Modern Girl's Guide to One-Night Stands

by DRAYER, GINA

  Simon frowned, searching for any sign of her. Maybe she’d escaped the afternoon heat for the coolness of the house. Resisting the urge to search her out, Simon went back to his desk and started in on his current work problem: the Star Atlantic account.

  He wasn’t lying when he told Megan he had to work. This particular account was falling apart and needed his personal attention.

  But despite his best efforts to concentrate and get some real work done, Simon’s stomach decided it was time for a break. He’d skipped breakfast. And after almost an hour of ignoring the insistent grumbles, he finally broke down and went in search of food.

  As he approached the kitchen, the sound of laughter poured from the closed door.

  It was Julia’s laugh, and Simon paused outside trying to figure out what he was listening to.

  “You’re doing it wrong. Your strokes need to be nice and long with lots of pressure. Here, let me show you again.”

  “I’m doing it exactly like you showed me,” Peter said.

  “Here, watch my hand. Move from the top all the way to the bottom. Do it in one long continuous motion. The key is to keep your wrist locked.”

  “I swear that’s what I was doing, but you didn’t like it. I give up,” Peter replied. “I’ll just watch you. It’s far more entertaining.”

  “Oh, no. I don’t work well with an audience,” Julia chided. “You either join in or get out.”

  “Fine, fine. I’ll leave you to do your magic.” Peter’s voice grew louder as he approached the door. “Just be sure to share when you're done.”

  Simon went around the corner so he wasn’t caught eavesdropping. He’d almost made it back to the steps when Peter called his name.

  “Simon. I see you’ve finally decided to come out of your cave,” he said.

  “Um. I was just coming to grab a bite to eat.”

  “Perfect timing. Julia’s fixing us all lunch. Megan said she’s an incredible cook.”

  Simon frowned again. What he overheard didn’t sound like cooking. Was Megan trying to fix her up with Peter now? The idea didn’t sit well with him.

  “Seems like things are going well with Julia,” he said.

  “She’s nice. And I’m happy to help, but I’m not sure what Megan wants from me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the girl is beautiful and sweet, but…” Peter said with a shrug. A pained look crossed his face and he sighed. “It's been less than six months. You know what I mean?”

  Simon had no idea what he meant. Did he know what happened that night in January? Had Julia said something? He had said he’d reveal their one-night stand if she tried anything with Peter. Leave it to that brassy spitfire to take the initiative and tell him herself.

  Peter was loyal, and wouldn’t poach. But he and Julia were just a one-time thing. If Peter was interested, Simon should let him off the hook.

  “Does it bother you? It was months ago, and I’d be surprised if it even meant anything to her,” Simon tried to explain.

  “God, I hope it meant something. Breaking an engagement can leave a mark”

  “An engagement?” Simon was confused now. “Why would the fact Julia left her fiancé bother you?”

  “It’s not that she left him. From what Megan tells me, he treated her like shit, was controlling. Then to catch him cheating. But it’s not just that. Julia's sweet and shy, and I like her, but I don’t want to be the rebound guy.” Peter shrugged again. He seemed to be struggling to explain, and Simon waited for him to find the words. "We all have baggage, but I want a girl who wants to be with me. And not just because I’m not the last asshole.”

  Had Simon been the rebound guy? Was that why she had picked him? If he remembered Megan’s emails, that night was just a few weeks after Julia moved in with her. The idea didn’t sit well with Simon, and he understood Peter’s wariness all too well.

  Simon slapped him on the back, commiserating with his situation. “I know you and Meg are tight. And I’m sure this was her idea, but I’d appreciate it if you'd back off this one.”

  “Something I should know?”

  “Call it a personal favor,” Simon said.

  “Hands off. Got it.” Peter gave him an amused smile. “I’m going to hang with Meg until lunch. Why don’t you see if Julia needs a hand?”

