The Real Deal

by Lucy Monroe

  “They don’t love their daughter.” Jillian’s voice was dripping with contempt. “They’re more worried about appearances and business contacts than her happiness.”

  “You care about her.” It wasn’t a question. Jillian had flown up from Los Angeles to check on her friend. That showed genuine caring.

  “I’m the only person in her life that does.”

  “No.” He took a swig from his water bottle. “You’re not.”

  “Then your intentions are honorable?”

  “That’s between Amanda and myself.” And not something he could answer right now. It was too complicated. “I’m glad you care about her, but this is something you have to let her work out for herself.”

  “That’s what I thought about Lance. I knew he was a smarmy toad, but I didn’t say anything because she seemed so happy. By the time they’d been married a month, I bitterly regretted my silence.”

  Simon was beginning to understand Jillian’s motivation for flying to her friend’s rescue. “You felt responsible for her marrying someone that hurt her so much.”

  Her green eyes glistened with moisture. “Yes. She was so innocent and he wasn’t.”

  “But she left him when he had an affair.”

  Jillian’s laugh was harsh. “Lance had his first affair within months of their marriage and I think Amanda knew it, but she blamed herself for not being sexy enough. He was such a bastard. He rejected her every way a man can reject a woman and made her feel like it was her fault.”

  “They’re divorced now.” She had to have figured out at some point it wasn’t her problem.

  “Yes, thank God, but she’s still vulnerable. She hasn’t even dated since the divorce and then she falls into bed with you. Can you understand why I’m worried?”

  He removed one of the katanas from the wall and began an ancient fighting routine. “She’s decided to spread her wings, find out what she’s been missing.”

  “Amanda’s not like that.”

  He wished he shared Jillian’s confidence. “Are you saying you think she’s in love with me?”

  Jillian averted her eyes and that said it all.

  “I didn’t think so. Look, I don’t want to hurt her. Our relationship means a lot to me.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  He finished the routine and started oiling the sword.

  “What are you going to do if she turns up pregnant?”

  “At the risk of repeating myself, that’s between Amanda and me. You’ll have to trust your friend to know what’s best for herself.”

  “Like she did with Lance?” Bitter worry laced her voice.

  He understood her pain, but he couldn’t alleviate it. What he wanted and what Amanda wanted were probably two different things, but whatever happened, they had to work it out between themselves without anyone else’s involvement.

  Amanda waited with the car running for Jillian to come out of the bed-and-breakfast. She’d called her on the cell to say she was here a minute ago.

  Jillian had shocked her the night before when she had refused Simon’s offer to stay at his house. She’d said her clothes and everything were already unpacked in her room. Then she had asked Amanda to come over to Port Mulqueen to spend the day with her today.

  Amanda couldn’t say no, not even knowing it was losing a whole day of the limited time she had left with Simon. A Saturday. Jillian had flown up from Los Angeles because she was worried about Amanda. Because she cared. Amanda refused to dismiss that as unimportant.

  Besides, a day spent with just the girls held some appeal. For some reason she didn’t understand, Simon had suggested inviting Elaine to join them. When Jillian had learned that Elaine was his cousin’s wife, she’d gone along with the idea wholeheartedly. Amanda had no problem understanding what motivated her friend. She wanted to pump Elaine about Simon.

  The passenger door opened and then Jillian slid in. “Sorry I didn’t come down right away. I had to finish making some plans.”

  “What plans? I thought we were just going to drive into Seattle and go shopping.”

  Jillian shook her head. “Change of itinerary.”

  “What change?”

  “I’m not telling. It’s a surprise.”

  “Does Elaine know?”

  “Nope.”

  Amanda frowned and started the car. “She’s pregnant, remember. One of your forays into extreme sports would not be the way to spend the day.”

  “Don’t worry, we’re not doing anything risky to pregnant women.” Jill eyed Amanda’s stomach significantly.

  “Stop that. It’s highly unlikely I’m pregnant.”

