“I mean, that is not what you write. There are stereotypes here and you’re breaking them. Writers—especially romance writers—are not supposed to be beautiful women who can have any guy they want just by crooking their finger at them. They are supposed to be women who spend their time dreaming about finding that special someone who can rock their world.”
Damned if she didn’t like the way he kept teasing her. “Are you saying I can’t write romances because I’m too pretty?”
Ken’s phone began to play the opening bars to Sympathy for the Devil, but he ignored it. “Damn straight I am.” The smile on his face made it clear he didn’t believe a single word he was telling her, but other than that he was playing it straight.
“Have you ever heard of Danielle Steele or Nora Roberts?”
“Can’t say I have,” Ken told her, proving again he was lying. Everyone knew who they were and contrary to his just invented stereotype, they were both very attractive women.
The phone continued to futilely demand Ken’s attention.
“Well they’re very beautiful, very successful, very sophisticated, romance writers,” Eve told him.
“Not as beautiful as you,” Ken insisted.
“What?” His words were so unexpected that they snapped Eve right out of her confessional euphoria. They were just teasing each other, right? Ken was too young and handsome to be interested in her, wasn’t he? So why did he look and sound so serious when he said that?
She sat back in her chair before she could consider how Ken might interpret her response and then immediately wished she could take her reaction back.
His smile collapsed and an expression of intense embarrassment took over his features. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t mean to—”
His phone started to play the Rolling Stones again. “Excuse me a moment. I’d better get this.”
Before Eve could formulate a response, Ken pulled out his phone and took the call. “Hello?”
Eve could hear the sound of loud music emanating from Ken’s phone, but not make out the words that were being said.
Evidently, Ken was having a little trouble with that too. “What? I can’t—oh, hi Travis … No, I’m still at the restaurant with Eve … Of course you can … they’re not due for another hour anyway and I’ll be there before they’re done to pay them—if they even show up in this weather.”
Eve remembered the time. She’d intended for Ken and her to have a very quick meal, but they’d gotten caught up in their conversation and stayed much longer than necessary. Long enough for everything to get confused. Had he been teasing her about her looks and her secret career? Or had he actually been expressing interest and her complete surprise had put him off? She didn’t know how to figure out the answer to that, but she did know how to avoid the question.
She touched Ken’s knee to get his attention. “You’d better get to your bachelor party. It’s obvious that they can’t manage things without you.” Ken shook his head. “They don’t need me. We can stay here as long as you want.”
As if God wanted to make the point that that was definitely not the case, Eve’s cell phone started playing I Want You Back by the Jackson Five. Damn! She really needed to change that song. It was fine before Charlie and she split up but now it made it sound like she was pining for the bastard.
Eve answered her phone. “Hello?”
“Eve? Where are you?” Liz shouted into the receiver. The music in the background had to be every bit as loud as that which she could hear over Ken’s phone. “The party has started.”
Eve had to fight the instinct to shout back, competing with all the noise on Liz’s end of the conversation. “We’re just finishing up dinner. I’m planning to bum a ride with Ken on his way to the bachelor party.”
Next to her, Ken frowned, making Eve wonder if he didn’t want to give her a ride. She wished that she could figure this guy out.
Then a stray thought hit her. “Ken, you gave your car keys to Travis. How are we going anywhere?”
Ken comically hit himself in the forehead. “Hey, Travis, you have my keys, man. How am I going to get my truck?”
He listened for a few moments and breathed a sigh of relief before addressing Eve again. “He got someone to follow him over here and parked my truck in basically the same spot we originally left it. The keys are inside.”
Liz had not waited on Ken and Travis’ conversation. “Well, hurry up!” she demanded through Eve’s phone. “You don’t want to miss all the excitement.”
Actually Eve wasn’t certain about that. All of a sudden she felt very tired. Sharing with Ken, starting to think that they were having a moment, and then realizing he really wasn’t interested sucked a lot of the energy right out of her. But what could she do but agree? “He’s on the phone with Travis right now. We shouldn’t be too much longer”
“Good,” Liz said and hung up.
Eve put her phone away and watched Ken do the same thing. “Are you ready?” she asked him.
Ken considered for a moment before answering. “I was going to tell you that there really isn’t any reason to hurry, but you’re obviously ready to go and we don’t want to be rude to Ron and Kara.”
He looked around until he caught the waiter’s eye.
Eve really couldn’t figure him out. “Don’t tell me you’re not looking forward to the bachelor party.”
He shrugged. “At this point, I can take it or leave it. Frankly, Ron’s probably going to be pissed at me about it tomorrow. This morning that seemed funny.” He shrugged. “Now? I feel like an asshole.”
The waiter arrived with the check before Eve could follow up on Ken’s statement.
“Thanks for the ride,” Eve told Ken as he pulled up in front of Kara’s snow-covered house. It wasn’t the only thing under a blanket of fluffy whiteness. The streets had several inches of accumulation on them, but the plows were out and working hard and Ken’s Ford Ranger appeared to have no trouble navigating the storm.
No problem. Give me a call when you’re ready to leave and I’ll swing back over to pick you up.”
