I gave her a small smile and she went into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. I hadn’t thought of Charlotte in years and tonight, of all nights, my brain decided to reintroduce me? I damn near groped Elizabeth, imagining she was some chick I met on the beach a few years ago. I had to be losing my fucking mind.
I settled back against the couch cushions and closed my eyes just as the sound of retching came from the master bedroom. I jumped up and ran in to find Elizabeth laying with her face against the porcelain toilet seat.
I wet a hand towel down and held it to her forehead. “You’ve had an incredibly stressful evening and now you’re sick? —you poor thing.”
She managed a weak smile, “Pretty sure you would’ve preferred to spend your evening in a more relaxing manner.”
“Not when my best friend’s wife is in trouble. Let’s get you into bed.” It really was the only fair thing to do. God knew she’d picked my drunk ass up off the floor dozens of times over the years. I helped her up and into bed before going back to the couch.
I dozed on and off until David got home an hour later.
“Is she okay?” His face was a barely contained mask of fury.
I sat up and cracked my neck. “She’s okay. I boarded up the window. I can swing by tomorrow and help you get a new one installed.”
He nodded and stared into the fireplace. “Any ideas on who could’ve done this?”
I sighed. “Well, it’s looking like it was someone who knows one of you. My best guess? It was Jess. The only thing taken was a wedding picture—that seems pretty telling.”
His jaw tightened. “Did you share your theory with Beth?”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t have a death wish. It was just my two cents, man. Take it for what it’s worth.”
He frowned again. “It wasn’t Jess.”
“How can you be so sure, David? You don’t know how these things work sometimes. I’m telling you—you played with fire—”
He cut me off. “Jess was with me in Amarillo.”
I actually laughed out loud. “She was in Amarillo with you. Well, why wouldn’t she be with you? That’s your thing now, I guess. So, you told me all that shit last night as a way to clear your conscience?”
He stood up and ran his hands through his hair. “She showed up at my hotel. It wasn’t like you’re thinking.”
I stood up as well and, while I wanted to yell, I managed to keep my voice at a whisper. “Yeah? Well, as much fun as it was to hold your wife while she fell apart earlier, it’s not something I’m planning on doing long-term. Sort your shit out, David. She’s a good woman who deserves better.”
He nodded. “It’s just these jobs…”
“Fuck the jobs. Focus on your wife and fix what’s broken. Your dad isn’t here to tell you, but you’ve got me. You’re going to have to come clean to her.”
David stared at me as if I was speaking French. “You want me to tell her?” He hissed.
I nodded. “You fucked Jess—the woman’s what? A hairdresser? There’s no way in hell that she’s keeping her mouth shut. This whole thing is a ticking time bomb.”
He disagreed. “Jess knows where I stand. I made that clear tonight. I’ll stick to jobs here in town. It’s going to be fine.”
He walked me to the door and repeated, “It’s all going to be fine.”
I left him that night, knowing that once the shit hit the fan, fine wouldn’t even be a word in his vocabulary. It wasn’t a question of if; it was a matter of when.
Lauren
May 2014
I rang the doorbell while juggling an armload of bags. Elizabeth poked her head around the door with a little scream. “Come in! This is going to be so much fun. We can do each other’s makeup and hair.” She continued rambling on as she led me down the hall to the guest bathroom.
I pointed back toward her bathroom in confusion, still unable to get a word in edgewise.
She came to a sudden stop, the pale blue kimono billowing around her. “Oh, I bet you’re wondering why we’re in here. Well, David is going to be getting ready in the master bathroom and I thought it might be fun if we set up our beauty shop in the back to surprise them.”
I hid a small smile from her. If she only knew what we had in store for her. David had reached out to me a couple of weeks ago, asking if I’d be willing to help him throw a surprise anniversary party for Elizabeth.
Obviously, I’d immediately agreed.
Elizabeth had sworn off Landon and was completely committed to David again. He’d quit taking jobs unless they were in town.
It was horribly romantic. Boy met girl. Boy and girl got married. Girl had an affair. Boy won her back.
So, maybe it was more of a modern-day fairy tale. But, it was still proof that my Mr. Right was out there waiting for me.
True love conquered all.
They were my Scarlett and Rhett…my Jack and Rose…my Christian and Satine.
I paused, as Elizabeth ransacked the bathroom. So, maybe my analogies weren’t great, seeing as to how none of those couples made it, but the gist was the same.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth was on her hands and knees, pulling every beauty product ever made from the cabinet beneath the sink.
“I think I got everything,” she breathlessly exclaimed.
I surveyed the crowded counter and grinned. “Well, I can’t imagine that we’d be missing anything here.”
An hour and a half later, we were almost ready. Almost. Elizabeth’s lip kept twitching while I was in the middle of lining her lips. “Be serious,” I warned before we both lost it and started laughing.
“What is it with someone doing your makeup that makes you think of the funniest things?” She asked.
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t know—I’ve never had anyone else do my makeup before.”
Her smile faded and I knew that the conversation was going to turn to more serious topics if I didn’t act quickly. I blurted out, “So, Mike. Is he hot?”
