The Cliff

by Gucker, Christie A. C.

  I pulled myself away.

  “Remember rule number two. No sex. You keep kissing me like that and—”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. So, I’d like to invite you to dinner at my house. I’m cooking. Bennett mac and cheese? I think we could both use some comfort food tonight.”

  “I think I’d like that. I’d like that a lot. But first, there’s a small task I have to attend to,” I said, as I removed myself from him.

  “What are you going to do?” His voice was deep with a slightly humorous, yet accusatory tone.

  “I need to …

  Chapter 43

  Our Little Girl Has a Date

  “… take care of something. What time should I be over for dinner?”

  “Love, that wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me. I’ll come and pick you up at five. Does that work for you? Enough time to do whatever it is I don’t want to know what you’re doing?”

  His eyes were smiling at me and suddenly things felt right again between us. Like they had before he left. I was still fuming, even seriously considering having his wedding band tattooed onto his finger. But no bother, I didn’t plan on ever letting him leave without me again, unless it was with Dylan and Steve for a boy’s weekend.

  “Yes. That should be plenty of time. Plenty.” I smiled an evil grin to myself, but apparently it wasn’t really to myself, because he noticed again.

  “You’re looking scary again. Did I mention how grateful I am that you’ve forgiven me and I’m not on your bad side? ‘Cause being on your bad side could be detrimental to a person’s well-being.”

  “Oh, you’re on my naughty list, but you can redeem yourself by being extra naughty.”

  “That made no sense, Lanie. How can I get off your naughty list by being naughty?” I just looked at him until I saw it sink in.

  “Oh. Forget it. I’m really slow. But wouldn’t that be breaking rule number two?” he teased me.

  “I guess you’ll have to try and convince me. I don’t particularly like rule number two. It’s just necessary at the moment. Although I’m thinking that one is going to be hard on both of us.”

  “Oh it will be. Very hard,” he said, with a smile that could melt butter from across the room. “I really do think it’s a rule to be broken, mind you. Because it’s just inevitably going to have its downfall. Tonight I hope. If not tonight, then … Wait, that reminds me of something I forgot. I’ll be right back. I need to give you something. Wait right here. Five minutes tops, I promise.” And he raised his right hand.

  As soon as he left, I grabbed his cell phone off the table and quickly went through his call list. Yeah, I was being nosey, but I had a right to be. Brianna’s number was there. She had called him several times today and I noticed he never answered. They were all missed calls. I’d have to check his voicemails. The first thing I did was block her number from his phone and erase it from everywhere I could find. I switched to his text messages, and with a sigh of relief, noticed they were all from me, Samantha, Chelsie and Dane, and even one from Dylan. That doesn’t mean he didn’t erase them all, but I knew this was going to be an exercise in trust. I stopped to read through the ones to and from Dane. Everything he said was encouraging Grant to not give up on us. It was all about doing whatever he could to see us through this. This was my Dane. This was the Dane I grew up with. The one who always looked out for me. The one who was Grant’s best bro. I had missed him. I wondered if this would change things between them, make them better? I also had to wonder if it was all just another plot. But it didn’t feel like it. I mean, why try to help us get back together just to break us back up? That didn’t make sense. If Dane wanted me, he had his chance over the past few days. No, I think that glitch in Dane was finally behind us all.

  I heard Grant coming back down the hall and I tossed his phone back where I found it. Grant walked in and immediately picked his phone up. Man, I couldn’t hide anything from this guy. Or he had strategically placed the phone to see if I would touch it and then notice it had been moved? It didn’t matter. I got what I wanted. She was deleted.

  “Did you get her number off my phone? Block it even? Did you listen to any messages she left? You’re perfectly welcome to if it would make you feel better. In fact, I want you to.” He held the phone out to me.

  “I did everything except check your messages,” I confessed, as I looked down at my feet. I felt guilty. He reached out and lifted my head up by my chin.

  “I don’t blame you. I’d do the same thing if I were in your position. Hell, have at my computer, too. Please, anything you need to make this better. Anything.” I smiled at him and he reached out and ran a finger down my cheek.

  “So, you have something for me?”

  “I have this.” He handed me a large manila envelope.

  “What is this?”

  “It’s what I think you and I need. I think we need to get away, alone. Away from everyone and everything. Work on us for a while. If you say no, it’s okay. We don’t have to go. I can cancel everything.”

  I opened the envelope and found a brochure to a spa on the beach. But not just any spa, this was a chocolate spa. Chocolate baths and chocolate facials. Chocolate everything. The whole thing was decadent. Two of my favorite things, especially when put together, chocolate and Grant.

  “Well, seeing as you and I have such a propensity for adding chocolate into our sex life, I thought you’d get a kick out of this one.”

  “When are we going? And when did you do this?”

  “I actually did it when I was away. I missed you so much and I thought about how wonderful it would be to take a trip with just my fiancé to celebrate our engagement. Of course, since we are no longer engaged, I’d certainly understand if you didn’t want to go.”

