Loving Mr. July

by Margaret Antone

  Chapter 10

  Lucky greeted Kurt with enthusiastic barking when he opened the door to his a house a few nights later. That meant one of only two things, he either forgot to put her outside that morning, or Blake had come by. Because Kurt knew that Cynthia was at a Bocher foundation meeting. Which was the only reason why they weren’t working out tonight. But Kurt wasn’t complaining. He wanted to do nothing more than hang out on his balcony and listen to the surf pound on the beach.

  He headed up the stairs. “Blake, you here?”

  “Outside. I brought beer.”

  “Only right,” Kurt responded. “You’re squatting in my house.” He headed for the deck, gave Blake the half hug, half backslap with a handshake that they’d worked out as a greeting long ago and accepted a beer.

  He took a peek at Blake’s face, noted the glum look and hid a smile. His big brother wanted an ear. And he was happy to provide it. Wasn’t often that Blake came by unannounced, even though he’d had a key ever since Kurt owned the place. And the fact that he brought not one six-pack, but two, well that meant something was eating at him.

  It would come out in good time, Kurt thought. In the mean while, he was going to enjoy the sunset. He usually came home from the office too late to enjoy the view of the sun dipping into the ocean. He stretched out in a lounge chair and called to Lucky.

  “Never get tired of watching that.” He tipped his beer bottle toward the brilliantly streaked sky. The purplish clouds dotting the horizon broke up the orange rays from the setting sun, adding more color than usual. A sailboat passed in front of the orange ball of the sun itself, making a picture perfect silhouette.

  Blake didn’t answer.

  Kurt gave him another quick glance. Blake seemed far away. Probably wasn’t even seeing the sunset, Kurt realized. What a shame.

  “Do you ever think you’ve finally got something figured out, only to realize you are more clueless than you thought?” Blake set his beer aside, and put his hands together like a steeple. He brought them to his mouth.

  Kurt answered him with a nod that he knew was unnecessary. Blake would just talk for a while now. His job was to listen.

  “Like women.”

  Ah, Kurt thought, here we go with the root of the problem. He breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t the business. You never knew with Blake.

  “You figure you don’t get them,” Blake continued. “Then someone comes along and it’s like a key to the universe. You’re suddenly one of the guys who is in the know. You can make them happy.” He picked up his beer and took a swig, then nodded his head in Kurt’s direction and pointed with the beer. “They make you happy. Life is good. But then for no reason at all, nothing you do seems to be right. They’re unhappy. And you’re expected to know why.”

  “We talking Sharon here, or someone else?” Kurt put in. “Because if it’s really ‘they,’ I can see why Sharon might not be happy with you.”

  Blake gave him a dark look. “Of course it’s Sharon, what’s the matter with you? Have I ever cheated on a woman in my life?”

  “Just checking the facts.” Kurt rubbed Lucky’s silky head. “So you’re saying the honeymoon’s over?”

  “I don’t know,” Blake said, sighing. “Everything was going great. I haven’t been working as much. We’ve had time to travel a bit. I enjoy her company like no one else on earth.”

  “But…” Kurt turned to Blake, waited for more.

  “The last few weeks have been a total roller coaster. One moment she’s fine, next she’s crying, then she’s yelling at me and I’m not even sure what I did.” Blake scrubbed at his face with his hands. “I’m going crazy.”

  “And it’s not her, you know, time of the month or whatever?” Kurt stumbled over the words. This was his sister-in-law they were talking about. Not like he wanted to know the details, but Blake looked miserable.

  “For three weeks?” Blake gave him a look that clearly indicated he thought Kurt was out of his mind.

  Kurt put up his hands in self-defense. “Just something to think about. It’s been my experience that some women can be kind of wacko at that time.”

  “Don’t think so.” Blake shook his head. He polished off the beer and started to open another one, then stopped. “Guess I should ask whether or not I can crash here before I drown my sorrows in beer.”

  “Any time, Dude, any time,” Kurt replied. “You know that goes without saying. Sharon know you’re here?”

