Frenched Series Bundle (27 page)

“Good.” He took my arm as we made our way through the lobby. “Because you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“I know.” I tried to sound more confident than I felt. “I’m not a crazy jealous person,” I said, thinking that crazy jealous was, in fact, exactly how I’d felt when I saw her standing there in a robe. “I totally understand being friends with your ex. Just not the living in your apartment thing.”

Cringing, he hung his head. “I get it. Boy, I’m gonna suffer for that for a long time, huh?”

I elbowed him gently in the side. “Nah, I’m not one to hold a grudge. I believe in forgive and forget. Moving forward.”
Moving in together.

With his hand on the small of my back, he guided me into the dark, noisy bar. “Have I told you I love you? How beautiful you are?”

“Not in the last ten minutes.”

He leaned in to whisper in my ear, and his hand slid lower. “You’re gorgeous. And I fucking adore you.”

Chills swept down my bare arms. Everything about the moment felt perfect, from his hand on my ass to his breath on my neck. My only regret was that Jessica wasn’t there to see it.

The seats along the bar were all taken, so Lucas and I ordered drinks and wandered into a large adjacent room to look for somewhere to sit. It was spacious but still intimate, lit almost solely by candles and a roaring fire at the far end of the room. The couches and chairs were plush red and gold velvet, the cocktail tables were dark wood, and the walls were painted some kind of amber color that glowed like a sunset in the flickering candlelight. A jazz trio played softly in one corner.

He studied the musicians for a moment. “Hey, I know the pianist. Let’s go sit over there.” We made our way to a table near the trio, and Lucas pulled out a chair for me before lowering himself in the one to my left. I laughed when he scooted his chair closer to mine.

“I can’t get close enough.” His smile was sheepish.

“I don’t mind.” I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You look good enough to eat in that suit.” It was charcoal gray, and he wore it with a white shirt that I’d ironed for him after we got out of the shower. He told me I didn’t have to but I’d insisted, and the mundane task felt so personal—OK, so
wifely
—that I’d grinned like an idiot while I worked. It was crazy how happy it made me to do simple things for Lucas.

He was, of course, sans necktie. I didn’t think that thing would ever recover.

About ten minutes after we sat down, his friends arrived, and I stood for introductions. Besides Jessica, who conspicuously took the chair on Lucas’s other side, there were three other guys and two other women, all of whom looked to be in their late twenties. Lucas had told me earlier he knew some of this crowd from grad school and some from the college where he taught, but I forgot three of their five names almost immediately. I have a horrible memory for names. But I was pretty sure the really tall blond guy who sat across from me was Craig, and to my right was Andrea, a petite Asian woman with a blunt bob haircut.

“So this is Mia.” Andrea shook my hand and smiled. “Lucas is always talking about you.”

My heart fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings, and I shot Lucas a grateful look.
He does talk about me!

“I work with Andrea.” Lucas sat at my side and picked up his scotch. “She teaches ed psych.”

“How nice.” I sat down again, crossing my legs toward Lucas, and he rested a hand on my knee. Picking up my wine glass, I hid a satisfied smile behind my Bordeaux. Maybe it was juvenile and petty, but it wasn’t enough tonight to know that Lucas adored me—I wanted people to
see
him adoring me.

Mostly people named Jessica.

I snuck a quick peak at her to see if she’d noticed the hand.

She had. She was staring right at it.

Yessss. I’ll drink to that!

“Well, he certainly kept her a secret from me.” Jessica smiled deviously at Lucas and gave him a slap on the shoulder. “Silly boy. And you should have told her that I was staying with you until I find an apartment.” She turned to the group. “Poor thing was shocked to find me there this afternoon when she showed up to surprise him. In my robe, no less! Can you imagine?” She laughed as if it were the funniest joke she’d ever heard, but everyone else was silent. A more awkward moment in conversation had surely never occurred in the Gramercy Park Hotel, possibly in all of Manhattan. I gripped my wine glass so hard I thought I might crush the glass to shards.