  “When do we leave? I mean, when is it planned for?” I asked. I was jumping inside at the prospect of having a completely chocolate-coated Grant. I wondered if they used chocolate hazelnut spread? It didn’t matter; I’d bring my own!

  “Next weekend.” He actually sounded sad. He ran his fingers through his hair, where they remained, and he looked up at me to gauge my reaction.

  “So, you don’t think I’ll go away with you because I’m not your fiancé anymore?” I was actually finding this endearing and I felt a little bad. I wanted to be his fiancé, but I also planned on having some fun with making him work for it. That ring was going back on my finger no matter what.

  “I don’t expect you to. I would certainly love for you to come with me … in every way.” He cocked an eyebrow and licked his lips quite seductively. I kind of became entranced at the sight of him for a second or two.

  “You have one week to convince me. Keep it booked. I’m sure you’ll do your best to win me over.” I smiled, leaned over, and gave him a soft peck on his lips. “I want to go.” And then I whispered, “We’re going!” Grant smiled a huge goofy grin at me. I guess I made him really happy. He did the same thing for me. Now I knew he had been thinking about me while he was away.

  “Well, I guess you have something evil to go take care of, so I’ll pick you up tonight. And Lanie?”

  I turned back to look at him before heading out the door.

  “I love you so much. Thank you.”

  “Thank you? For what?”

  “For still loving me.”

  “I’ll love you forever, Grant. In fact, probably even more than forever, it that’s possible.”

  I reached over, leaned down and gave him a kiss on his forehead while running my hand through his hair, then down his cheek. With that, I turned and left. I had to find my bitches, Chelsie and Samantha. I needed their help to take Brianna Stone down. I grabbed my cell phone as I headed out the door, but my girls were hanging by the stables with Dane and their men. They actually looked like they were all having a good time. They were laughing and were in deep conversation. I hated to interrupt; all I wanted was to have fun and for everything to be light. But right now, all I brought was grief with me wherever I went. I didn
’t want them to pity me any longer. I was hoping my proposition would bring something fun back to the table.

  “Hey,” I said as I headed over. They looked up at me, waiting for something. I knew what they wanted to know.

  “We’re working on everything. Well, I’m making Grant work for it. It’s going to be okay. I just know it.”

  Samantha ran over and hugged me. I hugged her back and she wouldn’t let go.

  “Hey, Grabby Feely, I can’t breathe. Release me, please,” I choked out.

  “No! I love that you and Grant are still together. Why aren’t you wearing your ring?” Leave it to Samantha to notice right away.

  “We’re not quite there yet.”

  “Oh poop,” she said.

  “It’ll be there soon. Promise. Now I need you and Chelsie. There’s a bitch who needs to go down, and I need my bitches to help me plot.” I could feel my face scrunch up into a scowl.

  “Fuck yeah, now you’re talking!” Chelsie was at my side in an instant and I could see the wheels in her head spinning already.

  “Hey, I want in,” Dylan said. He almost sounded upset that he wasn’t included.

  “Can you be a total bitch?” I giggled.

  “Oh, Dylan’s a complete and utter bitch. Sometimes I wonder if he actually has girl parts he PMS’s so bad.” Samantha kissed Dylan on the cheek and tousled his hair. He just rolled his eyes.

  “Yeah, TMI. Okay, you’re in. Steve? You want a piece of this shit, too?” I dared him.

  He slowly turned and smiled at me. “No, Lanie, I fight for real. Not this girly shit. If you want me to push her down on the ground so you can kick her, just ask. But you guys are on your own. Plot away. Then you can run them by me for another opinion once you think you got it. Why don’t you ask Dane? He seems to be pretty good at screwing people over.” Steve shot Dane a dirty look. I guess he wasn’t over the whole thing yet, but this next thing? This next one shocked my shoes right off my damn feet.

  “Steve. That was really mean. Dane, I’m sorry. You’ve really been trying. Everyone deserves a second chance. It’s when they blow it that one last little bitty time that they’re done for. I certainly wouldn’t want someone to pretend to be doing the right thing and then plotting the whole time. That would be a big issue.”

  And now Chelsie was back.

  “No. It’s okay. Steve has a right to feel that way. I was a complete dick. And I got your point, Chelsie. No. I just realized how much I hurt two people I care about. And I didn’t like myself very much. And you can believe I’m trying or not, but I’ll keep doing it, anyway.” Dane gave me his puppy-dog-that-crapped-on-the-floor look.

  “Well? You want in, too?” I said directly to Dane.

  “Fuck yes! And Steve is right. I can play down right dirty if I want to. And I want to. So let’s play.” Dane was stoked. He actually looked excited, like it was a game.

  “Okay.” I said warily. I was actually scared to see how evil Dane functioned. I was kind of hoping he didn’t have some kind of multiple personality disorder. Dane the Bad Ass and Sweet Dane, his fun-loving side-kick. He shot me a look from under his furrowed brows.

