Friends With Benefits (11 page)

Jealousy churned in his stomach, burning and rising from his gut to his chest, which was so tight it hurt. He took a deep breath but the tightness didn’t go away. He shook his head.

“Jesus Christ,” he finally managed. “You went out with him?”

Her eyes were wide, wary. “Yes.”

He shook his head again in disbelief. “Are you fucking crazy?”

Her face closed up. “No, I am not
fucking crazy
, thank you very much,” she said, looking confused. “You’re the one who introduced us, remember?”

He ignored her. “You went out with Liam,” he repeated.

She stared at him. “But…wait, Mitch. Just hold on here. I don’t know what you’re all bent out of shape about. You’re the one who introduced us.”

“Yeah. But that was…before.”

“Before what? Before we had sex?”

He took several deep breaths. In. Out. Control.

“Yeah,” he said finally, the nausea still rolling in his stomach. “Before we had sex.”

“We never did talk the other night,” she continued, her fingers twirling a strand of hair around one finger. “But I know you aren’t looking for any kind of long-term relationship. I know what you think of marriage.” Her smile might have held a hint of regret. “So, it’s okay. Don’t worry. I’m not going to push for anything. We’ll just go on being friends. Only now it will be friends with benefits.”

“Friends with benefits,” he repeated stupidly. Jesus. He thrust a hand through his hair, leaned back against her kitchen counter. “Benefits” did not begin to express what had happened between them, but whatever.

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “You know…fuck buddies.”

“Christ,” he said again, temporarily robbed of vocabulary. This was not going exactly like he’d planned. “And you…you’re okay with that?”

She smiled tentatively. “Well, sure. I don’t really understand what happened, but I think we were both so hot and bothered we just couldn’t help it. Maybe this is what we need…you know, some kind of tension release. But we can still be friends, right?”

He stared at her with incredulous stupefaction. Then he shook his head.

“You know what,” he said slowly. “I just cooled off.”

She stared at him in dismay. “But…Mitch…”

He forced a smile. “Thanks for dinner, Kerr. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later this week.” He left her staring after him with a bewildered look on her face.

In his car his eyes fell gloomily and regretfully on the box of condoms.

Kerri stood trembling in her kitchen, her hand to her mouth, her mind a scramble of confusion.

What had just happened? They’d had such a nice dinner and things were just heating up and then…wham! They had a big fight again. Almost like he was jealous of Liam. But he had no reason to think they had an exclusive relationship. Hell, what kind of relationship
did
they have?

All she knew for sure was that they were friends. Friends who were having sex. And, since he’d stormed out in a big sulk, maybe they weren’t even friends any more. She swallowed back tears that threatened as she stared at the pots still sitting in the sink, then she mindlessly set to scrubbing, putting stuff in the dishwasher, and wiping counters until her little kitchen was spotless. She dried her hands on a towel and looked around the kitchen which now showed no signs of the wonderful dinner they’d shared together, talking, laughing, just like it used to be—except even better with a little added zing of sexual anticipation.

As usual, yoga was her salvation, and she went into her bedroom to stretch and move through some asanas. She needed some major chakra balancing. She was going to have to read up on more than just tantra the way things were going. Her mind had never been so messed up.

She lay down on her bedroom floor and did some warm-up moves. Rising, she moved through the sun salutation several times, varying it slightly each time. Finally, she lay down for shavasana, feet apart, arms at her sides, and closed her eyes.

Of course, laying there with her eyes closed was when she started thinking about Mitch.

The phone interrupted her confused thoughts. Hailey wanted to get a bunch of people together to go to a wine tasting event being held at the Biltmore on Friday night. Kerri was happy to do anything that would take her mind off Mitch.

She couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d stormed out earlier.

Maybe she just needed to give up on her friendship with Mitch.

It made her hurt inside to think that but she really didn’t know what else to do.

Also, her kids class—what a great idea. She loved kids and had five nieces and nephews under the age of ten. Sela’s kids were older now, they came to her regular classes, but her two brothers’ children would love it. And she knew how the excess energy of the boys drove their mothers crazy sometimes. This would help them calm down, focus their energy and she could do it in a way that would appeal to kids.

She had also added classes at different times to the schedule, now that she had additional instructors to take those on. Dianna and Kim both seemed eager and enthusiastic, reminding her of herself. So that must mean they’d be a good fit. They were off to L.A. to take an instructors’ course next week and then they’d be ready to go.

When Liam called to ask if she wanted to go out Friday night, she’d already made those plans with Hailey to go to the wine tasting. Somehow, though, she found herself asking him to join them. It wasn’t a date, she told herself, although even if it was, she didn’t know why she felt a need to justify it.

Why shouldn’t she invite him along? Why shouldn’t she go out with him for that matter? She and Mitch hadn’t exactly sorted out what was happening with their relationship. In fact, she hadn’t heard from him all week, the jerk. Besides, Hailey knew Liam, so this was actually a chance for him to reconnect with people at home after being away for so long.

She called Hailey back and told her she was bringing Liam along.

“Oh,” Hailey said.

“Is that a problem? I thought a bunch of us were going.”

“No, not a problem. Not at all. I’d like to see Liam again. It’s just…”

“What?”

“Well, Mitch is coming.”

Kerri was silent. Her body tensed but she said, “So? He knows Liam. He introduced us, remember?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” Hailey said brightly. “Okay, we’re meeting at eight o’clock. I’m going to get tickets ahead of time so we’ll all meet in the lobby.”

So Mitch would be there. Fine. She shivered, remembering how angry he’d been when she’d mentioned going out with Liam. Mitch would not likely be overjoyed to see him there with her. Was she pushing his buttons too far? Or was she just living her life?

