The Sunday Arrangement (34 page)

I heard Pierce
walking toward me. He’d been on the phone for the last two hours. He sank into
the sofa and stared at me. Distress was plainly etched across his handsome
face.

“What now?” I
whispered.

He sighed loudly,
shaking his head in disbelief. “That bitch is a fucking psycho. Who does this
kind of thing?”

“Does it really
matter?” I asked. “It’s happened.”

“I guess so. But for
Christ’s sake, marry her? There’s no way in hell. I’d rather part with my
millions than take her for a wife.”

“If only she was so
easily bribed.”

Pierce leaned over
and gingerly stroked my back.

“What are we going to
do, Pierce? This will ruin us. I mean, we knew that when we made the video. . .
. God, why was I so stupid!”

Pierce cozied up to
me on the floor. His arms hugged me like a warm blanket. He waited several
moments before he finally spoke. “I think we need to stop seeing each other for
a while.”

I stiffened. His
words hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like I was suffocating, like the
walls around me were truly closing in. “You can’t be . . . you can’t be . . .”

He squeezed my arm.
“I don’t want to, but I’m saying it. We need to take some time apart while we
figure this whole thing out. We need to start playing this smart, and playing
out a fantasy every weekend while this is looming over us doesn’t seem very
wise.”

 “Who were you just
talking to?” I quickly changed the subject.

“Lawyers,” he said.
“Gotta tell you, Lauren. Our future . . . it’s looking pretty bleak.”

The way he said “our”
made my ears perk up. Did he mean together or separate? Did we even stand the
chance of a future now? I didn’t dare hope.

“And this is just
occurring to you?” I asked.

“I was hoping there’d
be something my lawyers could say, something I hadn’t thought of. They’re not
sure there’s anything to be done.”

“But there has to
be!” I said, slapping my hand against the hardwood floor and moving out of his
reach. “I’ve worked too damn hard to be ruined for having a little harmless
fun.”

“You and I both knew what
we were risking when we made that video. We knew the power it could wield over
us if it ever got into the wrong hands.”

I drew my legs close
to my chest and rested my chin on my knee. “I just can’t believe this is
happening.”

“We’ll figure something
out. We have to,” Pierce said, suddenly standing up from the ground. “If it’s
the last thing I do, I swear I’m going to hunt that bitch down and ruin her.”

Slowly I stood up, my
body weary from the emotional turmoil of the day. “I think you need to go now,”
I said softly, though no part of me wanted him to go home.  I didn’t want to
face this alone. I needed Pierce with me, now more than ever.

“You know I don’t
want  to . . .” His words hung in the air like the dark sky looming over us.

“If we’re to bear
this apart, we might as well begin trying. Right?” I said, forcing myself to
sound more confident than I felt. I gave him a weak smile.

He walked to the door.
Before he opened it, he pulled me close. I could feel the strong beat of his
heart. I didn’t want him to leave. Not when we were finally becoming close. Not
when things were getting real between us. It felt like we were being separated
by forces beyond our control, and I didn’t like feeling out of control. How
were we going to work together without touching each other? I couldn’t stand to
be so close to him, knowing that we would never again be able to kiss.

“I don’t want you to
go,” I whispered. “Please don’t let go.”

Gently, he cupped my face. His thumb softly stroked my cheek. “That’s
the last thing I want.” He sighed heavily, his eyes never leaving mine. “I
don’t know how this is going to work, Lauren. I thought we were really starting
to have something beyond the physical. It wasn’t just about Sundays for me
anymore. . . . Not that I want to tie you down or anything—I know you like
being a strong, independent woman, and I respect that, but . . .”

I winced and tried to
turn away from his embrace. Did he not see how this confession was killing me?
What good were his words of love now? April had robbed us of whatever future we
could have made together. Never would we know what we could have been outside
our Sunday arrangements. Our journey together had come to a screeching halt.

“Something happens
when we’re together,” he said.

“I felt it, too,” I
whispered.

Pierce kissed me
sweetly on the forehead and whispered, “I’m going to fix this, Lauren. I
promise you that. We are going to be together. . . . I’m going to fight for us.”
His words fell as weightless as a cloud.

Slowly I nodded my
head and opened the door. With one final look at the handsome man who had
changed my life but now could never be mine, I watched him walk out of my life.