Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
THE PHONE RANG and rang. It felt sort of rude calling knowing that she wouldn’t get through to the person she actually wanted to talk to, but there were no alternatives.
“Hello?”
Okay, a male, definitely not Roxie, but without the smooth charm of Zairn.
“Hi, uh, my name is Harper Scott and—”
“She’s with Astrid,” he said. “Hold on, I’ll put you through.”
The line went quiet then beeped. One beep. Another. Roxie? He meant Roxie, right? If Roxie was busy, she didn’t want to interrupt whatever was going on. And Astrid. Who was Astrid? A friend? An employee? Those two probably weren’t mutually exclusive with Roxie.
“Hey! Harper!”
Yes, this was good. This was Roxie.
“Your parents aren’t rich, are they?”
“My parents?”
“They’re just like regular folks, no billions in the bank?”
“No, why? If you need money, I can hit up my guy. I’ve paid him plenty in sex. Hell, what am I saying? I have access to the accounts. No sex required. Let’s clear him out and fly to Tahiti.”
Damn, she wished she was in the mood to enjoy that joke.
“How did you introduce your parents to Zairn? Were they cool? How was Zairn afterward, pissed off? Were you mortified?”
“I don’t really do mortified. Though I guess I did that first day, my dad is so…
First time they talked, I wasn’t sleeping with Zairn.
It was more… business. Now they talk to each other more than I talk to either of them.
God knows what they talk about. Men things?
Oh, no, I don’t want them talking about men things.
Sport? No. Hobbies? Zairn’s hobby is screwing me, so hopefully not that either. The weather…?”
She exhaled. Yeah, that was her luck. Of course she was the only one with embarrassing parents.
“Fantastic,” she said, flat, frustrated.
“Your folks want to meet Bastian, huh?”
“They want to have dinner this week. And Bastian’s talking about it like it will really happen.”
“Dinner’s not a bad first parent date. Go out though. You don’t want to cook or be stuck at home all night with no escape. Or worse, at Bastian’s place and you can’t get them to leave.”
“Yeah, we’ll go out.
“Bastian will get you a reservation somewhere real impressive. Me and Z can—hey! Wait a second, Harper, honey. The emperor just walked in.” Roxie’s voice got louder. “Yo, Skippy! What do you and my dad talk about?”
“How much we love you.” Quick answer from Zairn there in the background. “What else is there to talk about?”
“Good point,” Roxie said like she totally believed it.
“They’ll say things to him,” she whispered, unable to shake the chills. “My parents will say things to Bastian.”
“He can say things back,” Roxie said. “Want me and Z to come with you? I can single-handedly fill an entire conversation for the duration of a dinner. No problem! I’m great at monologuing. No one else will get a word in.”
“She’s not kidding,” Zairn said, closer, but still in the background. “Who are we joining for dinner?”
“Harper and Bastian. And Harper’s parents.”
“We have the thing downstairs later.”
“It’s not tonight,” Roxie said to Zairn then switched to her. “It’s not tonight, right, Harper?”
“No, and thank you, but no. You don’t have to come. No way. I’m terrified enough of them meeting Bastian, if I was to bring you and Zairn Lomond too…” Her head moved slow as it shook. “I’d never be able to look any of you in the eye again.”
“I’m just a regular Joe, no one cares about me.
” That wasn’t her experience. “And Zairn can switch it all off, he does brooding and boring every night at the club, he won’t say a word.
” So Roxie wouldn’t shut up and Zairn wouldn’t speak?
A match made in heaven. “And don’t think of him as the legend, Z’s just…
another guy at the table you’re not sleeping with. ”
Her mouth opened because she’d intended to say something. What? She couldn’t remember. No, her lips slowly met again because… how did she—should she… Oh, boy.
“Uh…”
“Uh…?” Roxie asked then gasped. “Oh my God! You slept with him!” This time she had to tuck her lips in her mouth, squeezing them closed in her teeth. “You had sex with—good for you, girl—Z, Bastian had sex last night!”
“I’ll call Reuters and AP,” Zairn muttered.
“Ignore him, oh my God, was it good?” Roxie asked.
“Is he good? What does it mean? Are you together for real now? Was it a one-night thing? Do you regret it? I guess you only regret it if it sucked. It would have to really suck. Did it suck? Because you can come back from that. If you want to. Do you want to?”
“Breathe, Lola,” Zairn said. “Shit, give the woman a damn chance.”
“Oh, hush, Skippy,” Roxie huffed. “It’s your fault I don’t get to live the thrill of a new guy. Won’t ever again. Proud of that?”
“Yeah, actually,” Zairn said with obvious swagger. “You’re welcome.”
“If you want to keep that smug smile of yours, I have to live vicariously through my friends.”
“I don’t really know how…” Harper started. Details? What should she share? What did it mean? Damn, that was a good question. “It happened at his mom’s, we stayed there last night.”
“Wow, right there in the Hunt mansion? Phew, that screams urgent. I love urgent sex.”uHun
“We didn’t mean to—I didn’t mean to—it was just… I don’t know what it means.”
“Did you ask him?”
“No, we… I don’t know, we just…”
“Lived in the moment. That’s okay. Do you want it to mean anything? I’ve got to say, you look good together and Bastian was… obsessed last night.”
She tsked. “He was not.”
“You didn’t see it, the rest of us saw it. He barely took his eyes off you all night. He’s into you. I’ve seen husbands less interested in their wives. Mine included.”
“If I stared at you all night, Lola, you’d blindfold me again.”
Again?
“Only to have my fun, and you do stare at me all night, Casanova,” Roxie said. “Checking out how many of your spondoolies I’m frittering away.”
