Chapter 7
Seven
Oh shit.
Clearly, this wasn’t leading to anything good. Michael shuffled through his belongings cluttering the hallway outside Stacy’s room. He should call housekeeping to clear away the glass from the broken bottle of vodka, but first, he needed to see Stacy and make sure she was all right. His skin tightened. Fuck. He was actually nervous.
What had gone wrong? Thank God she’d given him her extra keycard. He slid it into the lock and opened the door.
Darkness flooded the room. He switched on the light. Stacy was on the bed lying on her back, still in her scarlet formal gown, one arm flung over her eyes.
His heart thumped. “Stace?”
“Go away, Michael,” she said without moving.
“Are you okay? Why are my things in the hallway?”
She snorted. “As if you don’t know.”
“I don’t know, Stace. What’s going on?”
“Get out.”
“Not until you tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. Now, get out.”
He inched toward the bed. “Please, baby. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Ask Dino and Ronnie. They’ll tell you.”
“I haven’t seen Dino and Ronnie. You didn’t come back for our dance, and I started to get worried. So I went looking for you.”
“Too bad you didn’t find Dino and Ronnie.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck about Dino and Ronnie right now, damn it! I only care about you!”
She scoffed. “Right.”
His heart burst with sensation he couldn’t describe. Worry. Intense longing. Sadness. What the hell was happening to him?
“Stace…”
“Get out, Michael.”
“Won’t you talk to me? Come on. You owe me that much.”
She sat upright, her big baby browns afire. “Owe you? I don’t owe you a goddamned thing, Michael Moretti. If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that .”
“But we shared—“
“We shared a fuck, Michael. A fuck. I knew what it was from the beginning. Don’t think I didn’t. I knew you didn’t want me for me. I’m not an idiot, for God’s sake.”
“I did want you. I swear—”
“Shut up! Just shut the fuck up. I can’t stand to listen to any more of your lies.”
“Lies? I never lied to you, Stacy. I swear.”
“God, you sling such bullshit. Do you ever listen to yourself?”
“I—”
“Too bad you didn’t run into Dino and Ronnie. They’d have clued you in. Let’s just say I stumbled into a very interesting conversation between your roomie and his current squeeze—and Ronnie deserves better, by the way.”
Oh, God. Michael’s insides squirmed. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. He’d told Dino… Oh fuck .
Why did it matter? Women like Stacy were a dime a dozen, right? One rich older woman would give way to another, and then another, all too happy to pay for the privilege of his companionship.
Right?
Isn’t that how it was supposed to work?
So why did it matter? So he’d invested twenty-four hours in Stacy Summers. Sure, she was easy on the eyes. Very easy. Damned good in bed too. But there were others just as easy on the eyes, just as good in bed, probably some with more money even. Chalk it up to experience and take the loss. Try again tomorrow. Tomorrow’s another day and all that.
But Stacy… Fuck. He liked her. He really liked her. Liked fucking her. Liked sky diving with her. Hell, he liked talking to her. Who’d have thought?
“Listen, Stacy, I don’t know what Dino told you—”
“He didn’t tell me anything. He didn’t have to tell me anything. I just got a clue, that’s all. I’m a smart girl. You don’t have to draw me a picture.”
“So he didn’t tell you about—”
“Hello? Are you listening? He didn’t tell me anything. He told Ronnie, and I overheard it. Now, get out. I’m not anyone’s sugar mama.”
Fuck . “God, Stace. I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
“So am I.” She lay back down. “No, I’m not. I’m glad I know. I’m glad I know who you really are. What kind of man you really are. To think, I almost…”
“Almost what?”
“Never mind. Get out, Michael.”
“Stace. Please. Can’t we talk about this?”
“Talk about what? Are you going to deny what Dino said.”
“Dino has a big mouth.”
“I’m thankful he does.”
“Yeah. Well, he’ll hear from me. But Stace, I…” Words hung on his tongue, caught between mind and voice. He wasn’t quite sure how to vocalize them.
“Good bye, Michael.”
“What about our day together? Hell, what about our night together?”
“It was a fun romp. Now, it’s over. Ciao .”
“Can’t we—”
She sat up again and reached for the phone. “No, we can’t. Now leave, or I’ll have you removed.”
Michael exhaled. He knew when he’d been beaten. He just never expected to take anything this hard. Where were these feelings coming from?
He turned, walked toward the door, and opened it. He didn’t look back.
That it took so much effort not to surprised him.
* * *
“Thanks a lot, pal.”
Dino took a swig of his beer. “Hey, Ronnie and I tried to find you. I managed to do some damage control with her, but—”
“But nothing. Why didn’t either of you go after Stacy?”
“Why would we? I mean, it’s not like—”
“Damn it, Dino, I thought we were friends.”
“Hell, Mike, you never said it was a secret.”
“You really do have a brain the size of a pea, don’t you?” Michael shook his head. “Does it take a genius to know you don’t go telling a woman’s friend what your friend has in mind for her friend?”
“Well, get a load of that. You actually have feelings for the woman.”
“You’re full of it. I loved a woman once. It’s not worth the heartache.”