The mixed signals continued to confuse Eve. Was Ken just being a good guy or was he looking for an excuse to see her again? “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure I can catch a ride with someone at the party.”
Ken considered that for a moment before shrugging. “Do as you think best, but if you want a ride I’d be happy to come get you.”
His reaction helped her finish filing Ken away in the correct category— good guy. It must be all the wine that had confused her. She’d drunk enough to feel rather light headed when she stood up in the restaurant and latched on to Ken so she wouldn’t fall over, but she was feeling quite a bit better now after the drive to Kara’s place.
She opened her door. “Thanks again. How far to the bachelor party?”
“It’s not that far. The snow may slow me down a little but I’ll get there.”
She resisted the urge to lean over and kiss his cheek, lest he think it a drunken come on. “Well thanks.”
She got out of the car, closed the door and carefully made her way up the snowy walk to Kara’s front door. The music was blasting loudly enough to be heard by the whole street. On any other night but a snow emergency some bad-attitude neighbor would have the cops on their steps complaining about the noise. Tonight the police had better things to do.
She noticed that Ken was still watching her, making certain, she assumed, that she got safely inside. He really was a good guy.
She waved to him, and then entered the house, trading the frozen chill of the outdoors for a blast of heat that immediately had her unbuckling her coat.
The house was packed with women getting drunk. There were all sorts there—black, white, young old—huddled together in small groups while they drank. Eve did not immediately see Kara or Liz, but a couple of the faces looked vaguely familiar as if she’d been introduced over the years when she and Kara were closer.
She stepped deeper i
nto the room.
“Hey, you don’t have a drink in your hand,” a large white woman said to her. She had a happy drunken smile on her face as she took hold of Eve’s arm and hauled her deeper into the party.
“What will you have? Beer? Wine? Something stronger? I’m Kitten, by the way. Ron’s sister.”
After the first surprised steps, Eve caught her balance and decided it was easier to go along with the woman than assert herself. “Just wine, please.”
They stopped in front of a table with a truly impressive assortment of alcoholic beverages set out on top of it. Kara’s mother would have a fit if she saw it. The woman was totally opposed to any type of inebriation. Hopefully they had had the sense not to bring the old woman here tonight.
Kitten thrust a bottle of white wine into her hands. “Here, take the whole bottle. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
Without waiting to see Eve’s response, the woman picked up another beer and wandered back into the party.
A girl who was probably no more than eighteen years old shook her head as she stepped up next to Eve. “Parents, you can’t take them anywhere, can you?”
Eve smiled at the girl. “Is she really your Mom?”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately.” She picked up a beer of her own and disappeared back into the crowd.
Eve put down the bottle of white wine, saw an interesting looking merlot and poured herself a glass.
“Hey, Eve, you made it,” Kara told her before almost knocking her over with an unusually enthusiastic hug.
Eve set down her glass so she could return the embrace. “It’s good to see you, Kara. Sorry I’m late.”
Kara took a big swallow of beer. “I heard about your flat tire. Bad luck. At least our resident bad boy was around to help you out.”
“Bad boy? Ken? Really?”
Kara swayed closer to her and lowered her voice. “Liz thinks you’re so late because Ken took you back to your room for a little pre-party action.”
Eve felt astounded by the suggestion. “Really? We were just eating. And talking, we also did a lot of talking.”
“Talking?” Kara eyed her skeptically before breaking into a big grin. “I don’t think that’s what they’re talking about when women say Ken is really good with his mouth.”
A shudder worked its way through Eve. Did Ken really have that sort of reputation? “Have there been a lot of women?”
Kara shrugged. “I don’t know personally, but Ron said he gets around.”
That information definitely lowered Ken in Eve’s esteem. Then it contradictorily pissed her off. If he liked to go after the ladies, why the hell hadn’t he made a move on her? She could use some male interest after her breakup with Charlie. But Kara was still standing in front of her so she didn’t have time to explore her jumbled feelings. “We didn’t do anything at all.”
Kara smiled at her. “I know, Sweetie. I told them you’re a good girl. But when a guy has a reputation…”
Kara lifted her beer to her mouth again but realized the bottle was empty. “Hey, I’m dry.”
She turned to the table.
Eve hadn’t seen Kara drunk like this since college and not that often then. As her friend reached for another bottle of beer, her protective instincts kicked in and she switched the Michelob Ultra with a bottle of Poland Springs. “Hey, slow down a little or you’re going to miss Liz’s show, not to mention have a killer hangover for your big day tomorrow.”
Much to her surprise, Kara permitted the substitution. “Okay.” She took a long swig from the water bottle and caught sight of someone across the crowd. “Hey, Anne, come here a minute.”
Eve let her wander off before picking up her glass of wine and retreating to a corner.
Chapter Five
Ken was in no mood to party. The parking lot at Nick’s bar was crowded despite the fact that the Church Key was closed for the night. Snow continued to pour down on Detroit in big fluffy flakes. They should have cancelled both parties, but he supposed that was just his bad mood talking. He’d finally met a truly interesting woman and she had already been scooped up by some other guy. Life really sucked some times.