  Jillian sobered. “What happened?”

  “I seduced Simon in the shower. We both forgot.”

  “You seduced him?” The disbelief in Jillian’s voice said it all.

  Her friend knew how hard it was for Amanda to initiate sex. “He asked me to.”

  “Smart man,” Jillian said under her breath.

  Amanda didn’t reply.

  “So, is it likely?”

  She repeated what she’d told Simon that day in the shower to Jillian.

  “Are you going to buy a pregnancy test kit while we’re out and about today?”

  “I’m due to start in a week.”

  “Do you really want to stew over it for another six or seven days?”

  Amanda sighed. “No, but how accurate can a test be? It has only been a week.”

  “There are some that claim ninety-eight percent accuracy after two days.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Television. Some of us watch more than pre-taped programs that skip all the commercials.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  Jillian didn’t push it and Amanda was grateful.

  They pulled up in front of Elaine’s house a few minutes later. The door opened immediately and Elaine came out. Jillian jumped out of the car and moved to the backseat so Elaine could sit up front.

  Elaine smiled her thanks as she slid into her seat. “I’m not too big for the backseat yet, but I get carsick if I try to ride in the back.”

  “Bummer,” Jillian said.

  “At least I’m not morning sick all day long like I was with Joey. That was a real bummer.”

  “It should be against the law to be morning sick past eleven A.M.,” Jill said facetiously.

  They all laughed.

  “So, where are we going?” Amanda asked Jillian.

  “Get on I-5 going south.”

  “Very mysterious.” She turned to Elaine. “Maybe you’d better navigate. I was on I-5 coming from the airport, but I’m not sure if I remember how to get there.”

  It took half an hour to reach the freeway from Port Mulqueen. Once they were headed south, Amanda again asked Jillian where they were going. Jillian referred to a piece of paper she pulled from her oversize holdall and gave Amanda an exit number to take.

  Elaine smiled. “This is fun.”

  “I’m reserving judgment,” Amanda said.

  Jillian snorted. “You’re going to love it.”

  “I’m surprised you got her away from Simon. She’s barely left the island since their first meeting.”

  Amanda felt her cheeks heat. “I was supposed to be convincing Simon about the merger.”

  “Oh, I could tell that the merger was uppermost on both your minds last Saturday.”

  Remembering Simon’s openly affectionate manner, she understood Elaine’s teasing. “By then we’d become personally involved.”

  “Is that what you call it?” Jillian asked, tongue-in-cheek.

  “What would you call it, smarty pants?” Amanda demanded.

  “Incredible sex if it managed to get you off the wagon of abstinence.”

  “Is it incredible with Simon?” Elaine asked, sounding very disbelieving.

  “Don’t you know?” Amanda returned.

  “No. We dated for a while, but it never got that serious.”

  It had been serio
us enough for Simon to consider marriage, but he and Elaine hadn’t slept together. For some reason that made Amanda feel better. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

  “That’s the way it is with the man you love.”

  “Watch it you two, I think I’m too young for this conversation,” Jillian piped up from the backseat.

  “That will be the day,” Amanda chided back.

  Laughter filled the car and the tension that had held her all week long as she wondered what was going on between her and Simon, and what her boss was up to, dissipated.

  Amanda pulled the car into the small strip mall’s parking lot. The gray buildings housed a women’s only fitness facility, a bank, something called Shinga’ar and a couple of restaurants. Maybe Jill wanted to go to the women’s only workout place, but Amanda hadn’t brought anything to work out in and she hadn’t seen a gym bag when Elaine got into the car.

  “Park there in front of Shinga’ar.”

  Amanda obeyed Jill’s command and saw that the store was actually a salon.

  Jillian unclipped her seat belt and opened the back door. “Let’s go ladies, our shinga’ar awaits.”

  Elaine turned to Amanda. “What’s a shinga’ar?”

  “Beats me. Knowing Jillian, it’s more than just the name of the salon.”

