Party of Three

by Sandy Lowe

  “I didn’t think of that,” Kaitlyn said. Sarah was right. This little scenario might put Eleanor on even ground when it came to confronting Peter, but not at the cost of Sarah’s career.

  “Your job too,” Sarah said, squeezing Ryan’s hand. “Most of your clients come via the McGregors, right? I’m sorry I didn’t think of that before.”

  “Yeah.” Ryan didn’t look at all happy now. “Damn.”

  “For someone who’s allegedly so smart, you should really work on getting over yourself,” Eleanor said.

  Sarah blinked. “What?”

  “You heard me. Do you really think Dad would break up a business deal because you helped me out? That he’d stop sending Ryan clients because you did his daughter a favor?”

  “It’s hardly going to look like we’re doing you a solid when he hears about us in a tangle. He’ll think less of me,” Sarah said.

  The indignation drained from Eleanor faster than water from a bathtub, and underneath it she was pale. “He’ll think less of you if he believes you kissed me?”

  Sarah closed her eyes briefly. “God, Eleanor. No. He’ll think less of me for treating you like the star of a do-it-yourself porno. When he hears about his business partner having an almost-threesome, in the freaking coat closet, with his daughter, do you really think that will go over well?”

  Eleanor’s phone pinged in the clutch she’d left on the table by the door, but they all ignored it.

  “Oh, I see.” Eleanor took a step back. “You think I wouldn’t explain the situation. That I wouldn’t tell him the truth.”

  “Come on,” Ryan said. “You’re really going to tell your father the four of us concocted a plan to get revenge on Peter by setting him up to walk in on us faking it?”

  Eleanor shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  Sarah glared. “Because you’d have to tell him what Peter did. Because you’d have to admit to him that you didn’t have the guts to break it off without evening the score. Because being honest has never really been your strong suit, has it?”

  Eleanor looked like Sarah had just slapped her, and Kaitlyn felt a tug of sympathy. Eleanor might have deserved the insult, but Sarah would never understand the constant pressure of living up to your parents’ impossible standards. That from birth you were behind the mark and had to struggle to catch up to an ever-moving finish line.

  “I’m sorry for what I did to you back then,” Eleanor said. “It was wrong, and more than that, it was spiteful.” She smiled sadly. “I understand if you don’t want to go through with this. We can all just go back to the party, and I’ll see what I can do about finding the guts to break things off. Come on.”

  Eleanor brushed past Kaitlyn on her way to the door and fished silently in her purse for her phone.

  Sarah bit her lip. She looked at Ryan, and then Kaitlyn, and then at the door. “Wait,” she said in a tone a death row inmate might have used for deciding between the electric chair or the gas chamber.

  Eleanor turned with her hand on the doorknob.

  “If Reginald hears about this, you’ll tell him the truth?” Sarah stared holes into Eleanor.

  “I’ll tell him it was all my idea, and both of you were just being friends. Even if both of those things are still technically lying,” Eleanor said. “But I don’t think Peter will tell him. Our families are close and he’ll want to keep his own indiscretions private.”

  Sarah walked to the door and took Eleanor’s hand from the knob. “Friends might be pushing it. But I’d be fine with not being enemies anymore. Apology accepted. I’m going to trust you, Eleanor. We both are.”

  Eleanor’s eyes went shiny. “Really?”

  “Yeah, well. Don’t think it has anything to do with you. I just want to see Ryan kiss a sexy girl. Bet you’re a moaner.” Sarah squeezed Eleanor’s hand tightly, and then dropped it and flicked her on the shoulder.

  “I knew it,” Eleanor said. “And it’s fake kissing, remember? I’m so not a moaner.”

  “You say that now, but trust me, Ryan can fucking kiss. I may have moaned a little the first time.”

  Ryan snorted. “Sure, baby, let’s go with a little. I won’t tell.”

  Kaitlyn coughed. Too much information. Way too much information.

  They all ignored her.

  “Are you in?” Sarah looked at Ryan and Eleanor.

  They nodded.

  “Great. Well, glad that’s sorted then. See you all later.” Kaitlyn turned for the door. She was getting the hell out of this coat closet before she saw something she’d never be able to unsee.

  “Wait,” Eleanor said. “We need a lookout.”

