by Hope Ramsay
“Looks like the party’s breaking up,” Brandon said, leaning in to her in a way that was not entirely comfortable.
“Yeah, it does. And I should go too…But I—”
“I’m happy to give you a lift home,” Brandon said, but in Courtney’s opinion, Brandon was too wasted to drive, and besides, who wanted to spend time with an idiot like Brandon Kopp?
“Not so fast,” Ryan said. “I’ll drive everyone home. I have a van.”
“No, I can walk. I don’t live very far away.” She picked up her purse.
“Courtney, I don’t—”
“Ryan, keep your thoughts to yourself. I’m fine. A little buzzed, but I don’t think I’ll be mugged on the street. You guys at the SFPD run a pretty quiet town.”
He smiled. “I’d feel better—”
“Dammit, Ryan, I can take care of myself.”
She stood up, feeling a little woozy but certainly capable of making it home on foot. She paid her tab and headed for the door. She’d traveled about a block before she realized someone was following her.
She stopped. “You know, Ryan, I’m not some delicate wallflower that needs protection.”
“No truer words were ever spoken.”
She turned. “Wait, you’re not Ryan, are you?”
Matt strolled up to her, the streetlight gleaming darkly off his hair. “Nope.”
“Jeeze, what part of no do you not understand?”
His mouth curled up on one corner in a devilish smile. “Oh, I understand no. But to me it’s like a come-on.”
“Oh brother, you aren’t even ashamed of being a player.” She turned and continued walking toward her house. Matt matched her stride for stride.
“Why should I be ashamed? In fact, I’m thinking about starting a blog to help Clueless Guys like Brandon learn how to find dates for themselves.”
“And you think you’re helping Brandon by teaching him crap like that?”
He laughed as they walked along. “Come on, be honest. He was hitting on you tonight. You tell me if his technique was any good.”
“Okay, you have a point, but it’s an unfair test because I already know that Brandon is a Nice Guy, Not, who left his girlfriend of ten years at the altar. I’d never be impressed with a guy like that, even if he was as smooth as Casanova.”
“Really? You’d turn down a chance to spend the night with Casanova?”
“You know that is the lamest thing I’ve ever heard any guy say to me, ever.”
“What’s lame about it? Casanova was supposed to be an incredible lover. You wouldn’t want to spend a night of pleasure with him?”
Damn, he had her there. “Depends,” she said.
“On what?”
“Whether I was in love with someone else.”
He snorted. “Love. See, that’s your problem right there. You’re looking for love.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing. But it’s just my experience that, when a woman decides to look for love, all she ever finds is heartbreak. Seems to me that looking for pleasure is way easier.”
“You are such a guy.”
“Thanks.”
“Why are you following me?”
“Because I’m curious about you.”
“In what way?”
“Well, for starters, I find it amusing that you’re a wedding planner who has a side gig of helping women get revenge on the men who dump them.”
“Amusing? Really? You think it’s funny what Brandon did to Laurie? In my book, he’s an asshole who deserves to be punished.” She turned toward him, the streetlamp painting the planes and angles of his face with a golden light. Damnit all, Matt Lyndon was unbelievably handsome. It irked her to no end that she was attracted to him. There had been a moment when she’d been staring down the barrel of that rifle when she’d stopped fearing for her life and started fearing for her sanity. The man excited her in ways she knew for certain were unhealthy.
“I guess you have a point,” Matt said. “Brandon was stupid to let his relationship with Laurie go on for as long as it did. He should have dumped her a long time ago.”
“You’re an asshole too.”
“I am. I freely admit it. But I have to say, Courtney, I’m really blown away by the racket you’ve got going.”
“What does that mean?”
“You help these women get married in the most elaborate and expensive ways possible, and when that doesn’t work out, as it inevitably doesn’t, you plan the retribution phase as well. It’s brilliant, even if it’s slightly amoral.” He gave her a devilish smile. “Without assholes like me, you’d be looking for a job.”
She didn’t have a chance to respond to his provocation because she stumbled. Her ankle rolled, and she started to go down.
But before she hit the pavement, Matt caught her. And damned if he didn’t have some really hard biceps going on underneath his blue blazer. But then he was still in his twenties. He hadn’t gotten old enough to develop love handles or a beer belly.
“You okay?” he asked with something like real concern in his voice.
“I’m fine. I just stepped funny.”
They stood there for a long moment, waiting each other out. Would he kiss her? Would she push him away?
He didn’t kiss her. And for some reason she couldn’t quite fathom, it disappointed her. Instead he set her back on her feet. And hovered there until he made sure she was steady. It was the kind of thing a girl didn’t really expect from a Player.
“Thanks,” she said under her breath. “My house is just up the street.”
She continued to walk, and he remained by her side. When they arrived at the old Victorian that had been turned into a duplex apartment, she stopped. “This is my house. And I’m going up alone.”
His mouth quirked at the corner. “Of course you are.”
He turned then and started back up the street in the direction of the Jay Bird. He walked with his shoulders back and the cool September breeze riffling his hair.
