Calamity Rayne: Gets A Life

by Lydia Michaels

  “Perhaps after dinner we can share a dance, Ms…?”

  Returning my attention to the future commander and chief, I quickly answered, “Meyers. Rayne Meyers.”

  And there would be no dancing for me. The only dance I did well was Thriller and this didn’t seem like a Thriller crowd.

  “Wes.” Hale’s hand immediately went to my back.

  Wes released his hold of my fingers and opened his hand to Hale. “Davenport. Glad you could make it.”

  Hale nodded but didn’t smile. Maybe he didn’t realize he had a habit of making an enema face in public. This was something we should talk about, right? I mean, girlfriends helped boyfriends with that sort of thing, didn’t they? Was I his girlfriend? A dirty voice in my head breathily declared we were not girlfriend boyfriend but lovas. That worked too.

  “I’ve got to make my rounds. I’ll be back later for that dance, Ms. Meyers.”

  Keeping it polite, I gave a non-committal smile. My eyes lit when I spotted enormous shrimp topiaries being wheeled out.

  Turning to Hale, I said, “Do you see the size of those shrimp trees?”

  He was scowling.

  “Do you not like shrimp?”

  Rather than answer, he took his seat and said, “The waitress is bringing over your martini, Dad.”

  Unsure what this sudden mood was, I gave him a shoulder bump. “I hope you didn’t order me a Manhattan.”

  “I ordered you a White Russian.” When he still didn’t crack a smile, I decided to clam up.

  As the shrimp came around, I was like an excited kid at a pony fair and my silence didn’t last long. “I’ve never seen shrimp this big. How does one even find a shrimp this size? Holy crap, this one’s practically the size of my palm.”

  “You’d think she never saw food before,” Remington muttered.

  “Oh, whatever, Remington. This is big shrimp and you know it.” Hearing my words out loud, I snorted. “Big shrimp. That’s what you call an oxymoron.”

  When no one seemed to care, I murmured to myself, “Check out the big brain on Rayne.”

  Hale was starting to piss me off with his seriousness. As they cleared away the first course, I leaned close and whispered, “Did something happen at the bar?”

  He sipped his drink and glanced at me, but didn’t answer.

  “Did I do something?”

  “No.”

  “You seem angry,” I whispered.

  He looked at me for a measured moment and said, “Now’s not the time. We’ll discuss it later.”

  “Pardon me, sir,” the waiter placed a salad on the table.

  When the next course came out, I decided I’d have a better conversation with the company to my right. “Thanks for making me come here tonight, Remington. This is really nice.”

  His eyes creased with a weathered grin. “You look good in this setting, Meyers. You pull it off well.”

  I smiled. “Careful with that silver tongue. One of those women overhear you laying it on thick and they might end up tucking you in tonight.”

  He gave a gruff but authentic Remington chuckle. “Too soon. They’re all just sniffing out my insurance policy after the fall.”

  “So prove them wrong. You aren’t going anywhere. They’re all pretty.”

  “Too young.”

  I was actually surprised to hear him say that. They were too young, but I didn’t buy that as a deterrent for Remington.

  I hid a smile as I realized this was about him still mending his broken heart. For that, he got his own shoulder bump.

  Hale made small talk with the gentleman to his left and I wondered why he was speaking to strangers more than me.

  “You have an admirer,” Remington muttered, but he was looking at the table.

  “What? Who?”

  “Pay attention, Meyers. Take your eyes off your flambé for a second and look around.”

  But I never had a banana cooked in a fire. Taking another bite, I glanced around the room. I didn’t see any—

  Wes Sterling lifted his glass and grinned. I glimpsed behind me, but no one was looking at him. “Are you talking about that Sterling guy?”

  “There you go,” Remington mumbled, busying himself with his flambé.

  I frowned. “But I don’t want an admirer.”

  “He’ll want that dance soon.”

  I glanced at Hale then back to Wes. In a panic, I turned to Remington. “He wasn’t serious about that.”

  “Sure he was.”

