Playing the Field (Hot-Lanta Series)

“I’m sorry.” Patty said. “I just had an awful conversation with Marc. He doesn’t want to be my friend anymore.”

  Molly chimed in, “Of course he doesn’t, why would a man who is in love with you just want to be your friend?”

  Patty looked at Molly shocked. “How do you know that?”

  “Oh come on Patty, open your eyes, it’s been written all over him forever. He can’t get enough of you.”

  Jane just nodded in agreement.

  “God, I’ve been such an idiot.” Shaking her head she apologized to Jane. “Sorry, Jane. I just needed a minute. I promise I’m here for you now.”

  “Oh please, as long as you don’t cry all over my dress tomorrow, I’m fine.” She said with a smile.

  That was when the girls turned their attention on Lucy. Jane sat next to her and asked her what was going on. Lucy really didn’t want to talk about her problem right now. Knowing Jane, she was not going to let it go, especially since Lucy could not contain herself. She felt like she had to spill the beans but she couldn’t talk about it in front of Molly. She refused to.

  “Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Lucy said while eyeing Molly.

  Molly seemed to get the hint, took off her shirt and said, “Hey I’m going to take a shower if you don’t mind.” She patted Lucy’s shoulder and said hope you feel better.

  Thank God she was gone. There was no way she could tell Jane what she was going to say with Molly in the room, especially after the reconciliation they just had. Lucy heard Molly turn the shower on, giving Lucy the heads up that it was alright to talk now.

  “What’s going on?” Jane asked again. Both she and Patty were at her side trying to figure out what brought her to hysterics.

  “I’m sorry, Jane. I wanted to wait to bring this up until after your wedding but I need to tell someone.”

  “Its ok sweetie, you can tell us.”

  “You can’t tell anyone.”

  “We promise, is everything ok?”

  “No, everything was going great with Connor but then everything turned to shit.”

  “Oh no, what happened? You guys looked so in love at the rehearsal dinner. Did you guys break up?”

  “No, it’s not that.” Lucy let out a long breath and blurted, “I’m pregnant.”

  Jane screeched and then brought her voice down. “Oh my God that’s great! Why are you upset?”

  Patty asked, “Does Connor not want kids?”

  “No he does” Lucy said. “I just don’t know if he will want a kid that’s not his.”

  “What are you saying?” Patty asked.

  “Well I tracked my days back to when I would have conceived and it was right at the time where I had sex with Austin and then a couple of days later had sex with Connor. I’m not sure who the father is.”

  Patty and Jane both sat there with their mouths wide open. She rendered them speechless.

  Crap!

  ***

  Molly stood in the doorway taking in all the information Lucy was foolishly spewing out. Molly lightly laughed to herself, that bitch thought they were friends now. In her dreams, she would never be friends with a frumpy librarian whore bag who must know how to give one hell of a blow job to land a man like Connor Cartwright. He would never go for a girl like Lucy in the past. He was really lowering his standards.

  Molly listened in on the conversation as the evil side of her brain started turning, causing her grin to get wider and wider. She had perfect ammunition to finally hammer the nail in Lucy’s coffin. Molly wondered how Connor would feel, to know the girl that he was oddly in love with was possibly caring another man’s child. Oh this was good. Too good actually.

  Molly took a quick picture of herself naked in the mirror and sent it to Austin. He was surprisingly super sexy when she saw him tonight and forgot how amazing his hands were. They worked their way under her dress tonight, giving her the satisfaction she was looking for and since it was in front of everyone, it added to the excitement. Her phone beeped back with a message.

  Austin: Evil temptress, meet me later tonight in the ice room? I need to fuck you or I might not be able to walk down the aisle due to blue balls.

  Molly chuckled to herself and text him back.

  Molly: You’re on. Meet me at 2:30 in the morning. I won’t wait long.

  Molly walked into the shower thinking about the two glorious men she got to fuck around with and the new information she secretly gathered. She thought about the perfect moment she could spring the juicy drama on Connor. It might affect things with her and Austin but then again, he chose Molly over Lucy before. Why wouldn’t he do it again? Yes, things were looking up for Molly right now.

  Chapter 14

  Patty woke up to Jane bouncing on her bed saying she was going to get married today. Patty silently cried herself to sleep last night, so when she opened her eyes to see Jane’s excitement, her eyes burned like hell.

  Patty barely got an ounce of sleep, all she could think of was the disappointing look on Marc’s face when she told him she couldn’t be with him. It haunted her dreams. She thought all night why it bothered her and she came to the realization that in fact she was in love with him. As much as she wanted to deny it, she couldn’t. She let a man into her life. What was she going to do with her feelings was the question. She couldn’t be with a man, even if it was Marc. She could not get past the fact that she once was with a man who loved her and wound up beating the crap out of her. She could not take that chance again.

  Smiling at Jane, Patty pulled her down to give her a hug.

  “I’m so happy for you. You deserve such a great man like Brady.”

  Jane hugged her back and said, “And you deserve a great man like Marc. Give him a chance Patty. I know you can get past what Gino did. I got past the Wrath of George, you can get past Gino.”

