“No, I’m alone.” Erin shuddered at the reference to the lie she’d told her parent. “I was in the kitchen fixing a cup of tea.”
There I go again. Why do I always feel it necessary to lie to my mother?
“Why isn’t he with you if you’re engaged?”
“He had a ballgame. He coaches a Babe Ruth team, which is the older kids’ division of Little League.” Erin leaned her head against the cushioned back of the chair and yawned. ‘Mellow’ was turning to ‘tired’. “He doesn’t sleep here, Mother.”
A modern-day woman, Barbara probably wouldn’t care if he did, but he’d never spent the entire night although Erin had suggested it a time or two when Joey was with his dad.
“Have you two set a wedding date yet?”
“No, we—”
“Of course, you haven’t. You’re dragging your feet as usual. Well, I’ll tell you that is not true of your cousin Angel. Dior proposed to her only last week, and they’ve set a date already.”
Erin groaned. Angel again. Dear sweet little Angel. Barb O’Brien had compared the two cousins as long as Erin could remember, and she was always on the unfavourable end.
Angel’s ballet number was the hit of the dance recital. Angel made the National Honour Society. Angel was smart enough not to jump into a marriage that ended in divorce.
Angel was the reason Erin first fucked Mitch. She remembered telling herself when he was sucking her nipples and thrusting his hard cock inside her that she bet Angel hadn’t fucked yet. Erin remembered thinking, She’s too good. Too nice. Too bad she’s missing out on this. And Angel was the reason Erin had made up the lie about an engagement. Her mother kept harping about Erin not being able to find a man again. So, she’d told her she was in a great relationship and she had a ring to prove it.
Ms. Sweetie Pie—yes, Angel was voted the sweetest girl in her senior class—was thirty-six and had never even been engaged, as far as Erin knew. And she was sure if she had been, she’d have heard about it. Sometimes, Erin wondered why Angel hadn’t landed a man. To be fair, she was attractive and she was always nice to people, including her only cousin. They’d been friends as kids and would be today if Erin’s mother hadn’t ruined the relationship for her.
“Angel and Dior are getting married July 1.”
“Dior? What kind of name is that?” A delayed thought, but I didn’t latch onto it at first shock. “And they’re getting married a month from now?” Erin smirked. “Is she afraid Dior will get away?”
Barbara sniffed. “She’s going to call and invite you to be an attendant. I hope you’ll react pleasantly when she phones, and not act snide like you are now.”
“She wants me to be in her wedding party?” Erin’s voice rose and she clutched the arm of her chair. She and Angel hadn’t seen one another for several years and Erin had no desire to stand up at her wedding.
“Don’t act so surprised. You’re the only cousin she has and you two used to be best friends. So it’s only natural, and I told her I knew you’d be delighted…because I thought you would be. However, she wanted to give you the news herself, so don’t tell her I told you.”
“Mother.” Erin rolled her eyes heavenwards. How could she be so dense? She had to know they weren’t even in contact. “What makes you think I want to be in her wedding? Sure we were friends when we were kids, but…” Erin took a gulp of the Chardonnay she’d set on the piecrust table beside her.
“I thought you would be thrilled at the chance to show off…what’s his name…your fiancé.”
She sounded smug, and Erin’s terror shot off the charts. What name did I tell her? Did I say ‘Mitch’ or did I make one up? What am I going to do?
Barbara droned on. “I know I’m eager to see him if he’s as handsome as you say, and Angel and her family are anxious to meet him as well. I haven’t seen her diamond yet but Julia said it’s a solitaire. What’s yours like? How big is it?”
Erin, heart pounding, stared at her bare ring finger and perspiration broke out over her upper lip. She was on the spot and it wouldn’t be easy to break free. She wore her diamond from Joseph on her right hand and it was so ostentatious, everyone who’d ever seen it would recognise it.
“Mine’s a solitaire too.” That was the type she preferred. “What difference does it make how big it is? Angel and I aren’t having a contest.”
“I was just asking. Julia said Angel’s is nice but modest, which I took to mean that it’s small.”
