Unless Lori was secretly into that too?
No. She couldn’t be. It was too dark and brutal.
But how would he bring something like that up to be sure? For all he knew, Lori could have a kinky side, and how embarrassing would that be if he called her out on it? And he’d have to admit to his snooping. Either way, he’d need to figure out how to approach the topic before Tuesday when he saw her again because he’d never let anyone take advantage of Lori.
Lori awoke late on Saturday morning with a smile plastered on her face despite the fact that she’d dropped her phone, one she couldn’t afford to replace, in her bathtub the evening before. Soaking the tension of the day away while texting with her sister late at night would cost a pretty penny.
But she’d missed her twin sister so much. They hadn’t seen each other since their brother, Nick’s, wedding the previous summer in Italy. Lori was eager to catch up. Their weekly check-in calls and e-mails were great, but having her sister under the same roof for more than a week hadn’t happened since they went their separate ways in college.
After Lori had ordered a replacement phone online, she showered and dressed. The lovely scent of brewing coffee led her to the kitchen where Emily sat, eating a bowl of cereal and playing a game on her phone.
Lori grabbed her favorite blue mug that Em had made from the glass front cabinet. “That uncle Nick bought you a cell phone you’re way too young to have is bad enough, but now you’re drinking coffee?”
Emily looked up from her phone and grinned. “Aunt Rachel told me to push the button on the machine fifteen minutes ago. She’ll be here any minute.”
Grateful the coffee was hot and ready; she poured herself some. “What happened to not calling Aunt Rachel because she’s driving again today?” She’d been driving to Denver from New York the last three days.
“She called me because the Rule Follower would yell at her for talking while driving even though she’s using hands-free. She needs coffee the minute she gets here, or she’ll die.”
“Still so dramatic.” Rachel, who Lori called DQ for drama queen, had called Lori the Rule Follower their whole lives. Her sister saw rules in a whole different way than Lori did. No wonder Rachel had quickly moved up and become lead counsel for an international company who needed her to figure out how to get past the foreign red tape. They’d worked her so hard, moved her so often, she had to mainline caffeine to keep up. Well, until last month, when she’d gotten so burnt out, she’d quit.
But Rachel wasn’t being totally forthright about quitting and leaving New York. Lori could feel it. She hadn’t gotten the whole truth out of her twin yet. But she would.
When Em’s phone vibrated with a call, she answered and listened for a moment. “Hang on,” she mumbled around the last bite of cereal. “Uncle Nick says he wants your famous ribs and baked beans for Aunt Rachel’s welcome-home party tonight. Please.”
“Tell him to feel free to pick that up from The Rib Shack on his way over. Please.”
She was having her family over for the first time since she and Em had moved in, even though the house was in a state of disrepair. Much better after Deek’s help the last few weeks, but it’d be a good contrast for them to see it before and after the transformation. At least that was what she’d told herself to stave off the need to stay up all night and paint.
Emily relayed the message and then pressed the Mute button. “He said those ribs suck. Make him the ribs, and he’ll help you with the scary attic next weekend.” Emily crumpled her forehead. “But you were already going to make ribs, right? We bought them yesterday.”
“Yes. But don’t tell him that. It’s my duty to make him work for his dinner.”
Emily tipped her head to the side. “Why?”
“It’s just what brothers and sisters do.” Lori took a long pull from her mug. “Tell him we have a deal. But ‘sucked’ is a bad word in our house, so as punishment, he has to bring dessert.”
“I’m going to tell him it has to be chocolate.” Emily grinned.
Lori laid a kiss on top of Em’s head. “You catch on quick.”
A few minutes later, a horn blasted outside, so Lori and Em hurried out the front door. Rachel had her head in the trunk, pulling out suitcases.
“Hi, Aunt Rachel.” Emily leaped toward Rachel. Luckily, her sister was quick and dropped her bag before Emily showed up in her arms.
