Just as Cathy started to speak, he kissed her. His lips were filled with an urgent hunger he needed to satisfy.
“You’re so sexy and so very sweet,” he whispered in her ear.
The warmth from his lips against her neck made Cathy tingle. Together they pulled his shirt over his head and let it fall to the floor. Marcus held her face as they kissed. Her breathing intensified as she tried to unbutton her dress. “No I want to undress you, again.”
Marcus led her into the bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed as Cathy stood in front of him. Slowly he pushed her dress up her thighs to reveal the top of her stockings. He lifted her leg so that her foot was on his thigh. Cathy held on to his shoulder so she wouldn’t topple over. He rolled her stockings down each leg, kissing her thighs, knees, calves, ankles and toes with every roll. Marcus turned her around slowly and unzipped her dress, then slowly untied her halter. Just as the straps fell around her shoulders he stopped the dress from falling to the floor.
He whispered into her ear, “I love to reveal you slowly.”
He unhooked her bra so her bra and dress fell to the floor simultaneously. Starting from the nape of her neck, he planted soft kisses to her shoulders. Her knees weak, she could barely stand up. Marcus kneeled in front of her to kiss her stomach and hips. When his lips got closer to her inner thighs, she tensed up.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
Cathy was embarrassed to say anything. “Nothing, it’s just that I’ve never…” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
“You’ve never let a man please you there?”
She felt like a total neophyte. “No. I was taught it was wrong.”
“What could be wrong with loving and pleasing every inch of your lover’s body?”
She knew she didn’t have an answer.
“Relax, sweetie, and let me take care of you.”
She lay down on the bed. He kissed her knees, calves and then her inner thighs. The sensations pulsating through her overwhelmed Cathy. Marcus’s silky touch loved every inch of her curves, even the dangerous ones. With panther-like moves, he hovered above her, playfully teasing her lips with his. Cathy’s skin crawled with desire as he lowered his body. She’d never craved a man’s touch like this before. They seemed to read each other’s mind and in the midst of such exquisite ecstasy, their eyes locked.
“Cathy,” he whispered. “I love you.”
“Oh God, Marcus, I love you.”
CHAPTER 15
The elephant was in the room. In fact, it was in bed with them. Last night in the throes of passion they had been as close as two can get; they had even confessed their love. But neither had brought it up this morning. So far it looked as if the elephant would be staying for breakfast.
Marcus stroked Cathy’s hair. “Last night and this morning were amazing. They really were. I can’t believe last night was the last evening I get to spend with you before we go on the road.”
She waited for the other shoe to drop. “I know. The time just flew by.”
“I just thought of something.” He stopped for a minute. “Maybe you can join me.”
Cathy was a little taken aback. “You want me to come on the road with you?”
“It doesn’t sound that crazy to you, does it?”
“No. I don’t think it’s crazy at all.”
“Do you think you could rearrange your schedule?”
Cathy thought about it. She could really use a real vacation. “It would be hard for me to flip it during the week, but maybe I can come for the weekend series in Tampa.”
“That sounds good to me.”
“I’ll book a flight leaving Friday and returning Sunday.” “You can stay at the Hilton. I’ll take care of the reservation and I’ll have the concierge handle getting you to the stadium.”
“Great. It’s been forever since I’ve been to Florida. Maybe I’ll check with the concierge for shopping and sightseeing recommendations, so I can keep busy while you’re at the stadium.”
“That’s a good idea but you won’t be on your own all of the time. We’ll be able to do some stuff together.”
She smiled. “Now that would be really nice.” She kissed him, then sat up to see what time it was. “God, I didn’t realize the time. Since this is our last breakfast together do you have any requests?”
“No. Whatever you make is fine with me. I love…” He stopped in the midst of his sentence. “…your cooking,” he finished.
Cathy put on a smile even though he didn’t say what she wanted to hear. She slipped her black robe on and headed to the kitchen to get her mind off the subject of love and into making breakfast. Some women find comfort in eating, Cathy found comfort in cooking. It was a cheap but therapeutic way for her to concentrate on something else instead of whatever was worrying her.
For the first time, Cathy had opened up to a man. She’d told Marcus her deepest fears and the life that had shaped her, something she’d never done in the past . Then when she thought their lovemaking couldn’t get any better, they’d taken it to another place so amazing they’d uttered those three little words, ‘I love you.’ They went from ‘I think I love you’ to ‘I love you’ in the course of an hour or so. Only now in the light of the sun they couldn’t seem to find those same little words they’d said so easily in the dark.
An hour later Cathy had channeled her uneasiness into blueberry muffins, a salmon frittata, sausage, fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee.
Although the elephant was likely to join them for breakfast, she didn’t add a third place setting. She grabbed the collection of morning papers stacked by the front door. By force of habit she opened up to the gossip section and there was a picture of Marcus and her with the caption Marcus Fox’s New Ladylove Throws Her Weight Around At Club Z.
