Zenith Fulfilled (17 page)

“That’s much easier for me. I’m comfortable there, and doing that. Not this. I’m going to cancel.”

“No. You’re going to take advantage of having a free night for the first time in about three years.”

Rebecca sighed. “I wish you could come along and coach me.”

“Well, why couldn’t we? We could all go together.”

“We? As in you and my brother? My brother, Nick, who hates your ex-husband, Rob? Get real. He’d never go along with that.”

Joelle shrugged. “He will if I tell him to. And it’s well past time those two got over their undeclared war. Especially, if you two are hooking up.”

Rebecca nearly groaned. She was
not
one to hook up. It didn’t even sound right with her name attached to it. She didn’t hook up. She didn’t even date during the generation that hooked up. She had been married for a decade plus, and was hiding out in the country with young kids.

“Rob won’t come if Nick is there. He hates Nick.
He always refers to me snidely as ‘Nick’s little sister,’ as if just to remind himself to be nasty to me and hate me for that reason.”

“I’ll ask Erica and Spencer to come. What’s Rob going to say to that? No? Plus, Nick will have nothing to say, since I always have to be around him and his ex. If, of course, this is what you want?”

The flutter of excitement in her stomach indicated Rebecca did want this. How long had it been since she felt that kind of silly anticipation? Or the fluttering of nerves? All for a night out, and a night being different! A night that had the potential to be exciting. Did she want to do that? Yeah, she did. Rebecca finally nodded her head and grinned, and Joelle smiled back.

****

“You want me to what?” Nick asked, as he loosened his tie and walked around the penthouse, having just gotten home.

Nick eyed Rebecca. He already gaped at her appearance. His first question was what was going on? And the second was why was his sister dressed like that? Joelle smiled sweetly and told him.

“You want me to watch Rob Williams take out my sister? No. No way. I can’t stop her, but I’m sure as hell not going to sit there and witness it.”

“Oh grow up
, Nick.”

“I spent a year getting you away from Rob, and now you want me to let my sister date him?”

Joelle rolled her eyes and let out a long breath. “You know the situation is entirely different, because Rob is different.”

“But my sister?”

“She likes him. Get used to it.”

“So I’m suppose
d to let him come here?”

“No. We’re meeting at Spencer and Erica’s, in neutral territory.”

“And our daughter?”

“Already at your mother’s.” Joelle smiled sweetly. “Now you just need to put something not quite so corporate on.”

“And that’s why you’re all dressed in black and made up then? Thought maybe you were reminiscing for old times.”

Joelle narrowed her eyes,
but smiled after Nick leaned down and kissed her before smacking her playfully on the butt. Joelle used to dress so dark and gothic, purposely accentuating her dyed black hair and tattoos. Nowadays, as Mrs. Nick Lassiter, she toned it all down. However, she still could not quite capture the look of the CEO’s wife, or seem motherly like Rebecca did. Rebecca used to find it hard to understand their attraction for each other. Now, watching how her brother accepted Joelle, and how much Joelle liked
him
; she didn’t know why it took her so long to see it.

Rebecca called Rob and he listened to her new plan. Then he was silent. She felt her hope slipping away. Would he back out?  And not come? Did she overstep by setting this up like a triple date? One that included his ex-wife and former nemesis?

Finally, he asked, “Why did you go to Joelle?”

“We’ve become friendly and I trust her.”

“That’s a switch. And your brother? How’d he take the news?”

“About like you’d imagine. Like you did. But will you still come?”

The line grew heavy with silence again. She was asking a lot from him, for a relationship, but it wasn’t a relationship; they were more like first dates. But they couldn’t be that either, because they knew each other in a way she never knew anyone but Doug.

“I’ll come,” he said
abruptly in a tone that was not pleased. But he agreed. Her heart leaped. Did it mean something? Did it mean he liked her as she hoped he did? Why else would he agree to it? Why else would he want to come? “Do I pick you up at your brother’s?”

