***
“What if it ruins his marriage?” Susan stuck her finger in her mouth and bit at her nail – something she hadn’t done in nearly fifteen years.
“Do you think I want him to do it?” Rachel sifted through her closet, not really seeing what was there, but needing to do something to ease some of her stress. “Ryan’ll hate me even more if he thinks I’m the reason his parents divorce. Tonight’s the night, Sue. It’s now or never.”
Susan went to the window. “Then you’d better find yourself a sexy dress because the floodgates have opened.”
A persistent banging echoed through their door. That unmistakable fist talk could only belong to one person.
“I thought I had until seven? It’s only six-thirty.”
“You’re my fiancée, for better or for worse, and the guests will expect you by my side to help Elizabeth with greetings.”
Rachel curtsied before slamming the door in his face. “He’s the most annoying brat I’ve ever come across!”
Susan dug through her closet and pulled out a daffodil yellow dress. “This’ll get all the men’s heads turning.” She tossed it on the bed.
Though Susan was completely right, Rachel knew she couldn’t wear that dress. “Give me something dowdy. I don’t even care what color it is. Better yet, get me something from your closet.”
“I should probably be offended by that comment, but I’ll just pretend you’re under severe duress.”
“You don’t have to pretend,” she groaned. “I am.”
“Then you’re forgiven.”
The burgundy dress looked hideous next to her skin, but Rachel put a smile on her face and pulled it up over her hips. She surveyed her color fail in the mirror. “How come this looks so good on you?”
“Goes with my hair. Mind if I wear the yellow dress?”
Rachel closed her eyes and looked away. “Knock yourself out.”
Ryan banged again. “It’s six forty-five!”
“Will you hate me if I head on down with the town crier?”
Susan waved her off. “I’ve gotta fix my hair, anyway. I’ll be down in ten.”
With his hands still wrapped up tight, Ryan extended his elbow and hustled Rachel down the hall. “Molly’s lurking around here somewhere, so let’s just try to get along for a few hours, if you don’t mind.”
Rachel stopped dead in the middle of the hall. “You know, I’m really sick of being given orders.” Before Ryan could protest, she grabbed his upper arms and walked him back against the wall. “My turn.” She moved in slowly, and methodically ran her tongue over his lips before catching his lower lip in her teeth. He let out a growl when she bit down. “Did Molly ever do this for you?” After caressing the inside of his mouth with her tongue, she went to work on the outside. Just as Junior was about to lose control, she pulled away, leaving a trail of lipstick down his neck, and his pants half unzipped. She stepped back, narrowly avoiding his groping hands. “Just earning my extra pay. Come on, Junior. The party awaits.”
“That’s evil,” he muttered under his breath.
She headed him off toward the bathroom. “You’d better make a pit stop. You’re not fit to be seen in public.”
Junior finally emerged looking as though nothing had ever happened. “Thank you for making us late, Miss Peters.”
“You didn’t seem too concerned at the time, Mr. Stanley. As a matter of fact, you were quite the willing participant. But, if it makes you feel better, you can dock my pay.”
“I’d like to dock something else,” he hissed in her ear.
Rachel felt a flush of heat overwhelm her from the inside out. “Then, why don’t you?” Why didn’t he just take her and get it over with?
“Because I refuse to get involved in a love triangle.”
Rachel had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep from laughing. “Which triangle would that be, Mr. Stanley. Me, you, and Ty, or me, you and Susan, or maybe even me, you and Randy?”
Fire wasn’t as hot as the sparks flying from his eyes. “Your mother should have named you Jezebel.” Though his hands were cracked and stiff, he grabbed her arm and practically dragged her down the steps. Unfortunately for Molly, Ryan wasn’t in a pleasant mood.
“Ry! I’m so happy for Elizabeth!” She saddled up and gave him a hug so sensual that it could have turned on a light bulb without electricity.
Rachel wanted to puke at the fake smile pasted on her face, and if she could be certain she’d hit Blondie’s shoes, she’d give it a shot.
“Maybe you should go tell her.” Ryan tried to brush her off, but Blondie would have none of that.
Rachel really didn’t want to make a scene in the middle of Elizabeth’s party, but she envisioned breaking each of the perfectly polished little fingers that were gliding up and down his arm.
“Daddy said he had a nice, long chat with you the other day. Did he happen to mention I’ll be joining his board of directors in the fall?” As if she wasn’t already close enough, Molly leaned up against him, and Rachel could have sworn she saw her blood red lips graze Ryan’s earlobe when she stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “Maybe we’ll find ourselves in the middle of a joint merger one of these days.”
“Maybe.” Ryan didn’t pull away from her grip.
