“Last call to dig for dirt,” Aidan announces, downing his drink. “I’ll tell you anything.”
“Come to think of it,” I start. “I just wondered… the day we met, Landon thought I was a hooker you sent to his suite.”
“Ouch,” Aidan manages to look shamefaced. “The thing is… It was his birthday, I was so caught up in the play, and I forgot to give him a present. We were having dinner and somehow, we started to have a conversation about the benefits of paid sex versus relationships. I’ve paid for sex. He hasn’t. I offered to prove the benefits by sending him a hooker, but he refused. When you arrived, he must have assumed that I ignored his wishes, as I have been known to do.”
“Oh…”
Aidan shrugs. “I hope I cleared that up.”
“Cleared what up?”
I look up to see Landon. “Nothing.” I smile at him, “we were just talking about the play.”
He looks as if he doesn’t believe me, but he takes his seat, and Aidan resumes his good-natured storytelling.
“Are you ready to go home?” Landon asks me after a while.
“Yes,” I turn to Aidan. “It was really great to meet you.”
He grins, “Likewise.”
After we say goodnight, Landon follows me to the street, where Joe is waiting at the curb. Standing beside the car, he takes my face in his hands and gives me a deep kiss. “I have to stay. Aidan and I have some things to discuss. Joe will take you home.”
I try to keep the disappointment out of my face. I had assumed that to
night would end with us finding the inevitable pleasure in each other’s arms. “Okay,” I sigh.
“See you soon,” he says, opening the door for me.
“Yeah,” I reply. “See you soon.”
LAURIE is still awake when I get home. She’s sitting yoga style on the couch while watching a late night reality show.
“Where’s Brett,” I ask.
She shakes her head slowly. “He left. We had a fight.”
Frowning, I move closer to peer at her face, and just as I thought, her eyes are red-rimmed. “What happened?”
She sighs. “Some girl called Emily… She started working at the gym a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday she came on to him. The skank.”
I collapse on one of the chairs and kick off my shoes. “How did you find out?”
“Brett told me.”
“And you fought with him? That’s nuts.”
“It’s not nuts when I knew she was interested in him. I told him she might misunderstand his flirtiness.”
I sigh. Laurie has always felt that Brett pays too much unnecessary attention to members of the opposite sex. “You mean friendliness.”
She rolls her eyes. “Come on. You and I both know how easy it is for some women to mistake his friendliness for flirtation. I don’t know why he can’t be a little more reserved.”
“I’m sorry Laurie,” I say with a shrug. “But if some bimbo tried to get in his pants, so what? He didn’t let her.”
“I know.” She gives me a small smile. “I didn’t plan to get angry. I just… couldn’t help myself after a while. I said some things Rach.” She puts her head in her hands. “God, I hate it when we fight.”
“I know.” I move to join her on the couch and put an arm around her shoulders. “It never lasts though.”