by Colet Abedi
Annoying, but I can’t blame him for noticing. You’d have to be dead not to.
Trevor takes in my expression with a great deal of delight. “You look like you want to kill me.”
“And?”
“Relax.” He shakes his head in disbelief and laughs. “You need to seriously calm down. Why are you so tense? You brought your girlfriend over for lunch. Big deal. And she’s gorgeous—that’s a fact.”
“She is gorgeous, but she’s not…it’s complicated,” I say this even though Kerri sure as hell isn’t going to be seeing anyone else. No way in in hell.
“The good ones always are.”
I roll my eyes. “How would you know? You’ve been with Lianna since puberty.”
Trevor glares at me. “I got my time in before Lianna. I was a smooth operator. An undercover Don Juan.”
“You’re really showing your age.” I shake my head in amusement and nod toward the bottles. “Let’s open one or two, shall we? I have a feeling this is going to be one of those days.”
“Yes,” Trevor says, then lifts a brow. There’s a look of challenge and intrigue in his eyes and I’m immediately suspicious. “Let’s open it in the kitchen with the ladies. Spend some time with them. I’d like to get to know Kerri.”
“By all means.” He thinks I’m afraid.
We make our way in the kitchen. Kerri is already at the island, chopping up a salad. She looks so comfortable, you’d think she’d been here before many times. Lianna’s already poured them both a glass of rosé, and I overhear them talking Kerri’s job. They get quiet when we walk in, and Lianna looks at Trevor. I know that stare—it usually means she has some task for him. And it can never wait.
“Trevor, can you show me how to check on the fish in the smoker and help me pull it out or turn it, whatever it is I need to do?”
I try not to smile.
“I’ve showed you how to use that thing a thousand times,” Trevor grumbles.
I have to laugh when I see the look on Lianna’s face.
“And?” She doesn’t seem too pleased.
“I don’t understand how many times I have to show—” Trevor finally takes note and changes his tune. Smart man. “Let’s go, dear.” He sounds overly cheerful. “Maybe it might be a good idea for you to videotape me this time with your iPhone so you’ll always have it handy?”
“We’ll see,” Lianna says.
I try not to laugh outright. She’s about to lay into him. Poor Trevor. On second thought, he can use the humbling. He needs that ego of his shot down every once in a while.
They head outside, and I move up behind Kerri and kiss her neck. “You okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” She leans back into me, fitting our bodies together. “The first question is is Trevor okay?”
We have a good laugh at my friend’s expense. My arms wrap around her waist, and I’m suddenly annoyed that I decided to bring her here and share her. I should have kept Kerri all to myself in my penthouse.
Naked.
She turns around in my arms and gets on her tiptoes so she can give me a kiss. “And the million-dollar question is,” she says against my mouth, “are you okay?”
I cup her ass and pull her up against my body. “How do I feel to you?”
“Really good,” she whispers against my lips before we kiss long and hard. In no time, I want more.
“There is a child in the house,” Trevor jokes, interrupting our moment.
Kerri jumps away from me as if she’s been burned. She picks up the knife and chops away, completely ignoring me. I slap her on the ass for good measure. Kerri looks at me in surprise but continues to chop, asking no questions and doing that assessing thing women tend to do. I’m sure she’s taking note of everything I do in that file she has in her head, saving it for later.
“Where is my goddaughter?” I ask.
“She’s napping, thank God.” Trevor sounds as if he’s in agony. “She kept us up all night long. She’s still teething, so she’s constantly miserable, which isn’t fun at two o’clock in the morning, I’ll tell you that. Doesn’t seem like my baby girl does pain too well.”
“She’s perfect,” Lianna interjects as she walks in. “And her pain intolerance comes from her daddy, who cries like a baby if he gets a paper cut.” She pats Trevor hard on the shoulder when she walks past him.
Lianna’s holding the smoked salmon, which looks divine and smells delicious. We barely let her put it on a platter before Trevor and I attack.