  “Why are you acting like this is amusing? What do I do, Remington?”

  “He’s the host. You dance with him.”

  What was I, the political courtesan? “I don’t know how to dance.”

  “He’ll lead.”

  Growing frustrated, I hissed, “I don’t want to dance with him.”

  “What’s wrong?” Hale asked, and I gave Remington an S.O.S. look, but he was suddenly engrossed in his flambé. Oh, now Remington was over the whole debacle and had nothing to say.

  “You’re a troublemaker,” I hissed in his ear then turned to Hale, pasting on a smile. “Nothing.”

  “Did Wes ask you to dance?”

  “No.”

  Remington tsked.

  Twisting in my seat, I snapped, “You hush.”

  He chuckled. “Here comes your dance partner now.”

  I looked up and saw Wes making his way through the tables. “I have to use the—” Was it rude to say restroom? “Excuse me.” I left my napkin on my seat and went where no man could follow.

  Thankfully, the bathroom wasn’t far. Once I was safely closed in a stall, I leaned against the wall and waited. If I stayed in there for ten minutes the guy would go bug someone else, right?.

  “Wait, you have lipstick on your teeth,” a woman outside the stalls said to someone I couldn’t see.

  “Oh, thanks.”

  “Are you here with anyone?” the woman asked.

  “Not yet. I’m hoping to change that once the music starts.”

  “Me too. I have my eye on Davenport.”

  My gaze narrowed and I tried to spy through the crack of the stall. One of the girls giggled. “Which one?”

  “Junior or senior. Makes no difference to me.”

  “Junior would probably be more fun, but eventually, they all get old. Senior would only be a temporary inconvenience.”

  Gaping, I silently mouthed, What the fuck?

  “There’s a woman with them tonight, but I can’t figure out whose date she is. Junior keeps watching her, but she’s been talking to his dad more than anyone else.”

  “I’m going to work my way over there…” The conversation faded as they exited the restroom.

  I had to see who they were so I could tell Remington to stay the hell away from them. Leaving the stall, I quickly washed my hands and pushed through the door—

  “Hale.”

  “Everything all right?”

  “Did you see two women come out of here?”

  “It’s the ladies’ room. I’ve seen several women leave in the past few minutes.”

  “But these were harpies. They were talking about…your dad. We have to tell him to stay away from them.” I went to do just that and he caught my arm.

  “Remington can handle himself.”

  I frowned at him. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  No, he wasn’t. “You’re lying to me. What’s going on?”

  “You don’t know me well enough to know when I’m lying.”

  That was a dick thing to say. “Seriously?” I twisted my wrist out of his hand. “Maybe you’re right. The way you’ve been acting tonight, I feel like I don’t know you at all. But I can tell you I don’t like it.” With that, I walked away to go warn Remington about the gold diggers.

  Remington was waiting at the table watching the younger crowd dance. As I sat beside him, I asked, “Did any women come over to you while I was gone?”

  He glanced at me and frowned. “You’re sweating
.”

  “I have high a functioning thermoregulation system.”

  “That’s not a thing.”

  “Yes, it is. I read it on a medical website.”

  “So you must be a doctor.”

  “Jesus, what is it with you Davenports? Parties are supposed to be fun.”

  He glanced over my shoulder. “Are they bringing the limo around?”

  Turning, I found Hale standing with his father’s crutches. “It’s out front.”

  Wait. We were leaving? This party sucked. The food was good, but everything else was disturbing. Even the speeches were a bit much. I couldn’t believe I got dressed up for this and we were leaving ten minutes after the music started. Still, the food had been good.

  We walked Remington to the limo and Hale held me back as I moved to follow his dad inside. “Aren’t we leaving?”

  “We’re going somewhere else. I want to talk to you. Eric will help him to bed.”

  That was my job. “But how will we get home?”

  “Another limo’s waiting.”

  Apparently, this had all been arranged some time ago because our limo pulled up directly after Remington’s left. Once we were inside the car and on our way, I had enough.

  “Why are you being a dick?”

