“You coulda been a contend-uh?”
He smiled at her bad impersonation and misquote. “On the Waterfront. Marlon Brando as Terry.” He was looking over her shoulder into the darkness. “Maybe.”
She looked him over and raised an eyebrow. “Well, you’re great at what you do, and you make a lot of people happy. And you’re not exactly in your dotage. I’d say you have plenty of time. What’s stopping you? What happened to that story you started three years ago?”
“You remember that?” His voice gave away his surprise and something else.
“Uh huh. An older guy goes looking for the son he and his girlfriend gave up for adoption forty years ago. Right? And you wouldn’t tell me how it ends.”
That something else was still there in his eyes. “Probably because I didn’t know. I finished it last summer.”
She heard what he’d left unsaid. “But you haven’t shopped it around. Why?”
His only answer was a one-shoulder shrug. “And what about you?”
She shook her head. “Things not turning out the way I expect? Have you forgotten that I’m the girl who got dumped on New Year’s Eve when she thought she was getting an engagement ring? Totally not what I expected.”
“You didn’t see it coming?”
Another shake of her head, “No. Things had been different that last month. I thought it was cute that he was apparently nervous about proposing. Turns out he was just at T-minus-2 and holding for lift off. I think he waited until the last minute to tell me because our circles of friends had about a seventy-five percent intersection. He didn’t want the drama to be strung out.”
“But you said you were over him right away.”
“I was. It didn’t take long to figure out I’d been with him for the wrong reasons.” She looked out to the dark lawn. “It was harder to get over the embarrassment. As I said, my friends were his friends. And it only got worse when five months later he was engaged to Pippa.”
“Is that when you started trash talking yourself?”
“I don’t—” His raised eyebrows stopped her. “Okay, I guess I do, but I didn’t even realize it until you pointed it out. I should stop.”
“You should.” He held up two fingers.
The reminder of his threat sent another jolt zinging its way through favorite parts of her neural network.
“With all that history, why did Josh invite Timothy to the wedding?”
“He asked me what I wanted him to do. Timothy would have been the only one of their law school crowd not invited. When word got around, I would have looked…” She shrugged. Not going to say pathetic. “Would have looked like I wasn’t over him. So I said he should invite him. To be honest, I didn’t think he’d come. I should have known.”
Ben studied her for a second then changed the subject. “What happened to your plans for grad school? Research? Teaching college?”
She answered with a shrug of her own and avoided his eyes. “It’s hard to explain. I love teaching high school, but it was only going to be for a year or two. Now it’s been four years, and…” When she didn’t finish the sentence, he just waited, not letting her off the hook. “I’m practically thirty, and it’s time to stop waiting.”
“You just turned twenty-eight last month.”
“Yeah, but I’m closer to thirty than I am to twenty-five.” Now was the time to tell him she was resigning her teaching position next month.
She’d applied to three grad schools—three of the top ten biochem programs in the country. She’d figured in what was a completely atypical and unscientific way for her that if she got into any of them it was a sign. She’d already been accepted by two, and she was going to grad school in the fall. She should tell him, but...
He laughed at her closer-to-thirty comeback, but he was studying her again, and she thought he was going to ask what she’d been waiting for, why she’d been waiting. She was relieved when instead he asked, “So what’s next on this pageant schedule?”
Ali lifted his arm to glance at his watch. “Crap. I need to grab Bree’s make-up bag from my room and take it to their suite before they do their big grand finale.”
Standing, he pulled her to her feet; a second later his hand landed a firm swat on her rear end. “Then we’d better get moving.”
Her gasp morphed into an “ow” but ended as “whoa.” When his hand lingered for a split second, his fingertips flexing in a caress, all her playful bits were suddenly organizing that forbidden Macarena. And dammit, he winked again! His cocky half grin said he’d read her signals loud and clear.
Her hands were trembling. But the chairs on the terrace weren’t shaking, the plants weren’t falling over, the stone wall wasn’t cracking, but surely tectonic plates were shifting. This quake was off the Richter scale, and the friend-zone crevice didn’t just widen a bit. It shattered. And crumbled to dust.
Chapter 4
Ali was fidgeting, wringing her hands like some damsel in The Perils of Pauline. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her fidget. She was either as unsettled as he was by these last few minutes or in shock from his detonating their friend zone. Maybe both. Taking her right hand in his didn’t stop her jittery movements. She just switched to running the knuckles of her left hand back and forth along the pearls at her neck.
As he opened the door to the ballroom, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, “We’re okay,” hoping she heard conviction, not “What the hell did I just do?”
She looked at him, searching for something, studying him like an exotic new species she’d encountered by chance. An expression he couldn’t read flashed in her eyes, but at least she stopped the nervous gesture and nodded.
As they stepped inside, his dad waved at them from a nearby table, and Ben steered Ali that way. Ed Harrison had always been fond of Ali, said she always made him smile. Ben got that. He listened to her talk with his dad about the weather changing tonight. But when their conversation morphed into a discussion of “organic computing devices” for weather forecasting, Ben’s thoughts drifted. His dad, a software engineer, was in his element.
