She Sins at Midnight (8 page)

Melinda had recently become enamored with the thought of sleeping with a man because she was actually attracted to him. Unfortunately, this reality was not an option to her as she was saving herself for liaisons that could further her success as an actress. That’s why she began reading romance novels. For three-hundred and some odd pages she could lose herself in fantasies where she could be someone other than Melinda Forrester. She cracked the binding on her latest purchase and before she knew it, she was deeply invested in
She Sins at Midnight
.

Isabelle, widowed Countess of Trent, had just lay eyes on her latest quarry. After spending six years on the stage in London, she had only been wife to the Earl for three years before he died, which unfortunately was not enough time for the ton to accept her as one of their own. The sole reason she got invited to all the best balls was because she had slept her way through enough of the husbands that they insisted their wives include her. And while she was always in great demand by the male guests, the women virtually shunned her. For this reason, Isabelle decided it was time to wed another peer of the realm and fast. She had just spotted the man who fulfilled all of her requirements.

Julius Rapscallion, Viscount Hedgeworth, was without a doubt the most stunning man she had ever laid eyes on. Well over six feet, with jet black hair and emerald green eyes, he looked more like a rogue pirate than a member of the House of Lords. He was also the only man who she had been attracted to that she hadn’t managed to bed.

Isabelle stalked the perimeter of the ballroom with her sights set on her quarry. He was currently dancing with one of the ton’s old maids. She certainly did not consider Vivian Ashwood any competition. After all, what could an inexperienced prude like that have to offer the hot blooded Viscount? Julius was well known for his lusty pursuits and a dried up virgin like Vivian wouldn’t know what to do with him even if she had the opportunity.

Isabelle located the women’s withdrawing room to prepare for battle. First, she ripped out the final tier of lace that remained in the décolletage of her gown; nearly exposing her nipples. Then she dampened what remained of her bodice so it clung indecently to her overly ripe bosom. After pulling a tendril of hair down, pointing the way to her vast cleavage, she was ready to go forth and claim her man.

Melinda sighed and thought she could really identify with the Countess. After all, they were both actresses who had landed rich older men and they were both looking for a stallion of a man to have a dalliance with. Although the Countess was going to marry her stallion, while Melinda was going to have to settle for Oscar. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t keep her eye out for a hot, meaningless affair. Maybe that was the very thing she needed.

When the plane pulled up to the private terminal at O’Hare, Melinda was more than ready to get out and stretch her legs. She let Oscar’s private flight attendant carry her bags to the car as she ran in place for a few moments to get her blood moving. Without so much as a thank you to the crew who flew her across the country, she jumped into the back of the limo and popped open a bottle of Pellegrino. Melinda asked the driver where she was staying. He informed her that he was taking her to the town of Bentley.

Melinda demanded, “Bentley? Where the hell is Bentley? I thought I was staying in the city.”

Frankie assured her that she was staying in Bentley and Melinda decided to just go with the flow. She didn’t care where she was as long as she was far away from Oscar for awhile. She needed some time alone so she could try to get her story straight. She was afraid she had already told so many conflicting tales that he would catch her in one of her many lies and dump her once and for all.

For a minute Melinda wished she had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth like Vivian Ashwood. Vivian was the rich, beautiful daughter of a Duke, although Melinda realized that she was much more the Countess type than the dried up old debutante. After all, she and the Countess were ladies of the world. They knew how to get their man.

When Melinda checked into her room in The Bentley House, she found out that she was registered under the name Bertha Plunket. She wondered who had come up with that alias and thought of Lila. That was exactly the kind of thing Josh’s bitch assistant would do. She immediately informed the desk clerk to change the name to Isabelle Rapscallion, after her two favorite characters in her new book.

Thinking of her nemesis gave Melinda a thrill that she was able to get her suspended without pay for an entire month. Lila was probably holed up in a seedy apartment in North Hollywood eating baked beans straight out of a can. It was a thought that delighted her. After all, how dare that over-the -hill, fat-assed cow call her names? She was Melinda Forrester!

