I distracted myself by engaging with the others, focusing on their words so I never found myself drifting off to thoughts of biting comments or which buttons I could push next. The self-control extended to my alcohol intake. I kept it at a minimum, the better to avoid any awkward glances or tempting words.
My plan worked well, the first to do so this week. Actually, it worked a little too well. As I talked to Mason, describing in great detail the lengths to which I would go for a properly cooked rack of lamb, I overheard Alice agree to go with the girls for the evening.
So she’d given up her quest and I was free. For some reason, I didn’t feel elated. Quite the opposite actually. I shook my head, refocused on my words.
But the disappointment had set in. I’d won and easily too. Apparently Alice wasn’t as like me as I’d thought she was.
But that was fine. Perfectly fine.
I excused myself from the table and went to the bathroom. There I splashed some water on my face and looked at myself sternly in the mirror.
You’re free. And she’s a quitter. Now whatever ‘attraction’ there was can die its natural death. My face frowned back at me.
They never are as great as you think they might be.
I left the bathroom, wondering how the hell I was going to keep my mind off the impending wedding now. I got my answer quickly.
There, in a cracked doorway, was Margot. I stifled the urge to twitch back in shock. The woman was like an unusually attractive demon, popping up everywhere to tempt me.
“Are you going to disappear again?” I asked her.
She smiled, a seductive grimace. “I think you’ve learned your lesson for leaving me in the bar,” she said.
Games. I hated games. But I had zero interest in Margot beyond a couple of quick screws over the week so I could stand it just this once.
She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me into the empty banquet hall. I took control immediately, auburn hair and brown eyes cycling in my mind’s eye, soon to be erased in favor of blonde hair and… blue eyes? Green? I’d forgotten. I tried to catch a glimpse, but couldn’t tell as she pressed against me. Oh well. It didn’t really matter, did it?
She kissed me and I tried to enjoy it. I really did. But she smelled strong, much stronger than I would have liked. Too much perfume, like she’d been basted in it. It over-powered me and made my eyes water. I tried to focus on the kiss, but her tongue was thick and oddly wet, too much of it in my mouth and on my lips.
Come on, man! You’re making out with a bombshell, a femme fatale right out of the movies! Enjoy it!
But I couldn’t and I broke away, pressing her against the wall and running my hands down her body, hoping to find something better there.
She must have thought that I was going for her zipper because she stopped me. “No, not now. Later. Come at eleven.”
Come where? I didn’t have time to ask. She pulled me in for one more sloppy lick and then swept from the room like Scarlet O’Hara.
I wiped my mouth. She didn’t seem disturbed at all by the terrible kiss. Was it really that bad? Or was I just not feeling it? Did I really want to sleep with her later? I still had no idea where I was supposed to be meeting her, but I supposed she’d probably pop out of my closet at the stroke of eleven like a deranged cuckoo clock, tongue leading the way.
I stopped by the buffet and then went back to the table, confused and horny. I tried not to look at Alice.
She was lucky she’d decided not to try to follow me tonight. I’d had a plan in mind, one I thought she’d back out of at the very thought. Too bad I’d never get the chance to test my theory. What a disappointment.
“Well! Sam Callahan! I’ve been keeping an eye out for you.”
Our table turned as one to see Edgar Lorne. This time he was in a bright white suit though still flanked by those four massive bodyguards.
Sam’s eyes widened in surprise. “Edgar. It’s good to see you. I was wondering if you were around.”
Lorne’s smile widened. “Yes, yes, I usually spend a good bit of time here. Hard not to!” He laughed and Sam echoed it. “I hope you’re happy with the wedding arrangements?”
“Yes, I am. Tuzas Suns came highly recommended.” The professional, business-like Sam had taken over at the drop of a hat. “Allow me to introduce my fiancé, Beck.”
“Well, well. You are just lovely.” Lorne actually reached for her hand to kiss, which Beck allowed, a smile frozen on her face.
Sam’s expression was strained, but he didn’t comment, just took Beck’s other hand in his. “I hope you’ll do us the honor of stopping by if you’re still here on Saturday.”
Lorne nodded, obviously pleased. “Well, I’ll have to ask the wife, but I’m sure we’ll be able to drop by, at least for a bit. I’ll tell you. Marriage is a beautiful thing. The most important thing, after God and country, I always say.”
Sam nodded, that stupid, polite smile still on his face.
“Ask me what, darling?” a woman’s voice said behind Lorne.
He turned around, revealing her, and I managed to catch my jaw before it dropped. Oh that was definitely not great.
Margot slinked forward and joined her apparent husband. They couldn’t have been a more mismatched couple, but they smiled at each other like every day they renewed their vows.
She must have been a performer before she got into the business of sugar babying.
Margot didn’t look at me at all, and I quickly pulled my gaze back to my steak before my fish-out-of-water expression was noticed by anyone else.
What a snake! Did she use the resort specifically for hooking up with randoms while her husband got massages? It explained the secrecy, but not the gall. Yet another reason marriage could go jump in a lake.
I angrily speared the meat on my knife and ate it from the tip like a caveman. As I was chewing, I caught Alice’s eye.
She was looking at me strangely, angrily. It was the most emotion she’d shown me since our time in the steam room yesterday.
I raised an eyebrow at her. What?
Her eyes narrowed. Then she looked pointedly at Margot and back to me.
I swallowed. How the hell did she know? I had no answer but it was obvious she did. And I might have claimed innocence for the past, but this time I was well aware of how bad this all looked.
If Margot’s husband caught me screwing his wife, he’d throw me off the resort. Hell, he might throw us all off the resort. And that was exactly the kind of apocalyptic, wedding-ending disaster that Alice was trying desperately to avoid.
I couldn’t have planned this better if I tried. Not, of course, that I was going to go through with it. No, even if Margot hadn’t been a lousy kiss, even if she hadn’t lied by omission, and even despite how much I hated that Sam was marrying himself off, I wasn’t going to risk torpedoing my friendship with Sam on the off chance this actually did destroy the weekend.
But Alice didn’t know that. A twinge of anticipation started in my stomach.
Lorne and his wife said their goodbyes and moved on to their own table. Conversation resumed.
“So,” Alice said, “what are we doing this evening?” The question was directed at me. Kylie groaned. But I smiled. Game back on.
“I’ve got some ideas,” I said.