Rachel closed her eyes and held on tight. “I’ve missed you so much, sweetheart.” When tears leaked from the corners of her sister’s eyes, it confirmed Lori’s suspicions. Tough-ass Rachel had been through something upsetting she wasn’t quite ready to discuss.
After Rachel had put Emily down, her sister turned and, without a word, hugged Lori so hard, it nearly cracked a rib. Lori croaked out, “Need some air, here.” Lori leaned back and stared into a face most would call identical to hers. Except for the dark rings under Rachel’s eyes. “What’s wrong, DQ?”
“Nothing.” Rachel forced a smile. “Just missed you guys. Help me lug all my stuff inside before we all freeze to death.”
Lori peered inside the slick Mercedes that held garment bags and boxes. “This is everything? All you own in the world?”
Rachel picked up two of her matching designer suitcases. “I gave most of my things away before I left. Now I’m traveling light and tight.”
Lori picked up a small leather bag and handed it to Emily. Then she hefted the remaining suitcase and quickly caught up. “Tell me you haven’t given away all your sexy shoes too? I have a date Monday night, and I was counting on raiding your closet.” Lori loved borrowing her sister’s designer heels and clothes whenever they were together. Rachel usually ran a little thinner due to her crazy schedule and missing meals, but it looked like her sister was at a healthier weight now.
“Never.” Rachel raised a brow. “Mi closet is su closet for the next nine months. I certainly won’t be using it.”
Nine months?
After Lori had sent Emily back to get more things, she laid a hand on her sister’s arm to stop her. “Why won’t you need your clothes for nine months?”
Rachel shrugged. “Because that’s when my new house is supposed to be complete. In the meantime, I’m going to be working from here, doing freelance work for the rest of the year. No need to dress up.”
Relief had Lori throwing her arm around her sister’s shoulder as they made their way back to the car. “Only you would buy a brand-new house on-line without seeing it. But thank goodness. I thought you meant you were pregnant.”
Rachel winced and broke eye contact. “I see your twin Spidey sense is still intact.”
Lori stopped dead in her tracks. “Ohmygod! You’re pregnant?”
“Yep. That’s why I’m moving in. I need a Lamaze partner. But if you tell Mom and Dad, I’ll have to kill you.”
They were going to have a newborn in a torn-up house? They needed to step up the renovation schedule big-time. “You can’t hide something like that from Mom and Dad. And what about the father?”
Rachel heaved out a long sigh. “I haven’t told him yet. He’s sort of famous. And hard to get ahold of.”
Lori caught up with Rachel, clasped both of her sister’s arms, and turned her around. As she stared into her sister’s eyes, Lori asked, “How famous?”
“I’m sure even Emily knows who he is. And he’s going to want partial custody. I don’t know if I want the twins to be subjected to that lifestyle. I have to figure this out. Soon.” Rachel hugged Lori again. “You’re the only one I know I can trust with this secret. Will you help me?”
“Of course. We’ll sort it all out together. But no coffee for you.”
“My doctor said I could have one cup a day, Rule Follower.”
“Fine. But no more.” Twins? Holy crap. Finding the time to help with one baby would be hard enough; now two?
More complications added to her already overwhelming life. But it was her sister. She’d do whatever it took.
7
Lori hated to leave her sister so soon after she’d arrived, but she had a lunch appointment with Shanan to talk about setting her up on real dates. She’d thought about what Lori had said at the science fair and wanted to see what would be involved.
Lori glanced around the warm little pastry shop Shanan had chosen, while her mouth watered. The decadent aroma of coffee, chocolate, and cinnamon filled the air. Shanan lifted a hand and waved Lori over to her table.
“Hi, there. How are you, Shan?” Lori sat at the little table with a blue-and-white-checkered tablecloth across from her friend and hopefully new client.
“Well. That’s debatable. I’m happy to see you, as always. And a little sick to my stomach to see you at the same time. No offense.”