Elizabeth was under the impression that we were just going out to dinner with a group of friends. Once she let it slip that David’s friend, Mike was going to be joining us, I was intrigued.
She grinned up at me, “Oh, he’s the hottest and he’s a cop!”
A cop?
Images of handcuffs and badges filled my mind and I felt giddy with anticipation. “Well, in that case, I’m glad I’m packing!” I reached into my purse and pulled out a roll of condoms and Elizabeth cracked up while fanning her eyes, trying to keep her makeup intact.
I was going to stop being so uptight about sex.
My heart started beating faster and I took a deep breath.
It was just sex.
If I would’ve been more open to it, then Jack and I might’ve ended up married by now.
I sighed.
I had to stop putting a man I met once up on a pedestal, otherwise no one else would ever measure up.
From now on, I was going to be open to finding love and not allow myself to remain hung up in the past.
Chapter Eight
May 2014
I rang the doorbell and drummed my fingers against the bricks.
David threw it open with a grin. “Hey, man. Glad you made it.”
He slapped me on the back as I surveyed the empty living room. “Hey—Where’s the talent for tonight? I didn’t sign up for a sausage fest—”
His smile faded and he rounded on me. “Look, tonight’s not a date.”
I pinched my gray button up between my fingers. “Then why the fuck am I dressed up? I’m not putting out for you now, asshole.”
David sighed, “It’s just that Lauren is Beth’s friend—and boss.”
I nodded, “And…what about her other friends? You said, and I quote, ‘Mike, come out for a surprise anniversary blah blah with Beth and our friends.’ Friends is plural and therefore implies more than one. So, where are the other ladies? The ones who aren’t off limits to me?”
“It’s just the four of us. The
re isn’t anyone else coming.”
I gave him a cocky grin. “Well, see, to me that sounds like a date. And I feel like Elizabeth has another friend. Hmm…” I tapped my index finger against my lips, enjoying the way the color drained from his face. “Now, who could I be thinking of?”
He glanced down the hallway before lowering his voice. “You know why Jess isn’t here. Don’t fucking bring it up again.”
“Then don’t fucking tell me who I can and can’t hit on.”
He turned away from me and yelled down the hall, “Beth, c’mon. We have to leave no later than seven. You have five minutes.”
“So, does Lauren know this is absolutely not a date? Because I’d hate for any of us here to be under any illusions that we’re going to have fun tonight.”
God forbid I actually get to make any decisions regarding my life.
David shot me another look. “It doesn’t matter. She’s off limits. End of story. And, so help me, if you—”
The sound of heels clicking against the wood floor stopped him mid-sentence and we both turned.
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.
It was Charlotte.
Charlotte was Lauren.
She was even wearing the same dress from the wedding. It looked better than I remembered. Her red hair was longer, but no longer wavy.
She came to a sudden stop next to Elizabeth, her eyes wide with surprise. David and Elizabeth began talking, but I blocked it out, completely focused on her. She stuck out her hand, “Hi, I’m Lauren.”
I gripped her hand tightly in mine and managed to croak out, “Mike.”
David told the two of us to go on ahead, while he and Elizabeth locked up the house. There was a limo waiting at the curb when we walked out—just another one of David’s big surprises.
Infidelity…limousines…seriously, where did it end with this guy?
“So, how’s your surfing career panning out?” Lauren bit down on her lower lip and gave me a small smile and I was taken back to the moment I met her.
I tried to play it off as if seeing her was no big deal, even as my heart was pounding with lust. “Surfing’s not so good here in the desert. You know you still owe me that drink.”
I’d really wanted to ask her why she hadn’t come, but I wasn’t a pussy.
Her smile faltered slightly, but she recovered. “I do still owe you a drink. Let me buy you a round tonight?”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t count.”
The garage door opened and Elizabeth gasped. She turned to David and he grinned from ear to ear. “Surprise, Beth. Happy Anniversary!”
Lauren jumped up and down excitedly, “We pulled it off!”
Her tits also bounced up and down in her dress and I wondered how David would react if I threw her over my shoulder and ran to my truck.
I laughed at the thought and all three turned to me.
Elizabeth brought her hand up to her chest. “You all planned this? How’d you keep it a secret?”
The driver stepped out and opened the door for us as David wrapped a hand around her waist, “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. I can keep some things from you.”
I thought of his words from earlier and a surge of anger flowed through my body. Sure, it was all fine for him to fuck his wife’s best friend, but god forbid his very much SINGLE friend be given the same opportunity.
I grabbed the brown paper bags from the backseat of my truck and looked up to see that Lauren was bent over, getting something from the backseat of her own car. Her dress rode up just enough for me to see the lace from the black boy shorts she was wearing.
“I knew it,” I whispered to myself, while simultaneously wondering how in the hell I was going to keep my dick locked away for the evening.
Lauren retrieved a large paper bag from the backseat and then closed the door with her hip. Once we climbed inside and unloaded our bags, it was clear that she and I had purchased enough alcohol for twenty people.
