This Tangled Thing Called Love: A Contemporary Romance Novel

by Marie Astor

  Claire made her way downstairs to leave the package with the doorman. She would just have to settle for hearing David’s reaction to it instead of seeing it.

  “Good evening there, Miss Chatfield.” The doorman tipped his hat.

  “Hi, Frank.” Claire smiled. Frank was the nicest of all the doormen in David’s building. By now, she knew them all. “I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”

  “Anything within my power.” Frank puffed out his chest.

  “Could I leave this package with you to give to David? It’s his anniversary gift, so could you make sure that he gets it tonight?”

  “Yes, of course – no problem.” Frank went around his desk and took the package from Claire. “Mr. Lawson is working late again, huh?”

  Claire nodded.

  “Well, not to worry. I have the night shift, so I’ll make sure he gets it.”

  “Great. Have a good night.”

  “You too, Miss Chatfield.”

  I’ll try, Claire thought. She knew she should not be angry at David, but presently, it was hard not to be. Well, she would just have to wait for his explanation. She was certain that it was bound to be a respectable one. This was the first time David Lawson had stood her up, and she sure as hell hoped that it was not going to become a habit of his.

  Chapter 9

  David zipped up his trousers and looked himself over in the mirror. His tan was beginning to fade, and he made a mental note to stop by the tanning salon. Claudia never tired of saying how much she loved his body, and the tan made his muscles look more prominent. Lately, he had doubled his workouts at the gym, even blowing off work so that he could be buff enough for Claudia.

  It had been almost two months, but David still could not believe that he was having an affair with Claudia Block. “Having an affair” felt like such a tawdry expression to describe his feelings for Claudia. He literally worshipped the woman. She was the divine dream that had sustained him through the longings of adolescence, and never in his right mind had he hoped to one day have his pubescent fantasies come true.

  He must have been about ten when he first saw Claudia as a Bond girl, her appearance on the TV screen leaving an indelible impression on David, which would make Claudia about... David refused to think about Claudia’s age. To him, Claudia was a goddess, and goddesses were ageless. Still, David shuddered to think what his friends would say of his involvement with a woman that much older than him, not to mention his father who, of course, was the main problem. For Claudia, David would shed his social circle in a moment. He would gladly become a recluse on some remote island as long as Claudia was with him. It was, in fact, a favorite fantasy of his: him and Claudia, alone on some exotic island — perhaps in Greece or Bora Bora, making love for hours on end, without any ties to the outside world. But his father...

  David frowned. If his father ever found out about Claudia, he would cut him off in a jiffy, and David was no fool. When it came to money, he understood the value of it only too well. Having grown up wealthy, he knew that living without money would be like trying to live without air. When it was there, it was easy to forget about its existence, but take it away, and you would find yourself begging for your next breath. Even Claudia's beauty was possible because of money. Sure, good genes were part of it, but nature only went so far - the rest of it was nurture. And there were the tell-tale signs, of course - a whisper of a scar here and there, reminders of all the nips and tucks it took to freeze time in place. But to David, this knowledge did not detract from Claudia's beauty. If anything, it made him worship her even more. Here was a woman who defied the laws of nature — a woman who had his complete adoration.

  David buttoned up his shirt, fastened his tie, and put on the jacket of his linen summer suit. In less than an hour, Claudia would rip these clothes off his body, but she liked him looking dapper when he arrived and he was only too glad to indulge her. Perhaps this time they would have dinner first, talk a bit before jumping into bed - although, God knew, that was what David coveted most. Still, he had to be considerate of Claudia. She loved sex, but she also got bored easily. She was a worldly woman – a woman who had been wooed by the most affluent and powerful of men and was used to obscene luxury and endless entertainment. Her last lover was one of the leading names on Wall Street, and the two were known for extravagant parties and spur-of-the-moment exotic getaways. The relationship ended abruptly with a vague, but persistent rumor about Claudia being left for a young model. For his part, David could not care less. If Claudia’s old flame was stupid enough to relinquish the treasure he possessed, David was only too happy to step in.

  But regardless of how much he adored Claudia, David simply could not afford to give her the same level of luxury as her previous lovers. For one thing, their union had to remain a secret one. If his old man ever found out, David’s future with the company would be toast, and he was fairly certain that Claudia would not want him then. After all, Claudia Block was not the kind of woman who could live on love alone. As such, their love was confined to hotel rooms that Claudia picked at random. They were luxury hotel rooms, but still hotel rooms – opulent, but impersonal. He wished they could at least afford to share with each other the privacy of their own homes, but Claudia was adamant about not letting him into her townhouse, and David was hesitant about inviting her to his apartment, worried about rumors being spread by the building staff and nosy neighbors. The fear that Claudia might get bored with all these restrictions and abandon him just as easily as she had done with her previous boy toys, haunted David with growing intensity. As his adoration of Claudia grew, so did his fear of losing her.

  David ran his fingers through his hair, adding just the right amount of gel. In less than two hours, Claudia would greet him on the threshold of a hotel room that would forever become entrenched in his memory. The thought of Claudia naked next to him in bed made every hair on David’s body stand on end. He could never get enough of her. Every moment with her was like a pearl found in the sand, and he never knew if he would chance to find another.