“No. Spencer’s.”

“All right. Spencer’s at seven o’clock. See you then.”

Now she just had to survive the evening before she could go back to being Rebecca Randall: mother, wife, and quiet, suburbanite.

Rebecca’s stomach practically flipped when she followed her brother into the Mattox’s condo. There was Rob, on the couch, relaxed, a leg resting on the coffee table, and one arm draped over the back of the couch. He had on jeans with a blue shirt and dark brown jacket. He was clean-shaven, and his hair was combed.

He glanced at her as she entered. When their eyes finally met, and clashed, he looked her over, all under the watchful eyes of a room full of people with varying opinions on Rob and her going out. Opinions about them they were passionate about. It was well beyond awkward. Worse still, Rebecca knew that her brother was watching
them closely. Nick physically moved nearer her when he saw Rob’s intense perusal. She understood; she really did. Nick’s care and concern stemmed from his territorial protectiveness toward men like Rob. But then again, she wasn’t Joelle to Nick, and Rob wasn’t the Rob he used to be anymore.

“Nice outfit
, Rebecca,” Rob finally said, as he smiled at her brother. She saw the glare between the two men and her smile dimmed. This was a stupid idea to bring along her brother, and her date’s ex-wife, and their mutual friends. This night would turn out to be a disaster. All the fun, and all the excitement she so looked forward to started to slip away from her.

Finally, they were all out the door; and she had to endure a quiet elevator ride with Rob and Nick on each side of her. She felt a hand at her lower back, guiding her forward. She gl
anced up to find Rob near her, touching her as a date would. Gentlemanly, he escorted her out of the elevator. The gesture not only surprised her, it thrilled her.

“Your mini-van around here?”

“Yes. Right there.” She pointed to it in the parking garage and saw Rob’s bike parked right near the elevator. She felt her brother’s gaze as he followed his wife, towards Erica’s luxury car, while she and Rob went off in the other direction.

Rob didn’t say much. He just took her keys
and got in to drive. Why did all men assume they should drive? What made men think it was the proper etiquette on a date? Doug still did that too. If the whole family were going somewhere, he’d invariably take the keys from her without even asking first if that was okay. No matter what. She managed to drive her girls everywhere they had to be all day long, yet when Doug was in the car, he assumed she wasn’t capable of driving. She frowned at the direction her thoughts were heading. Doug. Family outings. Wasn’t that the whole point of tonight? To stop being that woman? It wasn’t a family outing tonight, but more like a first date, so why should the man drive?

They were on the road
before Rob finally spoke, “Joelle dress you up?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“I recognized the outfit.”

Rebecca nearly groaned out loud. She never gave that a thought! That he would remember Joelle’s clothes!

“I did this all wrong,” Rebecca finally said, dropping her head. “I had nothing to wear. You’ve seen the full extent of my wardrobe, and there’s nothing in it like this. Like what I assume you would wear to those places. So I asked for Joelle’s help in deciding what to wear; then it just seemed like it would be easier if Joelle came along. She gets this stuff better than I do. I simply don’t.”

“You’re nervous?” Rob asked, glancing sideways at her. “About going to a club?”

“Isn’t that pretty clear to you? This whole night terrifies me.”

“You should try being the guest at tea party with two little girls who expect you to know that when you’re asked for a lump of sugar, you’re suppose
d to pretend to take one.”

Rebecca finally felt her shoulders relaxing. Somehow, the image of Rob at a pretend tea party made her smile.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “You think that’s funny? They made me do all that, while you were clearing the table. Karlee insisted that I see her room, which coincidentally, was all set up for a tea party. The guests were about four dressed-up dolls and eight teddy bears. She told me she reserved a seat for me.”

“And you did it? You went to the tea party?”

“What else could I do? Say no?”

