Deceived 5 - New Beginnings (3 page)

In true Manhattan fashion, the usual abundance of cabs had disappeared since we needed one. I was running late and on top of that, a dark, menacing rain cloud was threatening to soak us both if we didn’t find a cab soon. A solitary heavy raindrop hit the cement sidewalk right at the toe of my shoe and I wished we’d thought to bring an umbrella. Elyse craned her neck searching for the bright yellow of a taxi amongst the swirl of gray and black vehicles passing us on the street. Just as the second and then third raindrops fell, big fat ones that made a splatting sound as they hit, we heard the overriding honk of a car horn.

A handsome guy in a nice European car pulled up to the curb, rolled down his passenger window and called her name. “Elyse!”

Elyse practically jumped. I wasn’t sure if it was from surprise, or some kind of excitement at the recognition of the man in the car. I didn’t get a chance to ask for his name because she was already saying it.

“Ricky! What are you doing here?” She raised her eyebrows and shot me a disbelieving glance. It was the kind of look that meant she was pleased to see him again, but didn’t want to appear too over-eager.

“Need a ride?” He leaned his head slightly out the window and addressed the sky as he said, “Get in or you’ll be soaked.”

His smile was quite disarming, and it was attached to one of the most handsome faces I’d ever seen. He flashed another shining, white grin at Elyse, never taking his eyes off of her, as she flushed under his intense admiration. Despite being completely and utterly in love with my husband, even I couldn’t help but think this guy was really
hot
, firecracker hot. Elyse was going to have her hands full with this one, indeed. Maybe it was a good thing Patrick and I would be on the first date...or business meeting, or whatever, with her.

“Yes, please,” she answered suddenly, as if she realized she’d been wasting time staring at him.

More big, fat, watery drops hit the hood of his stylish car as Elyse and I scurried to get in. I held my hand over my head in a vain attempt to ward off the wet assault, and I fumbled with the handle of the back door. Ricky leaned over and popped open the front passenger door from inside for Elyse. I knew she’d protest, not wanting me to sit in the back alone, so I shoved an elbow into her, nudging her to accept his invitation to sit in the front with him. Seconds later, I was sitting comfortably in the backseat of his jet black BMW and we were on our way to the office. Just then, the clouds let loose and the rain poured down.

“Good thing I came by. You’d never have gotten a cab in this rain.” He glanced in the rearview mirror to include me in the conversation and flashed me one of his gorgeous smiles.

We both thanked him profusely and then Elyse introduced him to me. We exchanged brief pleasantries and I didn’t try to stop the conversation from drifting away from me. I wanted to observe.

As Elyse’s best friend, my job was to check out this guy and make sure he wasn’t the typical asshole, hyperactive, Type-A personality who seemed to gravitate toward risk-taking careers. Careers like driving a huge piece of metal around a track at neck breaking speeds. If a person thrived on that kind of adrenaline in one aspect of their life, what did they expect from a relationship?

As he chatted in light conversation with Elyse, I watched the back of his head bob and nod. He had dark hair, cut neat in the back and very stylish on top, the kind of modern young man’s cut that went with a business suit and Manhattan more than the beer and flannel I associated with the sport. Pretty much all I knew about race-car driving was from what the guys back home had talked about.

Suddenly, Ricky turned his head and spoke to me. “Don’t you think so, Chloe?”

Shit. I hadn’t been paying attention to what they were talking about, so I took a stab in the dark. “Yeah, sure. Definitely.”

Elyse raised an eyebrow and gave Ricky a meaningful look. Apparently, I’d expressed an opinion that confirmed to her that Ricky was a good guy. When she spoke, however, her comment was directed toward Ricky rather than me.

“Chloe and her husband, Patrick, are coming to dinner tonight, too, if you don’t mind. You know, since you’re considering hiring their company for your promotions. I figured no time like the present to get this business deal going.”

I simply nodded and he flashed me yet another charming smile before they went back to their conversation. As they talked, I took the opportunity to get a better look at his face. A strong jaw and clean-cut features, the kind of man who was definitely handsome and not pretty. His lips were soft and sensual, but not too much so that they were feminine. They looked like the kind that were good for kissing and I already knew they curved into an irresistible smile. Now I noticed a slight shadow on his cheeks, just enough to give him a bit more of a roughness than I’d originally noticed. His eyes were crystal blue and full of a good-humored intelligence.