The tiny, smug smile at the corners of his mouth infuriated Rachel, and for just a moment, it did exactly what he wanted it to do. She’d been played enough to recognize the rules of this game. Though she was burning up with jealousy, she put a smile on her face and pretended she didn’t care.
“Dance with me Ry?” Molly latched onto his opposite arm like a Chinese finger puzzle. “This is our song, remember?”
Rachel nudged him toward Molly. “Go ahead, Ry. I see someone I want to talk to.”
His grip became tighter, and Rachel felt an odd sense of excitement at the bit of pain running down through her arm.
“My fiancée and I should have the first dance, Molly. Maybe I’ll squeeze you in another time.” Ryan’s death grip loosened just a bit when they joined the throng of dancing couples. “Since when does a woman throw her fiancé at another woman? Especially an ex!”
Reaching behind her back, Rachel loosened his fingertips grinding into her spine. “I don’t suppose you would have objected if it was April!”
“Keep your voice down, if you don’t mind.” He spun them around to the outside of the dance floor. “I suppose you’ve heard all the torrid gossip,” he breathed in her ear.
“Is it gossip?”
He stopped dancing for a second and looked hard into her eyes. “You don’t actually believe it, do you?” He looked appalled that she would even dare to believe he was less than Mister Perfect.
“It just so happens that someone once believed a bit of gossip about me.”
“That’s different, Miss Peters. I’ve seen proof.”
Now it was Rachel’s turn to stop dancing. “What do you mean – proof? There can’t be proof because it’s not true.”
“Dance, Miss Peters. People are beginning to stare.” He whisked her toward the door and they escaped to the veranda. “I have several damning pictures that were sent to me via cell phone.” He wasted no time in flipping on his phone and scrolling down through the pictures. Of course, the picture front and center was the one where tipsy Susan had her in a seriously hot lip lock. “I’ve been told by a reliable source that you and Miss Reyes attended this party as a bisexual couple. Is that true?”
“Well, yes, but it’s not what you think. It was just one of Susan’s gags for a little fun.” Ryan didn’t look amused. “You do realize who took those pictures, don’t you? Viv Parker.”
“Molly’s mother? Impossible. She’s not that kind of woman.”
“Apparently, there’s a lot you don’t know about your own friends.” Or his own father, she thought. “Did Molly send them to you?”
“I can’t tell you that, and it doesn’t matter.”
Rachel grabbed his arm. “It matter
s to me! Whoever sent those to you is a pathetic excuse for a human being!”
“My sister sent them to me! Do you feel better now?” Ryan made a fist and punched the aluminum column with his already battered hand.
“Elizabeth.” Rachel felt sick to her stomach. “Why would she do this?”
“She only did it to protect me.”
“Please explain something to me, Ryan. Even if I were bi, why is it such a huge problem? Either you love me or you don’t.”
Ryan turned away from her and faced the incoming tide. “It matters because I can’t defend all fronts. It’s bad enough trying to keep the men’s eyes off of you, let alone wondering about your girlfriends.”
The man standing before her was looking for any reason at all to reject her just to keep his heart safe. Rachel finally understood, and she felt like kicking herself almost as much as she wanted to kick him. He wasn’t the cold, unfeeling robot she thought he was. He was too caring, and he wrapped his glass heart up in tissue paper and packed it high on a shelf to keep it from being broken again. She, of all people, should have seen it, and she of all people knew he wasn’t going to take it down and dust it off until he was good and ready.
“I’m not April.”
There was nothing else she could say, and nothing she could do to help him. She’d been there, and she knew he had to work through it in his own time and in his own way. She slipped back inside, leaving him with his marred up feelings and twisted misperceptions.
If Rachel hadn’t been sliced and salted before, the sting would have been too much to bear. She looked around. Susan’s yellow dress wasn’t hard to spot. She was nuzzling Ty in the corner.
“Hi Ty. Mind if I borrow Susan for a minute?”
“Just for a minute. That’s about all I can spare.” He looked at Susan with a smolder in his eyes and headed off toward the bar.
“I think I’m in love,” she whispered.
Rachel was instantly jealous of the happy glow on Susan’s face. That could have been her and Ryan. Instead, she was left with a life turned upside down and nothing to show for it but more heartache. “I’m leaving tomorrow. I quit. I’m going home to Pennsylvania.”
“What happened?” Susan’s face paled. “If you go, I go.”
“I can’t get through to him. I’m tired – worn to the bone, actually, and I need a rest. Mom always told me I could move back in if I needed to. Plus, I miss the boys.”
“These are all great excuses, Rach, but they’re still just that – excuses.” Susan looked past Rachel and stiffened. “Is that who I think it is?”
Rachel followed Susan’s gaze. “Her? That’s Ryan’s little friend, Molly. She’s been trying to dig her claws into him since that first dinner party in New York.”