  Patty just smiled at her and pushed back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

  “Alright enough talk of Marc, let’s get you some breakfast and ready for the big day. Makeup and hair should be arriving around noon.”

  “Sounds good. Please tell me we’re having donuts.”

  That’s when Molly popped her head in the room and jumped on the bed as well. “We better be having donuts. I need some fat in me right now.”

  The girls laughed and Jane turned to Molly asking, “When is Winnie getting here? I need my little flower girl.”

  Patty saw the slightest wince in Molly’s face then she said, “Luke’s parents are taking care of her so I can fully concentrate on you. Come on Jane. Let’s get you to the spa for a mani-pedi while Patty goes and gets us donuts. You don’t mind do you?”

  “Of course not. That is what I’m here for. Lucy will be handling some of the vendors this morning, making sure things are decorated accordingly so I will run out and get the donuts. Any requests?”

  Jane thought about that for a second and said, “Nope just lots of them!”

  “Gotcha, be right back. I will meet you at the spa.”

  Patty slipped on a pair of yoga pants and a tank with built in sports bra, threw her hair up in a messy bun and grabbed her purse. The donut store was right around the corner so she would just walk there and meet up with the girls at the spa.

  ***

  Marc was walking down to the lobby, reading a text from Brady stating what kind of coffee he wanted when he ran straight into someone. He fumbled with his phone and felt a wet, hot liquid spread down his shirt. Shaking it off he looked up to find Patty standing in front of him with a stunned look on her face.

  “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there. Is that hot?”

  Shaking the shirt away from his skin she said, “Uh yea just a bit. I will be fine though. Uh sorry about your coffee, I should have been looking where I was going.”

  Marc took a look at Patty and couldn’t help but sigh from her beauty. He knew she was fresh out of bed, no make-up with lounging clothes on, but he never wanted to cuddle her more. Anyway she presented herself, he found a way to
make her desirable in his mind. He was hopeless.

  “Don’t worry about it” she said. “I can get some more coffee at the spa.”

  “Alright, well I guess I will see you at the wedding.” He started to walk away when Patty stopped him.

  “Wait.”

  He turned to look at her and watched her search in her mind for what she wanted to say.

  “I, uh, just wanted to apologize for last night. I didn’t get any sleep.”

  “Neither did I” he confessed.

  She exhaled, “Sully, I just wanted to tell you, under different circumstances, I could really see myself being happy with you. I could picture having a future with you but I’m not in a good place in my life and don’t think I ever will be. I’m sorry. I wish I could give myself to you.”

  Hearing her words made him choke up. What was she doing to him? He thought he helped her get over Gino. What was the point of the list of things she needed to accomplish if she was not going to stick to them?

  “Patty, I can’t hear you say those things. Please just let me go.”

  She put her hand on his chest and said, “I can’t. I’m trying but it’s hard to let you go after everything you did for me and the friendship and comfort you have given me.”

  “I know.” He said taking her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “I wish things were different. I truly do but after today, I’m afraid I just can’t see you anymore. Now go and take care of Jane, make her feel special today.”

  “Do I still get to collect on the dance you promised me?”

  Marc knew it wasn’t a good idea but he nodded. At least he could indulge one last time before he let her go forever. He let her hand go and headed for the coffee shop, shirt still drenched. He didn’t care right now because the only thing that occupied his mind was the breaking of his own heart.

  ***

  Brady held his new wife in his arms dancing to a slow melody on the dance floor. The night was something he would never forget neither was the first time he saw Jane walking down the aisle toward him. He was not much of a crier but he couldn’t help himself. He was the happiest man ever, being able to marry the woman of his dreams, his soul mate and best friend. She had never looked lovelier, wearing her hair in loose waves over her shoulders, a simple white dress with lace and her natural make-up. He was one lucky man.

  As he twirled her, he caught the undying love she had for him in her eyes. When he pulled her back into his arms he whispered in her ear, “When do we get to go to the honeymoon suite?”

  Playfully swatting his chest she said, “Brady, we can’t just ditch all our guests. That would be rude.”

  “I’m sure they would understand, Mrs. Matthews.”

  “Mm, I’ll never get tired of hearing you call me that.”

  Brady nuzzled her neck with kisses, breathing in the fresh scent he knew as Jane.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here. I’m sure everyone will understand. Plus they are all liquored up anyway. As long as the booze keeps pouring they’re going to care less if we’re here or not.”

  “It’s tempting but they’re our guests…”

  “Who are drunk and happy. Come on, I want to see what’s under that dress.” Brady said pushing his hard length against her.

  “My, my, my Mr. Matthews, a little eager tonight aren’t we?”

  “I haven’t seen my beautiful wife in weeks and I finally have her in my arms, all I want is to have you all to myself, in our own private room.”

  “Well how can I deny my husband such a request? Alright but you have to make an announcement.”

  Victory! Brady thought.

  He dragged Jane off the dance floor and went over to the DJ. He asked for the microphone and had him cut the music. Everyone stopped on the dance floor and gave Brady their attention.

