Lust - 1 (13 page)

Things were so much simpler on the East Coast.

Okay, so seducing Mr. Al America was somewhat more interesting—but it was also turning out to be a lot more work.

She darted her eyes to the left, admiring his profile; he sat rigidly in the driver’s seat, hands at ten o’clock and two o’clock on the wheel, eyes resolutely focused on the road.

This guy had by-the-book written al over him. Wel , that’s why she’d picked him, right? She liked a chal enge. And even if his heart was stil total y committed to Beth, she now had some concrete evidence that his body was less than hopelessly devoted. No, his body seemed to have some ideas of its own.

They hadn’t spoken since pul ing out of the motel parking lot, and Kaia had plenty of quiet time to plan her next move. She just wasn’t sure what it should be. She’d come so close back there, with the ridiculous mouse scare—and damsel in distress had certainly seemed the right way to go. But she was getting a little tired of waiting around for him to sweep her onto his white horse and off into the sunset; maybe it was time to be a little less subtle.

Adam parked the car in the diner lot and hopped out. Kaia waited a moment, and when it became clear that he wasn’t planning on opening her door for her (as he usual y did), she got out as wel . They walked together toward the entrance, Adam careful to keep at least a foot of space between them. Kaia could feel the guilt coming off him in waves, and she made sure to compose her face into the perfect combination of embarrassment, rejection, and vulnerability.

Just to rub it in.

Before they stepped inside the restaurant (undeserving as it was of the name), he pul ed her aside, grasping her wrist to get her to stop—then dropping it quickly as if the touch of her skin had burned.

“Listen, Kaia, I’m real y sorry—again—if I sent you the wrong signals or something,” he stammered, rubbing his temples and looking down at his feet. “I don’t want you to feel like, wel —” He paused and final y looked up, meeting her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he finished lamely.

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “It’s total y okay. I’m okay.”

But she averted her eyes and let her voice waver, and she knew he didn’t quite believe her.

Good.

“Here they are,” Adam said, in a light and brittle voice. He waved frantical y toward the silver Camaro pul ing into the lot. Harper and Miranda hopped out and jogged toward them, Kane loping behind at a more leisurely pace.

“Wel ?” Harper asked, before anyone had a chance to say hel o. “Did you find a place?”

“Impatient much? Wait until we sit down “Adam told her, visibly relaxing now that it was no longer just the two of them. Kaia suspected that with al the excitement, Adam had almost forgotten their original reason for visiting the motel, or the triumph he’d felt when declaring it the perfect spot. He caught her eye, and the tips of his ears turned a bright red—was he thinking not of the motel’s ample party space or conveniently out-of-the-way location, but of the feel of her skin beneath his wandering hands, the touch of her warm breath on his face? She gave him a cryptic half smile—and he quickly looked away.

The group crowded inside and grabbed a booth next to the jukebox. Kaia would have sacrificed a few quarters to save herself from the tedious Ricky Martin song currently booming through the speakers positioned over every table, but she’d taken a quick look at the playlist last time she was there. If you weren’t an NSYNC fan and didn’t want to groove

to the sweet sounds of Britney Spears or the Beach Boys, there wasn’t much there. Kaia grimaced, wondering how much she’d have to pay to get them to turn the music
off
.

As the rest of the “gang” bantered back and forth, Kaia quickly scanned the menu, reconfirming for herself that there wasn’t a thing on it she wanted to eat. She certainly wasn’t going for the “Sushi Special,” the mere thought of which fil ed her with nausea. (They were five hours from the nearest ocean and no freshwater in sight; the fish on the menu might very wel have been, as advertised, the “catch of the day”—but
which
day? And in which year?) She did her best to suppress a sudden pang of homesickness—there was a little place in the West Vil age that served thirty different kinds of sushi, al better than anything you could get in Japan (which she knew from personal experience). She and her friends had made it a policy to stop there at least once a week—and the secluded park just down the street made the perfect spot for a picnic, as she and an incredibly hot NYU student had discovered one night. He’d satisfied her craving for sushi, and she’d satisfied his for something equal y fresh and spicy. One of those perfect New York nights. It al seemed a very long time ago—and very far away.