It was good to see him happy. He’d gone through some pretty dark periods, especially after the divorce. But even at the bleakest times, Ben might have been lonely, but he’d never doubted his dad’s love. Different story with his mom.
Ali had asked him about the screenplay he’d told her about three years ago. Not until he was struggling with the ending, did the irony occur to him. He was writing a story about a parent trying to find—connect with—an abandoned child. Some shrink could have a field day with that.
When his parents had split, there was never any question but that Ben would live with his dad. His mom hadn't run away or disappeared. She'd sent cards and gifts at all the right times, called occasionally, showed up for his graduations, but she'd never once suggested he live with her in Austin. He probably would have lived with his dad anyway, but her indifference still cut.
He shook off the moment of useless self-pity and watched Ali gave Ed a hug. When she left to grab her bag and see if Bree needed anything else, Ben tried to keep up a conversation with his dad while watching her cross the room. “So where’s your Plus One?”
Ed laughed and gestured across the room to the attractive, middle-aged brunette with a streak of gray in her hair who was talking with a group of people and laughing. “On her way back from the ladies’ room, making new friends along the way.”
Ben heard the affection in his dad’s voice. Donna wasn’t just a wedding date; she was the magician that had turned Ed’s life around. Four weeks after they’d started dating and the day after his dad had screwed up royally on her birthday, she’d told him to choose between her and his friend Jack—Jack Daniels, she’d meant. His dad had thrown her out of his house. But the next week he’d joined AA.
When he’d been dry for three months, he took his first three sobriety coins and went to her house, giving them to her and asking for a second chance. That was nine months ago. Tonight his
dad planned to give her his one-year coin and an engagement ring.
“Plans still go?”
His dad opened his jacket and pulled the corner of a small velvet pouch out of his inside pocket. “Yep.”
Ben was slow in responding, distracted when Chase stopped Ali as she neared the table where they’d been sitting earlier. “And she’ll say yes?”
“Maybe. No guarantee, but I hope…”
When his dad’s voice trailed off, Ben turned his full attention back to the conversation. Ed was looking across the room to where Ali was laughing at something Chase had said. Then Chase gave her a hug. Ed turned back to Ben then glanced again at Ali. “Son, some things are so important you just have to take that chance.”
“Yeah. But easier said than done.”
“It’s an old saw, but not many things that matter are easy.”
Ali picked up her bag and headed toward the elevator, stopping to talk to Bree. Ben knew he was almost being rude, but he wanted to intercept her before she headed upstairs. “Listen, I’ve gotta go right now. Are we still on for five tomorrow?”
His dad took another few seconds to look at Ali moving toward the doors leading out to the hotel lobby. “Five’s still good for me.” He inclined his head toward the lobby doors and smiled. “Go.”
“Good luck tonight. I’m betting on she-said-yes.”
Ben got to the doors one step ahead of Ali. She was deep in thought and seemed surprised to see him. “You don’t have to go upstairs with me. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
“I think escorting the maid of honor falls within the best man’s duties. Besides what kind of date would I be if I left you wandering the hotel corridors alone?”
She rolled her eyes as he pushed the elevator call button. Didn’t say a word as they stepped in the elevator, just pushed the button for the third floor.
He prodded. “Penny for your thoughts.”
“Overpriced. Save your money.”
He wanted to know what was going through that busy mind but didn’t know how to pry without being obvious. So he let the silence string out. As they stepped out on her floor, she gestured to the end of the hall.
“Next to last door on the right.”
“Me too.”
She looked surprised.
“On the fourth floor. Right over you.”
The innuendo wasn’t lost on her. She was fumbling when she reached into a large, slouchy, sequined bag and felt around for the keys, not finding what she was looking for. “Good grief, how stup—” She stopped and looked at him.
Ben tried not to smile as he watched the emotions flit across her face. Strike three. Reaching into the bag one more time, she pulled out two keys. Her hand was shaking as she tried to get the key in the lock. He took the keys from her and opened the door.
She didn’t look at him as she grabbed up a small duffle bag and went into the bathroom, but as she came out, she couldn’t avoid him any longer. He held up three fingers, and her cheeks turned the color of her rosy pink dress.
“You know what that means.”
“I, I…I was going to say ‘How…how stupendously frustrating it would be if I couldn’t find the keys.”
Ben raised his eyebrows then let the grin spread across his face. “Nice try. That’s three each for the put downs and a bonus for trying to weasel out of it. I’m no math whiz, but sounds like you’ve got ten coming.”
She stood as still as one of the rocks she used to collect, but it was easy to read her shallow breaths and expanding pupils. She liked the idea, but her hands were trembling. She didn’t want to like it. Or she didn’t know what to make of the sexy game. Or the idea of being spanked scared her a little. His money was on all three.
Her voice was a little shaky when she said, “I’ve got what I need. We just need to drop it off on the sixth floor.”
Ben pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll wait here for you. Make a phone call while you’re gone.”
“We can meet downstairs.”
“No. Come back here.” Her eyes got wider. “We’ll go downstairs together.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it without saying anything, clutching the duffle and scurrying out the door.
