by T Gephart
“Okay, let’s get out of here before I get any other surprise invitations. We’re going to take Lisa’s car, right? It’s going to be tight in Amy’s Chevy.”
Melanie looked at us, her eyes brimming with excitement. “I say we call this whole thing off and head to a bar instead.”
“You’re overlooking the fact you can’t drink,” Lisa pointed out, which was a shame because heading to a bar sounded a hell of a lot better than going to the mall. Especially now.
“So, they can put a cocktail umbrella in it and I can make believe. Besides, how often does Jessica come to town? We going to waste the opportunity shopping in Target? Or are we going to ply her with malt liquor and make her tell us all her dirty dark secrets?” She raised her eyebrows, taunting me.
I waved my hands, dismissing the idea of sharing my secrets. “I’m not kissing and telling, and I thought you wanted to go shopping?”
Her face fell, her eyes starting to water. “I thought I did, but my feet feel like two hams stuffed into shoes and I need to pee every five minutes. And I’m worried I’m turning into one of those women who all they ever talk about is babies and being pregnant. Oh, God.” Her lip began to quiver. “I’m one of them, aren’t I? I’m going to continue wearing elastic pants even after the baby is born and only ever wash my hair on Tuesday.”
“Okay, we’re not going to the mall,” I declared. “And if you want to go to a bar, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
“The Creole Crab on Texas opens at eleven.” Amy looked at her phone. “By the time we get there we could be ordering cocktails.”
“Sounds good to me.” I nodded, slinging my arm around my sister, hoping to curb the waterworks.
She wiped her eyes, failing miserably as she tried to manage a smile. “And me.”
“Fine, but if I’m driving, no one is allowed to throw up in my car,” Lisa warned. “And no one tells LeeAnn. We’re supposed to be shopping, not drinking.”
“She’ll never know. We’ll order some things on the internet and have them delivered. It will be like an instant baby shower,” I suggested, knowing we could build an impressive inventory without even stepping foot in a store.
Amy rubbed her hands together in anticipation “Oh, that sounds like fun.”
“It’s going to be amazing,” Melanie agreed, no longer thinking about her ham feet or visiting the mall.
While it was probably a recipe for disaster, we piled into Lisa’s SUV and drove to the bar. Its tacky neon OPEN sign was flashing, as was its promise of a good time.
We got ourselves situated in a booth, ordering a round of rum and Cokes—Melanie’s minus rum—and a bunch of appetizers so we didn’t look like a bunch of alcoholics. We laughed, eating fried food I knew I was going to regret, and continued to drink. Lisa and Melanie switched to iced tea, while Amy and I took one for the team and stayed with the rum. We were in a bar after all, it only made sense that some of us needed to continue drinking.
“So,” Amy giggled. “Is he as hot in bed as he is a kisser? Because, girl.” She bit her lip suggestively. “That goodbye at the door was smoking.”
I pressed my mouth together pretending to zip them and then throw away the key. “A lady never tells.”
“Come on, you need to tell us and let us live vicariously through your exciting life.” Amy shoved me, sloshing her drink on the table.
I might not be sober, but I hadn’t lost all my faculties. Instead I pegged them with a sharp look and prayed my mouth did what I told it to. “How come I’m the only one who needs to be volunteering personal information? You want the goods, you need to offer something in return.”
“Dalton and I are trying for a baby,” Lisa tossed out without too much cajoling.
Melanie sipped her iced tea, giving Lisa a shove. “Pfft, we already know that. Something else, but nothing gross. I’m sober and I don’t want to hear about my brother in that way.”
She bit her lip like she was contemplating, leaning in closer as she dropped her voice to a whisper. “Okay, Tammy and I went to Dallas three weeks ago. She had to run an errand for LeeAnn, but we decided to stay the night rather than driving there and back.”
“So scandalous.” I laughed, wiggling my eyebrows for effect.
Lisa rolled her eyes. “I’m getting there, don’t be so impatient. Okay, so you know how good and innocent she acts.”
