“Ye-es?” Britney answered in a wavering voice.
“Yeah, freakin’ right.” Roxanna hopped to her feet and began pacing the aisle, forcing our teammates to spread out and make room. I smiled, watching her pace. Roxanna refused to admit she’d inherited some of her mom’s Filipino flare for theatrics, but if I’d had the forethought to video record this scene with my cell phone, there’d be no way Roxanna could deny it during a replay.
“Now,” Roxanna said, “the only thing we can do is stay strong, Britney, because weak women become pathetic victims. And you don’t want to be pathetic, do you?”
Britney waited a few seconds to make sure she was really supposed to answer. “No?”
“No.” Roxanna stopped pacing and stood in front of Britney, resting her hands on her hips. “You’re going to call him and you’re going to tell him he needs to give you one hundred thousand dollars or you’re going to sell the story to the media.”
A pin could have dropped and the entire building would have heard it. Britney’s mouth hung open in an “O” of surprise and the smile froze on my lips. Realizing no one was cheering, Roxanna took in her audience with a calculating gaze.
“Too much?” she asked no one in particular.
I was the only one who dared to answer.
“Um, yeah, a little much,” I said.
“Sorry.” Roxanna smoothed a stray lock of raven hair behind her ear. “I just broke up with Blake again. I might be pushing some of my annoyance off on your ex.”
“It’s okay,” Britney said timidly.
Blake was Roxanna’s on-again, off-again boyfriend.
“He’s not a celebrity, so…” Or maybe he was. I turned to Britney. “He’s not famous or anything, is he?”
Britney shook her head.
“I don’t think the media would give a crap about a cheating boyfriend who sells medical equipment,” I told Roxanna. “How about she just deletes his number and pretends she never met him?”
A few nods of agreement from our teammates, but Roxanna waved her hand dismissively, cutting my suggestion to shreds.
Roxanna leaned down and grasped Britney’s shoulders, giving her a small, yet firm, shake. “I think we need to make him cry.”
Now I was officially worried. ‘Make him cry’ could mean a lot of things and, as worked up as Roxanna was, I wasn’t sure if her thoughts were on the violent side or back to extortion.
“Taser,” Tricia suggested.
“No one is tasering anyone,” I cut in before the idea took hold.
Roxanna pondered it for too long, which meant the tasering idea had probably crossed her mind for one horrifying second too long. Finally, she said, “You’re right. That might be excessive. But he did cheat three times, so we need to keep that in mind, Gen.”
“True,” I agreed. “But—”
“Since we can’t taser him, we should just give him a dose of his own medicine. What you’re going to do is call him and pretend you want to give him another chance, make him think you can’t live without him and that you don’t even care that he’s living out some sort of pathetic male-whore fantasy. Maybe throw in you want him back so bad that you’d be willing to do a threesome with his bimbo redhead.”
Britney opened her mouth to object, but Roxanna said, “Of course, you aren’t interested in that, but he doesn’t need to know the truth. You lay it on thick, beg him to meet you at some skanky club where there’s more bumping and grinding than actual conversation and tell him you want to wear some kind of crotch-revealing outfit which will probably be right up his alley. Get him all worked up and excited, you know? And then you’re going to invite some super hot guy to the club who makes your ex look like a jar of canned meat. I know just the guy, by the way. You’ll all but screw Hot Guy in front of that sleazy ex of yours. He’ll be so torn with jealousy that he’ll go home and cry like a little bitch for two weeks straight. Maybe you can even threaten to taser him, even though you won’t.”
Many sets of amazed eyes fixated on Roxanna, standing with her hands on her hips and one leg jutting just a little bit forward, her chin up, and shiny black hair hanging down her back. If she were in black leather she’d look like she’d stepped straight out of a comic book. Britney’s boyfriend was the poor soul who would endure Roxanna’s pent-up rage against the deceitful opposite sex. One of the reasons Roxanna never wanted to marry, and never cared to get serious with any boyfriend she’d ever had, was because her dad had cheated on her mom for years before leaving them. He was on marriage number three and hadn’t changed a bit, but still didn’t seem to think he’d done anything wrong. He thought by sending Roxanna monthly check it made up for all the time he’d never been around. She cashed the checks, sent him a quick thank you because he was always too busy to talk on the phone, and left it at that.
Britney wiped her eyes. “Okay.”
“Rox,” I said, keeping a concerned eye on Britney. Roxanna had a way of convincing others her ideas were gold, and usually Roxanna won out over any doubt.
“No.” Roxanna gave a sharp shake of her head. “Britney is a young, beautiful, vibrant woman who needs to teach this guy a lesson and take back her confidence—
her life
. She might have followed him around like a little lost puppy dog, but this is it!” Roxanna slammed her hand down on the desk, hard, and I flinched, hoping the desk slapping wasn’t going to become a habit of hers.
“
Yeah
,” a woman from the end of the row breathed in admiration.
“No more,” Roxanna said, shaking her finger, “is she going to let a barely pubescent man-child ruin what should be the best time of her life!”
“Okay, then,” Tricia said and squeezed Britney’s shoulder. “Operation Revenge Night is a go.”
“Yes…a go.” Britney let out a breath and the color had come back to her face. There was a bit of a glow to her cheeks. And even if her smile shook, it was still a smile. I probably didn’t need to worry about her. “I got this. You’re right, Roxanna. I’ve been letting him walk all over me our entire relationship. I’ve wasted enough time on him.”
She jumped to her feet and hurried down the aisle then disappeared around the corner. Roxanna’s brows puckered. “She didn’t even say thank you for my awesome idea.”
“She’s probably in shock,” I said. I went back to my desk and shoved the divorce papers back into the manila envelope. “I’m going to shred this.”