  Simon watched him go back outside, unsure what just happened. Did he really just ask Peter to stay away from Julia? And who was this timid, shy woman who let her fiancé push her around? It certainly wasn’t the woman he’d met. Both Peter and Meg kept talking about Julia like she was some kind of fragile woman. As Simon entered the kitchen, he wondered which Julia was the real one.

  As he opened the door a mangled sound assaulted him. Slightly off tempo and way off key, Julia’s voice belted out a tune at the top of her lungs.

  “B-B-B-Bennie…”

  He pushed open the door and was greeted with a spectacular sight. Julia was swaying her hips to a butchered Elton John tune, singing her heart out into a metal spatula. Her tight ass rocked to the beat, making his mouth go dry. Simon leaned against the door and watched her for a few seconds, enjoying the way she seemed to lose herself in the moment. This woman, the one who threw her entire body and soul into her pleasures—this was the woman he remembered. The woman he still wanted.

  Julia spun around in his direction and jumped when she caught sight of him. With a loud clang, the spatula fell to the floor and she swore. “Holy fuck! Goddamn it! You scared the shit out of me.” She slapped a hand over her mouth, as if just realizing she'd said that aloud. A hot, pink blush crept into her cheeks, lighting up her face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I was startled. I didn’t know you were standing there,” she said, babbling.

  Simon crossed the kitchen and retrieved the fallen utensil. “If anyone should apologize it should be me. I didn’t mean to surprise you. I came searching for lunch, and got a concert instead. Not quite up to Sir Elton’s standard, but the show was nice.”

  Her blush deepened to a flaming red. Simon’s thoughts went back to the last time he’d seen her turn that color. He could picture it in his mind; the color spreading down her neck all the way to the rounded mounds of her breasts right before she came. Her dusty pink nipples, puckering and turning a dark rose color. Suddenly his brain wasn’t the only part of his anatomy that remembered. What the fuck was going on with him? He couldn’t be in the same room with this woman without thinking about touching her, tasting her.

  As if reading his thoughts, she bit that plump lower lip of hers and turned away from his scrutiny. He dropped the spatula into the sink, determined to get some lunch and leave before the situation got any more awkward. He had to stop thinking about her in a sexual way. They agreed to forget that night in January ever happened. As far as he was concerned, Julia was just one of his little sister’s friends.

  “I’ll just grab something and get out of your way,” he said. But when Simon turned around, she was right behind him.

  “Here. I made you one too.” Julia shoved a plate into his hands.

  He looked down at the plate and found a delicious-looking grilled sandwich and a slaw of some sort. “You didn’t have to cook for me.”

  “Of course I did. I made everyone lunch,” she said and waved her hand to the counter as though he should have realized that’s why she was there. "I was just about to take the tray out to the porch. Are you going to join us?”

  Simon looked down at the sandwich and rubbed the soft stubble on his chin. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had made him a grilled cheese. Even the exotic combination Julia had thrown together was far too pedestrian for the women he usually dated. But this humble fare was one of his favorites. He and Megan would sneak down and make grilled cheese on the weekend, much to their father's horror. He paid people to do that for them, he’d always say. However, despite the objections, or maybe because of them, they continued doing it until Simon had moved out. It had been one of the few things he’d missed after leaving home.

>   Could this be part of Megan’s matchmaking? Did she tell Julia about their Saturday afternoons hanging out in the kitchen? It was possible she was using that knowledge to make peace. Or perhaps tempt him? The fact that Julia was Megan’s best friend muddled everything in his mind, and Simon needed to put some distance between them. He’d have to have a talk with his meddling baby sister and find out exactly what she’d told Julia about him.

  “Thanks, but no. I still have to finish up a few things,” he said, and escaped back to the safety of his room. This forgetting the past and starting over wasn’t going as planned.

  Chapter Six

  Modern Girl Tip #4: Bring Your A-Game—Just because you’re not looking for forever doesn’t mean you can phone it in. If you want to have a great night, try to connect on a personal level.