  For his part, David was extremely careful. It was easy to placate Claire with imaginary office work. The girl was so gullible, it almost made David feel guilty for lying - almost, but not quite, for being with Claudia was worth hundreds of Claires. That reminded him. He had agreed to meet Claire for dinner, but Claudia had called at the last minute, tempting him with an unexpected rendezvous, and he simply could not bring himself to refuse. David picked up his Blackberry and sent Claire a message: Sorry, babe. Last minute rush at the office. Will be working late tonight, but promise to make it up to you tomorrow. Will pick you up at 10 a.m. sharp. Love, David.

  Claire would understand. She was such a good, wholesome girl. Besides, tomorrow Claire would get more than her due. It was going to be her, not Claudia, David would bring to meet his parents; and it would be Claire, not Claudia, he would propose to with the five-carat Harry Winston diamond ring that was stowed in the top drawer of his nightstand. That was what his old man wanted from him. Dedication at work was not enough; David had to prove to him that he was also a man of reliable character, and what better way to do that than to get married to a reliable girl?

  David still remembered his father’s admonition that had taken place after a particularly wild night in David’s early twenties. He had wound up skinny-dipping with a model at some second-rate celebrity’s party. The party had attracted the attention of the paparazzi, and the next day, a picture of David with blood-shot eyes, flailing in the pool, graced a number of tabloid magazines. The clippings were on his father’s desk less than an hour after publication.

  “This is not the way a Lawson behaves,” his father had said. “The company reputation is dearer to me than anything or anyone in this world. Do not doubt for a second that I will think twice about cutting you off should you ever jeopardize it.”

  “Yes, Father. I’m sorry, Father.” David knew better than to offer an explanation. When it came to the old man, acquiescence was the n
ame of the game.

  “Good. We already have one misfit in the family. I’m afraid I can’t afford another one.”

  The last reference was to David’s younger sister, Stephanie. Perhaps, if his father had actually bothered to acknowledge the fact that he had a daughter rather than blaming her for not being a boy, Stephanie might not have turned out to be a “misfit” as David’s father had so succinctly put it, but David knew better than to argue the point.

  Well, if his father wanted him to be an upstanding citizen, he would deliver the desired façade, but what he did on his own time was no one’s business but David’s. And Claire would understand. She was perfect wife material, and David was fairly certain that their marriage would not alter his personal freedom in any way. After all, he was a busy man - an heir to the Lawson empire, and empire heirs worked all kinds of hours.

  David frowned. It pained him to think of deceiving Claire like this, but Claudia was like a drug to him, and in her presence he was as witless as an addict before cocaine. He had had plenty of women – so many that he thought he could never be satisfied by one again. He could not quite remember when it began – this growing dissatisfaction with the female sex. All of a sudden, it seemed to him that no matter how many starlets or super models jumped into his bed, he was left with a bland sense of dissatisfaction. He had even toyed with an idea of turning queer (not that his father would ever stand for that – he would probably disown him on the spot) but there was that threesome with his college buddy Russ that had excited him so much that David never spoke to Russ again. And then he met Claire. She was different from the others – calm, serene, grounded. The girl was practically a nun in David’s opinion. There was no kinky sex, no drugs - just plain, old-fashioned loving, and strangely enough, it seemed to do the trick. Of course, he was not his former self, but then David suspected that no woman in the world could bring him back to the raging stallion he once was, but Claire was enough. She soothed him. And then he met Claudia…

  Claudia was the ultimate connoisseur of sex, and she knew just how to peak his desire and leave him begging for more. And no, he did not have any hidden fetishes about his mother – such an obscenely obvious observation that any shrink would be eager to jump to could not be further from the truth. In fact, until he met Claudia, the idea of being with an older woman was as appealing to David as attempting to get fellatio from a shark. But Claudia was ageless, and being with her was like reversing time. With Claudia, all the women he had slept with disappeared into a meaningless memory, and all his obligations and pressures ceased to exist. He became a young boy again – fresh, clean and carefree.

  “Hello, David.” Claudia’s smoky gaze hypnotized him as she stood there in her see-through negligee, keeping the door half open, as though deliberating whether she should let him in.

  “Claudia.” He whimpered like a love-sick puppy, thrusting two dozen yellow roses at her. Roses were the perfect metaphor for their love – luscious petals with thorny stems.

  “Get in here, already.” She tugged at the lapels of his jacket and shut the door behind him.

  His hands reached for her hungrily as his mind became foggy with excitement. He was no longer his own man. He was Claudia’s slave, free for her to do with him as she wished.

  “Did you enjoy yourself?” Afterward, Claudia blew a thin trail of cigarette smoke from her lips.

  “You know I did. It was wonderful. It always is with you. You know exactly what I need.” David pressed Claudia’s hand to his lips. “I worship the ground you walk on,” he murmured, instantly cursing himself for blabbering like a teenage idiot. When he was with Claudia, he seemed to lose all ability to control his thoughts. Claudia had the effect of a truth serum on him.