I’d grabbed beer and vodka, while she’d splurged on champagne. I took the bottles from her hands and settled them into the built-in ice cooler. David got the tunes cranking, while Elizabeth watched us curiously. “Lauren, do you really think we need this much to drink?”
“Are you kidding me? It’s the first time I’ve ever been in a limo, so we are going to take full advantage of that.”
I handed David a beer and opened one for myself. I was just going to have one or two—nothing that I needed Grey’s approval for. He’d specifically mentioned the hard liquor and I’d done well to stay away from it. A beer every night wasn’t gonna kill me.
Lauren popped the top off two beers and handed one to Elizabeth before raising hers in the air, “To young love and the best friends a girl could ever want.”
She’d never looked more beautiful.
I was well and truly fucked.
“So, found any up and coming artists I need to know about?” I leaned over the railing of the deck at Nick’s.
Lauren had insisted on buying a round of drinks for everyone, but had disappeared soon after. Leaving David and Elizabeth alone, I’d found her near the edge of the patio, staring off into space.
She turned her head toward me and grinned. “You know how the art world is—always changing…” Her voice trailed off and she began picking at her nail polish.
I reached out my hand to touch her arm, but she moved back and looked away, as if my touch burned her skin.
“Hey, it’s okay. Did I say the wrong thing? I’ve been known to do that.” I thought about touching her again, but didn’t know if my ego could handle the rejection a second time.
Lauren twisted her lips and turned back to me, her eyes bright. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Her lip quivered slightly when she finally said, “I’m sorry. I’ve just built up this image of you in my head and it’s still surreal to think that you’re here right now. You’ve been here the whole time—I’m just trying to reconcile you with Jack.”
Jack?
Oh, right. The fake name I gave her that night.
I rested my forearms against the railing again and looked straight ahead. “Do I…do I not measure up to who you imagined me to be?”
I held my breath as she struggled to find the right words. Maybe the girl four years ago had considered a romp on the beach with a stranger, but I was starting to worry that the woman in front of me wanted much more than I would ever be capable of giving.
She started and stopped four different sentences before she got out what she needed to say. “It’s not that simple. At David and Elizabeth’s wedding, I wanted to meet you for that drink—I did. It’s just that I worried about what you’d think about me after. The woman who had come with me, Sandra, warned me against doing it. She said I would’ve hated myself in the morning.”
Ah, fuck.
That explained a lot of things. Her ‘friend’ might’ve hit the nail on the head with her assessment of me and my motivations, but she’d only done it to help herself out.
She continued, “I’ve spent the time since then wondering what would’ve happened had I gone back to your room with you.”
I took a chance and ran my hand down her arm. She didn’t jump away from me this time. Instead, she leaned into it.
“So, you’ve thought about me a lot since that night? Am I wearing clothes or not in these ‘thoughts’ you’ve had?” The cocky grin was firmly back in place.
She groaned, “Leave it to a man to turn this around and make it about sex.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and guided her back inside the restaurant for another round. “Darlin’, looking at you, it’s hard to imagine much else.”
She turned and tilted her chin up at me defiantly. “Is that right?”
Oh, I was so getting laid tonight.
I nodded and leaned down. Her eyes fluttered closed, but when my lips were only inches away from hers, all hell broke loose.
“You wanna get your fucking hands off of my
wife or do you need some help?”
I’d be the first to admit that I immediately assumed those words were directed at me. It would not have been the first time.
Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you looked at it, David was the one getting ready to brawl. I saw the smile on his face and immediately began hauling ass over to him. A frowning David—completely normal. A smiling David—people were going to be leaving in body bags.
The man who had his arms around Elizabeth immediately released her and held his hands up. “Sorry man. I’ve been drinking and she looked like someone I know.”
David yanked Elizabeth against him and I waited, trying to decide whether or not to intervene. I stepped up beside him, hoping the drunk guy would take a hint and walk away.
The man turned to Elizabeth. “I’m really sorry ma’am. I meant no disrespect.”
When Lauren made a sound of surprise, I glanced back to see that her face had gone pale and she was staring at the man as if she knew who he was. She then turned her glare on Elizabeth. It was over in a matter of seconds, but it had lasted long enough to pique my curiosity.
Elizabeth inhaled a ragged breath. “I can’t breathe.”
She left us in the narrow hallway by the bathrooms and went back out to the patio.
“David, let’s go enjoy the rest of our evening. He’s not worth it.”
The guy looked at both of us, probably wishing that he’d stayed home tonight. “I’m really sorry—it was an honest mistake.”
Most people didn’t enjoy getting angry. David wasn’t most people though—the guy was completely content to take up permanent residency in the great state of rage.
He hadn’t been like that growing up; I’d always been considered the scrappy one. If I really thought about it, his surliness had appeared not long after the whole thing with Patrick.
Maybe I was responsible for creating a monster.
Something flickered in David’s gaze and he exhaled slowly. “Don’t let me ever catch you near my wife again. Are we clear on that?”
He quickly agreed and escaped the hallway back out into the bar.
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