Brooke plopped a whole pizza on the table in front of them and sat down on the couch.
There were no more than fifteen or twenty people here, yet Brooke had food for fifty. The men must be big eaters. The cheesy tang mixed with the scent of sweet tomatoes and forced Ceci to finally give in and have a slice. While she managed to get all of it in her mouth and not on her shirt, once she finished, she had to excuse herself to wash her hands. She refused to embarrass Sarah again by pulling out her wipes or sanitizer.
As she returned from the hall bathroom, Gabe was heading toward her. Crap.
“Hey, Ceci, how have you been?” His slightly crooked smile lit up his handsome face and her heart skipped a beat.
It would have been rude not to stop and talk, right? She lifted her chin in an attempt to appear cool. “Great. Never better.”
For a split second his brow rose as if he didn’t believe her. Well, too damned bad.
“We’ve been meaning to stop over and see how you were doing, but business has majorly picked up ever since we took down part of the drug ring. We also shifted our office to Bozeman.”
They didn’t owe her a visit. “Don’t I know the feeling.” You are so not cool.
Brooke had told her that Riley and Gavin have been working overtime, too, but she hadn’t known Gabe and Dylan were no longer working in town. As subtly as she could, she clasped her hands together and rotated the dials on her ring—first the one on top then the one on the bottom.
“Say listen,” Gabe said. “Next Saturday, I’m competing in a motocross race outside of town near Palmer’s Lake. Riley or maybe Liam might have signed up, too. I’d really like it if you could come cheer me on.”
Her pulse raced. Being in a crowd might not be so bad, but would he expect her to wait for him after the event and possibly go out on a date? She’d turned him down twice, once before Brooke witnessed the murder and once afterward, so he must know she wasn’t interested. You owe him for all he’s done. Showing up won’t kill you. After all, she’d been a cheerleader in high school and loved being around people. Boy, a lot had changed since then.
“Sounds great.”
He grinned and looked oh-so hot.
“I’ll text you with the 411.”
He winked then headed down the hall to the bathroom. She didn’t move for a full minute, waiting for her palms and her pits to stop sweating. One date couldn’t hurt, right? Besides, he’d be on a bike and she’d be in the stands. Happy with the way she’d handled herself she turned to return to the party only to run right into Dylan Jacobs.
His grin dimpled his cheeks and his eyes sparkled. Her lustful reaction to him was bad. Oh, so very bad. “Dylan!”
“Hey. Did I hear you right? You’re coming to the motocross race?”
She couldn’t back out now. “Yup.”
“Then you better be prepared to get dirty.”
Oh, crap. This was turning into another nightmare.
Chapter Two
Knowing that hiding in her home wasn’t healthy, Ceci agreed to meet Sarah and a couple of friends for a drink on Wednesday. Their mutual friend Danielle Bronson, who they called Elle, said she’d close her lingerie shop a little early today and would hopefully be on time for once.
Ceci snagged a parking space close to the entrance and stepped into the rather dark Mountain View Bar & Grill. Once her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she spotted Sarah in the corner waving.
Ceci wove her way toward her. “Hey.” She leaned over and gave her friend a hug.
“Glad you could make it.” Sarah’s wine glass was half-empty already. Ceci didn’t think she was that late.
“Me, too.” She pulled out a chair and relaxed. Now that Harrison Kaplan was in jail, she had no reason not to live again.
The door banged open and Christina Hemingway, who worked at Chase Bank of Pleasure, rushed in, wearing a killer navy blue suit and sensible blue and white pumps.
She hugged each of them then dropped down in her seat, a little out of breath. “Sorry. Had to finish with some paperwork.”
“Sarah and I just got here.” Well, she’d just arrived.
Christina clasped Ceci’s hand. “It’s so good to finally see you out and about.”
So people had noticed. “I made a new resolution. While I’ll still carry my handy canister of mace, and I’ll be forever looking over my shoulder, I’ve decided I’m tired of being afraid.”
