Your ex was a damn fool — Fox
Lea caught her breath, clutched the notebook against her chest, and fell back on the bed. She was utterly surprised, as she had not seen what he was writing last night. And what he’d written meant more to her than anything else he could possibly say. It’s like he’d known in advance the words that would heal her heart.
She wanted to make this date with him unforgettable. Even more so now. She couldn’t type Karrigan’s digits in her cell phone fast enough.
“Yo?” Karrigan answered after the fifth ring.
“It’s Lea. I know I’m calling earlier than I said I would, but is there any way we can meet up now?”
“Hmm, I’m toward the end of my shift at the front desk. I could ask Fox if I can get off a little early. He won’t mind filling in.”
“No, Karrigan, don’t—”
She’d already set the phone down.
Oh my God! She’s gonna blow my cover.
“I have to go, bro. Watch the front counter for me, will ya’?” Karrigan said to Fox and Lea clearly heard.
“Fine,” Fox said, “but you owe me one—more like a hundred and one. Listen, where are you going? We need to talk about the crowd you’re hanging with. I think you’re asking for trouble.”
“Me… trouble?” Karrigan joked. “Relax, bro. It’s girl stuff.”
“Ah, jeez,” Fox huffed. “Get out of here then.”
“You’re the best. Mwah,” Karrigan said.
She must have thrown her phone in her purse and forgotten all about Lea, because Lea heard heels clanking step after step.
Lea waited. They hadn’t discussed where they’d meet.
After a minute, Lea heard the disarm chirp of a car alarm, and a door slammed. “Okay,” Karrigan finally said. “Where you want me to pick you up?”
“For a second there, I thought you forgot about me.”
Lea heard a horn blow, followed by “Motherfucker!”
“Everything all right?” Lea asked.
“Yeah, I almost backed into a car. Whew, that was a close one. I’m turning out of the parking lot. Where am I headed?”
“Well, I’m staying at the Sedgewick, but I can just meet you somewhere.”
“I’ll come and get you. It’d be easier because we have more than one stop to make. See you in a minute.”
Lea had just enough time to get in a safety prayer before Karrigan rang her back. “I’m downstairs. Red BMW right outside the door.”
“Be right there.”
Lea grabbed her purse and ran downstairs. Karrigan had parked in front of the hotel entrance. Lea opened the passenger’s side door and sat, carefully. The new–looking car from the outside had a whole other thing going on inside. The floorboard was strewn with soda cans and fast food wrappers. Smelled like Taco Bell.
Lea plugged in her seatbelt and braced herself. When the car didn’t move she looked at Karrigan who was studying her intently. “What?”
“I’m trying to figure out what we need to do first.” She chewed the side of her mouth as she surveyed Lea. “Hair and makeup.”
Lea’s brows bunched together. “Hair and makeup?”
“We could do makeup first, then hair,” Karrigan said.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I just wanted you to help me pick out an outfit.”
“Honey,” Karrigan said, “we need to spruce up this whole package to make you Fox–worthy. Get it… Foxworth.” She laughed at her own joke, and Lea couldn’t help but laugh with her. Karrigan’s laugh was infectious, much like her carefree nature.
“Karri,” Lea said, “if that’s what you think I need to do, I say, let’s go for it.”
“Good girl.” Karrigan put the car in drive and took off.
The ride along I–20 with Karrigan was just as Lea had expected it would be: crazy, life–threatening, and more illegal maneuvering than lawful. It’d taken twenty minutes to get to the mall and when Karrigan put the car in park, Lea let out the lungful of air she’d been holding in. She got out and contemplated kissing the ground.
Instead, she just smiled and said to Karrigan, “I’m your clay. Mold me.”
“Yes!” Karrigan did a fist pump. “This is going to be so much fun!” She grabbed Lea’s hand and led the way through the parking lot.
The first store they went to was Sephora. Right past the entrance was a huge display of fragrances. Karrigan leaned in and sniffed Lea. You smell pepperminty. What is that?”