  Sarah clapped her hands together. “Yes. Kaitlyn, stand outside, and when he’s coming, bang on the door.”

  Was there a patron saint of patience? Kaitlyn would have to look it up for future reference. “Because that wouldn’t look obvious.”

  “You can make it look natural,” Sarah said. “Act as if you’re trying to block the door so Peter doesn’t open it, and just make a lot of noise.”

  “Acting isn’t really my thing.” Kaitlyn was starting to regret ever following Eleanor. Helping plan a little revenge plot between her friends was one thing. Participating, even as a lookout, was another. “I just want to go home.” And didn’t that sound pathetic.

  Sarah frowned. “You okay?”

  Kaitlyn rubbed at her nose again. Was she okay? Sure. In a had-the-will-to-get-out-of-bed-every-morning kind of way. But the longer this party dragged on, the more being okay felt like surviving. “Course I am. But even if I’m the lookout, who’s to say Peter’s just going to waltz by the coatroom looking for you?”

  Eleanor waved her phone. “Because he just messaged me asking where I was. Said he has a surprise.”

  On the word surprise, Eleanor’s voice wobbled a little, and Ryan tugged her in for a hug. “We have a surprise for him too, remember?”

  Eleanor looked up at Ryan. “You really think this will work?”

  “No idea.” Ryan grinned. “But I never turn down an opportunity to kiss a pretty woman, and now I have two, so it’s a win for me either way.”

  Eleanor laughed. “I forgot how much of a player you are.”

  Ryan leaned down and Kaitlyn could just catch her whisper into Eleanor’s ear, “I’m just hoping for this one particular girl right now. Care to do me a solid too?”

  Kaitlyn wasn’t going to think about the fact that Ryan was essentially asking Eleanor to play along because Sarah would find it hot. She wasn’t going to think about the fact that Sarah likely found it hot because she didn’t really like Eleanor. God. She was going to explode from keeping out all the things she knew and didn’t want to know.

  What happened to the good ol’ days where you met, fell in love, and never looked at another girl twice? Where you spent your days building a life together, a family together, and love was the ignition for passion? That’s what her parents had had, and Kaitlyn refused to believe it didn’t exist anymore. In the meantime, however, it looked as if she’d be the stupid lookout for her sexed-up friends.

  “I’m texting him back to tell him I need some air and I’m grabbing my trench for a quick walk in the gardens,” Eleanor said.

  Kaitlyn sighed. Really? They were all so terrible at this it would be comical if it wasn’t real. “Tell him you’re exhausted talking to so many people and need a few minutes alone in the gardens. If you imply you want him to come and find you, it’ll look too much like a setup.”

  “Oh, that’s good,” Sarah said.

  No, it wasn’t. If Eleanor was really about to indulge her Sapphic side, the last thing she’d do was text Peter, but why inject rational thought now?

  When Eleanor’s phone pinged again, Kaitlyn took it from her and read the screen. “Okay, he’s coming to look for you, but don’t open the text. You’re supposed to be busy.”

  “Right.” Eleanor turned to Ryan and Sarah. “So how do we do this?”

  Kaitlyn had no desire to find out. Th
e only good part of being the lookout was that she could stay on the other side of the very solid, not at all see-through, door and hopefully have the opportunity to skulk off as soon as Peter arrived. If she hadn’t seen for herself the way he’d mauled that girl in the bar she’d almost feel sorry for him.

  As Sarah, Ryan, and Eleanor began a hasty discussion on the best angle and the most compromising position that didn’t involve serious loss of dignity, Kaitlyn made her escape. She’d never been happier to leave a room in her life. She’d use the next few minutes to give herself the mental pep talk she’d need to get through the last dregs of this night. She could do this. One more hour. Tops.

  Kaitlyn squared her shoulders and opened the door. All thoughts, the good, the bad, and the TMI, flew from her head, because standing on the other side was Beck Delmar.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Caught Kissing

  “What are you doing here?” Kaitlyn stepped out and shut the door behind her, lest Beck get a glimpse of whatever configuration Sarah, Ryan, and Eleanor had chosen. Taunting Beck with tales of her vibrator was one thing, but if Beck thought she’d been involved in what was going on behind that door…Beck wouldn’t know it was all fake, and even if she did, she’d never understand why it seemed necessary. It didn’t bear thinking about.

