Sara put on her red satin, halter dress, and matching heels. She pulled the sides of her hair back, fastened it with a red glitter barrette, and applied her makeup. She stood back and checked her appearance. She was a little self-conscious. The front of the dress was lower than she usually wore it, but Myra said Jared would love her in it.
She took a deep breath. “You can do this, Sara.” With one last look in the mirror, she made her way downstairs. Jared was sitting in the living room watching a country music channel, when she entered the room. Her heels clicked as she crossed the floor. She stood in front of the TV and twirled. “Well, what do you think?”
The color of his eyes changed to match her dress. He grinned. “Go upstairs and change!”
Sara frowned. “Why?”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “If you don’t, one of us is gonna regret how this evening ends.”
She softly smiled. Bet it won’t be me. “Do you like it?”
One side of his mouth turned up. “Like doesn’t touch it. You’re sinfully sexy, and you’re gonna drive me mad.”
She pursed her lips and swayed to the door. “Good,” she tossed over her shoulder.
He groaned, shook the front of his pants and followed her. To her surprise, the Mercedes was sitting in the garage. She narrowed her eyes and glanced at him. He read the confusion on her face and softly smiled. “They’re in Myra’s Audi. We switched cars when we got back from the funeral.”
“Oh.” Sara sat on the supple leather seat. She enjoyed riding in Tom’s Mercedes, but she liked Jared’s BMW, as well. One was geared for comfort, the other for speed.
~ ~ ~
On the way, Jared kept glancing across at her. He forced his breath out, squirmed in his seat and concentrated on driving again. He did this several times until he pulled to the shoulder and shoved the car into park.
Sara frowned. “Why are we stopping?”
He cradled her face and leaned closer. He stared into her eyes. “Because I can’t stand this any longer,” he whispered and kissed her thoroughly. “You’re breathtakingly beautiful,” he said and kissed her again. He let out a long sigh. “I think I can last until we get to Phoenix.” He waited for a break in traffic and pulled back onto the highway.
She touched her face and gazed at him out of the corner of her eye. His hair hung loosely over his shoulders and down his back. She threaded her fingers through it. He softly groaned as though in pain. Sara tucked her chin and smirked. Maybe Myra was right about this dress.
------------
Sara had planned to buy a couple pair of jeans and some more T-shirts, but Jared practically bought her a new wardrobe. He enjoyed helping her choose what he thought looked good on her, but he gave her free rein, helping him choose. She wasn’t ashamed to admit, she liked his taste.
It was fun shopping with him. They went to the bookstores and the music stores also. Her music collection grew considerably. By the time they left the mall, she was exhausted, so they stopped at one of the local parks. It was a pleasant, peaceful place. There was a rock waterfall nearby which spilled into a surrounding pond filled with ducks and swans. They sat on a bench and enjoyed the scenery.
Jared put an arm around Sara’s shoulder and kissed the side of her neck. She sighed contentedly. “This is how I like to spend my time,” she said. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”
He laughed softly. “I wonder what I did to deserve you.”
She frowned. “Why did we buy winter clothes in the middle of the summer?”
Jared smirked. “We’ll be doing some traveling soon. I thought we’d go up to Colorado and spend some time camping out in the Rockies. Would you like that?”
“Yes. I’d love to do some traveling. There’s so much I haven’t seen.”
His mood turned melancholy; he looked as though he might cry. “We’ll go wherever you wanna go. Do whatever you wanna do.”
Sara softly chuckled. “Unfortunately, the place I need to go right now is the restroom.”
“Want me to go with you, and wait outside?”
She kissed him. “That’s sweet, and I appreciate it, but, I’ll be fine.” She moved to get up.
Jared wrapped his arms around her, pulled her onto his lap and leisurely kissed her. “Hurry back,” he said with a touch of sadness in his voice.
“I will,” she smiled.
~ ~ ~
She couldn’t have been over five minutes. She was a few yards from the bench, where Jared was sitting, and she couldn’t believe her eyes. A strange woman approached him from behind, put her hands over his eyes and kissed his neck.