What had just happened? Had Matt paid her back for the way she’d played him on Laurie’s wedding day? Or had he followed her to make certain she got home safe?
She honestly didn’t know.
Chapter Fourteen
Andrew left Laurie’s bed at five in the morning with several long, sweet apologies. She wasn’t sad when he left. She’d fully expected him to leave much earlier.
Plus it was hard to feel sad when he left her feeling deliciously well used and delightfully exhausted. Never, in her wildest imagination, had she realized that orgasms could be so incredible.
She’d been in search of the big O for most of her adult life. Brandon had managed to give her a few, but never while they were actually making love. Andrew had no problems in that department.
Wow. There really was a difference, wasn’t there? For years she’d been fooling herself about this essential fact of life. The realization was nothing short of mind-altering. As she lay in bed replaying the night in her head, she unexpectedly appreciated the truth. If she’d married Brandon, last night would never have happened.
She drifted off to sleep on that thought, utterly content and at peace until she bolted awake again shortly after eleven. Oh God, she’d forgotten. How could she forget? Emma’s wedding was scheduled for high noon, and Laurie had a date…with someone other than Andrew. Which seemed wrong somehow. But it wasn’t. Not really. She’d been honest last night when she’d told him she was looking for an experience and not emotional ties.
Ha, what a joke. As she stood in the shower, washing away the night before, she understood how dangerous it could be to have sex with a friend. She liked Andrew. She admired him. He’d rescued her a couple of times. How could she not have feelings about him?
Damn. Was she being stupid? Was she falling in love with him?
It was too soon to tell, and she refused to make the fatal mistake of confusing good sex with love. Courtney had drilled that one into her head, and she unders
tood it now. Also, great sex did not necessarily make a great relationship, especially when everyone she knew would be thoroughly shocked if they ever found out that she and Andrew had slept together. So she would go to the wedding with Tobin and enjoy herself. There was no reason to feel guilty.
She hurried through her shower, slapped on makeup, and was a tiny bit damp when her date arrived to pick her up twenty minutes later.
Tobin was eye candy in every sense of the word. Tall, dark, and handsome was just the starting point. He also had the requisite blue eyes, cleft chin, and killer bone structure. To top it off, he had a law degree from Harvard and a brilliant future ahead of him as a litigator. He was already pulling down a comfortable salary, and his chances for a partnership in her father’s law firm were practically a done deal. In short, Tobin Grant was a dream date.
He rang her doorbell precisely on time, and when Laurie came to the door, his eyes raked over her conservative navy blue georgette sheath dress. He smiled and said, “You look beautiful today.” Then he moved in like a shark and kissed her cheek.
The kiss didn’t unlock her heart or knock her on her butt, but it didn’t leave her cold either. Okay, she could do this. She could be a new, modern woman in touch with her sexuality, experiencing life before she made any more permanent commitments.
Tobin took her by the arm and guided her to a bright red Porsche Boxster with its top down. She flashed on long country drives in Brandon’s Camaro with the wind doing serious damage to her hair. Not once, in all their years together, had Laurie ever insisted that her hairdo came before Brandon’s car. How could she have been so submissive? Where was her grit, her fortitude?
“Uh, Tobin,” she said in her most authoritative tone, “I know it’s a lovely fall day, but we’re going to a wedding, and I would appreciate it if you could put the top up for the drive to the inn. I don’t want my hair messed up.”
She braced for an argument, but Tobin flashed his pearly whites and said, “Sure, okay, no problem.”
Whoa. What was up with that? Had one night of mind-blowing sex turned her into a take-charge woman? Maybe she should use the same tone of voice with Michael Altimari, her department chair. Or better yet, just go around Michael and apply for the Jephson Foundation grant on her own.
She made a mental note to get working on that first thing Monday as she gave Tobin a wide smile. “Thank you. I really appreciate it. Maybe next time, when we’re not going to a wedding, we can ride with the top down.”
He gave her another winning smile. “I’d like that,” he said.
Had she just suggested a second date? Probably. Wow. A girl could get used to this feeling. She settled back in the bucket seat, thoroughly enjoying her ride in Tobin’s sports car, especially since he had an amazing sound system and he’d tuned his XM satellite radio to the Symphony Hall station. An all-brass arrangement of “Promenade” from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition filled the cabin with the resonant timbre of the trumpets and French horns.
“Nice sound system,” she said, leaning back. “I love Mussorgsky.”
He gave her a wide smile. “I do too.”
Oh boy. Her life was suddenly looking up. Guys who enjoyed classical music were incredibly rare and wonderful.
Tobin didn’t disappoint her at the wedding either. During the reception, he entertained everyone at their table with polished and polite conversation. He was well read and could talk intelligently about movies and popular culture with the women and sports with the guys. In short, he was Mr. Perfect.
When the reception was winding down, he offered to drive Laurie home, but she’d left her car at the inn the night before. So instead she walked him out to his sports car, which he’d parked in only one spot, proving that he was not at all like Brandon, and kissed him good-bye. The kiss was more than friendly but less than passionate.
“I’d like to see you again,” he said.