Trevor takes a bite then kisses her full on the mouth. “I take back everything I said. This is amazing and you’re beautiful. I am the luckiest man alive.”
His words do the trick because Lianna lights up like a Christmas tree and kisses him back.
I steal a peek at Kerri and notice how shiny her eyes are. I wonder if she’s holding back a few tears. I can’t believe it. She looks the way women tend to after they watch one of those nauseating romantic comedies.
I take comfort in the food and help myself to a healthy amount of salmon.
“Save some for Kerri!” Lianna scolds when she sees how much I’m taking.
I walk over to Kerri with my plate. “Open up.”
She obediently does as I say. Once she tries the fish, she closes her eyes in delight. “Heaven.”
I take in her expression. It can only be described as ecstasy. She looks as if she’s in orgasm heaven. And then, all of the sudden, that feeling I’ve come to loathe creeps up on me again.
For fuck’s sake.
I can’t believe I’m jealous of smoked salmon.
Chapter Seventeen
Kerri
Crap.
Why does he have to look at me like that?
Those eyes of his make the heat in my body rise to dangerous levels. And I know he can tell, the cocky bastard. He knows exactly what he does to me when he stares at me like that. How he makes the earth move and time stand still.
There’s so much heat in the look he gives me that I have to step away or I might jump him in front of his friends. Thankfully, he walks away from me and pours himself a substantial glass of wine.
“That’s really delicious,” I tell Lianna. “I think I’m going to have to invest in a smoker.”
“Thank you and you definitely should. When I was pregnant, I saw one and had to have it. I was watching a show on the Cooking Channel, which was my favorite pregnant pastime, and I was dying over the food coming out of that smoker. It looked so good—especially to a hormonal pregnant lady.”
“And she’s not lying,” Trevor chimes in. “She woke me up to tell me just how bad she was dying.”
I have to laugh.
“So I made Trevor get me a smoker, and ever since, I’ve been obsessed with it.” Lianna finishes the story with a wave at her husband.
“She’s smoking everything now,” Trevor continues on. “She tried to smoke pasta the other night.”
“You don’t seem to mind when you’re eating the food,” Lianna says as she walks over to the pot to check on her paella. It smells delicious and my mouth is already watering. I can only imagine what it’s going to taste like.
But I’ll have to admit, I’m enjoying their friendly banter. There’s something about Trevor and Lianna, the energy around them, that’s kind of great. It feels so real. So refreshing. And the way Trevor held her like that and what he said…talk about dream come true.
“Lianna Garnett, please be honest.” Trevor’s voice is serious. “I did not eat the smoked pasta. If you recall, wife, the noodles were gray and even I draw the line.”
“Uh-hum,” is all Lianna says. “I saw you.”
Trevor looks pretty speechless. He watches her for a second longer, as if he’s trying to solve some great puzzle, then looks at Ian as if he gives up. “Want to watch the game in the theater room?”
I guessed correctly. He doesn’t want to get into another banter session with his beautiful wife. It’s pointless.
Ian takes a giant plate of s
moked salmon, a healthy portion of bread, and follows his friend out of the kitchen. I’m seriously impressed by how much the man can eat.
“How is he not obese?” I mutter when he’s safely out of earshot.
“He’s got a crazy metabolism.” Lianna sounds as irritated as I feel. “He has since I’ve known him. He eats for five people, so just imagine how it was for him when his parents passed away and he was living with the witch.”
“The cousin who got custody?” I hope I don’t sound too eager, but I want to know as much as I can.
Lianna nods. “Trev told me she only let him have one small portion of dinner because she’d say it was all they could afford. She didn’t even give him lunch money or a snack. And on a good day for breakfast, he’d get one slice of bread.”
The fury I feel for that woman takes me off guard.
I’m heartbroken for Ian. I want to take that evil cousin down a dark alley and have a few choice words with her—and a few kicks for good measure. God, his childhood was filled with a lot of pain.