Thankful y, before she could spiral downward into a cesspool of nostalgia and self-pity, the waitress showed up to take their order—and the shock of it was enough to slam Kaia back into the present. She was surprised enough by the quick service, but she was even more surprised that the waitress, beneath the tacky spangled tank top and gaudy makeup, was Beth.

Beth, her hair pul ed up into a high side ponytail and garish blue eye shadow smeared across her lids, looked even more surprised to see them. And not in a good way. She fumbled with the smal notebook she used for taking orders and dropped her pen; as she was bending down to pick it up, she came within a few centimeters of smashing her head into the edge of the table. Final y, she stood again and waved a feeble hel o, trying to smooth down the wisps of blond hair that had escaped from her ponytail and shifting her weight back and forth from one foot to the other.

“Hey, honey!” Adam said giddily, oblivious to his beloved’s disarray. “Look—I brought everyone down to cheer you on. How’s the first day going?”

“Yes, tel us, Beth,” Harper added. “We’re al eager to hear about your adventures in food service.”

Beth flushed and shot a nervous glance over her shoulder, where a rotund middle-aged man was giving her the fish eye from behind the counter. Kaia guessed he must be the manager, or perhaps the owner—either way, she shuddered at the thought of his greasy hands coming anywhere near her food. Good thing she hadn’t real y been planning to eat.

“I—uh, hey guys,” Beth said final y, with a weak smile. “Adam, why didn’t you
tell
me that everyone was coming?” she added, glaring at her boyfriend.

Kaia could easily pick up on the thinly disguised hostility in her voice. The people across the restaurant probably picked up on the hostility in her voice. But Adam, unfortunately for his peace of mind and fortunately for everyone else’s entertainment, did not. (Was he stil too shaken from the afternoon’s events to participate in normal human interaction? Kaia hated to give herself too much credit … but on the other hand, she knew she was pretty damn good.)

“I wanted to surprise you, Beth,” Adam said, grinning.

“Wel , you definitely did,” she acknowledged through a gritted smile.

Before she could say anything else, the greasy manager guy with the bad comb-over strol ed by.

“Back to work, Manning,” he ordered Beth. “You’re on a shift, not a date.”

“Yes, Mr. White “Beth said meekly“! was just about to take their order.”

“That’s a good little girl,” he smarmed, nodding his head sharply.

Beth blinked her eyes furiously for a moment, then whipped out her notebook and drew back her lips in a poor imitation of a smile.

“So, uh, what can I get for you al ?” she asked in a cool y professional voice.

“How about the 411 on where I can find an outfit like that for myself?” Kaia asked sarcastical y, gesturing to Beth’s bright green poodle skirt.” Its just stunning.” Everyone laughed, including—Kaia was pleased to note—Adam. A bit of the frustration of the afternoon slipped away, and Kaia suddenly realized this dinner might be a lot more pleasant than she’d thought. Goodbye damsel in distress, hel o other woman.

After they’d downed their drinks and scraped the bottom of their ice-cream sundaes, everyone left—except Adam, who waited dutiful y for Beth to finish up her shift. He liked watching her work—she was so efficient, every move measured and practiced, as if she’d been behind the counter for years, rather than hours. As the restaurant emptied out, he fol owed along behind her as she wiped down the tables and col ected the bil s from a few final lingering customers, trying to keep her company, but she refused to give him more than one- or two-word responses to his steady stream of chatter.

“Can you just let me finish this up?” she final y said sharply, as he traced his hand down her back. She shrugged him off. “You don’t have to wait around for me—just go home if you want.”

“No way,” Adam protested. “Of course I’m waiting.” They’d planned a night out on the town to celebrate her new job—and although the options open at this hour ranged from a stale cup of coffee at the imitation Starbucks to a greasy slice of pizza at Guido’s, he was determined to give her a stel ar night and make the most of the little time he was final y getting to spend with her. Not to mention, make up for whatever it was she thought he’d done. (And to make up for what he
had
done—though Beth could never find out about that.) Her shift ended at eleven, and she disappeared into the back to clean up and change. Adam fidgeted as he waited, fiddling with the jukebox, studiously ignoring her manager’s glare, and reading the newspaper headlines and vintage movie posters hanging on the wal .
Revenge of the Forty Foot Woman,
read one.
Her love will move mountains
… and her wrath wil crush cities. Adam shivered—he could relate.

