“Oh.” Megan’s heavily weighted response left a thousand things unsaid.
“Have you heard about the Peeping Tom? There was a piece on the news about the case tonight. They’re calling him the Condo Creeper. She’s worried that the lurker she heard outside might have been him.”
“She should be so lucky,” Megan muttered.
Riley ignored her comment, unwilling to deal with any further spitefulness from Megan after her open-ended conversation with her father, and she still had no clue as to why he had phoned her in the first place. Bill did not generally lift the phone to call his daughters for the mere pleasure of hearing their voices. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so quick to cut him off, perhaps she should have waited until he’d said what he had to say. “I’m about to get in the car. Why did you call me?”
“No reason. I just phoned for a chat but you’ve obviously got better things to do with your time.” The surliness of Megan’s pout, and Riley was absolutely certain she was pouting, seeped through into the bones of her words.
“Are we still going out for dinner on Thursday night?” Riley was irritated that she felt the need to offer an olive branch. It was Megan’s choice to be jealous over her friendship with Briar and it wasn’t her role to pour oil on troubled waters. They were grown women, for goodness sake, not a bunch of over-emotional, hormonal teenage girls.
“I’m not sure. I’ll let you know.”
Riley’s patience was gone. “Can you snap out of it? I’ve got a lot on my mind and I don’t have time to mollycoddle you.”
“Have fun with Briar.” Megan abruptly ended the call.
Riley wrenched open the car door and tossed her suitcase inside. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why did people have to be so complicated?
Chapter Thirteen
Briar seemed remarkably calm and collected for someone who was supposedly terrified at the thought of spending time alone in her apartment while a crazed lurker watched on from outside. “Riley! You took so long to get here.” She grabbed Riley’s arm and pulled her into her apartment, nearly pulling her off balance in her excitement. “I was just about to order some dinner. What do you feel like eating?”
“Uh...” Riley looked around, surprised to see candles burning from strategic spots around the room and soft music playing from speakers on the bookshelf. “Sorry I’m late. I was worried that you might be getting nervous here by yourself.”
“No, I’m not nervous at all.” She took Riley’s suitcase from her hand and led her up the short hallway. “This is your room. I hope you like it.” She stood aside to allow Riley to enter.
Riley blinked. Yet more softly flickering candles threw a subdued glow across the bedroom, a fresh vase of dark red roses, the color almost black in its intensity sat on the chest of drawers, and the crisp white sheets on the bed were neatly turned back. A silky pale pink negligee lay draped elegantly over the end of the bed, as if someone had arranged it there in preparation for a lingerie shoot. “Oh, you really shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.”
“It wasn’t any trouble.” Briar walked into the room behind her and sat her suitcase on the floor. She waved her hand over the bed to indicate the negligee. “I thought you might have forgotten to bring a nightgown so I’ve loaned you one of mine.”
“I didn’t forget to bring one,” Riley said, made uncomfortable by the unexpectedly romantic scene Briar had staged in the bedroom. She flashed Briar a quick smile and hurriedly retreated to the living room. “Should we order dinner now? It’s getting late.”
Everything began to feel more normal after their food arrived and the women settled down in the living room to eat. Briar had offered Riley a glass of wine but Riley declined, stating that she needed a clear head for work in the morning.
“This is good.” Briar tapped the top of her Thai curry carton with her chopsticks. She was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, wearing baggy grey sweatpants and a low-cut t-shirt. The glow from the candles cast a flattering light across her attractive features and the curve of her full breasts were clearly visible above the V of her shirt. “I hadn’t tried that place before but one of the guys at work recommended it.”
“It is good.” Riley sat her carton on the coffee table and picked up her water glass. “Have you ever had a workplace romance? You work in a male-dominated industry and you have done for a long time. It must have come up at some stage.”
