The Trouble With Snowmen (6 page)

Chapter 12

Friday evening, Larry stood in the offices of Skinner and Skinner feeling like an idiot. He hated these social things. One of the quirks of being a writer was only having to come out of his cave every once in a while.

Nevertheless, here he stood in a room full of strangers. And even though he had told himself and Brenda he would go because he owed her this favor, there was another reason.

Brenda had stopped him on his way out the door for his morning run and told him about the party. He’d declined, explaining he was stuck at a scene in his book, which was painfully true.

“I think you could use a break.” She’d lightly touched his bare chest, her dainty fingers cold and familiar. “Come on, my ungrateful assistant already backed out on me. She was like, ‘Sorry, but I have plans.’ And I was like, ‘Haley, if you ever want to move up in this company—’”

“What time?” He’d wanted to ask Haley’s last name, but then Brenda would have asked him more questions, and no matter how much he would try to avoid telling her the truth, she would’ve gotten it out of him. And seeing as she was finally over the whole
hooker in her apartment
thing, it would be stupid for him to bring it back up. Besides, it was most likely a coincidence.

She’d smiled and arched a satisfactory eyebrow. “Be ready by nine. And please clean up and wear a suit. I know you left your wallet, so go in my room and in the top drawer, beside the condoms, there’s a Visa.”

Well, perhaps she hadn’t completely forgotten about it.

Brenda balanced on her tippy-toes and gave him a peck on the lips, lingering a second. “This is a nice party, so don’t buy a bargain.”

He surveyed the room now, black-tie taken to the extreme, and stopped on Brenda, who looked very comfortable schmoozing and mingling. Her backless black dress fit tight. She wore her hair down this evening, long, blond, and straight. When she moved it swayed, sharing glimpses of her gorgeous back.

No doubt she demanded the attention of every male in the place, but Larry’s attention shifted elsewhere. He began scanning again. Scanning for a fantasy, a long shot. The longest shot in the world that Brenda’s Haley was
his
Haley. Crazy. What was he even doing here?

Perhaps Brenda had been right. He needed a break. Ever since Haley had left, he tried to throw himself into his novel. It hadn’t worked. He couldn’t write. His thoughts stayed on Haley.

He actually should’ve gone home days ago, but what if Haley had come back for him? He knew Brenda wouldn’t give Haley his phone number or address. She might even call the cops.

He did, however, need to go home soon. Haley hadn’t come back. Odds were, she’d never come back. She was a call girl, not an attorney’s assistant. He had to get that through his thick head.

“There you are,” Brenda said, although Larry hadn’t moved an inch since arriving. “Come on. I have a couple of people I would like to introduce you to.”

Larry allowed Brenda to drag him around like a puppy dog on a leash and show him off as the New York Bestseller. People petted him, saying how much they admired his work and couldn’t wait for his next book.

He stayed miserable all evening. Brenda hadn’t noticed, though, and that was all that mattered for the night.

After the party, Brenda drove home and right as Larry was about to tell Brenda he had decided to leave in the morning, she said, “You look really good tonight. Back to your handsome self.”

“Thanks.” He felt like himself again too. He had gotten a haircut and a close shave. He also didn’t mind the feel of a nice suit every once in a while. It made him feel put together.

“All eyes were on you. You are quite the celebrity, aren’t you? I forget sometimes. To me, you’re just my Larry. How many phone numbers did you get?”

“Are you kidding me? I was Brenda Fisher’s date, no one dared brush against me wrong.”

They laughed.

“And by the way,” he said, “you look very lovely yourself. I wasn’t the only one who thought so either. You’re the one with a roomful of admirers.”

“Yeah? You were watching me?” She glanced at him, her mouth in a pursed smile and her eyebrows high.

Before he had a chance to answer, she said, “You know, I thought we were good together tonight. Don’t you think? Why haven’t we made a real go at this?”

He laughed. “We did, remember? We were a horrible couple. We wanted different things out of life.”

“Ah, maybe, but we ended up at the same place. We’re both successful and lonely.”

Huh, maybe she had him there.

Brenda put her hand on Larry’s thigh. “It felt nice tonight. I enjoyed your company and the truth is, I’ve really missed you. I was hoping you would stay with me tonight.”

