Friends With Partial Benefits (16 page)

"We’ve got that cake for dessert, so why don’t I make us some dinner?"

Looking into her eyes, he smiled. "I think Rob is with Laura tonight, so that sounds great."

After she showered, Jillian left for the store. Rob came back and told Brian he needed him to come with him somewhere but wouldn't tell him where. Brian told him he'd planned to do some schoolwork that night, and he needed to be back by seven. Rob agreed and waited for him in the car. Brian left Jillian a note, telling her that he was with Rob and that he’d certainly be back by 7:00.

Rob picked up two other guys and told Brian he had a surprise for him, but he wouldn’t be any more specific. When they were still driving about an hour later, Brian checked the time and saw it was already after 5:00. He began to get concerned, but he didn’t want to come off like a douchebag, so he didn’t say a word. He tried to mimic the excited look on the faces of Rob and the other two guys, who obviously knew where they were headed.

When they pulled into the parking lot of the strip club, Rob announced, "This place is great. Some really hot girls here, and they take it all off."

"Awesome." Brian widened his mostly-fake smile.

Going all out, Jillian bought lobster and steak and prepared some exotic side dishes. She had recipe books out, the kitchen was a mess again, but things were coming together for her, and she was energized.

Inside the club, it was instantly clear that Rob was right: the girls were hot and naked, and there were gorgeous tits and asses everywhere you looked. Rob handed Brian a stack of singles and a few fives, for the really hot girls, and told him to live it up. Rob was hoping this might help snap his friend from his Natalie-related funk. They had a few drinks; Brian went through the motions for Rob’s sake. He handed over all his money to the hot women, who pretended to be interested in him, and he checked the time often. At 6:30, he went to the bathroom and sent Jillian a text message:

I’m so sorry. Rob had a surprise for me. We’re at least an hour away, and it doesn’t look like we’re leaving any time soon. Really sorry. I don’t know what to say.

After Jillian read the message, she texted back that she understood. Frowning, she put the side dishes in the refrigerator, cleaned the kitchen, cut a big piece of the ganache cake, and went upstairs to her bedroom. She enjoyed the cake as she typed away on her computer. In a zone again with her writing, she worked until just after midnight.

Rob dropped Brian off and headed back to Laura’s to work off some of the excitement he'd generated at the strip club. Brian went into the house, opened the refrigerator, and saw the uncooked lobster and steak. He also noticed a slice of cake was missing from their masterpiece. Slipping up to Jillian’s room, he found her sound asleep and stood watching her for a few seconds. The empty plate was next to the bed, and she looked too peaceful to disturb.

He took her plate down and cut himself a slice of cake. He placed the plate on the kitchen island, went into the great room, and selected one of Jillian’s novels from the shelf. Returning to the kitchen, he pulled a stool over to the island and sat there savoring the cake and enjoying Jillian’s steamy, erotic novel even more.

The next morning, Jillian entered Brian’s room, dressed formally for an appointment. She discovered him sleeping with a copy of her novel,
Longings Lost,
lying on his chest. Smiling, she grabbed the book, placed it on the table next to him, and left the room. She wrote the guys a note, telling them she’d be out most of the day. Jillian’s appointment was with the division head of her publisher’s imprint. They met to discuss a movie producer’s interest in adapting one of her novels for the screen.

After her appointment, Jillian checked her cell phone calendar and was reminded of a date she had set up a few weeks before. She’d joined a popular Internet dating site a few months back and had finally accepted a request. After checking out the man’s photo and trading a few e-mails, she'd agreed to the date. The dinner was scheduled for that night at seven at the Cheesecake Factory, which was in the restaurant row adjacent to the mall, just a few blocks from her house. She’d forgotten about it until seeing the appointment on her Blackberry.

Brian spent most of the day alone at the house. He woke up late, read Jillian’s note, sat by the pool, hit balls against the ball machine for an hour in the hot sun, and then went for a swim to cool off. He wanted to apologize to Jillian in person for not making the dinner, and he was disappointed that she was out all day. Rob called Brian and told him he would be with Laura most of the day but asked if Brian wanted to go see a movie that night. Brian agreed.

Jillian rushed home to prepare for her date. When she returned to the house, she didn't see Brian. She went upstairs, took a shower, and got dressed, and when she came down, she found him in the great room watching television. She appeared standing before him, looking a little nervous but breathtakingly beautiful in her skirt and blouse.

"How do I look?"

With his mouth hanging open, Brian's gaze traveled up her body, but he failed to reply.

She grinned. "So?"

"Sorry. You look… fantastic. Where are you off to?"

"A date. A blind date that I set up weeks ago and completely forgot about."

Giving her an apologetic look, he stood and took a few steps to her. "I’m so sorry about missing dinner. I didn’t know what Rob had planned."

"Don’t worry about it. Did you eat?"

"No."

"Make those steaks for yourself if you want."

Nervously looking herself over in the mirror, she frowned. "I look awful."

"You really look amazing." Brian titled his head as he checked her out from head to toe. His head snapped upright as she turned to him.

She smiled. "You’re sweet. I really hope this guy isn’t a lunatic, or anything." As she headed from the room, she called back, "Have fun tonight, and eat those steaks."

Watching her go, he shared the hope that the guy wasn't a lunatic, but he did pray that her date was a complete loser.