I scoffed, trying hard to keep a straight face at my sister-in-law’s claim of Tammy’s virtuous behavior. “Please, she claims she’s a virgin because she hasn’t had penetration.” I wiggled my finger for effect. “And I’m sorry, an intact hymen doesn’t qualify if you’ve done everything else. I’m not trying to slut shame, I’m just saying don’t be preaching abstinence on Sunday and doing anal on Monday.”
The table erupted into laughter, Melanie choking on her tea. “Oh my God, Jessica!”
“It’s true.” I laughed, finishing what was left in my glass and feeling the warmth spread through my body.
“Anyway.” Lisa ignored us, continuing with her story. “So while we were in Dallas, she took me to this club apparently she hangs out at sometimes. You guys, it was a sex club.”
“Wait a minute. You cheated on my brother?” My eyes widened, wondering if I wanted to hear the rest of the story. I mean, sex club in Dallas sounded interesting. But then having to be sworn to secrecy in what could potentially ruin my brother’s marriage—no bueno. I already had my own lies and secrets, any more and I might as well be running for office.
“We were just watching, not participating. People on trapezes and stuff, having sex behind glass—that kind of thing.” She lowered her head, looking around at the almost empty bar. “It was the biggest turn-on. I came home and had the best sex I ever had. The next day I felt guilty so I told Dalton all about it. He was so excited I was willing to try new stuff, he wasn’t even mad. We’re taking a trip out there together next weekend.”
“Ewww, too far.” Melanie groaned, shuddering as she locked eyes on me. “I’m going to be having nightmares for weeks.”
“Me too.” I laughed, trying to scrub the thought of my brother having kinky sex with my sister-in-law out of my mind.
“So I’ve told you mine, now you tell me yours.” Lisa waved her finger at me, the blush rising up her cheeks.
I shook my head, not sure what to say. While the morning had provided me with more than enough material that I didn’t have to lie, it felt too personal to share. And I knew that it had just been sex.
We weren’t entangled in a deep and emotional relationship where we made love and then fell asleep in each other’s embrace. But for some reason, those private moments we’d shared didn’t feel as cheap and sordid as they probably were. Maybe I just didn’t want to admit to myself that the best sex I’d ever had was with some guy who I’d probably never sleep with again.
And he wasn’t my boyfriend.
And I’d had to pay him to go out with me in the first place.
Yeah, that didn’t exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
“I don’t know.” My eyes dropped to my empty glass, suddenly wishing we were in Target scanning aisles of diapers and breast pumps instead of having that conversation.
Melanie tugged at my arm. “What do you mean, you don’t know. Three months ago you said he was your soul mate and that you were in love with him. You’re adorable together, and he’s obviously head over heels with you. He’s so caring, so attentive—you just have to look at him to see he’s smitten.”
Her words made me more uncomfortable than they should have. And not just because of my deceit. The only reason they believed he was smitten was because he was a very good and convincing actor.
I, on the other hand, wasn’t.
“Yeah, you’re right. Of course he’s my soul mate, I love him.” I forced the smile, unable to admit to anyone how empty it all felt.
Not because Dave wasn’t in love with me, but because I couldn’t remember a time where any man had felt that way
about me. Or where I’d felt that way about a man. I’d always seen relationships as a means to an end, believing that I’d settle down later in life when everything else was worked out. But what if I’d already met my soul mate and dismissed him, missing the opportunity because the timing wasn’t right.
What had started as a good idea suddenly felt wrong, that I could possibly end up alone because I was too selfish made my stomach churn. That was putting aside the conflicted feelings I was already having about Dave. Who knew I’d have to come all the way home just to put my life under a microscope.
“Hey, we should stop drinking or I’m not going to be able to stand tonight.” I pushed away the rum and Coke the waitress had delivered and vowed to sober up. “Why don’t we swing by the mall on the way home, pick up some stuff and get our hair blown out.”
“Yes.” Amy clapped. “I’ve been itching to get my nails done too.”