“You could,” Rebecca said. She began to realize why she asked Rob out. It was for this very reason: it never occurred to Rob not to engage her girls
. He could have ignored them, and politely kept his distance. But not Rob. He couldn’t resist them, and that was partly why Rebecca found it so hard to resist Rob.

Rob rested his wrist over the top of the steering wheel as he adjusted the heat.
“So what did your brother say about all of this?”

“This? Meaning, seeing you with me? Not much. He just gives me weird looks.”

“And stands next to you like he’s your personal bodyguard.”

“Oh, yeah, that too.”

“Did you, by any chance, go to Joelle in order to test out things between her and me?”

“Like I’d set me or my brother up for that? No. Really. It just happened. I didn’t think about them coming, until it just seemed like a good idea between her and me.”

“So you two get along now?”

“Yes. In fact, I think we’re becoming good friends. She’s really great.”

Rob nodded and smiled. “She is. She’s really great.”

Rebecca glanced at his profile. Shadows
of the streetlights passed over him. He didn’t look her way, so she wasn’t sure what the undertones of Joelle and him were.

“All except the tattoos.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“That was part of why you originally didn’t like her, wasn’t it? How she used to look when Nick first brought her around? After all, tattoos are only for
skanks and ‘ho’s.”

Rebecca groaned. “Karlee didn’t hear everything I said. She wouldn’t understand the context that I said it in.”

“Karlee, I suspect, is right on about you. So why am I here, Rebecca, if you don’t like tattoos?”

“I was having a conversation with my ten-year-daughter about the appropriateness of tattoos. It didn’t have anything to do with you.”

“Really? You don’t strike me as a woman who’d ever approve of me.”

She hesitated. “I probably wouldn’t.”

“But…”

“But you don’t seem like a man who’d ride in a mini-van, let alone, drive one, so…”

“Yeah, okay. Fair enough.” He glanced her way with a frown. “What is this? A bad case of opposites attracting?”

She peeked swiftly at his profile. “I don’t know; are we attracting each other?”

He gave her a look. “Yeah. I’d say that we probably are.”

Rebecca pressed her lips together and the nerves
in her stomach jolted her.

“By the way, just because I recognize the outfit, doesn’t mean I don’t like it better on you.”

“Joelle’s a lot smaller than I am,” Rebecca said, pulling on the tank top that clung snugly to her breasts.

“I noticed that,” Rob said softly as he looked her way and smiled.

****

Finally, they pulled into the parking lot of the agreed-upon restaurant. After parking the mini-van, they headed toward the rest of the group waiting there. It was a very odd situation: ranging from the close relationship, like she and her brother shared, to the rather weird and extremely awkward one between Rob and Nick.

Dinner was uneventful, although Rebecca privately feared it would be strained. But Erica and Spencer helped ease any discomfort. Joelle talked freely with Erica, and Erica to Rebecca. Spencer had no problem with his best friend, or his friend, Nick. The only clash was between Nick and Rob, sitting at opposite ends of the six-person table, like silent time bombs, ticking away and ready to go off at any time at each other. Rebecca felt Nick’s angry gaze landing on her several times.

When at last they
got up to leave, the bill came and Nick grabbed for it, saying the dinner was his treat. Rob bristled.

“I don’t think so, Lassiter. I got us.”

“Us?” Nick repeated, glaring at Rebecca. His sister. She could nearly read Nick’s mind. She was his sister. He had to pay, not Rob Williams.

Joelle rolled her eyes, taking the bill and tossing it towards Erica. “Why don’t you two treat all of us? At least, that way we can avoid this caveman display of rampant testosterone.”

Erica laughed and snatched up the bill. “We’d love to pick up the tab. We feel honored just to be here for the fireworks,” she said, smiling sweetly, a knowing glint in her eyes.

Rob strode angrily to Rebecca’s van and got in, but not without slamming the car door.
He glared at her when she slipped in beside him much more quietly. “Your brother’s such a dick.”

