Such a Pretty Face

by Gabrielle Goldsby

  “Whoa, it just got hot in here,” Dominique said.

  Ryan smiled, and in that instant I remembered her telling me that her father was good. No, not just good. Really good.

  She called me. Her chips hit the stack and I blinked. Oh shit.

  “What do you have?” I asked softly, not breaking eye contact.

  “Everything I need to take care of you.”

  The table around us erupted with laughter and loud comments, but I couldn’t tell you what was said. I bet one and a half times the pot. Ryan raised twice my bet. I blinked, bleary eyed, and threw in the chips.

  “I call.” I turned over my pocket queens to show the table that I had trips.

  Ryan turned over a jack king suited.

  “Oh, my God. Oh, my God, she got you! She had a straight.”

  Goody high-Þ ved Ryan across the table. “I thought you said she was a novice?”

  • 163 •

  GABRIELLE GOLDSBY

  “She’s a ringer,” Naomi said with all the shrillness of a young girl yelling “witch” in the 1600s. “Mia brought her in to steal our money.”

  “Then why the hell did she just take my chips instead of yours, you ass?”

  Naomi looked at Ryan suspiciously. “Who plays that kind of money with a jack king suited?”

  Ryan shrugged. “I had thirty percent odds after the ß op. I Þ gured it was worth it.”

  “I thought you said you weren’t good at this.” I was smiling because it was so hard to be mad at her.

  “No, I told you I’m not much of a gambler. I hate taking people’s money.”

  “See? Who in the hell spouts out card odds at a home poker game?

  She’s a damn ringer. It’s a setup.” Naomi stood up and Goody grabbed the back of her shirt.

  “Sit your skinny ass down. I drove, remember? Unless you’re planning on taking MAX, you aren’t going anywhere.”

  “Mia, can I borrow bus fare?”

  “Nope,” I said, and everyone but Naomi laughed.

  Ryan was looking at me apologetically. “I put you on pocket aces.

  I might have folded if I’d thought you had queens.”

  “That’s good to know,” I grumbled but I don’t think I was fooling anyone, least of all Goody, whose smirk would have made me angry if I didn’t feel so completely warm inside.

  The game, if you could call it that, lasted two more hours, by the end of which the only person enjoying herself was Ryan. Dominique had heartburn, as she always did after our poker games. Christina, Goody, and Amy had all busted out, bought back in, and busted out again. And Naomi was pouting into her White Russian because Ryan hadn’t so much as looked at her twice the whole night.

  She had, however, looked at me twice. In fact, as the night wore on, either my drink got more potent or she just stopped trying to hide the fact that there was something going on between us. I could hardly concentrate on my hand.

  Generally, when people busted out they gravitated toward the couch to wait for the game to end. Tonight, no one left the table. I had no doubt they felt the heat between us too, and I didn’t enjoy being on display. There is nothing like being whipped into a sexual frenzy while having your money taken. I imagine it’s like being given expensive

  • 164 •

  SUCH A PRETTY FACE

  lingerie and being told it was purchased at the secondhand store after you had already put it on.

  As my guests stood and began to organize themselves to leave, Amy patted Dominique’s stomach, causing her to smile. The love between the two was so obvious that it almost broke my heart. Had I ever looked at Brenda like that? Maybe. Had she ever looked at me like that? No, absolutely not. I glanced at Ryan and saw her watching my two friends, her expression soft. She shifted her gaze to me and smiled.

  Her eyes shone with the promises she had been sending me all night. I wished with all my heart that we were alone so that I could touch her. I breathed silent thanks that the voyeurs would soon be out of my house and I could Þ nd out if she had any intention of following through.

  “Thanks for hosting, ladies. It will have to be at my house next time,” Naomi said.

  “They let you have poker games at the shelter?” Goody asked.

  Naomi’s answer was to ß ip him the bird.

  Dominique leaned in to kiss me on the cheek and told Ryan, “I hope you come to the next game and give us a chance to get our money back.”