  His gaze shifted to mine. “I’m not a fan of Wes.”

  “Then why did you go to his party?”

  “I told you why. It’s a business strategy.”

  “And what was I? Another strategy?”

  “You were my guest.”

  “But you didn’t invite me. Your dad did.”

  “I know you like my dad, Rayne, but he never does anything without a motive.”

  My head shook. “You people are all ridiculous. He wanted me there to meet some of his associates.”

  “You’re right. And he enjoyed proving that other men notice you.”

  “Look, if you were jealous, you could have been a little more attentive.” I pursed my lips. “You hardly spoke to me.”

  “It doesn’t matter now. You went. You met the people he wanted you to meet. And now it’s over.”

  “And boy, am I glad I agreed to go. How else would I know how boring these things are?”

  “Let’s drop it.”

  “Let’s not. Is Wes your nemesis or something?”

  “He’s nothing.”

  “Then why are you acting like I did something to betray you. I was only being polite, which I assumed was expected, being that this was his party.” I scoffed, irritated by the entire night. “You’re being ridiculous for no reason.”

  He sent me a sidelong glance but didn’t comment.

  After three and a half minutes of uncomfortable silence, I couldn’t take anymore. “Okay, look, I’m not used to men getting jealous, but I think it’s totally unfair that you’re mad at me—”

  “I’m not mad at you, Rayne.”

  “Then what the hell are you? You’ve had your enema face on since we got there—”

  “My what?”

  “You know.” I did my best impression of his stuffy face. “I’m Hale Davenport. I don’t smile in public and I’m not impressed by big shrimp.”

  He frowned. “That’s not what I look like and I don’t talk like that.”

  “Really? You might want to check some of the C-SPAN footage. You may not talk like that, but you totally make that face.”

  “Now, you’re the one being ridiculous.”

  “This whole night is ridiculous. Gah! Why are we even going anywhere? We should just go back to the boat and call it a night.”

  Folding my arms over my chest, I scowled at the privacy screen separating us from the driver. Men were stupid and if this was what I’d been missing, I wasn’t sold on changing things.

  Hale’s hand settled on my knee. “I’m sorry.”

  Okay, that took me off-guard.

  Now what? I didn’t expect him to apologize for being grumpy, so I didn’t have an acceptance speech prepared.

  Apparently, when a woman gets caught off-guard, switching gears isn’t as simple as it should be. “And what exactly are you sorry for?”

  “I don’t want to fight with you. I shouldn’t have taken my mood out on you, but I… I’ve recently been burned as far as fidelity is concerned.”

  Oh. Great. Now he was disclosing personal secrets to me. Well, that was just fabulous. How the hell did I respond to that, because even I knew his apology was a step in the right direction.

  “Hale, I’m sorry if someone cheated on you before, but I’m not that kind of girl. I never date, and you can pretty much disqualify my entire sex life before you. I know we’re still in the early stages of whatever this is, but you have all my attention. I’ve never cheated on anyone and I wouldn’t betray you like that.”

  He gave a subtle nod and his hand squeezed mine gently. “Thank you. I don’t like needing that sort of assurance, but… maybe I do.”

  I supposed we all had insecurities. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  His mouth pursed. “Eventually. But I’d rather not ruin anymore of this night than I already have. I’m sorry about how I acted. Suffice it to say, certain people have a long way to go to win back my trust, but it has nothing to do with you, and I shouldn’t have made you feel like you did anything wrong.”

  “I understand.”

  Trust was a tricky thing and when trust was broken it sometimes was unfixable. If anything, I wanted him to know he could trust me, so I’d be patient. Every day Hale opened up a little more than the last and every new piece of the Hale puzzle made me like the big picture a little bit more.

  “I forgive you.”

  He folded his fingers around mine and squeezed again. “When we talk, and we will, I want it to be right. I’ve had a rough few months and right now you’re helping me in more ways than you realize.”

  “I am?”

  He nodded. “I don’t know what it is about you, but you’re like a breath of fresh air. You’re genuine and I’m not used to people being so. It makes me happy, but also makes me nervous because I don’t want to ruin what we have.”

