by Tina Folsom
Paul laughed and made a dismissive gesture, relieved to discover that Tara had no interest in him. At least that meant he didn’t have to fend her off, and could concentrate on making things right with Holly. “I’m assuming your mother knows that.”
Tara nodded. “I’m so sick of her trying to interfere in my life. She knew I didn’t want to go to the Willamotts’, so she gave me an alternative that she knew I would take any day over fending off the advances of their slimy son.”
“Maybe it’s time you rebelled against your parents.”
She sighed. “Unfortunately, rebelling is a little difficult when you’re dependent on their money.”
“I thought you had a job in the city. Something with fashion?”
She rolled her eyes. “It was an unpaid internship and it ended. Besides, it was Mother’s idea of a suitable job for a woman. I haven’t been able to find anything since.”
“Well, what are you looking for? Maybe I can make a few inquiries for you. I know a lot of people.”
Tara’s face lifted. “Would you really do that after I interrupted your little, uh, get-together with your girlfriend? She is your girlfriend, isn’t she?”
Paul smiled proudly. “Yes, she is, even though she seems to be under the impression right now that I invited another woman to stay with me. And she’s probably ready to throw something heavy at me if I try to get close to her.”
“Maybe we should sort out that misunderstanding,” Tara suggested.
“Yes, maybe we should.”
But perhaps he would let Holly stew just a little, because he suspected that her running off had less to do with embarrassment about being caught in a compromising situation and more to do with jealousy. Could his little escort be jealous of Tara, thinking that he was interested in her? Oddly enough, while he’d always thought that jealous women were something to be avoided at all costs, he liked the idea that Holly seemed to want him to herself.
“That can wait. Let’s get you settled into a guest room first.” He pointed toward the house. “I’ll get your luggage and then you can tell me a little bit more about what kind of job you’re interested in.”
Tara beamed at him and looked almost as if she wanted to hug him.
“And then maybe you could do me a little favor.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Sure, what kind of favor?”
“Flirt with me over dinner.”
“In front of your girlfriend?”
He nodded, chuckling. “Yes, in front of Holly.”
Tara gave him a sideways glance and slapped him on his upper arm. “You’re terrible.”
Paul shot her a pleading look.
“Okay, but if she scratches my eyes out, I’ll sue you for all you’re worth. Maybe that’ll cement my financial independence from my parents.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry, the only one she’s going to lay hands on will be me.”
And he couldn’t wait for it to happen, because if he wasn’t wrong in his assessment, he could vividly imagine what Holly would do to him if she thought another woman was encroaching on her territory.
19
Holly marched out of her room and along the second-floor corridor. She’d seen from her window how Tara had smiled seductively at Paul and how he had laughed out loud at something she’d said. Did this woman really think she had what it took to satisfy a man like Paul?
“Puh-lease!” she grumbled to herself.
After taking a long shower and spending over an hour getting dressed, then another hour to calm her nerves, she was finally ready to go downstairs and show that little tart that she wouldn’t let Paul go without a fight.
Damn it! She’d promised herself she’d leave her emotions out of this, but what had happened out at the pool—before that rich bitch had appeared—had changed all that. First his heartfelt apology over breakfast had softened her up, then his selfless lovemaking had done the rest. No wonder she was all flustered and confused. It wasn’t her fault! Besides, her hormones were all messed up too. It was all Paul’s fault!
When Holly walked down the wide staircase, she could already hear voices coming from the kitchen. Not just voices, laughter too!
Doublechecking her casual outfit—a low-cut navy and white striped top that accentuated her breasts, and a pair of white pants—she knew she could compete with any rich girl from the Hamptons, even though she didn’t wear designer clothes or expensive jewelry.
With a fortifying breath, Holly marched into the kitchen.
“Oh, that’s too funny,” she heard Tara say, and laugh.
Holly caught sight of Tara just as she slapped Paul on the shoulder. They stood at the kitchen sink, shoulder to shoulder, their backs to her. From what she could see, Tara was busy washing some lettuce while Paul was cutting tomatoes into slices.
Well, wasn’t that just very cozy and domestic? How long exactly had these two known each other?
“No, it’s the truth!” Paul now replied to Tara, laughing. “Your mother thought he was a waiter and tipped him. And very generously, I might add. Needless to say, he took the money and kept his mouth shut.”
“That’s a lot funnier than what happened that summer at the Campbells’ beach house. I don’t remember, did you and your family attend their pool party that year?”
Holly took another step into the kitchen, not sure how to interrupt them. She didn’t belong here. From their conversation she could tell that they had many mutual acquaintances, all rich and connected. It was like breaking into a closed clique after starting at a new high school. She felt like an outsider who had no chance of ever being part of this.
Holly pivoted.
“Holly, there you are,” Paul suddenly said, making her whirl back. She noticed how he ran an appreciative glance over her body. “I was going to come and get you in a minute.”
Yeah, right! Of course you were. When you were done flirting with Tara.
He motioned to Tara, who had also turned. “Tara and I are making a salad. And I’ve ordered a pizza.”
“Great,” Holly forced herself to answer with a smile. “I love pizza.”