“And I was so thrilled she did.” Taking his hand from my knee, Lucas put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “Best surprise ever.”

I managed a tight-lipped smile before taking a big swallow of wine. “You know me. I love surprises.”

Lucas squeezed my shoulder and kissed my cheek. “Want another glass of wine?”

“Yeah,” I whispered in his ear. “To throw at her.”

This could be a long night.

5 Annoying Things (Out of 100,

but that’s only after two hours—the real number

is probably more like 1000) About Jessica

1) She tosses her hair. A lot. Like she’s in a goddamn L’Oréal commercial.

2) She laughs at everything Lucas says, often leaning over to slap his leg or punch his shoulder.

3) She enjoys bringing up old times, inside jokes, and wink-wink anecdotes that involve Lucas, and whenever he or anyone else tries to include me in the conversation, somehow she maneuvers things so that I can’t contribute.

4) She speaks fucking French. Fluently. And she takes great pleasure in conversing with Lucas in a language I do not understand.

5) She sings. And she’s good.

At some point in the evening, the jazz trio took a break and the pianist, a wiry bald guy named Mark, came over to say hello to Lucas. Jessica knew him too, and while they played another round of Remember When, I turned to Andrea and asked where she lived in New York, and we got into a discussion about various neighborhoods in the city, and how Detroit compared to New York.

So I missed the part of the conversation when it was decided that Lucas and Jessica would get up and do a song together.

“Do you mind, Mia?”

I turned to Lucas with a blank look. “Mind what?”

“Of course she doesn’t.” Jessica was already out of her seat and tugging on his arm. “I’m sure she loves hearing you play.”

Confused, I glanced at the corner where the trio was set up and saw the guitar resting on the floor next to a wooden stool. “You’re going to sit in?”

“He’s going to do a song with me. One quick tune.” She flashed me her fake smile. “Any requests?”

Yeah, go fuck yourself.

“Mia, I don’t have to.” Lucas looked at me like he was trying to read my face, which I’m sure said Stone Cold Bitch.

I tried to warm it up a little. What good would it do to make a big deal over this? It was just a song, and I didn’t want to give Jessica the satisfaction of knowing she got under my skin. “No, no, go on, please. I love hearing you play.” Digging my fingernails into my thighs, I even smiled ghoulishly at Jessica. “How fun!”

With a triumphant smile, she sauntered toward the corner with Mark.

Lucas kissed my cheek. “Be right back.”

Over the rim of my wine glass I watched Lucas pick up the guitar and get situated on the stool while Mark returned to the piano. Jessica stood between them, and the three chatted briefly before Mark handed Jessica the mic.

She introduced herself and her “old friend” Lucas before thanking Mark for letting them sit in “for old times’ sake.” Then she fucking winked at Lucas and tossed her hair. I sipped my wine.

Nostrils. Flaring.

I glanced at Lucas’s friends to see who was picking up on the tension, but none of them made eye contact with me except Andrea, whose isn’t-this-exciting smile barely hid the note of you-poor-thing in her expression.

Did I say sipped? I meant guzzled.

As Mark played the opening chords of the song, I said a quick prayer.
Dear God, I know this is not nice of me but please, please let her not be that good a singer. She doesn’t have to be awful, just unpleasant enough that I see some noses wrinkle in the crowd.

No such luck.

To my chagrin, Jessica’s voice was genuinely sweet and lovely, a marked contrast to her tart personality and saccharine smile. She sang “Bye Bye Blackbird,” and the crowd, which had been noisy a moment before, quieted from almost her very first note. I was so busy hating her I forgot to listen to Lucas’s guitar playing, but I did notice the way they occasionally looked at each other during the song. Was that really necessary? Despite the sub-zero temperatures outside, my blood was boiling. I felt like walking outside to cool off.

Calm down. She’s making eye contact with Mark too. They both are. They probably have to watch each other in order to figure out who solos when or how to end the song.

