by BETH KERY
“You mean you’re actually going to be at Finn’s—I mean Jess’—grandmother’s house?”
“I think Jess said that his grandmother lives with his mother.”
“She used to be an actress and loves to dress up, so she has this thing for Halloween. She has a big party every year,” Esa mused, recalling a few of Finn’s warm stories about his Grandma Glory.
“How do you know that?”
Esa shrugged. “Where else? Finn told me.”
Carla opened her mouth to question her about that but several cars passing them in the left lane caught her attention. “Jeez, Esa, why do we always have to be in the slow lane? It’s going to take forever to get home and—”
“So did Jess tell you it was a costume party?” Esa interrupted, undeterred by Carla’s complaints.
“Hmmm? Yeah, but Jess said I didn’t have to dress up. All the kids wear costumes but only some of the adults.”
“Mind telling me why you’re just springing this on me now?” Esa asked. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Carla’s offended look.
“Since when do I have go to you for date approval? It’s not like we had plans tonight. If anyone, Kitten’s the one who has a right to be pissed. She gets back from Indianapolis this evening. I was supposed to meet her at Top Choice for a drink.”
“I wasn’t talking about the actual details of your date,” Esa lied as she let up the brake to move forward two inches in traffic. “I was talking about the fact that you and Jess obviously have a thing going on.”
Carla snorted. “That should have been obvious to you last weekend, Esa.”
Esa studied her best friend with concern. She’d been notably less gung-ho over the flirting in traffic scheme in the past week, but non-forthcoming as to why. Once she’d rallied and stated firmly that she was going to be checking out a pipe-layer at 47th Street.
On the designated evening, Carla had been desperately trying to search the dozens of construction workers once they’d reached the vicinity of 47th Street when Esa realized that several cars around them were honking their horns. She’d glanced up, her eyes widening.
“I think I’ve found your guy, Carla. It looks like he brought some friends.”
“What? Where?” Carla had demanded.
Esa pointed. On top of the viaduct, five men were lined up side by side mooning the swarm of drivers below them. The letters C-A-R-L-A had been emblazoned on their bare butts with red paint.
Carla’s pretty face had gone rigid in sheer disbelief. “What in the world are they doing?”
“I think it’s your guy’s idea of flirting. Take it as a compliment.” Esa had tilted her head and studied the singular phenomenon. “You know, the letter R isn’t bad. Not bad at all.”
Carla had stared at her incredulously. They’d both burst out laughing at the same moment. Esa had honked louder than anyone as they’d passed under Carla’s tribute.
But Esa didn’t think that little episode was the only reason Carla had lost her former enthusiasm for the flirting in traffic idea. She was worried Jess Madigan had something to do with that.
All in all, Esa thought it would be best for both of them to avoid Madigan men altogether.
“I know you had a thing with Jess that one night. I just didn’t think it had become more of a thing,” Esa said presently.
Carla waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t make too big of a deal of it. I don’t.”
“Yes, you do,” Esa replied, hearing the forced quality of her friend’s casual attitude. “Or you want to, anyway. Be careful about him, Carla. Jess Madigan probably has a little black book for every letter of the alphabet.”
Carla shot her a fulminating look. “You think I don’t know that? I wasn’t born yesterday. I haven’t heard a peep from him all week. He just called me this afternoon. The date he had lined up probably cancelled at the last moment. Hey, I’m all too willing to stand in for her. Jess is amazing…no, phenomenal in bed. I can’t believe you didn’t sleep with Finn. I’ll bet that stuff runs in the family.”
“You’re sick.”
“That’s not sick. You know very well what I mean.”
Esa stared straight ahead, conscious of Carla studying her and knowing full well what was coming next. She’d heard it six times a day for the past week.
“Why won’t you tell me what happened when you and Finn left One Life last week? What could be so terrible? Was his apartment disgusting? Did he have bad breath? Did you?”