  “You’re so right, Amanda. Now stop dawdling. Our appointment is for ten.”

  Considering the fact that it was five minutes to, Amanda did as Jillian suggested.

  They walked into the salon and were greeted by a lovely Indian woman, dressed in a green sari outfit with a matching jewel on her forehead. A melodious tinkling accompanied her every movement.

  “Good morning, you are Miss St. Clair?”

  “Yes,” Jillian replied, “but call me Jillian.”

  “And these are Miss Zachary and Mrs. Brant?”

  “Please, call me Elaine.”

  Amanda said something similar and the woman smiled. “I am Geetha. Are you ready for your shinga’ar ?”

  “I don’t know,” Amanda said, “What is it?”

  “The shinga’ar is the whole person makeover. The hair. The clothes. The jewelry. The makeup.”

  “You do all that?” Elaine was looking around the shop as if trying to understand how that could be so.

  “Not usually, no, but your friend made special arrangements.” She indicated the back room with a fluid movement of her elegant arm and her multiple bracelets clinked together softly. “I have brought in a special selection of clothes and jewelry.”

  “Trust you to come up with something totally unique, but I don’t want my hair cut off.” Simon’s blatant enjoyment of her hair gave her far too much pleasure.

  “Do not worry.” Geetha beckoned with her perfectly manicured hand. “Come. I will show you some pictures.”

  Amanda followed her to the other side of the reception desk. On it was a large flat panel monitor. Geetha clicked a button and an image materialized. It was a beautiful woman, her makeup exotic, her dress alluring. That picture was followed by another and then another. Each woman looked too perfect to be real. They all had jewels on their foreheads, some wore bracelets like Geetha’s, others wore sexy dangling earrings, one woman had henna tattoos on her hands, but they all had one thing in common. They were gorgeous.

  She didn’t think for a minute that Geetha could perform such a miraculous transformation on her, but the thought of going back to Simon tonight dressed and made up so appealingly filled her with anticipation.

  “I knew you’d like the idea,” Jillian said, “Your eyes are shining with a positively wicked light.”

  Amanda laughed and Elaine said, “This is just the sort of thing a pregnant woman needs to indulge in. How did you ever find this place?”

  “I’ve got a friend in LA who has a sister who lives up here. She came in for Shinga’ar’s Grand Opening and then told her sister all about it. Kali told me about it when she found out I was coming up here for the weekend.”

  “Shall we get started?” Geetha asked.

  Starting meant being led to a room at the back of the salon and undergoing an allover body massage and herbal wrap. Afterward, Geetha gave them all white cotton robes to don and thongs for their feet. She then fed them a light lunch from one of the restaurants nearby.

  This was followed by manicures, pedicures and makeovers. The makeovers included having their eyebrows threaded. It was like getting them waxed, but didn’t hurt as much and Geetha was meticulous in shaping Amanda’s eyebrows into slim, feminine curves that made her brown eyes stand out.

  True to her word, Geetha did not cut Amanda’s hair, but she did take it out of its customary French twist and put it up in juice-can size rollers all over Amanda’s head. When she took them out, Amanda’s hair fell in big curls that Geetha brushed into soft waves which she pulled back from Amanda’s face with a jeweled clip.

  When Amanda turned to look in the mirror, an exotic stranger stared back at her.

  “Do you want henna tattoos before we select your clothes?” Geetha asked.

  Elaine refused, not sure if the henna would be good for the baby. Jillian asked how long they would last and had to decline with obvious regret when Geetha said at least a week. That left the other two women looking at Amanda expectantly.

  “I don’t want my hands tattooed, I’m sorry.” She smiled at Geetha, not wanting to offend the woman.

  “What about something on your shoulder blade?” Elaine asked.

  “Be daring, have her put something sexy in your cleavage.” Jillian smiled devilishly.

  “What about something around your belly button?” Geetha asked when Amanda remained silent.

