<\/p>\n
Lipstick.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Burgundy lipstick.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A shade which, with my orange hair and pale complexion, I\u2019d never be caught dead wearing. The truth of what I was seeing made the room swim and I leaned backwards into the laundry room wall and slid down until I landed hard on my butt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What does this mean? <\/em>The question flickered through my synapses, even though I knew exactly what it meant. There was only one thing it could <\/em>mean.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The stain was smeared along the collar and then again at the hem, as if the lipstick wearer had subtly made her way down his body. It was left in such an obvious way\u2014such a clich\u00e9 way\u2014that I knew it was meant to be found. A slap in the face from another woman.<\/p>\n A taunt. Check. Your move\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And Brett\u2026 He\u2019d have seen the dark red smears before he casually tossed the shirt into the laundry. Did he want me to see them?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I buried my face in the thin cotton shirt and inhaled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I closed my eyes as I breathed in, filling my nose with the lingering scents of infidelity. What does she smell like? Look like? Is she prettier than me? Why would he do this?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There was no trace of the burgundy-lipped whore. No sweat or sex or woman\u2019s perfume. Only Brett\u2014the man I loved and who I\u2019d believed loved me, too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anger welled through me. Not the useful, searing kind of anger\u2014but something damp and soggy. The kind of anger you fed with wine and Netflix. The kind of anger that couldn\u2019t quite believe what it was seeing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The kind of anger I loathed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was seeped through with hurt and, not surprisingly, love. Traitorous love for the man who\u2019d rescued me when I\u2019d gone on a date with a jock in my junior year and wound up stranded when he got drunk off too many ninety-nine cent margaritas and passed out in our booth at Chili\u2019s. Love for the guy who knew about my family\u2014about what my Mama and her many boyfriends put me and my sisters through.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Love for the man who\u2019d helped me track down my father and then didn\u2019t judge me when I decided I didn\u2019t want to meet him after all. Brett was with me just three weeks ago when Granny took her last breaths and held my hand at her funeral. So when I inhaled his smell from that shirt\u2014even though it was stained with another woman\u2019s lipstick\u2014my brain associated his scent with good. My heart still craved him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why? Why, after so many years, would he do this now?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.2″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Magic Spark Cover” _builder_version=”3.0.92″ saved_tabs=”all” src=”http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/EnchantedCover200x300.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url=”http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/books\/enchanted\/1-magic-spark\/” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” always_center_on_mobile=”on” border_style=”solid” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” global_module=”4781″ \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Magic Spark Buy Links” _builder_version=”3.9″ saved_tabs=”all” border_style=”solid” module_alignment=”left” show_bottom_space=”on” global_module=”4782″]<\/p>\n Available Now<\/strong><\/p>\n Amazon (US<\/a>) (CA<\/a>) (UK<\/a>)<\/p>\n Barnes and Noble<\/a><\/p>\n Kobo<\/a><\/p>\n Or go here now<\/a> to read more<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.2″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Magic Ember Cover” src=”http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Enchanted200x300.png” url=”http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/books\/enchanted\/2-magic-ember\/” align=”center” _builder_version=”3.0.101″ show_bottom_space=”on” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” saved_tabs=”all” global_module=”5077″ \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Magic Spark Buy Links” _builder_version=”3.9″ saved_tabs=”all” border_style=”solid” module_alignment=”left” show_bottom_space=”on” global_module=”4782″]<\/p>\n Available Now<\/strong><\/p>\n Amazon (US<\/a>) (CA<\/a>) (UK<\/a>)<\/p>\n Barnes and Noble<\/a><\/p>\n Kobo<\/a><\/p>\n Or go here now<\/a> to read more<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Magic Flame Cover” _builder_version=”3.0.101″ saved_tabs=”all” src=”http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Enchanted3b200x300.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” align=”center” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” url=”http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/books\/enchanted\/3-magic-flame\/” global_module=”5361″ \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Magic Flame Buy Links” _builder_version=”3.9″ saved_tabs=”all” global_module=”5362″]<\/p>\n Available Now<\/strong><\/p>\n Amazon (US<\/a>) (CA<\/a>) (UK<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Depositphotos_10980476_xl-2015-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRead more about Cheyanne…<\/h3>\n
Do Marchland and Bradley have better luck?<\/h3>\n