“You can’t always control your feelings, Michael. Even a pea brain like me knows that. Maybe you didn’t mean to develop feelings for Stacy, but you did all the same.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“If you didn’t have feelings, you wouldn’t be so upset about this.”
He shook his head. “Yes, I have feelings. Feelings of the loss of twenty-four hours of this conference. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don’t want to start the whole process over? I invested a lot of time here. Maybe I found the woman I wanted, and now you fucked it up.”
“There’re a million women just as hot with just as much money who’d be glad to…”
Michael stopped listening. Yeah, he knew the drill. He’d gone through it in his own mind a thousand times since he’d left Stacy lying in bed, since he’d packed up his belongings in the hallway, since he’d picked up the blue glass from the broken vodka bottle. Yup, a million women. The thought should appease him.
It didn’t, which mystified him.
“I told Ronnie. She understood. Said she’d talk to Stacy.”
Dino’s words sliced through the fog in Michael’s brain. “Told Ronnie what?”
“About Beth. She nearly cried. She—”
“For God’s sake!” Michael resisted the urge to pull his own hair out. “What the fuck did I ever do to you?”
“I was trying to control the damage! Fuck. I thought you’d appreciate—”
“Appreciate you spilling my life story to a complete stranger? Jesus Christ, Dino.”
Michael seethed. Anger boiled inside him. Anger at Dino. Anger at Stacy for not listening to him. Anger at Beth for abandoning him all those years ago…
“I have to get out of here,” he said, his blood boiling. “I need a drink. Or a smoke. Or something. God damn it! Anything!” His emotions rocked, threatened to spill into something unnameable. Something he couldn’t fathom. His father. His asshole father….
He couldn’t stay here. Couldn’t go to Stacy for the comfort he craved in her arms.
Where to go?
Where?
He slammed the door.
* * *
Stacy pasted a smile on her face as she signed another book. These were her fans, the people who supported her, fed her, clothed her. She adored every one of them, and by God, she’d act her part today if it killed her. None of them would know her heart had been shattered into a billion tiny fragments.
“Thank you so much,” the gushing woman said, taking her book. “I just love your work. Starr Shannon is one of my favorite characters.”
“Thank you,” Stacy said. “It means so much to a writer when a person enjoys her work.”
“Could I ask you a question?”
Stacy nodded. “Of course.”
“Have you ever considered making Starr a cougar?”
“A cougar?”
“Yeah, you know, give her a lover who’s significantly younger? Like seven years or more?”
A cougar? Seven years or more? Michael was thirty-six to her forty-five. Did that make her—Stacy—a cougar?
Of course not, because they weren’t in a relationship. They’d never been in a relationship. A one-night fuck did not a cougar make.
“I just always thought of Starr as the perfect cougar,” the fan went on. “She’s so sure of herself and so vibrant. I think a younger man would find her extremely sexy, and think of all she could teach him in the bedroom!”
Stacy let out a high-pitched laugh. Ha! A cougar teaching her younger man. A cub, isn’t that what the younger lover was called? Heck, she hadn’t taught Michael a thing. He’d taught her . Given her her first orgasm, no less.
But Starr… Starr could be a worthy instructor.
“Thank you”—she glanced at the woman’s name tag—“Mary. I think that’s a great idea. Starr would make a wonderful cougar.”
“I’m so glad you think so!”
“In fact, when I write her cougar story, I’ll dedicate it to you, how about that?”
“Oh my!” Mary nearly jumped out of her jeans. “That would be amazing!”
“Do you have a card?”
“No. I’m not an author, just a reader. I love these conferences.”
“Here then.” Stacy handed Mary one of her business cards. “Write down your full name and your email address, and I’ll be in touch.”
Mary hastily jotted down her information and handed the card back to Stacy.
“Thanks, Mary.” She gestured to the freebies on her table. “Don’t forget to take some book marks and other goodies, okay? Thanks so much for stopping by.”
“Not a problem,” Mary gushed. “Not a problem at all!”
As Mary left the table, her hands full of Stacy’s bookmarks, Stacy took a long drink from her bottle of water. She checked her watch. One more hour of book signing. One more hour. Her bags were packed and waiting at the front desk. Once the book signing was over, she was off to the airport to catch the next flight home on standby. She wasn’t waiting until tomorrow.
She just couldn’t.
She took another sip of water and swiped her hand across her brow. Damn, it was hot in here! It wouldn’t hurt to get up for a few minutes. Take a quick walk to see if she could cool off. If nothing else, she could splash some cool water on her face in the restroom.
She stood and hurried away before anyone else came to her table. Once in the bathroom, she turned on the faucet and filled her palms with the cool liquid. She splashed it on her face and then regarded her reflection. Her eyes were still puffy from all the crying last night.
Well, nothing could be done about that. The cool water would help, at least.
She splashed her face again and then once more still before turning off the faucet and drying her skin gently with a paper towel.
Eyes were still a bit swollen, but at least her cheeks were rosy and healthy looking. She quickly took a lipstick out of her handbag and applied it.
Not too bad , she thought, and headed back to the book signing.
Just as she was about to turn the corner to head into the ballroom where the signing was held, someone gripped her shoulder.
She jumped and soon found herself backed against the wall.
“It’s just me, Stace.”
That voice. That voice that had moaned her name.
“We need to talk, baby.”