  The only person who would see it would be Simon. “Like what?”

  Geetha indicated a page of swirling designs.

  Amanda selected one that looked almost like lacework.

  Both Jillian and Elaine insisted on watching her have it done.

  When Geetha was finished, she let Amanda see in the mirror.

  “All it needs is a jewel and I’ll look like a belly dancer.”

  Geetha’s soft smile shone and she left the room. She came back a moment later carrying something glittery in her hand.

  She handed it to Amanda. “It has adhesive on it. If you do not submerge it, it could last for a week. If you go in the Jacuzzi or pool, it may come off sooner.”

  Decadent thrills were curling through Amanda and she didn’t even hesitate. She took the red, ruby-looking gem and put it in her belly button. “It feels funny.”

  With the henna tattoo and jewel, her tummy didn’t look like it belonged to her.

  “You need to learn to belly dance. It’s too bad we don’t have time today.” Jillian winked.

  “I think that’s going to drive Simon wild,” Elaine said.

  Amanda blushed under the subtle makeup Geetha had applied, all the while hoping Elaine was right.

  “Now the clothes and jewelry.”

  They followed Geetha into another room. Colorful silks filled a portable wardrobe. Amanda was surprised to see that the silks were not all saris. Some were dresses cut in simple but flattering lines. Jillian chose a flamboyant lime green-and- gold sari with a gold undershirt.

  Elaine opted for a sari as well, saying the style hid the small pooch announcing her pregnancy. However, hers was a more conservative pattern in a soft yellow and tan.

  Amanda was torn. Part of her wanted one of the exotic saris, but another part of her didn’t want to go the whole length of the transformation to a woman of another culture. Geetha suggested she try on a dress in blood red. Depending on how the light hit it, it shimmered black as well. It looked demure until she got it on. The high neck was offset by a butterfly cutout right over the plunge of her cleavage.

  There was almost no back at all, exposing her skin from below her shoulder blades right down to her tailbone. No way could she wear a bra with this dress. Turning to look at the side profile and the way the skirt clung to her until
mid-thigh where it swirled out, she thought she’d have to forego her panties as well. They were leaving a line.

  “You’ve got to take that one,” Jillian cried.

  Amanda stared at the now extremely sexy, exotic woman in the mirror. “I feel practically naked.” And once she got rid of her bra and panties, she would be.

  “It looks beautiful on you.” Elaine’s voice rang with sincere admiration.

  Geetha clinched it by handing her a pair of shoes that were no more than a bow and delicate heels. And they matched the two-tone deep red-black of the dress.

  Amanda slid them on. “How did you know to have my size?”

  Jillian looked guilty. “I knew the dress I wanted you to wear. I sort of had this planned.”

  “But Elaine . . .” She could understand Jillian making plans for her and Amanda from LA, but Elaine too? That made no sense.

  “Saris are one size fits all.” And the simple sandals they wore with them were in neutral leather tones, easily going with any sari selected.

  Amanda turned back to the mirror. She had never looked like this in her life and she liked it. “Wow.”

  “Now, the jewelry.”

  Both Elaine and Jillian affixed jewels that matched their dresses to their foreheads.

  Amanda refused one. “It wouldn’t really go, and besides I’ve already got a jewel on.”

  She did, however, allow Geetha to slide about a dozen black glass bracelets on her left wrist that tinkled when she moved her arm. Elaine wanted an anklet and Jillian opted for bracelets on both arms.

  When they were ready to leave, Amanda was shocked to see that it was after five.

  “We’d better get back or I’ll miss the last ferry back to the island tonight.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Jillian said, “I called Simon this morning and we’re all having dinner on his yacht at the Port Mulqueen pier.”

  “That sounds perfect.” Elaine smiled. “A woman shouldn’t get dressed up, just to go home and have dinner in front of the television set.”

  Amanda sincerely doubted that Elaine and Eric made a habit of eating in front of the TV, but she smiled. She understood the sentiment.