace Denise. And when God sent Denise back to him as Naomi, Greg vowed