Untamed Sweethearts

Chapter 1

Their love story was meant to stand the test of time. No, not the one you think. Fighting against all odds to be together… But here she is, sitting in divorce court and watching her soon-to-be ex-husband testify. The lawyers told her that she didn’t have to come, but she wanted to make sure he ends their marriage and doesn’t stuff it all up. Feeling torn in two, she sits looking at the proceedings. On the one hand, realizing that she has wasted the past eight years of her life, on the other, excited about entering a new life.

As soon as he steps down from the witness stand, she rushes out of the courtroom. She is free… Finally, free!

Margaret Rosalie Agnello is officially divorced, and adrenaline rushes through her veins at the thought of finally having her freedom. She got married way too young and now, at thirty-two, she is facing single life all over again.

Since leaving her ex-husband, she’s found the nightlife of their beautiful city enchanting and quickly made friends. Those same friends have a huge celebration planned, and she has a couple of hours to get ready…

She’s divorced!

“I’m divorced!” She voices her thoughts as if it’s unreal, and she needs to say it out loud for it to be real.

***

The memory of that day floods her mind as she walks into the club. It’s been four years and one hell of a ride! One of her friends waves, and she makes her way through the throngs of people dancing and drinking before flopping down on the couch, where they are already a couple of drinks ahead of her. Unfortunately, she had to work late… again!

It’s happening more and more that her boss requires her to stay late, and she’s slowly regretting her decision to resign from her previous position, but after her divorce, she needed a life change and part of that was having to earn more to sustain her lifestyle.

A friend grabs her by the wrist and drags her to the dance floor, and Margaret feels the music pump through her very soul as the bright lights of the club flash all over the place. She knows she’s going to regret going out tonight, but that is tomorrow’s problem, and right now she’s here to enjoy herself.

They party hard, and she isn’t surprised when they are eventually almost thrown out of the club, so they can close. The sun is starting to rise when she walks to her car, humming her latest favourite song. Her hands are a bit shaky from the amount of alcohol she consumed, and she drops her keys beside her car. As she bends down to pick them up, a large male hand grabs hold of her, steadying her before she falls.

Bending forward when you are still drunk and trying to balance on stilettos wasn’t the best of ideas.

“I don’t think you should be driving.” His voice is smooth as silk, and she looks into the most striking green eyes. They seem familiar somehow.

“Wow, you are handsome.” She giggles and strokes his cheek.

“Come on, Margaret. I’ll take you home.” He picks her up, and she blindly grins at him, not realizing that he just called her by her name. Her head starts to grow heavy, and as soon as she is comfortably seated, she falls asleep.

***

Mateo glares at the woman in the car beside him. Could she really be so drunk that she didn’t recognize him, or had time changed him more than he realized? The engine revved to life, and he pulled out of the driveway. How could she be so reckless? A woman this drunk, alone, could find herself in a lot of danger. He had no idea where she was staying, but he couldn’t just leave her there in the parking lot, forcing him to take her to his apartment, which, in all honesty, he wasn’t ready for yet.

Mateo Hubert never thought things would end between him and Margaret when they were still at school, but then that must have been puppy love. When she left school, she unceremoniously ended things between them, and he hadn’t seen her in over fifteen years.

He steals a look her way before returning his attention to the road. She might have grown older, but she still looks like the young girl he fell in love with all those years ago.

Mateo swears at himself as he pulls into the basement parking area of his apartment building. What is going to happen when she wakes up in his apartment and realizes who he is? He should have handed her off to her friends! He shouldn’t have gone back to the club night after night for the past week in the hopes of catching a glimpse of her!

If only he hadn’t gone out with his old buddy that fateful night, he wouldn’t have seen her, and now she’s sitting in his car, unconscious, and oblivious to the fact that he is still utterly in love with her! Over the years, he tried to find out what happened to her, and when he heard that she was married, he assumed that she was happy and tried to move on with his life, but nobody could compare to his first love.

Parking his car, he steps out and ponders taking her back to the club, but in the end, his common-sense wins, and he realizes he has no other alternative but to take her upstairs.

***

Maggie wakes up in a strange apartment and her first thought is to check if she is dressed! Damn! “Phew.” She knew going out wasn’t the best idea, but how was she supposed to ignore the spice of life? She groans when sitting up and feels her head pounding. She’s sitting on a couch in an apartment she doesn’t recognize. At least she’s dressed for once!