Briar stared thoughtfully into the middle distance, considering her reply as a deep-throated singer crooned a love song from the pair of heart-shaped, teenage pink speakers on the shelf. Riley was mildly amused by some of the more girly additions to Briar’s décor. She had never thought of Briar as the sort of person to harbor a fondness for distinctly feminine furnishings but then again, there were a scattering of masculine touches in the room. The flashy red model Ferrari on the shelf above the speakers for instance, and the cut glass whiskey decanter and glasses beside it. Anyway, what right did she have to decide the suitability of household items based on something as flimsy and untenable as gender? There was nothing stopping a woman from displaying a model car or drinking whiskey purely because she enjoyed them.
“It can get flirty on the site sometimes,” Briar said at last. “Especially during breaks. One of the guys might make a coarse joke and one of the other guys will bring me into, thinking that he’s being funny or clever. Sexual banter is usually on a low simmer, always there somewhere in the background, although of course the company policy expressly forbids it. But no, I can’t say that I’ve ever had a workplace romance. Is this about that creepy guy Paul in your office?”
“Did you think he was creepy?”
“Maybe not creepy, but he certainly struck me as intense. Do you want to watch something? There might be a movie on.” As Briar leaned over to pick up the TV remote the opening of her t-shirt gaped open, displaying a large portion of her breast and the edge of a black, lacy bra.
Riley hastily looked away as she rose to collect the empty food cartons. “Sounds good, but I’m not planning on having a late night. I’m already feeling drowsy.”
***
“Riley.”
Riley popped her eyes open to see Briar leaning over her with her hand on her shoulder, smiling as she gently shook her awake. “You fell asleep and you missed the end of the movie.”
“Oh.” Riley sat up and rubbed at her eyes. “What happened? Did the husband do it?”
“Doesn’t the husband always do it?” Briar squeezed onto the armchair beside her, although there wasn’t enough room for both of them. Her hipbone pressed into Riley’s thigh and their knees touched. “You look exhausted. You should go to bed.”
“Do you mind? Sorry, I haven’t been great company.” She eased past Briar to stand up. “Should we check that everything is securely locked so you can sleep without worrying?”
“I’ve already done it.” Briar raised her arms above her head and stretched. The hem of her t-shirt rode up to reveal a slither of her taut, tanned abdomen. “You can use the bathroom first if you like. I’ve left a fresh towel on your bed.”
Riley looked around the room at the candles, which were now burning smoky and low. “How long was I asleep for?”
“An hour or so.” Briar grinned at her. “Don’t worry, you didn’t snore.”
“You should have woken me up.”
“You obviously needed your sleep. You sleep like an angel, by the way. I was watching you.”
Riley gave a light laugh and started to move towards her bedroom. There were so many facets of this evening that had caught her off guard. How well did she really know Briar? They hadn’t been friends for all that long. She was proving to be a complex personality and Riley had the distinct impression that there was still more to discover. “I’m sure I didn’t look too angelic with my mouth hanging open and a dribble of drool running down the side of my face. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You will. Sleep well.” Briar didn’t look in her direction as
she started to extinguish the candle flames.
Riley went into her bedroom to fetch the towel and her nightgown. The negligee had gone from the end of the bed. She took her nightgown and toothbrush from her suitcase and carried them through to the bathroom next door. The living room was empty now but she could hear Briar moving around in the compact kitchen. Briar’s bedroom door stood open and Riley glanced curiously inside as she passed. A large bed topped with a deep purple bedcover and a herd of multi-colored throw cushions dominated the room, and a sensual painting of a naked man and woman romping in sun-dappled woods took up most of the wall above the bed. Was it one of Briar’s?
She locked the bathroom door behind her and switched on the shower. While she was waiting for the water to heat up, she idly opened a cupboard to peruse the bathroom shelves, skimming her eyes over the regular assortment of body lotion, tampons, and perfume bottles stacked inside. She stopped and looked again, startled to see a well-known brand of men’s shaving cream and deodorant nestled up close to the box of tampons. They looked out of place in a single woman’s bathroom but then again, Briar had made it clear that she was no stranger to one-night stands. Perhaps the toiletries were there to make her male guests feel welcome. Putting the men’s products out of her mind as unimportant, Riley stepped out of her clothes and climbed into the shower.