“I’d like that too,” she found herself saying. And she really meant it. Tobin was good company. She’d had a good time with him, even if he didn’t make her burn the way Andrew did. There was something to be said for spending time with someone who shared her interests. She had no idea what kind of music Andrew liked.
Tobin gave her another kiss on the cheek and promised to call her. Who knew if that would really happen? Nevertheless, she stood in the inn’s parking lot watching him drive away and congratulating herself for being a modern, grown-up woman who could make choices for herself. Maybe she wouldn’t wait for him to call. Maybe she’d call him first.
Just then, Jessica shouted from the steps of the portico, “Okay, we need the details on that guy.” Madison stood beside her with an avid look on her face.
“I told you, he’s one of Dad’s associates. I hate to say it, but my father set me up with him as a semi-blind date.”
“Does your dad have any more associates who look like that?” Madison asked.
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Down, Maddy, you’re just a little too boy-crazy. And speaking of which”—Jessica pinned Laurie with a probing stare—“what gives with you and Andrew Lyndon? I was sure you would go home with that cute cop last night.”
Had she and Andrew been that obvious? Damn. Laurie didn’t want anyone to know about her one night of orgasmic sex with Andrew. It was her secret, and for now, she wanted to keep it close. Besides, what they’d done last night could become incendiary. It could end Brandon and Andrew’s friendship.
“Come on, guys, I’m not that into Ryan. And besides, Andrew offered me a ride.”
“Yeah, but you asked him to bring you here to pick up your car. But your car was here all night.”
Shoot. She’d just been caught in a lie. “Well, I decided it made more sense for him to drop me off at home because I knew Tobin would be picking me up in the morning. And I wanted the ability to send Tobin home at the end of the wedding.” She glanced from one face to another. The girls seemed to be buying her story, but it was time to change the subject.
“So how late did you guys stay at the bar last night?” Laurie asked.
Madison gave Jessica a guilty look.
“You know,” Jessica said with a long sigh, “last night was probably best forgotten by everyone. And I swear, I am never going to try to kill a car again…or drink that many margaritas. Honestly.” She rubbed her forehead.
“Just how late did you guys stay at the Jay Bird?” Laurie asked.
“It wasn’t how late we stayed, it’s where we ended up,” Jessica said. “I swear those guys looked way cuter when I was buzzed.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid we’re doing the walk of shame this morning.” Madison put her arms around Laurie. “You were the smart one, leaving the party with boring old Andrew Lyndon.” She paused for a moment. “Do you think Andrew is gay? I mean, he’s never with anyone, you know? And last night he wasn’t even remotely interested in flirting.”
Oh my God. “No, I don’t think so. He had a girlfriend for a long time.”
“Where is she now?”
“She dumped him about two years ago.”
“Two years?” Jessica’s eyes grew round. “I bet he is gay, which is too bad because he’s kind of cute, you know?”
Laurie didn’t know what to say. The idea of Andrew being gay was absurd. Her mind flashed on some of the stuff he’d done to her last night, and her core melted at the memory.
“Oh, look, she’s blushing,” Jessica said. “I think she really liiiikes Andrew.”
“And Tobin too. It would appear,” Madison added.
“Who has a killer sound system, a red sports car, and likes classical music,” Laurie said. Better to keep the girls guessing.
Her friends laughed and patted her back. “It’s good to see you getting over Brandon,” Madison said.
“So, it’s still early. And my hangover is craving a glass of wine,” Jessica said. “Why don’t we see what’s up at Bella Vista Vineyards. I’ve been told they’ve got some kind of party going on up there for the Harvest
Festival.”
Madison turned and scanned the portico, where Emma’s wedding lunch had been served. Staff was already tearing down the tables. “Maybe we should see if Courtney wants to join us.”
“I already checked. She said she had to work. Plus she’s really hungover,” Jessica said.
“Courtney hungover?”
“Well, if you want my opinion,” Jessica said, “I think she hooked up with Matt Lyndon last night.”
“Really? I don’t believe it. Matt’s a total jerk.” Laurie was shocked.
“Yeah, but he’s cute,” Jessica said.
“But Courtney is smarter than that. I mean, Matt is a player. Even I can recognize that.”
“Of course he is, but you know, Laurie, it’s not always about lifelong commitment. Sometimes a girl just wants to have fun. And Matt looks like a real fun guy to me.”
“Yeah, he’s the fun guy who took Brandon to Bermuda on my honeymoon and who leveled a rifle at Courtney last night.”
“Yeah, well, there is that,” Madison said. Then she patted Laurie’s back. “Come on. Let’s not worry about Courtney. I rented a Mustang, and I want to get the full use of it before I have to turn it back in. Let’s go tour a winery. I hate dry weddings, don’t you?”
The Shenandoah Valley Harvest Festival was a big deal for Bella Vista Vineyards and many of the other wineries in the valley. On Saturday, more than a hundred guests would descend on the vineyard for wine tastings and other activities. The vineyard hosted live music, barbecue, hayrides, winery tours, and the traditional grape stomp in the afternoon.