  “We just wanted to thank everyone for coming tonight and celebrating with us. When I first met Jane, I knew she was going to be my wife one day and now that the day has come, I could not have imagined it any differently or have shared the day with anyone else. So thank you again, we love you all. Now I’m going to take this little wifey of mine away and make a woman out of her.” Jane swatted him and everyone whistled and hollered. “Please stay as long as you want or until they kick you out. Drink up and enjoy the night.”

  Brady handed the microphone back to the DJ and grabbed Jane’s hand, dragging her to the elevators.

  “I can’t believe you said that in front of everyone, in front of my parents!” Jane said.

  “Oh come on, do you honestly think people think we’re going upstairs to play a riveting game of checkers and watching episodes of ‘I Love Lucy’? No, they know exactly what we’re doing so there is no use in hiding it.”

  “Who’s to say we’re going to have sex?” Jane said in a stubborn tone.

  Brady wrapped his arms around her, bringing his lips mere centimeters away from hers and said, “Oh we will be having sex and we will be having it all night long.” He sealed his promise with an explosive kiss that made Jane weak in the knees.

  While he held her up she said, “I can’t argue with that.”

  ***

  Patty watched Jane and Brady leave, holding hand and hand, feeling jealous that they were able to share in each other’s lives, something she would never be able to do. Patty was so involved in the wedding, pictures and helping things move along, she didn’t even have a chance to say hi to her old roommate April who started to become close friends with Jane and the group. She searched the room looking for her long brown haired friend, when she stopped cold in her tracks.

  Dancing on the floor with April, with a sinister smirk on his face was Gino.

  What the hell was he doing here?

  Patty’s limbs went numb and she instantly started to sweat. He made eye contact with her and at that moment decided to end the dance he was sharing with April and walked over to Patty.

  A voice in her head told her to run, get the hell out of here, don’t let him approach you but the commands were not registering to her legs. Instead she stood completely still until both April and Gino reached her. Gino leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Patty took a quick glance at April who was looking rather green. Why the hell would April bring Gino to Jane’s wedding?

  “Hello, there sweetheart. It’s so nice to see you. You look fantastic.”

  Patty’s throat felt completely dry and couldn’t get a word out. Taking a sip of her water she finally was able to say, “What are you doing here, Gino?”

  “Well, I really wanted to see you so your friend April brought me as her date.”

  Patty glanced over at April who had tears in her eyes. What the hell was going on?

  “Let’s dance.” Gino said and before she could protest he grabbed her hand and brought her out on the dance floor. His breath smelled of pure alcohol and his grip was tighter than your average dancing hold. Something was not right.

  “Relax sweetheart, noting is going to happen as long as you listen to what I have to say.”

  A bead of sweat worked down Patty’s back. Oh no, this was not good. She needed to get someone’s attention. She started scanning the room but was stopped by the overpowering hand of Gino’s that forced her to put her head on his shoulder.

  “Don’t even think about looking for help right now. You little lady have caused me a tremendous amount of grief and I’ve lost a lot of money because of you. I had a private investigator follow you around and funny thing, he told me you’ve been hanging out with Marc Sullivan, the Braves’ catcher. Why would you be hanging out with him, playing in his pool and spending late nights with him, when I’m in your life?”

  “You’re not in my life, Gino.”

  Gino dug something sharp into her back making her gasp. “I didn’t tell you, you could speak bitch so keep your trap shut until you are told otherwise.” He released the grip a little and continued, “Now unless you want your precious little Marc to get hurt, you are going to do exactly as I tell you. I have men wa
tching over him and they’re ready to pull the trigger on him if you don’t follow my instructions. Nod if you understand what I’m saying.”

  Patty nodded in fear. What was happening?

  “Look at me Patty dear, I want you to pretend like you are falling in love with me all over again.” When she didn’t look up, he tightened his hold again making it difficult to breath. “I said look at me.” He gritted out in a voice so deep and sinister, it made Patty’s skin crawl.

  She looked up at him trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

  “That’s better. Now kiss me and kiss me like you mean it. I want Marc to think we’re back together. He needs to know that I’m the man in your life, not him.”

  She couldn’t, she couldn’t kiss him. If Marc saw her kiss him, she would for sure never, ever see him again and she could not deal with knowing that. At this moment it hit her, that life was too short to be living in a bubble, trying to protect your heart. If she wasn’t so stubborn, she could be wrapped up in Marc’s arms instead of threatened by Gino’s. She needed to figure out a way to get out of Gino’s arms and get to Marc.

  When she didn’t kiss him he leaned down to her ear and said, “Listen up cunt, you are going to kiss me now or I will make sure your little boyfriend doesn’t make it out of this hotel alive.”

  Shit!

  ***

  Austin was one happy guy. Ever since he got back to Atlanta, Molly had given him her un-divided attention. When he was away, he was nervous she was going to break things off with him because she was not answering any of his phone calls or text messages. He was never a clingy kind of guy but with Molly he could not help himself. He loved her. It took some time to realize it but he loved her. He wanted to ask her to move in with him but he was unsure of asking her since she was MIA that past week. When he got back to Atlanta though, every spare moment she had, she spent with him and it was even better than he remembered. He was hopelessly in love with her.