Love Unrehearsed (19 page)

The doorbell rang and Marie gasped. It was go time.

“Sorry I’m late.” Mike had on a pair of black dress slacks and a thin gray button-down shirt that left no curve of his upper body a mystery. As soon as I closed the door, I noticed something shimmer on his back.

“Turn around,” I said discreetly, pulling the XL size sticker from the fabric. I quickly balled it up in my hand. I’d never seen Mike blush before.

“Oh shit. How embarrassing is that?” he mumbled.

I was delighted that he felt the need to buy a new outfit for tonight. “Don’t worry about it. It will be our little secret. You look really nice, by the way.”

Mike seemed genuinely nervous, brushing his hands over his slacks. “Thanks, Taryn.”

The minute Marie stepped into the room I saw it cross over both of their faces—that flush of excitement caused by extreme attraction to another human being.

Mike had eyed Marie quite a few times in the past, but he left it at that. I also noticed him scowl at Gary once or twice as well, when Gary was being less than polite to her. But Marie was unobtainable at the time. Now the playing field was wide open. Her wedding rings were off, leaving only a faint indentation on her finger of a period in her life that would eventually fade and fill in time.

“Oh wow. You look, um, amazing,” Mike stammered, a hint of red staining his cheeks.

Oh how adorable! Look at him blush again.

Ryan also noticed the electricity zooming through the room. “Tar, can you help me a sec?” I followed him upstairs into our bedroom.

“We need to talk. You see what’s going on with them, don’t you?”

I smiled. “Yes. And I’m okay with it. Are you?”

Ryan looked tense. “Are you sure? He said he’d forget about it if you weren’t cool with it.”

Mike actually said something to Ryan about Marie?
Judging by the look Mike gave Marie when she came into view, I’d say he’d have a tough time forgetting about her in that outfit.

“I’m sure,” I said. “But what concerns me is that I thought Mike was interested in Trish. I know he’s lonely and it’s not fair for him to sacrifice his personal life for us, but I won’t let him play both.”

Ryan nodded quite assuredly. “No, me neither. He likes Trish. He thinks she’s cute, but he didn’t have that instant chemistry with her that he’s feeling for Marie. Hell, I don’t need to say it—you can see it as well as I can. But I’m pretty sure his dick is doing most of the thinking and chemistry-feeling at this point. He knows she’s hurting and is in no way ready for anything serious.”

Ryan rubbed my arm. “Hey, she’s my friend too, you know,” he went on. “And she’s my future wife’s best friend. I won’t allow anything to jeopardize that. Mike knows her current situation and I briefed him on some of the crap she’s going through. He’s willing to feel it out, but seeing that in the kitchen was like walking into a wall of sexual tension. Heck, I’d be surprised if they make it through dinner.”

He made me laugh. “That’s what we get for leaving them alone to
talk
last night. They’re both grown-ups. I’m sure they’ll figure it out on their own.”

Ryan didn’t seem so sure. “Well, let’s go find out.”

Two hours into a wonderfully romantic dinner, Marie and I politely excused ourselves for a companion trip to the ladies’ room. Call it what you will, but we all knew this was a chance for us girls to do our halftime checkup while the boys pondered what they had to do to score. Mike and Marie were so comfortable together; it was freakishly weird and exhilarating to watch all at the same time.

“Oh God, I think I’m in love already,” Marie gushed, pacing the tiny, private ladies’ room nervously, fanning herself to cool down. She brushed her long brown hair back, pulling it off her neck. “Or, at least, in very serious lust. Did you see him choke up when he talked about his last military tour? How close he came to that car bombing in Israel?” Marie wiped a finger under her eyes, fixing her makeup. “He tried to hide it but he’s holding on to some seriously deep emotional pain, Tar. You can see it in his eyes. That was hard for him to talk about, but he’s got to. He’s got to get that out or else it will fester.”

To say we were all moved to the verge of tears when Mike told us about one of their missions and how he lost his two good friends to senseless Middle East violence was an understatement. Mike was harboring some traumatic stuff behind his tough-guy image.

Marie took the single toilet first. “Shoot. I feel guilty for peeing. That first bottle of wine alone was almost two hundred dollars. Do you two splurge like this all the time? A family of four could eat for a month on what they’re going to spend on this meal.”

While neither of us grew up underprivileged, it was slightly unnerving to pretend not to care what things cost. “I know. And the answer is
sometimes
. Ryan wanted privacy tonight and I’m pretty sure Mike just wants to impress you.”

“Well, mission accomplished.” She pinned me with her eyes. “He knows what Gary did, doesn’t he?”

I nodded. “Ryan told him. He also knows you’re separated and staying in my apartment.”

“Thought so. I saw him tense up a couple of times.” She took a deep breath. “Yeah, well, what you don’t know yet is that Jeff the UPS guy came into the pub the other day. Told me he delivered a package to my house and was wondering who the cute girl was that answered my door wearing nothing but a T-shirt. He asked if Gary had a sister. It was like nine in the morning, Tar.”

I gasped. “Oh God.”

I could see her anger holding back the tears as the painful recollection poured from her lips. “You know, I wondered how the hell he could do that. Move on so damn quick with some girl? And here I am, ready to do the same thing. I guess I understand now.”

I leaned up against the sink counter. “Do you still love him?”