“You don’t want to read the rest of it? There’s interesting stuff in there, like his credit score.”
I gave her a pointed stare. “Does he have a criminal record?”
Roxanna shook her head. “No.”
“Then that’s all I need to know.”
“If he’s going to be your sex toy, you should know if he can at least afford to buy you nice dinners.”
“He’s not my sex toy. I’m not even sure I should keep seeing him.” I didn’t like the way she was looking at me. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I have two heads or something.” Or maybe she was staring at the zit on my chin. It was there when I awoke that morning—a stress zit. Roxanna tactfully said nothing about it.
Roxanna sighed in exasperation. “Of course you’re going to keep seeing him. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He’s the answer to your slump.”
“Slump? What slump?” I asked. “I’m not in a slump.”
“Yes, you are in a slump. You broke up with Brent
five months ago
and you haven’t…you know what…since. What you need is a good, old fashioned—”
“Don’t even say it!” I screeched.
Roxanna smiled sweetly, “Well, at least we’re on the same page.”
“Matt’s not looking for a serious relationship right now.”
“What does that have to do with sex?” Roxanna asked and my mouth dropped open. “You already know what to expect so you’re going in with eyes wide open. And you aren’t looking for serious either, remember. You just need a date to Lexie’s engagement party and if you can get some no-strings-attached sex on the side, why not?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“And he’s perfect. Brent will take one look at Matt and probably jump in front of a bus. Matt makes him look like mincemeat. No one likes mincemeat.” Roxanna leaned in closer to whisper, “And have you seen the size of Matt’s feet? You know what they say… Brent will notice, too. He deserves to suffer.”
Great, now I was picturing Matt’s foot size. They were big. At least a twelve. And I’d already had my face up against his crotch, so I knew by touch the man was endowed.
“Sex,” Roxanna interrupted my thoughts and I blushed. “It’s just a little sex. I bet the guy’s been celibate for a year now. His divorce papers said he was separated a year.
He needs you
, Gen. As much as you need him. No harm. Just some casual sex between two hot people. I bet he’s great in bed.”
My heart started up the erratic beating again. Sex with Matt—I’d been imaging it since the first night we kissed.
“I got it,” I said. “You want me to embrace my slutty side and get it on. I’ll think about it, okay?”
Not just think about it—obsess about it. Well, mostly just obsess about the
thought
of it. After Roxanna’s impassioned speech and the blackmail scheme she’d suggested to Britney, I had my doubts about Roxanna’s advice.
Roxanna finally gave me some peace and returned to her desk. I stared at my monitor. It wasn’t hard to imagine what sex with Matt would be like, not when his kisses turned my knees to mush. Probably, it would be mind-blowing. Or maybe months of celibacy had screwed up my rational thought process.
I didn’t have casual sex. But was it a big deal in this day and age when going Dutch and seeing multiple people wasn’t even frowned upon? This wasn’t my parents’ generation. This was my generation.
Casual sex—no big deal.
But it sounded like a big deal.
When I logged into my mail, I spotted a message from Richard and opened it cautiously, afraid of what it might contain. After a quick read, I relaxed.
Hey Gen! I scoped out a few girls at the movie rental place. I got a part time job there so I can save up to get an apartment. Want to have lunch in the cafeteria? Maybe you can give me some pointers.
Of course I would give him pointers. He was moving on, spreading his little wings and becoming a cute little butterfly, which meant I couldn’t send him out into the big world of dating with the very inappropriate advice he’d been getting from his IT buddies on the second floor. He needed me and since we were both on the same page now, I was more than happy to provide my services. I didn’t know a lick about men, it seemed, but I knew women and being the Good Samaritan that I was, I would help him find a girlfriend.
I accepted his lunch invitation and began processing claims.
Chapter Seventeen
A few days later, I sat at
Baby Cakes Boutique
with my sisters. The cupcakes in the box in the middle of the table looked like something out of a dessert magazine. We knew Melanie, the owner of
Baby Cakes
. She’d never attended a pastry school, or taken any courses in baking; she’d learned everything from her grandmother. Melanie’s grandmother had lived in a small town outside of Lincoln and had been known throughout the county as the woman whose cakes melted like butter in your mouth. Melanie had taken up baking desserts, given herself a business name and opened up shop on a much larger scale than her grandmother had ever cared to. The young bakery owner was as passionate about cake as her grandmother had been and it showed by the love and care she put into decorating each one.
There were five different flavors of cupcakes in the box on the table and I had my eyes on a dark chocolate with creamy chocolate icing. No sprinkles. I thought of Matt and smiled.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Lexie breathed. I looked up from the box of cupcakes to see why my twin’s jaw was on the table.
Sucking in a breath of surprise, I sat back in my chair—and stared. And blinked twice in case I was seeing things.
“Holy shit,” I breathed and gripped the back of Catherine’s chair beside me.
Brent stood in the bakery doorway beside Jeremy, Lexie’s fiancé. His gaze swept the room until it landed on me. I couldn’t move, I was so surprised—shocked, really—while he stood there smiling at me as if his presence wasn’t unexpected. As if I should be just as excited to see him as he was to see me.
“Please tell me that’s some guy with a Brent face mask on.” Lexie’s frown told me otherwise. Nope, it was him, all right. All five foot nine of him, with his spray-on tan and sparkly white teeth. His sandy blonde hair was combed back with gel so that it would stay perfect, no hair out of place. His sunglasses hung from the neck of his salmon and cream striped polo. I’d always hated that shirt.
I don’t know why I was so surprised to see him. It was only a matter of time until we ran into each other. We lived in the same city. But since our breakup, I’d done my best to avoid him. Now here he was, traipsing around in a shirt I hated.
“Why is he here?” Catherine locked eyes with Lexie across the table.