Just Friends (17 page)

The dog whimpered again.

She and Trenton were friends, and he had to
call eventually.

At least she’d done good so far. Though the
temptation was great, she hadn’t called him, and she resolved she’d
leave it up to him to reach out.

****

Trenton entered Cyrus’s office, his stomach
such a tight batch of nerves that it actually hurt. When his
brother had called to set up this meeting, he’d wanted to charge
down here right away, but somehow he’d managed to rein in the
impulse and wait the two hours until Cyrus could get rid of the
guests in his office.

Cyrus handed Trenton a file. “That’s
everything on that Connor guy. Full name’s Connor Aaron Bodell.
Pretty boring stuff. He’s never even had a parking ticket.
Highlights are that he speaks several languages and lives with his
mother. Apparently he moved here to take care of her. Been working
at DymoGenesis for about eight months, and by all accounts he’s
doing a good job in the quality control department.”

Cyrus stood at a corner of his massive desk
and folded his arms, waiting as Trenton scanned the contents.

The enclosed photos showed a good-looking and
clean-cut Caucasian male. He made regular donations to various
charitable organizations. Fluent in Spanish, French, and
Vietnamese. Vietnamese because he’d spent twenty months in Vietnam
as part of a high-impact, targeted response team with the Peace
Corps. The assignment had initially been for twelve months, but he
signed up for an additional eight because he found the job
particularly rewarding. Lots of volunteer work, including Meals on
Wheels and the teen ministry at his church. Once saved a cat from a
burning building—on the way to school, at the age of fourteen.

Trenton gripped the edge of the file.
Somebody call the Catholic Church and nominate Connor Aaron Bodell
for sainthood. Disgusted, he shut the folder.

“This can’t be right. This is it?
Everything?” The tightness in his stomach expanded and filled his
chest.

“Everything. Looks like Alannah picked a
great guy. This one’s a keeper.” Cyrus moved around the desk to sit
in his chair. Clearly, he thought the conversation was over.

“Maybe it’s the wrong guy,” Trenton said.

Cyrus shook his head. “There isn’t another
Connor working at DymoGenesis. He’s the right one.”

“But this can’t be everything,” Trenton
insisted, holding up the folder.

“You don’t sound pleased.”

“Maybe your guy made a mistake.”

“He doesn’t make mistakes.”

“Maybe he did this time,” Trenton snapped.
“Isn’t it possible he may have overlooked something? No way Connor
is this damn perfect.”

“His perfection is a problem?” Cyrus asked
slowly.

Trenton took a deep breath. “Not a problem,
per se.”

“What is it exactly, per se?”

The sardonic note in Cyrus’s voice
registered. Trenton swiped a hand across his mouth and tempered his
tone. “Never mind.”

How could he possibly explain that he
wanted—
needed
—Connor to be a loser or to secretly have a
criminal past? Alannah knew all Trenton’s secrets, his flaws, all
his dirt, so he needed something he could use against Connor.
Something that would make Trenton look like a viable choice.

“What’s the real problem, Trent?” Cyrus asked
quietly.

“Surprised, that’s all.”

“Surprised?” Cyrus cocked a brow. “Or
disappointed?” His challenging gaze didn’t stray from Trenton’s
face.

With a tight throat, Trenton managed to lie
without lowering his gaze. “Surprised.”

Then he marched out the door…knowing that he
hadn’t fooled Cyrus.

Avoiding the hired valets, Alannah parked her
car on the grounds of the palatial estate belonging to Josh and
Ingrid Baker. Their birthday celebration was an annual event and
not to be missed.

The couple had married in their early
twenties and remained two of the most entertaining of Trenton and
Alannah’s friends. Their parties were extravagant, legendary
affairs that took months of planning for which they spared no
expense—or at least Ingrid didn’t.

Josh, a nerdy software developer with red
hair and glasses, who’d rather sit in front of a computer than
entertain a horde of guests, went along for the ride. He couldn’t
resist Ingrid and anything she requested.

Alannah didn’t plan to stay at the party
long. Only long enough to wish the couple a happy thirtieth
birthday and see if Trenton was around. She just wanted to catch a
glimpse of him, maybe say hi, and show him that she was doing fine
even though he hadn’t called.