Elyse was definitely going to have a hard time resisting this one.

From everything I’d observed, Ricky had passed the first screening. He was definitely hot and with his racing career to add to his resume, he was looking like good boyfriend material for Elyse. She’d never been one to go for a guy with a ‘typical’ job. Plus, he scored major points for including me in the conversation when I knew he really wanted Elyse.

Now I needed to look a bit deeper, uncover his motivation. Was he only looking for a promoter for his racing career or was he using that as an excuse to get to know Elyse better? Based on him opening the passenger door for Elyse to sit up front while the pregnant lady got in the back, I had a pretty good idea of where he was looking. And based on the way he was beaming endless smiles at her, glancing over at her the entire time he was driving us to the office, I didn’t think he had any hidden motives.

“It’s really pouring cats and dogs now,” Ricky said as he nosed the car to the curb in front of the building. He slid the shifter into park and Elyse reached for the door handle on her side.

“Hold on a second,” he said and reached under his seat, pulling out a compact, black umbrella. He gave her a big smile and said, “Let me get the door for you, Elyse.” He opened his door, popped up the umbrella and dashed around to her side of the car to open her door, holding the umbrella as her protection.

Elyse glanced at me with an equally big smile and I raised my eyebrows in approval. With the amount of attention he was paying to her, I didn’t think Elyse had to worry about him only wanting to be around for ‘business’ reasons.

Then holding the umbrella above my door, he opened it and escorted the two of us to the front of our building in a true gentlemanly fashion, shielding us from the heavy rain with his small compact umbrella while he himself got soaked.

“Ladies, until tonight.” He gave a little bow of his head, water dripping from his hair onto the lobby tiles. He sent one last look at Elyse, this one full of so much heat I was surprised both of them didn’t start steaming, then he ventured back out into the rain.

“Thanks again for the ride, Ricky. See you tonight,” she called after him. She was practically glowing as we headed towards the elevators.

I really hoped this guy was for real, because if not, I’d be doing massive heartbreak repair later on down the road. I could tell from the look on her face and the way she was practically bouncing up and down with excitement that she was already on the road to falling hard for this guy.

“So, what do you think?” I asked Patrick after I gave him the short version of the plan for Elyse’s “business meeting” that we would be attending this evening. We’d just finished going over the details of a client’s ad account when I filled him in on the details of our plans to meet Elyse and Ricky for dinner.

Patrick sighed and pushed the mouse across the pad one last time, then leaned back from his computer. I knew that guys weren’t really into playing matchmaker, but I wanted to do this for Elyse.

“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “I was hoping we could spend the night at home, pick up some Chinese ‘take-out’ on the way and eat in bed while continuing what we started earlier this morning. I have a couple of fun ideas for the creative uses of spring rolls.” He gave me a lascivious grin as he rolled his chair back from the desk. He stood up and walked over to stand behind my chair, and I watched him as long as I could, admiring the way his body moved. Leaning down, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the top of my head. After a moment, he straightened, his hands moving to my shoulders.

I slowly shook my head as I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of his fingers massaging my tight muscles. “Honey, I don’t even want to know what you had in mind with those spring rolls, but seriously, I would love to help Elyse. You should see her when she’s with him. I’ve never seen her into a guy this much before. Not even that magician she dated six months ago.”

His hands stopped massaging. “Oh, yeah, I remember that guy. He came with Elyse to the re-launch party of our company. He got pretty drunk and told me he had a mind trick that could make Elyse do any kinky sexual thing that he wanted. That guy was a freak.” Patrick paused for a second and I could hear his smile in what he said next. “Hmm, I wonder what he made her do?”

I rolled my eyes and swatted his hand. “Will you focus here? I want to do this for Elyse. She’s a big part of why you and I are together. I owe it to her.
We
owe it to her. You’d do the same for Ryan for sure.”

He walked back around to stand in front of me. I took his hand and let him help me to my feet.