“Trev and his sister always brought extra food from their parents,” Lianna explains. “But it wasn’t easy for them either. They were struggling to put food on the table for a time there, but thankfully they didn’t suffer too long. Once Trev’s dad got the new job, Ian and Tanya didn’t have to worry about being hungry anymore. Trev’s parents were at every one of Ian’s football games. They’re so proud of him. He’s their son too.”
I love Trev and his family. They’re angels. And now I know why Trevor and his family mean so much to Ian. They really helped him survive. They were truly his family.
Then Lianna gives me the warning I’m not in the least surprised to get. “And Ian is my brother as well. I’ve known him forever. He means the world to us both, to our entire family.”
“He’s a wonderful man.” We’re quiet for a minute before I break the silence. “Ian tells me you’ve been together since high school?”
I prod, wanting to know more.
“Yes.” The look that comes over Lianna’s face makes my heart melt. She’s clearly still madly in love with her husband. “I knew I was going to marry Trevor when I first set eyes on him. We just had that crazy chemistry, you know? And from the first second it was like, bam! It hit us both hard and we’ve thankfully never been able to recover.”
I think of Ian and my initial encounter with him. It was kind of like that. “I can appreciate that kind of feeling.”
“In case you’re wondering why we’re acting so overly eager”—Lianna smiles knowingly at me— “it’s because he’s never brought a woman around before. This is a first. So what can I say, we just can’t help ourselves. Please don’t judge us.”
“Are you kidding me!” I laugh off her words. “And I don’t believe he’s never brought anyone—”
“Believe me. Trev and I were starting to get worried about him.”
I’m fighting a goofy smile with all of my willpower, but it’s hard. My heart kind of does a back flip, and the wave of happiness that sweeps over me is almost too much to handle. I’m the first woman he’s brought here? The feeling—the pleasure—that gives me is unreal.
I am special to him.
“Why do you think?” I ask, trying to keep my voice as neutral as possible.
“I honestly don’t know.” Lianna locks eyes with me. “When we were younger, he was different, but after his sister died, he was never the same.”
Tanya.
“How long ago was that?”
“Nine years, maybe ten,” she says solemnly. “It broke Ian for a long time. We were all so devastated. Trev’s parents took it especially hard because they really tried to be there for her, be parents for her. The whole thing was so tragic.” Lianna looks lost in thought, as if she’s reliving that time again.
“How did she die?” I ask, hurting for all of Ian’s pain.
“You don’t know?” She looks surprised I’m asking and takes a minute before telling me, almost as though she doesn’t know if she should. “She took her own life.”
My heart stops. “That’s devastating.”
“Very. Now imagine having to live through it.”
“Did she…” I try to be as thoughtful as possible. “Suffer from depression?”
“No chronic depression.” She shakes her head. “Believe it or not, it might even be more tragic.”
“Why?”
“She killed herself over a man. The first guy she was really into. The first she really loved. Tanya was a beautiful woman and the guys sheltered her, especially Ian. Trev’s dad was even super protective because she was so soft. And innocent, you know? The kind that can be easily manipulated.”
I wait for her to continue.
“Anyway this man…he broke her heart.” She sounds sad and angry. “I guess he didn’t just break it, he shattered it. Tanya found out he was married with kids, had this whole secret life and family, all while they were together. And he was promising her so much, making her really believe he loved her, and then she found out it was all a lie.”
****
The story of Tanya and the cruel asshole sticks to me. I’m so mad for her—and mad that she’d take her life over a worthless man who didn’t deserve a second of her time. I’m mad at the asshole who’s probably still alive and loving life, facing no repercussions for ruining so many lives. And then I’m mad for his family—his poor wife and kids, unknowingly living his lie with him.
But more than anything, I’m mad for Ian. No, I’m sad for Ian. So incredibly sad. It’s so much loss for him to have to suffer through.
He’s truly an orphan.
Except for Trevor and his family. And now me. Whether he knows and likes it or not, he’s got me too. My patience for him grows. My empathy multiplies. He can’t help the way he is. He can’t help but not want to get close to me, because he’s lost so much. He’s afraid.