When she got to her room, Melinda found a huge bouquet of roses that had been sent from Oscar’s law firm. There was also a fruit basket, a bottle of champagne and a note from a girl named Amy. The message said that she was going to be picked up the following evening at 5:30 by one of the partners of the firm. Melinda wasn’t quite sure why she had to fly to Chicago to meet this particular lawyer. All she knew was that he settled a lawsuit for Prissy Calder and Prissy came out of her troubles looking like a prom queen. Oscar assured her that she would have the same result. So there she was, in Illinois of all places.

As it was only 7 p.m. in L.A., Melinda wasn’t the least bit tired, so she popped open the bottle of champagne, ran herself a bubble bath and checked in to see how the Countess was doing.

Julius was beyond entranced by the young woman in his arms. He still wasn’t convinced his mother hadn’t orchestrated the whole thing. Just the thought of it set his teeth on edge. Yet he couldn’t seem to dispel the image of rolling Vivian around his big mahogany bed, utterly and completely naked.

Realizing that he couldn’t seduce the virginal daughter of the Duke of Wentworth, without marrying her first, made him ache all the more. What was it about forbidden fruit that made it all the sweeter? That’s when his eyes strayed to the Countess of Trent. There was a brazen hussy if he’d ever seen one. Maybe she was the perfect tonic for the increasing strain on his breeches. He knew for a fact she was no innocent and that she was fair game. A good number of his friends had already sampled her charms and had given her very high marks for creativity and stamina.

Julius steered Vivian toward the Countess and as soon as the waltz ended, he bowed to his dancing partner, thanked her for the honor of her company and proceeded to find out if Isabelle was all she was cracked up to be.

B
y nine p.m., Jilly had finally gotten all the kids to fall asleep. As exhausted as she was, she made herself stay up for another hour so that she could have actual grown-up time with Bill. She’d gotten so used to communicating with him at a yell, to be heard over the noise of their offspring, that she was worried he may have forgotten that she didn’t always sound like a harridan.

Bill came out of the bathroom, crawled under the covers and gave his wife a long and lingering kiss. Then he asked, “How happy are you that Lila’s home?”

“Oh Bill, you have no idea. I’ve missed her so much.”

“I know you have, honey. Why don’t you ask your Mom to babysit the kids so you can have some fun girl time together?”

Jilly smiled, “I’ve already decided to do that.” Looking thoughtful, she added, “Have you noticed that any time Jack spends time with my mom, he picks up weird new habits?”

“I have. In fact, I think she’s teaching him Pig Latin.”

Jilly looked alarmed, “What? What do you mean?”

Bill ran his hand up his wife’s arm, “What I mean is when I tucked him into bed, he told me that he ovelayed emay eryvay uchmay.

Jilly rolled her eyes, “What are we going to do with that boy? I mean why can’t he be nice and average like me? Is it asking too much to be smarter than your three year old?”

Nibbling along her neck, he answered, “Don’t worry honey. If we can keep him out of major trouble for two more years, we can sign him up for the advanced program at Elgin Academy.”

Starting to lose her train of thought, Jilly responded, “Two years, huh? In two years he’ll be speaking Swahili and inventing a new time bomb.”

Bill nibbled his way to his wife’s earlobes and before too much longer, they were using their second condom in five months.

L
ila woke up to the insistent music of her cell phone. She rolled over and groggily answered, “Hello?”

She was rewarded with the vivacious sound of her literary agent’s voice. “Oh my gawd, dawling, how excited are we about the best seller’s list?!”

Lila quickly rolled over and checked to make sure she was alone. She knew she was being paranoid but she wanted to enjoy her moment with Mitzie without worrying her parents might overhear. After all, her agent was the only other person in the world she could share her success with. With excitement coursing through her body, Lila exclaimed, “Mitzie, I saw the book at LAX yesterday! Can you believe it? I’m being sold in the airport!”

Mitzie replied, “Of course I can believe it dawling. But that’s nothing compared to the great news I have for you today.” Lila couldn’t imagine the news getting any better. But her agent continued, “You, my dear, have just been nominated for a RITA Award!”