With her heart fluttering lightly, Alannah
exited the car and smoothed the ivory skirt of her cocktail dress.
The top half was black with beaded detailing, and she’d played it
safe tonight and worn three-inch heels. She nodded as she walked
past the doorman, who swung open the door as she approached.

The grand foyer was a cavernous space where
black and white Italian tile covered the floor, and two staircases
curved toward each other as they wound their way to the second
level. A female server dressed in a white shirt and black slacks
floated over to her, holding a tray of glasses filled with
multicolored beverages. All of them looked yummy, garnished with
pineapples, cherries, and olives.

“Ma’am, would you like a drink?” she
asked.

“No, thank you.” Since she was driving,
Alannah had decided not to imbibe at all tonight. “Where are Ingrid
and Josh?”

“The last time I saw them, they were in the
kitchen. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes, I can find my way. Thanks.”

Alannah spotted a silver box in the corner on
a pedestal. Ingrid and Josh didn’t accept gifts for their
birthdays. Instead, they requested donations to their favorite
charity, so she dropped the envelope-enclosed check she’d brought
into the box and went in search of the hosts.

As the server had mentioned, she found them
in the large, sparkling kitchen, surrounded by friends. Ingrid wore
a sleeveless, cream-colored dress that brushed the tile when she
moved. The round neckline showed a hint of café-au-lait breasts
that looked suspiciously like they’d been contoured with makeup,
and her short natural was colored a dark wine. In a word, Ingrid
was striking.

Apparently, Alannah was striking as well.
Ingrid did a double take when she saw her, and gasped.

“Alannah?” She placed her drink on the
counter and floated over, mouth agape. “Turn around. Let me see
you.”

Alannah did a quick, self-conscious twirl.
She’d grown comfortable with her new look and had forgotten there
were people who hadn’t seen her yet.

Ingrid cupped her own cheeks. “Oh my
goodness, look at you. I barely recognized you. You’re gorgeous!”
she gushed.

Blushing, Alannah tucked her hair behind her
ear. “Thanks.” But she couldn’t help but wonder, how bad had she
looked before?

“Josh, look at her.” Ingrid beckoned to her
husband by waving her hand.

He frowned over at them from behind his
spectacles.

“It’s Alannah, honey,” Ingrid said.

“Oh. Wow,” Josh said, his gaze sweeping the
length of Alannah’s body.

“Hey, now,” Ingrid chided her husband,
laughing.

Other guests turned in their direction, which
made Alannah even more self-conscious. She could feel the heat
spreading downward into her neck, and she smiled politely and
thanked the few people who immediately complimented her on the new
look.

Ingrid put one had on her hip. “Trenton
didn’t even warn me about you.”

“Oh, he’s here already?” She kept her voice
casual, but the pace of her heart increased.

Ingrid nodded. “Saw him earlier. Don’t know
where he is now, though. He could be anywhere. Maybe out at the
gazebo? Somewhere holding court with his many admirers.” Ingrid
winked and nudged her.

Alannah smiled weakly, her stomach spiraling
into a sickening plunge. Although Trenton had never left her
stranded at a party, her attendance had never stopped him from
getting a quickie from one or more of the female guests.

Ingrid had no concept of how much devastation
her little joke caused. A joke that three months ago wouldn’t have
mattered as much, but after last weekend it cut with the sharpness
of a dagger, and all the way to her heart.

“I’ll see if I can find him,” Alannah
said.

“When you’re done, come back. We need to talk
about all this.” Ingrid waved a manicured hand from the top of
Alannah’s head to her feet.

“I will.”

Over the years, she’d attended many parties
with Trenton. If for some reason they didn’t go together and she
arrived before he did, their friends always looked past her,
searching for him. When they accepted she was alone, they’d ask if
he was coming. When he did arrive, the excitement levels kicked up
several notches. She’d seen him get this type of reception for
years. Even during their school days, a party didn’t start until he
showed up, so she was certain that wherever he was, he’d be
surrounded by people hanging on his every word.

Alannah started her search outside in the
back, where guests congregated in the shadows, men and women
flirting and chatting and whispering to each other. None of them
were Trenton.