“I know her. I do her hair twice a month. She the picky chick.” Susan’s eyes narrowed. “She commented on a picture I have on the wall in my workstation. Just two weeks ago, in fact.”
“Let me guess. The one of you and me.”
“Yep. She was asking all sorts of questions. I just thought she was having a good day. She’s normally a total bitch. But, she left a good tip. Fifty bucks.”
A slow, steady burn ignited inside Rachel. “So that’s all mine or Ryan’s happiness is worth to her – fifty bucks. He said Elizabeth told him. He even showed me pictures taken at that stupid party.” Rachel scanned the room. “I’m gonna ask her.”
When Rachel caught Elizabeth’s gaze, the gig was up. It was written all over her face. Rachel never broke eye contact with Elizabeth as she snaked her way through the guests, and by the time she reached her, Elizabeth turned and was leading her into the kitchen.
“You know.”
Rachel nodded. “Why?”
“Oh, that lousy Molly Parker. She found the pictures on her mother’s phone and has been holding them over my head ever since. That’s the only reason she’s here tonight. Oh, I could just wring her neck!”
“I knew she had her nasty little finger in this!” Rachel envisioned pulling every single, natural blond hair from Molly’s blackmailing head. “She knows exactly where to stick the knife.” That part is what infuriated Rachel the most. Molly was using Ryan’s hurt and pain for her own sick purposes.
“I’m sorry, Rachel. He doesn’t know the pictures came from Molly. He thinks a mutual friend sent them to me to do with as I saw necessary. He tried to blow it off and he even laughed about it at first.” Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed and she clenched her fists. “But then a certain someone found a way to get her grubby fingers on the original guest list when she saw the pictures weren’t doing the job.”
“And it says bisexual,” Rachel finished. She was sure Ross probably had a hand in there somewhere.
Elizabeth nodded. “That’s when it turned ugly. Please believe me. We had several very long discussions and it all twisted back around to that miserable, cheating April. It was like being slapped in the face all over again – only this time the competition was a woman.”
“I know the pictures look pretty incriminating, but there’s nothing between Sue and me except twenty-three years of friendship. Nothing. Nada. Zip. We’re straighter than an arrow. That was just a gag trip that Susan cooked up. She’s always getting me into these sorts of things.” If she had to recant that story one more time, Rachel thought she’d explode. “The problem is Ryan doesn’t want believe me. It took a few rounds in the fight to knock some sense into me, but I get it now. He’s locked himself up and it wouldn’t matter if I had proof positive that I could lay at his feet – he’s not going to let me in. And that’s why I’m leaving New York,” she finished softly.
“Oh, no you’re not, young lady!” George had been standing at the kitchen door. “This is just ridiculous. You’ve been wronged by a cheap, little…woman, who has no business interfering in my children’s lives, and I’m going right out there and physically remove her from this house!”
“But, Dad!” Elizabeth tried to hush him. “What about Mom?”
“Your mother knows everything, Liz. No more worries about that. I told her this evening.”
The color drained from Elizabeth’s face. “Is she okay?”
George smiled and shook his head. “She already knew all about it. She’s known for years. Can’t get anything by the woman that loves you – or the man,” he added. “A very wise young woman once told me that honesty is the best policy, and without it, you have nothing. Remember that Liz, and you and Jim will have a solid marriage. I plan to tell Ryan, next. He deserves to know exactly what kind of father he’s been idolizing all these years.”
“No, George. Remember your butt? Keep it just the way it is. I meant it when I said I was going back to Pennsylvania. I think Ryan needs some time away from me, and God knows if I don’t get some space from him you’ll be minus one child.”
“But, that won’t work. I’m expecting a Stanley baby within the next year or so.” Though he tried to tease, Rachel could see the pain in his eyes.
“Oh, George, you nutcase.” Rachel kissed his soft, wrinkled cheek. “I wish I could promise you that, but as much as your son and I fight every time we’re together, the kid would come out wearing boxing gloves and a mouth guard.”
Susan eased into the kitchen. “You okay, Rach?”
“I’m fine, Sue. Just tired – and hungry,” she said, perking up. There was no way she was going to be the wet blanket snuffing out Susan’s spark. “Where’s Ty?”
“Getting the car. Your buddy, Molly, won’t leave us alone, so Ty’s taking me to a movie and then dinner, and we want you to come with us. Just the three of us,” she added quickly. “He wants to make up for the incident with Randy.”
Rachel looked at George and he nodded.
“No monkey business while I’m gone,” she warned him, “or it’s the cage for you when I get back. Promise me.”
“Oh, if I have to,” he grumbled. “But it won’t be easy. And be back by eleven or I’m coming to find you!”