“Carla, just drop it, okay?” Esa grated out. Without thinking she whipped the little car into the left lane and zoomed forward twenty feet before she slammed on the brakes again. She glanced over at Carla, who studied her with frank suspicion.
“I’ve never seen you act this way. Do you want to hear what I think, Esa?”
“No,” she replied pointedly.
“I think that you have a major crush on the hunky Finn. What sane woman could be eaten alive by him like he was doing to you in that hallway at One Life and not be ready to beg him to take up full-time residence in her bed? How could anybody screw up something that looked so fantastic?” Carla demanded. She groaned suddenly when she heard her own question.
“God, Esa. Only you could hose down something that hot.”
She didn’t know what she thought was worse—her friend’s suspiciousness and impertinent questions about Finn or the pitying look Carla was giving her.
“For your information, Finn Madigan was far, far from being uninterested,” Esa retorted.
“So?” Carla prompted.
“It’s…just…he…thinks I’m…”
“What?”
“He thinks I’m a casual weekend fling…a-a wild sex kitten.”
Carla’s blue eyes went wide. “Where would he get that idea about you?”
Esa shot her a dirty look.
“Sorry. Of course you’re beautiful, Esa—although it would be nice if you at least tried to do something with your hair once in a while. But that’s not the point,” Carla added quickly when she saw Esa’s snarl.
“I don’t suppose the fact that you dragged me into that sleazy picking-up-men-on-the-side-of-the-road scheme or that I was driving a car with license plates that read SXKITN69 could possibly relate to Finn thinking I’m a slut, could it?”
Carla just stared for a moment before she started giggling, undeterred by Esa’s glare. “Kitten thought something like this might happen.”
“I knew it!” Esa fumed. “I knew Rachel was behind all of this.”
“She didn’t know precisely. I mean, how could she? She just wanted you to have a little fun, that’s all,” Carla explained.
Esa shook her head in disgust. Since they were kids, Rachel had relished poking her fingers into Esa’s life and stirring things into a frothy boil.
“Do you really want to know what happened with Finn Madigan?” Esa asked in a burst of fury.
“What?” Carla asked, straightening in the bucket seats.
“Okay, how does this grab you—we were making out in his bedroom and his ex walked in on us.”
“Oh my God!” Carla exclaimed, scandalized. “Was it a guy?”
Esa did a double take. “A guy? Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know,” Carla replied, wide-eyed. “You made it sound like it was the most bizarre, humiliating experience ever.”
“It was worse than a guy. His former live-in and fiancée is Julia Weatherell.” Esa gave a smug look when Carla gasped loudly.
“Julia Weatherell? That bitch who used to try to blackball Kitten all the time and then hide that trench mouth of hers with all those superior looks, like she was too high and mighty to have even heard those words before let alone have said them?”
“Yep.”
“She dropped out of the scene at around the same time you did,” Carla mused.
“Must have been during the time period she was involved with Finn,” Esa surmised. “You remember how jealous she was about her men. She wouldn’t want
to go public with a man as gorgeous as Finn Madigan. No, she’d love keeping that secret all to herself. Not that I believe for a second Finn would have gotten into squiring her around to nightclubs and charity events. I get the impression he’s a very private person.”
“And now she’s involved with that rich guy, Graves, and she’s popping up on the scene all over again, now as a society matron instead of a player,” Carla continued. “Please. Julia Weatherell is about as matronly as Marie Antoinette. She’s about as caring for the poor and downtrodden as old Marie, as well. So…what’s Gavin Grave’s new girlfriend doing showing up in Finn’s bedroom? As if I have to ask.”
Esa definitely didn’t need to ask. Knowing what she knew about Finn’s lovemaking skills and Julia’s lack of morals, the fact that Julia was eager to get back in Finn’s bed didn’t surprise her in the least.
A prickle of panic went through her when she saw how close they’d drawn to the Madigan Construction trailer. She’d changed lanes twice now unconsciously while she had this annoying conversation with Carla.