He was going to make a quick check on the surprise Josh had planned for later that night, but he didn’t need to make a call after all. A waiting text confirmed that everything was in order. Josh may have protested a little at the fancy, formal wedding. But he’d pulled out all the stops to make sure that in every way this was the day Bree dreamed of.
How the hell had they discovered their real feelings for each other? When they’d been kids, Josh was the first to pull Bree’s hair or make sure she accidentally “slipped” in the mud. Even two years ago, they were both inveterate teases where the other was concerned. Then, dueling attorneys, they crossed swords over some mega law suit and never looked back. Sparks still flew between them. The good kind.
Could he and Ali have that kind of chance? Fake date or not, they’d left their safe place behind them. Could they ever go back to being friends with the awareness that had flamed between them in these past two hours? There was a line from Alice in Wonderland…something about going back.
It had never seemed to be the right time for them. She was finishing her freshman year at Vandy when he was starting his first out-of-college job. It had taken him a long time to accept his sexual tastes, then he worried about corrupting her sweetness. Or maybe he’d always been afraid she’d scream and run. One summer he’d decided to hell with what everyone else thought. He was going to ask her out, and if all went well, he’d fly her out to LA for a week and see what happened between them. But when he got to Houston, he found out she was dating Tim. Maybe the universe was telling him something.
He’d always hated how Tim treated her. Ben had happened to be in town Ali’s birthday week about a year after she started dating Tim when the jerk broke a date with her at the last minute. And not just any date. For her birthday, Tim had given her four, hard-to-get tickets to a concert she wanted to see. A romantic gift, but at the last minute, Tim said it wasn’t really his thing and she should go on with Josh and Bree. He’d catch up with them after. They’d all been at Bree’s townhouse waiting for Tim to arrive. Ali was so excited, bubbly as a kid. Ben was torturing himself hanging around with them until Tim showed up. Then Tim texted his change of plans. Texted! Ali kept a smile on her face, but he’d seen the tears shining in her eyes and knew she was hurt and humiliated. Ben used the spare ticket. Almost said something about the way Tim treated her, but he never did.
If there’s no going back for them, then what? He thought of his dad’s words.
Some things are so important you just have to take that chance.
He wanted her. And he wanted it all—not just the sex. Of course, he wanted her that way, but he’d always wanted more with her, even when he’d been not much more than a dumpy bag of teenage hormones. And if it doesn’t work out? He’d lose something too precious to imagine. But if he never had the guts to try? He’d lose her anyway. One day he’d be here in Houston for her wedding. To someone else.
He remembered the line he’d been trying to think of. “I can’t go back to yesterday. I was a different person then.” Kathryn Beaumont, the voice of Alice. Going back wasn’t an option, and he didn’t want to go back. He wanted to move forward. Stack up the clichés. It was now or never. He was going for this. All in. And he’d use every advantage he had. She wanted Valentine’s romance. He could do that. She wanted slutty wedding sex. He sure as hell could do that.
He untied his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, shrugged off his jacket, draping it over the back of the desk chair. Then he turned the chair around to face the door and sat down, his legs spread wide, slowly removing his cufflinks and rolling up his sleeves.
When he heard her key in the lock, he waited until she stepped inside and saw him, registering the scene he’d set, giving him the reaction he wanted. Her eyes were huge. And h
e could see them getting darker as he rolled up the last turn on his sleeve and dropped his hands to his thighs. Palms down, fingers splayed. Before they took this play any further, they needed to talk about limits, safewords. He’d stop this game right now if he thought she wasn’t turned on by it. But she was. And he wasn’t going to break the spell. That conversation could wait because he’d bet his next contract on how she would answer his question.
He managed to keep a straight face. “What’s it gonna be? Now or later?”
Seconds passed. She looked at his lap, his hands, the dangling tie, his rolled-up sleeves, then back to his lap and hands. Everywhere except his face. She pulled herself together, took a deep breath and straightened her back, made herself as tall as she could. Give the little daredevil credit; she didn’t even try to pretend she didn’t know what he meant. But the tiny tremor in her voice gave her emotions away. “That would be later. Much later.”
“So it’s ‘Tomorrow is another day’?”
She grabbed her bag from the bed and dropped the key she was carrying inside before she answered him. “Exactly right because I’ll be Gone with the Wind—Vivian Leigh as Scarlett—before I let you…” She swallowed. “Before I let you do that.”
She took the two steps back to the door, but he didn’t move and waited to speak until she reached for the door knob. “Sounds like a challenge to me.”
Freezing again, her hand hovered there before she turned back to him. “It’s not a—”
He cut her off. “A dare then? We can make it a bet.” She’d never walked away from a dare or a bet in her life.
“What do you mean?”
“You go the rest of the night without putting yourself down, and we wipe your slate clean. But do it again and—” He made a clicking sound and shook his head in mock sympathy. “That’ll make it unlucky thirteen for you.”
“I can stop saying those things. I don’t need to bet—”
“Then you’ve got nothing to lose, right?” He goaded her. “What’re you afraid of?”
Oughta Be a Movie: a Sugar-&-Spice romantic comedy Page 3