  Ryan dipped her head shyly and said, “Sure, I’d like that.” I found myself feeling strangely protective again. Wait a minute, the woman just took my money and now I’m trying to protect her. Hot damn, she’s good.

  Christina hugged Ryan good-bye and I was relieved when I saw no discomfort on Ryan’s face. “By the way, Ryan, will you be coming to Sunday brunch with Mia tomorrow?”

  “Uh, no,” I answered for her. But one glance at Ryan’s face stopped my next words. It wasn’t so much that she looked angry or even interested; she looked blank and I realized that was her coping mechanism.

  I could see the question in Christina’s eyes, but I would have to deal with her another time. “Anyway, you’re invited if you don’t have any other plans,” she said as she went out the door. “See you both later.” As soon as the door closed, Pepito let out a shrill bark. He had been sitting at Ryan’s feet quietly the entire length of the game. If he had begged at all, I hadn’t heard him.

  “I better get him something to eat,” Ryan said.

  “Ryan, wait.” I took her arm gently. “I’d like you to come tomorrow if you aren’t busy. We don’t start eating until two. It’s more

  • 165 •

  GABRIELLE GOLDSBY

  like a before-dinner meal rather than brunch…” I caught my bottom lip between my teeth to stop it from trembling.

  “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” The warmth I had seen in her eyes when she had looked at Dominique and Amy was now gone.

  “No, it isn’t you. It’s them. I’m embarrassed by them.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. It’s mostly my mother. I’m afraid she might say something to make you think I’m—I really don’t know why I’m ashamed of them. When you meet them you’ll understand. I’m trying to say, I’d like it if you would come with me.”

  Ryan smiled then, and even though her smile told me that she thought I was being silly, I was relieved she wasn’t giving me the cold shoulder. She leaned closer and I thought for sure she was going to kiss me again. The memory of the Þ rst and last time ß ooded me with anticipation. Instead, she took my wrist and turned it so that my hand was palm up. “I enjoyed spending time with you and your friends, and I would like to come to Sunday brunch to meet your parents, if you’re okay with it.” She must have read the disappointment on my face because she pressed her forehead against mine and closed her eyes.

  “I’m still struggling with this. Things almost got out of hand in there and it’s too soon for both of us. Can you just give me a little time, if I promise not to act like it didn’t happen?”

  She did kiss me then and I leaned heavily into her. The kiss was warm and comforting, but there was still that lightning bolt of desire behind it. Ryan broke it off just before it could turn into something more. She was jogging up the stairs when I Þ nally realized that she had pressed several neatly folded bills into my hand, her poker winnings.

  I was about to call out that I wouldn’t take her money, but I realized that in a battle of wills with Ryan, I would never win.

  • 166 •

  SUCH A PRETTY FACE

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I slept hard—thanks to a little help from my hand—and woke up feeling refreshingly languid. I brought my hand to my nose. My own scent all but covered the last traces of hers, but she was there and I could imagine the feel of her, warm and so wet that I had to press Þ rmly to actually feel her skin. My clitoris jumped at the memory. There had been no time for foreplay last night. I had barely shut the door to my bedroom, s
wept Pepito onto the ß oor, disrobed, and sunk my Þ ngers deep within myself before I was biting down hard on a corner of my pillow to keep from calling out her name.

  I heard a hungry mewling noise from the direction of the door.

  Pepito gazed at me expectantly. He licked his lips, dampening my mood immediately. With a resigned groan, I tossed my covers back, tiptoed across the cold ß oor, and opened the door a crack. Pepito squirted through with the liquid ß exibility of a mouse and I heard the small thumps signifying that he was bunny-hopping down the stairs. I snickered. He really was a cute little thing.

  Just as I pushed the door shut, the scent of bacon and eggs wafted past me. “Damn, she doesn’t play fair.”

