The Champagne Sisterhood

by Chris Keniston

  “Maybe I’ll try Liz’s apartment one more time.”

  Kat plopped onto the sofa arm. “If it makes you feel better, go ahead, call her for the nine hundred and ninety nine millionth time.”

  “It’s ringing.”

  Mark barely had the monitor in hand when he heard Anna screech. “Liz! Where the hell have you been?”

  Practically sliding down the banister, he rushed back into the room. Kat jumped up next to Anna.

  “I’ve been going crazy... What?... My laptop... Yeah it’s right here.” Anna reached the desk and flipped open the lid on her computer. She pulled the chair under her and sat heavily, already typing away. “I’m downloading it now.”

  By the time she started opening files, Mark and Kat had scooted up close, standing on either side of her.

  “What is it?” Kat whispered, reading over her shoulders.

  “Bank statements,” Mark mumbled. “Holy... Those are in the Cayman Islands. What exactly is this character up to?”

  “Is that what I think it is?” Kat looked at Mark.

  “Yup.” He shook his head, reading each new file as Anna clicked it open. “Talk about stupid criminals.”

  Anna waved her arm over her shoulder for them to stop talking. With each new file she kept mumbling, “I don’t believe it” as her hands typed a little faster.

  When she’d finished reading the last file, she leaned back in her seat. “Can we confirm Old man Peterson got this too?...I see...Mm hm...Okay...uh huh... right... okay. And Liz? If you ever pull a stunt like this again, I’ll personally hang your ass from the nearest police station flagpole- but thanks.”

  “So what does it all mean?” Kat asked, still reading bits and pieces over Anna’s shoulder.

  “It means- Junior is a crook.”

  “A really bad crook,” Mark added.

  “I have to admit, those emails looked pretty incriminating to me.”

  “Every transaction is completely documented. His agreement with Giovanni, the receipts for the inferior fabrics, the kickbacks. All of it. The man is a complete and total idiot.” Anna resumed her perusal of the files.

  Kat dropped her hand on Anna’s shoulder. “How did he think he was going to get away with that?”

  “By forging my signature on everything, it would look like I was the incompetent idiot. I guess he never thought anyone would dig any deeper.”

  “He’s probably right.” Mark stepped around the desk, leaning against the corner. “Most people wouldn’t risk jail time to uncover the truth.” He picked up a nearby egg shaped decoration and began tossing it back and forth from hand to hand. “Didn’t you say that this isn’t the first fiasco surrounding Junior?”

  “That’s right.” Anna nodded, her eyes riveted to the screen.

  “How much you want to bet Junior has been skimming the accounts for years and this is the first time he’s thought to take the precaution of making someone else look incompetent.”

  Anna arched one brow. “I don’t dare ask Liz to check it out. She could wind up doing five to ten at Sing Sing.”

  “You probably won’t have to. If he kept this much detail on this deal. He probably did the same for the others. Are these the only files Liz saved?”

  “No.” Anna’s eyes lit up like a kid in front of a candy store window. “She said these are only the ones she sent to Daddy. She still has to go through a few more.”

  “There you have it.” He tossed her the oval knick-knack. With the precision of a pro ball player, her hands sprang up and sandwiched the unexpected pitch. “Nice catch.”

  Her mouth tipped into a lopsided grin.

  Kat cleared her throat, loudly. “Excuse me for interrupting the fun and games, but all this business talk is over my head. I gather Liz is okay?”

  “She’s fine. Apparently she spent a few hours hiding in a hall closet. She was rambling too fast for me to follow it all. Something about the maid, the neighbor and a kinky husband. Apparently Briarcliff Manor is a modern Peyton Place.”

  Kat’s ears perked up. “Hmm, I’ll have to talk to that girl. You never know where an idea for my next book might come from.”

  “Next book? I thought you’re a travel writer?” Mark looked from Kat to Anna and back.

  “That pays the bills. But I have a collection of manuscripts under my bed. One of these days they’ll be worth big bucks. The unpublished works of New York Times best selling author Katia Valdez.” She grinned. “As a matter of fact. You two go on without me. I’m going back upstairs. Maybe I can spit out a few more pages on the next greatest book since Gone with the Wind.”