And while Melanie didn’t seem too enthused about leaving her comfy seat and dragging her ass from store to store, she agreed a pedicure might be nice. I hoped it would make her feet seem less ham-like than when she began her day because I wasn’t sure I could handle any more tears.
All I had to do was shut my mouth and pretend to be blissfully happy.
Piece of cake, right?
Yeah, not so much.
WHEN I ARRIVED BACK AT the hotel, Dave was in the shower. I hadn’t had the opportunity to ask him about his day but I assumed it went great. Probably better than great, with no doubt he’d charmed everyone. Of course he had, he was a professional. It was literally his job.
“How was baby shopping?” He emerged from the bathroom wearing the obligatory towel. It was too much to expect he put clothes on, using that body of his as a weapon every opportunity he got.
Don’t look at him. You slept with him once, be satisfied you went there, now move on.
My eyes flipped off my subconscious, ignoring the compelling internal debate I had going on and feasting on his beautiful naked torso.
“Great.” A one-word answer tested the waters before I committed to letting my mouth say more. “How was your day? Which casino did you go to?”
He sat on the bed—still wearing the towel, clothes obviously too much effort—and looked at me. “I like your hair like that.” He smiled before changing the subject. “We went to the Horseshoe; I won five hundred bucks on the tables.”
“Wow, how lucky.” I feigned excitement as I got up and went to the closet. Sitting on the bed with him in a towel was only marginally better than being in bed with him naked. And while I had already decided we probably shouldn’t sleep together, I wasn’t all that confident in my own willpower.
He followed me off the bed, not giving me the distance I had wanted. “You seem off. Everything okay?”
“Yep, all good.” My fingers skirted along the dress I’d decided to wear.
“Yeah, now I know you’re not telling the truth. Something happen at the mall?”
Part of me wanted to tell him, to be honest with him and admit what was going on in my head. But he didn’t sign up to be a therapist and the last thing I wanted was to show him a vulnerability I wasn’t even comfortable showing my family.
It wasn’t his problem.
Me, and my stupidity, were not his problem.
“No, I just don’t want to go to this stupid dinner. Have people stare at me like I’m in a fishbowl.”
Gently, he tugged at my arm, turning me around to face him as he looked at me with genuine concern. He tilted his head to the side as he asked, “So why are we going?”
“Because my family—”
“Jess, if you’d done what your family wanted you to do, you’d have never left Louisiana. It’s obvious you love them or you wouldn’t have wanted to go through with this crazy charade. And even to an outsider, I can see they care about you. But you need to make yourself happy. Now, what do we need to do to make that happen?”
His words had been so incredibly sweet and had been exactly the right thing to say. And I wasn’t sure if he’d read some secret boyfriend manual especially for the role or if he was genuinely perceptive. And at that moment, I didn’t care. Without thinking, I threw my arms around him, allowing myself to get up close and personal with the chest I’d been trying to avoid. He laughed, accepting my weight as he returned my hug.
“What’s it going to be, beautiful? A dinner you don’t want to go to? Or . . .” He raised an eyebrow. “I have it on good authority there’s an interesting club we should check out in Dallas.”
I laughed, burying my head against his pecs. “This interesting place in Dallas wouldn’t be a sex club, would it?”
“A sex club?” He pretended to look horrified. “Is that even a thing?”
I pulled away, pushing him playfully while I shook my head. “Oh hush, Dave Larsson. Don’t pretend that wasn’t exactly what you were talking about. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve already been to one. I’ve heard rumors about all you Larsson boys.”
“All lies, I’m a fucking saint. Can’t you see my halo?” He pointed to the top of his head.
“We are not driving to Dallas.” I sighed, wondering if now I had taken my hands off him if I could think of a legitimate reason to put them back. “But maybe we could be a little bit late.”
“The traffic was terrible.” He circled his hands around my hips.
“And we lost track of time,” I added.
“That car trouble didn’t help either. I’ll be having words with the rental company the minute we get back to the airport.” He pretended to look annoyed.
“Let me get dressed and then we can get out of here. I know exactly where to go. You might want to put on some pants as well. We wouldn’t want to scandalize the good folk of Shreveport.” My eyes dipped to the towel.