He had a number of extremely adversarial divorce cases going on, and he found himself even more disgusted by some of the behavior, not just of the opposing counsel and their clients, but of his own clients.

Then he got a call that rocked his world.

It was Garth Layton. “Bob Sinclair died yesterday,” he told Mitch, his voice determinedly steady. “Just thought I’d let you know. So you can tell his b—sorry, his ex-wife, there won’t be any more custody issues.”

Jesus Christ. Mitch covered his eyes. “Health issues?” he asked wearily.

“Yeah. He had terminal cancer. They actually gave him six months, but obviously…they were wrong.” His voice was a touch bitter now.

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Well. Just so you know.”

“I’m sorry, Garth.” He didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah. Me too.”

“If I’d known…I would have tried harder…why didn’t he ask to see his daughter sooner?”

Garth snorted. “She’s your client. You know better than I do why.”

He sighed. “Yeah. Jesus.” He shook his head.

“Can’t take it too personally,” Garth said, although he clearly was. Mitch was too.

When he hung up, he slid down in his chair and covered his face with his hands. His chest actually hurt. He couldn’t be having a heart attack, he was too young. Wasn’t he?

He gave himself a few moments. Nah, it wasn’t a heart attack, just stress. Christ, this work was going to kill him. He’d never thought that. He loved a good fight. He loved taking on worthy opponents, coming up with stunning, convincing arguments, getting people to do things his way…shit.

He needed a drink. No, he needed Kerri. He picked up the phone.

But his day was not destined to get better.

Her heart sank. When he’d called that afternoon to talk about picking her up tonight, it was the first time she’d heard from him since he left her place Monday night, apparently pissed off about her date with Liam. She’d wanted so badly to say yes, but how could she do that when she’d already turned down Liam’s offer of a ride? God, things were complicated.

The silence had vibrated with tension after she’d told Mitch she planned to meet everyone there. She didn’t tell him why she was saying no. Two men had offered to take her and she didn’t think she could show up with one or the other. And Mitch had sounded kind of down to start with, which made her feel even worse.

She stood there, smiling, listening to Hailey and Miguel and Mitch talk as they were joined by a few other couples. Then Liam arrived. Kerri waved to him across the lobby and he joined the group.

Painfully aware of Mitch in her peripheral vision, Kerri introduced Liam to her friends. He remembered Hailey and even knew Jason, Miguel’s best man, from college.

Mitch shook his hand and greeted him too, but his tight mouth and glittering eyes made her nervous. As Hailey handed out tickets and they turned to go into the ballroom where the event was being held, Mitch came up beside Kerri and murmured in her ear, “Did you invite him?”

She glanced at him, a knot of fear inside her stomach. “Yes. I thought it would be a good chance for him to connect with some old friends.”

He nodded tightly and followed the group into the ballroom.

She felt Mitch’s eyes on her, watching her and Liam. Watching Liam stick to her side like duct tape while she tried to be polite and friendly but not encourage him. While she tried to ignore the fact that she really only wanted to be with Mitch.

She tried to get into the wine tasting, learning about various types of grapes and how white wines actually ranged in color from green to yellow to brown, and red wines weren’t just red but ranged from a pale red to a deep brown red, becoming lighter in color as they aged. She learned that whereas time improves many red wines, it ruins most white wines. She carefully tried to follow the three steps of wine tasting, the first impression, the taste and the aftertaste, trying to judge the body and texture of the wines she tasted. Several wineries from the Santa Barbara area participated in the fundraiser for a new homeless shelter.

When Liam put an arm around her waist as they moved from one tasting station to another, she felt Mitch’s gaze burning into her. After a while, she wasn’t the only one who noticed. Hailey kept casting worried looks between the two of them, and Liam asked quietly, “Is he pissed off at me about something? If looks could kill, I’d be lying on the floor back there bleeding.”

She laughed shortly. “He’s always pissed off about something, lately,” she dismissed. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You two
are
just friends aren’t you?” Liam sent an uneasy glance at Mitch.

“Apparently not any more.” Her throat ached as she sipped her wine.

She smiled more warmly at Liam than she intended and he smiled back at her and took her hand. Carefully, she removed her fingers from his grasp as they moved on.

Liam thought she wanted to be with him. She only wanted to be with Mitch. And who knew what Mitch wanted, the way he kept scowling and muttering. Thank God she had brought her own car, which she so rarely drove, and could make her exit as quickly as possible.

Mitch tried to resist, but after watching Kerri with Liam all night, he couldn’t get the idea out of his head. He watched her leave, alone, and he drove to her home, drawn inexorably.

All week long he’d been wrestling with this “fuck buddies” thing. Christ, could she really be serious? She intended for them to go on being friends, just sleeping together for a little extra fun. And was she planning to keep seeing other guys, too? Apparently so, since she’d invited Liam tonight.

Throughout the week he’d gotten more and more pissed off about being “friends with benefits”, and the news today about Bob Sinclair’s death had just added to his irritation. And to top it all off, Liam had showed up.

He hadn’t been this pent up and pissed off for God knew how long.

He searched the darkness for any signs of Liam. Since no other cars were parked outside her condo, he got out of his SUV and walked up to Kerri’s door. After he rang the bell, he leaned his forehead on the door, waiting, heart thudding painfully in his chest.

She opened the door, surprise on her face. “Mitch! What are you doing here?”

He pushed inside, not hard, just determinedly, and closed the door carefully behind him. “We’re fuck buddies, right?” He set his hands on her shoulders. “What do you think I’m here for?”