When the last notes faded, the room echoed with applause. Resisting the urge to boo, I half-heartedly clapped a few times, only so I didn’t appear rude.

“Lucas is really good,” said Andrea.

“He is,” I agreed, although I honestly hadn’t heard one note he’d played.

They returned to the table, and Lucas put his arm around me right away. “You OK?”

I forced a smile. “Sure. That was great.”
And really fucking annoying.

“We should do that more often, Luc.” Patting his shoulder, Jessica sat down and sipped her water. “I almost forgot how good you are.” She winked at him. “At everything.”

Oh, fuck
that
.

“I need to use the bathroom.” I lurched to my feet, my jaw tight. “Any idea where it is?”

“I know where it is.” Jessica picked up her clutch from the table and stood. “I’ll go with you.”

Lucas looked as if he wanted to protest, but what could he say? And I’d have rather gone to the bathroom with Jack the Ripper, but I couldn’t think of a polite reason to decline her offer. “OK. I’ll follow you.”

Jessica led the way into the lobby, and I followed her through the ladies room door. Neither of us spoke while we used the stalls, although I kept my lips pressed tightly together to keep from telling her to quit fucking flirting with my boyfriend. If Lucas couldn’t see the way she wanted him,
he
was the crazy one, not me. And we were going to have a serious conversation about her when we got back to the room. I didn’t want to argue, but I needed to hear him say that he was going to ask her to leave after this weekend, during which he’d stay with me at the hotel.

Then I needed to hear him say dirty things in my ear.

Tie my hands behind my back.

Or maybe my legs to the bedposts.

Were there bedposts on the bed our room? I hadn’t noticed, not even when scrambling across it while he chased me.
God, that was so nuts.
Picturing it put a smile on my face, and my mood was damn near cheerful as I washed my hands. After drying them off, I found my lip balm in my purse and began reapplying it.

A moment later Jessica came out of her stall and used the sink next to mine. Her lipstick was bright red, so thick it looked shellacked on her lips.
Lucas hates lipstick
, I felt like telling her.

She noticed me looking at her reflection. For the first time, the phony smile was gone from her face.

In fact, her expression was downright arctic.

And when she opened her mouth, I had a feeling her words would be too.

I decided to strike first. “Is something wrong, Jessica?”

She narrowed her cool blue eyes. “He’ll never marry you. If that’s what you’re hoping.”

It was as if she’d punched me. “What?”

“I know him. He gets like this, all lovey dovey, and you think you’re getting to him. Did he tell you he doesn’t want to get married? That he doesn’t want kids?”

“Yes.” I was too stunned to tell her to fuck off.

“Well, he means it.” She dried her hands on a towel and threw it into the hamper beneath the counter. “We were together for years, and if he didn’t change his mind for me, he won’t change it for you.”

“This is none of your business.” Finally, I’d recovered some of my senses, but she’d touched a nerve.

She faced me. Arched a brow. “He still loves me, you know.”

“You’re crazy.”

“He does. He told me he’ll always love me.”

My stomach churned, and I fought hard to maintain my composure. I’d gain nothing by losing my temper in front of her. “He feels bad about the way things ended,” I said through my teeth. “He’s trying to be a friend to you.”

She nodded, licking her blood red lips. “Is that why he kissed me last night?”

Wrath like I’d never felt exploded inside me, and I nearly struck her pretty face. But something about her expression as she said it was off—or maybe it was the way she licked her lips a second time as she waited for my reaction.
She’s lying.

“Bullshit.” I lifted my chin.

Jessica shrugged. “If I’d known about you, maybe I wouldn’t have done it. But he obviously didn’t want to tell me he had a girlfriend. I wonder why that is.”

“Because he doesn’t want you to know about his private life!” I snapped. “Maybe he knows you’re crazy.”

“I’m not crazy.” She turned to assess her reflection once more. “I just didn’t want to play his perverted sex games.” She cocked her head to one side. “Although I think I’ve changed my mind about that. I might be ready to give them another try. I’ve decided I don’t need to get married anyway.” She smiled slyly at me over her shoulder. “And Lucas is such a good fuck.”

