Cutting Through

by Joan Hohl

  Jon’s shoulders drooped a bit. “What do you want from me, Julia? Should I trim back my schedule to spend more time with you and the girls? What?”

  “Oh, good grief. All this over a lousy week at the shore?” Shaking her head, Julia caught sight of the desk clock. “We don’t have time for this discussion, Jon. We need to get ready to meet the others for dinner.”

  “But,” he said, halting her as she scooped up her flight bag and started for the bathroom. “We are going to continue this discussion when you get home.”

  “Oh, you’d better believe we are.” Julia was amazed by the hard note in her tone. “An in-depth discussion between you and me is long overdue.”

  She zipped into the bathroom before he could utter one word of either agreement or protest.

  Dinner was…different.

  Instead of the steady stream of conversation flying back and forth between the three couples, Julia, Krissy and Laura rattled away almost nonstop about their getaway trip, hardly taking time to consume their meals.

  The men, on the other hand, concentrated on their food, offering only desultory comments every so often.

  At one point, Krissy briefly glanced from one male to the other, then looked at Julia and Laura, rolled her eyes and mouthed the word pitiful.

  Naturally, the three women proceeded to give way to an attack of the giggles. That got the men’s attention.

  “What’s the joke?” Rand asked.

  “Yeah, let us in on it,” Drew added.

  “We could use a laugh, too,” Jon agreed.

  Krissy waved one hand airily. “Oh, it’s just silly girl talk. You wouldn’t understand.”

  Of course, her remark set off Julia and Laura again. Both women covered their mouth to stifle more giggles.

  Smiling indulgently, Rand gazed in turn at Jon and Drew. “Women. Will any of us ever understand them?”

  “Isn’t that what I just said?” Krissy piped in, not giving the other two men time to answer.

  Julia and Laura were off and running again with the giggles, and this time Krissy joined in.

  “You know, maybe it’s a good thing these three are going away for a week,” Rand observed. “Get all this giddiness out of their systems.”

  “I sincerely hope so,” Jon drawled, his smile the first genuine one of the evening.

  “Ditto.” Drew didn’t smile.

  But Laura did. The smile she gave Drew was so saccharine, it was blatantly phony. “Give it a rest, Drew,” she said, her voice edgy.

  Oh, boy, Julia thought, eyeing the couple. Things obviously are not all rosy in the Hartline marriage. Not that she blamed Laura for a minute, not if she was right about Drew repeatedly cheating on her.

  “Well, then,” Krissy said, her tone light and bubbly in an attempt to ease the tense table. “Is everybody ready for dessert?”

  She was answered with negatives from all sides.

  “All right.” She soldiered on brightly, “More wine? Coffee, anyone?”

  “I’ll have more wine,” Laura said, defiance blazing from her eyes as she glared at Drew.

  “So have more.” He glared back at her. “And so will I. No, I’ll have a whiskey and soda.”

  Rand and Jon exchanged meaningful glances.

  Krissy bit her lip.

  Julia swallowed a groan. Wonderful. What a terrific way for the evening to end.

  Fortunately, after Laura and Drew had had their rebellious drinks, and the other four had finished the coffee none of them obviously wanted, they called it a night.

  “Okay, kids,” Krissy said while they stood outside waiting for the car to pick them up. “The limo heads south tomorrow morning at eleven-thirty.” She grinned. “Be there or be square.”

  Julia groaned aloud. “That expression is so ancient, even its mold has grown mold.”

  The expected limo glided to the curb and the six of them piled in.

  “What’s with Laura and Drew?” Jon asked, double-locking the hotel room door.

  Julia was tempted to shrug as if to say, beats me, but a sudden thought changed her mind. Telling him the truth just might hit home.

  “Laura is certain Drew’s cheating on her and has been for some time,” she said, looking him straight in the eyes. “And I think she’s pretty fed up with it…and him.”

  “Really?” Jon didn’t appear at all surprised. “I don’t doubt she’s right.”

  Julia was startled. “Do you know something?”