  “Don’t worry, Lanie. I’m on your side this time. And she made me mad.”

  I smiled and started walking back towards my house. I stopped and turned back around.

  “Well, you coming or not? I only have until four.” They all scattered, grabbing their stuff and running behind me. I chuckled to myself. This was going to be epic!

  When we got to my place I grabbed a bottle of whatever was in my reach and a bunch of shot glasses. We all sat on the floor in my living room and began throwing ideas out and taking shots.

  “Well, I’m going to call her father.” I took a shot and winced. What the hell did I grab? I had to be careful or I’d be wasted for my date with Grant and either puke on him or break rule number two the second I walked through his front door.

  “That’s your big plan? You’re going to tattle on her to her daddy? I’m so glad you asked for our help, Honey,” Chelsie said as she rolled her eyes and placatingly patted my hand.

  “Lanie, you’re too nice. You need to get your revenging-bitch on!” Samantha cooed.

  “When you call her dad, you have to make it more than just the jealous fiancé. You have to make some kind of sexual harassment accusation,” Chelsie suggested.

  “No, that’ll piss him off. She has to go for the heart. Cry to him. How the deal was so important and then his daughter made advances at your fiancé. Go for the heart wrenching aspect.” Dylan was looking off into a different direction when he said it. Like he was picturing it in his head. I saw the edges of his lips turn slightly up.

  “This man is a shark. Really. We don’t want him to think he just signed contracts with a weepy chick.” Dane had a good point. How the hell would I approach the subject with this man? I had no idea what he was actually like.

  “Right. Maybe I just play it by ear. Feel him out. Go with the flow. I have all your ideas to use in my head now.” It could work. I could play the press, I was sure I could play him.

  “But that’s just not enough. She has to pay for what she did. We have to make her hurt. Cry, even. I want her to feel ten times worse than she made Lanie feel. I wanna shank her hard!” Samantha really was a bitch when she wanted to be, and an extremely naughty girl, too. I wouldn’t want to screw with her. She was a sleeper, all sweet and innocent until you did something to set her in motion. Dangerous.

  “It’s so tough because everything I come up with is totally illegal,” Chelsie said out loud. We all just eyed her and slowly moved a little bit away from her.

  “What? Like you all weren’t thinking along the same lines, right?” She looked at us accusingly. We all mumbled and moved closer. Everyone took a shot.

  “What if we dug some dirt up on her? Posted it all over some social media networks?” Samantha suggested.

  “Actually, it’s traceable,” Dylan interjected.

  “Fine, Mr. CSI. What isn’t traceable?”

  “We could send it anonymously to media outlets,” Dylan countered.

  “Right, but then there’d be bad press for their company, coming right back and hitting us,” Dane said. Everyone nodded. We all just sat and thought for a while. Our conversations began to border on murderous ideas with lots of giggles and shots. Finally we got back to business.

  “It needs to be personal, really personal. We need to hit home,” Chelsie jumped in again and then took another shot.

  “Steve, you have anything to add?” I poured him a shot and handed it to him. He poured another shot and handed it to me. We clinked and threw them back.

  “Well, since you’re asking my opinion, the worst thing you can do to a girl is reject her in public. Make a big scene or something. Or make her think she’s a goddess and then never call her again.” Steve smiled proudly.

  “Really? How do you suggest we do that? Send Grant back out to her?” Samantha chimed in. I made a face and shook my head emphatically no.

  “Then we need another guy.”

  “Who? Who do we know? She only wants Grant.” I was starting to feel like I should just give up, call her dad and wimp out on the whole thing. We couldn’t find any way to get her back that would work.

  “What about me?” Dane offered himself.

  “What? Why would you do that?” Dylan asked incredulously.

  “She knows who I am. I can contact her and lay on the charm.” Dane pulled on a non-existent collar.

  “That could work. What say you, Lanie?” Samantha said.

  “I don’t know. I’m just not feeling it. I just feel like I got screwed and there’s no way to get back at her. I want her to feel the hurt I did.”

  “We could have Dane hook up with her and then we can have him cheat on her so she knows what it feels like. It’s perfect.” Samantha clapped.

  “Really, Lanie, give her a spoonful of her own medicine,” Chelsie added.

  “I kind of like it,” Stev
e joined in.

  “Yeah. It’s the only one that’s not going to put us all in jail,” Dylan chuckled.

  “Fine. You guys can all conspire about the logistics. I have to get ready for my date. Grant is picking me up in a little over an hour. And honestly, I need to sober up a bit.”

  “Lanie, are you going to put your ring back on?”

  “Soon, Samantha. I promise.” And then a very panicky feeling began to creep over me. I ran to the table. No ring. Where the hell was my ring? “Did one of you put my ring someplace safe? It was right here on the end table in the dish from Castelli. Where is it? Holy shit. My ring is gone.” My whole body went cold.