We have a great rest of the afternoon together, eating and lounging and relaxing in each other’s company. Lianna and Trevor are super fun, and the stories they tell from childhood with Ian have me rolling in laughter.
“I still can’t believe you were on the football team,” I say to Ian. We’ve moved into the family room and are sitting on the couches, drinking wine.
Ian looks offended. “Why can’t you believe it? And I didn’t just play for the team. I was the captain and quarterback.”
It takes everything I have not to laugh in his face. Mr. Serious, Gorgeous, Sex Club Owner/Tech Billionaire sure does seem to have a fragile ego.
“You just seem like you were more of the bad boy type.”
“Oh, he was,” Lianna assures me. “He was big, bad news trouble—how do you think he got the nickname? Trouble on the field. Trouble off the field. Trouble in class. Trouble with the ladies.”
“Trouble who’s got the finest, finest ass,” Trevor finishes the “poem” and flutters his eyelashes at Ian.
I laugh because number one, it’s true, he does have the finest ass. And number two, whoever wrote that little poem should be applauded. I’d maybe be her friend. Maybe.
“Ian was definitely the lady-killer,” Trevor agrees with his wife. “I mean, look at him. He’s got that whole mysterious thing going for him.”
I look at Mr. Gorgeous, who doesn’t look like he can be bothered by any of it, and I’m suddenly irrationally annoyed. How dare he be so hot?
“They didn’t stand a chance against your sweet, innocent smile.” The last part Trevor says in a baby voice, but the picture still pisses me off. What the heck is wrong with me?
“Little did they know you were the big bad wolf waiting to pounce,” Lianna mutters.
Ian doesn’t even have the decency to blush.
“Do you remember how they’d stuff their panties in your locker?” Trevor shakes his head. “I mean, they were ruthless in their quest to crawl into your bed or even just be a flavor of the week. And the gold medal, the ultimate dream, was to get you to ask them to a dance.”
&
nbsp; I picture Ian as the hot guy in high school that every girl dreamt of having. In any way they could. Going to a dance with him would be akin to living out some young adult romance. And he was even captain of the football team. And quarterback. Talk about a wet dream come to life. Panties in his locker? I’m sure that was the PG stuff.
I have absolutely no right, but I seriously don’t like any of those women.
I think I must be showing my feelings because Lianna jumps in to reassure me, “But that was another time—”
“Another time?” Trevor scoffs, totally oblivious that I’m a ticking bomb. “Have you forgotten about the clu—”
“Trevor.” Lianna stops him cold, her voice like thunder.
Interesting. So Trevor and Lianna know about Ian’s little hobby.
I play dumb. “Forgotten about what?”
“Nothing,” Lianna and Trevor say in unison. They look nervous.
I have to try my best to keep a straight face. “Come on.”
Ian, of course, seems pretty amused by the whole thing. But still, he’s cool as a cucumber. I wish some of that apathy could rub off on me.
Just when I’m about to push the two again, the baby’s cries screech through the room via the baby monitor.
“Don’t even think about it,” Ian warns Trevor and Lianna, who are about to get up. To my complete and utter shock, Ian grabs the monitor and heads up for the baby. “I never get to do this.”
What the hell? Who is this guy?
After I’m able to close my mouth, I turn back to the Garnetts. “So…”
“Claudine,” Lianna saves the day. “Ian was seeing this woman Claudine who was a little overly enthusiastic. That’s what Trevor was trying to bring up. She was, you know, the stalker type.”
It takes me a second to remember what we were talking about. I can’t argue unless I give away that I know about the club as well.
“He has quite a few notches.” I keep my voice as neutral as possible.
“Girl, that’s the understatement of the century.” She obviously thinks it’s funny.
“Do you think there’s more paella left?” Trevor is stretched out on the couch and puts his hand on Lianna’s head. She’s sitting in front of him on the floor.