  He shook his head. “Not anything definite. But I’ve seen the way he checks out every attractive woman who happens to pass by his line of vision.” His smile was all-knowing, all-masculine. “When Laura appeared not to be noticing, of course. Apparently, she noticed more than he knew.”

  “Not apparently,” Julia corrected him, frustrated by his lack of display of any guilt or dismay. “Obviously she has noticed everything.”

  “Ummm.” He nodded and removed his suit jacket and tie. “I’d say their marriage is in trouble.” He sauntered to the bathroom. “You don’t mind if I go first, do you? I’ll only be a minute.”

  Would it matter if she did? Julia wondered, as he closed the door after him.

  Jon was in bed by the time she left the bathroom, her face shiny and clear of makeup, her teeth brushed, her body clad in a summer nightgown of thin cotton. He looked out of it and she assumed he was asleep.

  She was wrong. He turned to her as she slipped beneath the covers, one arm circling her waist to turn her on her side, draw her against him. He was naked, ready, his hard erection pressing into her.

  “Jon…?”

  He silenced her with a kiss. Although it started soft and gentle, within seconds his mouth grew restless, desperate, hot as his body. At first she went still, but then his tongue thrust into her mouth. Need stirred inside Julia, desire igniting a hungry urge to respond.

  His hands moved over her body, touching, teasing, exploring. His mouth followed the path of his hands, his tongue laving every inch of her…every inch!

  Julia went rigid with shock. Jon had never…Her thoughts dissolved from the liquid fire racing through her from her core to her whirling brain. Instinctively she arched into the pleasure of his ministrations. Her fingers curled, grasping onto the sheet beneath her writhing body.

  Tension coiled inside, tighter, tighter, until Julia, releasing the sheet to grasp his head, nearly cried aloud at the incredible sensations. Then he stopped, lifting his head to stare into her face, as though finding pleasure in her expression of passion strained to the limit.

  “Jon…what?”

  “Not yet,” he said, in a soft unfamiliar rasp.

  Grabbing her hips in his hands, he raised her up and plunged into her. He continued to thrust, deeper and deeper, his fingers digging into the tender flesh of her bottom. Julia gasped at his abandoned roughness, his wildness.

  Within moments her breath became labored. Then a surge of wildness overtook her. Clinging to his hips, she arched to meet his every thrust. She was as much the aggressor as Jon, matching his roughness and abandonment.

  Higher and higher the tension spiraled. Then it shattered, flinging her into a pulsating, shimmering orgasm unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

  A scream rose in her throat. Jon’s mouth latched on to hers, swallowing her scream as, shuddering with his own racking orgasm, his outcry echoed inside her head.

  For the very first time ever, Julia drifted off to sleep before making a trip to the bathroom to clean herself. She woke several hours later. Two realizations hit her one after another. Jon was dead to the world, snoring beside her. And she was still wearing her nightgown, bunched up to her neck. He had been in such a frenzied hurry, he hadn’t taken the time needed to remove it.

  Julia felt sweaty and sticky. The cool air-conditioned air chilled her uncovered body.

  She also felt used. To the bone. Satisfied, maybe even more so, but used, nevertheless. She didn’t like the feeling. If Jon had murmured words of love to her while ar
ousing her as never before, Julia knew she would be feeling utterly content, utterly loved by her husband.

  But Jon hadn’t murmured those words. He hadn’t murmured anything other than “Not yet.”

  Not yet. The words rang in her head. Not yet. As if he were speaking not to his wife but to any woman who had happened to be beneath his pounding body.

  Shivering from the outer chill, and a deeper inner coldness, Julia dragged her tired body from the bed to stand under a beating hot shower. The very idea of feeling somehow dirtied by her husband’s lovemaking made her sick to her stomach.

  Thank heavens she had agreed to go to the shore for a week with Krissy and Laura, Julia thought, pulling on a clean nightgown that didn’t smell of raw sex.

  Her escape couldn’t come soon enough.

  CHAPTER 15

  Julia sighed with relief as she stepped off the elevator to see Krissy and Laura already in the lobby. They were alone; neither Rand nor Drew were with them.