Tara dried her hands on a towel, then walked toward her. “Hi, sorry, I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier. I’m Tara Pierpont. I’m a friend of the family.”
Reluctantly, Holly shook her hand. “Holly Foster. Nice to meet you.” She decided not to make any excuses for why she’d run off when Tara had surprised them at the pool. Why remind everybody of an embarrassing situation?
Holly glanced around, desperate for something to do so she wouldn’t have to make small talk. “How about I set the table?”
Paul pointed to the kitchen island with the barstools. “I figured we’d eat here. No need to drag everything into the dining room.”
“Sounds good,” Holly answered and walked to the kitchen cabinets, when she realized that she had no idea where the plates and the cutlery were kept.
Paul smiled at her and pointed to one of the cabinets, then to a drawer, before turning back to his cutting board.
“So is this your first time at the house?” Tara asked while she put the salad into the spinner and covered it with the lid.
“Um, yes.”
“I hadn’t had a chance yet to introduce Holly to my parents,” Paul added.
Tara chuckled and nudged Paul with her elbow, an action that made Holly’s blood pressure rise. “Not that that’s much of a loss.” She and Paul exchanged a conspiratorial look.
Holly placed the plates she’d grabbed from the cabinet on the kitchen island with a loud clank. “Why is that?” Did Tara think Holly wasn’t worth being introduced to somebody’s parents?
“Paul’s mother can be quite judgmental. Now, his father is a darling.”
Paul groaned. “Tara, why don’t you call it like it is? My father is pussy-whipped.”
Tara gave him a wide smile. “I hear your mother was a stunning beauty when he met her. Guess she totally wrapped him around her little finger.” She glanced a
t Holly before she continued, “Better not make the same mistake as your father.”
Holly wrapped her fist tighter around the forks in her hand, fighting against the urge to stab this conniving woman in the eye.
“Well, beauty can be quite distracting for a man,” Paul confessed. “We just can’t help ourselves.” He lifted his shoulders in a comical shrug.
“As if you would ever lose your head!” Tara teased him. “You’re a lot more levelheaded than that.”
“That’s yet to be seen,” Paul said.
Before Holly could kill either of the two with an acid look, the chiming of the doorbell interrupted her.
“That must be the pizza. I’ll get it,” Paul announced, and charged out of the kitchen.
She was alone with Tara, who now placed the salad bowl on the kitchen island.
“Oh, I forgot the napkins,” Holly said, glad to have something else to do.
She walked around the island, when Tara opened a drawer and pulled out a few napkins. “Got ’em,” she said cheerfully, then leaned over the island, making a dismissive gesture. “I’ve been here a few times.”
Tara’s words didn’t help to assuage Holly’s feeling of not belonging. While she placed the napkins next to the plates, she said, “So you’re a friend of the family. Paul never mentioned you joining us here this week.”
“Oh, it was a last-minute thing,” Tara said lightly, and walked to the fridge to pull a bottle of salad dressing from it.
Of course it had been a last-minute thing: When Holly had made it clear to Paul that she wouldn’t sleep with him, he’d decided to invite Tara in hopes of getting some action from her. Clearly, he couldn’t keep his cock in his pants for long.
“Pizza!” Paul swept into the kitchen and with him the delicious smell of pizza fresh from the oven.
Holly suddenly realized how hungry she was.
“Let’s eat!” Paul placed the pizza in the middle of the kitchen island and opened the lid of the cardboard box. He was about to sit down on one of the barstools, when he stopped himself. “Oh, forgot the drinks. Who wants wine?”
“Red for me,” Tara said immediately.
Holly shook her head. “I’ll have water.”
Paul walked to the wine fridge and pulled out a bottle, then looked at her. “You sure? I have a really great vintage.” He pointed to the bottle.
“Not tonight,” Holly insisted. After all, she couldn’t drink alcohol during her pregnancy, at least not during the early months.
“If you say so.” Then he smiled at Tara. “More for you and me, then.”
While Paul opened the bottle and Tara pulled glasses from a kitchen cabinet, Holly sat on one of the bar stools. Inside, she seethed. Now Paul and Tara had another thing in common: both of them would be drinking wine, while she had to be different by drinking water. Everything she did seemed to widen the gap between her and Paul, while Tara snuck into that gap and made herself at home.
Paul poured two glasses of wine, while Tara poured a glass of water. A moment later, the two of them were seated at the kitchen island. Paul next to Holly, and Tara on his other side.
Paul lifted his glass. “Well, cheers, everybody. Thanks for helping me cook, Tara.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. It was just a salad.”
The girlish giggle that accompanied Tara’s words started to grate on Holly’s nerves. Was this what men really liked? A woman like Tara? Somebody who played down her own achievements and was subservient to a man? Because that was exactly the impression Holly got from Tara. She seemed smart and sophisticated, yet in all her interactions she appeared to take a backseat to Paul.
During dinner it became even more obvious. Tara played the nice girl and agreed with everything Paul said. It was positively nauseating!