So she wants mine to be larger. Erin sighed. Barbara was always trying to one-up her sister. Angel’s mother, Julia Fairchild, wasn’t that way. She never bragged about Angel or competed with her sister.
Barbara O’Brien could have boasted many times if she’d opened her eyes to Erin’s accomplishments. But all she ever saw when she looked at her daughter were her faults.
“I haven’t seen this man she’s marrying,” Barb went on. “As I understand it, they once dated and recently found one another again. Isn’t that romantic?”
Same as Mitch and me. What a coincidence.
Had her mother told everyone she knew about her daughter’s engagement?
There was so little to do in White Grove where her cousin’s family lived that people sat around and waited for hallmark events such as weddings and funerals. So, it was a given everyone in the village would attend Angel’s wedding. Barbara and Erin were well known from their frequent visits to Julia and Walt’s house, which meant Erin could be on the hot seat too.
When the bridal party formed a reception line inside the church, guests would queue up to shake hands and ooh-and-aah over the bride’s gown and rings. And if Barbara had told the townspeople Erin was engaged, they’d want to inspect her diamond as well. Barbara liked the closeness of the small town. Erin felt smothered by it and was glad she’d grown up in Fishers, a large suburb that had continued to grow.
She downed the last of her wine and held her head. She could picture it now. Nosey Mrs. Satterby, who lived next door to the O’Briens, would reach for Erin’s hand and squint to see her ring more clearly. “My dear, your mother told us…” All the other little old ladies would want to ogle it as well. And the schoolmates who knew both her and Angel would inspect and compare the stones.
Only Erin didn’t have one to show. She’d wanted to marry Joseph in Vegas and avoid that kind of thing, but Barbara had insisted on the traditional church wedding and reception so she could show off her daughter’s dashing husband and her multi-carat ring. No one would forget that rock unless they had Alzheimer’s, she thought, holding it up to catch the light from the table lamp.
If she took Mitch to Angel’s wedding, he would impress everyone with his looks and build, but he had to ask her to marry him and give her a diamond or she would be an embarrassment to Barbara and land at the top of her mother’s ‘loser list’ again.
Erin shook her head hard, trying to stop the thoughts her mother had induced. Her hands shook and she closed her eyes tightly. Sometimes, a good imagination was a bad thing.
“Are you still there, Erin? Tell me your future husband’s name. I’m sorry but I forgot it,” her mother said.
Ohmigod. What should I say? If I don’t get off the phone, I’m going to hyperventilate. “I—I’m getting a beep, Mom. Someone is trying to call me and it could be Angel. I’m going to hang up now.”
Erin dropped her head back and stared at the ceiling. If Mitch didn’t propose, she would have to come up with a diamond solitaire to wear to the wedding, and if she invited him to escort her and he wouldn’t go…she’d need to produce a handsome man as well.
Chapter Two
Erin waited nervously for Mitch to call her after she hung up on her mother. She’d lied to Barbara again. For some reason, that woman pushed her buttons every time.
Should she ask him to the wedding now, over the phone? Or would it be better to wait until she could invite him in person? Or maybe she should wait until another time, soften
ing him up by fucking his brains out first. Men weren’t often fond of attending weddings. Her former husband hated them except for theirs, and that had only been because he’d been deliriously happy because she’d finally agreed to marry him. She’d loved Joseph but had been enjoying their dating life so much she’d been reluctant to wed.
The thing was, she’d been right on the money preferring it. Other than their sex life, which remained terrific, he’d redirected his energies into acquiring vehicles shortly after their ‘I dos’. Maybe that was what she’d been to him, an acquisition. “Meet my wife, Erin. Isn’t she beautiful? Aren’t I a lucky man?” he’d often said, putting his arm around her waist whenever he’d introduced her. She’d never really considered that theory before, and it wasn’t pleasant to dwell on now. No woman wanted to feel like a piece of goods.
She looked at her watch. Mitch usually called before now.