“Essential oils. I don’t like something that smells real strong, so I just take the easy route and make my own.”
Karrigan raised one eyebrow. “You do what? Big no–no. We need to get you smelling better than minty. You want to smell… seductive.” She grasped Lea around the wrist and sprayed it with a tester. “Wait a minute, then sniff.”
Lea took a whiff and almost fell over. “Whoa. That is way too strong.”
Karrigan sniffed Lea’s wrist. “Sorry, you’re my clay. I’m doing the molding.” She tossed a bottle of the perfume into her plastic shopping tray. “Now, let’s move on to makeup.”
She steadied Lea’s face in between her hands. “You have pretty eyes.”
“Thanks, so do you.” Dark, mysterious ones, just like her older brother.
“Curly eyelashes,” Karrigan continued. “But why don’t you wear mascara?”
“I do wear mascara. Clear. Black tends to run.” More like she tends to rub her eyes when she’s awake all hours of the day and night.
“That just won’t do.” Karrigan held a package in front of her and read aloud. “Fourteen times more volume, seventy percent more lash lift, big, bold brush, in blackest black. Lea. Lea. Lea.” She tossed that in, too.
The rest of their shopping at Sephora went along the same lines. Karrigan made all the selections and they racked up a two–hundred–dollar bill. She wouldn’t hear of Lea paying for any of it. Lea had a feeling that Karrigan had money to blow, but it still didn’t sit right with her. She already knew of a way to repay her, but she’d tell her later.
They got on an escalator to the second floor. “Where are we going now?” Lea asked.
“Are your ears pierced?”
“Yeah, but I don’t wear earrings.”
“Or any jewelry, huh?” Karrigan said, scanning Lea’s arms and neck.
“I guess not.”
“No worries. We’ll get you set up.”
At the top, Claire’s boutique was just off the escalator. They browsed the walls, elbow to elbow, in the narrow store.
Karrigan grabbed a pair of earrings. “What kind of statement do you want to make—pure and innocent or primal and dirty?”
“I guess…pure and—”
“Wrong!” Karrigan interrupted. “Do you want Fox to remember your name on Saturday? Primal and dirty is what you want.” She handed Lea a pair of handcuff earrings. “Those are a good start.”
Lea feared that by the time Fox picked her up on Friday, she was going to be dressed like a two–dollar hooker.
***
After a stop at Godiva for some chocolate–covered strawberries, which Karrigan insisted Lea would need for her date with Fox, they headed to their next destination. A short, seat–clutching, white–knuckle ride later, they arrived at Bad Cat Adult Megastore.
Karrigan gave a personal greeting to the long–haired guy with facial piercings behind the check–out counter. She protruded her tongue between her first two fingers, suggesting that she was more than just a returning customer.
Lea smiled and walked ahead while Karrigan leaned on the glass case filled with expensive novelties, chatting up the guy.
Lea was browsing a display of thongs when Karrigan came bouncing up. “What do you think about these?” Lea said, holding up a pink pair.
“I think you’re wasting your time,” Karrigan said. “You’re not wearing panties on your date.”
“What? You can’t be serious.”
“Primal and dirty, Lea. Primal and dirty.” Karrigan
pulled her by the elbow in another direction. She but on the brakes next to a rack with a lot of leather. Lea didn’t recognize the item on the hanger.
“Assless chaps, baby,” Karrigan announced. “Now all we need is a whip. Come on, let’s go to the bondage section.”
“Uh, I don’t think so.”
“Lea, we have to get you a whip. The outfit wouldn’t be complete without one. All you have to do is crack it one time and growl, “You love to be spanked, don’t you? Don’t you!” and he’ll blow his load right then.
Lea shook her head emphatically. “No, Karrigan. I’m sorry, but I have to veto the chaps and the crack. It’s just not me.”
“Fine.” Karrigan put on a pouty face and put the leather back on the rack. “But you only get one veto.”
