This Tangled Thing Called Love: A Contemporary Romance Novel (24 page)

“
Claire...
”
David's eyes darted over Claire's shoulder, avoiding her direct gaze.
“
I've been trying to reach you all day... Please, let me explain.
”

“
I'm listening.
”
Claire willed her face into a neutral expression
. T
here was no way she was going to make this easy for David.

“
Couldn't I come up?
”
David moved halfway up the stoop, so that now he was only a few inches away from Claire.

From where she stood, Claire could sense the smell of his cologne. Another step
,
and the distance between them would be breached
. H
ow tempting it was to allow
herself
to be convinced.

“
I think you nixed that opportunity when you decided to play tongue hockey with Claudia Block.
”

“
Please, Claire. If you would only
let me explain...” David took another
tentative step up the stairs.
“
I made a mistake
.
I am not going to try and defend myself. But I love you, Claire.
I can’t stop thinking about you
...
”
David reached for Claire's hand
. T
he touch of his fingers, so welcome before, made her shiver.

Claire's eyes narrowed.
“
Tell me, David. Did you think of me when you were kissing that woman?
”

David looked away
,
and Clair
e
turned to open the lobby door.

“
Wait!
”
David fumbled inside his jacket pocket and produced a velvet jewelry box.
“
I got you this...
”
David hurriedly opened the box, revealing a dazzling ensemble of an emerald choker and matching earrings.

Claire glanced at the pristine jewels
,
glistening in the dim lobby light. Under a different set of circumstances, she would have de
lighted at the magnanimous gift;
but now
,
she was sickened by it. Did David really think that he could buy his way out of infidelity?

“
I'm afraid it's too late for this, David. But hey, maybe Claudia likes emeralds.
”

Before David could break her resolve, Claire hurried through the lobby door and shut it behind her. She raced for the elevator and was relieved to find it idling on the first floor. Quickly, she got inside
and
pressed her floor.

Her shaky hands fumbled with her door lock for what felt like an eternity, but finally
,
she managed to get the door opened and slammed it shut behind her, pressing her back against the door, as if for reinforcement. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

A few moments later
,
Claire
remembered
that she and David had never exchanged keys
. T
here was no danger of him coming up uninvited.

Bemused, Alec walked away from the window.
He now
felt ashamed for his unpremeditated eavesdropping, but at the time, his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He had been drawn to the window by the sight of an unusually large moon and was about to open the window to get a better v
iew when two figures standing in front of
the building lobby had caught his attention. Normally, Alec would not have given the matter a second thought, but in the female figure he recognized his abr
upt neighbor –
“
the tango police
,”
as he had nicknamed Claire.

What Alec witnessed next would have delighted a man of lower nature, but
it
made Alec shake his head with indignation on behalf of his neighbor. Alec was no moralist when it came to women
. H
e'd certainly had his fair share of g
irlfriends, but he had one unbreakable
rule: no cheating. Now, as an unexpected witness to the scene, Alec found himself forgiving Claire's previous infractions
. W
ith a jerk like that for a boyfriend, any woman was entitled to a few outbursts.

Of course, Claire's newly single status
presented
Alec
with
an excellent opportunity to make his move, but he resolved to do no such thing. Not because he was not interested
. H
e was as keen as ever, and he was fairly certain that if he played his cards right, Claire would more than welcome his advances, but Alec was not interested in being anyone's rebound. Still, that did not mean that he could not be a good neighbor and offer Claire a cup of coffee should he run into her, or a friendly shoulder to cry on, should she need one.
It would be nothing more than a friendly gesture
, Alec mused, almost managing to convince himself.

Claudia Block sat in the giant kitchen of her penthouse, her trembling hands clutching a now cold cup of herbal tea.
A copy of a movie script lay on the table in front of her, but Claudia ignored it as she continued to listlessly stare into space.
What
a
nightmarish day it had been, and now
a sleepless night awaited her. Not that she could afford a
sleepless night, not at her age,
but present
ly, for the first time in a number
of years
that
Claudia
did not wish to
admit, beauty had no place in
her thoughts. Her entire being shook as she
recalled the events of the day.

The day had started benignly enough
,
with Claudia waking up heartbroken but resigned to her fate. David was now forever gone from her life, but at least her sense had prevailed
,
and she had nixed her ridiculous revenge plan. That's what dating younger men did to a woman of
a
certain age — it turned her into a deranged harpy. Well, from now on
,
Claudia would lead a much more sensible existence. It was time to slow down; in fact, it
was
long overdue. Today she would permit herself to wallow in self-pity, but tomorrow morning she would call her attorney and have him look at her real estate holdings.

