Man Candy

by Ingro, Jessica

  “I’m sure it had nothing to do with me.” I shook my head and prepared to politely decline again.

  “It did. I know it did. The first signing Tanner was at with us, I shared a table with Meredith and I didn’t do nearly as well as I did today. You’re the only factor that is different in this equation.”

  “She has a point,” Meredith stuck her nose in.

  “I’ll have to think about. Talk it over with Rissa first,” I politely stalled in answering.

  “You should do it,” Rissa chimed in poking holes through my excuse.

  “But—” I looked at her inquisitively.

  “She’s right. Things were hopping today with you there. We all had fun. No one got too terribly inappropriate and you helped to tone down Tanner’s ego. Besides we’ll get to travel to some great places together. Think of them as mini-vacations.” She gave me a smile that reached her eyes, so I knew she wasn’t just saying this.

  “Where are your other signings?” I asked Cassandra.

  “Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, Las Vegas, Ft. Lauderdale, Savannah and Boston,” she ticked them off on her fingers.

  “And how many are with Meredith?”

  “All but Boston and San Francisco.”

  “I’m on the waitlist for those so you never know, I might get in,” Meredith added with a smirk behind her bottle of beer.

  Could I really do this gig on a regular basis? The first time didn’t seem so bad now that I looked back on it. I think I was more overwhelmed than anything at the time. The last one and this one seemed to be getting progressively easier, and it would be nice to be able to travel with Rissa.

  “How about we take it on an event by event basis,” I suggested.

  Cassandra slammed her hand down on the table like a gavel and then pointed at me. “Sold!”

  I squeezed Rissa’s knee and gave her a smile. Looked like I was now an official model of sorts.

  *****

  “I’m tired. I think I’ll head back to the room,” Rissa announced on a yawn. I looked at my watch and was surprised to see it was one o’clock in the morning already. Time flies when you’re having fun.

  We ended up hanging out in the hotel suite of the blogger who put on the event—drinking, snacking and bullshitting. Sometime after we returned from dinner about a dozen of us—including Tanner, Meredith and Cassandra—had migrated up to the oversized room and decided it would be more fun to play Cards Against Humanity then to go out clubbing with everyone else. I had to admit it was the right choice.

  The amount of work it took into successfully putting on an event boggled my mind as we talked that night. I didn’t even know there were book bloggers out there, let alone that they often hosted signings to get readers and authors together.

  When I put my hands on the arm of my chair and made to stand up, Rissa waved me off. “You can stay.”

  “No. It’s fine. I didn’t realize how late it was. See you guys in the morning.” I nodded my head to my brother and the others.

  “Breakfast at ten,” Meredith called out making Rissa groan.

  “Can’t I just sleep in one day?” she grumbled.

  “No.” Meredith laughed at the stricken expression on Rissa’s face.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t schedule so many signings so close together. They jack up my weekends off,” Rissa groused.

  “I could always find another assistant,” Meredith threatened.

  “You wouldn’t,” Rissa said with confidence.

  “Oh I would. Hey, Ben, how would you feel about getting to know another assistant of mine?” Her innuendo was not missed and Rissa looked ready to pounce on her. I knew I needed to intervene before the two fiery redheads went at each other.

  “And with that it’s time for us to go.” I grabbed Rissa’s hand and led her out of the room and towards the elevators leaving the sound of Meredith’s cackling behind us.

  “She always tries to push my buttons. I swear she likes to see me mad,” Rissa bristled as we waited for the elevator car to arrive.

  “Then don’t let her.”

  “Easy for you to say,” she scoffed.

  When the door opened, I ushered her in with my hand on the small of her back. As we rode down to our floor, I drew slow circles on her back to relax her. It seemed to work and by the time the doors opened again she had put most of her weight on me.

  We walked down the hall and rounded the corner to where our room was at the far end of the hall.

  “I’m tired,” she said again with a yawn.

  “It’s because we’re still on east coast time. It’s three o’clock there.” We stopped in front of the door, and I dug the keycard out of my back pocket.

  “That makes sense then. Sometimes traveling has its disadvantages. Tomorrow night when we get back to New York I won’t be able to fall asleep for work.”

  “I can stay over if you want and tire you out,” I graciously offered.

  “You might have to.”

  “I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

  “Oh I know I will.” She giggled as we stepped into the darkened room. I flipped the switch on and stared in horror at the naked woman lying on bed spread eagle.

  Holy shit.

  “What the fuck,” I murmured.

  Rissa peered around my frozen body and screamed, “Are you fucking shitting me?”

  “Who’s this?” the naked woman asked giving a poignant look at Rissa.

  “Who are you is more like it,” Rissa said with barely constrained anger.

  “I’m here for Ben. This is his room,” the woman said cattily.

  Indeed the room was registered to me, but I had no idea who the woman was. Some of the faces of the people I met during the day were a blur to me. There were just too many to try to remember especially when I would most likely never see them again.

  Rissa turned her livid gaze on me, and I fought a wince at how evil she looked. Medusa had nothing on her right then.