He grinned, his hands moving from my waist to his. “Oh, I’m only here to scandalize one person, and lucky for her she’s the only one in the room.”
And with that, he dropped the towel.
As much as I would have loved to allow myself to be scandalized, we had to get out of the hotel and get MIA before anyone wised up. I wouldn’t put it past my well-meaning family to drop in unannounced and “remind us” about our dinner plans. So while I enjoyed the view—the first time seeing him naked in proper light—I stored that away in my mental filing cabinet and got dressed. I was hoping it wouldn’t be the last time—his gorgeous body defying all definition of perfection—but if it was, I was fairly confident I’d still be able to describe it in detail for a police sketch.
The fancy dress I had planned to wear stayed in the closet. Instead I pulled on a pair of denim cut offs, a tank top and pair of strappy sandals. Dave dressed down too, slipping into a pair of worn jeans and a T-shirt. Both of us sneaking down to the lobby like we were teenagers avoiding curfew.
“Aren’t you heading to the BBQ?” Darla stopped us before we’d made it to the door, eyeing my choice of outfit like I was wearing a pair of stripper heels and a thong. I’d hoped she was done for the day, but it seemed there would be no such luck.
“Ahhh, yes,” Dave answered, putting his arm around my waist. “We just have some stuff we wanted to do first. BBQ isn’t until seven and we wanted to take advantage of our time while we’re here.”
A quick glance of the wall clock said it was five, which didn’t give us much leeway. And judging by the skeptical look on her face, I’d say she didn’t believe us. “Like what?” she had the nerve to ask.
“Like the Elvis Statue,” I offered, mentioning the bronze likeness of the King sitting in front of the Municipal Auditorium. “And no visit to Shreveport would be complete without seeing the air force base.” I turned to Dave, biting my lip as I filled him in. “Did you know the President landed at Barksdale on his way to Washington D.C after 9/11?”
“Wow, I did not know that.” Dave nodded, looking fascinated. “We can’t be this close and not see it.”
Darla narrowed her eyes, not buying it for a second. �
��The two of you are just going to waltz onto a military installation?”
It was astounding to me that someone who barely classed as a relative was giving me the third degree. And why the hell was she so interested in what we were doing anyway? I didn’t owe her or anyone else a freaking explanation.
“We’ll go to the gate, show our ID and see if we can’t check out the main buildings. It’s not like we’re going anywhere restricted,” I answered coolly before making a show of checking out the clock again. “We better get going, we wouldn’t want to be late.”
“Wait.” She grabbed my arm stopping me from leaving. “You’re still coming tonight, right?”
“Why do you ask?” My limit for being polite expired as I put my hands on my hips. She had always been nosey, but this level of interest was new even for her.
She fidgeted, shifting her weight between her feet, looking uncomfortable. “Well, now you know I’m not one to gossip.” Her preamble was so ridiculous I almost laughed out loud. “But one of my best friends in the whole wide world is an extra on that movie they’re shooting out near Cross Lake. And I happened to mention that you were dating Eric Larsson’s brother, and well, she’s a big fan.”
“Of me?” Dave asked, looking genuinely surprised.
Darla’s smile tightened as she looked at his chest. “Well, you know that dog food commercial got a lot of airtime.”
I cleared my throat in case she forgot I was standing right beside him. “Anyway, I obviously can’t bring her here because it’s against hotel policy to harass the guests, but I figured . . . well just about everyone is going to be at the BBQ.” She smiled nervously as she shrugged.
“We will just have to wait and see how the night pans out.” I wrapped my arm around Dave protectively.
Dave took the hint and pulled me closer. “We should probably get out of here, sweetheart. That Elvis statue isn’t going to see itself.”
I stifled the laugh, trying to be serious as we waved goodbye and walked out the door. The effort proved too much, barely making it to the car before I erupted into giggles. “That Elvis statue isn’t going to see itself?” I sucked in a breath. “Oh my God, how could you say that and keep a straight face?”