Vaughn’s smile brought all the butterflies back, but in a good way. Her thighs ached to feel the weight of his body resting between them. He was so handsome, and the few kisses they’d shared had been like engaging in some alien pleasure only someone not of this earth could bring. She wanted to say something more, to intensify the desire simmering between them, but as always, she found her small talk skills lacking. “Nan said she saw you at Annie Dodson’s funeral yesterday,” she said.
Vaughn nodded. “Yes. It was quite the turnout. Annie would have been pleased.”
“Would she?”
“Oh yes.” Vaughn looked away from her when he spoke, out toward the freighter making its way across the lake. “Being popular was like some badge of honor to her. Strangely enough, I think she would be pleased at all the fame being a murder victim has brought.”
Bexley kicked back on the blanket, rolling over onto her stomach, staring now at the sidewalk and a couple of kids swimming in the pool on the other side. “Personally, I’d rather have a long life, an easy death, and a small funeral…if that’s the option.”
“You and me both.” Vaughn leaned over, running his fingers through flyaway strands of hair the wind had blown into her eyes. “But let’s not talk about Annie Dodson, or funerals, or things that have no bearing on us. Today, I want to focus all my attention on you and only think about pleasant, lovely things.”
The touch of his lips on her shoulder, of his warm breath as he spoke, provoked shivers of pleasure. Holding him off was becoming torture. “You are a smooth talker, Vaughn Humphries.”
“I hope you won’t hold that against me.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Although there is something I’d like for you to hold against me.”
She sat up long enough to push him down on his back, rolling over on top of him. He had a moderate amount of dark chest hair, sprinkled over taut pecs and abdominal muscles. It tickled her skin, and she buried her face there, feeling his skin, heated from the sun, pressed against her cheek, getting a preview of what things might be like after date number five. Everything about him felt hot and hard and made her want him. Even the way his swim trunks hung on his hips taunted her with their promise of pleasure.
She breathed in his scent, equal parts aftershave, sun block, and a musky aroma of male that affected her desire as much as the look and feel of him. It was primal…some instinctive need he brought out in her to mate and reproduce…something no amount of explaining away the biological urges or hard-wiring in the brain could dampen. “Is this what you wanted me to hold against you?” she asked.
“Exactly this.” His arms wrapped around her, hands finding the curve of her backside and pressing her into him. Their lips met then, their tongues sliding together, their bodies heating up, promising the ecstasy that might follow if only they’d allow it.
Bexley ended the kiss, rolling off him. She hadn’t meant to let things get so out-of-hand. Sitting, she looked around, glad the park was nearly deserted. Mama and Grandmama would surely have something to say about fooling around in public.
Vaughn sat up beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Something wrong?” he asked.
“Just trying to remain respectable.”
“It’s a good thing one of us is.” He stifled a small laugh. “I’m normally not so demonstrative in public. See the effect you have on me?” Reaching over to the picnic basket, he pulled out two bottles of sparkling water. “Maybe this will help cool us down.”
Bexley took the beverage, twisting open the cap as a golden retriever bounded over to them, pulled free from its owner’s leash. The dog barked, diving its nose into the picnic basket and spraying them with sand in the process.
Vaughn pushed the dog from the basket, laughing. “Sorry, boy, but I didn’t bring any dog biscuits with me.”
“Oh hell, I’m sorry,” Linwood Jameson said, grabbing back the leash.
“No worries, Lin.” Vaughn stood, scratching the dog behind the ear. “How you doing, Rusty? You keeping this old guy in shape?” Offering his hand to help Bexley to her feet, he made the introductions. “Bexley, this is Linwood Jameson. Lin, this is the lovely Miss Bexley Hart, and she has taken pity on my poor soul and graced me with her company today.”
“Just today, Vaughn? I fear you may be slipping, pal.” To Bexley, he said, “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Hart. And you are, indeed, lovely.”