“Okay,” he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll do this, but you’ll owe me some extra special attention when we get back home tonight. You have to finish what you started. No falling asleep on me. Got it?” he teased.

I leaned in and whispered in my deepest Marilyn Monroe voice, “No way. I can never keep my hands of off you.” I pressed my mouth against his in a chaste, but still electric, kiss. “Thanks for doing this, hon.” I brushed my thumb across his lips. “I can’t wait to get home tonight.” I went to the door, then turned around and added with a grin, “As long as it doesn’t include spring rolls.”

*****

When Patrick and I arrived at the restaurant where we were supposed to meet Elyse and Ricky, it was still pouring down rain. Water droplets quickly disappeared into the plush carpet as we handed our raincoats to the girl at the coat checkroom before heading in to the main dining room.

I spotted Ricky right away. It was hard not to as he was tall, handsome and sporting that perfect, white smile. He was sitting alone so I assumed Elyse must’ve been delayed somehow. I pulled out my phone as we walked over, checking for messages, but she hadn’t left any. If she was only running a few minutes late, that wasn’t surprising.

When we reached the table, I introduced Patrick to Ricky and the two shook hands. It wasn’t until I sat down that I noticed the round table was set for five people instead of four. Where was Elyse? I took out my cell phone and started a text to Elyse to make sure she was okay, but that fifth place setting kept poking at me, so I stopped mid-text. I needed to know who else was coming.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could get a word out, a tall, slender woman with long, flowing hair came up behind Ricky. As she moved towards the extra seat, she brushed her hand over the expanse of his shoulders in a familiar gesture. She was a stunning beauty, with dark eyes, high cheekbones, and full pouty lips, colored in the perfect shade of lipstick to complement her sleek black dress and caramel-colored skin.

“So, Ricky, are you going to introduce me to your friends?” she asked, her voice low for a woman.

“There you are.” Ricky smiled at her. “Of course. Nina, this is Patrick and Chloe Collins.”

Nina broke into a big smile as she stretched out a hand to greet us. “Oh, yes, Ricky mentioned you. You work in the advertisement industry, right?”

Both Patrick and I rose from our chairs and I took a moment to wonder how long it would be before I wouldn’t be expected to do that. “We do,” I said as we shook hands. I was starting to feel a bit sick, and it didn’t have anything to do with the baby.

“I hope you don’t mind that Ricky invited me to join you for dinner,” Nina said as she sat down next to Ricky. “I’m afraid I made a bit of a pest of myself and begged to come along. I’ve just been so bored, hanging out at his place all the time.”

“Nina’s my cousin,” Ricky said.

The knot in my stomach eased. His cousin. I looked towards the door, wondering where Elyse was. I didn’t want to be rude and finish my text, but I was starting to get worried.

He continued, “She just moved to New York from Florida and she doesn’t know anyone in the city yet.”

“What made you decide to move to New York?” Patrick asked Nina.

Nina lifted a dainty glass of water to those dynamite lips and paused just before taking a sip. I wasn’t sure if the move was calculated or not, but either way, it was very good at keeping the attention on her.

“The humidity.” She smiled and I saw a family resemblance. “I can’t do a thing with my hair down there.”

“It can get bad here, too, in the summer,” I said. “Nothing like in Miami, though. Is that where you’re from?”

Nina set the glass back on the tabletop. “South Beach, actually.” Then she rolled her eyes and added, “It’s such a vacation spot. That’s another reason for my getting a place here. Too many tourists.” She laughed lightly as if everyone at the table had experienced the same thing.

I looked towards the door again, debating about risking seeming rude, when finally I spotted Elyse almost running into the restaurant. I waved at her and she raised a hand to show she’d seen me. I saw her do a quick pat-down of her hair as she walked towards us at a much slower pace. By the time she reached us, if I hadn’t seen how frazzled she’d looked when she first came in, I never would’ve known.

She started talking when she was within earshot. “So sorry I’m late. I couldn’t get a cab. This weather sure keeps the cab drivers busy.”

Her voice trailed off as her gaze fell on Nina. Her body went still, though I doubted anyone else noticed. I quickly set her mind at ease. “Elyse, this is Nina, Ricky’s cousin from Miami. She just moved here.”