  “These are some pretty big words. Now, what are you going to do about them?”

  “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to make love to you so hard, you won’t be able to walk for a week.”

  “Prove it.” Claudia’s curved lips challenged him with a smile.

  “Oh, I will.” David lunged for her, eager to fill her body with his.

  Chapter 10

  The next morning, Claire woke up bright and early. She had barely gotten any sleep. She had stayed up late, waiting for David to call, but no phone call came, and every time she dialed David’s cell phone number, she got his voicemail. Finally, at two a.m., she went to bed only to spend a restless night.

  It was eight a.m. now, and she was fidgety with worry. What if something had happened to David? Maybe he had gotten into a car accident or was mugged?

  Suddenly, Claire realized that she hardly knew anything about David. Sure, she had met many of his friends, but she did not have any of their phone numbers, and she did not have any contact information for David’s family. What was she to do?

  Then she had an idea – Amber. Amber was David’s publicist, and she was bound to know if anything was wrong.

  Struggling to keep her hands from shaking, Claire dialed Amber’s number and waited for her to pick up.

  “Hello?” Amber’s sleepy voice mumbled on the other end of the line.

  “Amber, it’s me, Claire.

  “What’s the matter? Did someone die?”

  “I hope not.”

  “Then why are you calling me at eight a.m. on a Saturday?”

  “Because I have not heard from David since last night, and I’m worried that something happened to him.”

  “What do you mean you haven’t heard from him?” Amber’s voice lost its sleepy fuzziness.

  Claire recounted David’s text message from last night – the last communication she had received from him.

  “I’m sure everything is fine. He was probably working late and then came home and crashed. I’m sure he’ll call you soon.”

  “So you don’t think I should be worried?”

  “Nope. You know David; he’s very responsible.”

  “That’s exactly why I’m worried. It’s not like him to act this way. Hang on, I’ve got call waiting – maybe it’s him.” Claire pressed the talk button.

  “Good morning, gorgeous. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  “David! Where have you been? I’ve been going crazy with worry.”

  “Whoa – hold your horses. I sent you a message that I’d be working late.”

  “Yes, but you didn’t call. I was waiting up for you to call.”

  “Oh, geez, baby, I’m sorry. I worked until three a.m. We had a major fire drill here, and then I came home and just crashed. But it’s over now, and I want to forget all about work. So, are you ready for our weekend getaway?”

  “I’m ready,” Claire replied wearily.

  “Great. So I’ll pick you up at ten, just like we agreed. Are you still mad at me?” he cooed.

  “Maybe just a little.”

  “Well, just wait and see what I have planned for this weekend. I’m sure you’ll forgive me then.”

  David’s words reminded her of the gift she had left for him with the doorman.

  “So, I’ll see you in a bit.”

  “Um, David?”

  “Yes?”

  “Did Frank give you the package I left for you?”

  “What package?”

  “It’s your anniversary gift. I left it with Frank at the front desk. He said he had the night shift and that he’d give it to you.”

  “Oh, baby, that’s so sweet of you! I’ll go and check with the desk now. They’ve gotten really sloppy lately.”

  “Um, okay. I’ll see you soon then.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  Claire hung up. David lived in a luxury condo, and the staff of his building never forgot anything. If David had gotten home during Frank’s shift, Frank would have given him the package; unless David did not get home last night, which would explain the answering machine being on most of the night.

  Or maybe she was being a little paranoid. Maybe the doorman did forget about the package or stepped away just as David got in. Anyway, there wa
s no use mulling over the incident now. In less than two hours, David would be here, and Claire needed all the calmness she could muster, as she was fairly certain that making a good impression on Mr. and Mrs. Lawson would be no easy feat.

  When she got out of the shower, Claire surveyed her reflection in the mirror. Mercifully, there were no dark circles under her eyes, despite her restless night. She blow-dried her hair and applied a dusting of powder, some blush, and a coat of mascara, aiming for the au naturel look. She reached for a pair of tan slacks and a white peasant blouse she had selected for the drive – casual, yet stylish. Low-heeled sandals completed the ensemble.

  Next, she checked on her weekend bag that contained her toiletries, a cocktail dress of midnight blue silk, a flowery sundress, a swimming suit, and a white tennis dress, which had taken her over two hours last night to locate since she had not held a tennis racquet since college. At first, Claire was worried that the dress would not fit, but it did, and now she only hoped that her tennis skills had not completely atrophied.

  There was nothing else to do, so she sat down on the couch, waiting for David’s call.

  At ten o’clock sharp, the intercom rang.

  “Hey, baby. It’s me. I’ll come up.”

  Claire buzzed David in and waited. A few moments later, the doorbell rang. In the doorway stood David with a huge bouquet of white roses.

  “I’m really sorry about last night,” he whispered as he leaned in to kiss her.

  “Already forgotten.” The feel of David’s lips on hers and the reassuring solidity of his broad shoulders erased her earlier misgivings.

  David made his way inside, handing her the flowers.

  “David, these are beautiful! Thank you.” Claire rushed to put the roses into a vase. It was too bad that she would not be there to enjoy them.