Beautiful Triad (19 page)

“They’ve been married for fifteen years. Get real.”

“You know that off the top of your head?”

“I know a lot about Heaton off the top of my head.”

“Fifteen years. Oh, I suppose that means he
can’t
be madly in love with her?” Gonzales was a newlywed, her chubby affable husband a very nice guy, and she looked outraged at his cynicism.

He always wondered why she wasn’t more jaded.

“I’m going to go talk to him and find out.” Ken stood, collecting the photos, evidence reports, and making neat piles of his scribbled notes. “I’m going to guess he thinks he’s just dealing with the local yahoos on this deal. I made a few calls this morning and apparently she vanished in a pretty rural area of southern Tennessee. They have a summer house there or something. He’s supposedly got an alibi on this one, but I’m not getting the impression the police down there have run around checking it out.”

“You have it in for him, Ken, I’m telling you.”

“I have a bad feeling, Gonzales, it’s different.”

“If you say so.” She didn’t look convinced.

* * * *

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138

Kate Watterson

The interior of the house was decorated in an eclectic mixture of elegant and sophisticated furnishings and art, but none of it suited the pine walls and intended rustic feel in her opinion. Lauren sat down in a claw-footed chair upholstered in a plaid of pale pink and lemon yellow and didn’t comment.

“Coffee?”

She shook her head.

“Pardon the working mess.” Ben Heaton indicated the open laptop and scattered books and papers on the coffee table with a careless wave of his hand. “It doesn’t look organized but I promise you it is in my own way.”

She kept her own desk tidy and scrupulously neat, but simply said,

“Whatever works for you.”

He sat down, frowned at the screen and punched a few keys. This morning he wore jeans, pressed to a razor pleat, a red shirt with an insignia tastefully tucked on one corner below the collar, and alligator loafers with no socks. His blond hair was neatly brushed and his glasses a slightly different style than the night before, this pair rimless also, and the gold screws matched the heavy watch on his wrist.

Polished was the word that came to mind, urbane probably would be next. Not handsome precisely, but nice looking in a bland sort of way under the expensive clothes and Rolex. Lauren thought that even though the professor seemed absurdly normal under the circumstances, the tension was there, just under the surface. Nothing visible, but she sensed it.

He picked up a small device not much bigger than a credit card and pushed a button. “I’m going to record this if you agree. Like I said last night, it helps me immensely to make sure everything I cite is accurate. I don’t use names, but it is still important to me to have records of how each subject responds to my specific questions.

Writing it all down is impossible, and this way you don’t really have to wait for me to take long notes, but we can just talk to each other and I can lift what I want from the interview later.”

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Beautiful Triad

139

That sounded reasonable enough, she supposed, though she still wasn’t sure wanted to discuss her personal life. “That’s fine, I guess.”

“I’ll have you sign a release form afterwards. That way if you want to exclude something, you can note it.”

“Okay.”

Heaton smiled. “You look nervous, but don’t be. I’d like you to answer every question but if you can’t or don’t want to, just say pass.

Ready to start?”

“I suppose.” Lauren clasped her knees and felt self-conscious.

“Age?”

“Twenty-four.”

“College education?”

He’d already said he knew she was a professional, but she said,

“Yes, Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science.”

“Number of sexual partners to date.”

Well, after all, he was writing a book on sex and that question was an obvious one she expected. “Three.”

“Any of them female?”

“No.”

“Ever think about having a sexual encounter with a woman?”

“No,” she said honestly. “I have never been attracted to one in that way.”

Heaton typed something on the computer. He glanced back up.

“Do you currently have a steady sexual relationship?”

This was another one she expected. “Yes.”

“How often would say in the course of the average week you have intercourse?”

Average? Well, that was hard to say. This past week had been a bit over the top, but she wasn’t willing to explain why. Lauren shifted a little and explained, “Drew is a pilot. He’s gone quite a bit. I don’t think I fit the norm there.”

“It doesn’t matter if you fit the norm, Lauren, don’t worry about that, let me figure out what fits and doesn’t. Besides, none of us are Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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140

Kate Watterson

normal. There is no such standard. It’s an expression, not a truth. Just answer as best you can. If he’s home, how often?”

“Well…quite often.”

Heaton slightly lifted his brows. “Every night?”

For the first time, she blushed. She was surprised it had taken that long. “Yes, sometimes.”

“Can you come to orgasm through regular intercourse or does he stimulate you in other ways?”

Whoa, not five minutes in and she wanted to drop through the floor. “Pass.”

“I have a PhD in psychology, but physiology isn’t a deep dark secret to me. Human sexuality is what it is. Men and women have sex and women are as interested in climax as males, it just isn’t as easy for them usually.” He looked a little amused at her discomfort. “It is part of who and what we are. Of what drives us in many complicated ways. It affects our economy, our politics, the way we process information, in other words, our whole world. Most women do not find sexual release from just ordinary intercourse unless they are already high aroused. The thrust of my question is does he take the care to make sure you do?”

He was right, but it was acutely personal. And did he have to use the word thrust? “Yes,” she said faintly.

“In other words, you feel you have a considerate lover.”

“Correct.”

“What about the other two in the past?”

She thought about Rob, and how different he was, but then again, how well he qualified also in the considerate category. “One wasn’t,”

she admitted, remembering her first foray into an actual sexual relationship. “However, we were both really young.”

“You still are.” Heaton didn’t smile but had an enigmatic expression on his face. “But, yes, experience makes a difference.” He stared down at the computer again, his fingers on the keyboard. “All Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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right, let’s tackle some of the more interesting topics. Have you ever had a one night stand?”