“Well, I wasn’t planning on going home until the morning. I need to get home. I have that book tour thing and my wallet is there. Did I tell you about it? For
Zombie Soldier
?” He didn’t know why he avoided the obvious invitation to Brenda’s bed, he knew
that’s
what she’d meant. Nothing new, it was almost like a given. If they were together and didn’t have another partner, they had sex. Most likely the only reason it had taken this long for her to initiate it this time was because she was pissed.

“Really, Larry? You’re going to make me beg?”

He shook his head. Well, why hadn’t he made his usual move? She’d been mad at him plenty of times, and it had never stopped him before. Who was he kidding? Haley,
that’s
why. Weird. She made his head all foggy. He had to get her out of there and get back to his life.
Get out. Get out. Get out!

He stared at Brenda, her dress hiked way up on her thighs, her long hair waiting to be pulled. “You, begging? Well now, that does sound interesting. Will you be on your knees?”

She smiled. “I’ll be wherever you want me to be.”

Chapter 13

Haley held the camera up to her face, zooming in on a couple who seemed oblivious to the other guests at the party when someone grabbed her arm and yanked. She let the shot go in order to keep from dropping her camera, forgetting she’d strapped it on for safety.

“What?” she snapped but then noticed it was Regina. “Hey.”

Regina didn’t say anything until they were snug in a corner. “What the hell is
he
doing here?” She nodded toward Travis.

Haley had known she would be slapped on the hand and had figured,
Why beat around the bush?
So she brought Travis with her to Regina’s mixer and elixir. “He said he was really sorry. He said he panicked when I said . . . I love you.”

Regina had her arms crossed. “So you did remember the heat, I see.”

“This proves that he’s
not
a snowman. You said they melt, disappear. But there he is, over there, talking to Scott.”

“He’s a snowman. You just didn’t give him enough heat to really melt him.”

Haley pulled Regina this time but dragged her all the way into the kitchen. “I mean no disrespect, but I’m done with this whole snowman thing. It’s been horrible. I even let Maximilian talk me into being a snowman, and it backfired.”

“What? You didn’t!”

“I did. I did the whole love’em and leave’em, and I feel horrible about it.”

“Man, I sure miss a lot when I’m gone. Why didn’t you call me?”

“I didn’t want to bother you at Scott’s. Besides, I think it was for my own good. I mean, I learned a lot about myself. Bad things, but I’m trying to move forward and—”

“There you are.” Scott, Regina’s much-younger, English-accented boyfriend stepped inside the kitchen. “Hiya, Haley.” He gave Haley a quick hug and then said, “Would you mind if I borrow Gina here? I promise to give her back.”

“Sure,” Haley said, actually happy for the interruption.

“This isn’t over,” Regina said to Haley.

“Come on, Haley,” Scott said, “I want you to hear my announcement too.”

As Scott ushered Regina out of the kitchen, Regina shrugged at Haley. Haley shrugged back, smiled, and followed them back into the living room.

“Can I have everyone’s attention?” Scott called out. “I have something I want to say.”

He and Regina stood together by the fireplace, and the crowd began to quiet down.

“I’m sure everyone here knows how Gina is.”

Mumbles of agreement filled the apartment.

“And we know that there is no way in hell, her exact words, she would ever get married again.”

The crowd grew excited. Scott turned to Regina. “So don’t worry, that’s not what’s going on here. I may be younger than you, but I wasn’t born yesterday, and I know better to ask you a question and expect an answer in front of our mates. However, in front of all our mates, I want to tell you that I don’t care how much older you are than me. You hear me? I don’t care. You are the most beautiful, tidy, and exciting woman I’ve ever known. I love you, Regina. I have to go back to London in a week, and I want you to come with me.”

The room was silent, and Haley felt the tears in her eyes and raised her camera to both cover them and to catch Regina’s reaction. Haley didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone as happy as Regina at that moment. Her face glowed, her eyes were wide and bright, little tears glided down her flushed cheeks.

Haley snapped pictures as Regina brought her hands to her face. “What about your mom and dad?”

Regina had mentioned to Haley a couple of times about how she was the same age as Scott’s parents, give or take a couple of years.