  Dinner turned into a disaster when Simon didn’t show up. Julia sat across the immense table staring at Peter, neither one of them willing to take a bite of the dinner she’d prepared. Megan's instructions had been for them to wait until she’d “pulled her brother's head out of his ass and forced him to have some fun.”

  Megan could make a longshoreman blush when she got angry, and right now she was beyond pissed at Simon. A torrent of swears flooded down the stairs, filling the silence.

  Julia was almost to the point of packing up dinner and calling the whole evening a wash when Megan came storming out of the office, just to turn around and start yelling at her brother about Cancun and some girl named Maria.

  “What’s that about?” Julia asked.

  “I can’t believe she’s bringing that up again. It wasn’t even Simon's fault. I’m the one who left Megan at that bar.” Peter shrugged it off and took another drink of wine. She could tell he didn’t feel at all sorry that Simon was the focus of Megan’s anger. “I was a mistake, of course. I thought she was with Simon, but he’d already left with Maria, a woman he'd met earlier. She was pissed by the time she got back to the hotel. And evidently still is. Leave a girl stranded at a bar in Mexico once and she never lets you forget it.”

  “Does he do that a lot? Pick up women in bars?” She wanted to take back the words as soon as they left her lips. It wasn’t any of her business what Simon did. And she really didn’t want to know that one of the best nights of her life was just a number on a long list of meaningless hookups for him.

  “Who? Simon?” Peter quirked an eyebrow, giving her an assessing look that made Julia squirm.

  “I was just wondering.” Boy, that was lame. Peter smiled knowingly, and Julia felt like he was reading her every thought. She looked away, finding the china pattern fascinating all of the sudden.

  “I’ll admit, Simon had his pick of women when we were younger.”

  “And now?”

  “His taste has gotten more discriminating. He’s not seeing anyone, if that’s what you're getting at.”

  “No…I didn’t mean, um…no." Her cheeks were burning and she knew her fair skin was giving away her embarrassment. She couldn’t meet his gaze, but needed to set him straight. “I don’t know what Megan told you, but I’m not looking for a boyfriend. She thinks she’s being helpful, but it’s just making everything awkward."

  He seemed to consider her answer for a second. “True. She’s the meddling type. But why the sudden interest in Simon?”

  “I’m just trying to get to know Megan’s friends and family,” she said, hoping he’d buy her explanation and leave the subject alone, but he laughed at her assertion. So Julia went on the offensive. “Megan talks like Simon hung the moon and the stars. I was just curious about who he really is. You know……Megan talks about you all the time, too. Some of the things she’s said gave me the impression that there’s more than friendship between you two. I thought it was really strange that she wanted to introduce me to you, too," she said, meeting his gaze for the first time. That cocky grin was gone. “Maybe she wanted to get my opinion of you. So, what are your intentions toward Megan? ”

  “I think we’re going to need another bottle of wine,” he said, getting up from the table. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

  Julia had just been guessing about Peter, but it looked like her suspicions were correct. There was a lot more going on between the two than just friendship. That was something to file away for later.

  A loud crash rattled the ceiling and Julia got out of her seat, wondering if she should interfere. Megan was yelling something about a Christmas party, and her dress being ruined, when Peter walked back in with the bottle of wine.

  “We might as well eat. It sounds like they’re winding down,” Peter said. “That’s the thing about sisters, they have long memories. And a fight is never about one thing.”

  “I should—”

  “Sit,” Peter insisted. “It’ll be over soon now that Meg has moved to the throwing phase.”

  “Does this happen a lot?” Julia asked, still hesitant to take her seat.

  “Do you have any siblings?” he asked.

  “Only child.”

  “I have four sisters,” Peter said. “Simon and Meg’s fights are tame compared to the knock-down, drag-out fights my sisters would have. When I was a kid, if no one was bleeding at my house, it was a good day.”