Sara watched. Her lips parted, her shoulders sagged.
Jared sat there, smiling, enjoying himself, letting her touch him and kiss him.
She shook her head. Is this for real? Could the white dust on George Thundercloud’s book be the same thing that was on Jared’s credit card? Am I seeing things or is this part of the curse?
Sara’s eyes filled with tears. She couldn’t breathe. Time stood still. The world around her turned in slow motion. Nothing seemed real. She couldn’t think straight. Her heart felt as if it were being physically ripped from her body and torn to pieces before her eyes. “This can’t be true!” she choked. “Why would he do this to me?” She moved closer so she could hear their conversation.
“You’re not being fair. Dealing with the dress was hard enough. You know this sets me on fire. You’re gonna get raped right here in the middle of this park, with everyone watching.”
The woman didn’t say anything; she kept tracing kisses along his neck. Jared leaned his head to the side and groaned.
Sara couldn’t stand it. She approached them. The woman glanced up and dismissed her without a thought. Sara stepped in front of Jared. His eyes were closed, enjoying the attention. She stared at him. “I can’t believe you would do this to me!”
His eyes flew open. For a split second, they changed to burning crimson, full of confusion. He tightened his facial muscles and whirled. “What the?” He exhaled and groaned. “Eve!” he growled and jumped up. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He glanced at Sara. “Honey, I thought. Eve what are you doing here?”
She smiled seductively. “My parents came back to visit friends. I had hoped I would see you again. I made a horrible mistake, baby. I’ve missed you terribly.” She leaned in to kiss him.
Jared jumped back. “You said you didn’t…!”
“I know,” Eve cooed. “I made a mistake. I realized that when I got back home. We were so far apart. I was scared. I’m not scared anymore. We’ve moved back to the States permanently. We’re living in New York. We don’t have to be apart anymore Jared. ”
“It’s too late, Eve!” he pushed through clenched teeth.
“No, baby, it’s not too late. I’m here. We can pick up where we left off.”
“That’s a good idea!” Sara whirled and ran, blinded by her tears. She didn’t know where the exit was or if she were even running in the right direction. Her heart was pounding; her head was spinning, throbbing with every beat of her heart. She couldn’t breathe. She finally collapsed at the foot of a palm and buried her face in her hands, crying, silently praying to die. Vaguely she became aware of a presence near her. She lifted her head, grimaced and hugged the trunk of the palm. “Go away! Go back to your… your… whatever she is!”
“Sara, please, let me explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain, Jared. Did you ask her to meet you here, so you could humiliate me in front of her? Just go away and let me die in peace!”
“No! I won’t go away! I didn’t call her. I didn’t know she….”
“She was kissing you, Jared! You were enjoying it. Just go away!”
He knelt beside her; his eyes glossed. “Sara, I’m sorry. I thought it was you!”
“What! How could you mistake her for me? You should’ve remembered her touch. You slept with her! You proposed to her first. How dare you compare me to that bitch!”
Jared sighed in exasperation and shook his head. “She’s not a bitch, Sara, and I’m not comparing you to her. There’s no comparison.” He sighed again. “Honey, please listen to me. Eve put her hands over my eyes. I honestly thought it was you. I would never do anything to hurt you, Sara. I love you. You’re the only one I love, the only one I want.” He reached to touch her face.
Sara moved away. She stared at him. “How could you not know when a strange woman is seducing you?” A part of her wanted to believe him, but another part didn’t know how to deal with this. She didn’t want to deal with it. Her head was still pounding, and Jared’s image was blurry.
“Sara, I thought it was you, honestly. You have to believe me. I’m gonna marry you. I love you, Sara.” He swallowed hard. “No one ever meant anything to me but you. You’re my soul, Sara, my world. You’re everything to me.” He paused. “I’ve spent my whole life searching for you.”
“You better tell your neck nibbler that!” she scowled.