  Blake nodded and turned bleak eyes to Kurt. “Told me good riddance.”

  “Harsh.”

  “You’re telling me.” Blake leaned back in the chaise lounge, only to have his head come in contact with wet material. He reached behind his head and held out the offending item. “You into wearing women’s bathing suits these days?”

  “Up yours.” Kurt didn’t even open his eyes to look. “Probably Cynthia’s.”

  “Oh, geez, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about her being here.” Blake looked down at his empty beer bottle with dismay.

  “Relax, she’s not coming back here tonight. Got some thing to do for the foundation.”

  “So cheer me up,” Blake said, giving Kurt a nudge with his fist. “Please tell me things are going well with you two. You seemed to be getting along great when I saw you at the gym the other day.”

  Kurt sighed, turned to Blake and opened one eye. “I’m in worse shape than you.”

  Blake lifted his brows.

  “True.” Kurt turned back to stare up at the sky. “I have absolutely no idea what Cynthia thinks of me, and it’s not like she’s been welcoming my advances.”

  Blake let out a shout of laughter.

  “Not funny,” Kurt said, but after a moment started chuckling along with Blake. “Yeah, I’m probably getting my due. First woman in a long time that I like, genuinely like, as a person. I mean, she’s funny, and compassionate and smart as a whip.”

  Blake nodded. “Yeah, she’s one of a kind, and I mean that in the best possible way.”

  “And I’ve found myself really becoming more and more into her, you know?”

  “But she doesn’t think you’re so hot?”

  “That’s just it,” Kurt said, letting out a sigh. “I don’t know.”

  “How is that possible? You guys have been together practically 24/7 for the last, what, three weeks?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  Blake snorted. “That hasn’t stopped you before.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s different this time.” Kurt peered into his brother’s face. Even in the gathering darkness, he could make out Blake’s eyes. “What do you know about Cynthia’s history?”

  “Enough.”

  “So you see my dilemma?” Kurt read the compassion in his brother’s face, and knew Blake had at least an idea of what Cynthia had gone through. Which was good, because he wasn’t about to betray Cynthia’s confidence. “I’ve made subtle moves, but she hasn’t responded at all.”

  That wasn’t strictly true, he realized, thinking back over the previous week. She had dropped the attitude with him. She had been friendly and cheerful ever since the fateful evening about which neither of them talked. And without the prickly attitude, her sense of fun and delight in people had been infectious. But every time he touched her, she seemed to move away, act awkward.

  “Don’t look to me for answers,” Blake said with a wry grin. “I’m the one over here crying in your beer.” He took a look at the label. “I guess this is my beer, isn’t it? Your refrigerator was empty.”

  “And knowing her history, I don’t want to just go for it without at least having some sign that she wants it, you know?” Kurt continued.

  “So you think she realizes you’re into her?” Blake asked.

  “Geez, I would hope so.” Kurt scowled. “I’ve done everything short of forcing myself on her.”

  “Then I say we’re both screwed.” Blake said. He opened another beer. “So let’s get drunk.”

  “I’d say you’
re already half-way there.” Kurt turned to take a good look at his brother. It was kind of funny, actually to see his normally responsible brother in this state.

  Blake held up his beer bottle in a toast. “To not understanding women, but having beer.” He let out a hiccup.

  Yeah, his brother wasn’t going anywhere tonight. And suddenly it seemed like a good idea to join him. He clinked his bottle with his brother and took another swig.

  Lucky looked back and forth between the two men before dropping to the floor and letting out a big sigh.

  Chapter 11

  Kurt stood in the photographer’s studio shivering. He understood the lights were hot, but did she have to keep it the temperature of a meat locker?

  He felt like an idiot. Patty, the photographer, had asked him to take off his shirt and pull his pants down low over his hips. Which wasn’t a problem seeing as he’d lost so much weight in the last few weeks, the pants were at least one size too big. But then she and Cynthia had insisted his torso had to be oiled. Supposedly it would make his skin look better in the photos. They’d wanted to put some makeup stuff on his eyelashes too. But he’d drawn the line there. The photographer was supposed to be a whiz at Photoshop. She could just fix stuff later. It was bad enough that he felt like a basted Thanksgiving turkey.

