Limiting Liabilities: Book Two - The Martinique Files

by Colette Alaine

  “I may have to give him a little peck on the cheek next time I see him,” Tawny teases back.

  “Watch out,” Jaclyn warns. “He may grab all of you if you open the invitation.”

  “I’ll remember to move quickly away.” They both laugh. “I can’t wait to wear these tonight. It’s going to be so much fun. Where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “Who’s going with us?” Tawny is a little suspicious.

  “The regular gang.” Jaclyn hesitates. “Sorry couldn’t find a mystery man for you.”

  Tawny wraps her thick tresses in both her hands in a make-believe ponytail only to drop the long-flowing mane when she cannot find a scrunchy in the living room. “Oh, that’s perfectly alright. Now I have to decide what to do between now and then.” Tawny contemplates her day.

  “I have an idea. Go ahead and get ready and we’ll go wander around outside the city. I’ve been wanting to look at some duplexes or maybe a little house to rent.” Tawny’s eyebrows rise. “I know, I know, but I’m just thinking it might be nice to live in a bigger space since we’re both making more money. We’ll find somewhere for a late light lunch and then, if we can get back here, we’ll change and get ready to meet the guys for dinner. But bring your clothes and any make-up to touch up along just in case we get side-tracked.” Jaclyn has the day planned.

  “You want to look for a new place to live?” Tawny is hearing this for the first time and is very surprised. Jaclyn never mentioned moving before.

  “Eric lived just outside the city and he had so much more room. Plus the leaves are starting to turn and we can drive around and look at them. Unless you have another plan.” Jaclyn bites her lip a bit nervously.

  “No. It sounds okay to me. But do I have to bring my dress? Can’t we just make sure we’re back?” Tawny likes the idea of getting ready in her own bathroom, not in some hotel lobby restroom or worse yet, a gas station.

  “If you want but what happens if we get lost? You know we do almost every time we go driving. If we’re short on time we’ll have to rush or you won’t get to wear your fun outfit. Besides, by the time we both shower and get ready and drive out of the city, it’ll be at least one o’clock. Probably later.” Jaclyn is trying to gently persuade her to do as she suggests.

  “Alright. I think I can still get by with a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. I’ll wear brown and orange so I can just get made-up for the night and I’ll wear my new earrings all day long. Thank you again so much for them.” Tawny hugs Jaclyn one more time. “They are absolutely fantastic. I love them.”

  Taking a leisurely shower and paying special attention to her looks, Tawny dazzles even in a pair of shorts. Jaclyn is also ready for the late night with full make-up and a cute up do. Tawny’s thick mane falls down her back and is tempting to touch. The two of them are definitely ready for the night. Laying their dresses on the back seat, they crawl into Jaclyn’s car and head out to the suburbs.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Jaclyn pulls into a familiar house with a homemade sign in it that says ‘For Rent’. She stops the motor and starts to get out.

  She turns to Tawny and says, “I saw this one in the paper and I want to check it out.”

  “This is Billy’s place.”

  “No, it’s not,” Jaclyn says a little too vehemently.

  Tawny faces her roommate. “I think I would know it. I’ve been here a few times when we dated.”

  “I called and talked to the owner. Billy must’ve moved,” Jaclyn surmises.

  Tawny scrunches up her face. “He never said anything.”

  “Why would he?” Jaclyn has a quick answer.

  “True.” Tawny gets out of the car and follows Jaclyn.

  Jaclyn knocks on the front door and it opens slightly.

  “Hello, we’re here to see the rental. Is anyone home?” There’s no answer. “Come on, we’ll just go on inside.”

  “I don’t think we should.” Tawny is apprehensive. It is just not right to walk into the house. Why it is open at all is a mystery to her.

  “The owner knows I’m coming. He’s probably just tidying up or something.” Jaclyn walks into the empty but beautifully furnished house.

  “This is all Billy’s furniture, Jaclyn.”

  “He has great taste.” She continues to walk toward the back room that leads to a patio outside.

  “Jaclyn! Stop right now. We need to . . .”