Shanan always made Lori smile. “I’m just happy to have some girlfriend time, no matter what you decide to do. But what changed your mind about dating nice men?” Lori studied the menu. Maybe she’d just have a mini turkey croissant. She’d save room for the big dinner for her sister’s welcome-home party later.
The waiter came by and took their drink orders. After he’d left, Shanan said, “You know what it’s like to be cheated on. And please don’t take this wrong, but you’re quite the hypocrite by going around and spouting about how being happy again is the ultimate payback for a cheating ex when you’re not trying to move on either.”
Lori’s stomach clenched. “I know. But…”
Shanan lifted a hand. “Let me finish. We’ve been friends for a long time, Lori. And I love you. So I have decided I’ll go first and show you that putting my heart out there is the only way to be happy again. I’m tired of the hate and the inability to trust men I’m hauling around after Mike. It’s making me bitter and cynical at the ripe old age of thirty-two. I don’t want to be that woman anymore.”
That brought tears to Lori’s eyes. She knew exactly how Shanan felt. “I don’t think you’re bitter and cynical. I think you’re protecting a bruised heart.” Lori took a drink of the ice water the waiter had left. “I’ve always had a knack for knowing instinctively when two people are right for each other, but I think it’s been my curse that I can’t do that for myself. My grandmother was a matchmaker too, and she insisted it runs in our blood. But she and my mother had the same problem. All of us chose and married cheaters.”
Shanan frowned. “You never mentioned that before. I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is. But I have the gift of Emily, so I can’t say my marriage was all bad. As a matter of fact, until Joe cheated, I was really happy. But for your information, I went on a date last night and have another on Monday.”
“Good for you!” Shanan’s hand shot out and gave Lori’s a squeeze. “I apologize for the hypocrite remark. And now I can watch and see how you do first, so I withdraw my application. How was the date?”
“Horrible. But he asked me out again anyway.” Lori told Shanan the whole story about running into Mel and even the kissing-Deek experiment later.
“Wow.” A slow grin lit Shanan’s face. “You don’t even have to tell me how the kiss was. I can see it written all over that blushing face of yours. Has Deek changed his mind about Annie?”
“No. He still wants Annie back. He’s made that perfectly clear.” Lori held up both hands. “And no matter how much I enjoy Deek’s company and would love a repeat of that hot kiss, Asher deserves to live with both of his parents like Deek wants. I refuse to get in the way of that.”
“You aren’t the one ignoring your kid. If anyone is doing anything to Asher, it’s Annie, not you. I wouldn’t worry about that at all, but then, I’m not as nice as you.”
“Yes, you are.” Lori shrugged. “For now, I’m having fun being Deek’s friend, and that’s enough.”
“Uh-huh. Sure.” Shanan sipped her water. “So after that kiss, you didn’t have a hot dream about him to keep you warm last night, Miss Pure-as-the-driven-snow?”
She’d had the humdinger of all dreams.
“Shut up.” Lori lifted the menu and debated having a brownie for lunch.
“I knew it!” Shanan laughed. “Your face lit up like a Christmas tree when you talked about Deek just now. I think you have feelings for him. And I also think you two would make the most adorable couple. I’m going to hope Deek finally figures out that Annie is a lost cause and he needs to move on. With you!”
A pang of sadness shot through Lori’s heart. “That all sounds nice, but it’s not going to happen. So let’s forget all the dating talk. How’s your mom doing these days? Is she still thinking of moving to Florida?”
While Lori listened to all the ins and outs of Shanan’s life, she couldn’t quite shake the sadness that had weaved its way back into her heart at the “most adorable couple” remark. Just wasn’t going to ever happen, and that was it.
Deek had left Lori multiple messages on Saturday, but she hadn’t called or texted him back. The more he’d dug into Jason’s life the night before; the more urgent the need had become to talk to Lori. Jason wasn’t the right guy for her.
It was almost five thirty in the evening. Why hadn’t she answered him? Was she mad at him for the kiss?
He’d missed not seeing her every day for the first time in almost two weeks. And now he was worried about her.