Elyse’s face brightened as relief washed over it and she extended a hand to greet the other woman. “So nice to meet you, Nina.”

Ricky dipped his head, seeming a little embarrassed that I beat him to the punch with the introduction. “Nina is staying with me while she finds a place in the city. We haven’t seen each other in years.” He stood as he spoke and pulled out the empty chair next to him.

“Thank you,” she said softly as she took the seat.

I watched as their eyes met and I knew that, in that brief moment, only the two of them existed. There was a softness to Elyse’s expression that I’d never seen before and, in that instant, I knew this had the potential to be either very good or very bad. When Ricky smiled and returned to his seat, I could see that same near wonderment on his face.

I put my hand on Patrick’s arm. I remembered that feeling, the first few times of seeing someone like that, like they were the only thing in the world that mattered. I almost hated that the moment had to end.

Elyse broke the silence first, her cheeks flushed as she asked, “So, what did I miss?”

Although she had addressed the entire dinner party, Ricky answered without taking his eyes off of her, “You didn’t miss a thing. But I’m glad you made it.”

I could feel the air between the two thickening. If we didn’t get this thing going, it was going to get a little awkward. I squeezed Patrick’s arm and he opened up the business conversation for the evening.

“So, Ricky, it’s my understanding that you wanted to talk to Chloe and me about the possibility of hiring our agency. What is it that we can do for you? We’re not really publicists. We’re an advertisement agency.”

“Yes, well it was Nina’s idea for us to meet.” He glanced at his cousin, who nodded. “When I mentioned that I ran into Elyse...well, the thing is, I already have a publicist, but I’m looking for a company that can help me with endorsements. My publicist is just about getting me in the right newspaper and saying the right words. I’m looking for someone who can get me into something like the shaving industry as the next spokesperson for Gillette or some company like that.”

Patrick perked up and I knew he was suddenly glad we’d come to dinner. Even if there weren’t any spring rolls. “We can definitely help you with that.” He nodded in my direction and then continued, “Tell me something about yourself. Why would a company as big as Gillette want you as a spokesperson for their brand?”

A wry grin spread over Ricky’s face. “I guess you don’t follow Indy 500 racing if you haven’t heard of me.”

“Sorry, no,” Patrick said. He made a ‘‘go on’’ gesture. “Tell me.”

“Last year, I came third in the season and this year, the book makers have me as number one to win in the upcoming season.” He said it without a trace of arrogance, but there was confidence in his words.

Elyse raised her eyebrows and shot me a quick, wide-eyed glance. And there it was, the wide-eyed, admiring “groupie” look I’d been dreading. I had the sudden desire to kick her under the table.

Patrick’s smile widened even further. “That will definitely help when negotiating with Gillette.” He propped his elbow on the table and stroked his chin with his fingers. I knew that look. He was considering all the angles. “To tell you the truth, I’ve never represented a
person
before, only companies. It’s a little unusual for me…”

“Let me interrupt you there, if you don’t mind,” Ricky smoothly interjected. He leaned forward and I could see now the look of a competitor, someone who was driven to win. “If I just followed what everybody else did, I’d never get ahead. No, to get ahead in life you have to take chances and I’m ready to do that now, right now, tonight.” He stabbed a pointing finger on the smooth tablecloth, as if pinpointing the very moment he became a splendid success.

He suddenly made me think of Jesse, a guy I had once met on a plane. He’d also had racing in his blood, but they couldn’t be more different. Jesse had been like a wild, untamed Mustang stallion, where Ricky was more like a strategic warrior. Although I’d never seen Jesse again, I was sure he was one heaping spoonful of bad boy trouble for some naïve girl somewhere. And now Ricky was beginning to look like two heaping
spoonfuls
of trouble for Elyse. I just hoped that she was going in eyes wide open. Ricky may be sweet, but there was an intensity that came with being good at what he did.

Patrick continued, “Well, I can definitely arrange a meeting with Gillette. Their headquarters are in Boston so I’ll contact them and see if we can take a meeting.”

“That sounds great!” He grinned. “I have a good feeling about this.”