“He was passed out in their hotel room at the time Julia paid Finn her little visit,” Esa explained grimly as she deftly got over in the right lane, earning a scowl from the guy she’d cut off the first time. “Apparently she’s miserable and regrets nothing more than leaving Finn. Or the sex, anyway.”
“I’ll bet,” Carla muttered snidely.
“What are you doing?” Esa asked sharply when Carla grabbed her cell phone.
“Calling Rachel. She’s going to die when she hears about this. You know the hell Julia has put her through in the past. Rachel’s always hunting for some dirt on Julia for Metro Sexy but that woman cleans up her tracks like a real pro. Until now, anyway.”
“Don’t you dare!” Esa shrieked as she grabbed the phone and hit the disconnect button.
“What’s your problem?” Carla asked in open-mouthed disbelief. “Since when do you care about what happens to Julia Weatherell?”
Esa gritted her teeth and stared out the window. They were in the midst of practically standstill traffic and almost directly parallel with the white trailer with the green letters that read Madigan Construction. The fact of the matter was she couldn’t care less about Julia. But she would do just about anything to make sure Finn’s name wasn’t dragged through the mud. She felt silly revealing her protective instincts for a weekend fling to Carla, however.
“I told you that in confidence,” Esa said.
Carla made a hissing sound of disgust, grabbed her phone from Esa’s hand and tossed it into her purse. Esa exhaled with relief. That was the end of that. Carla may annoy the crap out of her at times but she was a true friend. She would never betray a confidence.
“So what are you going to do about all of it?” Carla demanded after pouting for all of three seconds.
“Do?”
“About Finn Madigan?”
Esa directed her gaze to Carla. “I’m not going to do anything.”
Carla sighed. “I knew you had a thing for him. I hate Julia Weatherell. I knew she’d eventually leave scars on one of the Ormond sisters.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Finn was a fling, you know that. I hardly had enough opportunity to be scarred, either by him or his connection to Julia.”
Carla sat up slowly, her face intent as she stared out the window. “A one-night stand, strangers in the night, ‘I had a little too much to drink last night, did you notice where I left my panties’ kind of thing—is that what you mean?”
“Exactly,” Esa replied, confused by Carla’s manner.
“Well then you’re gonna love this.”
“What do you mean?” Esa asked.
Carla nodded pointedly. “Here comes your stranger.”
Esa looked in time to see Finn vault over the concrete barrier at the side of the road with athletic ease. He wasn’t going to—
He was.
She stared in wide-eyed disbelief as he walked straight into four lanes of traffic, his eyes fastened directly on her.
Chapter Eleven
Finn glanced at the now rumpled issue of Metro Sexy magazine that lay on his paper-stacked desk. It held no answers for him so he wasn’t sure why he kept staring at it.
Work had kept him mind-numbingly busy all week. Now that the air was cooling outside the truth could no longer be denied by Jess or the rest of his crew that winter was coming, making the deadline loom large for their claim on the hefty bonuses Finn had offered for bringing the project in on time. He’d gotten home near midnight every night this week, but they’d managed to finish a long, satisfying stretch of road northbound into the city.
He’d been so busy that he hadn’t had much of an opportunity to think about Esa or her second abrupt departure from his condo.
Or maybe he’d kept himself so busy so that he wouldn’t take the chance to stew on the matter. The realization that her dramatic exit last Sunday had bugged him even more than Julia’s equally dramatic entrance left him unsettled, to say the least.
Despite his weariness, thoughts of Esa would creep into his awareness in the wee hours of the morning. He’d think of that calm yet exultant expression on her beautiful face as she sped down Lake Shore Drive at dawn. It seemed that his body had been programmed to become aroused every time he merely glanced at his whirlpool tub and thought of Esa there, whimpering in pleasure as an orgasm shuddered through her body.