  “SURPRISE!” Everyone Tawny knows from her department and her closest friends from law school jump out to greet her as they near the back room. Jake and Drew are there along with Jay and Eric. Eric first kisses Tawny on the cheek, then gives his true love a peck on the lips. Billy has a beer in his hands and is smiling widely.

  “I can’t believe this. Wow! Did you arrange this, Jaclyn? This is sooo fantastic.” Tawny is overwhelmed. This is the best surprise ever. Clueless, she should have seen it coming but oh well, this is going to be a great day.

  “I certainly did but I couldn’t of done it without Billy and Rebecca. Billy offered his backyard and Rebecca helped me get all the food. We’re having a bar-be-que and then we’re heading out to dance the night away.” Jaclyn is all smiles and quite pleased with her accomplishment.

  “Thank you all so much! This is so wonderful. What a great birthday present.” She hugs her roommate. “No wonder you weren’t broke up about Eric. You lied to me. You’re still together."

  “Of course, we are. I had to have something convincing and I figured you’d heard enough about Eric so I thought I’d give you a break. But that’s over now. You’re going to hear all about him from now on.” Jaclyn grabs her man’s hand.

  “You really fooled me. Wow.” Mark hands her a champagne glass and Billy pops the cork and pours her a full glass.

  “This will get me drunk fast,” Tawny remarks and Billy hands her the entire bottle. “I don’t think so.” She grins back at him and tries to return the bottle.

  “Relax Tawny. You deserve a day of fun.” Billy grants her permission. “You’ve got tomorrow to sleep it off.”

  “So I’m ready for work early Monday morning?”

  “You think just like me.” He turns the question into a statement and she just laughs.

  After being greeted with birthday wishes from everyone, including Brandon, she wanders outside where Billy, Dave, Nick and Mark are firing up the grills. Tawny finds a seat next to Nick’s wife and they chat about her husband making partner. Jay soon excuses himself after realizing there are very few girls in the group and all of them are either taken, uninteresting or Tawny. His absence is no loss.

  Billy saunters over to her and picks up the champagne bottle she’s been carrying around and set on the table. He pours her another glass.

  “They’ve banned me from grilling. I think they figured out I’m not very good at it since I didn’t know how to take the grill off to add the charcoal,” Billy confesses.

  “That would probably do it. Thanks so much for having this at your house, Billy. It’s really nice of you,” Tawny says as Nick’s wife excuses herself. No way is she going to hang out with these two, especially since Billy is her husband’s boss. It is much too easy to say the wrong thing.

  “Jaclyn can be really persuasive. She promised to clean it personally if I wanted. Mostly, I thought it would be fun. I’ve never met any of your law school friends. I noticed they’re all male.” She smiles. “Besides, I know Jake and Drew. Eric seems a nice enough guy. You may be losing a roommate soon.”

  “I hope so, but then again, I hope not,” Tawny replies.

  “This is the last time the old group will be together since the new guys are moving into the office today. I thought it would be nice for us to be together. I had to invite Brandon,” he says with a hint of sarcasm.

  “To aggravate me or him?”

  Billy takes a big swig of his beer. “Both.”

  “Ah, well as long as he stays in his place,” she retorts.

  He grins. “He seems
quite out of place.”

  “What’s his story?” Tawny’s never figured out the man.

  “I have no idea and I don’t care.” Billy sets his bottle on the patio table. “I’m sure he’s only here because I told him he should come.”

  “You don’t think I had anything to do with it?” She flippantly asks.

  “No.” And they both laugh.

  “You can’t manipulate the guest of honor like this, dude.” Drew joins the two of them.

  “Of course I can. It’s my house,” Billy delivers his comeback.

  Drew pulls back a patio chair and plops into it. “Well, I can’t beat that, although I think it’s a cheap shot.”

  “I take whatever I can get, Drew.”

  “Yes, you do. Why haven’t I seen you on the news lately? Or in my store?” Tawny is suddenly all ears.

  “Slow days, my friend. Slow days.” Billy has no idea that Tawny knows about his collection of trinkets for his harem of available women.

  “Too bad for you. Any reason why?” Billy just smiles and drums his fingers once before realizing he is giving away a little too much.

