Party for Three

by Hot Tropica Books

  Party for Three

  Missy Lyons

  Party for Three

  A Hot Tropica Books Publication

  August 2011

  Copyright © 2011 Missy Lyons

  Cover illustration copyright © Missy Lyons

  ISBN Not Assigned

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system-except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Web-without permission in writing from the publisher.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  Published by: Hot Tropica Books

  Previous Works

  A Warrior’s Woman

  Blood Slave

  Blood Ties

  Bound by Desire

  Boyfriend for Hire

  Closing the Deal

  Cowboys Don’t Dance

  Dragon Heat

  French Kiss

  Gold Fever

  I’ll be Home for Christmas

  One Touch, One Glance

  Sex and the Single Shoe

  Sex on the Beach

  Straight Up

  The Frog Prince

  The Rapture

  Thor’s Hammer

  Weekend Getaway

  PARTY FOR THREE

  Chapter One

  "Why do they say you are over the hill when you turn forty?" Sherry's voice held a note of despair in it. A sense of worry accompanied her voice that knotted the pit of her stomach. It was something she couldn't shake with her own impending fortieth birthday coming up on Saturday. She didn't feel over the hill and yet that birthday always had a stigma attached to it, forty was the dreaded over the hill age. The black birthday. The halfway mark to death.

  She never really cared before, and didn't feel old now, but her friends were not going to let her escape this birthday without celebrating in a way she would rather forget.

  "I don't know. You are only as old as you feel." Karen picked up a cheesecake for her lunch tray in the cafeteria line.

  "Well I feel like I am still in my twenties. Can I still tell people I am twenty when they ask me how old I am?" Sherry questioned.

  "Only if you think you can get away with it.”

  "They won't believe me if I ever stop dying my hair jet black. I used to just highlight my hair for fun. Now it is to cover those stray gray hairs."

  “We all get gray hairs eventually. I got my first gray hairs in my early twenties." Karen held a lock of her long brown hair between two fingers. "A gentleman should never ask you your age anyways."

  “I hate getting old Karen. I don' want to get old. It's not fair, and I feel like it's hitting me all at once. Now that I am forty, it's official. I don't even want to go to my own over the hill party. Remind me why I am going again?"

  "Because you love your friends enough to show up." Karen said with a smile.

  "I didn't feel old before but Sean threatened to get me some black roses and all kinds of cheesy over the hill party supplies." Sherry let out a sigh but her voice was resigned. She knew she was still not going to miss the party.

  “You shouldn't let Sean get to you too much when he teases you about your age."

  "I guess not. After all, he will turn forty too one day."

  Karen laughed. "Yeah in twenty years." Sean was the office know-it-all, straight out of college, too cute for his own good. He had a cocky grin that said he knew exactly how he made the women feel.

  He was one of those men who could look at you and make you weak in the knees, and your hormones would go up a notch just looking at him. Maybe he wouldn't have that effect on everyone, but he had that affect on her. Sherry's heart always sped up a little when she snuck glances at him, but she was old enough to know it was only lust and such thoughts should not be entertained for long. He was far too young to consider seriously and far too immature to consider for anything more than a passing dalliance. So she had kept it friendly but she kept all of her hidden desires and feelings secret.

  As if on cue, Sherry felt a pair of masculine hands grip her waist, pressing her to the side. Sean's voice interrupted their conversation. "You ladies weren't talking about me were you?"

  Sherry's cheeks turned pink. He would have the nerve to interrupt a conversation about him. "Yes, we were just saying how I would much rather go to celebrate my birthday dancing in a nightclub or drinking." Anything but some cheesy party with black deathlike decorations mocking her age.

  "Don't worry you can have drinks with me on the veranda and we'll dance to our own music, Sherry." Sean caught her eyes with his and then he teased her with a cocky grin, "As long as you can stay awake."

  Sherry sniffed in disdain at the insult. Was he insinuating that she couldn't stay awake past ten? Sure she had a schedule, she went to bed at nine and got up early every day but there was no need to go there. His lighthearted teasing was always irritating. Sometimes she wondered if he really liked her as a friend, but he wouldn't be pestering her like this if he didn't. He wouldn't be constantly coming into her cubicle and saying things to get a rise out of her, or cracking jokes to get her to laugh. If he didn't like her, he would be ignoring her.

  Which she sometimes would prefer.

  "I am sure I can stay awake until your curfew. What is it ten?" She said tartly.

  "That is why it will be at my home, I won't have to worry about a curfew." He teased back with a chuckle. Sherry had been there a couple of times now, just to pick up some papers for work, nothing personal. Sean had a very nice home that overlooked the Cumberland River and it had been a long time since he lived with his parents.

  Sean moved Sherry to the side, oblivious to his friend's moody expression. He eyed the dessert tray hungrily. "You did save a piece of the chocolate cake for me, didn't you?"