He parked his truck and walked across the lot to the front door. A big sign announced that the bar was closed for a private party. He wondered if the strippers were already here. They had seemed like a good idea a few hours ago, but quite frankly there was only one woman he wanted to see naked tonight.
Inside the door, there was no real sign that a big party was in progress. Guys were hanging out just like they did every other night in this bar. A few were playing pool. Most stood around with drinks talking just loud enough to be heard over the music. Nick was behind the bar making drinks with Ron sitting across from him and about eight other guys huddled around him. It was hardly the scene of debauchery that most people thought of when they heard bachelor party.
He made his way up to the bar and cuffed Ron on the shoulder. “Hey, man, sorry I’m late.”
Ron lifted his beer to him. “Glad you made it! It was nice of you to help out Kara’s friend.”
“No problem,” Ken told him before reaching across the bar to shake Nick’s hand. “You got a glass of water?”
Ron playfully reached for his heart. “Water? Are you kidding me? You?”
“It’s getting bad out there and I’ve got four-wheel drive. I’m going to be driving people home tonight—maybe even you.”
Nick handed him a large glass of water. “I’ll get Ron home. Actually, he’s coming to my apartment tonight anyway. You could bunk with us too if you want. My fiancé is staying with Kara. You sure you don’t want a beer?”
Ken shook his head. “No, I promised Eve I’d get her back to her hotel tonight. I have to stay sober.”
Another hand clapped him on the shoulder and Travis leaned in, shouting to be heard over the music. “You are such a martyr. First you volunteer to help out a strange woman; next thing I know you’re taking her back to her hotel room.” He grinned. “Then you’ll discover that the roads are truly terrible and you need to stay over with her.”
Under normal situations, Travis’ teasing wouldn’t have bothered Ken, but since the man had just described exactly what Ken wanted to do—but couldn’t indulge in because of Eve’s attached status—the joke made him mad. “She’s married, man,” he retorted, exaggerating the situation for ease of explanation.
“Like that really matters to you,” Travis told him before taking another swig of beer.
“Yeah, it really does,” Ken insisted.
“She’s not actually married, you know,” Ron added.
Ken whirled on him. He knew he was overreacting but he didn’t seem to be able to help himself. “I know that, but she’s living with the guy which is practically the same thing.”
Behind him the bar door opened letting in a gust of snowy air.
“Hey, the strippers are here,” someone shouted.
Most of the men in the bar took a dozen hurried steps in the direction of the three women entering the bar—just about everyone except Ken, Ron and Nick.
Ron stood up and put his hand on Ken’s shoulder. “If you’re really interested, I guess I should tell you—”
Someone grabbed hold of Ron and began propelling him across the bar toward the three women. “Hey, Ron, get over here. You’re the one getting married tomorrow.”
Ken shook his head, wishing he could get excited about the party. Nick stood across the bar from him polishing a glass with a dishtowel staring at him instead of the crowd of guys surrounding the three women. “Aren’t you going over to watch the show?”
Ken sighed, looked at his glass of water and thought about ordering a real drink. “This seemed like a better idea this morning.”
“I hear you made quite an impression on Ken,” Liz announced as she joined Eve in her corner where she stood watching the room.
“Where did you get that idea?” Eve asked her. Contrary to what Travis had led her to expect,
the party was pretty tame. Sure the music was too loud, but other than that it was just a bunch of women standing around and drinking—nothing to get too excited about.
Liz leaned against the wall beside Eve and sipped her wine. “Ken asked Travis all about you while the two of them led you to the Marriot.”
Eve knew when she was being teased. “He did not.”
“Yes, he really did,” Liz insisted.
Eve tried to figure out what game Liz was playing. “Well he certainly didn’t do anything about it.”
“I wonder why,” Liz mused. “He’s not normally shy when he sees a woman he likes.”
The answer to that question was obvious. Ken wasn’t actually interested.
Eve decided to change the subject. “I have to admit that I expected more from this party. The way Travis was talking I wouldn’t have been surprised to find a troop of Chippendales performing in the living room.
Liz laughed. “Oh, that! I just told Travis how raunchy we were going to be so he’d have something to worry about when he was enjoying Ken’s strippers. I couldn’t do anything like that to Kara. Can you imagine what my straight-laced sister would do if some strange guy started taking his clothes off in her living room?”
Eve did find the idea amusing. Kara had always been pretty tightly strung. Eve really did have trouble imagine her sticking dollar bills in some guys jock strap. “So you made it all up to make Travis jealous?”
Liz nodded. “That and to keep my mother and my aunt from joining the party. There is no way anyone was going to be able to enjoy themselves tonight with—”
Someone rapped very loudly on Kara’s front door. It had to be loud to be heard over the music.
“I wonder who that could be,” Liz said. “Anyone invited to the party should know enough to just come inside.”
The rapping sound came again.
Liz set her drink down on a small end table. “Come on, let’s see what’s going on.”
Still holding her glass of wine, Eve followed after Kara’s little sister, but someone opened the door before they could get there.
Snowbound Bachelorette Party Page 4