Denial (16 page)
“Let’s not leave it so long next time,” Marie said to Celeste.
“That’s a deal,” Celeste replied, smiling warmly.
“And next time you see your brother,” Charlie, Marie’s husband said, hugging Celeste. “Tell him I’ll be in town in a few weeks and I’ll be calling him for a round of golf.”
“Good night, guys,” Alex said. Impatiently, he pulled on Celeste’s arm. “I’ll see you both when I’m next down. And remember,” he huffed as Celeste resisted, “give little Charlie a kiss goodnight from me when you get home.”
That evening Alex had, after their meal, wanted to go to a gay bar, and now he wanted to go to a club. Their old school friends, Marie and Charlie, made their excuses, needing to get home to let the babysitter go.
“Okay, Alex,” Marie said warmly. “I’m sorry we can’t go to a club. But, hey, having a kid means you forfeit that after-midnight pass.”
“Don’t worry,” Celeste said, holding her ground as Alex playfully pulled at her. “You’re not going to miss anything other than Alex doing his ugly sister act if he doesn’t get his way.”
Alex laughed. “Whatever, Cinderella! The night is young, and I’m out to find my Prince Charming.”
Celeste and Alex kissed the couple good night, promising to call them soon.
Walking away, Alex excitedly explained that he had arranged to hook up with a dark-haired sports teacher he had met earlier in the bar.
Once in the club, Celeste settled on a sofa and let Alex fight his way to the bar. She looked out to the dance floor and felt the buzz from the wine at dinner and the tequila shots at the bar. Letting the warm, fuzzy, alcoholic haze wash over her, she leaned back, stretched her long legs out and closed her eyes. No sooner had she closed them than Alex roused her. Handing her a drink, he budged her up the sofa.
Full of energy, Alex tapped her leg. “Let’s hope he’s here,” he said loudly in her ear, before scanning the whole area.
Smiling, Celeste closed her eyes again.
Alex shook her and began a conversation that would get her attention. “Okay, I accept that you are very,
very
physically attracted to Amy. I can see why. She’s hot.” He looked at her. “There is no doubt that she is one seriously gorgeous girl.”
Amused, Celeste looked at him.
Pleased that he had her attention, Alex began ticking off his fingers. “She has bone structure that I would mortgage my home for.” He looked at Celeste. “She’s blond, a natural one at that. She’s got those amazing blue eyes.” He rubbed his forehead. “How would you describe the color?”
“Turquoise blue,” Celeste responded. “Turquoise is the word you’re looking for.”
“Yes,” Alex said. His eyes twinkled mischievously. “She has great tits. I mean really,
really
great tits.” He smiled wickedly. “Have you noticed that?”
Celeste raised an eyebrow and fought hard not to grin, but she couldn’t resist. “They should be asset tagged.”
Alex laughed. “Yeah,” he said, slapping his thigh. “They’ll be well up on your register.” He wagged a finger. “But, look around you, honey, there’s a lot of candy in the store tonight.”
Celeste sat up, yawned and then stretched. She wondered if she could excuse herself soon, and asked absentmindedly, “Is that a challenge, Mr. Forrester?”
“Uh-huh,” Alex replied, then waved to someone at the bar.
Celeste looked over to where Alex was waving, and watched a dark-haired woman make her way over.
Once she got closer, Alex budged Celeste up, and motioned for the woman to join them. Seated between them, Alex looked at Celeste and smiled. “I would like to introduce you to an old friend of mine, Robin Fernandez.”
†
A phone was ringing. Celeste, lying on her stomach, pulled her hand out from under the pillow and reached for it. Unable to find it, she lifted her head, only to let it flop down when a blinding pain shot through her temple. “Uurrgghh.”
Lifting her hand, Celeste tried again. Eyes closed, feeling tentatively around, she patted the air. Eventually, remembering she was in a hotel room, she unwillingly opened one eye, blearily she found what she was looking for, and croaked into the receiver, “What?”
Alex cooed at the other end, “Morning, sweetie. Thought I would give you a wake-up call since you were so, so, sooo tight last night.”
Celeste tried to make out the time on the nightstand, but couldn’t focus. Her other eye refused to open. She managed to squeeze another sound out of her voice box. “What time is it?”
“It’s time to tell you what happened last night, sweetie.”
Celeste’s mind drew a blank. She vaguely remembered going to a club, and drinking lots of tequila. She groaned and tried not to think any more as her head hurt. She murmured, “Where are you, Alex?” Remembering, she asked, “Did you find your teacher?”
“I’m next door. And no, honey, I didn’t find him, but I didn’t go home empty-handed.” He laughed then added wickedly, “And neither did you!”
Just as Celeste was about to ask him what the hell he was talking about, a hand snaked across her back and rested on her shoulder. Stunned, she froze.
Like a sinister voice-over in a horror film, Alex whispered into the phone, “Yes, Celeste. Eventually, I managed to pry that gorgeous hot-blooded Latina off you long enough to get us all into a cab.”