  Julia was also alone, as Jon had left early that morning to drive back to Hershey to be in his office for his first appointment.

  They had shared a mostly quiet breakfast, speaking sporadically about nothing of any importance.

  But the day was coming when they would be having a very important discussion. Either that or a knock-down, drag-out argument. Julia could only hope it wouldn’t come to that.

  “Here she is,” Krissy said, spying Julia walking toward them, a carry-on strap over her shoulder and pulling a large wheeled suitcase behind.

  Standing with her back to Julia, Laura spun around, a wide smile of greeting on her lips. “Hi,” she called, a happy note in her voice.

  “Hi,” Julia responded, her own smile as bright as the others, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Have I kept you waiting long?”

  “Nope, we both just got here.” Laura glanced out through the wide glass doors. “Matter of fact, the car is pulling up now.” She looked at her watch. “Exactly on time.”

  Within minutes the driver and the doorman had their bags stashed, and the three women were ensconced comfortably in the long, luxurious limo.

  A thermos of hot coffee and a napkin-draped tray of cookies and small pastries was waiting for them. Between sipping and nibbling, they chatted all through the hour-and-fifteen-minute drive. Not one of them noticed the passing scenery or the passage of time, and so were surprised and delighted when the driver pulled the car into the Realtor’s parking lot.

  The driver left the car and went into the office. Moments later he returned with a fortyish pleasant-looking man in tow. The driver opened the door closest to Krissy.

  “Ms. Trzcinski?” the man asked, leaning down to peer into the car.

  “Krissy,” she corrected, extending her hand. “Nice to meet you, Dan.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Dan grasped her hand, giving her an attractive smile.

  “I’d like you to meet my dearest friends,” Krissy said, pointing in turn to the others. “Julia Langston and Laura Hartline. Julia, Laura, this is Dan Albright.”

  Pleasantries were exchanged along with handshaking. Dan handed Krissy a ring of door keys and a large white envelope. After he told her to give him a call if there were any questions or problems, they were on their way once more.

  “Ohmigosh!” Laura exclaimed, as the driver turned the long car onto a familiar street. “Look at how everything has changed around here. These are nearly all new buildings.”

  “And every one of them looks expensive,” Julia murmured, wondering what in heaven’s name Krissy had paid to stay in the three-story building where the car had stopped. “Krissy, what did you have to pay for this place?”

  Krissy gave a careless wave of her slender, still ringless left hand. “Don’t worry about it. It was nothing.”

  Nothing, Julia repeated to herself. Right. Knowing better than to argue with her friend, she merely rolled her eyes at Laura as they followed in Krissy’s wake.

  There was an elevator—an elevator, of all things—in the three-story apartment building. Julia recalled running up the four flights of stairs at the place they’d once stayed when the three of them were younger…much younger.

  “An elevator?” she murmured, raising her eyebrows.

  “Better be.” Krissy inserted one of the keys into a slot next to the lift. “It’s the only way to get into the place, other than the fire escape in the back, which also can only be opened with a key,” she airily explained.

  “Wait,” Julia said, a sudden realization striking her as the single door slid closed. “What about our bags?”

  “Don’t worry, hon,” Krissy said, touching the button for the third floor. “Tim will take care of everything.” She flashed a brilliant smile. “That’s why he receives an exorbitant salary.”

  Of course, Julia thought with amusement. Why didn’t I think of that?

  The elevator came to a stop and opened to reveal a small landing with a door on its far side.

  “Okay,” Krissy said, first to step out of the car. Keys jangled on the ring as she selected another and headed for the door. “Let’s see what this place looks like.”

  “You haven’t seen it?” Julia asked.

  “Well, of course not,” Krissy answered, inserting the key in the lock. “When would I have gotten down here?” She turned the key and opened the door. “I only finished shooting a little over a week ago.” Stepping aside, she waved them inside. “Home away from home for a week.”

  “Holy shit!” Laura cried, immediately clamping a hand over her mouth as she walked into the spacious living room. “Just look at the size of this place!”