Lin looked at her with naked desire, the way he looked at most women. Still, it annoyed Vaughn. He knew the way things worked in his social circle, and whatever understanding he and Lin had about not moving in on women the other was currently dating did nothing to suppress his irritation. If Mother didn’t change her mind about Bexley – if she insisted there could be no marriage — Lin would want to do more than look.
If he were half the gentleman he pretended to be, he’d have never approached her in the first place, knowing in advance how his mother would react. And to be fair, he’d held off for five months, until he just couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted her…wanted her so damn badly that the moment Mother planned her trip to Europe, he’d asked Bexley out. Even managed to convince himself he could persuade Mother of Bexley’s qualities. How delusional could he have been? She’d cut his sister out of her life when Mary Alice had married a man Mother disapproved of. She hadn’t even gone to the wedding. And Mary Alice hadn’t been the one to kill their father.
Now, the thought of Lin going after Bexley if Mother didn’t come around…it just galled him to think of it.
Bexley stood, shaking Lin’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you also. And Rusty.”
Rusty barked, and Linwood winked. “I agree, buddy. Our pal Vaughn has good taste. As always.” He grabbed Rusty’s leash and started toward the sidewalk. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your date. Sorry for the intrusion.”
“Not at all,” Vaughn said. “It’s good to see you.”
After Lin was out of earshot, and they’d brushed the sand off the blanket and sat back down, Bexley said, “So that’s Valerie Jameson’s ex? I can’t even tell you the horror stories she’s told me about him.”
Vaughn shrugged, telling himself no one took Valerie Jameson seriously, but was left with a feeling of unease. It would be great if her tales ensured Bexley never had any interest in Lin, but there was no telling what else Valerie might have said. “Linwood wasn’t the world’s greatest husband. There’s no doubt about that. But I’d take anything you hear from Valerie with a grain of salt. She still harbors a lot of ill will about their divorce.”
“She said he just dumped her. Left her alone to raise their child and took away the dog that their daughter loved when he left. I presume she meant Rusty.”
“She gave the dog to Linwood,” Vaughn said. Valerie was such a liar. Even worse than Eleanor. “And as for leaving her alone to raise their child, Lin wanted joint custody, but Valerie raised a total stink about it and threatened to smear his affairs all over the press if he didn’t give her full custody.”
“I’m not trying to defend Valerie Jameson,” Bexley said. “She just really made Linwood sound like a monster.” Pausing, she asked, “Did she really give him the dog?”
“Yes.” Vaughn grabbed a handful of sand and tossed it in front of him. If Valerie had seen fit to mention him, Bexley wasn’t saying. “She said not being able to walk Rusty on the polo fields at the club would just be reminding her of how she’d been kicked out of the place, and how she’d had to give up her life because Lin couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.”
He wasn’t sure what Valerie had expected. Lin was the club member. Naturally, she wasn’t going to continue being a member after he divorced her. She might have gotten a job and joined on her own, if she hadn’t made enemies of literally every other member she met. And hell, she knew what kind of man Lin was when she married him.”
“She says she didn’t know he was married.”
“Lin tells it differently. Though, I suppose he could be lying. Hard to say.”
“She also says he wanted her to have their baby.”
“Well, I’m sure that’s true. Lin likes to say his one good quality is being a good father. He always laughs when he says it, but I think he actually means it.”
“I feel sorry for her,” Bexley said.
Vaughn sighed, stroking the side of her face. “Of course you do. You’re a nice person.” Pausing, he added, “I feel sorry for her too. I think Lin screwed her over a bit. I also think he screwed over his first wife, Peggy. But Valerie definitely made the situation worse with the way she reacted. And spreading all that gossip around town didn’t help her cause either. She forgets most of the people she was gossiping to have lived here their whole lives. They know Linwood; and all about everything that’s gone on, without her giving them her side of the story.”
“I suppose.” Bexley glanced across the sand to where Lin tossed a Frisbee to his dog. “Valerie definitely is a gossip. I figured that much out when I did her kitchen.”