“Yes,
Daddy.”
Molly spied them slipping out by way of the side door. “Why are you leaving so soon?” She stumbled out behind the trio. “This’ll look kind of suspicious, won’t it? Ryan’s fiancée leaving with another couple. What’ll people say?”
Rachel slowed her place and looked over her shoulder. “You’re drunk, Molly. Go away.” She’d had just about all she could stand of the dynamic duo.
“Oh, come on, Barbie doll. Take me with you and I’ll show you how Maine’s really done.” When she saw her chance slipping away, she clamped her jaws of death around Ty’s upper arm. “Get me out of here, Ty, and I’ll show you a really good time. You know I know how, too.”
Rachel jolted to a halt and spun around, getting about twelve inches closer to Molly’s face than she really wanted to be. “You’re not coming! You’re an irritating hemorrhoid that no one wants to scratch. Why don’t you go back in and see if your dad’s best friend’s mother’s brother is available for a threesome. You’re a chip off the old block, so you should fit right in with the lifestyle.”
“You vulgar girl!” Molly smiled through those slightly tarnished teeth of hers. From the smell of her breath, Rachel guessed she’d had too much wine. “I’ve heard through the grapevine that you’ve made a few unconventional lifestyle choices, yourself.” Her eyes took a hard dive right at Susan.
Ty caught hold of Rachel’s arm just as she went to lunge for blondie. “She’s not worth it, Rachel.”
“Ty! I thought you and I were friends.” The blubbering baby talk made her look more like an idiot that she did in her natural state. “Why don’t you leave the little gold-diggers alone and take me out for a drink? I’ll pay my fair share afterward.”
In hindsight, Rachel wasn’t sure if it was the nasty comment or the polished claws sliding south on Ty, but whatever it was, it was a sight to behold. A blur of red and yellow came out of nowhere, and before Rachel realized what was going on, Susan had Molly pinned to the ground and had gotten in several good punches. Now her blood red lips were the real thing.
Susan was still swinging and kicking when Ty pulled her off of Molly. “You’ll be lucky if I don’t walk back in there and tell all of your friends that your nails are fake, your tits are fake, your smile is fake, and your hair is fake! I added those extensions, myself,” she said with smug satisfaction. “And while we’re at it, maybe I should inform Teri Adams that her husband picks you up at the salon every other week.” Molly clammed up and just sat there looking up at Mount Saint Susan. “Thought I didn’t know about that one, huh? Teri comes in on the weeks that you don’t – and Larry Adams picks her up, too.”
“Larry Adams?” Rachel tapped Susan. “From Adam’s Construction? He’s one of Ryan’s … clients.” The bigger picture descended on her like light from the heavens. “Oh. My. God. You’ve been trying to steal away the Stanley clients for your dad’s company! You cheap, little wench! How much is Daddy paying you to do this, or are you taking your payment out in sexual perks?” Rachel couldn’t believe it. This piece of work was little more than a corporate prostitute – and a nasty one, at that.
Molly rolled over and pulled herself to her feet. “Larry and I are just friends,” she hissed. “I’m friends with lots of men.”
The bumblings of a drunk were generally amusing, but Molly’s ramblings were also informative.
“I’m sure you are, and if I go back through the problem accounts over the last six months, I’ll bet you know all of them, too. Is this why you’re so desperate to get your hands on Ryan? So you can bring him to daddy for the takeover?”
The alcohol coursing through her veins wasn’t done getting her into trouble. “You can’t prove anything, and Ryan’ll never believe you,” she pouted, pulling grass and debris from her hair. “Besides, Daddy promised me a spot on the board when our companies merge. So, ha!” Molly giggled and pointed at Rachel. “I’ll be sitting right next to him. So close I can smell him. And you’ll be out of a job, because the first motion I’m going to make is to fire you.”
Rachel couldn’t help but laugh. Having been fired a half dozen time over the last several weeks, Molly’s threat was nothing more than mildly amusing.
Ty grabbed Molly by the wrist and dragged her back to the house. “We’re all witnesses, Molly, so don’t try to deny it when the sun comes up.”
“Oh, go back to the forest, Ty Parker, and take that fashionista wanna be with you! Yes, you!” she screamed at Susan. “Your job’s as good as gone, too, and when I get back inside, I’m gonna call the police and have you arrested for assault and battery!”
“It’s a shame you fell down and hit your face, Molly. Let me get you inside so someone can take care of that. Maybe Teri Adams would like to help.”
Ty yanked open the door and disappeared with Molly.
“Think she can?” Susan rubbed her fingers over her sore knuckles.
Rachel shrugged. She didn’t put anything past that creature. “Was it worth it?”
Susan’s face lit up. “Absolutely!”