  Karen had covered her mouth, attempting to hide her laughter as she watched the interchange between Sherry and Sean. Sherry rolled her eyes, he knew she would be skipping dessert. She was on a diet. She shook her head in frustration, before paying for her meal and walking to their usual table they ate together at. She sat down, not even waiting for her friends to join her.

  Sherry picked up her fork and began to eat the chicken salad she picked out in line. She wasn't a big girl, but at her age, she had to watch what she ate. Her body didn't have the same metabolism it used to. It was a fact she hated. Getting older was not fun. She went to the gym, she ate right, she took vitamins, and she used all the right cosmetics to fight the natural aging process. Being reminded of her turning forty was not going to be fun.

  This was going to be the longest night of her life. It should be her night. It should be her party and somehow it had grown into something else altogether.

  Chapter Two

  When Sherry pulled up to Sean's house, the street in front of his house was already packed with cars. The party had already been going for a while now. She slammed the door to her silver Pontiac Grand Am, and looked up at the formidable house on the hill. Sherry was dressed in a tight black dress, her legs clad in black pantyhose, she was slightly taller with her 3 inch stilettos. It made her an inch taller than Sean which made her happy for some reason. Her classic black dress made her feel elegant and refined even if the black over the hill decorations littering the house wouldn't.

  She could hear music coming from the house, as she walked up the winding sidewalk to the house. The landscaping was neat and clean. Jus
t like Sean. He liked everything to be kept in certain order, and he always liked to have things his way. For someone so young, he was one of the most irritating men she knew.

  Sherry frowned to herself as she knocked on the door. She waited there a minute, looking down at her gold watch, and knocked again when no one answered.

  It had to be the music. No one could hear her knocking. She tried the knob, slightly self conscious. It wasn't like this was her house, even though she knew she was welcome, it felt kind of weird going into someone else's house without permission.

  It seemed that most of the party had gathered in the back of the house, or in the backyard. Which was no wonder, with that spectacular view. It was a nice place to relax and watch the boats as they passed down the river.

  Sherry wandered to the back of the house and then began to say her hellos to the groups of people. She plastered a smile on her face and waved amiably. Bill from accounting was there, she rattled off a hello and when he began to speak numbers she tried to keep the blank expression off her face, and made her excuse to leave, noting she had not yet said hello to everyone yet.

  Sean made good on his promises to decorate the entire house in the cheesy decorations. His house was decorated in modern contemporary furniture. It was very masculine and classy at the same time. Even with the cheesy decorations that screamed over the hill in glaring black letters. Not too many people were here, mostly friends and co-workers from work.

  One day she would have to get even with Sean for this. Even if it meant sticking around as his friend for twenty years it would take, so she could throw an over the hill party for him. She smiled to herself imagining the expression on his face. It would be worth it. Even if she would be 60 years old with gray hair.

  Eek.

  Gray hair.

  Wrinkles.

  Being sixty years old.

  That was something she would rather not think of. Not until it happened.

  Someday she would have to learn how to grow old gracefully. Sherry was interrupted in her thoughts as a wineglass was thrust into her hand. She looked up from the glass to see Sean's smiling face.

  "Wow. You look great. Thanks for coming Sherry." He tipped up on his tiptoes to kiss her on the cheek. That was new and almost European to greet her by kissing. It made her stomach turn with butterflies, but she knew he didn't really like her. He might as well have kissed her on the forehead. She was kidding herself if she thought it was anything else. That was a friendly kiss.

  Nothing else.

  Yet she couldn't help her body's reaction to his body being so close to hers. Her cheek was still warm where his lips brushed her skin. She brought her hand up to the spot he kissed her.

  She tried to maintain a lighthearted note to her voice when she spoke, but her voice wavered slightly, "I can’t miss my own party."

  "You had threatened to miss it. I was beginning to worry you just might not show up tonight."

  Sherry looked at him curiously, arching one brow high. It was difficult to see him outside of the office, not joking constantly. It was almost like he meant it. His eyes held a sparkle of concern as he looked deep into her eyes. He would have missed seeing her.

  "Well anyways, I am glad you are here." He took her hand between the two of his.

  "Thanks Sean." She looked down at their paired hands, not wanting to pull away.

  "Come on." He said pulling her to a pair of white French doors.

  "Everyone is out on the veranda."

  Sherry smiled and waved at the group of people that dotted the veranda. She recognized most everyone from work, but there were a few faces she didn't know. They must be Sean's friends. Some very hot guys were there. Sherry took one long sip from her wine glass with the sweet red wine, appraising the eye candy in front of her.

  They looked to be about the same age as Sean, perhaps they were college buddies. The three young men looked back at her with warm smiles, one even winked at her suggestively.

  Perhaps this party wasn't a total waste of time. She thought smugly.

  They said hello to everyone and then Sean introduced her to the three men she didn't know. Turned out that he knew all of them for years, some from all the way back to his elementary school years. How did she guess? Two had been friends from high school and two more had been friends of the family for years, Jeff and Andy. Sean knew Alan since kindergarten.