A RITA was the highest honor that a romance writer could receive. It was their Pulitzer, their Emmy… Who was she kidding, The RITA, was their Academy Award! Lila realized that she had stopped breathing when she started to feel a little light headed. She finally took a deep breath and exclaimed, “Mitzie, you have got to be joking. The RITA is HUGE!”

Mitzie laughed, “You betcha, hon. But I never had any doubts. I knew this book would be a hit.” Then she continued, “I just got off the phone with Maggie at Marsupial and she wants you to know that she has four tickets to the event, one for her, one for me, one for you and one for your guest. So mark October 30
^th
on your calendar.”

A bolt of dread shot though Lila, “Mitzie, I can’t go to the ceremony. I write under a nom de plume for god sakes. You know I can’t actually show up!” Feeling like she was starting to lose control she added, “I would get found out!”

Mitzie made a tsking sound, “I don’t know why you don’t want to share your success with people, Lila. But there is no way out of the award ceremony. It’s part of your contract with Marsupial.”

Spiraling into full tilt boogey panic, Lila nearly screamed, “What do you mean its part of my contract?! How can it be part of contract?”

“Lila dawling, calm down. It’s right here on line 23G on page 42. It clearly states that the author agrees to promote the book through all normal channels including but not limited to book signings and award ceremonies.”

Lila nearly swallowed her tongue. She didn’t worry about those clauses at the time because truth be told, she couldn’t begin to conceive that
She Sins at Midnight
would become such a hit. But now… now what was she going to do? “Mitzie, there has to be some way out of this.”

“Not unless you want a lawsuit on your hands. You signed a legal agreement and Marsupial has every right to believe you will live up to it. Plus, if you win the award, Maggie is going to expect you to go on a national book tour.”

Lila thought she was going to throw up. If she won the award there was no way she was going to be able to keep her secret life a secret anymore. Her biggest achievement ever would become her biggest embarrassment. Her mind briefly flashed to the sex scene between Vivian and Julius in the greenhouse and she felt herself turn bright red at the thought of being discovered as its author. She knew none of her family and friends had read the book
yet
because no one she knew read that kind of trash. But, oh god, when they discovered that it no matter how much she begged them not to.

Lila’s mind continued to race as she flashed to the scene between Vivian and Julius in the alcove of the Phister’s ball and the one of them in the carriage on the way to Bath. She thought her heart was going to stop beating all together when she remembered the scene between the Countess and the six men in the brothel. Lila futilely looked around for a paper bag to breathe into to keep herself from hyperventilating. She finally managed to utter, “Mitzie, I can’t talk right now. But please, please try to get me out of this. Trust me, I can’t let anyone find out I wrote this book.”

Mitzie tried one more time, “Lila, female erotica is a very big market. I’m sure most of your friends read it whether you want believe they do or not.”

Lila conceded, “Even if they do read it, they would die if they discovered I wrote it.” Before hanging up, she begged once more, “Please try, Mitzie… please.” Lila hung up her phone and for the first time ever wished she had never pursued publishing
She Sins at Midnight
.

After a long shower and a quick cup of coffee, Lila unsuccessfully tried to put her worries on the back burner. What she really wanted to do was to spend a nice afternoon at the club with her friend. She would fret about the award ceremony later, not that it would solve her problems, but it was a place to start.

Lila put on a new sundress that she picked up at the Sak’s end-of-season sale. Those sales were the only reason she was able to afford designer clothes. Given her cost of living in L.A. compared to her salary, there wasn’t a whole lot of money left for three-hundred dollar dresses. She was saving her royalty checks for a down payment on a condo. Oh god, royalties… she had to stop thinking about that book!

With her new resolve to enjoy the day, Lila drove her dad’s car to the club and arrived at 10:15 on the nose. She parked under a large shade tree and walked around the path to the pool. It felt so right being there that she could almost convince herself she would find her own children playing with Jilly’s. Maybe her memories of the last ten years were really a nightmare brought on by eating too many grilled cheese sandwiches in a twenty-four hour period of time. Maybe she was really married to a wonderful man and already had two adorable children, busily learning to doggy paddle.