He’d tried to contact her. One time he’d even been desperate enough to call the number for the corporate offices provided in the small print on a glossy page of Metro Sexy. But that had been as useless as calling the numbers Caleb had provided him via the Department of Motor Vehicles. A perky receptionist had explained that Kitten Ormond was out of town on business this week, and would he like her voicemail?
Finn had said no. He’d had enough of Esa’s seven-word recorded requests to leave a message and she’d get back. She hadn’t got back. Not once. He’d left two messages for Esa on Sunday—one on her cell and one on her home phone. Just a half hour ago he’d stifled his pride with extreme effort and made a third call, saying that he’d like to see her tonight so that he could explain face-to-face about what had happened with Julia in his condo.
He doubted anything good could come from chasing after Esa Ormond when she obviously had decided she’d gotten everything from him that she required. Maybe he possessed some kind of inherent deficiency, something that made him lust after women who belonged to organizations like the Junior League or the City Club and considered where you attended school to be more important than what you were made of.
Not that he thought Esa was like Julia. Not really. Problem was, his confidence in his ability to judge a person’s character had taken a brutal blow after Julia had walked out on him. How could anyone really know another person’s true personality until a crisis occurred, something like his father’s unexpected death?
Esa confused the hell out of him. He’d read the column she wrote for her magazine. Although he could give a rat’s ass about social and celebrity gossip, he had to admit her intelligence and wit came through loud and clear in her writing.
Still, there was something strange about reading her words, as though they didn’t quite fit the woman who he’d come to know over the weekend. Close…but not quite, as though he tried to focus on Esa through a pair of somebody else’s glasses.
He tossed down the magazine in a burst of irritation. Come to think of it, that pretty much described his entire experience with that annoying, prickly…incredibly sexy woman. Maybe part of his attraction was associated with the fact that it was clear as bold print that she was holding back from him. As opposed to his experience with Julia, where he’d thought he’d known her as well as he knew himself.
And in reality knew jack shit.
His head came up when the trailer door swung open.
“Hi,” he greeted his sister Mary Kate. “You leaving?”
Mary Kate took off her hardhat, allowing a thick blonde braid to fal
l down her back. “Yeah, I’m already running late. I promised Grandma Glory I’d be over at the house an hour early to get things ready for the party. Adam said he’d pick up Cory from basketball practice and take all three trick-or-treating while I help out. Little monsters are more excited for the party than they are to be begging for free candy.”
Finn grinned as he recalled the manic childhood excitement created by Grandma Glory’s annual Halloween Party. Halloween rivaled Christmas in a Madigan child’s affections. “I can understand why. We were always the same way.”
“Yeah. It was a lot better when I was the one getting hepped up on sugar, begging our uncles to play Wolf Man and getting scared witless while we ran around like savages and trampled the neighbors’ gardens.”
“No doubt,” Finn chuckled. His mirth quieted after a moment.
“I guess Mom told you about Grandma Glory’s physician’s suggestion that they consult a neurologist in regard to these spells Glory has been having?”
Mary Kate looked angry. “Yeah, she told me. That’s ludicrous. Grandma Glory is one of the sharpest women I’ve ever met in my life. She is not getting Alzheimer’s—or any other kind of dementia. So she’s getting a little moody and testy sometimes, so what? Doesn’t a woman deserve to get pissy once in a while after she’s lived seventy-five years?”
Finn held up his hand in a defensive gesture. “Hey, I’ll be the first to agree that I sincerely doubt Glory has dementia. But I saw for myself when one of those spells struck her a few days ago. Mom’s right. It is concerning. She seems like…I don’t know, like she’s having a personality change or something. She wasn’t just testy, Mary Kate. She was downright mean. I’m glad she’s going to the neurologist, especially since Glory has pretty hazy recall about the incidents afterward.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Mary Kate said doubtfully.
Finn glanced up expectantly when his sister didn’t move after that despite her previous statement that she was running late.