Between a Rock and a Hard Place (54 page)

Tommy jumped a little.  “No.  We’ll never get another reservation.”

He removed her hands from around his neck.  “I can’t believe I’m passing up the opportunity to rip that dress off of you, but we gotta go.  We can finish this when we get back.”

She skipped a step as he pulled her toward the door.  She didn’t want to miss dinner at Le Jules Verne, but the sight of Tommy in that suit was doing things to her groin that needed immediate attention.  Unfortunately it would have to wait, because Tommy didn’t slow his pace or let go of her hand until they were in the elevator.

The walk through the hotel lobby, in their fancy designer clothes, stirred a commotion.  The flash from the cameras caused yellow and white spots to block Jessi’s vision as she navigated through the fans and flurry of the paparazzi.  Once outside, her sight cleared enough to fall upon an extraordinary black Bentley Mulsanne. The limousine was the ultimate in luxury.  The driver slid from his perch behind the wheel and headed toward the back of the car.  Jessi waited to see if a celebrity was about to step out and make a grand entrance into the hotel from the prestigious automobile.

The chauffer tipped his cap and nodded at her, while a cigarette dangled between his lips.  He opened the car door and offered her his white-gloved hand.  “After you, Mademoiselle.”

Apparently, he misunderstood her interest in the vehicle and she shook her head.

Tommy offered her his arm.  “This is for you, hon.  We’re going to the restaurant in style.”

She was taken back with surprise.  Angel was known for his extravagance, but even for him, a car of this caliber was excessive.  “We could have taken a taxi,” she told Angel.  “You didn’t have to order us such an expensive car.”

“I didn’t.  This is all Tommy’s doing.”

She was boggled by disbelief.  The car was more unexpected than the suit.  Tommy was always conservative when it came to unnecessary indulgences.  Angel was the one who was frivolous.  They were total opposites in that respect.

She took Tommy’s hand and stepped into the Bentley, still too awestruck to speak.

He slid into the seat next to her and glanced at the expensive leather interior.  “This is pretty nice.”

“You’re full of surprises tonight.  Thank you, baby.  What else do you have planned that you’re not telling me about?”

“Nothing.” The devilish grin that hid behind his matter-of-fact answer wasn’t convincing.  She looked over at Angel for further insight, but his face was turned away and he was staring out the window.

She stopped wondering about Tommy’s intentions when the lights of the Eiffel Tower illuminated the skyline in the distance.  It was more breathtaking than she imagined as it loomed over the horizon and pierced the atmosphere with its brilliance.

Once they arrived at its entrance and stood at its base, she grazed her eyes over the landmark tower.  It was hard to believe they would be dining at the top of the iconic structure, almost a thousand feet in the air.  An attendant took them into a private glass elevator that rose high above the city.  The ride was frightening and Jessi’s stomach turned over, but the magnificent view captured her attention.  Through the architecture of the crisscross beams of riveted steel, the city below spanned as far as the eye could see.

She squeezed Tommy’s hand.  “This is incredible.”

“I knew you’d love it, hon.”

Angel stepped behind them and draped his arms over both of their shoulders.  “I’m so happy to share this night with the both of you.” He was overly sentimental and his grip on her shoulder was tight.

The elevator stopped and Angel held his hand out to Jessi.  “Are you ready, my princess?”

Jessi froze at the nickname.  “What did you just call me?”

Angel gave her his most alluring smile.  “If Tommy’s my prince, it just makes sense that you’re my princess.”

She placed her hand on her chest and almost choked up.  She adored it when Angel called Tommy “my prince” and secretly wished for a similar term of endearment.  She placed her hand in his and smiled.  The night couldn’t get much better.

A hostess greeted them and escorted them through the restaurant.  “Where are we going?” she whispered to Tommy.

“We have a private table in the back.”

The unexpected shout of “Happy Anniversary” filled the restaurant and startled Jessi.  Her sisters were at her side and hugged her, while Alyssa, Damien and Jimmy showered her and Tommy with congratulations.  She was stunned at the faces of family and friends that surrounded her.