“Good for you.” Chris waved for the waitress.
Sarah downed the rest of her wine and closed her eyes for a moment. “I’ll be honest. I still have nightmares.”
When her face turned ashen, Ceci’s heart broke. “I thought you said the nightmares were over.” She was resigned to the fact that her own nightmares would never go away. Seeing John lying in that pool of blood would be permanently etched in her brain. Though Sarah’s horror only lasted a few hours, she’d faced death. So had Ceci, only it wasn’t her own.
Sarah pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I just said that so you wouldn’t feel guiltier.”
The criminal had meant to kidnap her in order to get to Brooke but mistook Sarah for Ceci. Fortunately, the only physical damage had been duct tape burns to Sarah’s hands and face, along with exposure to the cold. Had Gavin’s bullet not stopped the kidnapper, Sarah would have died when they dumped her in the snowy field. No telling what the long-term psychological trauma would have been.
“You still haven’t seen a shrink?” Ceci’s friends in Philadelphia had convinced her to see someone, but it hadn’t helped.
Sarah waved a hand. “I have an appointment, but I’m not sure I need it. I’m waking up in night sweats less and less now.”
Sloan, their waitress, hustled over at the same time Elle rushed through the front door. Their waitress smiled. “Hey, girls. The usual?”
Elle dashed in just in time to answer. “Yes for me.” Sweat beaded her face.
Ceci swiveled around. “What’s going on?” Elle wore running pants and a fleece top instead of some skimpy outfit that she said her customers expected from the owner of a sex shop.
She tore off her headband. “I’m in training. I have new goal. I want to lose fifty pounds by Christmas.”
There were the usual comments about how she looked great the way she was. Ceci agreed, but she was all for a woman doing whatever she needed to do to feel good. Too bad running wouldn’t solve any of her problems—God only knew she’d tried. “Do you plan to run in a race?”
Sloan brought over water for all of them as she could probably tell Elle needed it.
“There’s a Color Run at the end of August in Bozeman that I want to enter. It’s only a 5K, but I need to start small.” She glanced around. “Who wants to be on my team? The money goes to charity.”
Sarah raised her hand. “I’m in.” Her friend glanced at her. “You used to run. What do you say? It’ll be fun.”
Ceci had seen the photos. “But they throw different colored powder all over you.”
Elle downed half the glass of water. “That’s the fun part. They give you a white T-shirt so you don’t ruin your clothes.”
“But that powder gets on your shoes, in your hair, on your pants, and probably in your mouth.”
Sarah laughed. “Haven’t you heard of showers? It all washes out.”
“Maybe.” She’d rather crawl through a pit of snakes than have to deal with the mess. “How about if I donate instead?” She hoped that would mollify them.
“Great.” Too bad Elle’s smile lacked conviction.
Change the subject. “Guess what? I have a date on Saturday, or at least I think it’s a date.”
As expected, all of the girls squealed, and the Color Run was pushed back into the recesses of everyone’s mind.
Sarah clasped her hand. “Is it with Gabe and Dylan?”
“Yes.” She explained about the motocross race and that Gabe would be participating. “Have any of you been?” While she’d looked at Google Images, she had no ide
a what kind of track Pleasure had.
They all shook their head. “Not my thing,” Christina said.
Elle tossed her an exaggerated frown. “If I didn’t work weekends, I’d be there in a heartbeat if only to watch hunky men slog around in the mud, their muscles tensing and throbbing with each turn on the track.” She licked her lips and they all laughed.
“Dylan claimed it would be dirty.” Sarah smiled and Ceci narrowed her eyes at her. “What are you grinning at?”
“You’ll have to buy out Pack & Save’s entire supply of hand wipes.”
“I’m not that bad.” There aren’t enough hand wipes in the world to wash away my guilt.
“Uh-huh.” The girls laughed.