Fury roared through me with the force of a freight train. Rushing past her, I stormed out of the bathroom and back into the bar, my entire body shaking with rage. I wanted to get Lucas and get out of there as fast as possible.

“Hey, there you are.” Lucas looked relieved to see me. Had he been nervous about Jessica and I being alone together?
Maybe because he was worried she’d tell me something?
The image of them kissing in his bedroom popped into my mind.

No. It’s not true. She was lying.

But I needed to hear it from him.

“Lucas, I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well. Would you mind if we went back to our room?”

For a second I thought he might try to convince me to stay, but he must have noticed the change in my demeanor or perhaps he saw the way my hands were gripping my purse. “OK.” He stood and addressed his friends. “Sorry, guys. We’re gonna head up.”

While he pulled some cash from his wallet, I flashed an apologetic smile at the group. “Sorry. I’m just really tired. Long day. Traveling.” The look of pity on Andrea’s face told me she probably knew what my problem actually was, but I avoided making eye contact with her. “But it was very nice meeting you.”

As soon as the money was on the table, I grabbed Lucas’s hand and pulled him out of the bar and through the lobby, refusing to look in the direction of the bathroom. When we reached the elevators, I punched the Up button and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“Mia, what’s wrong?” Lucas took me by the shoulders and searched my face for clues. “Hey. Are you OK? Did Jessica upset you?”

Tears filled my eyes and I shook my head, not wanting to have a breakdown in the hotel lobby. “I’ll tell you upstairs.”

His brow furrowed, but he didn’t press me. When the elevator doors opened, he guided me in with a hand on my back and kept it there. At the eighth floor, we got out and I walked ahead of him. The moment we were in the room, I whirled around.

“Did you kiss Jessica last night?”

“What? No!” Lucas turned on the lights, and his face was wrinkled in disgust.

“She said you did. She said you told her that you’ll always love her and you kissed her.”

Lucas closed his eyes and exhaled. “God. I can’t believe her.” He went over to the bed, unbuttoned his coat and sat down. “She was upset last night because she’d had a big fight with her sister, and she was crying about how she ruins all her relationships and no one loves her and she’s going to die alone. I was trying to make her feel better but she twists things all around. She always has.”

“Did you kiss her or not?”

“No! Maybe I gave her a little peck on the cheek, but I didn’t kiss her.”

“You kissed her cheek?” My voice rose in outrage, as if he’d just admitted to licking her ass.

“I kiss everyone on the cheek, Mia!”

I had to admit he did. When he greeted people he knew, he always kissed them on the cheeks—it was a French thing, and I usually loved it. But
not
when it came to Jessica.

“I was saying goodbye,” he went on. “She went to bed early and I met a friend for a beer down the street. I called you when I was walking home, remember?”

He had called me, and we’d talked and laughed and he hadn’t said
one thing
about the fact that she was sleeping in his bed at that very moment. Feeling smug and gleeful about my surprise visit, I’d gone to sleep so happy, never imagining that he had the bigger secret. I couldn’t let this go.

“What about saying you’ll always love her?”

Lucas exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “She asked me if I’d ever really loved her and I said yes. But I didn’t say I’ll always love her. Maybe once upon a time, I did, but you can’t hold that against me, Mia. We were together for three years. I said a lot of things.”

My back stiffened. “You say a lot of things to me, too.”

“Mia, come on.” Lucas stood and wrapped his arms around me. “Let’s not argue. We have so little time together.”

It might have been the perfect opportunity to bring up what I’d come here to discuss, but I didn’t. Instead I thought about all the sweet things Lucas had said to me over the last eight months. Had he said them all to her first? If things with us fell apart, wouldn’t he say them to someone else in the future? My throat closed up. God, how fleeting and pointless love could seem when you thought about it that way. How empty the words we say become when drained of the feeling that made them so full.