  “I was looking for you, and someone said you and Eleanor had come this way.” Beck looked at Kaitlyn curiously. “What are you up to?”

  “Nothing. None of your business,” Kaitlyn said too fast and with too much squeak in her voice for any semblance of sincerity.

  “Right,” Beck said. “Can we go somewhere private? Talk for a bit?”

  Kaitlyn shook her head. She couldn’t move from this door, and even if she could, she wouldn’t go anywhere with Beck.

  Except to bed.

  Her inner thoughts needed to shut up. She just had sex on her mind right now after talking with the others, that was all. It had nothing to do with the way Beck was biting her luscious bottom lip. Why was it that the ones who got all the natural beauty—sexy lips, long lashes, thick golden-brown hair—were also the ones who didn’t even notice they had them, let alone appreciate them? God wasn’t fair.

  “Come on,” Beck said. “I just want to talk, and you owe me.”

  “I owe you? Oh, this is going to be good.” Kaitlyn could hear the resentment in her voice and consciously worked on toning it down. She was over Beck. All she felt now was pity that Beck felt the need to chase her down for a conversation they weren’t going to have.

  “The Reducer was mean.” Beck’s eyes locked on Kaitlyn until she was pinned in place by the stare.

  She gulped. “I was merely correcting your frankly arrogant assumption that you were better than my vibrator. It wasn’t mean. It was factual.”

  “I don’t remember you being quite so merciless. You made up that stuff to make me sweat. Mean.”

  “And did you?” As soon as the question left her mouth Kaitlyn wanted to scoop it back inside. Way to show her cards. It shouldn’t matter if Beck was affected by her words or not, because Beck didn’t matter. Not anymore.

  “I have a heartbeat.” Beck gave her a small smile. “So yeah, thinking of you turned on and getting yourself off…”

  “Floats your boat?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “What?”

  “Never mind.” Kaitlyn waved it away. “I’m just shocked you still have your heart. I thought it belonged to Washington. And yet here you are, in the city, again. Talking to me. Again.” Tiny little butterfly wings of hope launched in her chest. Beck had come back for her, after all this time. Not that Kaitlyn wanted her back. She had more pride than that. She visualized herself as the butterfly hunter, slashing all those hope-wings with her shiny feminist sword.

  Sorrow clouded Becks eyes. “You don’t know?”

  Kaitlyn frowned. “Know what?”

  “Dad. Cancer.”

  Dad. Cancer. Two words that changed everything, and Beck said them like they held the weight of the world.

  “Oh God.” Kaitlyn flung herself at Beck and wrapped her arms around Beck’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry.” Whatever had happened in the past, whatever was going on between them now, none of it mattered. Kaitlyn knew what it was like to lose a parent, and she didn’t wish it on her worst enemy. As much as she tried to remind herself that she hated her, Beck wasn’t even close to worst enemy status. Kaitlyn clung to her as memories of her mother flashed through her mind: laughing as Kaitlyn blew out ten birthday candles, looking like a fairy princess as she danced alone in the kitchen with the radio playing, as broken and pale as the snow around her on the day she died.

  Kaitlyn buried her head in Beck’s shoulder, cocooning herself in citrus and comfort. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “Hey.” Beck eased back half an inch and cupped Kaitlyn’s cheek. “He’s going to be okay. It’s in his kidneys, but the prognosis is good. They caught it early.”

  “What do you need? How’s your mother? I’m so sorry, Beck. You’ll survive. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but—”

  “Kait.” Beck cradled Kaitlyn’s face in her palms. “Listen to me. He’s going to be okay. He’s sick and that sucks. But the outcome looks good.”

  “He’s not going to die?”

  Beck shook her head. “No, honey. He’s strong as an ox.”

  “God. I’m sorry. Wow. Overreaction much.” Kaitlyn didn’t even know she’d been crying until Beck used a thumb to brush at the tears on her cheeks.

  “Don’t you dare apologize. I’m the one who’s sorry. I should’ve led with that. I wasn’t thinking.”