  If it hadn’t been for the remembered, unforgettable look in Cynthia’s eyes when she told him about her childhood abuse, he might have ditched the entire project. Donated a bunch of money and called it a day. But this project was important to her. And he had made a commitment after all. She’d held up her end of the bargain, so now it was his turn.

  “Look into the camera, give me some bedroom eyes,” Patty instructed, clicking away with her camera.

  Kurt scowled. “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

  Patty stopped taking photos. “C’mon Kurt. It’s not so hard. Just think of some woman who turns you on.”

  “About all I can think of right now is how damn cold it is in here,” Kurt muttered. He looked down at the sheepskin rug covering the desk and wished he could wrap himself up in it. A sheepskin rug on what was supposed to stand in for his desk. Like any self-respecting businessman just happened to have a sheepskin rug lying about in his office, ready to drape over his desk. He was going to look like a porn star.

  “Uh Patty?” Cynthia walked over from where she had been observing the photo shoot, in the darkness, behind the lights. “Can you give us just a second?”

  “Take your time,” Patty said. “I’ve got to put a new memory card in the camera anyway.”

  Cynthia came over to where Kurt leaned against the desk. She adjusted his pants a bit.

  “Pull them any lower and we’ll have a different kind of calendar all together.” Kurt covered her hand with his.

  Cynthia left her hand there, slowly stroked her finger over the skin under his pants, and looked up at him. “Is there any girl you can think of who is really sexy? Could even be some celebrity. Just so that you look less like you’re going to bite someone’s head off.”

  Kurt resolutely kept his eyes on Cynthia’s face. He would not talk to her boobs, she deserved better. Could he think of someone sexy? Hell yes, she was standing right in front of him. He knew what she was wearing today without having to even look. Within the last week or so, she’d been around him more in her regular clothes. And they always seemed to be low cut, exposing a lot of her cleavage. Today’s outfit was black, and reasonably conservative. It’s just that his eye kept coming back to the lace, the lace above her breasts. It was almost as if she was trying to drive him crazy. And he didn’t know what to do about it. He didn’t want to treat her like one of the scumbags from her past—make her feel like the only thing he wanted from her was sex. She considered him a friend. He wanted to be one. But he wanted a lot more and wasn’t sure where her head was at.

  Kurt pulled her hand out of his pants. If her finger dropped any lower, she was going to be stroking his privates, which had become hard as a rock.

  “I feel like an idiot.” Kurt said the first coherent thought he could put together. He ran a hand through his hair, and then remembered they’d styled it with some sort of goo. He looked at his sticky hand with distaste. “So no, I’m not feeling particularly sexy right now.” Geez, am I going to burn in hell for this lie?

  “Maybe this will help.” Cynthia said. She stood on her tiptoes, reached up and pulled his head towards hers. She covered his lips with her own.

  It was completely unexpected. But instinct quickly took over his startled initial response. And his instinct had been telling him to lay her on that sheepskin rug and make love to her ever since she’d first walked over and started stroking him.

  He molded his lips to hers, enjoyed her sweetness, reaching up to cup her face with his hands. He had started to trail his fingers along her neck, touched the lace covering her breasts when she pulled away.

  She ran a finger along his jaw, touched it to his lips. “That’s the look.” She abruptly stepped back, called to Patty. “Think we’re good to go now.” She walked back behind the lights.

  Patty was already snapping away.

  Kurt looked after her in a daze. What the hell was that? He realized he was still reaching for her and drew his hand back, licked his lips, and tried to sort out his feelings.

  He was trying to wrap his head around it when Patty called out. “Okay, think we’re good Kurt. We’ve got some awesome shots here. I’m sure we can use one for the calendar.”

  Her voice jolted him back to reality. “Do I get a vote?”