Joseph’s passion for finding a better-running, more attractive and wildly extravagant car that would outdo the previous one and those of his friends was fuelled by each new vehicle he bought. Their three-bay garage hadn’t been adequate for a collection, so he’d had a larger building erected. When he’d moved out, she’d had that five-car structure converted into an office for Wives-R-Us. That turned out to be a good thing.
She sighed. One other very good thing…Joseph was picking up Joey at his boarding school next week and bringing him home for the summer, and Erin couldn’t wait to have their son with her. They’d go to the Children’s Museum, Indianapolis Zoo and even to King’s Island, a fabulous amusement park in Ohio. The two of them, mother and son, would have tons of fun together.
She looked at her watch again and yawned. Mitch was really late calling. She probably shouldn’t ask him to the wedding until after he proposed. He’d be more apt to go then. But she needed to know whether or not he’d accompany her in case she had to make other plans. A devastating man and a diamond ring were vital for keeping her mother happy, and neither was easily attainable. Especially the man. She could buy a ring, but that would be a tawdry thing to do and she’d feel like a failure as well as a liar.
The phone rang and she grabbed it up.
Mitch spoke before she could say hello. “Dakota hit her first home run and our team won. That kid smacked the ball like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Lovely.” Erin wondered how Joey was doing in sports at his school. When he came home, she would try to find out. She hoped Dakota wasn’t better at baseball, but since Erin wasn’t sure Joey even played the game, she probably would be. Mitch’s daughter was older so it shouldn’t matter, but Joey wouldn’t like it if a girl was better at a sport than he was. Males were all alike that way.
“I took her to a pizza place to celebrate,” Mitch went on. “She was in a chatty mood and we had a good time.”
Suddenly realising she’d missed a major event in his daughter’s life, Erin apologised. “I’m sorry I didn’t accept your invitation to go to the game tonight. I’d like to have seen Dakota’s big moment.”
Erin hadn’t met the girl yet. She’d seen her on the field in a practice game, but Mitch hadn’t suggested an introduction. Instead, he’d said beforehand that he’d pick Erin up after he took Dakota home and they’d grab a drink somewhere.
“It was terrific. She and I may have more in common than I realised,” Mitch said, sounding like a proud father.
Erin could almost see him puffing out his chest like a bird fluffing out its feathers.
He seemed to have come to a lull, so she spoke. “Lea and I went to Club Rendezvous to—”
“Look, Erin, it’s late,” Mitch said. “We’d better both get some shuteye. You can tell me about your evening later. You mentioned Rendezvous. Want to go there for dinner tomorrow night? Or somewhere else? I know you’re probably getting sick of Reagan’s. “
She replied quickly. “Club Rendezvous sounds perfect.”
Recalling Derek’s sexy, brown-eyed wink, his tongue caressing a cherry and that intriguing moustache that could tickle her senseless sent her scrambling for her pink ‘friend’ as she climbed into bed, naked and wanting.
*
Erin, chin in hands, elbows propped on her French provincial desk in the office of Wives-R-Us on Friday, stared into space. Mitch loved her. She loved him. And the crunch was on. She had to go to Angel’s wedding, engaged, or lose face with her mother and everyone Barbara had told.
“I’m going to make my move tonight,” she decided aloud, slapping the top of her desk. “I’m going to seduce Mitch like never before. I’ll make him so horny and hot he’ll decide he can’t spend another night alone.”
“What in hell’s sake brought on that announcement?” Margo laid the catalogue she was perusing on the wrought iron table next to her yellow leather recliner.
“Easy. She wants him to propose.” Lea spoke up from where she sat in an office chair behind a slender-legged, black enamel table.
The furnishings of their office were eclectic, with the three partners facing one another in a triangular grouping. An Oriental rug in shades of green, black and rose lay in the middle, bringing the arrangement together. Erin brought the rug, her desk and chair and some of the other pieces from her house. Margo and Lea furnished their own spaces with objects from their former homes.
“We’ve both remarried and she wants to join the club,” Lea went on.
“Wedded life is bliss,” Margo murmured dreamily.