Except they owned the club and she’d never seen money change hands.
“Gotta keep an eye on my investment,” Zairn said. “And you want faithful? It’s your fault I don’t get to live the thrill of a new gal, Empress. Can’t let that pussy get too far when it’s the only one I’m allowed to play with.”
“We’re talking about Harper’s pussy right now, Skippy. Get in line. I’m sorry, honey. Z’s pussy-obsessed.”
“Always worked for you before, Lola.”
“Ignore my guy. We’re talking about yours. Bastian. How was he?”
“Good. Amazing.”
“You don’t have to be polite,” Roxie said. “Bastian’s a nice guy. Sometimes it’s like that, you know, they do their best, and you don’t want to be rude—”
“Not something you’ve ever worried about, babe.”
“What do you know about women, Skippy? Sometimes we do that, sometimes we lay there, we smile—”
“You don’t smile when we’re having sex.”
“And what does that tell you, Casanova? Anyway, you never see anything during sex, you’re too cross-eyed because I feel so good.”
“Why do you think I married you? I don’t care if it’s good for you, just need a good woman to do her part.”
“What? Lay there? Open her legs?”
“Qualities you excel in, dear.”
“Why are you part of this conversation anyway? This is girl talk. Aren’t you the same guy I kicked out of bed this morning? Sex pest. You’re stalking me.”
“Finally she figures it out.”
On a sigh, Harper murmured, “You’re incredible together.”
The pressure of drama and anxiety eased in the aura of the newlyweds’ love.
“So people keep telling me, I don’t see it myself.”
But she did. Roxie was great at flirting and laughter, great with sass and banter. Underneath that, it was impossible not to notice how the couple tracked each other in every room. Love looked like them together. They lived the fantasy.
“I’m sorry I called to unload on you.”
“I’m exactly who you call,” Roxie said. “Tibbs knew to put you right through, he’s good that way. Keeps the defenses high when we need him and ducks out the way when we don’t. Somehow, he divines it.”
“Helps he has no life,” Zairn said, coming and going in whatever he was doing.
“Tibbs has a life, in spite of your attempts to stifle him. Poor boy.”
“He’s only got another couple of years to worry about, then we’ll set him free. Maybe then he’ll get laid.”
“Oh, that boy gets laid. Don’t you be worrying about that.”
“He gets—who?”
“He didn’t violate your sister.” Roxie’s voice came closer. “Which I know for sure because Z doesn’t have a sister.”
“Lo…”
“What? Stop looking at me like that,” Roxie said, enjoying her superior position. “I’m not talking to you about the sex lives of other men. What kind of husband asks his wife to talk about other men’s sex lives?”
“You brought it up.”
“I did not! You said the thing about him getting laid.”
“Which was a joke, and you knew that, which means you want to tell me this secret.”
“It’s not a secret. I tell you when I have secrets.”
“Like walking in on Knox and Jane together.”
“Yes, like that. See, I didn’t tell you the secret, only that I had one, so you couldn’t be mad when you found out.”
“We both keep people’s confidences.”
“There you go, ha, topic concluded.”
“Not topic concluded. You said this wasn’t a secret.”
“And you said we keep people’s confidences. Is this one of those situations where I need to distract you with sex?”
“I’d say yes, but I have ten guys waiting downstairs for me.”
“Oh, Casanova, I have them queuing around the block.”
“I know, we sell tee-shirts and Crimson-branded condoms. Rouge Rubbers.”
“Ha, funny, I see what you did there. Are they actually rouge? That’s a missed opportunity.”
“Roxie’s Rouge Rubbers?”
“Bam, man, there’s your winner. Can they be Gin & It flavored?”
“Ah, baby,” Zairn drawled, “we make a helluva team.”
“My inspired ideas make you so much dough, it’s a wonder Ogilvie ever had a problem with me.”
“Triple-R, not triple-X.”
“To go with our Triple Seven,” Roxie declared on a brief laugh.
“They’ll be put into production immediately.”
“Don’t I need to approve the flavor first? Does it have to be done in a factory setting?”
Zairn’s snicker was almost a groan. “Alone in the dark, you and me.”
“It’s a date—ah, uh-uh—” Roxie interrupted herself to exclaim, “I don’t think so!”
Didn’t make sense to her, or Zairn either. “Don’t think so—”
“You kiss me goodbye before you walk out on me, Casanova,” Roxie said, affronted. A few seconds past. “There see, thank you.”
“Happy wife,” he murmured. “Happy life.”
“And don’t you forget it. Good, thank you. Now you can go,” Roxie said. “Don’t know what he was thinking.” Her friend’s volume rose. “What if your elevator plummets to the lobby, Casanova? That kiss might be our last!”
“Am I interrupting?” she asked after a couple of beats. “I should’ve just text. I’ll text next time.”
“No, call, always call. Texting is complicated because it goes to Z’s phone and Tibbs has to filter it. Sending it to Astrid is more—just call.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“And I meant what I said, Z and I will come if you want. He doesn’t have to do the brooding thing.
It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve trotted out Z’s charm to win over parents.
I’m not even talking my parents, I mean for other people in our circle.
He doesn’t have to be getting laid to go on the offensive for you or Bastian. ”
“Bastian thinks it’s no big deal,” she said. “But I know what my parents are like.”
“We judge the world based on our perception of it. You’ve got to look at this as a good thing. If Bastian can handle your parents, he can handle anything.”
Except they had no future. This wasn’t the start of something. In fact, they should be thinking about winding it up. It had already gone too far. Far too far. Did that mean she’d get out of the dinner? No. Probably not.