They browsed a shelf with various oils and lubricants. “You’ll need these,” Karrigan said, and tossed a variety pack of condoms in the basket. “And these.” She flung in a few packs of flavored lubricant. “And this.” In went a bottle of Coochy Shave Cream. She paused, looked at Lea. “Unless you want me to give you a wax. I’ve got the stuff for it.”
“No, that’s all right.”
Karrigan shrugged. “Your call. Now, let’s settle on your lingerie.” They browsed a shelf with medium–sized boxes on hooks. “I won’t force you too far out of your comfort zone, but I must insist that you don’t choose anything pastel. How about these?”
Lea inspected the box Karrigan handed her. Over–the–knee leg warmers in black. “I guess I could try to pull them off.”
Lea couldn’t help but notice the unkempt older man, probably in his sixties, on the next aisle over browsing pornos. He was looking at her with his tongue skimming his top lip. She put the leg warmers back on the shelf. “Can we go now?”
“Fine.”
Lea was glad that Karrigan was distracted by her pierced, dreaded friend at the register. A woman rang her up so she was able to pay for herself this time. Lea took the bag and peeled Karrigan away from her beau. She’d been all wrapped around him, but the cashier hadn’t seemed to mind.
As they headed out the door, Karrigan turned and said to her boy toy, “When can I expect to see you at Dilemma again?”
The guy replied, “I get my ankle monitor off next month. Until then I can only leave my apartment to come to work. So you’ll have to come to my place or here to see me.”
Good grief.
In the car, Karrigan said, “I could have gotten Mike a better defense lawyer. Then he wouldn’t have to wear that stupid monitor. He probably could’ve gotten away with community service since it was his first offense.”
Lea didn’t want to know the nature of said offense, but she was curious to find out more about Karrigan’s legal connections. Exactly how prominent was the Kemp family in the city of Atlanta? “Your family probably has a lot of attorney friends, huh?”
“No, I do. I graduated from Georgia University with a degree in criminal justice. I know some people in the field. I’m going to start law school… one day.”
“Karrigan—are you serious? That’s awesome! But why are you working at the hotel when you’re qualified to do something else?”
“I can’t pass a drug test. Honestly, I’m a little messed up right now. I want to get straight though. That’s why I’m putting off law school; I want to be able to pass the bar.”
Lea’s heart went out to Karrigan. That was the first time she’d shown a grounded, vulnerable side of herself. She wanted to help her.
“Oh, shit!” Karrigan turned on her blinker—for the first time that day—and switched into the right–hand lane. She slowed her speed down within the legal limit.
“What’s wrong?” Lea turned and looked behind them. Blue lights.
“My license is suspended,” Karrigan said, keeping her eyes on the rear–view mirror.
When the police car sped past them in the left–hand lane, Karrigan blew a relieved breath. “Thank God!”
“Karri,” Lea said.
“Yeah?”
“I just want you to know if you ever need someone to talk to, you can always call me. I mean, about anything. I’m sure you don’t feel confident confiding in your brothers about certain things, so I’m just putting that out there to you. I’m always here, and I hold no judgments.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep your number programmed in my phone in case I ever need to take you up on that.” Karrigan exited off the freeway and pulled into an outlet shopping center. She turned off the engine, and they both got out.
“Where are you taking me?” Lea asked.
“Time for your main ensemble.”
“Oh.” Oh, God, was more like it.
“I see that look on your face,” Karrigan said. “Don’t worry, you’re going to love this.”
CHAPTER NINE
Lea met a couple of potential customers at the next day’s meeting. Turns out she was actually going to get something out of the money she’d invested to attend the convention. Even if she hadn’t though, she’d still met Fox. And there wasn’t any amount of money she’d trade for that.
That night, she was lying in bed awake when her cell phone rang. She grabbed it off the nightstand.
Fox!
“Hey,” Lea answered.
“Hey, gorgeous. What’s up?”
“Just lying here.”
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No, I wasn’t sleeping. I’ve just been lying here for the last three hours.”
“What’s wrong? You not feeling well?”
