The Cocktail Club (22 page)

“Yeah, that, or maybe someone might meet up with a dangerous, but sexy murderer at a hotel room and do unspeakable, but pleasurable things,” Darby said dreamily.

When she suddenly stopped talking as if she'd caught herself and realized she'd said too much, all of our faces were stunned frozen.

Darby threw her hands up as if to say, “What the hell,” and then dropped another bombshell.

“Oh, and if that isn't enough, the playground moms held a telephone intervention about my bringing my mommy juice to the park. Then I had to explain to my seven-year-old why his mommy took pictures in her birthday suit and they ended up on the family iPad.”

Ivee spat out her drink.

Felecia nearly gagged, but all eyes were stuck on Darby.

“Yup, let that be a lesson. Unsync your stuff before you go texting someone other than your husband!”

“Aren't you scared he's going to tell his father?”

“I bribed him with the promise of a new bike,” Darby confessed.

We all cracked up at that. These ladies let it all hang loose.

DARBY

“Thanks for dinner, babe. It was good,” Kevin said. He stooped down to kiss my forehead as he passed.

“Thanks for dinner, babe,” Kevin Jr. mocked, then pursed his little lips. He was slowly but surely coming back after we had that little talk about the birthday suit pictures, and of course the new bike.

“Yeah, it was good, babe,” his brother teased. They made smooching noises and cracked themselves up with laughter.

“Oh, cut it out you, clowns,” I teased.

“Okay, fellas. Finish up at the table, and then it's time for showers and bed!”

When Kevin took the boys off to shower, I got up and started to clean the kitchen. Once I prepared the water, I grabbed a glass and poured some wine. I swallowed it in two gulps, poured another glass, and then started to wash the dishes.

Once alone, my mind traveled back to heaven right here on earth. No one had ever kissed the soles of my feet. Chandler had done that and then some. He had done remarkable things—things my husband had never done. Kevin was immensely cheap, responsible, straight-laced, and had been goal-oriented from day one.

Chandler was a reckless free spirit. He was a trust-fund baby who lived a privileged life, and he never made excuses for his sense of entitlement. The very things I hated about him were what I loved most. He handled my body as if we'd been together many times
before. We didn't talk too much, but he gave me everything I needed. Most of which I never even knew I wanted.

“Hey, where are the towels?” Kevin rushed out of the bathroom and asked.

“In the linen closet to your right,” I said.

“Oh, my bad!”

He turned back toward the bathroom and opened the closet door. When he ducked back into the bathroom, I took another sip of my wine.

Regardless of how much I tried to shake the memories from my head, they wouldn't leave. Chandler had me hanging off the sofa in the hotel room, then on the corner of the massive four-poster, king-sized bed. We screwed like rabbits, and everything he did made me feel like I was on the edge of ecstasy.

“We got any lotion?” Kevin peeked out from the hallway and asked a little while later.

“Under the sink in the yellow bin,” I said.

“Gotcha!”

I drank more wine, then a little more, and started to wash the pots.

I couldn't drink enough wine to erase the memory of the very best night of sex I had ever experienced. My emotions had been at war ever since. It was hard to look at myself in the mirror, but I felt so good, I was damn near ashamed.

Before the showers were over, I was asked about toothpaste, house shoes, and pajamas. When they finally finished, my sons ran out of the bathroom and filled the room with scents from their Cars and Spiderman body wash fragrances.

Only then, did I force thoughts of Chandler's sweat-drenched body slamming into me from behind out of my mind. It was all I could do to wait for our next rendezvous.

IVEE

A
s I eased into the back seat of the car, I thought about the fear I felt over going to work. My time outside of the office had spoiled me. I barely wanted to go back in, but the moment those thoughts tried to get the best of me, I reminded myself of one fact—things could've been a whole lot worse for me if anyone at the office had gotten wind of my recent trip to the slammer. When I thought about that, it really put things into perspective and made me realize how fortunate I was.

Inside my office, I familiarized myself with some of my files and projects. Nearly everything looked good except that one thorn in my side.

“Nothing I can do about that now,” I said.

I clicked out of the network files and pulled up my agenda for the day. It didn't take long for the buzzer on my desk to go off.

“There's someone named Wayne Ledger here to see you,” Jessica said.

Her tone of voice told me she wanted to know who he was and why he was here. Typically, only clients who were already on the roster came into the office. When I was wooing a new client, I usually did that over a very expensive lunch or dinner and drinks. A lot of my life revolved around alcohol, and I didn't realize it until I was forced to go without.

“Yes, send him in, please,” I said.