Rebecca couldn’t agree, but she didn’t try to argue. She gripped the c
loth seat tightly with her fingernails as Rob drove without another word. She, too, remained silent. What should she have done? Validated Rob’s anger? She could have, if Rob’s anger toward Nick was purely out of hatred. But Rob despised Nick for taking Joelle. And none of that involved her.

They pulled into the parking lot of a club that had rotating lights, rolling lazily around, and pointing up into the sky. Rob parked
and soon spotted her brother walking up. Nick’s jaw was clenched and his eyes were flashing even more fiercely than before.

Then Joelle came up and her stride reflected her an
noyance as she rolled her eyes and demanded, “Really, Rob, you had to pick
this place
?”

What place?
Spencer was smirking so he must have known about the place.

Rob shrugged. “Hey, I was already planning to come here with Rebecca before I knew you all were joining us. No one’s forcing you to stay. By all means, Joelle Lassiter, take your husband and go home.”

Rebecca didn’t know what was brewing. The tension between all of them got thicker, and in no time, they were all participating in a collective glaring contest. Finally, Joelle let out a frustrated shriek before turning and marching towards the front door of the club.

Rebecca
felt like an outsider in a deep-rooted, very complicated situation. One that seemed to have less to do with her than others as the evening wore on. She could almost hear Rob’s implied threats to her brother:
go home and leave me here alone with your sister
. Rob was smiling at Nick, obviously baiting him. Then, deliberately provoking him when he slung an arm over her shoulders.

Suddenly, Rebecca’s nerves short-circuited. Did she totally misread everything until now? She thought Rob was somehow, crazily
, connecting to her, or that they were becoming something beyond business partners. Was it all an act? All for this? Just to hurt her brother? Was he taking revenge on Nick for stealing Joelle? She knew firsthand how often Rob still thought about everything that went wrong with Joelle. His heart had a tender spot for Joelle. God, was he really such a good actor that she naively fell for all his lines?

Rebecca ducked out from under the intrusive arm. Rob didn’t seem to notice as he headed toward the door. Rebecca hung back,
and touched her brother’s hand quietly.

“What is it?”

Nick shook his head. “Don’t be fooled, Rebecca; he’s not worth it.”

Th
en Nick walked up to Joelle and put his hand on her lower back, protectively.

Rebecca stood there, utterly perplexed. She glanced back and found
Spencer observing her. “What’s with this place? What was all that about?”

Spencer smiled at her sympathetically.
“Joelle ran away from Nick right before they got together; and Nick found her here, with Rob, that night.”

“Oh
.” The instant cramp in Rebecca’s stomach completed her anxiety.

“But don’t take it so
to heart. We came here more often than anywhere else way back when. It was
the place
to go.”

Rebecca wondered what her brother “found” when he got inside here. How could Rob take her here, knowing that? Under those circumstances? Learning what
Rob was about suddenly became very clear to her.

“I didn’t know,” Rebecca replied before she whipped around and started to stomp off. Spencer’s voice stopped her dead.

“Rob’s not doing anything because of Nick.”

She arched a brow at him.
“Really? You don’t think he’s deliberately trying to make Nick miserable because of me?”

Spencer stepped closer and gave her a gentle smile. She blinked. It was so at odds with his intimidating, intense demeanor.
“No, your brother’s just a side show for whatever Rob’s doing. Rob probably enjoys rubbing Nick’s nose in something for once, but it’s not why he came here with you.”

“How could you know that?”

Spencer smiled at her. He looked so much less threatening and intense when he cracked a smile. “I know when Rob likes someone.”

“And Rob likes me?”

“Yeah. Rob likes you.”

Rebecca hoped Spencer was right
, because just then, she wasn’t so sure. They waited in a short line before entering the club. It sounded crazy loud to her ears. Rob finally glanced over at her, putting his hand in hers as he led her through the throng of people, toward an empty table in the back where it wasn’t so loud.