  It wasn’t big; it was huge. The layout was open, the living room flowing into a dining room with a table and eight chairs. Both rooms had wide windows and glass sliding doors onto a long deck, which faced the boardwalk and the ocean beyond.

  “Will you look at that view,” Julia murmured in a tone of appreciative awe.

  “Holy…ah…moley,” Laura murmured from beside her.

  “Well,” Krissy said in pleased satisfaction. “Dan was right. He said the view was great.”

  “He was damned straight on that,” Laura said. She turned suddenly, her eyes going wide. “Hey, we forgot to stop at the liquor store on our way here,” she said, frowning her disappointment.

  Laughing, Krissy shook her head at Laura. “Not to worry, Tim has a case of champagne in the car.”

  Julia gave an exaggerated arch of her eyebrows. “Champagne, yet. I’ll drink to that.”

  “You’d better,” Krissy said, grinning. “Or Laura and I will spend every night smashed.”

  Laura giggled. “I still might. I don’t handle alcohol very well.”

  “We know.”

  “We have witnessed it.”

  Julia and Krissy exchanged smiles.

  There was a light tap at the door.

  “Oh, Tim!” Krissy said, hurrying to let the driver in.

  Incredibly, he had managed to cram all the luggage, the champagne and himself into the elevator. “Where would you like me to put the bags and wine, Krissy?”

  Neither Julia nor Laura were surprised by the man using Krissy’s first name, any more than they had been surprised to hear Dan use it. Krissy had always disliked a formal address, claiming it sounded too subservient to her.

  “Just set them down near the hallway, Tim,” she said. “We can manage to drag them to our rooms once we’ve decided which rooms we want. We’ll take care of the wine later.”

  “Okay.” He set the cases down near the archway to the hall, then straightened. “Is that all for now?”

  “Yes, thank you,” she answered, bestowing a lovely smile on him. “You can head back to Philly.”

  He frowned. “But what if you need a car?”

  “I’ll call a cab.”

  “Well…” He was still unsure. “If you say so. But,” he quickly added, “you will call me if you need me?”

  “Yes, yes,” Krissy said, shooing him a
way with a wave. “Go home and spend the weekend with your wife and kids…with pay.”

  “You are a very nice person, Krissy,” Julia said in all seriousness after Tim had left.

  She tossed her head, flipping the mane of red hair she had pulled back into a loose ponytail. “Well, thank you,” she said, pleased and smiling. “I figure, why not be nice to people, it doesn’t cost anything.”

  “Neither does being gruff or impatient or haughty,” Laura pointed out. “Like a lot of people.”

  “Ahhh, but it does,” Krissy said, grabbing the handle of her case and leading off down the hallway. “It can cost you in friends or even potential friends.” She smiled over her shoulder. “Now, let’s fight over who gets what room.”

  No fight was needed. There were three bedrooms, two large, the other larger. All three had private baths and walk-in closets. Julia and Laura agreed at once the larger, master bedroom should be Krissy’s since she had paid for the condo.

  All the rooms were decorated with a seaside motif, the pictures on the walls, the bric-a-brac set on tables. Though they had only caught a glimpse of the kitchen, Julia presumed the same decor theme carried through there, as well.

  Laura chose the bedroom with pink-and-white walls and furnishings. Julia was left with the room in sunny yellow and white. She didn’t mind. In fact she loved it, as the colors seemed to fairly shout summer at the shore.

  After putting her clothes in the closet and dresser drawers, Julia stashed her suitcase and carry-on and headed out to explore her home away from home for the next week. Krissy and Laura were standing together near the end of the hallway, gazing into another room.

  “Hey, look at this,” Laura said to Julia as she joined them. She flicked a hand to the side. “A powder room there, close to the living room.”

  Julia took a quick peek into the room, as Laura continued, “And a laundry room in here, complete with washer, dryer and a rack for us to hang our delicates to dry.”

  “Ummm,” Julia hummed, smiling at her two friends. “And then some, I’d say.”