“Hey, come here.” Vaughn reached his arm around her again, pulling her close beside him. She felt soft and warm, reminding him of all the ways their bodies would fit together. He’d hoped he’d be finding out the night of the Summer Soiree, but she’d left him at her front door without inviting him in. “Let’s toss Valerie Jameson into the category of unpleasant talk like Annie Dodson, murders and funerals, shall we?”
Bringing her lips to his, she agreed without making a sound. He needed to figure out what he was going to do about her…before his mother returned from Europe, and went back to laying the guilt trip on him. One date, he’d told himself when he’d asked her out. See if he still felt the same after spending time alone with her…maybe discover everything he thought he was feeling was just built-up inside his head. Instead, he’d caught that pig Cameron Pringle putting the moves on her. Jealousy was what he’d been left with after that. Even Annie’s death couldn’t push Bexley, or the crazy way she made him feel, from his thoughts.
He’d known the morning after the party, even as he was seeing his mother off to the airport and fielding calls from all of his friends and the entire Dodson family, he’d be asking Bexley out again.
Deepening their kiss, he thought maybe if he could just make love to her, he’d get her out of his system.
Chapter Four
“Who do you think did it?”
Looking up from her book, Bexley saw Nan staring at the three-peas-in-a-pod, two empty lounge chairs away. They all wore white bikinis…apparently this summer’s in color. They looked fine as far as things went, but Nan really cut an envious figure in her red Lucky Brand, with a halter top and gold tassels. She had wavy dark hair that she wore in its natural state of curls to just above her shoulders, and the combination of dark hair, red suit, and bronzed skin really stood out against the pale skin, blonde hair, and white suits of the three-peas. Nan was tall too, but athletic and toned. Her stomach was flat as a pancake, with well-defined abs. Bexley had always admired that about Nan, her commitment to staying fit and the way she managed to squeeze a daily workout into her schedule, no matter what else was going on.
Bexley had turned thirty last year and discovered it was like unlocking some secret weapon used against her. Maintaining her figure had become a constant chore. No more ice cream. No more cake. No more cookies. No more anything that tasted sweet, it seemed. The ice cream probably hurt the worst.
“What?” she asked. “You mean who do I think killed that girl?”
“Yeah. Annie Dodson. Who do you think killed her?”
It had been almost a week since the death, and the yellow tape had been cleared from the adjacent polo field two days ago. Already the crowds had returned to the Summer Village as though nothing had ever happened.
“I hadn’t really given it much thought,” Bexley said. “Outside of you and Vaughn and a handful of clients, I don’t really know too many people here.”
“Well then, let me tell you what I think.”
Nan’s voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. She smiled, and though her eyes were hidden behind a pair of Prada shades, Bexley imagined they had widened as she spoke.
“The police haven’t said anything, of course, and they’ve questioned half the people in town, but everyone’s pretty sure Cameron Pringle did it.”
“Cameron?” A wave of shock kept her from saying more. She shuddered, remembering his creepy stare from the party the other night and the way he’d tried to force his attentions on her.
“Yes. My God, didn’t I tell you?” Nan asked. “He’d been having an affair with Annie, despite her being his wife’s sister.”
Bexley made a face. “Oh yuck.”
“I know, right? He ended things with her just two days before she died…after getting her pregnant, I’m told. According to Valerie Jameson, Cam had been pressuring Annie to get an abortion, but you know, the family is Catholic, and for whatever reason, Annie took that part of the religion seriously, and she wanted to keep the baby. I mean, can you imagine the tangled family scandal that would have caused? Annie’s baby being both the cousin and sibling of Cam’s kids with Carolyn?”
“I can’t imagine, and it’s making my brain hurt trying.” Bexley had never met the girl, Annie, but she couldn’t stop thinking about her; and the awful details of her death. She’d been strangled, stabbed, and mutilated; her smiling pre-death photo plastered all over the Grosse Pointe News and the Detroit News.