Tommy placed a bouquet of long stem roses in her arms.  “Happy anniversary, hon.  Are you surprised?”

“I .  .  .”  She choked on the words.  She thought he forget their anniversary, meanwhile he’d been planning an extravagant party.

Angel wrapped his arms around the both of them.  “Happy Anniversary, you two.  You both changed my life so much.”

He was crushing her roses, so she handed them off to Ella.  She imagined how Angel felt at this elaborate party, celebrating the commitment she and Tommy shared.  Jessi knew the feeling of inadvertent exclusion, not by choice but by circumstance, and she wouldn’t let that happen to Angel.  She held up her left hand and waved her ring finger.  “You have one just like this, Angel.”

He stared down at the matching wedding ring on his hand for several seconds and smiled.  He placed his hand on top of hers so their rings touched, and Tommy added his left hand to the stack.  They often lined their wedding rings up on Tommy’s chest before they went to sleep when he first presented Angel with the ring, but it was a practice they hadn’t done in a while.  Only this time, Tommy’s hand wasn’t in the middle, it was Angel’s.  Order no longer mattered.  The three of them were equally joined together in love. “You’re part of this marriage, Angel, which means you’re part of this celebration.  From now on the three of us will celebrate this day together, and we’ll also celebrate the day you and Tommy first got together.”

Angel’s warm eyes melted and his chest deflated as he let out a deep breath.  He pulled Jessi and Tommy into his embrace and they all wrapped their arms around each other.  Jessi couldn’t tell which arms were Tommy’s and which were Angel’s, but they crushed her.  She gripped the both of them just as hard.  There wasn’t a sliver of space or air between them, as their bodies craved the closeness of each other’s touch.  She closed her eyes and let the love they shared seep into her veins.  Their faces were buried in each other’s shoulders and they each whispered an “I love you,” oblivious to the applause that echoed through the room.

They remained engaged in each other’s arms long after the room quieted down.  It was a passionate restatement of their love and the life they shared, and she wondered if it was Tommy’s reasoning behind the party.

They slowly loosened their embrace.  When Jessi stepped back and looked into Angel’s and Tommy’s eyes, they were covered in a thick haze of moisture that mimicked the tears in her own eyes.  She didn’t think it was possible for three people to love each other as much as they did right now.

They were soon flanked by family.  Angelita and Ricardo, and Angel’s brother and sister, all hugged him.  Tommy’s parents, Barbara and Martin, were at his side, along with his handsome brother Robert, and Maggie and Ella squeezed the life out of Jessi.

“I can’t believe you came all the way to Paris,” Jessi told them.

“We wouldn’t miss your anniversary party.”  Maggie gave her another hug.  “We’re your sisters.”

“Plus my generous bother-in-law paid for my airfare,” Ella said, with a hearty laugh.  “He really went all out for this party.”

Jessi was flabbergasted at the extravagance and at the amount of people who traveled thousands of miles to share in the celebration.

She watched Angel with his parents.  They were the most loving and supportive people she ever met, not only to Angel, but to anyone in their lives.  If it weren’t for Ricardo’s help, she would have never been able to open her store.  He gave his advice and wisdom freely, and he was generous with his knowledge and money.  They were all valued qualities that Angel inherited.

Tommy’s parents looked genuinely happy and proud.  After the initial shock of Tommy’s sexuality wore off, Martin Blade made tremendous strides in his relationship with his son.

Jessi, Tommy and Angel walked through the array of people and greeted their guests.  Buff, shirtless waiters and waitresses dressed in skimpy uniforms passed around trays of hors devours.  A bare-chested trapeze artist hung from the ceiling on a silver triangle and glided toward her.  In his free hand he extended a bottle of champagne.  Someone placed a glass in her hand and he filled it.  She’d never seen anything like it before and let out an excited laugh.  “What was that?”

Tommy smiled and rolled his eyes in Angel’s direction.  “It’s an aerial bartender.” She loved the way he always teased Angel, and there was no need to tell her that Angel was responsible for the staffing and entertainment.