Cathy couldn’t believe her eyes. She quickly flipped to the item.
According to two women, New York literary agent Catherine Chambers verbally accosted them in the ladies’ room of Club Z and chased them out of the ladies’ room. The two women said they had no idea what made her go after them.
Cathy saw red. Those two coked-out witches from the bathroom insulted me and I’m the bad guy. All I did was educate them with my real dress size. She sucked her teeth. It figures that this would back up on me. I thought I could put it behind me but now the whole dang world knows. Lost in thought, Cathy unconsciously crumpled the paper. Marcus walked into the dining room. “Oh, honey, this looks wonderful.”
She was silent.
“Cathy? Is something wrong?”
She handed him the paper. “Read this.”
Marcus looked at the crumpled paper. “This doesn’t bode well.” He smoothed the paper and scanned down. “What the hell is this about?”
“I’d like to know, too,” Cathy huffed. “I told you what happened last night. Those same two women were talking about me in between snorts of coke.”
“So we have the word of a couple of cokeheads trying to score some cash with a bogus story.”
Cathy was panicked. “What am I going to do, Marcus? I have children. My children are going to see this crap! How do I explain this to them? To my family? This is a nightmare for me on so many levels.” Cathy paced the floor. “Then there are the business ramifications. I’m a literary agent with clients and a good reputation in publishing. This will totally ruin my life.” Cathy stopped herself. “I’m sorry. I’m just so upset.”
“Don’t worry about it. You have the right to be upset.”
Cathy tried to take it down a notch. “I wanted this to be a nice breakfast and here I am ruining it.”
“It is a nice breakfast and you haven’t ruined anything. It’s the jackass that published this crap that ruined breakfast.” Marcus was angry.
She sat down at the table. “I know what I have to do but there are so many things running through my head right now, I scarcely know where to begin.”
Marcus stood behind her and rubbed her neck. “I’m going to call my agent this
morning and we’ll get this straightened out.”
“Oh, Marcus, that’s really nice of you but this isn’t your problem. I can call Jessica Jennings; she handles PR for a few of our clients. I’m sure she can help.”
“Really, honey, let me do this. It’s my fault anyway.”
“How is it your fault?”
“It’s because of me that they are focusing on you in the first place. I have to and will put an end to it.”
Cathy felt a little like she had her own knight in shining armor. “Thanks, honey. I think I’ll get in touch with my attorney, too.”
“Good idea.”
Cathy had a headache but she quickly covered it up. “Now let’s enjoy this breakfast.”
He looked over the spread. “Are you telling me you made all of this with the stuff that’s in my kitchen?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“It all looks so good. Do you mind if I dive in?”
“Please eat and enjoy.”
They made a cozy looking pair sitting at the breakfast table. Then Cathy’s cell phone rang.
“Why don’t you let it go to voice mail?”
“It could be important and with the gossip column in the paper today I’d better be prepared to face questions sooner or later. I prefer sooner.” She got up. “Excuse me.”
She looked at the caller ID. It was E.D. She knew he’d be the first call.
“Hello, E.D.”
“Cathy, what the hell is going on? I got the morning paper and I couldn’t believe what I read.”
She walked into the bedroom. “That makes three of us.” Balancing the phone on her shoulder she sat down on the bed. “You know, I was going to ask you to send out a memo to let our clients know I had a social life. I guess that ship has sailed.” She clapped her hands together.
“I know that’s your attempt to lighten the mood.”
“You mean it didn’t work?” she joked.
“What do you think? So, my friend, how the hell did it get started?”
“It started the minute I walked into that club. Scratch that. I was actually having a good time until I went into the ladies room.”
“Forget the paper. What really happened?”
“To make a short story short, I overheard them talking about me while I was in the bathroom.”
“Did they talk about you right to your face?”
“No, that would have required guts, which those two cokeheads didn’t have.”
“Cokeheads?”
“Did I mention they were doing lines at the time?”
“So they didn’t see you.”
“They were too busy to notice anything but they did have time to wonder how Marcus could screw me through all my flesh. One said, ‘If cows can screw, there’s a way.’ Then they made reference to my dress size.”
E.D. was silent for a minute. “Oh my God, Cathy, I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you.”
“It was a nightmare but what could I do? Hide in the stall all night? So I stepped out of the stall and told them I wore a size 16.”
“Good for you!”
“The little heifers ran out. It felt good for about a minute. Then the more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I got. We left the club not too long after that.”
“Whose idea was it to leave?”
“Mine. I know I should have stayed and danced the night away, but once those words were in the air, I couldn’t stay.”
“Oh, Cathy, I know you’re really upset because of your boys.”
“There’s my picture, this totally awful caption and a blurb full of lies. Even if I get in touch with the powers that be and get a retraction, it’s too late. The damage has been done.”
“Don’t worry about business, talk to your kids first.”
Speaking of mothers, I almost forgot about Elizabeth. She winced. “Oh my God. My mother is going to have a field day with this.”