I straightened small knick-knacks on my desk and adjusted my picture frames as I waited for Wayne. He strolled into my office in a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. All that was missing was the baseball cap turned backwards.

The smirk across his face told me he thought he was being funny. I held in my laughter and gave him a knowing look.

“I know what you're thinking,” he said. “But I came straight here from someplace else.”

“Uh-huh,” I said.

“No, seriously, before you start to look down that pretty nose of yours at me, hear me out,” he said.

His cell phone rang, and he looked at it. The friendly smile vanished from his face. “I'm so sorry. I really need to take this. Is that cool? I need about twenty minutes,” he said.

I nodded. “You're fine. Go ahead.”

He stepped out of my office, and I stepped back in time. My mind focused on all of the information Ted had thrown my way.

“There are some uncomfortable things we're going to have to do,” he explained.

My eyebrows went up. Since I had been arrested on the side of a road, my car was towed and impounded, and my short stint in jail had already been uncomfortable for me. To me, that had been more than enough discomfort.

“Ivee can handle it,” Zion said with all confidence. He stabbed his fork into the lasagna.

“A provision of your restricted license calls for you to install an ignition interlock device. You'll be on probation for two years, and of course there are the associated court costs and fees,” he said.

“What is an ignition lock, or whatever you called it?” I asked.

My heart immediately began to race. I thought we had paid him to go to court, talk to the judge, and bring me back probation, maybe with a stint of community service. I didn't want any kind of locking device on my damn car.

“Listen. It was either that or no license. The ignition interlock device simply requires you to pass a breathalyzer test before you're able to operate your vehicle,” he explained.

He shrugged and behaved as if that was not a big deal. I swallowed hard and told myself not to say a word.

“In addition to that, sometimes while you're driving, it'll randomly ask you to test your breath,” he added.

My eyebrow danced upward. “You mean while I'm driving? That can't be safe. And I thought we were going to plead not guilty,” I said.

“Ivee, this is a part of what's required in order to keep your license, once you pay the necessary fees,” he said.

“Fees? What fees? Isn't that what we're paying you for?”

Ted chuckled. He picked up his crystal water glass and took two healthy gulps.

“Ivee, you need to hear him out. You got yourself into this mess, and now he's trying to tell you what it's gonna take to get out,” Zion tossed in.

My head had begun to hurt. Zion had made it clear that he was more than pissed over the DWI arrest, but more and more he acted like this was more than he could handle.

“Ivee, my legal fees, which are being incredibly discounted, are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what you will have to pay.”

“I don't understand,” I said.

But before Ted could say another word, Zion put down his fork and spoke.

“Hell, it's already added up when you look at the towing and
impound fees, then lawyer costs—even at a discount. There are still court and device fees and bail…” Zion exhaled, hard and long. He seemed exasperated.

I had grown sick and tired of him and the way he had to remind me of how much I had fucked up. Yeah, I got busted and had to fight a DWI, but I didn't need his constant commentary or his reminders about how much everything had cost and was going to cost.

The rest of our time over dinner was spent with Ted's detailed description of what it would cost to install the device and the monthly rental fees. Also, there would be possible costs associated with the mandatory DWI treatment program along with the increase we were sure to have to pay for our auto insurance.

I was pulled from my reverie when Wayne suddenly stepped back into my office, and not a moment too soon. Thoughts of my problems didn't do anything but bring me down. I welcomed the distraction.

“Was that an entire twenty minutes?” I joked.

He cut his eyes at me and took a seat in front of my desk. I had already drawn up the proposal for him to review. If I was able to lock him down, that would go a long way to help improve my standing with Geneva and at the firm.

The mess with Carson was still underway, and it pissed me off every time I thought about it. A part of me wanted Geneva to return Carson's money and tell him to hit the road. No single client was worth all of that. Still, the last thing I needed was the mess with him to blow up in my face, and word of the arrest to leak. I'd been extra careful to remain on my toes and made sure my face had been visible around the office as much as possible.

PETA

I
didn't want to think about what my life would've been like had my girls not stepped in and rescued me. Bills were stacked as high as the ceiling, and I had made no progress whatsoever with the insurance company.

As I sat at the table and waited for my daughter to come in, I had gone over my speech several times. I didn't want to drag her into the mess with Kyle and me, but it was time for me to see if she could help.

Over the last couple of weeks, Kyle had picked her up from school, and it became clear that he knew he'd run into me at the house sooner or later if he didn't change his routine.

Once I heard her at the door, I checked dinner to make sure we had time to talk.

“M-o-o-o-m,” she called from the front door. “Oooh, it smells good in here. What are you fixing?” Kendal asked.