The Rain Began to Fall (21 page)

“Let’s dance,” she
demanded, and he allowed himself to be led out on the floor.

They cut a rug to
an upbeat tune, and then went back to their table where Leigh ordered another
margarita, clamped her lips to the straw and sucked it down in record time.
Soon, they were back on the floor again, and when another slow number began
playing, Rob and Mindy, as well as Kyle and Lisa, hit the air.

“Yuk!” Mindy
whispered in Rob’s ear as he held her close. Over his shoulder, she was
watching Kyle and Lisa dancing.

“What?”

“I can’t believe
Kyle brought that little tramp with him!” Rob maneuvered around to see for
himself.

“How do you know
she’s a tramp?” Rob asked, chuckling. “She seems like a nice girl.” Mindy
pulled back slightly and looked into Rob’s smiling face.

“Oh
please!
” she exclaimed. “Trust me,
darling, she’s a
hoochie
mama.”
      
       
 
                      
 
          

As Mindy put her
arms back around Rob’s neck, Leigh, although trying her best to ignore it,
helplessly watched Lisa all over Kyle, pressing full body to him. At one point,
noticing Leigh’s glances, Lisa took Kyle’s face in her hands and kissed him
deeply, then smiled at her contemptuously.

“How are you
feeling, darling?” Gene asked, pulling back from her and looking into her eyes
as they danced.

“Fine,” she
responded, producing a tight, fake smile.
“Just fine.”
But she wasn’t fine, not in the least. The sight of Kyle kissing another woman
had dumped fuel on the fire, pumping up the level of her jealousy tenfold. She
was unable to control it. Her heart and mind had skid off the yellow brick road
into a ditch. She had stepped up her alcohol consumption in response, and she
was now getting a good buzz on. After the song was over, Leigh almost ran back
to their table, where she took a deep drink from a fresh margarita.

“
Well.
. . can you hold your liquor, darling?” Gene asked,
smiling and looking around to see if anyone was noticing his
fiance’s
sudden abandonment of discretion.

“No problem,” she
responded, waving him off. She had to pee. “I’ve got to go to the little girl’s
room. Excuse me.” He stood with her.

“Certainly.
I’m going to talk with Ted a bit, okay?”

“Alright,” she
replied. She went toward the ladies room, and across the way, Kyle watched her.
After a couple of minutes, he stood.

“Back in a
minute,” he said.

“Where are you
going?” Lisa asked possessively, half rising from her seat.

“Take it easy,
babe, I’m just going to the restroom.” With a pout, she lowered herself back
into her chair as he walked off. He was hoping to time it right, and when he
rounded the corner into the hallway, he bumped into Leigh returning from her
potty break.

“Well, hey!” she
exclaimed, laughing and taking a step back. The alcohol had loosened her up
plenty by now.

“Hi there,” he
responded, smiling.

“So... are you
having fun?” she asked. He looked at her for a moment: her beautiful face, her
perfect white teeth, her full lips.
Ye gods, I’ve missed her
.

“Yeah,” he
responded, staring fully into her eyes, “How about you?”

“Oh yeah!” she responded,
“I’m having a blast!” She wobbled a bit, but her eyes never left his.

Although there had
never been any doubt before this moment, he knew now, this close to her again
after what seemed like forever, that he loved this woman and would never love another.
He had tucked it all away in his heart over the past month, resigning himself
to the reality that she was going to marry Gene, and they had, in her words,
“no chance.”

When Rob and Mindy
had told him about the company party two weeks ago, he didn’t give attending it
even a passing thought. His plans of late had been on leaving Charlotte as soon
as possible, but Mindy’s words and advice that Friday night had never entirely
left his mind. One evening last week, as he wrote out his notice to
Falstead
, he realized he couldn’t leave without giving it
one more
try
. Maybe, like Mindy told him, she didn’t
truly mean the things she said. Maybe it
had
been an act, intended to
stop the progression of a love she feared, only because she was beholden to the
past. Nothing she could do or say would hurt any worse than it already had. No
chance? He would back her against the wall and make her mean it, because he
didn’t believe she did.