Shocked, Celeste didn’t move or say a word. Lying prostrate, she felt light kisses feather their way down her back. She gulped when the full weight of a body pressed into her and a female voice moaned in her ear, “Good morning, Celeste. Do you have any idea how wonderful you were last night?”
Celeste stiffened further when hips pressed into hers, and started to move.
Alex knew from the moment that Celeste picked up the phone that she didn’t have a clue that she was sharing her bed, because she didn’t cuss him out. He heard her sharp intake of breath.
But you know now. Don’t you, honey!
“Where’s Robin?” he asked mischievously.
Celeste didn’t say a word.
Alex couldn’t help but find the whole situation highly amusing. He asked teasingly, “Is she next to you?”
Celeste replied slowly, “Uh-huh.”
“Where?”
Celeste didn’t reply.
Not thinking that she really was, Alex asked, “Is she on top of you?”
Celeste whispered, “Uh-huh.”
Putting his hand over the receiver, Alex laughed hard. He could only imagine what Robin was up to. He removed his hand and whispered, “Celeste, let me tell you a little about the woman that’s on top of you.” He dragged out the words ‘on top of you,’ taking real pleasure in them. “Her name is Robin Fernandez and she’s very beautiful.”
Alex paused for a moment when he heard Robin moan. He grinned before continuing with her résumé. “She’s twenty-nine years old and a Gemini. So
never
let her get pissed at you. She’s a lawyer, a very successful one at that, and she comes from old money. She is very solvent, very stunning, a very sharp dresser, and sharp talker. She’s very particular about who she wants. And she very, very, much wants you.” He coughed lightly. “As I’m sure you realize.”
“Je ne le crois pas!”
Alex chuckled, “You better believe it, sweetie.”
“Comment est-ce c'est arrivé?”
“Well, it happened because there was wine, song, and serenade. Need I say more?”
“Je ne me souviens de rien.”
“I’m not surprised you can’t remember a thing. We were all pretty drunk—”
“—
Raccroche le téléphone, Celeste.
”
Celeste exhaled sharply. “Fuck.”
Alex sniggered when he heard Celeste cuss.
Robin murmured,
“Hier soir était stupéfiant.”
Listening, Alex thought that if their night was that good he should definitely hang up the phone, but feeling a twinge of guilt that he had been more than a little involved in orchestrating the events of the evening, including getting Celeste tight, he lingered. Then about to hang up, he heard Celeste whisper, “Alex!”
Hearing the panic in her voice, Alex felt a wave of guilt, knowing when he called Robin yesterday afternoon that the moment she saw Celeste, she wouldn’t be able to keep her hot Latina hands off his friend. He pressed the phone to his ear, listened then smiled. It was obvious that Robin was having a good time, but he couldn’t be sure about Celeste. Deciding to put her out of her misery and come to her rescue, he whispered heroically, “I’ll be there in two ticks.”
†
Celeste put the phone down slowly, unable to believe some stranger was on top of her grinding. She squeezed her eyes tight and tried to recall what happened after they left the club. Everything was too hazy; she opened her eyes, and sucked in air.
Robin murmured sensuously in her ear.
Smooth, Celeste thought. At any other time, being told that she was the most beautiful woman ever would be a huge compliment. Particularly given that it was first thing in the morning when she was bleary-eyed and her breath could knock out a rhino.
Robin kissed the nape of Celeste’s neck.
Celeste tensed.
Robin was making her way down Celeste’s back when the door rattled.
Jumping out of bed, Celeste grabbed for something to cover herself. Quickly, she headed for the door and threw it open to a grinning Alex.
“Good morning,” Alex said. He squeaked when Celeste roughly grabbed him by the collar and yanked him into the room.
In the bathroom, getting dressed, Celeste wanted to throttle Alex when she heard him ask Robin to join them for breakfast.
During breakfast, Robin asked if they would like to go sailing with her that afternoon. Alex immediately jumped at the offer, and because they had nothing planned, and short of being rude, Celeste accepted her invitation.
The afternoon was a strange experience. Robin’s touch was intimate throughout the day but Celeste was having difficulty remembering the night before only recalling snippets of Robin literally ripping her clothes off.
It had been years since Celeste had been that tight. Head still aching, she recalled a clear memory of Alex toasting her return. She frowned, remembering many celebratory toasts. Realizing there was a constant supply of tequila, she looked at Alex, aware now that it was deliberate.
Alex smiled at her sweetly.
Celeste smiled back, but not so sweetly.
Surprisingly, the afternoon wasn’t a complete disaster. Celeste was actually enjoying Robin’s company, and the fifty-foot Catalina that her family owned, was nothing short of spectacular. Celeste loved sailing. It had been too long since she had felt the thrill of the waves.
As the afternoon progressed, Alex, to Celeste’s annoyance, got more irritating. He couldn’t understand why she wasn’t salivating over Robin and, at every opportunity, he urged her to give Robin attention, as if expecting that somehow her attraction would flit from Amy to his friend.
Whenever Alex got the opportunity, he whispered background information on Robin, telling her that there was no way she could turn down someone like Robin.
To placate him, Celeste would oblige and focus on her, half-hoping, as he did, that something would be set alight.