  I wasn’t normally a breakfast eater. Coffee and Danish was my idea of a complete breakfast if I had to have one. But the tempting scent and the knowledge that Ryan was down there pulled at me. I took a quick shower and went downstairs into the kitchen.

  Ryan was sitting at the table reading a newspaper.

  “Good morning,” I said and went right to the coffeepot, so I heard rather than saw her lower the paper. She didn’t speak for what seemed like a long moment.

  • 167 •

  GABRIELLE GOLDSBY

  “Mornin’. I made breakfast.”

  “Yeah.” I turned around with my mug in hand.

  The look on her face brought me to a dead stop. I felt something weak and small turn in my chest and I nearly dropped my mug. Arousal, the sort I had never seen associated with me, was plainly written across her face. “Ryan, about last night?”

  And just like that, what I saw on her face was gone. “I told you I didn’t want to play.”

  She didn’t want to play? I hesitated and sat down across from her.

  The fact I had sat at the same table with Brenda only weeks before made me feel tawdry. “You mean the poker game? That’s not what I wanted to talk about. You won that money fair and square.” Well, Goody and the girls might have a few thoughts on the fairness of turning them on to the point that they weren’t paying attention, but it was fair. “I was referring to what happened in here between you and me.”

  A muscle throbbed in Ryan’s jaw. “I was hoping we didn’t have to talk about that.”

  “You said you wouldn’t pretend nothing happened.”

  “What good would it do to explore it to hell?”

  I wanted to say it did me a lot of good in bed last night. But I didn’t. “I don’t know. I…”

  “Mia, I think you asked me to stay here because you felt guilty.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Okay, and you were worried about break-ins too. I understand that, but at some point, I’m going to be done with the work here and you’re going to have to deal with…” I realized that she was asking for Brenda’s name.

  “Brenda,” I said reluctantly.

  “Brenda coming back. I know you said things were over between you, but they aren’t over enough for you to start a new relationship. I don’t think enough time has passed.”

  “How can you make the decision about whether enough time has passed for me?”

  “Mia, I’m making the decision for myself.”

  The fact that she said I wasn’t ready for a relationship, not just sex, thrilled me. “So we just ignore what happened last night?”

  “I don’t think we can ignore it, but we aren’t teenagers. We don’t have to act on it.”

  • 168 •

  SUCH A PRETTY FACE

  “Is that what you did with Selena, just act on it?”

  Ryan frowned. “Did she tell you that? You two must be a lot friendlier then I thought.”

  “We had lunch together one day and she mentioned seeing you and I leaving together after work, when you took me to Mrs. Margolis’s.”

  “What else did she tell you?”

  “Nothing really, just that you two had gone out a few times.”

  “I see.” Ryan stood up. Her body was rigid, and to my surprise she looked angry. “I’m going to get dressed,” she said.

  “Why are you so angry?”

  “Are you seeing her?”

  The question was so sudden that I was shocked into answering without thinking. “No, we had lunch. Just the once.”

  “Are you going to see her again?” Her eyes were piercing.

  I answered her carefully. “I don’t know. She asked me to come with her to a charity event in a few weeks.”

  “You said yes?”

  “I said I’d think about it.”

  Ryan bit her bottom lip. “Have you ever been with a woman like Selena before?”

  I sat my cup down and walked over to her. “What do you mean, been with? What’s with the third degree?”

  “Mia, I met her at a bar when I Þ rst came to town.”

  “I know, she told me. She implied that you—”

  “We did.”

  I felt something sharp hit my chest and ricochet around in there, like a bullet looking for the best spot to cause the most damage. “Okay.”

  I was shaking my head, trying to clear it, and trying to keep myself from asking her the obvious—how could she have sex with Selena, but not me?

  “Mia, she wanted to be fucked. I was lonely. It was a mutual pleasure-fest, and when she was done with me I didn’t hear from her again. What did you tell her about us?”