  I didn’t want anything to ruin it either. Smiling up at him, I said, “Well, when you’re ready to talk, I’ll be ready to listen.”

  He kissed my temple. “Thank you for being patient.”

  He’d been patient with me plenty of times. It was the least I could do. Deciding that was enough seriousness for one evening, I put the drama behind us.

  “So where are we going?”

  “I wanted to show you one of my homes.”

  One of them? “You have a house in Georgia?”

  He nodded. “A small one.”

  Curious to see what Hale’s house might look like, I grinned. “Are we spending the night there?”

  “I had hoped we would. But we’ll have to be back to The Lady Parr early.”

  A sleepover. Fun. Did he remember condoms?

  Despite the eventful night, I was already thinking about continuing my sex-ucation. Hale was a fabulous teacher. I nestled into his shoulder because that was my signature move.

  Already used to my cues, he turned and offered an understanding smile. “You look beautiful tonight.”

  Heat filled my chest. “So do you. You wear a tux well.” His thumb ran over my knuckles and that quickly my libido was ticking. “How far is your house?”

  He glanced out the window. “We’re about forty minutes away.”

  “Forty minutes? However will we pass the time?” People had sex in limos, right? That was a thing. Elle did, after prom.

  His jacket shifted as he tipped his head, gauging my expression. “What did you have in mind?”

  Well, I couldn’t just say it. I shrugged. “I dunno.”

  He sat back and continued to hold my hand. Maybe Hale wasn’t a limo sex kind of guy. Since I already used my shoulder nestle move, I sighed. That was my other move. I only had two.

  When my second move didn’t work, I casually rested my hand on his leg.
“I like these pants.”

  I like these pants? What the fuck was wrong with me? Who said things like that? That wasn’t sexy. Damn it.

  He shifted and stretched his legs out as I lightly chafed my thumbnail over his knee. His hand squeezed mine, but he still didn’t make a move. I didn’t have any more ideas, so the ball was in his court. Maybe he missed the memo about the game being on. I gave another sigh.

  Stretching his arm over the back of the seat, he touched my hair. I glanced at him and he smiled. At this pace, we’d be in Florida by the time anything happened.

  Leaning close, I brushed my lips over his jaw. He made a sound of satisfaction but didn’t bend me over the seat or stick his tongue in my mouth. I was out of ideas.

  Another sigh.

  Hale casually parted his jacket. I glanced at him, but his expression was unreadable. Glancing back at his lap, I watched in awe as he lowered the zipper of his pants. What was this move? When I looked at his face again, he gave a half-smile.

  Wait… Oh, I see what he’s doing. Or did I?

  “Um…” Seriously, I needed some sort of signal. He always touched me first. Looking at him, I whispered, “Your pants are open.”

  “I’m aware.”

  Okay. Subtle. “Did you want something?”

  “Yes.”

  My sex actually tightened at that single word. So we were on the same page. Okay. I was game. “What did you want?”

  “Your mouth on my cock.”

  And now I was out of the game. Well, not out, per se, but definitely out of my league. I didn’t know how to talk sex, but Hale seemed to have no problem just throwing it out there. “You want my…”

  “Mouth.”

  “On your…”

  “Cock.”

  “Right.” I assessed the situation.

  How were we going to do this? Did I just lean over his lap? Should I move to the floor and get on my knees? His impenetrable patience waited me out as I debated which way would be best.

  Kicking off my shoes, I glanced at the front of the limo. “Can he—”

  “He can’t see us.”

  Right. Okay then. I lifted my gown and slid to the floor. “Down here?”

  He nodded so I scooted between his knees and giggled. This was the most bizarre thing I’d ever done. “Are you going to take it out?”

  “I want you to.”

  “Oh.”

  Taking a deep breath, I lifted off my heels and inspected his pants. Boys clothing was different, and I knew there was some sort of trap door in their underwear, but the limo was dark, and I didn’t want to mess this up. “Lift your hips.”