“I saw you talking to Cam at the party.” Nan pulled her shades down onto the bridge of her nose, looking Bexley in the eye, the way she used to do when they were in college and Nan wanted Bexley to spill her guts about something. “I thought perhaps he said something to you that wasn’t in the papers. Something you wouldn’t have appreciated the meaning of at the time.”
“No.” Bexley shook her head. “He just introduced himself, said he was a teacher at Liggett, and that he wanted to make sure I was single. And then he tried putting his hands on me. That’s when Carolyn showed up and the whole awful scene played out.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Nan waved her hand in front of her, pushing her sunglasses back into place. “Everyone knows Cameron Pringle’s a womanizing whore. They just pretend they don’t so as not to hurt Carolyn’s feelings. No one wants to get on her bad side.”
“That only works because everyone does it,” Bexley said. “If people stopped being afraid of her, she might stop being someone to be afraid of.”
“Ever the idealist, aren’t you?” Nan spared another glance two lounge chairs over.
The three-peas-in-a-pod were busy drinking wine and talking, appearing oblivious to anyone or anything beyond their own circle. Which was fine. Bexley sat up in her chair, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. “I just don’t like being bullied, or told what to do.” She paused. Going on about Carolyn and her cohorts probably wasn’t going to stop their gossip, but venting might make her feel better. “Carolyn Dodson Pringle must live in denial. How can she not realize what kind of man she’s married to? Or cry over a sister he was having an affair with? And just sit there drinking and laughing now, sitting right across the parking lot from where her sister’s body was found? I really don’t understand people like her.”
Nan shrugged. “What’s to understand? Carolyn likes to be in control. Of everyone and everything. She likes Sally and Peggy because they bow to her every command. And she likes Cameron because he’s a bought-and-paid-for husband. He may fool around, but her money ensures he’s never leaving her. And as for Annie, while she may genuinely feel sorry about her being killed, she’s probably just as glad to have the impending scandal that was about to explode go away instead.”
“Geesh. Nice person.”
Nan laughed. “Not really. Carolyn finds a reason to fault every woman Cam’s ever had an affair with or even hit on. It’s always their fault somehow. Never his.”
“Yeah, well that pig approached me, not the other way. And hit on me about two seconds after introducing himself.”
&
nbsp; “Yeah. He’s a pig. And an idiot to boot. Like you’d even be interested in him when you’ve got Vaughn Humphries to keep you entertained.”
Emotions landed in a heap in the pit of her stomach. Her track record with men so far wasn’t that hot. One heartbreak in high school. Another in college. Falling that hard left her facing the unenviable third strike. “For how long I wonder.”
Nan leaned out in the chair, pushing the heels of her feet into the plastic green straps. “Trust me, sweetie. I saw the way he insisted on guiding you back into the ballroom the other night. The man is interested in something more than a casual fling. And that’s the other thing that’s got Carolyn gunning for you. Eleanor has considered Vaughn Humphries her personal property since the two of them came home from college. And Eleanor probably thinks there’s some miraculous reunion waiting for them just around the corner.” She paused, shaking her head. “If she had half a brain, she’d know, for sure, that’s never going to happen.”
“So you say.” The pit in Bexley’s stomach still hadn’t gone away. “And you still haven’t told me what those lies Eleanor told about Vaughn were.”
Nan shook her head. “Because it doesn’t matter. What matters is that when Vaughn dumped Eleanor last summer, it was for good. And you can trust me on that. From what I’ve heard, there’s no way Vaughn will ever take her back.” She spoke the last sentence emphatically, shaking her head when she said. “Anyway, he dated Val Jameson three years ago and a couple of other girls in between Eleanor break-ups, but I haven’t seen him even look at anyone else since you moved to town.”
“He dated Valerie Jameson?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s just, you know, I decorated her kitchen last month, and she never mentioned it. Which is strange, since she mentioned who everyone else in town had dated. I pegged her for a total gossip.”
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