Friends and family pulled them in opposite directions.  Jessi turned to find where Tommy and Angel went, but Audra and Kira bombarded her with a hug.

“Kira, I’m so glad you made it.  I was beginning to think you were going to miss the whole tour.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Jessi.  The show in Paris was phenomenal!  I wish I could have been here sooner.”  Kira closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  “I almost forgot what a rush it is to see Immortal Angel in person and to hear Angel’s incredible voice.” She was still the bubbly fan girl who swooned over Angel.

Being reunited with Kira and Audra together reminded Jessi of the early shows before Tommy and Angel became lovers.  Their sexual chemistry on stage was an erotic prelude to many lust-filled nights in bed.

Her gaze drifted while she replayed some of the antics on stage in her head, and Kira seemed to be babbling on without interruption.

There was another bartender, on the ground this time, behind a stationary bar.  He was practically juggling champagne bottles, twirling them in his hands between filling glasses.

Next to the bar, Jessi spotted Tommy and Angel talking to Maggie and Ella.  Something was wrong.  Tommy was upset.  His mouth moved quickly and his hand flew in the air in front of him, accentuating the words she couldn’t decipher from across the room.  Tommy was adamant and irate.

Angel was standing next to him, more concerned than disturbed.  His head was bent and his brows were cinched together as he listened intently to the exchange between Tommy and Maggie and Ella.

Jessi started toward them, but was intercepted by Alyssa.

“You had no idea.”  It wasn’t a question.  It was an affirmation.  “You thought Tommy forgot your anniversary.”  Alyssa laughed.  “He was watching you stew and waiting for you to bring it up.  He felt so bad, but I thought it was hilarious.  And I don’t know how the hell Angel didn’t blab.  He kept cornering me and filling me in on all the details.”  She took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and stopped to stare at his muscled chest.  “If it was up to me, those waiters would have more than their bare chest showing.  They’d be parading their junk around in a G-string.”

Jessi laughed as she imagined how Tommy’s conservative parents would have reacted.  She already caught Martin shying away from the half-naked waiters with their bare bulging muscles.  She also caught him staring at Alyssa, with a prudish frown, as he took in her thigh high boots, black skin tight leggings and low cut leather vest.

“Thanks for dressing up for my party,” Jessi teased her friend.

“Next time, make me some of those fancy clothes you made for Tommy and Angel and I’ll wear them.  Don’t tell Damien, but when Tommy walked in here with that suit on, I think I creamed in my panties a little bit.”

Jessi burst into a short fit of laughter.  “How about not telling
me
?”  Alyssa was so blunt that it was comical.  “By the way, I didn’t make Angel’s suit.  It’s Dolce & Gabbana.”

Alyssa waved her hand.  “Dolce & Gabbana, Jessi Blade. There isn’t much difference.”

It wasn’t a frivolous compliment.  Alyssa was simply making a statement.  Whether Alyssa knew it or not, comparing Jessi Blade to Dolce & Gabbana would probably be the single most flattering compliment Jessi would ever receive.

“Thank you.  You have no idea how over-the-top that comparison is.  They both do look gorgeous though, don’t they?” She turned back in the direction of the bar where they last stood, but they were no longer there.  She caught a glimpse of her sisters with an older couple and did a double take.  She gasped.  There was no mistaking the stiff chiffon hairdo and the dated brown suit.  Jessi’s throat closed up and almost choked her.  It was her parents, and they were staring back at her.

What were they doing here, in Paris? Maggie and Ella probably told them about the anniversary party and they came to protest the relationship.  They were no better than those horrible protestors outside some of the concerts when they first went public with their polyamorous relationship.  Jessi’s cheeks flushed red hot.  They were trying to ruin her party with their judgment and disapproval.  They were going to ruin all the hard work Tommy and Angel put into this momentous celebration.  The angry tears that seeped into the corners of her eyes were as hot as fire, but she brushed them away and straightened her shoulders.

“What’s wrong?  What happened?”  Alyssa followed Jessi’s gaze across the room.  She grunted when she saw Jessi’s parents.  “What are they doing here?”