“To be quite honest, I suffer from terrible bouts of insomnia. It’s like my mind won’t shut off. I haven’t slept since a few nights ago in your hotel room.”
“Lea—you have got to be kidding me.”
“No, I wish I was.”
“I know I said I’d give you a break from me until Friday, but we’re only one day short of that. Why don’t you come stay with me?”
Lea had herself all psyched up for Friday night. She wasn’t ready for him tonight. Not in that way. She was still too nervous to face him after she’d seen the video.
“Fox, I watched the footage on the flash drive. I… I don’t even know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Especially if it’s that you never want to see me again.”
“No, nothing like that. I’m just so embarrassed. Shocked with myself. I swear I’m not usually like that.”
“Lea, you have nothing to apologize for. We don’t even have to discuss it again unless you want to. Okay?”
“Okay, I’ll forget it if you will.”
“I was alert,” Fox reminded her. “I can’t exactly do that.”
Great. So he clearly recalled how hairy, plain, and pudgy she was. Nice. “Come on, humor me. Just say you forgot it.”
“Can I cross my fingers behind my back and say it?”
“No!”
“Hmm. Well, if I promise to forget, will you remind me?”
“Maybe.” Yes! Yes! Yes!
“All right, then, you got yourself a deal ma’am. By the way, I know what happened to you.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, it was Martin, just like I knew all along.”
“No way. Not the nice bar tender?” Lea said, disappointed.
“Not so nice, Lea. One of our single guests had a similar experience to yours last night. I caught Martin on the elevator with her; she was standing, but I could see that all of her body weight was leaning into him. I asked him what had happened, and he said she passed out just as he was finishing his shift. He claimed he was headed downstairs to wait with her until a cab came, but I wasn’t buying it. He was all too willing to help her, and he looked suspicious. I sent Martin on his way, and had Erickson wait with the lady until the cab company showed up. We saved the woman’s glass and what was left of her beverage, and sent it to the police station. It tested positive for Rohypnol.”
“Good grief. Good to know that I was drugged out of my mind. My sleep’s never
going to be calibrated.”
“Nah, that stuff flushes out of the system quite fast. If you can’t sleep now, it’s something else. Stay with me, Lea. You know, my room is called The Opium Room for a reason. The drug has euphoric, pain relief, and anesthetic effects, just like my living space. Your rest is guaranteed.”
Lea hadn’t been able to get Fox out of her mind, and she was missing him like crazy. And now that she’d broken the ice about what was on the flash drive, she felt like she could move on, face him again. “All right. I’ll do it.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
—Fox
Fox took the elevator down and waited on a bench near the parking lot. He didn’t know what kind of car to look for, but she couldn’t get to the front entrance without passing by. His arms were swung casually across the back of the bench. All the excitement that had built up in anticipation of Lea’s arrival, quickly faded when someone else approached. Someone who couldn’t have walked up at a more inopportune time.
“Hello there,” Jill said. Sat down right next to Fox.
“It’s not a good time, Jill.” She was looking extra horrendous today. Her lips were swollen five times the normal size like she’d had some sort of injection. Her dress was nearly x–rated, the way it crisscrossed in the front, showing her breasts. If it’s business you want to talk about, you’ll have to get me during my working hours.”
“Oh, this isn’t business,” Jill said. “I was on my way inside and I noticed you taking a break, which is extremely abnormal. You get off early tonight?”
Fox dropped his arm from the back of the bench, scooted over. He had no idea what kind of car Lea drove; she could be any of the ones passing by now headed to the rear parking. “Yeah, I’m off for the rest of the evening.” You can get lost any time.
“Oh.” Jill looked ahead, crossed her legs, sat back against the bench.
“Listen, I’m expecting someone, so…”
“I can take a hint,” she said, standing. “I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of you and one of your girlfriends.”
Fox didn’t have time to argue with her. He was only interested in one girl, but his personal life was none of Jill’s concern. He just wanted her gone before Lea saw them in the same proximity and grew suspicious. So, why wasn’t she walking away?
The Opium Room Page 7