***

After her divorce, Maggie decided that she would like to live the life men seemed to enjoy so much.

“I mean, why the hell not?”

She would sleep with whomever, whenever she wanted to. She would party until her liver gave out, and she would enjoy life after missing out on so much of it in her younger years… And she did…

One-night stands were the best, and she loved watching the reaction of her flavour of the evening when she simply told him that it was fun, but it was over. Some would even be surprised if she didn’t want to give them her telephone number or take theirs.

“Why? You gave me what I needed. I’m sure there are loads of girls out there who would love to fall in love with you, but I’m not one of those women.” That was one of her favourite things to say to them. She always chose the guys who looked as if they couldn’t wait to get their fill and leave, and then loved watching them leave, disappointed that all she wanted from them was what they thought they would do to her!

***

She forces herself upright and starts to look around for her car keys and bag. If she’s quiet, she might be able to sneak out before the owner of this apartment realizes she’s up, but to her surprise, when she finds her bag on the dining room table, it is accompanied by a note, a glass of orange juice and what looks to be some headache tablets.

In the note, the owner offers her to use his shower, and he explains that he had an early morning. Who leaves a complete stranger in their home?! She thinks to herself and looks around the apartment. It’s been decorated in a simple, clean-cut style, but there are no personal belongings to show her who this person could be.

They also didn’t sign the letter, and she sighed, finishing the juice before realizing that she was horribly late for lunch with her mother! She rushes out of the apartment, trying to remember how she got here and where her car could be, but her mind keeps trying to tell her that her car isn’t there.

When she doesn’t see her car parked in the street, she calls for a taxi to take her back to the club in the hopes that it might still be there, and she’s relieved when it comes into view. Paying the taxi driver before sliding in behind her steering wheel. She checks her face before pulling a shirt from the back seat.

She should be able to cover her dress with a shirt. That way, it might just look as if she’s come from home, and not like she’s spent the night in a stranger’s apartment! Or their bed… She rushes into the restaurant and notices her mother frowning when she looks her way.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She drops a kiss on her mother’s cheek, but has to stifle the laugh that wants to escape when her mom waves through the air in front of her face.

“You smell like a distillery!”

“Well, hello to you too, mother.”

***

On his drive home, Mateo wonders if she will still be there, and he has to remind his heart rate to calm down before he has a heart attack. If only he had kept the landline that was there when he moved in, he could have called.

“To do what?” He asks himself, slamming his hands down on his steering wheel.

What is he going to say to her if she’s still there? But he is disappointed when he walks through the door and finds that she’d left. The blankets are neatly folded and left on the couch, and the glass that had orange juice in it when he left is cleaned and standing in the kitchen.

He walks through to his bedroom and drops his jacket on the bed before pulling the tie from his neck and walking through to the bathroom. Did she use his shower? He touches his towel to check if it’s wet, but is disappointed again when it dawns on him that she probably didn’t.

“What did you expect?” He asks himself out loud, waving his arms through the air. If he were to wake up in a stranger’s apartment with just a silly note, he wouldn’t have stuck around either! He sighs, realizing that the club is closed for the night and that he won’t see her again today.

Mateo had been studying her carefully over the past couple of nights and the first thing he noticed was that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but what if she took it off while partying? But then, there was also no line that would indicate a wedding ring should be on her finger. Did she get divorced? The last time he asked his father for news, he heard that she was happily married and decided not to ask again.

Taking off his uncomfortable office clothes, he puts on a pair of sweatpants before walking through to his living room. The only thing he can do is try to relax for the rest of the night, but as soon as he sits down on the couch, the scent of her perfume hits his nostrils.

***

Maggie dries her hair and slides in behind her computer. She’d paid a fortune to join a dating website and, after having to deal with shopping with her mother, she was in serious need of some tension relief. Her battery-operated boyfriend (Bob) doesn’t seem too inviting tonight, and she scans the profiles for someone who will come over.

Unfortunately, none of the men draw her interest, and she decides to make herself some dinner before plopping down in front of the television to enjoy a romantic comedy. She knows that she’s been fooling herself with her ridiculous one-night stands, and that deep inside she also craves to have her special one, but she refuses to give up her freedom… Again!

There are so many great things to having a partner, but boy can some men lose their s**t if you just look at another man. She ponders her life for the last four years and can’t help but laugh. She is a typical girl! Wanting love and commitment, while preaching freedom and consensual s*x without any strings.