She continued to walk through the house,
hovering in the doorways and searching the faces of the guests. In
each room, she saw well-dressed men and women reclined in the plush
chairs drinking and eating. Still no Trenton anywhere. She’d just
about given up and was headed back to the kitchen when the bathroom
door in the hallway opened.

Trenton came out, adjusting his clothes.

Despite herself, her heart leapt. She could
barely contain her happiness at seeing him. “Trent.” A small,
hesitant smile hovered at the corners of her mouth. But he didn’t
look at all pleased to see her.

He froze, an expression of shock and guilt
filling his face. At first she thought the guilt was because he
hadn’t reached out to her since they’d had sex, and she opened her
mouth to tell him it was okay. That she forgave him. But movement
in the bathroom caught her eye, and what she saw inside dealt her
heart a crushing blow. He hadn’t been alone in there.

As the door eased closed, she caught a
glimpse of Beth, the girl he’d taken to Las Vegas, applying a fresh
coat of lipstick to puckered lips. Her long weave of black, shiny
curls cascaded down her back to her waistline, and the skimpy black
tube dress she wore emphasized every curve of her voluptuous
body.

Alannah couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Pain
seized her vocal cords and the walls in the small space they
occupied seemed to close in and make it hard to breathe.

“Lana.”

Slowly, her gaze drifted to Trenton.
Contrition filled his eyes, but the moment wasn’t over. Beth exited
the bathroom and almost ran into him because he was still standing
in the doorway.

“Oh, excuse me.” She looked from one to the
other and smiled. “See you later, Trent.” She snapped her clutch
closed and blew him a kiss. Then she walked away, clearly adding an
extra switch to her hips for his benefit.

“Lana, I can explain—”

“You
pig
.”

She wouldn’t cry. She
would not
cry
.

Alannah stormed down the hallway and rushed
toward the door.

“Lana, wait. Please.”

She pushed out of the door and into the
night, taking firm, hard steps that propelled her out to the
yard.

“Good night, ma’am,” the doorman called.

A horrible, twisted joke, because there was
absolutely nothing good about the night now. She shouldn’t have
come. She’d just wanted to see him but hadn’t expected this. She
knew his MO better than anyone else and had seen him break hearts
all his life. Why did she think he’d treat her any differently?

“It didn’t mean anything. I was just…”

Almost to the car, Alannah swung around on
him. “You were just what? Say it.”

He remained silent.

“Say it.”

“I’m not going to say that.”

“Say it. Be man enough to say what you were
doing.”

He looked away from her, his face hidden in
the shadows cast by the ground lights against the bushes and trees.
“It was nothing, Lana,” he said quietly. “I let her blow me, that’s
all. It’s not a big deal. I just needed to get the edge off, but I
didn’t even come.”

“You didn’t come. Poor baby. You really think
that makes it okay?” she asked in a tremulous whisper. “You know
what, I don’t care what you do. It’s your penis. Do whatever you
want with it. Stick it in the mouth of anybody you want.” Her chest
hurt, a deep, ingrained ache she knew wouldn’t leave anytime soon.
He stayed quiet, so she kept talking. “If you want to get your dick
sucked by Betty Blowjob and all her pals, that’s up to you. I
really don’t care.”

Betty Blowjob. She didn’t even know where
that ridiculous name had come from.

Trenton finally looked at her, and in the dim
light she saw concern in the wrinkling of his brow and the tight
set of his jaw. “I don’t care about a blowjob—”

“No? You sure don’t act like it.”

“Baby—”

“No!” She shoved a finger in his face. “Don’t
you call me baby. Don’t you dare!” Her voice went up ten octaves.
The scenery grew hazy as she teared up. Heat filled her face and
she knew her skin was a mottled red from the combination of anger
and trying not to cry. “I’m not one of your jump-offs.”

“I never said you were.” He looked and
sounded very sorry.

“I’m better than that.” Her voice cracked.
“You know I am.” She had to be. They’d known each other for
twenty-two years. She
had
to mean more to him than just
sex.

“Alannah, shit.” He clutched his head. “I
messed up. Don’t go. Let’s go somewhere and talk.”

“I do not want to talk to you. I do not want
to see you.”