He started up the stairs to talk to Asher when a drone zipped by his head in their three-story foyer, then crashed into the wall.
“Why are you flying that thing inside?”
His son appeared at the upstairs loft railing, controller in his hands, working hard to suppress a smile. “Because you said it was too cold for me to go outside and to find something to do inside.”
He wasn’t in the mood to argue semantics. “That’s an outside toy. Do you know what Emily’s cell phone number is?” Hopefully, Emily could ask her mom to call him.
“Nope.” Asher shrugged. “Maybe if you’d let me have a cell phone too, I’d know.”
“Anyone who doesn’t know better than to fly a drone indoors isn’t ready to have a phone. Grab your coat. I need to go talk to Mrs. Went about something.”
They slowly inched their car through the falling snow on Lori’s street. Apparently, she had company, by the number of cars in front of her house. It reminded him that she said last week that she was having a welcome-home party for her sister. At the time she’d told him that, she’d been bent over on all fours sanding floors. It’d been highly distracting watching the pendant she wore bounce off her breasts with each thrust of her arm. No wonder he’d forgotten about the party.
He parked the car across the street and turned off the engine, not sure what to do. Bother Lori when she had guests, or talk to her later. Maybe she’d been so busy with her party preparations she hadn’t had time to look at her phone. Should he wait until he saw her on Tuesday? As long as he warned her about Jason before they had another date, it’d be okay. Maybe he was working himself up over nothing.
He could tell her on Tuesday on the way to their field trip. But if he did that, it’d be the two of them trapped in the car on the way to the kids’ school discussing kinky sex. He’d rather poke himself in the eye with a sharp stick.
Asher called out from the back. “Are we going inside? I have to go to the bathroom.”
That solved the problem. He could tell Lori he wasn’t going to disturb her, but now he had no choice. Thank goodness for Asher and his tiny bladder.
They clomped through the snow to Lori’s front porch and rang the bell. After a few moments, the door swung open, and Asher darted inside. “Really gotta go.”
Lori blinked at the blur that was his son and then faced him. A slow grin lit her face. “Well, hello. How can I help you?”
“Hey. Sorry to bother you, but I’ve tried to text and call you all day. I need to talk to you about something important. But I don’t want to interrupt your party.”
“Oh. Yeah, the phone went for a dip in the tub. Come in out of the cold. It’s just my famil
y.”
“Thanks. That’s a bummer about your phone.” He closed the door behind him and hung up his coat amid sounds of laughter coming from the den.
He took her hand and pulled her inside the living room so he could talk to her before Asher got back. “First, I need to ask you some…delicate questions. Bear with me, okay?”
She tilted her head. “Delicate? Can’t wait.” She whipped off a drop cloth on the couch and sat down. Then she patted the cushion beside her. “Might as well be comfortable while we chat. Have a seat.”
He sat beside her, his stomach in knots, dreading the discussion they were about to have. As he drew a deep breath for courage, he asked, “Did you do something new with your hair?” It looked different than it had the day before. Around the bangs or something.
“I did. Thanks for noticing. Now tell me all about our delicate issue.”
“Well, first, I need to ask you about…your…sexual preferences.”
She smiled. “Like do I like to have sex in elevators or do it doggie style?”
“Not locations or positions, per se.” Oh, God. What had he gotten himself into? “More like levels of…adventure?”
She leaned closer and whispered, “I like a little adventure as much as the next girl. What did you have in mind?”
His collar suddenly seemed too tight. It was hard to draw a deep breath. “How do you feel about whips? And restraints?”
“I think used in the right way they could be lots of fun.”
Crap. Things weren’t going as planned.
He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. “So you’re into BDSM and…stuff like that?”
“Is that what you like?” She grinned sweetly at him as if he’d just confessed to liking chocolate ice cream, not deviant sex.
He wanted to leave and never utter the word preferences again.
Matched For Love (Rocky Mountain Matchmaker Book 3) Page 7