  “Care to explain?” she bit out.

  “Not really,” I lamely answered. It wasn’t as if I had an answer for who this chick was let alone how she ended up in my room.

  “This is just great,” she muttered under her breath. “Get the fuck out.” She gave the woman a death glare.

  Oblivious to the tension in the room, the woman said, “I’m not leaving until he tells me to. Why don’t you scurry along and give us some privacy.”

  I quickly grabbed a discarded robe from the floor and threw it onto her to cover her up. “At least put some clothes on,” I grumbled.

  “Why aren’t you kicking her out?” Rissa asked distrustfully.

  “I’m going to but she needed to cover herself up long enough to tell me how the hell she got in here.”

  The woman reached over to the nightstand and held up a key. Rissa’s eyes went from the key to me and if looks could kill I’d be lying on the floor dead.

  “It isn’t what it looks like,” I told her.

  “It looks like you gave her a fucking key,” she shouted. Her body was stiff, vibrating with tension.

  “Rissa,” I said hoping to get her to think rationally. “How could I give her a key? I have mine and you have the other one. Besides it isn’t as if we were going to be apart tonight, so why would I ask her to meet me up here?”

  She seemed to think about that for a second before once again turning an arctic glare onto the offending woman. “Where did you get that from?”

  For the first time since the whole confrontation started, the woman finally started to look a little nervous. Served her right. Who the hell just showed up in someone’s hotel room naked like that? Then again there was a time when if I were single I probably wouldn’t have minded it. On second thought, it was a tad bit creepy and reminded me a little too much of my blind date from hell on Valentine’s Day.

  “I have a friend in housekeeping,” she finally answered with fluster.

  “Well your friend is about to lose his or her job.” Rissa stormed over to the phon
e and picked it up, stabbing the number for the front desk with her finger.

  “I suggest you get dressed,” I told the girl with my arms crossed over my chest. She scrambled off the bed and quickly pulled her dress over her head.

  “Can we just let this go?” she asked as her eyes darted between Rissa and me.

  “What were you thinking?” I asked her while Rissa spoke to management over the phone.

  “I don’t know. You were hot. I thought it would be fun.” She shrugged and bent to pick up her shoes from the floor.

  I shook my head in disbelief. Unbelievable.

  Security promptly came to our room and removed the woman while the night manager begged us for forgiveness and assured us his staff would be dealt with appropriately. After comping our room for the night and having the sheets changed for us, I shut the door on him and warily turned back to face Rissa now that we were alone.

  “That was crazy,” I said into the silence.

  Tanner and Meredith were really going to get a kick out of the story. I glanced at the clock and saw it was nearing two thirty in the morning. Breakfast wasn’t far enough away.

  With a yawn, I pushed my jeans down my legs and kicked them off towards the suitcases. Removing my shirt and socks next, I walked around the bed and pulled the covers back.

  “You asked me the other day what I was afraid of,” she started to talk but then stopped and woodenly undressed without saying another word.

  “What’s that?” I prompted her.

  “This kind of thing is what I’m afraid of. That woman was naked on our bed. She was here for you. And I can’t stop thinking about what would have happened if I hadn’t been here. You’re going to start traveling with Cassandra. What if a woman comes on to you again and I’m not there?”

  “Rissa. I told you that you have nothing to worry about and I meant it. I barely even looked at her.”

  I didn’t want to have this conversation again. Sure the evidence was pretty damning there for a minute, but I would rather die than hurt her like that. How many times was I going to have to prove myself before it would sink in?

  Still standing next to the bed with her on the other side of the room, I wondered if it ever would. The gap between us seemed to grow bigger with each second that ticked on.

  “Biology can’t be controlled. You’re hardwired to stand at attention for a naked woman,” she argued.

  “Maybe that’s true but nothing stirred down there when she was spread eagle for me, sweetheart. I’m not every other man. Sure I can get off with a willing woman no problem, but I prefer there to be a connection there. Getting off is just getting off. Making love to someone who knows you and respects you is a hell of a lot different.”

  She wavered. I could see it in her eyes and the way her body relaxed a bit. I was finally getting somewhere, and I was ready to fist pump the air knowing it. It was a good thing I didn’t. She could certainly be stubborn when she wanted to.

  “That might be true, but I can’t help the way I feel.”

  “You need to find a way past these insecurities, Riss.”

  “What if you and Cassandra start getting close when you’re together? Flirting or whatever? What happens when she wants to sleep with you again?” I swear I could see the crazy thoughts forming in her brain, and I wanted the shake them right out of her.

  “How did you know we slept together?”

  “She told me and she also told me it meant nothing because you were into me.” Then she added as an afterthought, “If you were into me why did you fuck her?”

  “I’m not answering that. You were the one who went back to Scott. You left me hanging in the wind without even an explanation. While he was warming your bed, you can’t get mad about who warmed mine.” My voice was raised by the end of my tirade. I was so sick of having these conversations.

  A small voice in the back of my head was asking if it was even worth it. She wasn’t ever going to let go of the issues holding her back.