Marie snorted. “After all of this bullshit, hell no. Our marriage is over.” Just saying those words were hard for her because she was holding back some tears in that weak smile. “Now I just want to get my stuff and move on. The scary part is not knowing where to move on to.”

I gave her a reassuring smile. “You know as well as I do that life has a way of clearing that path for you. And maybe the good Lord above has dropped two hundred pounds of gorgeous path-clearing answer out there at our dinner table for you.”

That made her laugh. “That’s the problem. I’m too afraid to get my hopes up. Not right now, anyway. He probably just wants some casual sex, but I highly doubt one night with Mike would be enough. Well, unless he has a small penis and no skills. Damn, he’s already got me tangled up inside.”

“You know . . . I recall someone once telling me to go for a one-night stand with Ryan. How fast you change your tune when you’re the one wearing the slut shoes.”

Marie made a face at me. “That’s different. Your
fiancé
oozes sex from every pore and happens to be one of
the
most desired men on the planet. You’d have been a complete fool not to jump that.”

“Well, I could say the same. Mike’s pores are oozing just as much hotness. And he’s becoming quite famous, too, you know. He’s in just about every picture and video taken of Ryan these days. They’re like the dynamic duo poster boys of sexiness.”

“I know.” She grinned widely but it didn’t last. Her face fell quickly as she leaned on the counter. “This moment feels so surreal, like I’m going to wake up and find that it’s all been one big practical joke. I can’t go out there.” She started to hyperventilate and appeared ready to puke in the sink. “I . . . if he . . . I don’t think I could survive rejection twice in one week. If I’m not good enough for a schmuck like Gary, why the hell would I ever be good enough for someone like Mike? I mean, look at him. He’s tall and gorgeous and perfect.”

I rubbed her back reassuringly. Oh how I knew exactly how she felt. “You’re gorgeous, too, you know. And you
are
good enough. I think it’s about time someone starts treating you like the goddess you are.”

She grimaced at me.

“You know as well as I do that things happen for a reason. And by some freakish miracle, two of the most amazing men in the world are sitting out there at a table waiting patiently for us to come back to them. We are two of the luckiest women alive. But instead of spending these moments with them, we’re holed up in a tiny bathroom worrying like two idiots. What do you say? Ready to see where the chips fall?”

Marie took a breath and righted herself. “Yeah, I’m ready. Time to trust in fate.” She gave her boobs a bit of a lift and took a deep breath. “Let’s go make our mamas proud.”

“Good morning,” I uttered over my coffee cup, even though it was close to ten. Marie’s long brown hair was all bushy and tangled and she was wearing the Brown University T-shirt I got her eons ago.

The wench failed to look me in the eye. Instead she searched for another coffee cup, ignoring me.

“I can feel you staring holes in my back,” she muttered matter-of-factly, pouring the piping-hot liquid into her cup. “No, I didn’t sleep with him. Yes, he is fully aware of the location of
both
of my breasts, and yes, he is an uh-may-zing kisser.” She turned and grinned like a girl who was definitely up to no good last night. Her lips were still puffy.

“And if the super-large, extremely hard bulge that I sent him home with is any indication of the potential he has to rock my world, I’m signing up for a full membership.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I pushed out a kitchen chair for her with my foot.

“My nosey fiancé was quite worried about how you two were faring. Even got out of bed once to see if Mike’s car was still here.”

Marie shook her head from the news. “We talked a lot. He knows I’m in the middle of dealing with something ugly. And he doesn’t want to push anything until I’m ready, which I thought was very . . . thoughtful.”

Yeah, she had it bad for him.

Marie had only stayed for four days and in that time we spent every night with Ryan and Mike. I was glad to see that Marie had a renewed sense of hope. Gary couldn’t rip her heart out because she was well on her way to falling for another man.

Mike appeared to be genuinely sad to see her go. He had arranged for other security to cover Ryan so he could personally see Marie off at the airport. That scored major points for him in my book.

As we all hugged goodbye in the terminal, I smiled when Mike promised that he’d keep in touch with her.

Mike paid the toll to get us out of short-term parking. I watched his lips press down into a grumpy scowl. By the looks of it, he was majorly pissed.

“She’ll be all right,” I said softly.

He looked over at me and nodded once. “Yeah.”

I stared at the bumper of the car in front of us, feeling relieved that Mike had been a gentleman throughout, not playing the game to get Marie into bed for a quick hit-and-run.

Still, I could see he was all knotted up. “How are you?”

His jaw flexed and his expression darkened even further. He didn’t answer right away, but when he did he said, “Just tell me if shit goes down with her. I’m figuring she won’t tell me so I’m telling you I want to know about it, okay?”

I stared at him for a minute, sort of in shock. “You sure you want to make it your business?”

Mike flicked his turn signal on and was watching oncoming traffic until his eyes locked on to mine. His anger quickly dissipated, replaced with softened but adamant sincerity. “Yeah, I do.”

I recalled how it felt to find out your man was cheating on you. Was Marie ready for her “next” or did she need time to sort it out?

Some of his tightness came back. “You have a problem with that?”

Yeah, I do
.

Instead, I said, “She’s not just my best friend, Mike. She’s just about the only family I have and I don’t want her to get hurt. She’s already got one guy breaking her heart. She doesn’t need two.”

He gave me another stiff nod. “Understood.”

Marie had told me that Mike held her while she cried in front of him last night. She hated that she broke down like that but they were talking and he was asking why she ever settled for less and it just happened.