Eve appeared to be as confused as Sara. “Jared, what’s going on? Who is she? Why are you chasing her?”
He stood and grabbed her forearm. “Tell her this was all your idea. Tell her I didn’t know it was you,” he ground through his teeth. He squeezed her arm, hard, fighting to keep his eyes from changing again.
Eve struggled. “Jared, you’re hurting my arm!”
He tightened his grip. “I’ll hurt more than your arm if you don’t tell her!”
“Ow! Alright, I don’t know who you are or what you’ve got to do with this, but he’s right. I walked up behind him and covered his eyes. I guess he thought it was you.” She glared at Jared, her eyes still full of fear and confusion. “Now will you let go of me, and tell me who she is, and what she’s got to do with us? If she’s the little fling, you’ve been using to keep me off your mind… you don’t need to bother anymore. I’m here now, baby.”
He turned his full fury on her, fighting to control his eyes. “Eve, I tried to use you to forget about her.”
She looked at Sara as though she were dressed in rags. “You used me to forget about her? You must be kidding,” she laughed. “How long have you known her?”
He softly smiled and locked eyes with Sara. “Since she was ten years old.” Eve stared at them. Jared helped Sara to her feet and embraced her. “Sara, I could never hurt you. Especially, not with Eve, I love you too much to do that. You do believe me, don’t you?”
“I want to.”
“Oh please, you’re making me sick.”
“Eve, this is my fiancée, Sara Foster. Eve, Sara’s the one I told you about years ago, the girl from my dreams. Sara, Eve King, my ex-girlfriend. I’d still like to think we’re friends.”
She smiled awkwardly and offered a hand. “I’m sure we’ll all be good friends,” she said and shook Sara’s hand as if she used it to clean her ass.
Sara couldn’t tell whether Jared had swallowed Eve’s sugarcoated lemon, but she hadn’t. Sooner or later, Eve would mean trouble for them. She was concerned about the grief Eve would cause Jared. She smiled and shared a warm glance with her. “Of course, we will.”
If Jared wanted Eve, Sara would’ve let him go, but she knew differently. If Eve wanted Jared back now, she’d have a fight on her hands. Sara was not giving him up!
Eve’s eyes glossed; she appeared stunned, at a loss for words. Sara obviously wasn’t a figment of Jared’s imagination. Eve never expected Jared to get over her because she never expected him to find Sara. For her, Sara didn’t exist. In fact, she wasn’t convinced this woman was Jared’s dream girl.
She wiped her fake tears with the back of her hand and sniffed. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Sara. I think I better be getting back. Mother will start looking for me,” she smiled placidly.
Sara studied Eve’s eyes. She didn’t buy her amicable display. “It was nice to meet you too, Eve. Sorry for the misunderstanding.”
“Oh, no worries, Sara,” she said and put on a perfectly painted smile. “It was my fault. I should’ve known someone as handsome and sweet as Jared wouldn’t stay single for long.” She smiled and touched his cheek. “I hope you’re both exceedingly happy. I’ll see you around. Well, bye now.”
Sara turned away from him, tears streamed down her cheeks. How could she make this right? She should’ve trusted him. She should’ve known he would never cheat on her. “I’m so sorry I doubted you, Jared. I’m not good enough for you. One way or the other, all I do is hurt you. I don’t deserve you.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her. “Sara, will you stop blubbering. I don’t care. If I’d been in your place, I probably would’ve reacted the same way, if not worse.”
“You’re not mad at me?”
Jared smiled, lifted her chin and crushed his lips against hers. He devoured her mouth and pressed her hard against his body. He smiled again. “No, I’m not angry with you. I find it extremely hard to stay angry with you. When I come anywhere close to it, one smile is all it takes, and I forget why I was angry.” He kissed her again. “There’s one thing I wish you wouldn’t do.”
“What?”
“This does make me angry!” he stressed. “Stop thinking you’re not good enough for me.”
“I’ll try,” she smiled.