Fiona swallows, wipes her face with a tissue. “Really?”
“I could see you living downtown or over on the Eastside with all the other rich bitches.”
Fiona smiles a little. “Thank you for saying that, for trying to make me feel better, but we both know I’d never fit in.”
“I guess you have to decide what’s important to you then.”
Fiona’s phone starts playing some classical piano music, and she answers it. “Yes, I’m ready right now. Let me ask her.” Fiona looks over at Blair. “It’s Tori, are you ready to go? She’s coming over to pick us up.”
“What?” Blair’s mouth opens. “You invited yourself?”
Fiona gives her a crafty smile. “Blair’s ready, too. We’ll see you soon.”
Blair stares at her.
“I don’t give up easily,” is all Fiona says, as she brushes past her and walks out of the room.
Tori picks them up in her blue minivan, and Blair enjoys the annoyed expression on Fiona’s face when she sees all the dog hair and mess.
“What’s that smell?” Fiona asks, climbing into the back, brushing the seat.
“Tori has three dogs and two cats,” Blair tells her without holding back the glee in her voice. “She also works part-time at a vet’s office. Isn’t that great?”
“Why don’t any of you people have normal cars?” Fiona grumbles.
“Aren’t you glad you forced yourself on us?”
Tori gives Blair a look. “Poor Fiona called me and said you and Road were both ditching her today, even though she’s alone in a new city.”
Blair rolls her eyes. Poor Fiona? Of course, Fiona would know how to manipulate someone as good-hearted as Tori.
“She said you guys tried to force her to go stay in a hotel last night,” Tori continues. She glances behind her to Fiona in the backseat. “You’re welcome to come stay with me. I have a second bedroom.”
“Yes,” Blair says, smiling at Fiona. “What a terrific idea. Why don’t you go stay with Tori? You wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch, and you’d have your own room where all of Tori’s animals could keep you company.”
Fiona opens her mouth, a horrified expression on her face. “I’d love to, but I’m allergic to cats.”
“Really?” Blair says. “I have a cat. Mr. Maurice, surely you’ve seen him.”
“I meant dogs, not cats.” Fiona shakes her head in a ‘silly me’ gesture. “It’s dogs I’m allergic to.”
“Give me a break,” Blair says, but can’t help her laughter.
The three of them stop first at Fred Meyer, where Tori and Blair shop some of the sales. It’s a crowded Sunday, and it isn’t long before it becomes clear that Fiona has an ulterior motive for why she wanted to join them today as she starts quizzing Blair about her marriage again.
“I never even knew Nathan had a wife until recently.”
“Hmmm,” Blair responds noncommittally as she holds a striped shirt in front of herself.
“So, why did he marry you? Did you need a green card?”
Blair forces a laugh. “Yes, that’s it. I’m originally from Sweden. How did you know?”
Tori looks confused. “Why are you so curious about Road and Blair’s marriage?”
“Because I need them to fall in love.”
This gets both Blair and Tori’s attention.
“Why?” Tori asks.
“Well, I need Nathan to fall in love,” Fiona amends. “Clearly she’s already in love.”
Tori’s brows go up as she looks at Blair. “Did you tell her all this?”
“Of course not.” Blair hangs up the striped shirt, since she already owns four of them. She turns to Fiona. “You should work for the FBI. Your talents are wasted being a marketing and media specialist.”
Fiona smirks. “Believe me, I’m very good at what I do. And you forget I’ve read Nathan’s blog detailing his life the past few years and he never mentions you. Not even once.”
“That’s nice to know,” Blair mutters.
“You might as well tell me what the story is between you two. I’ll figure it out anyway.”
“Why don’t you just mind your own business?” Blair picks up the striped shirt again. So now I’ll own five of them.
“This is my business.”
“How do you figure that?”
“I suspect Nathan is stalled because of you.”
“Me?” Blair laughs. “I seriously doubt that.”