“No.”

“Sex in a public place?”

“God, no.”

“Masturbated in a place you could be caught?”

“No.” Well, shit, she was blushing again.

“Do you watch pornography of any kind?”

“I’ve seen a few mild things, I suppose, but do I watch it? No. I read romance novels, but that’s entirely different. They certainly aren’t porn.”

“I’m not implying in any way disagreement with that, but tell me why
you
think so please.”

She thought for a moment. “They’re sexy and you get to use your imagination. I think they’re actually very moral in a lot of ways, besides being entertaining. The heroine doesn’t sleep with hero if she isn’t in love with him, or if she does, she falls in love with him at some point, and almost always they end up together by the time the story is done. They are love stories.”

“You like the romantic ideal.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Tell me about your most unusual sexual encounter.”

It was the first question that was truly probing and couldn’t be answered briefly, and she declined. “Pass.”

“Does that mean you’ve had an encounter that would be considered out of the normal range of accepted sexuality in a woman your age?”

She wasn’t sure if age had a damn thing to do with it but that was a whopping yes. She looked him in the eye. “Do people usually answer a question like that?”

Heaton leaned back a little. “You’d be surprised. Some can’t wait to tell me. Some are like you, and embarrassed. No need to be, since no one will ever know what you said.”

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142

Kate Watterson

He
would know. Admitting to a multiple partner relationship was hard enough, face to face with someone who studied human sexuality was just out of the question.

“I beg to differ. Aren’t you going to put it in a book you hope will sell a lot of copies?”

“Yes, but no one will you know you’re the one who said it.”

“Can I make another point? Didn’t you just say there is no such thing as normal?”

He gave a small chuckle, but she had the feeling it didn’t have anything to do with actual mirth. “Yes, I did, and that’s what I get for interviewing someone who isn’t just beautiful, but smart. Okay, I surrender on that one and we’ll move on.”

The compliment was a little unexpected and Lauren chose to not address it. Getting through the interview was her main focus. “Let’s do. I’m sorry if I’m not being helpful, but I’m afraid I’m actually kind of boring.”

“Neither Andrew Fletcher or Rob Hanson think so. How does that all work?”

Her palms were suddenly damp and her face warm. She stared at the man sitting across from her and tried to act completely nonchalant. “I don’t get what you mean. Drew and I have been dating for six months. Rob has been his friend for years.”

“You don’t think Rob is attracted to you? I do. This is exactly the type of social sexual behavior that fascinates me.”

That was
exactly
the type of question she didn’t want to answer.

“Fascinates you in what way?”

“Never mind, we can go on. What about birth control?”

She was beyond keeping that a secret, just grateful he’d passed on pushing the Rob issue. “The Pill. At first condoms, but we talked it over. We’re sometimes spur of the moment and it works better.”

Heaton didn’t look over but just entered her answer on his computer. He murmured, “I see.”

She had a sinking feeling he saw a bit too much.

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143

* * * *

Ben carefully closed the laptop and went into the pantry off the big, shining, and virtually unused kitchen. He poured two fingers of a very expensive single malt, single barrel scotch into a crystal glass, added bottled water and ice, and took a long sip. And then another.

This interview had been, well…interesting. Enjoyable, really.

Lauren Hanes had an expressive face, fine-boned, delicate, with those incredible blue eyes…

She’d had both of them. Hanson and Fletcher, both of them. The Beautiful Triad was a reality. He knew it. What’s more, she’d figured out easily enough he knew just what was going on at the house next door.

Did she know he’d been watching? Maybe. He had a pretty good idea Drew Fletcher caught him the other day on the lake, but there was one advantage to having a missing wife. People felt sorry for him, extended dinner invitations anyway, just to be polite, especially if he ran into them in the grocery store accidentally-on-purpose.

Ben wandered out into the living room and propped a shoulder against the glass of the sliding door out onto the deck. In the background the air-conditioning clicked on with a low, well-tuned hum.

How would Lauren feel if she knew he’d seen Hanson kiss her just the day before? He’d been waiting for it, sure he was right about what was going on—positive, but still not able to confirm anything, hovering over that damned telescope all day…and then it happened.

She’d walked outside and Rob had been on his way in. A smile in the doorway, a laugh, and he’d caught her waist and pulled her in for it. A fucking doozy, too—on the mouth, lips and tongue, his hands on her ass, her fingers in his hair. A serious kiss that probably gave him a hard on. Fletcher had been there, too, sitting on the deck, beer in hand, and he hadn’t blinked an eye. Having the Beautiful Triad next Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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144

Kate Watterson

door was like being given a gift he probably didn’t deserve, but Ben wasn’t going to argue it. He didn’t have to have even a modicum of knowledge of psychology to figure out Lauren didn’t want anyone to know. She wasn’t comfortable yet with the concept of spreading those pretty legs for two guys, but she was doing it, anyway, and he hadn’t lied, he was fascinated.

At least the blonde was out of the picture.

What her role was in the relationship he wasn’t sure and didn’t really care. Some chick who had the hots for Hanson apparently, because he’d been the one out with her the day she arrived and they’d had that argument by the lake. Ex-wife? He’d wondered at the time, but he’d managed to bring up the subject at dinner the night before and they’d all confirmed none of them had been married.

Girlfriend, then. Pissed girlfriend—if that lakeside conversation was any indication—plus her very early departure the next morning.

She’d had Indiana plates, so the drive wasn’t short, and no one made a trip that long to stay less than twenty-four hours. Had they told her about their three-way?

Nope, he doubted that. Lauren wasn’t ready. In his clinical opinion, Hanson was a little too conservative for that as well.