Sex, Lies, and Beauty Aides (22 page)

An overwhelming sense of karma bitch slapped him for all the times he’d laughed at her making him feel like a fool. Now who was the idiot?

Sabrina covered her eyes and giggled.

Somehow he’d managed to become the butt of her bath. Trent stripped, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He rinsed and wrung out his clothes and left them on the counter before he moved to her room. He stood buck-naked in her bedroom with all sorts of images springing to mind. He glanced down. Not the only thing to spring up.

Unable to find a robe, he found some sweats that looked too big for Sabrina and slipped them on none too comfortably. The friction didn’t help his pecker settled down one bit.

He knocked on the bathroom door. “I’m dressed. I’ll wait for you in the living room.

He’d barely walked in the living room when Kat let herself in.

“What are you doing here? And what’s with the sweats? Not exactly your style.”

“Remember who you’re talking to. I live in sweats or sweat shorts when I relax. It’s Travis,” he whispered, “who doesn’t own sweats or even a pair of blue jeans.”

She advanced on him, shaking her finger in his face. “Speaking of Travis, I have a bone to pick with you. What the hell do you think you’re doing? I told you to stay away from Sabrina.”

“We work together. That’s kind of hard.” Yeah like that excuse was going to work on Kat.

“Bull shit. You know exactly what I mean. You’ve been dating her. I expressly forbid it.”

“Forbid it. What are we twelve?”

“What will happen when Travis comes back? He’s not her type. He’ll blow a gasket when he finds out what you’ve done. Any chance to fix your reputation with the family will be out the window for sure.”

He wanted so badly to snap at her, ‘Who do you think you are, my mother?’ But Kat on a rampage, tended to have terminal repercussions. “Be that as it may, if it weren’t for Travis I’d have told her who I am before now. For the time being I can’t have her think of me in any way but as Travis.”

“I’m warning you, Trent. If she gets hurt, I will personally castrate you and feed you your nuts on a shish kabob so you can never hurt another woman.” She planted her fists on her hips and glared.

He covered his crotch. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. And for the record I like Sabrina. A lot. And I plan to tell her before Christmas. Travis should be ready to make his appearance by then. I’ll do it before he gets back. Count on it. I also plan to pursue Sabrina when the air is clear.”

“You’d better pray you find the right words when you finally tell her the truth. She hates liars. She can’t stand to be teased and she despises when people try to make her look like a fool. From where I stand you’re playing her on all aspects. It’s not going to be pretty. I almost feel sorry for you. Just fix it. And fast.”

“I may be pretending to be my brother, but what I feel for her is real. I’m mad at myself for not pushing you to introduce us at the party. Don’t you get it? She’s perfect for me.” He placed a hand over his heart and prayed Kat paid attention.

“It’s a damn good thing she’s in love with you or I’d kick your sorry ass right now.”

“Really? You’re sure?”

“Are you sincerely that stupid? You can’t miss it. The problem is she thinks she loves Travis. What will happen when she finds out who you are?”

“Well then, if she loves me what’s the problem? When I explain to her I had to pretend to be Travis to help him, she’ll think I’m a hero.”

Kat waved dismissively. “I give up. You’re in for a hell of a rude awakening if you think it’ll be that easy.”

“Hope is all I have. I’ll make her fall madly in love with me then when I finally tell her she won’t be able to say no.”

“Dude, you’re delusional.”

“Who’s delusional about what?” Sabrina asked.

Kat flinched.

He quelled his frustration, hoping to hell Kat would keep her mouth shut. He stood shaking in the three sizes too small sweats.

“Travis. I told him he’s delusional if he thinks wearing those sweats out in public is a smart idea. Dude, you’d look better in a pink leotard and a tutu.”

“I look better than you in that leopard outfit you wear to yoga.” He said then realized too late it was not in his best interest to piss off Kat.

“Keep telling yourself that sparky. Let’s see how you get out of this now. All on your own.” Kat smirked, patting his ass as she walked past.

He was so in trouble now.

Relief washed over him as Sabrina finger combed her hair. “I didn’t want you to sit out here alone so I didn’t blow dry my hair. Let’s hope I don’t scare you because my hair is naturally curly and can be a nightmare.”

Kat glared at him. “No kidding. The last time you let it dry on its own you looked like troll doll on steroids, but even that isn’t half as bad as he looks in that get-up.

He looked down. The ankle elastic of the sweat pants rode up his calves and appeared skin tight. He looked like an overgrown man in kids clothes. Stupid.

“Kat’s right. Not your most attractive outfit. Good thing they’re my PMS sweats and I don’t need them right now.”

“Lovely, PMS pants, just what I wanted.” He sniffed, glad his brother wasn’t there to hear about it.

Kat snorted and went to the kitchen. “I should take a picture and send it to Trent. He’d love it. Don’t you think?” Her very real threat dominated every word.

Sabrina laughed. “I’ll get your clothes washed and dried and you can have them back in a little over an hour. In the meantime we can order pizza or something to be delivered. Anyone have a request?”

“None for me. I have some reading to do for my economics class and a phony financial prospectus to create for another class by Monday. Save me some.” Kat snagged her glass of wine and disappeared into her room muttering, “Wonder what the boy genius would think of these developments.

Sabrina retreated to her room to gather his wet clothes then headed to the laundry room. Trent closed his eyes praying Sabrina remained oblivious to the visual exchange between him and Kat.