“I told her there’s a lot to be said for being single,” Lea said, “especially if you’re not sure you’ve found the right man. I can see that you’re not heeding my advice,” she added, directing her remark to Erin. Shifting her gaze back to Margo, she went on. “I told Erin I don’t think Mitch is right for her. And if you’d seen her and the burning hot Rendezvous bartender flirting…” Lea threw up her hands. “He and Mitch are totally different types, proving my point.”
“Tell me about the bartender, Erin. Was he a hunk?” Margo asked, folding her arms behind her head and grinning.
“Yes, but he’s not my type.” Erin felt her cheeks flush. Thoughts of him while using her personal vibrator had brought her to quick completion, and she’d induced an orgasm in a parking lot only hours before that, thinking about Derek. And it wasn’t that Mitch wasn’t good in bed. He was, but the bartender possessed animal magnetism.
“Mitch is the guy for me,” she said, feeling guilty that at this moment, she tingled not only in her breasts but all along her pussy with desire for another man.
“Your red face tells another story,” Margo taunted. “So why, if you were attracted to another man yesterday, are you going to make Mitch propose tonight?”
Erin sighed. “I have to marry him or be humiliated. I told my mother I was engaged…it’s a long story, but I lied to get her off my back. Now, my cousin, Angel, whom she always compares me to, is tying the knot in four weeks. All my relatives and half the people in our small town, if I know my mother’s big mouth, now expect to meet my handsome fiancé at Angel’s wedding. Oh, and they’ll also want to see my diamond solitaire engagement ring.” She held up her left hand, waggling her bare ring finger.
“You’re very specific when you make up stories,” Lea said. “How big is that solitaire?”
“I didn’t say, but it probably needs to be at least a carat or two to satisfy my mom. She’s hoping it’s bigger than Angel’s.”
“You’re going to learn to control your urge to fantasise one of these days, I hope,” Margo said, shaking a finger at her.
“You don’t know what my mother puts me through. My cousin is aptly named. Dear sweet little Angel.” Erin stuck a finger in her open mouth and made a gagging sound.
“Tell your mom you two had a fight and broke up,” Margo suggested.
“That won’t make her happy.”
“I know how hard it is to please a mother,” Lea said. “I couldn’t satisfy mine for the longest time. Daddy thought everything I did was terrific.”
Erin had heard Lea talk about this in recent years, but she hadn’t realised it when they were still in school. “My dad has been dead for several years now, but my parents divorced long before that, so I don’t remember much about my relationship with him,” Erin said. “I think Mom picked on him too and that’s what caused him to leave. She’s never satisfied.”
“Maybe you should talk to Mike. He’s a marriage counsellor but he’s a psychologist and knows a lot about other kinds of relationships,” Lea said.
“Right now, all I need to do is get Mitch to propose, buy me a ring and go to Angel’s wedding and meet my family.” Erin picked up the phone and with the other hand, flipped open a notepad with a list of people to call.
“Is that all?” Margo snorted. “You don’t want much, do you?”
Erin shrugged and dialled. It wasn’t an unlikely scenario over a period of time. It was the time crunch that presented a challenge.
The rest of the day, while she fielded phone calls from clients, made appointments for Margo and Lea and did her usual office work, she thought about ways to make Mitch propose.
The first thing she needed to do was make him weak with desire for her, and after they’d fucked half the night…what? She still couldn’t figure out a way to get the guy to pop the question. Bringing up the subject of Angel’s wedding might inspire him and if not, as a last resort, she’d have to hint. Strongly.
*
A few hours later, Erin, selecting her clothes carefully, dressed for seduction. First, she donned a red push-up bra with a deep V to show her breasts jauntily peeking over the top. The cups were sheer with black satin heart appliqués hiding the push-up pads. A thong with a black heart strategically placed came next, and then she donned a black lace garter belt. Her stockings were fine mesh with lace at the top and she fastened them carefully. Posing before the mirror, she appraised her appearance and nodded in satisfaction.
She dabbed perfume in spots where the heat of her body would enhance the aroma, being careful not to put it where Mitch would put his mouth. But close enough to make him heady.
A Tangled Web (A Books We Love Erotic Romance) Page 2