  “That we were friends.” The word “friends” came out of my mouth like a curse word. What else was there to say? We weren’t lovers; hell, she hadn’t even had the courtesy to fuck me. The idea of Ryan fucking anyone made my face go hot with anger and a little bit of something else.

  • 169 •

  GABRIELLE GOLDSBY

  “She called me out of the blue a couple days ago to ask me if I was seeing anyone. I thought it was a coincidence, but I guess not.”

  “What did you tell her?” I asked in a near whisper.

  “I told her I was unavailable.”

  I shouldn’t have smiled at her, I was still mad for several reasons, but the way Ryan was looking at me made me want to.

  “Selena was a bad idea, Mia.” She had no reason to apologize to me, but I sensed it was an apology. “I was lonely and she offered me some companionship for a few days. She’s the one who stopped returning my phone calls. I was okay with it, but that isn’t my style. You want and deserve more than that.”

  “And I can’t have more than that with you?”

  “Not until you break things off decisively with Brenda.”

  “I can’t do that until she comes home. Am I supposed to put my life on hold for three more months?”

  “I won’t ruin the possibility of more just so I can have sex now.

  Besides, you’re just getting out of a relationship. Is it really a good idea to jump into another one?”

  She was making a lot of sense, but it still felt wrong. My attraction to her was so thorough, I found myself envious of Selena for having been “fucked” by Ryan. But I had to admit, she was right. I did want more than that. “So what does all this mean?”

  “It means we have three months to get to know each other better.”

  I agreed because I didn’t see what choice I had.

  “Good. Listen, I saw in the paper that they’re having a sale down at REI. We’ll be able to get you something good. They have tons of refurbished bikes and some reasonably priced new ones.”

  Dazed, I asked, “A bike? Why do I need a bike?”

  Ryan threw back her head and laughed. My eyes were drawn to her scar and down her neck to her breasts and the hard nipples jutting out against her ribbed tank. She quieted and I forced myself back up to her eyes. I was surprised how soft, how loving and warm they looked.

  “You’re going to need a bike for the Challenge, darlin’ woman.”

  I don’t know if it was from the realization that I had just been called darlin’, or the softness of her tone, or the look on her face when she said it, but it took me a moment to grasp what she meant by the Chal
lenge.

  • 170 •

  SUCH A PRETTY FACE

  “Two-mile run, four-mile ride, and then another two-mile run.

  Remember?”

  “Of course I remember.” I let out a breath only to catch it again when I realized that I was now expected to buy, and subsequently ride, a bike.

  v

  “I think this one will work.” Ryan and some kid in a green vest were staring at me and then the bike.

  I stood with the bike dutifully between my legs, trying hard not to look hungry or bored. I was both, and had been for the last hour. I also felt pissed and self-conscious. I had armored myself by wearing the only sweatsuit I owned, a black Adidas track jacket and pants that didn’t do much to hide my curves but didn’t make me feel lumpy either.

  The kid walked away and Ryan raised an eyebrow. “You’re grouchy all of a sudden.”

  “Sorry, I hate shopping, and we’ve been here an hour. I’m getting hungry again.”

  “I’m not surprised. You never eat enough breakfast. But it’s probably the sugar you dumped in your coffee.” Ryan indicated the bike I had just tried out. “I think you should get this one.”

  All my anger drained from me like a forgotten ice-cream cone in a child’s hand. “Okay.”

  “Here, I’ll push this up front for them.”

  I watched her walk through the store with the bike in one hand and her backpack slung over her shoulder. I was used to my mother commenting on my eating habits, and occasionally Brenda, but to have Ryan notice felt odd. I wanted to ask her about it but I didn’t feel comfortable. Besides, someone was telling me I didn’t eat enough, for once.

  I joined her at the register, handed Green Vest my card, and punched in my PIN as instructed. “What do you mean I don’t eat enough?” I Þ nally asked her.

  “Don’t you even want to know how much it cost?” Ryan looked troubled, but before I could ask about the price I was handed the receipt and was pushing my brand-new used $350 bike out the door.