  “Not a chance.” Patty smiled at him. “But we’re going to make you look great, don’t worry.”

  Kurt sat for a moment longer, then got up, gathered his things, and left without another word.

  ~ ~ ~

  Patty looked after Kurt’s retreating back, a thoughtful look on her face. She turned to Cynthia. “You guys got something going?”

  “Uh. No. Just friends.” Cynthia couldn’t quite bring herself to look her friend in the eye.

  Patty snorted. “Yeah, right. I was ready to ask you guys to get a room.”

  Cynthia shrugged. “You wanted him to have bedroom eyes. Thought I would try to get him in the mood.”

  “He was more than in the mood, I’d say. And I don’t recall you ever using that tactic to get some of the other guys in the mood.”

  “Kurt’s almost like family. He’s the brother-in-law of my best friend.” Cynthia busied herself tidying Patty’s studio.

  “Uh huh.” Patty looked unconvinced. “That wasn’t exactly sister-like attitude you got out of him.”

  Cynthia didn’t answer. Patty had been a friend for a long time, but her moment with Kurt just now was something she wanted to cherish to herself. Damn the man was a fine kisser. For a moment, she’d almost forgotten Patty was in the room too. She wondered who Kurt had been imagining she was during that kiss.

  “Take a look at some of these shots.” Patty called her over to the computer where she’d been transferring the photos from her camera.

  Cynthia walked over to peer over Patty’s shoulder. The first dozen or so shots, Kurt smiled at the camera. But Cynthia had been around Kurt long enough to know those smiles weren’t genuine. He looked like he was posing for a boardroom photo, except that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

  Midway through the photo shoot, Patty had started cracking jokes. And the smiles on Kurt’s face did become genuine. But they weren’t the look that Cynthia knew sold calendars. She’d been doing this long enough to know.

  Cynthia could see exactly where Kurt had started to lose patience with the whole process. He looked cold and more than a little irritated. But it was when Patty scrolled to the end that Cynthia took in a startled breath.

  The shots Patty had taken at the end, after their kiss, showed Kurt with slumberous eyes, one hand reaching out to the camera, a look of desire on his face and an unmistakable bulge in his pants.

  “Oh my…” Cynthia put a hand up to
her mouth. “You can’t use that Patty. Kurt would be mortified.”

  “Oh yes we are. It’s perfect.” Patty laughed at Cynthia’s horrified look. “Don’t worry. I will Photoshop the evidence away.” She pointed to Kurt’s groin area. “But the look in his eyes, his face. Oh my gosh, do you know how many women would die to have a man look at them like that? You sure you guys don’t have something going on?”

  Cynthia shook her head. “Just got him thinking along the lines you wanted him to think.” She waved at the photo. “Can I get a copy of that?”

  Patty smiled at her knowingly. “You want the before Photoshop or after?”

  Cynthia looked at her and grinned. “What do you think?”

  Chapter 12

  A note in Blake’s unmistakable scrawl, taped onto his office door caught Kurt’s attention when he returned from his lengthy business trip. The need to visit both current and potential customers in Asia had come at welcome time. He hadn’t had a whole lot of time to think about a certain photo shoot. At least that’s what he told himself when he had buried his nose in business briefs on the plane, valiantly trying to focus on the mind-numbing information, and resolutely brushing aside the memory of Cynthia’s touch.

  He ripped the note off the door. It was an urgent summons to see Blake in his office. What was wrong with the phone? And where the hell was his assistant, Holly? Maybe he shouldn’t have hired his cousin for the job, he thought. She took far too many liberties, even if she was amazingly good at what she did.

  Kurt dumped his briefcase on the floor by his desk, threw his suit jacket over his chair, and headed for the other side of the building, his mood getting crankier with each step. All he wanted to do was sleep, but the time change worked against him on the return trip, and he had landed at 9 a.m. Going to bed now meant being jet lagged for much longer than if he just toughed it out. But come five o’clock, he was out of here, work done or not.