  Tawny suddenly understands she is in the middle of these two. Both are interested in her and both know about the other’s intentions. This is gonna be fun.

  “I got other priorities.” Billy tries to be coy. Tawny knows she should excuse herself but watching two players work each other over is just too ripe to leave. “Besides, the last time I visited your store, you’d taken the best inventory for yourself.”

  Ouch! Tawny is loving this coded sparring.

  “There’s plenty for you now.” Drew is up to the challenge.

  “I don’t need to look right now.” Billy is a bit defiant. Is there a message in this banter for Tawny, she wonders?

  “That’s not what I’m hearing.” Drew is stretching this out to a point that is stifling Billy.

  “You’ve heard wrong,” Billy corrects him.

  “Then the door is wide open.” Now the door is wide open. Is Billy telling Drew that he is not interested in Tawny or not interested in any woman at all right now? Or is Billy inviting Drew to take his shot with Tawny or any other woman Billy may have dated. This is so confusing and while Tawny is trying to figure it all out, Dave joins the party.

  Dave met Tawny in law school and, like many other guys fell for her but he was smart enough to be her friend and not try to date her. Jaclyn chides her and tells her not to let a good guy pass her by but for now Tawny intends to remain just friends.

  “Mind if I interrupt?” As is typical of him, Dave does not want to intrude.

  “I don’t but Billy might.” Drew is truly playing with his host.

  “Join us. Please.” Billy is ready to deter his friend.

  “How’s the birthday going so far, Tawny?” Dave reminds them all why they are together.

  “It’s been wonderful. I didn’t know what I was gonna do, except for tonight. This BBQ is perfect. The weather is just right this time of year. It’ll be cold soon.” Tawny hates that the squabbling between her other two admirers ended but Dave is such a cool guy, she could never be angry with him.

  Drew is a bit older than Billy and despises aging. “To be twenty-six again; I envy you both.”

  Dave sets his beer bottle on the table next to Tawny’s champagne glass. “But you’re established in your career and you don’t have to try to prove yourself like me and Tawny. I’ll be glad when I have one more year under my belt. I think it’ll all come together for me then,” Dave counters.

  “I agree,” Billy responds. “It does take about three years for everything to click.”

  “I can’t believe it took you three years to ‘get it.’ Me and other mortals, yes, but not Billy Solomon,” Tawny teases.

  “I did a good job of fooling everyone. You are too if you’re not ‘getting it.’” Billy pays her an off-handed compliment.

  “Maybe it’s all that research I’ve done. I just sound like I understand how it all fits together,” Tawny admits. “Are all of you coming out to the club tonight?”

  All three men nod their heads.

  “But Tawny, we need some more females. There’s three of you here and Jaclyn’s taken. Rebecca’s too old for me and every other guy is going to want you. You need to find some friends that are girls,” Dave pouts.

  “Jake, Nick and Mark’s wives are here. I know they’re not single but still, they are females,” Tawny corrects her friend.

  Dave rolls his eyes. “That’s not what I meant.”

  Tawny reaches for her glass and takes a sip. “I only go out with you guys and Jaclyn. Except for Rebecca and our secretary, I don’t work with any females.”

  “You will starting Monday,” Billy announces. “One of the associates is a woman and all four paralegals are female. I think the associate is maybe four years older than you are. All the paralegals are much older.”

  “What’s the associate’s name?” This is news to Tawny. She really knows very little about the new group joining them. Billy did not want to share any information until it was a done deal and then, once all the papers were signed, he just did not tell anyone about their new comrades.

  “Barbra Cardwell.”

  Tawny whirls the intoxicating liquid in her glass. “I don’t know her.”

  “She’s a pretty typical associate. She’s married with two kids and she comes to work at eight, leaves between five and six. She’s the most nervous about the changing firms. I get the impression she has her own schedule. She doesn’t stay late or work weekends.” Billy smirks at his own words.

  “Can’t wait for her to meet Linda,” Tawny replies.