“Maybe he’s not in love with you, but there’s something going on, and obviously you were together last night.”
Tori’s blue eyes flash up at Blair from the jeans she’s holding against her hips. “You were with my brother last night?”
“Sort of.”
Fiona snorts. “Sounded like a lot more than ‘sort of’ to me.”
Tori’s eyes grow wide. “You and Road are together?”
“It was lust.”
Tori makes a face.
“Sorry.” Blair smiles at her. “But you asked.”
“Lust between you two didn’t work out so great last time.”
Blair sighs. “I know.”
“I thought you were putting all that behind you. Moving on, that you’d moved on.”
Fiona is watching this with interest. “So, it was lust? But why bother getting married? That doesn’t make any sense. Were you pregnant or something?”
Tori and Blair’s eyes meet, but then they look away from each other.
Fiona sucks in her breath. “My God, that’s it.” She grows still, mulling this over. “But where’s the . . . ?”
Blair sighs and hangs the shirt up again. I don’t need to waste money.
“Fiona, don’t go there,” Tori says, an edge to her voice. “Seriously. Do not go there.”
“I understand.” Fiona lets out her breath. “I’m so sorry. I really am. Believe it or not, I love children. They’re so cute and grubby. And they smell like mustard. What’s not to love?”
Blair glares at her.
“I mean it! I have two nephews, and I love them dearly.”
“Whatever.” Blair wanders down the aisle to get away from her. This just keeps getting better and better.
The three of them roam the store mostly in silence now, except for Fiona’s occasional bitchy comment about the merchandise. “I’ve never been in one of these stores. Is this where everyone in Seattle shops? Aren’t there any normal stores?”
“Sorry,” Blair tells her. “This is all there is, so you’ll just have to get used to it.”
Fiona tosses her ponytail over her shoulder. “I know you’re only saying that to frighten me.” She glances around. “Though, I have to admit, it’s working.”
When they stop to look through the household goods, Fiona starts talking to her again about Road. “He’s not in love with you, but there’s something there.”
Tori is at the end of the aisle, examining dog beds. Despite herself, Blair is listening.
“He’s interested in you,” Fiona continues.
I wish. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. He’s interested. I can tell. We need to help him along and get this sorted out. Don’t you want him to fall in love with you?” She pauses then speaks with relish. “It would be perfect for this next book. I can already see it.”
Blair laughs. “You’re kidding, right? That’s what this is all about? Good luck.”
Fiona grows serious. “Nathan doesn’t understand this yet, but his life is about to seriously change. Edge of Zen is doing extremely well, and I suspect we can push it even higher. It’s certainly putting him on the radar. This next book could put him on the map.”
Blair watches how Tori checks out the softness of each cushion for the doggie beds. “How do you know?”
Fiona smiles. “Trust me, I just do. But we need to help him, because he’s blocked and after reading his first draft, I know why. He’s missing his theme. A love story would be perfect. You need to make him fall in love with
you!”
“And how do you suggest I do that?”
“Seduce him with your body first and then your mind.”
Blair is silent. If only it were that simple. She thinks about how they spent last night together. And look where he is today? With Skank Factor X Marla.
Fiona is wrong. Road isn’t interested in me. Last night was just lust for him. Sure, he likes me in a friendly sort of way. And then as she’s thinking all this, she sees exactly what she needs to buy.
Tori pushes the cart over as Blair shoves the long box inside of it. “You’re buying an air mattress?”
“It’s for Road. I’m going to put it in the office.”
“I don’t know if his back can handle an air mattress.”
“His back?” Blair stares at Tori.
“My God.” Fiona is gawking at the box. “Did you even hear a single word I just said?”
Blair pointedly ignores Fiona. “I thought he made that up. Is something actually wrong with Road’s back?”
Tori nods. “He was in a fender bender a few months ago in London. Although, now that I think about it, aren’t air mattresses good for back pain?”
“You should be buying lingerie, not an air mattress!” Fiona practically shrieks. “How stupid are you?”