By the time Holly had eaten three slices of pizza, she was ready to puke, and it wasn’t the pizza’s fault. She couldn’t take any more of their banter and all the references about past summers and parties they had both attended. Why hadn’t Paul invited Tara in the first place to play his girlfriend instead of Holly? It would have made things easier for all of them.
“It’s been a long day. I’ll get ready for bed,” Holly announced after they’d put the dishes away.
Paul raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you want to watch a movie with us? I’m sure we can find something we’ll all like.”
Holly shook her head. “No thanks, I’ll just turn in. ’Night.”
Paul stepped closer, as if he wanted to kiss her good night, but Holly turned before he reached her and stomped out of the kitchen.
As she walked down the hallway, she heard Tara say, “Did I do something?”
That rotten little bitch knew exactly what she’d done: She’d made Holly jealous.
20
Paul lay in his bed, naked, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness, but he couldn’t sleep. Maybe he’d gone too far. Maybe he should have told Holly that his mother had been the one to invite Tara, not he.
He sat up, about to push the duvet off, when he heard a door open. His door.
His heart jumped in excitement. Tara would never come to his room, which left only one person: Holly.
He recognized her silhouette as she eased the door shut behind her and approached the bed. Paul smiled to himself. He’d been right after all.
When Holly was almost beside him, he reached for the light switch and turned on the bedside lamp. It illuminated the room in a soft, subdued light, just enough to see everything, but not enough to spoil the mood.
Holly gasped.
Paul grinned. “Well, look who we’ve got here.” He feasted his eyes on her.
Holly was dressed for seduction. She wore a black negligee over a red teddy.
“Were you expecting anybody else?” she asked with raised eyebrows. She shrugged the negligee off her shoulders, letting it fall on the floor.
The teddy didn’t have enough fabric to adequately cover her full breasts. Instead, only her nipples were hidden, but the round and firm flesh of her breasts was practically displayed on a platter.
“Who would I expect?” He pushed the duvet down farther, giving her a glimpse of his groin, where his cock was already standing erect.
Holly motioned to the hallway. “That woman.”
The way she said the last word reinforced his belief that Holly was jealous.
Paul pushed the duvet aside completely. “Do you really think I would have a hard-on like this for that girl when I have a real woman staying with me?”
He reached for her arm and pulled her down onto the bed, pressing her onto the covers, before sliding one thigh over her lower body to keep her there.
“You invited her. Was it because I insisted on not having sex with you?”
A smile formed on his lips. “It appears that we are having sex. Or what would you call that out at the pool this afternoon? I believe that was sex.”
“But you couldn’t know that would happen when you invited her,” Holly insisted.
“No, I couldn’t. You’re right about that.” Paul slid his hand up her torso, enjoying the feel of the soft fabric under his palm and the heat that came from Holly’s body. When he reached one breast, he pushed the fabric off her nipple and swiped his thumb over it.
She moaned and pressed her head back into the mattress. “So you admit it, then, that you invited her to sleep with her.”
“Is that why you came to my room in this?” He flicked a finger against her teddy. “Scandalous, really.” Then he dipped his head to suck one nipple into his mouth, before letting it pop from his lips a moment later. “But delicious.”
“You’re a rotten philanderer, Paul!”
“Oh, I don’t think you know the meaning of the word. If I’m not mistaken, a philanderer makes love to many women, sometimes at the same time. Whereas I—” He squeezed her breast, then pushed the fabric off her other breast too. “—only make love to one. And that woman is right here in my bed.”
His hand wandered do
wn her torso and slid between her legs, where he found a little snap button and ripped it open to expose her sex to him. His fingers stroked her folds, and he felt her shiver. “A woman who wants to continue what we started earlier.”
“You’re an arrogant jerk!” Holly pushed against him. “Inviting another woman when you knew I would be here.”
Maybe it was time to come clean. “Holly!”
She turned her head away.
“Look at me, Holly!” Paul sighed. “My mother was the one who invited Tara, making her think the invitation came from me. I cleared it up with her, and frankly, Tara was relieved.”
Holly snapped her gaze back to him. “What? Then why was she flirting with you all through dinner?”
Paul chuckled. “Because I wanted you to come to me tonight. And it worked.”
Holly huffed angrily and tried to sit up, slapping her hands at him. “Of all the rotten—”
He shut her up by pressing his lips to her mouth and pulling her into an embrace. He kissed her hard until he felt her yield to him. Only then did he release her.
“I want you,” he murmured. “Had we not been interrupted this afternoon, I would have made love to you out there at the pool.” And he realized he hadn’t even had a condom on him when he’d been out there. He made a mental note to always have condoms in his pockets, no matter what he was wearing or where he was going. “I wasn’t expecting it. But when you asked to feel my cock inside you, I never felt happier in my life.” He stroked his knuckles over her cheek and down her neck. “Please tell me you still want me to make love to you. Because I want to hold you in my arms tonight. But if you’ve changed your mind, I will respect your decision and let you go back to your room.” As hard as it would be for him.
Holly’s gaze locked with his. Seconds passed before she took his hand and pushed it farther south until he was touching her sex again.
“Make love to me. Not because you paid for my company, but because I want you to. Because I’m aching to feel you inside me.”