Briar’s bedroom door was shut when Riley left the bathroom, and the living room and kitchen lights had been switched off. Riley called out a good night as she went into her own room and closed the door, but she didn’t hear Briar respond. She blew out the candles on the bedside cabinet and the chest of drawers before falling into the comforting cocoon of the bed. She was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.
Some time later, a sudden noise or movement penetrated her slumber, piercing the wall of sleep. She muttered and turned over, thinking she might have imagined it, but something made her open her eyes to stare out into the darkened room.
There was someone standing over her bed.
Chapter Fourteen
Riley gasped and reared up, pushing herself back against her pillows as she struggled to make out the figure in the thick gloom of the room. “What are you doing in here?”
“Hmmm? Riley?” Briar’s voice was faraway and dreamy and the shadowy figure did not move away from the side of the bed.
Riley threw off the blankets and scrambled down to the end of the mattress on all fours. She jumped off the bed and dragged her hand along the wall until she hit the light switch, flooding the room with the bright glare of the single lightbulb. Briar, wearing the pale pink negligee and with her hair in sexy, tousled disarray, blinked sleepily across the room at her.
“What are you doing in my bedroom?” Riley demanded. Her voice sounded too harsh and too loud in the nighttime quiet of the apartment.
Briar seemed confused. She blankly looked around, her movements stiff and disjointed, before slowly turning back to face Riley. “I don’t know why I’m in here.”
Riley remained where she was, not sure what to believe. Briar looked disorientated but she too was still trying to drag herself out of her dreams. She’d closed her door before she went to bed, she was certain of it.
“I sleepwalk,” Briar said, starting to sound more lucid and more like herself again.
Riley nodded. She didn’t know much about sleepwalking – did sufferers of the condition generally open doors or perform other activities as easily as if they were wide-awake?
“I’ve done it since I was a kid. Sorry. I must have given you such a fright.”
Riley softened at once. “Are you ok? Isn’t it dangerous to wake a sleepwalker? I shouldn’t have shouted at you.”
“I think that’s just an old wives’ tale. My brothers always delighted in waking me up in the middle of a sleepwalk and it didn’t seem to do me any harm.” Briar was talking normally now, as if they were holding this conversation in the middle of the day. “And now we’re both awake. Do you want a hot drink before we go back to bed?”
Riley looked longingly at the soft, inviting bed.
“It will help me get back to sleep if I have someone to talk to,” Briar wheedled. The satiny fabric of the negligee clung enticingly to her curves and one of the straps had fallen off her shoulder. She looked sexy and exciting, like a top class, highly paid model who had just stepped off an international catwalk. Did she know how inviting she looked, was she aware of the sensuality of her sleep-tousled state?
Riley forced a smile to her face. “Ok. Just a quick drink and then we can go back to bed.”
Briar went out to the kitchen while Riley, suddenly chilled after leaving the warmth of her bed, grabbed a cardigan from her suitcase and draped it over her shoulders. As she pushed her hand through the sleeve, her gaze full upon the small bookcase set close behind the door, an item of furniture that she’d barely looked at last night before she fell exhaustedly into bed. The shelves held a few books, mostly computer manuals of the ‘How To’ kind, another sleek model car, and an ornately carved wooden box with a tarnished brass latch. Incongruously, a framed movie poster of Vin Diesel surrounded by cars and gazing with smoldering intensity over one bare bronzed shoulder hung above the bookcase.
“I have some full cream milk here if you feel like treating yourself,” Briar called from the kitchen. “I bought it by mistake.”