  “I’m done talking about this.” I climbed into bed and turned off my light. Other than the bathroom light, the room was bathed in darkness. I stared at the ceiling with my fists clenched next to my sides and listened as she finally moved. Heading to her suitcase, I heard it unzip and her rummage around inside it. The rustling of clothes came next and then finally the bathroom light went out.

  The bed dipped when she joined me, leaving a foot and a half of space between our bodies. When she rolled on her side and faced the wall, I did the same.

  Strained silence filled the room as we both laid there. I’m not sure which one of us fell asleep first, but I can tell you mine was a fitful rest that left me groggy and cranky the next morning.

  TWENTYTHREE

  One step forward and two steps back. That was the pattern Rissa and I seemed to have fallen into.

  The day after our fight in Denver, we were both nasty to not only each other but to Meredith, Tanner and Cassandra as well. They seemed to be casualties in our war of sorts.

  A few trouble in paradise comments were made, but neither of us reacted to them other than to glare at the offending person. They wisely gave up after that. Once they were quiet, it was easy to ignore the pointed look between them, so that’s what I did.

  The flight back was tense as well. Meredith offered to switch seats with me so that she and Rissa were on one side of the aisle and Tanner and I were on the other. It felt a little childish to act this way, but keeping my distance was the only way to keep from apologizing for something I didn’t think I should have to apologize for. Politeness and manners were ingrained in me, and I knew that the longer the silence went on the more likely I was to cave in order to alleviate the tension between us.

  We separated at the airport, again with me going with Tanner and her going with Meredith. In the Jeep on the way back to town, he tried to talk to me about it, but I quickly cut him off. The last thing I needed was some of his world class advice.

  It wasn’t until the next evening that I had calmed down enough to rationally consider where Rissa was coming from. She had every right to be upset with what happened in the room. What she didn’t have was the right to assume that I would behave just as badly as her exes did. I shouldn’t have to pay for their transgressions.

  What it all boiled down to was trust. She either trusted me or she didn’t. I could live with her learning to trust me. I knew it was something that you often had to build, but at this point if the foundation wasn’t even there it never would be. And that was what I needed to find out. If she trusted me at all.

  I waited a few days to see if she was going to come to me, but she never did. Knowing she was probably being obstinate, I tried calling her when I got home from work, but it went to voicemail. Her car was still outside her office when I had left, so I decided to chalk it up to her working late and left a voicemail.

  “Hey, Riss. It’s me. I was hoping we could talk things out. Give me a call when you get home.” I disconnected and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I made quick work of washing away the day’s sweat and grime. After I threw on some clothes, I checked my phone and saw that there were no missed calls.

  This time I sent her a text asking her if she was available and heated up some leftovers from the fridge.

  By the time I was done eating my food, I still hadn’t heard from her so I put my shoes on and grabbed my car keys.

  The drive to her house went by quickly leaving me with hardly any time to decide what I was going to ultimately say to her. I parked in front and jogged up the walkway deciding that I would just wing it and see what happened.

  You can imagine my surprise when the door opened and instead of seeing Rissa, I was met with the sight of Scott. His hair was disheveled, his shirt was untucked and his shoes were off. My mind immediately went to the worst possible place.

  I pushed him out of my way and stormed into the house. He tried to stop me, but a quick shove to his chest had him stumbling back a few steps.

  I found Riss
a walking down the stairs in a robe that showed her bare legs underneath it. Acid shot through my veins at the sight in front of me.

  What the hell had I walked in on?

  “Ben? What are you doing here?” she asked, tightening her robe and casting an unreadable look at Scott, who was now standing in between us.

  “I think the better question is what is he doing here?”

  “You want me to kick this guy out, honey?” Scott asked, wrongly assuming I wasn’t a threat he needed to worry about. I practically snarled and took a menacing step towards him ready to take all my frustrations out on him.

  “Stay out of this, Scott.” She walked down the remaining steps and rounded his body, cutting me off from doing any physical harm to him. “Let’s go talk outside.”

  I had no choice but to follow her as she continued to walk past me and out onto the front porch. It didn’t escape my notice that I was the one she was escorting out while he still stayed inside the house. It was completely fucked up.

  “How could you?” I asked when the door shut. With my thumb pointed over my shoulder I said with disdain, “That guy?”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “So he isn’t in your house right now looking like he’s been here long enough to get comfortable? And I’m not the one standing on the front porch getting a cold shoulder? Because that’s exactly what it seems like to me.” I crossed my arms in a belligerent stance. “What is he doing here?”

  “He came over to make amends.”

  “And you what? Decided to get more comfortable and put on a robe? Are you even wearing clothes under it?” I angrily swept my hands up and down her body.

  She clenched the top of her robe in her hands. “Of course I am. I can’t believe you’d insinuate—”

  I let out a humorless laugh at her words. “Me? You can’t believe me? Oh that’s rich. I’m with you all night and a woman whom I don’t even know shows up in our room and I’m public enemy number one. You ignore my phone calls and text messages so I show up only to find you with your ex and I’m the bad guy again?”