Betrayed by Love (13 page)

“Linea?”

I nodded. “The long way’s fine.”

We left the club hand in hand.

I’m a modern woman but I love a man who likes to hold my hand in public. I’m not sure why unless it’s the thought that he can barely manage to keep his hands off me. There’s something undeniably sexy about a man unable to resist the urge to touch me.

For one electric moment when he held his car door open for me, he bent his head.

I held my breath and lifted my chin, eager to feel his mouth on mine and to taste and suck his tongue.

Instead of kissing me, he brushed the back of his fingers against my cheek, stepping away from me.

Disappointed, I slipped into his car.

He closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. Once he’d started the car, he turned on the stereo, and drove away.

I closed my eyes, enjoying the soft jazz as I allowed myself to fantasize about our giving each other a scorching sixty–niner. It had been quite awhile since anyone had eaten me and my pussy was suffering from tongue and mouth withdrawal.

Imagine my surprise when he parked the car and I opened my eyes to find we sat in Jen and Jarrod’s driveway.

I turned to look at him. Surely he didn’t think I was going to make out on their patio or inside their house. Or worse, did he and they expect us all to play together?

He got out of the car and walked around to hold the passenger door open.

When I made no effort to get out, he reached into the car to take my hand.

A jolt shook me. Feeling needy, I slipped out and leaned against him.

He sucked in a breath.

I smiled until he quickly stepped away from me. What the hell was his problem?

He provided a last unpleasant surprise of the night when he said good night and let himself out of the house. He left me standing alone in the foyer, unkissed, uncaressed, and filled with sexual frustration. Well, damn. He certainly knew how to put a damper on an evening.

After standing there for what felt like forever, I sighed and headed for the stairs. I was surprised but pleased to make it to the guest bedroom without encountering Jen or Jarrod. The last thing I wanted was to talk with either one of them.

After I undressed and prepared for bed, I sat studying my reflection in the vanity mirror.

What had I done wrong? He surely must have known I wanted and expected a kiss at the very least. Damn him. I sighed. If he didn’t call the next day to ask me out, I was going to be pissed. “But he will call,” I assured my frowning reflection.

I spent a restless night wondering why Grant hadn’t made a definite date with me. In the morning I woke tired and irritable. A bouquet of flowers from Grant arrived a little after nine. That brightened the day for me and left me anxiously awaiting his call.

But he hadn’t called by the time we left for the shore at eleven. That put a damper on the ninety–minute trip for me. Jen was uncharacteristically uncurious about my date with Grant the previous night. She rattled on the entire drive until I felt like screaming at her to shut up for one damned hot minute!

Even arriving at the shore place, a three–bedroom house just two blocks from the beach did little to improve my disposition. Jen was still going on and on about nothing and with each passing minute, the silence from Grant put me in a worse mood.

Jen placed her house keys on the living room coffee table and slapped her forehead. “Oh, hell!”

“What’s wrong?”

She stared at me. “I have to go back home.”

“Now?”

She nodded.

“Why?”

“I forgot my birth control.”

“Let Jarrod bring it when he comes.”

She stared at me and then blinked rapidly. “I would…except he doesn’t know I’m taking it.”

“What?”

She shrugged. “He kind of wants another child.”

“And you don’t?”

She glanced away and shrugged. “I love him dearly and the twins are a source of endless joy for me, but I’m not going to go out of my way to get pregnant again. So I have to get it myself.”

Great. Their marriage is so wonderful she’s making decisions like that without any input from him. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Oh, there’s no need for you to come all the way back with me.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Positive. You stay here and make yourself at home. Take either the middle or back bedroom. There’s food in the fridge. There are several lounge chairs as well as a table with an umbrella on the patio out back. There’s also a hot tub out there where we can relax and let the kinks out. You know the beach is only two blocks away. I’ll leave the keys with you in case you want to walk down to the beach. I should be back by four.”

Relieved not to have to listen to another three hours of her endless chatter, I nodded. “Do you want me to start dinner?”

 
“No. You’re a guest, but you are on your own for lunch.” She kissed my cheek and left the house.

I carried my suitcase into the middle room, changed into a two–piece cotton Capri set, and settled down with my ebook reader on one of the well–padded loungers on the patio out back. Between my restless night and the warmth of the sun, I soon became drowsy. I turned off my ebook reader and drifted to sleep.