Claudia had properties in almost all the metropolitan centers of the world: Los Angeles, New York, Madrid, London, Paris. Back in her glory days, she
had
dashed from one location to the next, staying just long enough to enjoy a delicious love affair. Well, there would be no more of that
. S
he was going to sell her properties and buy a nice little chalet in
Appenzell
or
Wengen
or some other quiet village in Switzerland. The temperate climate would be a welcome change
,
as would be the calm surroundings
. S
he would keep herself busy with hiking in the summer and cross country skiing in the winter, and maybe she would take up a hobby, like knitting or crocheting. Claudia sighed
. T
he prospect did not sound particularly appealing, but deep down she knew that she deserved the self-imposed exile
. A
t least
,
she would have little opportunity to embarrass herself among rolling hills and grass valleys.

Claudia was about to draw h
erself a bubble bath — her
favored remedy for a broken heart and
a
bruised ego
—
when she noticed that her cell phone message light was on. She was about to ignore it, but a small hope inside her murmured
David
. P
erhaps the message is from David
. Her fingers icy, Claudia dialed her voicemail and was shocked to hear that she had over twenty messages. She had not had that many calls since...it was too embarrassing to admit the year. Just as Claudia was about to listen to her first message, she heard a call waiting beep. Perplexed, she switched to the other line.

“Claudia! Finally.
I thought I'd never get through.
”
Her agent's voice boomed through the receiver.
“
Before I say anything else, let me congratulate you
. B
rilliant, you are simply brilliant!
”

“
Alex, what's going on?
”
Claudia had not spoken with her agent in almost a yea
r. T
he last time he had called her was to offer
her
a bit part
as
someone's grandmother, and after Claudia had vehemently refused, Alex had stopped returning her calls.

“
Marvelous!
Awesome!
”

Claudia shook her head and waited
.
A
genting
was a tough trade, and perhaps Alex had finally lost it.

“
The
Flashlight
cover of you with that David Lawson fella is downright
brilliant
!
”

Suddenly
,
everything went dim as Cl
audia clutched
the phone in
a
catatonic stupor.

“
I can't believe I haven't thought of it myself,
”
Alex rattled off.
“
You're hot again, Claudia, sizzling hot! It just so happened that I had a wonderful script lying on my desk — the main character is a woman in her...
”
Alex paused hesitantly
,
“
early forties, but
these are merely details,
”
Alex hurried to ad
d.
“She’s d
ating a man much younger than herself — it's practically written for you! I took the liberty of calling the director
,
and he wants to see you first thing tomorrow morning. You'll have to leave for LA tonight.
”

Claudia's mind raced frantically as she tried to come up with a plan
. S
he had to call Maury immediately
. T
here had to have been a mistake. He was no
t supposed to print those photos
.

“
Claudia? Hello? You're there?
”
Alex's voice pounded into Claudia's ear.
“
I hope you're not m
ad at me for being out of touch. I
t's been really hectic here, but I know that's no excuse. Anyway, I really hope that you will consider the part — I will messenger the script to your house right now.
”

The entreating sugariness in Alex's voice made Claudia even dizzier.

“
I've got to go, Alex.
”
With a shaking hand
,
Claudia hung up the phone.

Next, she hurriedly dialed Maury.
Please pick up
, she thought,
please pick up!

“
I take it you've seen the cover.
”

Maury's smug voice extinguished any hope that Claudia had been kindling.

“
How could you print it, Maury?
”

“
I thought that was what you wanted. Don't you think the photos turned out splendidly?
”
Maury's voice was
all
sugary innocence.

“
I called the whole thing off, or is your memory failing you?
”
Claudia clenched her fists
.
T
he nerve of the weasel, to think that he could loop hoops around her as if she were some clueless idiot.

“
Actually, Claudia, I don't think you know what it is you want. First
,
you tell me that you want the cover, and mind you, I did you a favor by giving you prime real estate,
”
Maury's voice prick
l
ed with irritation.
“
You'll forgive me if I say this, but it's not as if you were prime news a day ago.
”

“
How dare you!
”
Claudia hissed.
“
I plucked you out of the gutter... You ungrateful...
”

Maury cut her off,
“
Save it, Claudia. But here's something that matters — you've become hot again — you're prime news.
”