  Kaitlyn stared at her, not sure what to say next, and worried her knees would give way if Beck let her go. All she could think to say was, “You’re back because your dad’s sick, but he’s going to get better.” Fantastic. Bonus points for summarizing the conversation like an idiot, as if Beck didn’t know this. It was Kaitlyn who hadn’t known, who’d seen Beck and hoped against hope that she’d come back for her. She hadn’t. She’d left before, and as soon as her dad was on stable ground, she’d leave again. It was what she did best. Why couldn’t Kaitlyn remember that?

  “That, and other things. I really need to talk to you.”

  Just as Beck finished speaking, Peter came their way, and Kaitlyn’s heart thudded. Crap. She’d totally forgotten she was supposed to be the stupid lookout. What was she going to say? How was she supposed to convince Peter to open the door, while acting as if she didn’t want him to? And what in God’s name was she going to do with Beck? The whole thing was lunacy and panic clogged her throat, clouding her thoughts.

  With her chin still resting in Beck’s fingers she did the only thing she could think of to distract everyone for a few precious seconds while she figured out how to warn the others. She hardly had to move at all, it was so easy, something they’d done a thousand times before.

  Kaitlyn closed her eyes, leaned in, and kissed Beck.

  * * *

  If she was honest, and Kaitlyn always tried to be, she’d imagined kissing Beck more than once in the years that had passed. Imagined it in the way of remembering what had been, sweet, desperate, awkward, funny. Two teenagers exploring their bodies. But she’d also thought about what it would be like to kiss her now, as an adult with some experience under her belt. Would Beck’s kiss still make her head swim, or would it pale in comparison to the others she’d had in between? Would Beck match her passion for passion? Was Kaitlyn remembering Beck’s hold on her heart through rose-colored glasses, because you never forgot your first?

  Of all the scenarios she’d played out in her mind, what happened was something she’d never expected. Beck’s fingers on her face gentled, stroking her cheeks as their lips met in perfect alignment. Good kisses were all alike, but perfect kisses were all perfect in their own way. It wasn’t the thunderclap of desire she’d expected, and okay, maybe had secretly hoped for. It didn’t overwhelm her, or drown her, or make her want to pass out. Beck kissed her wi
th a tenderness she’d never thought possible. Gentle and sincere. The kiss was slow, like every minute they’d ever spent apart had been building up to this moment. This kiss. Her mouth on Beck’s, Beck’s hands on her face, Kaitlyn’s arms wrapped around her neck. Joined together in defiance of reason and logic.

  Her heart ached. Opened. Wanted.

  No. God, she couldn’t go there. She wouldn’t survive it a second time.

  Kaitlyn threaded her fingers in Beck’s hair and opened her mouth, tugging on the bottom lip she’d just been admiring, making Beck groan. Seizing the opportunity to move them past the danger zone, she parted Beck’s lips and deepened the kiss. Trying not to lose it, trying to remember they had an audience, Kaitlyn couldn’t stop her body from growing heavy, like the desire was actually weighing her down, making it hard to move, hard to stop. She couldn’t hold on to a thought for more than a second, and she was pulsing everywhere. Wasn’t kissing the best thing in the entire world?

  “Kait,” Beck gasped her name.

  But Kaitlyn wasn’t ready to quit. She didn’t want to talk, she didn’t want to feel, at least not what Beck had just stirred in her. Feeling with only her body was so much better. Easier. More satisfying. “Shut up.” She fit her torso against Beck’s, pulling her in until they fell against the door with a thump loud enough to alert the others.

  Okay, job done. Time to stop now.

  Just as she was about to pull away, Beck sighed and melted against her like butter warming in a pan. Kaitlyn’s mind started to shut down, wanton desperation taking over. When Beck planted a hand on the door for leverage and trailed a string of wet kisses down her neck, Kaitlyn could finally focus on why she’d kissed her in the first place. Why she was standing in the entrance hall on the other side of a door where…Oh no.

  Kaitlyn eased back, rested her head against the solid wood for a second, and caught her breath. Whatever happened next, it wasn’t going to be pretty for anyone. When Beck cupped a palm around her hip and tried to pull her in again, she put a hand on her chest to stop her. Beck’s heart hammered under her palm. One kiss and they were both on the edge like they hadn’t touched anyone in years.