  Mark watched her leave the room, her hands moving, arms waving. “Is she talking to someone?”

  Anna glanced up. “Oh, she’s talking through a scene. She does that before she starts writing. You get used to it.” She turned her attention back to the screen.

  “O-kay. Marcia will be up soon and you still haven’t relaxed.” He closed the laptop lid. “This isn’t going anywhere. We know Liz is safe. It’s time to pay a little attention to Miss Anna. Up you go.”

  Leading her outside by the elbow, he kept his focus straight ahead, a feat that tested his self control to its limits. As long as he didn’t look, he wouldn’t be tempted. Right. And California isn’t prone to earthquakes.

  By the time she’d dropped the towel and slinked into the bubbling waters, he’d almost convinced himself he could do this when she started to squirm. “Something wrong?” he asked meekly.

  “This jet is a little stronger than I’d like.”

  “You should be able to adjust it.”

  “I’m trying.”

  “Here, let me see what I can do.” He eased his away over beside her.

  She was lying in the only contoured area designed to fully recline. There were plenty of other spots in the large Jacuzzi, but none would let her relax as easily.

  “It seems to be stuck.” His arm brushed against hers and shivers of electricity ran down his spine. If the way she instantly scooted away was any indication, he wasn’t the only one who felt the spark. Knowing how her lips felt beneath his wasn’t helping any. “I’m afraid, you’re going to have to sit somewhere else. I’ll call the pool company tomorrow and have them fix it for you.”

  “That won’t be necessary.” She shifted away from the strong jet and leaned back. “You’ve got plenty of other things to worry about. Just being able to sit in the warmth is like heaven.”

  Unable to resist, like high tide drawn by the pull of the moon, he reached out. Grazing the edge of her shoulder, he fingered a damp lock of hair. He knew he shouldn’t do it. On his list of prudent lifetime decisions this didn’t even make the footnotes, but it was as if his hand was no longer connected to his brain. “You have such beautiful hair.”

  When he skimmed a gentle line along the edge of her jaw, he heard her breath hitch and saw the pulse at the base of her throat flutter. The sight went straight to his head like a shot of whiskey. This was dangerous ground. The lady was under enough emotional pressure to crush carbon into a diamond. She didn’t need him sniffing around like a dog after a bitch in heat, but God, she smelled so good. And the silken feel of her soft skin begged for him to touch her in so many other places.

  “Mark...” Her voice was low, raspy and the sound of his name flowed over him like a hot summer breeze. Whether she meant to or not, her lips parted in silent invitation, and Lord help him, he couldn’t refuse.

  Oh, God. Rather than plundering as she might have expected from the explosion of heat she’d seen in his eyes, his lips lightly brushed hers in a tender caress, a delicate dance that sparked every nerve.

  Slowly his lips trailed a path across her face, as though committing every nuance to memory, her brow, her cheek, the edge of her jaw. When he nipped at the hollow of her neck, need jolted through her so fast and hard it burned. Oh God, how she wanted. All the desire that had been bottled up for weeks was uncorked with volcanic force. “Please,” she murmured somewhere between a
moan and a purr. Framing his face with her hands, she poured herself into the kiss, stronger, deeper, hotter. The hardness of his erection pressed against her belly, igniting flames like a match on dry kindling.

  Tracing a languid line down his back, she dipped her finger into the waistband of Mark’s swimsuit.

  Drawing in a sharp breath, he pushed his hips against her in a sweet torturous friction. “You’re killing me,” he groaned, putting a sliver more distance between them.

  “Don’t.” She reached for him. “You told me if I still wanted you, you wouldn’t say no.” She was sure she’d seen every muscle in those incredibly strong shoulders ripple at her words.

  “I said when this is all over.” He narrowed his eyes, gazing at her with a searing intimacy that sent a new flood of moisture pooling between her legs.

  “What matters has been over a long time.” Her arms snaked around his neck. “And I still want you.”