As Jillian approached the right turn into the parking garage, a red car came speeding from the other direction and made a left turn in front of her, cutting her off. Slamming on the brakes, she avoided a collision. She pulled in behind the red Mercedes convertible, expecting some sort of apologetic gesture from the driver, but none came. The driver pushed the button for his ticket, got it, and when the gate flew up, he took off into the garage. The garage was full, so she was forced to look for parking on the roof level. As she drove around looking for a space, she saw the red Mercedes again. This time, it was parked, and the male driver was heading her way. She rolled down the window, and as he passed the car, she said, "You realize you cut me off back there?"

The man didn’t even bother to look at her. "Sorry, lady, but I’m late."

It had been a few weeks since Jillian had seen the online photo of her date, and although the man seemed somewhat familiar, she could not be sure, but she hoped that wasn't her guy.

Making her way to the bar of the restaurant, she scanned the room and was relieved not to find the guy who drove the Mercedes waiting for her there. Her date was to meet her at the bar at seven. Arriving a little early for a nerve-calming cocktail, she was on her second, fifteen minutes later, when a man approached the bar. He spotted Jillian, walked to her, and introduced himself as Matt. She instantly recognized him as the guy who had cut her off minutes ago, but she chose not to mention it—at least initially. They agreed to have a drink at the bar, since there was a thirty-minute wait for a table.

Matt ordered a third drink for her and one for himself. Since Jillian had not eaten anything in about seven hours, she was starting to really feel the effects of the alcohol. He was a self-centered pinhead who gave himself away not only with his rude driving but by the way he complained about his drink, about the restaurant, about the wait, and about pretty much everything else in the place.

While still sitting at the bar, nursing her third drink, Jillian looked down and noticed the outline of a familiar object in the pocket of Matt’s trousers. She looked again, to be sure, but with the way he was sitting and the way his pants were pulled tight, she could clearly see the unmistakable ring of a condom showing right through the thin fabric. Holding back a smile, she took a quick, tiny sip of her drink and decided to have some fun.

She gave him a serious look. "You know, you cut me off on the way into the parking garage. I was the one who spoke to you in the parking lot."

"Oh, sorry about that." Glancing at her face, he put on vaguely apologetic smile. "It’s been a long day, and I thought I was late so, again, really sorry about that."

She took a sip of her drink and ran her hand along the side of the glass. "But I saw you out there about twenty minutes before you made it in here."

"I had to pick something up in the mall."

"What?" Jillian scoffed.

He looked at her like she was a little crazy. "I, um, just was checking on some contact lenses I ordered."

After taking another sip, she looked him directly in the eye and said in a harsh tone, "I’m going to guess that there were no contact lenses."

He grinned at her as if she might be kidding. When her facial expression didn't change, he frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

"Matt, I’m thinking that maybe... you went to the drugstore." She gave him an evil grin.

He chuckled nervously.

Tilting her head back, she looked down her nose at him. "Did you possibly buy some condoms, because you assumed that you might be getting really lucky tonight?"

He gave her an odd look. "Did you follow me? Are you insane?"

She shook her head no and simply pointed to his pocket.

He looked down at his pocket, noticed the obvious ring, and gave her a smug smile. "I knew I should have kept them in the box. Would it make any difference if I told you they're Magnums?"

She gave him a sickened look. "Not a bit."

"Look, Jillian, I was running late, and I was going to bring them to the car but didn’t want to be any later meeting you than I already was."

"That’s thoughtful of you, Matthew, but I think I’m just going to go." Then she got up and walked away, a little woozy from the cocktails.

Jillian left the restaurant and walked into the mall courtyard area. She bought a pretzel and a Coke hoping to sober up enough to make the three-block drive home. Spotting Brian sitting on a bench outside the movie theater, she walked up to him.

The instant he saw her, he knew she had been drinking. She fell a little as she tried to slip onto the bench next to him.

"What kind of guy arrives late for a date and has condoms showing in his pocket?"

"A giant asshole," Brian said, playing along.

"Right. And what kind of giant asshole then tries to diffuse the situation by telling you the condoms are Magnums?"

"A giant asshole with a giant penis."

She smiled. "Right again."

"I take it there won't be a second date."

After rolling her eyes at him, she grinned. "You've got that right. So, what are you doing here?"

"Rob's meeting me. We’re seeing a movie. Do you want to join us?"

"No, I think I’ll just go home and boil up those lobsters."

Brian’s phone rang. He checked the display and answered. "Hey Rob.... No problem.... Sure, I understand.... Okay."

After hanging up, he grinned at Jillian. "Evidently you aren’t the only one with relationship trouble tonight. Laura found out about our trip last night to the strip club, and she’s not happy."

"He took you to a strip club last night?" She shook her head with a smile.

After nodding, he looked her in the eye. "Why don’t you come to the movie with me? I already bought two tickets, and you seem like you might be either too drunk or too upset or too both of those conditions... to drive home."

"I think I will. I haven’t been to the movies drunk since I was seventeen."

"Let’s get you some dinner first. We’ve got, like, twenty minutes."

"What are we seeing?"

"
Battle: Los Angeles
. Rob wanted to see it. It’s a sci-fi action thing." Brian gave her an apologetic look.

"I’ve got a better idea. For a
science fiction
movie…" She gave him a distasteful look. "…I’m going to actually need more to drink. Let’s sneak in something. It’ll be like high school."

Jillian waited on one side of the street as Brian dodged traffic to cross to the liquor store about a block away. When he returned, she placed the bottle of rum in her purse, and they went into the theater.