Wrong Way Renee (23 page)

“
Mama
usually has us
all
over for dinner, but maybe after that.
For dessert or something?”

“Okay. Here we are. That's Wyatt's house.
”
He
tipped his chin
toward
one of the homes as
he
drove past
in search of a parking spot
.
As they strode toward his friend’s house, he didn’t say much.
A Black Eyed Peas
song blared as they entered. A tall gangly man with curly blonde hair greeted them.

“Hey, come on in. Who's this
?
”
The man looked Renee over.

“This is Renee. Renee, meet Wyatt,
”
h
e shouted over the music.

She
offer
ed her hand, but he grabbed her
and gave
her a bear hug instead, knocking her off balance. She leaned all her weight into him a
nd
they stumbled back together.

“Friendly, too.
”
Wyatt
laughed as he regained
his footing.
“Drink?”

“I'l
l have a beer, whatever's handy.
”
Joe
took her hand as they head
ed into the living room
which was filled to capacity with mostly big, burly men and a few women
.

“White wine,
”
sh
e said.

“Coming up. Make yourselves at home.
”
Wyatt disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he emerged with their drinks.
“Have you met Naomi yet, Joe?”

“Not yet. I was b
eginning to doubt her existence.
”

“She's a
round here somewhere. I swear
.
I’ll be right back
”
He
melted into the crowd
.

When the doorbell rang a minute later, a
short, buxom brunette, whom Renee surmised was
Naomi,
Wyatt's girlfriend, ran past them
to get
it.
“T
he newlyweds are here, Wyatt.”

Most of the guests crowded near the door. Renee looked at Joe who shrugged, then followed the rest of the party to the foyer.

Wyatt pushed his way throug
h the crowd. A Hispanic
couple stood in the doorway.
“Hey,
buddy, c
ongratulations. Introduce us to your new wife
.
”
He
draped
his arm around
Naomi’s shoulder
.

“Thank you, thank you. Guys, this is Eva. Eva, these are the guys. She doesn't speak much English.
”
The man stepped further into the foyer to shake hands with most of the men. When he got to Joe, he
clapped him on the back
.
“How you been, Joe?”

“Great. I didn't even know you were engaged. Congratulations. This is Renee, my
…
my girlfriend.
”
He
tucked her under his arm and she breathed in his scent and his comfort
.

The man took her right hand in both of his and shook it.
“
Pablo
Colon. Pleasure.”

“Nice to meet you,
”
she
said
.

Several of the men ushered
Pablo
into the living room where he disappeared in the midst of the throng. Joe and Renee stayed in the foyer.

“
Pablo
is a firefighter. He works at the same station as Wyatt,
”
Joe explained.
“We used to play on a softball t
eam together a few years back.”

Sh
e
scratched
her head, trying to recall something that hid just out of reach.

Wyatt approached them with
Naomi
on his arm.
“Joe, Renee,
this is
Naomi. I can't believe you've never met her, Joe. We've been together
…
I
don't know, six months, maybe longer. Feels like forever.”

Naomi playfully slapped
his
arm.
“It was a year last week. He
knows that. We celebrated it.”

“Oh, yeah, right. A year.
”
He winked at
her
.

Renee could tell they had a good time together.

“W
hat do you do, Renee?
”
Wyatt
sat
on the couch, pulling his girlfriend onto his lap.

“I'm a manicurist
. I own a salon on Elm Street.”

“Really? Which one?
”
Naomi asked.

“Hair Affair.”

“You're kidding. My
mom
gets her hair done there. Fr
an Goldstein. Do you know her?”

Sh
e chuckled.
“
I've known her for years. My partner, Becky does her hair. In fact, your mom and Becky's mom are good fr
iends. Myra Weiss is her name.”

“I've heard her talk about
Myra. What a small world, huh?”

The two women found a corner spot to talk. By the end of the evening,
sh
e
felt like Wyatt and Naomi were old friends of hers.

“Did you have a good time?
”
Joe
glanced over at her as he
drove her home.

She laid her hand on his
thigh and felt the sinewy muscle under his jeans
.
“I did. Your
friends are nice. I
really
like them. Naomi said she's going to
come by the salon
for
a manicure next week.”

“
You even managed to network. You re
ally know how to work a crowd.”