She fiddled with the machine. Good thing she knew how to work one. His cleaning lady usually handled his dirty things. What if Sabrina were his wife? He had no doubt they’d be good together. Sure it was too soon to think that way. Never before had he immersed himself in what he wanted in a wife. In three weeks he’d known her, he concluded she was it. There was one major hurdle to tackle before he’d figure out how to plan for their future. With less than a week to find the right words, right place, and the right time to tell her his secret.

Surely, Kat exaggerated how Sabrina’s reaction. What if Kat was right? Maybe he should sound her out to see what he’d be up against. And if his plans went well he’d propose on Valentine’s Day. Appropriate and romantic. The idea of romancing Sabrina, showing her how much she meant to him and winning her heart gave him an overwhelming sense of peace. It felt so right. With Sabrina by his side their lives were bound to be one big adventure.

* * * *

Sabrina felt a glow in her cheeks as she put Travis’ clothes in the washer. She liked the warm sensation coursing through her as she remembered his shocked look when he fell into her lap. Someday soon she’d have Travis in the tub with her, just like Vera and Jasper.

She allowed herself to dream, only for a moment, of a life taking care of him, maybe someday to be his wife. She covered her mouth as a stab of sadness coursed through her. All in all, Travis wasn’t Trent.

Darn it, don’t go there. You can’t create fairy tales and expect happy endings.
In her world, life knocked you on your butt, regularly as Metamucil. It was time to strike the precious memories of Trent from her mind once and for all. He had been all of two seconds worth of lust she’d concentrated on over the past four years. It didn’t amount to anything. Except when she’d been down and remembered Trent, even the embarrassment of their one and only meeting always made her smile. Trent wasn’t here. Travis was. High time to put away her girlish fantasies. And while she was at it she didn’t need to just pull up her big girl panties, it was high time to exchange the panties for a sexy thong and concentrate on the man present. Travis. She started the laundry and went to be with her man.

They spent the evening together, watched movies, ate pizza, and fell asleep cuddled up on the couch.

In the morning Travis took her to breakfast. “With the new layout to the magazine there is so much more you can do with your articles. I mean you have a terrific start on love but what if we tackled some of the bigger issues?” He took a bite of his omelet.

“Such as?”

“Don’t limit yourself. There are situations people run into on a daily basis, relationship issues.”

“Like what? Novice here, remember?” She pointed to herself.

“Like when is it okay to lie?” His gaze never left his plate.

“Duh—never.”

He set his fork down and clasped his hands. “Say I planned a surprise for you and I told you a little white lie in order to pull it off? Now I don’t normally condone lying, only what if I
had
to?”

“No one has to lie.”

“Let me rephrase that. What if I had to tell a small fib in order to do something special for you?”

“I guess that’s okay. Define what you mean by a little white lie.”

“Exactly, see what I mean? Where do you draw the line?”

“Okay, I get it. What else?”

With a shaky hand, Travis picked up his coffee cup. “What to do when you catch a person in a lie? How can a person regain trust once it’s been broken? If it has gone that far?”

She didn’t like where the conversation was heading. His questions scared her. Had he lied to her? She laid her hand on top of his. Heat sizzled through her. “What’s behind these questions of yours?”

“What do you mean?” He continued to eat and not meeting her gaze.

“It’s Saturday. We just spent the night together and while it wasn’t in bed, it was still nice. This doesn’t seem like the morning after breakfast conversation. That’s all.”

“Oh, I see.” Clearly he didn’t. “We’re early in this relationship. We still have much to learn about each other. Perhaps if we focus on a few articles on relationships, offer situations, opinions and examples, asking others for opinions might be a good thing to add.”

“I guess. I don’t understand all the focus on lies. I hate them. You’d have to be dumb as dirt to chance losing a relationship that means so much to you for the sake of a lie. What’s wrong with the truth?”

“There are times when the truth doesn’t work.

“Come on Travis, you know better than that.”

“What if you had to keep a promise for someone? I’ve lied to keep a promise before. It was painful as hell but there was no other option. Where is the honor if you can’t keep a confidence?”

“What about trust?” she asked. “Shouldn’t trust be taken into consideration as well?”

“I suppose, but occasionally there are extenuating circumstances.”

“Okay, you got me. I’m lost.”

“I’m keeping a confidence right now. I want to tell you. I can’t and it’s killing me.”

“O-kay,” she said.

“I’m honoring my bond. Do you understand that?”

“Sure, but other than Kat we don’t travel in the same circles. I don’t see that it matters. I’d keep your secret as well but I understand you don’t want to break a promise. I’ve made a number of admissions to you and I’m confident I can trust you to keep them.”

“The point is, in an instance like this, it can cause problems in a relationship. A white lie versus the truth. What’s allowed in a relationship?”

“In this case you keep your promise and you’ll tell me when you can. I’m a big girl. I honestly can’t imagine anything so horrible I can’t get over. Well, except for a flat out lie.”

“Oh.” Travis’ face drained of color, leaving her with a sick feeling in her stomach.

“Have you been lying to me? I get the distinct impression there’s more to this conversation than keeping secrets? Is there?”

“In a way. Yes. I’m not at liberty to say more. Not yet. Soon, I hope. I need you to know you’re very important to me and I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“I believe you. I feel the same way.” She patted his hand and meant the action to sooth his fears. It didn’t do a damn thing for her. She sipped her coffee, her appetite gone thanks to the topic of conversation. “I’m sure you’re worried about nothing. Let’s deal with it when the time comes.” Surely, things weren’t as bad as he feared. And yet, she knew this wasn’t the end of it.