“No, I’ll have mine the same way as I normally have it. It’s probably not a good idea to have anything too rich in the middle of the night.” She gave the poster one last puzzled glance and left the room to join Briar in the kitchen. The lights were bright out here, giving a false sense of daytime, and the kettle had already begun to boil merrily on the stovetop.
“It’s so pretty. I’ve noticed that you always wear it.” Briar unexpectedly lifted the R pendant from where it hung above Riley’s cleavage, bending her head for a moment to study it more closely. She was very near and Riley’s nostrils filled with the fruity scent of her shampoo. She held herself very still, unwilling to move until Briar released the pendant. The side of Briar’s hand stroked lightly across her skin for an instant before she dropped the chain. Riley took a quick step backwards in order to regain her personal space and the edge of the counter jabbed hard into her back.
“My father gave it to me for a 21st present.”
“The two of you must be very close.”
“No. We’re not close at all, although we used to be. I think I wear it because it reminds me of what we used to have, of what I’ve lost.” The idea saddened her.
Briar’s eyes shone but she moved imperceptibly, shifting before Riley could determine whether it was the shine of tears. “Now I’ve made you sad. Does talking about him make you sad?”
“I’m not sad, I’m just tired,” Riley said quickly. A middle of the night conversation about Bill was the last thing she wanted. She took herself out of the kitchen, allowing the counter to serve as a physical barrier between her and Briar. Everything felt surreal, as if she was still in the middle of a dream, and her tongue lay thick and clumsy in her mouth.
“Tell me about him,” Briar said softly. “You don’t talk much about your family.”
Riley stared down at her hands where she’d rested them on the countertop. “I was shocked when I discovered that he’d been having an affair. I knew that his marriage to my mother wasn’t perfect but I thought they would get through it. The part that hurt me the most was that I didn’t see it coming and I’d always believed that I was Dad’s confidant, his sounding board. I thought we shared everything, but it seems there are some things a man can’t share with his teenage daughter.”
“Did it blow over after the marriage ended? The affair, I mean. Often a man will use an affair as an excuse to end an unhappy marriage.”
“I don’t think she was Bill’s excuse. He’d moved her into his condo before the ink was dry on the divorce papers and they were together for at least a year afterwards. I think he did really care about her.” She roused herself before she san
k too deeply into the troublesome past. “I don’t like talking about that part of my life. Tell me about the sleepwalking. When did it start?”
“I wasn’t very old. Maybe eight or nine at the time.” Briar pushed a mug of cocoa across the counter and picked up her own mug. “I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, but I come from a big noisy family. Wrong side of the tracks, a mother who drank to forget, an absent father.” She grinned, apparently unconcerned by the harsh reality of her checkered history. “I was the only girl, which probably explains why I’m so comfortable working around a bunch of men. My brothers’ attitude towards me veered widely between over-protective and mean.”
Riley lifted an eyebrow as she took a sip of cocoa. It was too sweet, sickly sweet, but she would drink it anyway so they could get back to bed. “Mean? Is that why the sleepwalking started?”
“They weren’t mean in a nasty, vindictive way. They liked to play pranks and sometimes people got hurt. Practical jokes have a way of backfiring.” She didn’t elaborate and instead switched back to the topic of sleepwalking. “My mother took me to see a couple of specialists. They all said that I’d eventually grow out of my nocturnal wanderings but I guess they were wrong.”
“Do... do you think you might have been sleepwalking last night when you thought you heard an intruder?” Riley asked carefully, not wanting to lay any blame without more information.
“No. I know what I heard. There was someone out there.”
“I just thought...”
“Don’t question me when I know what happened. I was here and you weren’t. I’m not making it up.”
“I didn’t mean...”
Briar turned and poured the remainder of her drink down the sink. “I don’t feel like drinking it after all. I’m going back to bed. I probably won’t be here when you wake up in the morning. I have an early meeting at one of the new sites.” She marched past Riley and slammed the bedroom door shut behind her.
Throw a Double for Spite Page 7