  “I’m pretty sure she’s been told she’ll have to follow our schedule and not her own.” Billy politely lets Tawny know that he does not anticipate her staying with the firm long. “She’s probably sending out her resume.”

  Tawny takes another sip. “It might help having BSF on it.”

  Billy crookedly smiles. “I’m sure it will.”

  Mark calls out that the food is ready and all the guests grab a plate and load it up. Rebecca and Jaclyn bought the best of everything. Only the guys had to cook the meat. Everything else is prepared.

  The leisurely afternoon party lasts about five hours. At seven o’clock, they begin to discuss dinner plans. Most of them are too full from the huge lunch to start eating again. In the end, they decide to meet at nine-thirty for pizza, then head to the night club around ten-thirty or so. Most of the guests begin to leave to return to their homes and kill a few hours until they meet again.

  “Maybe we should find a bar and drink for a few hours. I don’t really want to drive back to the apartment unless you do.” Jaclyn slides next to Tawny, who is talking to Steve, Blake and Billy.

  “That’s fine by me but I’m going to change into my dress here,” Tawny agrees. “Is Eric coming with us? Where is he by the way? I haven’t seen him for a while.”

  “No, he got called into the office and left over an hour ago. I texted him and he thinks he can still come dancing. He’s not sure about pizza yet.” Jaclyn’s voice shows her disappointment that her man had to leave the party she arranged.

  “I’ll take you to a great little place, if you don’t mind more of my company,” Billy offers.

  Tawny decides for the two of them. “Sounds good. We both have to change first.”

  “Use my bedroom. You know where it is,” Billy says a little louder than necessary. Tawny quickly darts a glance at Jaclyn as if to ask what is going on here but as she turns and sees Drew getting ready to tell her goodbye, she understands perfectly.

  “Boys,” Tawny says once the two girls are safely in Billy’s bedroom.

  Jaclyn giggles. “It’s kind of funny.”

  Tawny pulls off her shirt, being careful not to mess up her hair. “It’s kind of stupid.”

  “It’s their game.” Jaclyn shuffles out of her green shorts. “Who you gonna pick?”

  “Neither one,” Tawny singso
ngs the answer.

  “Gonna spend your birthday night all alone, Tawny?” Jaclyn teases her.

  Tawny shimmies out of her own shorts. “If those are my choices, yes.”

  “So many girls would kill for just one of them,” Jaclyn reminds her.

  Tawny pulls on her dress and smooths it with her hands. Looking in the mirror, she fluffs her hair and then reaches for her heels. “You’re right but if I go after Drew, you’ll be upset and if I go after Billy, it’ll just mean trouble for me.”

  “Do what you want with Drew.” Jaclyn finishes dressing in her own cute outfit and admires her reflection. “I’ve got Eric now and I’m okay with you and Drew, if you really like him. Don’t just play with him though, okay?” Despite his ability to capture most of the women he wants, Jaclyn certainly does not want her roommate messing with her boss’ heart.

  “Tonight, I’m just gonna have a good time. I’ll dance with both of them and all the other guys out with us. Maybe a few at the club will ask me and I’ll dance with them too. Billy and Drew will have to find someone else to keep them happy when they come back home later tonight.” Tawny does not care what the two men think. She is not going to have any drama on her birthday.

  “They’ll both come home disappointed,” Jaclyn grins.

  “That’s gonna be their problem. I can have fun without ending up with one of them. If they can’t, they should find some other girl to share the night with them.” Tawny is determined to thwart any advances.

  Billy and Drew do not go home disappointed. They go home alone but Tawny’s birthday party is such a fun one that everyone is satisfied and pretty drunk by the time they are kicked out of the club at closing time.

  “Tawny, it’s too bad your birthday is only once a year.” Dave is having a great night. He danced more than she has ever seen him do in the past.

  “Hey, once a year is plenty. I don’t want to grow old too fast. I can only be young once,” she says as she nearly trips over her own two feet.

  “Are you gonna make it?” Billy is by her side.

  “I think I need to lose these heels. You guys bought way too many shots for me. I may have to miss work Monday.” Tawny sways a bit and grabs Drew’s arm to steady herself. He quickly wraps his arm around her waist.