“Fiona, I know you mean well,” Tori says, while Blair snorts, “but this is probably for the best.”
“No, it isn’t!”
“This isn’t a game,” Blair tells her. “It’s my life, okay? I’m done with Road. I’ve been in love with him since eighth grade, and it’s time to move on.”
“Eighth grade? Oh, my fucking God! I would have had that man on his knees in less than a week!”
“What do you even know about it?” Blair says, irritated. “I thought you were gay.”
Fiona rolls her eyes in exasperation. “I used to date men. I dated men for years! Until I discovered I was a big old dyke.” She laughs merrily. “And then I met Sachi.” Fiona’s eyes suddenly fill with tears. She doesn’t start in with the hysterical crying again, thank goodness, but her lips turn down and her face contorts into the evil witch from The Wizard of Oz again.
Tori immediately releases the shopping cart and goes over to put her arms around her. “You poor thing. It’s going to be okay.”
“No offense,” Blair mutters, “but I don’t need advice on my love life from someone who’s so clearly made a mess of their own.”
But neither of them are paying attention to Blair as Fiona tries to get herself under control. Eventually, they make their way up to the front and pay for everything, then load it all into the back of Tori’s minivan.
Blair thinks about all the things Fiona told her about Road.
What does she know anyway?
“WHAT THE HELL is this?” Nathan mutters when he sees the air mattress sitting on the floor next to his desk, all neatly made up for bed.
Christ.
He’s had a shitty day, and this is the last thing he wants to deal with. First, he gets a call from the technical consultant he hired last week, filling him in on a whole list of problems with his website’s expansion. Then Marla calls him this morning, asking him if he’d come help with a surprise gift for Kiki’s wedding. He said yes, because he wanted to do something nice for his little sister.
Turns out Marla’s idea of a ‘surprise’ involved him driving her around in her black Escalade all day, going from store to store looking at furniture. He figured she wanted him to help pay for something and then help carry it, but that wasn’t it at all. She was just spinning her wheels, wasting their time.
“Look, Marla, I’m done. I can’t look at another couch. Just let me know the amount, and I’ll give you the money.”
“I thought you wanted to help me pick out something nice for the happy couple.” She slid her hand down his arm. “We’re going to be family soon, after all.”
“Yeah,” he muttered under his breath.
When they weren’t looking at couches, Marla wouldn’t stop talking about her divorce, telling him every intimate detail. Going on about how lonely she felt, about what a prick her ex was—not that he’s ever met the guy, though apparently he was unfaithful to her.
“You and I had a real good thing once, didn’t we, Road?” she asked, putting her hand on his leg. “You have to admit that.”
“Sure, I guess.” In truth, he remembered how she was always a little crazy, even back then.
“I hear you’ve become some kind of successful blogger now. Your mom was telling me all about it the other day.”
He frowned, wishing his mom would quit bragging to everybody about him, not to mention learn who her real friends were.
Then there was the way Marla kept putting her hands on him as he was driving her car. Touching his arms and chest, rubbing his thigh, even trying to grab his dick. “Jesus, Marla, cut it out.” But she only laughed. He kept swatting her hands away, dodging her lascivious fingers. She was aggressive as hell, and he damned near felt molested. At one point, she actually straddled him in the driver’s seat after he parked the car.
“God, you were always so handsome.” Marla licked her lips. “And you still are.”
“Thanks.” He had his hands on her waist, trying to pick her up and remove her from his lap without hurting her. “Can you get off me?”
“Do you still think I’m hot? You used to, remember?”
“Sure, course.”
“Let’s go back to my house and spend the afternoon in bed. What do you say?”
“Listen, Marla, I’m married,” Nathan said with relief, remembering he had the perfect out.
“Oh, come on, that’s bullshit. You and Little Miss Priss? I know you’re not serious. There’s no way that’s real.”