Leigh stared back
into the amazing eyes of the man she had not seen for the past six weeks, the
man she had dismissed in her heart as a regressive fantasy. She had achieved a
state of almost total belief in the solidity of her relationship with Gene, and
the pure nonsense of the idea that Kyle was anything more than a sexy guy she
had enjoyed flirting with. But her self- analyzing, pseudo psychology had been
challenged this evening when she saw him with another woman, holding and
kissing her the way she had dreamt of being kissed, and she couldn’t deny it
with all of the analysis she could conjure.

And now, as he
stood before her, she felt that tremendous desire for him return, as strong as
ever, as though they had parted ways only yesterday. She was aware enough,
however, to realize that she was all the more susceptible to fantastic feelings
in her altered state. She had to maintain her composure. She couldn’t allow
herself to say or do anything tonight that she may regret in the sober light of
tomorrow.

“So how’s the
writing coming along?” she asked, taking a small step back.

“I’ve finished the
one you’re reading. I told you that, remember?” he answered, taking a small
step forward.

“Yes, I remember,”
she replied.

“Well, my agent
loves it, and say he’s working hard on it,” he said, keeping his eyes trained
on hers.

“Well, I think,
whoever decides these things, would be nuts not to publish it!” she exclaimed,
her voice rising with each word. She was buzzing right along.

“Thanks,” he said,
taking another step closer and looking into her eyes. “We’ll see, won’t we?”

She stared back at
him for a moment then took a step to the side. She should be getting back to
Gene, she knew, but she didn’t really want to. The drink had removed the chains
from her innermost desires, and her mind was where it shouldn’t be - on the
thought of Kyle kissing her, making real what she had fantasized about so many
times. Her mind was telling her to go for it…
it’s the truth, girl, you want
it
!
Always have
.
Who are you kidding?
She could show him what
a
real
kiss was like; let him feel a real woman’s lips.
Why not?
her
alcohol induced mind continued.
If nothing else, at
least kiss him!
Find out how it feels! 
But she mentally
slapped herself.
I’m here with Gene,
she thought steadily. It was time
to end this little run in.

“We need to get
back,” she said, smiling. “You’re girlfriend will be wondering about you.”

“Ask me if I
care,” he replied, as she walked around him to exit.

“Don’t give up on
your writing, Kyle,” she said sincerely, taking his right hand softly in her
own as she passed. Her touch triggered him into action. He wasn’t going quietly
into the night again, and as she started away he grabbed her arm, pulling her
forcefully back to him, chest to chest.

“Don’t talk to me
about giving up, Leigh!” he exclaimed, his lips close to hers, his eyes hard
and passionate. She could feel his hot breath on her face. She stared back at
him, wide eyed and surprised by his intensity, but turned on by his primal
aggression.
I have to make my move
, he thought determinedly.

“You want to
race?” he asked in a whispered tone, glancing around. He was still holding her
close, and he gave her that cocky grin, raising his eyebrows. She laughed,
pulling away from his grip.

“What?” she asked
incredulously. “Are you kidding?”

“Do I look like
I’m kidding?” he said. “I need an easy win.”

“Ha! You think you
could beat me again?” she asked, her eyes dancing. “Don’t push your luck, Mr.
Tilston
!” In her compromised state, she was alternating
between coherency and freewheeling emotions.

“I told you,” he
replied. “Remember? Luck has nothing to do with it.”

“So now you’re the
big shot, huh?” she teased. “I heard about your win. But let me tell you,
buster, I can beat you in a fair race!”

“So how was our
race unfair?” he asked, laughing.

“I wasn’t
expecting it!” she exclaimed. “I wasn’t ready!”

“Likely story,” he
countered, smirking.

“Oh, you arrogant
man,” she replied, smiling and shaking her head, looking into his face, “you
gorgeous
,
arrogant man.” Her back was against the wall in the hallway, and he put his
hand against it, beside her, blocking her escape route. He leaned down in her
face.

“So let’s do it
tonight!” he said, his eyes gleaming.