Beth eventual y reemerged and, hesitating for a moment, made her way toward the door, gesturing to Adam that he should fol ow her.

“Hey, you did great!” Adam said, hurrying over and throwing his arms around her. Maybe if he ignored the tension, it would just go away. “How was it?” Beth extricated herself from his grasp.

“It was fine,” she snapped. “No thanks to you.”

Here it came. Adam ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “What are you talking about?”

“Let’s just get out of here” she muttered, brushing past and stalking out of the restaurant. She walked briskly to the beat-up Chevy, one of the only cars left in the lot, and stood silently, arms crossed, waiting for him to unlock the doors.

“So, where to?” he asked, opening her door for her. She climbed past him without a word and tossed her backpack into the backseat. “Coffee? Ice cream? Beer? Al three?”

“You know what?” she said irritably. “Just take me home.”

Adam climbed into the car and slammed the door behind him, feeling an immediate spasm of guilt—after al , it wasn’t poor Bertha’s fault that Beth was throwing some sort of PMS shit fit. The old car couldn’t take too many more fights like this.

“What’s your problem?” he asked, hostility seeping into his voice. He put the key into the ignition, but paused before turning the key. Better to finish this. Now. “I’m trying to be nice here,” he pointed out. “I thought we were celebrating. And you’re being a total—” He stopped himself just in time.

“What? I’m being a total what?”

“Forget it,” he said in a softer voice. “Seriously, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” she screeched, her voice rising in decibels with every word. “What’s wrong is that I was just total y humiliated in front of al of our supposed friends, and you just sat there and watched. No—no, better, you helped!” A few tears leaked out of her eyes, and she angrily wiped them away.

“What are you talking about?” he asked helplessly. “I was trying to be supportive. We al were.”

“Yeah, thanks so much for the support,” she drawled. “You bring them al here, without asking me, without even tel ing me—like it’s not bad enough it’s my first day at a new job, I have to
serve
my
friends
. Did it ever occur to you that might be a little embarrassing for me?”

“Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t—you should have said something,” he stammered.

“Said something?” she asked, her voice choked with emotion. “When? When you didn’t tel me you were bringing them? Or when Kaia was making a fool out of me and they were al laughing at me? When you were laughing at me?”

Adam looked down—there was too much pain in her voice, in her eyes.

“Should I have said something when Kaia dumped her milkshake on the floor and I had to get down on my hands and knees and clean up her mess? Adam, how could you not know that would be horrible for me?” she pleaded. “How could you, of al people, not understand that?”

“That’s not fair,” he protested, holding his hands in front of him as if to stem the torrent of accusations. “First of al , that milkshake thing was an accident—”

“That’s al you’ve got to say?” she asked incredulously. “You’re defending
her
? I’m sitting here tel ing you al this, and I’ve had the worst night ever, and—and al you can do is tel me I’m being too hard on
Kaia
?” She shrugged and turned away from him. “I guess it’s good to know where your loyalties lie,” she told him in a muffled voice.

“What are you even talking about? I’m so loyal to you that I—” He cut himself off. Somehow, he didn’t think it would help his case to point out the temptation he’d valiantly resisted this afternoon. But his anger rose, throbbing beneath the surface, as he thought about the beautiful girl he’d pushed out of his arms, about everything he had given up, was stil giving up, al for Beth. And did he get any credit for that? Any gratitude or understanding?
Anything?

“You know what?” she asked, when it became clear he was never going to finish his thought. “That’s not even the point. I just can’t believe you thought this was a good idea. I mean, it’s like you don’t even know me at al . How is that even possible?”

“If this is the way you’re going to be, maybe I don’t
want
to know you!” he shouted back, his temper final y snapping.

She burst into tears—but he was far too angry to care.

Harper was tired. Tired of the whole hidden unrequited love thing, tired of being consumed by bitterness and jealousy and paranoia, tired of feeling bested by other girls—