  He drew in a long deep breath. “We don’t have enough time to do this right.”

  “I don’t care.” She tugged at his neck. “Do it wrong, but do it now. Please.”

  His mouth captured hers in a hard, hungry kiss. Before she could respond his hand slid under her top, the rough caresses pebbling the sensitive nipple while the other hand drew titillating circles along her inner thigh, his fingertips teasing the nearby nest of curls. Electricity shot through her.

  Gulping for air, she reached for him. Brushing her arm away, his hand dropped back to the apex of her legs. Strong fingers thrust inside her moist folds, scattering all reason. Instinctively her hips bucked and her chest arched forward. Pushing the swimsuit top aside, one hand still enticing hot wanton need from the pebbled tip, he latched onto the other breast, sucking and licking as his fingers slid in and out driving her nearly crazy.

  She’d never wanted to feel a man deep inside her the way she wanted to feel Mark. And she wanted him now. Drawing from a strength deep down, she managed to raise her rubbery arms and take hold of his erection.

  “No. We can’t.” He pushed her hand away again.

  Coiled tighter than an overwound spring, she wanted him, now. “I can’t stand it. I want you inside me. Please.”

  He wiggled his fingers deep inside her and she felt another bolt of lightning flash through her. “I don’t carry protection around in my swimsuit,” he mumbled. “This will have to do.”

  Before she could protest, he lifted her hips out of the water. With his fingers still gliding in and out, his mouth closed over the sensitive bundle of nerves. Like firecrackers on the fourth of July, sparks burst inside her. Waves of ecstasy flooded every nook and cranny of her body. She’d died and gone to heaven.

  When he finally let her hips sink back underwater, she collapsed against his chest. Without hesitation, his arms folded around her. “Next time, I’ll do it right.”

  Exhausted from the best near-sex she'd ever had in her life, she caught her breath. If that was wrong, she’d never survive right.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  There wasn’t enough cold water in California to take this edge off. What had he been thinking? That’s just it. He hadn’t. His control had gone out the window along with his good judgment.

  But damn, how Mark longed to feel her warmth wrapped around him, squeezing him, clenching in orgasm. Damn, damn. If he didn’t stop thinking about what just happened, or what he wanted to happen, there wouldn’t be enough water on the planet to cool him off.

  No matter what Anna said, the timing was all wrong. Everyone’s nerves were rubbed raw. A little sexual release was a fast fix for the tension they were living with. Only he didn’t want to be a little sexual release. Maybe he was completely out of his mind. Lack of sex had fried what few brain cells he had left, but he didn’t want her on the rebound, and he didn’t want her to reach for him out of desperation.

  So what did he want?

  He turned the faucets off. He needed to dress, then check on Marcia. She’d taken an unusually long nap. Probably another growth spurt. He could still hear Barb complaining about needing all new clothes every time Marcia suddenly shot up another inch. He’d focus on Marcia, on work, maybe go for a little jog after dinner. Anything that stopped him from thinking of Anna.

  And just in case, first chance he got, he was stopping at a drugstore and picking up some condoms. If his good sense went out the window one more time and he had to stop short of sinking deep inside Anna, he was pretty sure it would kill him.

  By the time he returned downstairs, Anna was back to pacing the den like a caged lion. For a moment he closed his eyes, willing to see the same bright smile plastered across her face that had been gleaming up at him from the hot tub.

  A surge of male pride had soared knowing he’d been the one to put that grin on her face. The idea that second thoughts now had her cruising the room like a condemned prisoner made him cringe.

  Opening his eyes he found Anna and Kat staring at him.

  “You okay?” Anna asked. The slight tremble in her voice matched the shaking of her hands.

  Right or wrong, he swallowed the floor in two long steps and gently laid his hands on her shoulders. “I should be asking you that. What’s wrong?”

  Anna stiffened. Whether gathering strength or put off at his touch, he wasn’t sure.

  Kat spoke up. “Sid called.”

  He glanced at Kat then back to Anna. “And?”