“Cathy, you cannot turn this into a punishment from God for your sins. I don’t care what your mother and ‘the truth’ say.”
Cathy fidgeted on the bed. “Why does it feel like I’m being punished?”
“Come on, Cathy. You know better. What did Marcus say about it?”
“He’s mad as hell and he’s contacting his agent about it since he thinks the whole thing is his fault.”
“He can’t be at fault for other people’s eagerness to get an exclusive at any cost. However, I’m sure he has the right connections to get this handled yesterday.”
“I know, but there’s the matter of our clients. What’s going to happen when they read this?” she asked. “You know they are going to call me about it.”
“I’ll handle them.”
“Then there are my sons. What am I going to say? What must they be thinking?”
“You didn’t do a damn thing, Cathy. Your sons know you and there is no way they would believe such trash.” E. D. was in motivational speaker mode.
“From your lips to God’s ears,” Cathy sighed.
“Don’t worry. Concentrate on your kids. I’ll handle the client stuff.”
“Thanks, E.D.” She looked at the clock. “I’d better get back to the breakfast table with Marcus. We’ll talk later. Keep me posted.”
“Will do.”
Before heading back in, Cathy took a couple of Advil for her headache.
Marcus looked up. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. That was E.D. I had to give him the rundown.”
“I’m sure he’s none too pleased.”
“That’s an understatement.” She sighed. “My dad has been in Virginia for the last couple of weeks, but he’s due back this evening. He reads every newspaper.”
Marcus felt responsible for the whole mess. He watched as Cathy tried to downplay the way she was feeling but he knew better. Whether she knew it or not, he’d made up his mind about her and he planned to keep her in his life. In order to do it he had to take care of this mess yesterday.
Marcus got up. “Listen, honey, I need to make that phone call now. I’ll be back in a few minutes or so. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He kissed her before he left the room.
v
Marcus picked up the phone from the night table. He paced for a few moments to try to calm down before making the call.
He dialed Ben.
“Hello?”
“Ben? It’s Marcus.”
Ben knew what he was calling about immediately. “I’ve
seen the paper, too, Marcus.”
“What the hell kind of crap is this?”
“The kind of crap that sells newspapers.”
“Well, I’m not standing for it. There is no way Cathy
did what they said.”
“I know, Marcus.”
“There has to be something we can do about it. Call
Martin.”
“I was going to suggest that we do just that. Martin’s a
big fan of yours. Maybe he can help get to the bottom of
it.”
“You know, those women were doing drugs in the
ladies’ room. Cathy heard them. Wait a minute. Martin
beefed up security at the club and I seem to remember there
was a security camera outside of the men’s room.” “Yeah. So?”
“If there is a security camera outside the men’s room…”
Marcus began.
“There has to be one outside the ladies room.” “Right.” He looked over at the clock. “It’s still early.
Give Martin a call and see if he can cue up the tapes from
last night. I know it’s Sunday morning but this is important. Tell him if he does this solid for me his nephews can
come to the stadium for batting practice before a game.” “Good deal. I’ll get on it right away. By the way, how is
Cathy this morning?”
“Not good. She’s mortified, embarrassed and worried
about her childr
en.”
Ben shook his head. “Poor thing.”
“I really want to make sure this is handled today. She’s
put up with so much in such a short period of time, I’m
amazed she’s still standing.”
“She certainly is a strong woman.”
“I know but even the strongest of women have a
breaking point and I’m afraid she’s nearing hers.” “Don’t worry, Marcus. I’ll give Martin a call and get the
ball rolling.”
“Thanks, Ben. Keep me posted.”
He hung up the phone and walked back into the dining
room.
Cathy had her cell phone in her hand. As she stared at
the number pad she thought about all the big conversations
she’d had with her sons over the years. She’d had big talks
about school, language, choosing friends, drugs, lying and
sex. During the Lewinsky scandal the news had had more sex than an R-rated film and Cathy had to explain what oral sex was about ten years too soon. Now she had to call them and somehow it seemed far worse than a few stains on
a blue dress.
Marcus entered the room. “Sweetie, did you make your
phone call yet?”
“Not yet. I will in a minute.”
“Okay. You can call from the bedroom if you like.” “Thanks. I think I’ll do that.”
She went into the bedroom, bit the bullet and dialed. It
rang four times.
With a frog still in his throat, Alexander answered the
phone. “Hello?”
“Alex? It’s Mom.”
He was still groggy. “Mom, what time is it?” “I know it’s early.”
He yawned. “What’s going on, Mom? You never call
this early on a Sunday morning.”
“I have to talk to you and your brother. Speaking of
Andrew, is he in his room?”
“I think so. What’s wrong, Mom?”
“Let me get your brother on the line and then we’ll
talk.”
“Okay.”
She pressed flash to get another line and dialed Andrew. “Hello?” He was just a hair more awake than Alex. “Hi Andrew. It’s Mom.”
Not His Type Page 21