  This couldn’t be how families worked. When she’d dreamt of having a regular family, Julia always imagined smiling faces in group portraits and dinner around a big oak table, not screaming and throwing things. Her grandmother’s house had none of those things. It had been like a tomb where no one ever raised their voices.

  Megan came storming down the stairs and threw herself into the chair. “Why is my fucking wineglass empty?” she said.

  “This is good wine,” Peter said by way of explanation. “I just wanted to make sure you were done throwing things.”

  “Fill the glass, smartass. Or I might have to hurt you.”

  “Promises, promises.” Peter poured a generous amount into her glass and waited for her to take a long pull off the cup before topping her off.

  Julia picked at her cooling potatoes as she watched the two interact. She still couldn’t tell if the banter and intimate knowledge of each other meant they were extremely close, or if there was more going on between the two of them. Julia knew as much about close childhood friendships as she did families.

  After her glass of wine was almost empty, Megan finally relaxed. “Well, if you haven’t picked up, the jackass isn’t joining us. I'm sorry, Julia. I had this grand weekend planned where we’d hang out and have fun. But instead I’m fighting with my brother.”

  Megan had nothing to feel guilty about. Julia loved the lake and was grateful to even be invited. If anything, Julia should be apologizing to Megan. It was obvious Simon was trying to avoid her. And she hated that her presence was keeping him from visiting with his sister.

  “This actually works out. I was planning on doing some work tonight. Don’t worry about me. You should catch up with Peter. I think I’ll head out now."

  It was well past ten when Simon finally got off the phone with the production house in California. He’d missed dinner despite his promise, and Megan wasn’t shy about letting him know she was pissed off at him. When he agreed to come out here this weekend, it wasn't his intention to hole up in the office. Simon was finally coming to terms with the whole Julia thing, and was even starting to look forward to relaxing this weekend.

  Then he got the call from the New York office. The production on the television ads had come to a stop because of a “creative” disagreement between the studio and the client over the script. Star Atlantic’s VP was a micromanaging ass. He’d loved everything in preproduction and now nothing was up to his standards. He’d even started to complain about the actress. Simon was beginning to think that not one fucking thing was going to go right with this account.

  While he was waiting to hear back from the studio, Megan had informed him that they were all driving into town to get supplies and ice cream. She’d also told him, in some rather colorful words, that she wa
sn’t speaking to him until he left the office.

  After several hours of playing middleman with his people, the client, and the studio, they had reached an agreement. Normally they wouldn’t put up with this kind of wavering from the client, but the Star Atlantic account was either going to launch their company internationally or put them out of business. Either way, Simon was looking forward to the end of this campaign and never having to deal with that prick VP again.

  But now that he was finally free, Simon was completely alone in the house. It was a twisted metaphor for his life. He was working his ass off to make a name for his company, but everyone in his life was moving on without him. Deep down he was afraid that when he was ready to join them he would find his life an empty shell, just like this house.

  He needed a drink, and he wanted to get out of this fucking cavernous house even more. He hit the bar, grabbing a bottle, and headed for the boathouse. All he wanted to do right now was unwind and enjoy the cool night breeze off the lake.

  Simon was nursing his second glass of scotch when he heard someone coming down the stairs. He hadn’t left a note up at the house, but he figured if Megan wanted him, she knew where he’d be. But instead of Megan coming through the door, the sounds moved off to the left, right down to the water.

  “Holy shit, that’s cold,” a female voice cried out.

  Crossing the room so he could check out the side window, Simon found Julia wading through the water. She was carrying a camera and tripod over her head, slowly making her way to waist-deep water before she started setting up the equipment. He looked out over the lake to see what she was shooting. The moon was cresting over the horizon, leaving a ripple of pale light over the surface of the water.

  While the sight was stirring from the boathouse, he had the sudden urge to wade out there with her to get that perspective.

  She crouched down to the camera, bringing the water midway up her chest. The soft lapping of the water caused her shirt to cling to the curve of her breasts. He remembered how the soft mounds fit just right in his palms and how they bounced when she rocked her hips.