Sloan arrived just in time to bring the drinks. For more than one reason, Ceci needed the fortification today. Not only was she a little jittery about her so-called date, but the market had dropped over two-hundred points today. Damn Federal Reserve Chairman. He was always mucking things up. Then again, when he talked about expanding the money supply, the market would rise, and she’d make a windfall.
Elle held up her glass. “To us and new beginnings.” They clinked their glasses.
Ceci had started her life over again when she moved back to Pleasure, and she wasn’t sure how many do-overs a person got in life. If only she had been born a cat.
Christina slipped off her jacket. “Tell me about Dylan and Gabe. I’ve not been around much to get all the gossip.”
She wasn’t sure how much to reveal. If she expressed her true feelings about the men, the girls would pressure her into giving them a chance. She would have done the same thing had the roles been reversed, but they didn’t know about John—and neither did Dylan and Gabe. They were nice men who shouldn’t be subjected to a woman with so many issues.
She picked up her glass and drew on her cool persona. “Gabe and Dylan work for Elite Detective Services and were assigned as my bodyguards during the whole drug thing with Brooke.”
“Sarah mentioned that fact.” Christina motioned with her hand for her to continue. “I want the real deets. Now.”
Too many had seen the men so she couldn’t lie. “They’re extremely good looking.”
Sarah smiled. “And they have the hots for Ceci but she won’t go out with them.”
Elle furrowed her brows. “Why not?” She held up a hand. “Never mind. If you don’t want them, girlfriend, send them my way.”
Everyone at the table laughed.
Christina sipped her wine. “Seriously. What’s the problem? Were they grabby or something during their stay?”
“No. They were totally professional.” She wished the girls would drop this line of questioning.
Chris nodded. “After the scare was over, did they call and text or hound you? Or did they ignore you because their job was over? That would be the worst.”
This wasn’t making her out to be very sympathetic no matter which way she answered. “They followed up a couple of times to see if I was okay.”
Sarah intervened. “The first time she’d seen them in a month was at Friday night’s party at her sister’s new place.”
Chris leaned on her elbows. “So what’s wrong with them?”
“Nothing.” And that’s the problem.
Elle, who was sitting to her left, squeezed her hand. “When was the last time you really let loose?”
When I first met John. “What are you implying, missy?”
“Go out and have fun. Have wild, debauched sex with both men. It doesn’t mean you have to make a lifelong commitment.”
“That’s so not going happen. I’m not into casual sex. Your customers might be, but I”—she sucked in a breath—“the truth is I don’t want to be like my mom who married young and had a kid right away.” That was as good of an excuse as any.
“You’re not your mom,” Sarah said. “And you’re not young.”
Twenty-nine wasn’t old by anyone’s standards so Ceci stuck out her tongue. “You’re right.” She leaned forward. “I’ll spill.” She didn’t mind admitting this, as it was the truth. “I’ve never been with two men and I heard Dylan and Gabe share.”
Elle laughed. “Is that your hang-up?”
She didn’t appreciate the label. It didn’t matter that her own sister loved having two men pay attention to her. To Ceci, it doubled the chance of her getting her heart broken—or rather of her disappointing them. “It’s not a hang-up. It’s a concern.”
Elle grinned. “Concerns can be overcome. I have a lot of magazines and videos you could watch to get you more comfortable with the idea.”
Maybe that would help with the sex part, but it wouldn’t help her get over being with two men who were adrenaline junkies. One way or the other, the relationship was bound to fail.
“Have you had two men, Miss-I-Run-A-Sex-Shop?” She needed to get the focus off herself.
“No, but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t jump at the chance if two hot men came my way.” Elle raised her brows, tossing it right back at her.
“I’ll see what Saturday brings.”
More glasses rose. “To Saturday!” Christina said.
To Saturday.
* * * *
On Friday evening, she received the following text from Gabe: Sat, 2PM, Head N on Lawton Road. Signs will be everywhere. Dress? Casual.
To her surprise, she wasn’t panicked about going, even though one of the tellers at the bank told her Pleasure had a homemade track and that there weren’t any stands. People just crowed around and watched.