“It’s real, all right.” Nathan thought about last night, Blair moaning and grabbing him. That was plenty real. He always liked it when a woman was noisy, but with Blair, it seriously turned him on. Some women put on a little show, but that was no show. Blair’s responsiveness was hot and unexpected. He can’t believe he would have forgotten that about her, no matter how drunk he was. And then it hit him, the reason he didn’t remember Blair being noisy all those years ago. I didn’t make her come. He felt embarrassed all over again, but figured he at least made up for it some last night. It seemed like she had a good time.
Then why in the hell am I staring at an air mattress?
He sighs, reaches over to shut off his computer, then leans back in his office chair. Blair cleaned up his desk and organized it. Normally, he’s funny about anyone messing with his stuff, but he can see she was only being helpful.
Should leave Blair alone. It’s obviously what she wants.
Knows he should, but in truth, he was hoping for another night with her. Been thinking about her all day as he was fighting off Marla. Even this morning, talking to Blair alone in her bedroom, he was feeling the pull of her. Touching her neck, her skin so smooth.
Had to get out of there.
It’s not like Blair’s in love with that dude—she said so herself—but he knows he should let her be with that guy if it’s what she wants.
Not exactly what I want, though.
He wants to feel her pressed against him again, listening to all those pretty sounds she makes. Selfish, but there it is. Despite their shitty history, he’s attracted to her. She’s sweet and classy and way too good for him.
What did Marla call her? Miss Priss. Blair did have some prissy ways, but even that turned him on. Those haughty looks. He’s always liked a woman who could throw some sass.
I should let her be, should leave her alone.
He’s still telling himself this as he unfolds himself from the chair, leaves the office, and walks down the hall toward her bedroom.
Not sure what he’s going to find when he quietly opens the door, expecting she might be asleep, but it turns out Blair’s awake, sitting in bed reading.
She looks up from her Kindle, and he can tell she’s wearing her usual T-shir
t and shorts. Remembers teasing her about not wearing nighties.
Not complaining about those shorts, though.
He imagines her in a sexy little nightie and figures it’s just as well she’s not wearing something like that.
Probably give me a heart attack.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, but he can see on her face she already knows why he’s here. “I set up a place for you to sleep in the office.”
“Yeah, I saw it.”
The room is dark except for the lamp glowing on her nightstand, and he can see Blair’s eyes on him as he makes his way over to the bed to sit down.
“Why?” is all he asks.
She bites her lip, but doesn’t look away. The two of them study each other. He knows he should give her the space she wants, shouldn’t push it, but the stubborn part of him, the part that wants to stay, is curious to hear her reasons.
“Is it because of that guy, Graham?”
Blair eyes widen a little. “No, that’s not it.”
“Then what?”
But she just shakes her head.
“Is it the past? Our history?”
Blair doesn’t reply. Her hands are still gripping her Kindle, though she’s not looking at it. Her head is tilted a little, and her hair is pulled back in a way so he can see the lines of her slender neck.
“Tell me,” he says softly. He wants to reach out and touch her, let those red curls brush against him again. Something about Blair keeps drawing him in.
“Having you here has stirred things up for me.”
“I get that.”
“It’s not as if I’m hanging on to it. A lot happened, and even though some of it could have been good, it wound up being all bad.” Her eyes meet his. “You know?”
“Yeah.” He nods. “That’s the truth.”
Neither of them speaks or moves after that. The room is quiet except for the noises of distant traffic outside her neighborhood.
Nathan shifts position on the bed so he’s turned toward her. Without a word, he reaches over and takes the Kindle from Blair’s hand, placing it on the closest nightstand. He feels like an intruder in her private space, but doesn’t let it stop him. He licks his lips then motions slightly with his head. “Let your hair down for me.”
She remains still for a long moment, and he wonders if she’ll do it or if she’ll tell him to go. But then she reaches behind her and pulls the band off so there’s a riot of fiery curls falling over her shoulder.
Return of the Jerk (Sweet Life in Seattle, Book 2) Page 19