“I talked to them, told them all about you, and they can’t wait to meet you. You lot are going to get on splendidly.”

Regina wrapped her arms around Scott and kissed him.

After the announcement, Haley and Travis didn’t stay much longer. They congratulated Regina and Scott and then went to Haley’s apartment. Haley left Travis in the living room while she went to the kitchen to get them drinks.

She stayed in there for as long as she could and wished she had stayed at Regina’s at least long enough to say she had to call it a night. She had accepted Travis’s apology a couple of days ago, and they picked up right where they left off, except she hadn’t invited him home. She wanted some time get to know Travis again before sleeping with him because now their previous relationship seemed so superficial. But she knew she couldn’t keep avoiding being alone with him.

She thought that tonight would be a good night to talk because Regina’s house would have people, and maybe they could find a quiet corner. But going to Regina’s had kind of been a disaster. Haley thought maybe she should’ve gone on to the work party instead. But
ugh
! She hated going to “parties” with her boss, Brenda “Fishlips.” She wouldn’t have been an actual guest. Brenda always treated her the same way she did at the office but with party items “Haley, go get me a glass of wine. Oh no, Haley, Mr. So-and-so doesn’t have a napkin.” But at least she would’ve been spared the sight of two people so much in love. Yes, she was happy for her friends, but still, it made her sad and afraid that she and Travis would never have that type of relationship.

So now she wondered why she had accepted Travis back. Because she had to stop obsessing, that was why. If she wouldn’t have, she might have done something crazy like try and track down Larry White. She already searched his name on the Internet, downloaded a few of his books to her Kindle, read his blog and his website, and stared at his pictures for hours. The images looked nothing like him, more like Larry’s older, handsomer, wiser, richer, brother. That made her angry and sad and lonely and so many emotions in-between. Besides, if he had really missed her, he could have found her by asking Maximilian. No need to track him down only to have him to dismiss her for leaving like she did . . . or maybe she’d been just a one-night stand. He
had
pretended to be someone else. Maybe he had done the whole, “Oh, I can’t find anyone to love me for me. I know, let me see if I can get a girl to sleep with me even if I’m not the rich and famous Larry White.” She was driving herself crazy!

Besides, Travis had called and texted her like a crazy person himself. She didn’t see it as using Travis because a week earlier, she was madly in lust with him. She would’ve even called it love back then, so it wasn’t so outrageous to give it another shot. He deserved another chance. Didn’t he? And they did have a lot in common, no matter what Regina said. They both liked to go dancing, they both liked country music, they both liked cowboy boots, and they both took a lot of time to get ready in the mornings, and they both . . . shaved their legs.

When Haley walked into the living room it was no surprise to see that Travis had stripped down to nothing. His muscles were highlighted with a spray tan, his body slick and shiny. He took great pride in keeping in shape. A work of art. And her heart raced like it did every time.

She handed Travis his water.

He set in on the coffee table, and then he grabbed the glass of tea out of her hand and placed it on the coffee table as well.

“I’ve missed you,” he said.

A second later, he kissed her full force, pushing her back onto the couch, his body hard on top of hers, and then the burning question slipped out of Haley’s mouth. “Why?”

“What?” he asked, panting like he’d been working hard.

“Why?” She studied his face, searching for a hint of that look of love and admiration Scott had given Regina—or even better, a glimpse of the desire Larry had had in his eyes as he removed her blouse. She sat up on her elbows and demanded his attention. “Why did you miss me? Why did you change your mind?”

He smiled, his teeth gleaming white. “Let’s move this party to the bedroom, and I’ll show you how much I missed you.”

She fell back onto the couch. Not at all what she’d asked, but should she really make a big deal about it and insist on answers she might not want to know? She hated it, but she knew if she pressed, he might leave.

Or she could just let it go. Let the relationship be what it was and see what happened. How could she be demanding of his intentions when she knew she had never actually been in love with him? If she had loved Travis, she wouldn’t have fell so fast and so hard for Larry. She wasn’t sure what that had been with Larry, but she did know her feelings for him were on a different level than what she felt for Travis . . . or any other guy.

“Okay,” she whispered to Travis, thinking this might be the only way she would ever get over
the
Larry White, once and for all. “Show me.”