When she routed through her closet for what to wear, she picked out her oldest boots, but even those were less than a year old. The weather could be warm or cool depending on the cloud cover, so she decided to layer. Though Gabe had said to dress casually, that didn’t mean she couldn’t put on some lipstick, a bit of blush, and some eye shadow. She was one of those pale blondes who didn’t tan. Plus, she had freckles and lots of them. No would notice if she wore a light foundation.
Because she was too nervous to sleep, she pulled out a carton of her favorite ice cream—cookie dough—and dropped onto the sofa to watch one of her romantic comedies she’d stored on her TiVo. Tonight she decided to watch Sleepless in Seattle, as she loved Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
This movie always made her cry, and by the time it was over, the ice cream container was empty, and a stack of tissues sat clumped by her side. Perhaps a nice glass of wine and a hot bath would be the perfect way to end the night.
The stock market was closed tomorrow, so she could sleep in. For a nice change, she decided to treat herself to a delicious brunch before heading over to the raceway on the east side of town.
With her plan firmly in place, she ran her water, poured in the bath salts, and then plugged in her DVD player so she’d have soothing music to listen to. Once she lay back in the tub, she let her mind drift to tomorrow and what the men would be like. One thing she liked about them was that they weren’t pushy. They seemed to understand that she liked her space and had learned that despite her outgoing personality, she was a loner at heart, or at least when it came to men.
After isolating herself from her girlfriends for the last two months, even she realized no one had gained by her absence—most of all her. From now on, she wanted to put herself out there. While the guilt would never go away, she didn’t want to be a mental cripple her whole life.
The music brought much needed peace, and when she finished her glass of wine, she emptied the tub, washed her hair, and showered off the soap and salts from the bath. Hopefully, now she might actually be tired enough to sleep.
After wrapping her wet hair in a towel, and putting on her slippers and terrycloth robe, she padded into her bedroom. Seconds later, she was in her flannel nightgown and tucked into bed.
Ceci was positive she’d drift off to sleep in seconds. Instead, the image of John surfaced. He was waving that stupid carton of Rocky Road ice cream at her. Tears leaked as she replayed the dumb argument in her head once more.
She’d had it with his ups and downs and finally had called it quits with him, truly believing it would be the wake-up call he needed to get his life in order.
Don’t do this to yourself. It wasn’t your fault you didn’t reach him in time.
Her throat clogged and forced her to sit up. “Damn you, John Bean.”
Needing a glass of water, she slid her feet into her slippers and headed out to the kitchen. After a long drink, she returned, but she knew herself well enough to realize sleep would only come in spurts tonight.
When the sun snuck in through the shades, Ceci slipped her face under the pillow. For once she had no commitments until the afternoon, but could she sleep? Hell, no. She had to be freaking awake at seven in the morning. Not willing to fight it anymore, she crawled out of bed and dressed in her casual clothes.
She figured she was overreacting by wearing a brown shirt, but why chance not getting any stains out? She told herself that watching a bunch of guys riding around a dirt course would be fine because she wasn’t the one on the bike, but she still battled with herself. She no longer could deny she was highly attracted to both men, but Gabe appeared to be a no-commitment type of guy and she didn’t do casual.
Why not? Maybe letting loose would do her some good.
Right, and she’d give up ice cream.
Her stomach grumbled so she grabbed two hard-boiled eggs and a glass of orange juice and headed to her office. She might as well get some work done while she waited for her quasi date to begin.
Normally, Bollinger Bands, cash flow statements, and balance sheets weren’t all that exciting, but when coupled with the interesting message boards that were rife with company rumors, the research had made her lose track of time. By the time she actually checked the clock, it was a little past one.
“Yikes.” She shut off her computer and rushed to the bathroom to put on her makeup.
So she wouldn’t starve, she snatched a few snack bars and tossed them in her purse. If she got there early, she could snag the safest spot to watch the race.
Dirty Pleasures [Pleasure, Montana 10] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 2