  The little color left in Anna’s face bled away. “We’ve got a hearing tomorrow at eleven.”

  “A hearing? For custody? Already?”

  Anna nodded.

  “It’s been what... twenty four hours?” Damn, he thought he’d have more time. He needed more time. Things weren’t supposed to happen this fast.

  She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Harrison had said something about a very expensive attorney. According to Sid, the Prescott’s lawyer has connections that would make the governor look like an outsider. Somehow, he got the case moved up on the docket.”

  “Damn.” He turned around, pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead and then spun back to look at her.

  Anna grabbed a pen off the desk. As if hanging on to the last thread of control, her knuckles whitened from the tight grip. “Sid says we have enough ammo to start with.”

  “Okay. Good. Sid’s a good lawyer. We can trust him.”

  It felt like the most natural thing in the world to fold his arms around her and pull her into his embrace. When she practically melted against him, he kissed the top of her head. “Everything will be fine. I won’t let them take her. I promise.”

  From the corner of his eye, as Anna rocked in his arms, he could see Kat staring at him. The corner of her mouth tilted up in what looked to be an approving smile, but her stiff stance and wary gaze told him what she was thinking. Hurt my friend and there’ll be hell to pay.

  If he’d learned one thing from watching these friends since the accident, he understood the solidarity of the four musketeers ran much deeper than a mere nickname given to adventurous college kids. This was a sisterhood.

  “Sid, what the hell is going on?” Mark blasted into his phone.

  “The Prescotts have forked over a pretty chunk of money for the best connected attorney in family law.”

  “That much I understand.” He pulled into the Safeway parking lot. “What I don’t understand is why are we going to court? You said you’d take care of it.”

  “They moved faster than I expected. I tried selling the goods you gave me, but they’re not buying. I’ve only had two days which makes it your word against theirs. And right now, the law is on their side.”

  “There’s got to be something more you can do. I am not putting these women through a custody trial.”

  “It’s not a trial. It’s a hearing. A preliminary hearing. This is just going to get the issue of custody on the docket. We have no choice. We have to appear in court tomorrow. Assuming what you’ve told me is true--”

  “It is.”

&
nbsp; “Then think of this as a formality. I can make these people go away, but I need more time.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Think about it. I’ll see you in court.”

  “Okay. Tomorrow.” Mark caught a glimpse in the rear view mirror of weary eyes staring back at him. “Barb, why the hell didn’t you tell Anna everything?”

  “It’s too quiet downstairs.” Kat stepped into what used to be Tom and Babs’ room.

  Sitting in the middle of the bed, surrounded by scattered receipts, postcards, and other bedside odds and ends, Anna looked up from the pages she’d been reading. “I thought you were watching TV.”

  “I guess I’ve gotten used to having real people around.” Kat sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes focused on the photo frames on Tom’s dresser.

  Anna didn’t need to see her expression to know how Kat felt. She couldn’t look at the photo of Tom and Allen without thinking what a stupid stupid waste. “Mark’s right. Sid’s a good lawyer. We have a strong case. It’ll be all right.” She’d been telling herself that over and over hoping at some point she’d believe it.

  “I know.” Kat nodded. “Hasn’t Marcia been napping an awfully long time?”

  “Mark thinks she’s having a growth spurt. I looked it up in one of Babs’ books. Apparently sleeping longer amounts of time really is a sign of growing.”

  Kat glanced down at her watch. “Speaking of tall, dark and gorgeous. Shouldn’t he be back from the store by now?”

  “Mm.” Anna flipped the page she’d just read.

  “What have you got there?” Kat scooted closer to look over Anna’s shoulder.

  “Babs’ diary. I thought I’d try cleaning up a bit. You know, sorting some more stuff. I started with Tom’s nightstand. That took less than ten minutes.”

  “Anything interesting?”

  “Only if you care that not all the Bourne books were written by Robert Ludlum.”

  “I know. Erik Van Lustbader. Not a bad author, but totally blew it with Bourne’s wife. She was such a pivotal character and Lustbader killed her off.” Kat shifted again. “So what have you got?”