“Tonight?” she
hissed. “Are you crazy? We’re here…”

“Yeah I am. I’m
crazy for you, baby,” he interrupted, “always will be. And you’re
more fond
of me than you care to admit.” She had no ready
response for that. He looked around a moment, then back at her. “Listen, make
an excuse. You both drove here; I saw your cars in the parking lot. Get sick or
something.”

She shook her head
at his audacity. He was unbelievable.

“Kyle,” she
replied, attempting to get control of things, “we can’t do
th
...”

“I’ll be in the
parking lot in fifteen minutes,” he interrupted. “See you there.” He winked,
then turned and walked quickly away. She watched him go, her hands on her
sides.
He’s out of his mind if he thinks I’m going to meet him!
she
thought. 
What in the world does he think I can
do?

In less than ten
minutes, her answer came. She had just watched as Kyle excused himself from
Lisa and went again toward the restroom; but this time, she knew, he was
leaving the party and heading for the parking lot. As she sipped her margarita,
Gene walked up to her, his ear to his cell phone. He put his caller on hold.

“There’s been a
development in the Roberson case! They’re ready to settle, right now! I have to
go, honey,” he said, with a pleading look. “I hate to cut out, but you know how
important this is! It’s the mother lode!”

“I do! I
understand,” she responded. “You’ve worked hard on this.”

“I’ll call you
later, okay?” he said. “Have a good time, babe.” He pecked her on the lips, put
the phone back to his ear and left quickly. Mindy was watching, and when she
saw him leave, she and Rob came over and sat down at her table.

“Where’s he
going?” she asked.

“Duties call,”
Leigh responded.  
I must be in the t
wilight zone
, she thought.
Kyle’s
down there waiting for me. What were the odds?

Though they had
driven separately for just this reason, the coincidence was still
extraordinary. She looked across the room and noticed Lisa sitting alone at
their table.
Is
he just going to leave her
? Every reasonable
fiber of her being told her she shouldn’t go. She had slammed that door shut,
locked it and walked away that day at the mall. But now he was back, and she
knew he meant to kick that door down. She was way too tipsy to think
reasonably, which meant she shouldn’t be attempting it at all. She studied Lisa
a little more. That girl had been all over him all night - and he had left her
sitting.
For me
, she thought, smiling. 
Oh well… tough luck red
head
.

“I’ve got to go,
too,” she said.

“What?” Mindy
replied. “Go?
Where?”

“I’m not sure,”
she replied, standing and slinging her purse over her shoulder.

“What do you
mean?” Mindy asked, rising. But Leigh was already walking away, heading to the
parking lot where Kyle, and the unknown, awaited.

Kyle, parked a
couple of spots over from Leigh’s vehicle, had seen Gene leaving in his Jag
just a few moments after he’d gotten in his car.
The wheel of fortune,
he’d thought, smiling. Now he revved his engine and honked the horn when he saw
Leigh approaching, and she walked over to his rolled down window.

“What did you do,
wave a magic wand?” she asked, glancing furtively around the parking lot to
make sure no one was watching.

“Glad you could
make it,” he said, laughing.

“Well, however it
happened, I’m here,” she replied, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I’m doing
this.”

“Just go with it,”
he replied. She stared at him. Lisa had unbuttoned his shirt another notch
while they had been dancing, far enough down that Leigh could see the top of
his broad, muscled chest, the beginnings of the happy trail that she wanted to
trace with her finger down to his stomach, and further south. Her eyes were
helplessly doing just that, and she turned them back to his, breathing in
deeply.

“So what’s the
plan, hot shot?”

“Follow me,” he
said.

“Where are we
going?”

“Trust me.”

“Now that’s a tall
order!” she said, laughing.

“You can fill it.”

A moment later, she
pulled out behind him and followed. She realized she would probably regret this
tomorrow, but she didn’t allow that thought much space. She was here, and she
was going to go through with it. No amount of rationale would stop her. The
jealousy she had felt had been unexpected, as was the joy she felt now that
Kyle still wanted her. Sometimes it was best not to think.