I woke later with a start to find Grant seated at the table staring at me.

I lay smiling at him until I realized I wasn’t dreaming. This was real. After a moment of pure elation, I sat up. “Grant! What…what are you doing here?”

He rose and came to kneel on the side of the lounger next to me. He wore a short–sleeved white pullover with dark, casual pants. “Jen invited me to spend a long weekend here.”

“Oh.” I looked at my watch. It was nearly five o’clock. I glanced around. “Where is Jen?”

“In Philly.”

I frowned. “Is she driving back with Jarrod?”

“She’s not coming back.”

“What?”

“She’s not coming back.”

I stared at him. “What happened? Did their cars break down?”

He shook his head. “They never planned to spend the weekend here.”

“What? Then why…”

“She’s clearly playing matchmaker.”

Oh, damn but her ass was mine when I got back to Philly. “Will you give me a lift back to Philly?”

“Sure—on Monday night.”

“On Mon…” I felt my cheeks burn. “You think I’m going to spend the weekend down here alone with you?”

He shrugged. “I was hoping you might. There are three bedrooms here. It’s not as if I’m asking you to spend the night in any one of them with me. Of course if that’s what you want, I’m game.”

The idea of spending the night with him held definite appeal, but I wasn’t about to admit that. The fact that Jen had taken it upon herself to strand me down there with him pissed me off big time. It was one thing to arrange a blind date without my knowledge, but this was just too damned much.

I stared at him. How much had he known the previous night during dinner? “Did you know this last night?”

“If you’re asking if I knew she was going to drive you down here and then leave, no.”

“What did you know?”

“I knew I’d already accepted her invitation to spend the weekend down here.”

“And?”

“And what?” he shrugged. “I assumed she and Jarrod would be here as well.” He smiled. “Imagine my delight when I learned they wanted to spend the weekend alone in Philly.”

Just how surprised had he really been? I didn’t like to think the three of them had decided I needed someone else to make my decisions for me.

He reached out and took my hand.

A tingle danced down my spine, but I tugged at my hand until he released it. “Why aren’t you seeing anyone special, Grant?”

“Special women want a special commitment.”

“And you’re not the commitment giving type?”

He shrugged. “There are a lot of available women. Narrowing the choice down to one isn’t easy or something a man should do without due diligence.”

What the hell had made Jen think I’d be interested in spending the weekend with a man who clearly wanted to play the field? Granted I wasn’t exactly looking to settle down myself, but it pissed me off that Jen seemed to think I was ready to drop my panties for Grant as soon as he winked at me. She’d done that with Jarrod but she and I were two very different women.

I rolled onto the other side of the lounger and stood up. I walked into the house without looking back at him.

Chapter Seven

He followed me inside. “Linea? What’s wrong?”

I swung around to stare at him. “What’s wrong? What the hell makes you think I’d take kindly to being tricked into a one–night or one–weekend stand with you, Grant?”

His gaze narrowed. “I had nothing to do with tricking you. Jen invited me down for the weekend. I accepted.”

“Obviously.”

“Don’t jump to wild, baseless conclusions.”

“Then tell me what happened.”

“Just before I arrived, Jen called me on my cell and told me she wasn’t coming. When I questioned her why, she told me she wanted us to have the place to ourselves for the weekend. I had no part is that decision.”

“How are you not involved?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t even tried to kiss you. Where the hell do you get off accusing me of trying to trick you into sleeping with me? This may come as a surprise to you, Linea, but I don’t need to resort to tricks to get any woman I want into bed!”

Clearly he was as pissed as I was, but I didn’t care. “Are you going to drive me back to Philly or not, Grant?”

“Why the hell would I drive you anywhere? You don’t want to be down here? Find your own damned way back to Philly!”

“You’re a jerk!”

“And you’re a…” He broke off, shook his head, and stormed across the living room. He jerked open the front door and slammed it on his way out of the house. Moments later I heard a car engine start.

I took a deep breath and sank onto the sofa. That went well, Lin. You sure know how to charm a handsome man. Besides, you shouldn’t have been pissed with him when you know damn well this is all Jen’s doing. And you just killed any interest he had in you.

I was too pissed to trust myself to call Jen and give her a piece of my mind. If I didn’t allow myself to calm down first, our friendship, such as it was, probably wouldn’t survive the weekend. Of course at that moment ending our friendship didn’t seem to have any down side.