She’
d been
a little
nervous about the party, not knowing anyone who would be there
besides
Joe. But his presence
had
set her at ease. When they pulled into her complex, she unhooked her seatbelt, slid across the seat and l
eaned her head on his shoulder.
She hated that she couldn’t make love with him. But she had to make a decision between the men because she couldn’t resist him much longer.

“You okay?
”
he asked.

“I'm great.
I really like being with you.
”

“I like being wit
h you, too. Mind if I come up?”

“Th
at'd be nice.” She couldn’t bear to part with him yet.
They entered the dark apartment hand in hand.

“Don't turn on the lights yet.
”
His voice was a seductive whisper that sluiced over her like whipped cream. He slid his hands
around her waist. She automatically sucked in her gut.

“What did you do that for?
”
he asked.

“Do what?”

“You're hold
ing in your stomach.”

“Oh, that. I don't
want you to feel my fat belly.”

He dropped his
arms to his side
then turned on a light.
“Let's get one thing straight right here and now. I like you, for you. I don't want you to feel like you have to change anything for me. I want you exactly the
way you are. You're beautiful. And I can’t wait to see more of your gorgeous body.”

She got choked up with emotion
.
“Really?”

“
Really
.
”
He kissed her forehead, then her lips.

The back of her eyes burned but she’d look like a total dork if she shed any tears. She wanted him, craved him, but it wasn’t time. “I'm really tired. Can we call it a night?”

“Okay. It's a night.
Just kidding. I can take a hint. Good night.
”
He crushed her body against his, kissing her passionately, his tongue exploring her mouth.

She broke the kiss, afraid she might not be able to stop if they continued.
“Night.
”

“I said I can take a hint, didn't I?
”
He
stepped
back
and gave her a heated stare then he headed down the stairs
.

As s
he watched him
, her whole body tingling with an unquenched need
. He's the one, her heart said. He's the real thing.
She had to end things with Cleave.

* * * * *

Toy
waved a
s
Renee headed over to
a booth
by the window
at the Grey Wolf Café the next morning
. Sitting on the table
was a red gift bag stuffed with green tissue paper
.

“
Merry Christmas.” Renee hugged her friend then
handed her
a small gold wrapped box.
“You first.”

“If you insist.
”
Toy
tore open the paper and pulled out a velvet box with pair of gold earrings, each with a tiny gold f
lamingo hanging from the post.
“You remembered. I love them. Thank you.
”
Toy
had been collecting flamingos since her family had moved to Florida twenty years earlier.
She took the hoops out of her ears, replacing them with her new flamingo e
arrings.
“Now open yours. And be careful, it's fragile.
”

Renee reached into the bag and pulled out a flat, heavy object wrapped in tissue paper. She carefully laid it on the table and peeled away layer after layer of paper, then bubble wrap
until she revealed a mirrored plaque that said,
“Renee's Station.
”
H
ands, feet and little bottles of nail polish
were
painted
around the edges.
“Oh,
Toy
, it's perfect. I love it.”

“I had it made for you. I thought you'd like it.
”

After they ordered Caesar salads, Toy steepled her fingers on the table.
“
Now, tell me what's going on in your life? A
re you still seeing both guys?”

Thoughts of her dilemma darkened her mood.
“Yes. But let me get this out of the way first. In case you should happen to run into my
mother
, please tell her that you've been lonely an
d depressed over your divorce.”

“
Seriously? I've moved on from there
months ago.
”

“I know, but I used you as an excuse to leave a party Friday night. Please do this for me. Chances are you won't se
e her, but just in case.
”

“Yeah,
sure
. So why did you have to leave the party anyway?
”

“Where do I begin? My dad's office holiday party happened to be the same night as Joe's best friend's Christmas party. I agreed to go with Joe and then
Cleave
called to ask me to be
his date for the firm's party.”

She furrowed her brow
.
“Aha. I see your dilemma.
”

“K
nowing my folks would be there and all, I showed up for an hour and a half. Plus, I wanted to be
Cleave
's date. He's leaving for Atlanta tomorrow so he gave me my gift.
”
She held up her wrist.

“Very nice. A golf cart?”

“Long story. So I had to race home and change clothes for Joe's friend's party. Joe accused me of being ashamed of him because I didn't want anyone I knew to see me in his police car. “

“You? You're
not
like that.”

“I didn't think I was. But I realized I am
to some extent.
I'm too sn
obby to let my folks meet him.”

“But you have other reasons. Namely,
Cleave
.”