  Sherry had friends that had stayed in her life for a long time, but since kindergarten? That was something she never expected to learn about Sean. It was nice to know that he could keep relationships so long.

  "So, you work in the music industry with Sean, Sherry? What do you do?" Jeff asked before taking a long puff on his cigarette. He was a handsome man leaning against the railing, but Sherry didn't feel much attraction for him. She never really liked the idea of dating a smoker because she always thought it would be like kissing an ashtray.

  What did she do at the record studio? How about asking what she didn't do? Funny how people asked her these questions and expected her to answer with some glamorous response. It was as if they expected her to say she met stars every day and she wrote music or something. She was lucky if she saw pictures of the stars and her job would never allow her the time to write her own music, even if

  she had the talent for writing. Which she didn't. She always admired those who could write such moving words though. She couldn't even write poetry.

  "Nothing all that exciting. In fact it is rare I even get out of the office. I am the personal assistant to the CEO, and do everything from answering the phones and filing to making sure everything is

  ready for Grant's music shows or the big conventions he attends. I even pay his bills when he doesn't have time. Once I even rented out his rental house while he went on vacation. But even though I stay really busy—none of it is really exciting stuff…"

  "Oh don't be modest." Sean raised his glass toward Sherry before he gave everyone one of his legendary cocky smiles that always left Sherry a little breathless. "Shelby Fox nearly backed out of his contract last year and Sherry saved it single handed."

  "Oh stop it." Sherry placed her hand on his arm, blushing at his exuberance. What happened was only because her boss was on vacation and not really available. Grant was spending the week in the Caribbean and somewhere there was no cell phone service. So Sherry did all her communication by email when he got home to the hotel and she had to intervene in that deal before the deal went sour. Before Shelby developed bad feelings about Decker Records, and left as soon as his contract was up.

  "No she did, and you all know how big that name is. Shelby sold 5 million copies of his hit single Diamond Moon. When he tried to pull out, his agent was feeding him lies about us and he was still an unknown name, playing in bars and at the airport."

  Sherry interrupted before Sean could continue loading her with compliments. All the eyes were on her now and she wasn't sure she liked all this attention. She wasn't used to being the center of attention and she tried to downplay what he said, "Turns out he had another offer on the table for a contract that offered him more money, but we worked through it and made it so both parties were happy."

  A country song began, with a twangy guitar chord and a slow almost primal beat. Shelby's voice began to drawl out the smash hit Diamond Moon.

  "Speak of the devil! That's Shelby now." Sean chuckled when he heard the song begin raising his glass in a silent toast. "And it's all thanks to Sherry that Decker Records has him.”

  “Wanna' celebrate with a dance with me, Sherry?" The man in the middle stepped forward and motioned for her to come closer. The man was handsome, just an inch taller than Sherry. He didn't give her a chance to reply before grabbing her hand in his. It felt warm and the contact made her skin tingle in a nice way.

  Sherry struggled to remember his name, mentioned only a few minutes ago. It was the same guy that winked at her, and then the name came to her like lightning. "Hmmm, sure Alan."

  Sherry smiled at Alan warmly
before giving her drink to Sean to hold. Sean's brows furrowed together as he accepted her drink in his free hand. "Can you hold onto this for me Sean? I will be right back."

  Sherry thought she saw some darker expression cross Sean's face. Was that anger on his face or jealousy? But just as soon as she saw it, it disappeared and was masked by some other emotion. Sean's jaw was clenched but his tone was light, "Take good care of her for me."

  "Oh I will take care of her alright." Alan said with a decidedly sexual innuendo in his voice. Alan's eyes raked over Sherry's body hungrily.

  Before she could analyze it or Sean's sudden display of jealousy, Alan wrapped his hand around her waist and whisked her away. He pulled her against him, and began a slow and steady rhythm with her in time to the music. It was a classic slow dance and didn't require Sherry to dance very fancy and if she had to dance country, she wasn't sure she could to save her life. She never learned to be really coordinated and never danced so line dancing was out of the question. Sean teased her enough for it. Working at a country western music record company should have that as a requirement, but if it was a requirement Sherry would have never been hired.

  "You are pretty light on your feet."

  Sherry laughed at the compliment. Still trying to concentrate on her feet not stepping on his she said, "Thanks, but it's all you. You make it easy, since you are leading."

  "No. It's you." Suddenly he pushed away a step and lifted one arm over her head, twirling her in a circle. As she turned to face him, he caught her in his arms. One arm fit possessively around her waist, and his other hand clasped her hand. Sherry wrapped her arm around his neck over the lean hard muscles of his shoulders. Her other hand held onto his waist at first for balance and then she gentled her touch. He was hard in all the right places. His hip ground up against hers and she felt like pressing back. It felt so intimate and yet, it felt nice.