“Angela looks hungry,” he told Dwayne. “I’d better let you two head out for lunch.”
Dwayne looked crestfallen for a moment, then brightened again as he asked, “Hey, why don’t you join us, Nick? Man, that would be the greatest! You wouldn’t mind, would you, Angie?”
Angela looked like she minded a great deal, but before she could voice her objections, Nick shook his head.
“I appreciate the offer, Dwayne, but I’m afraid I already have a lunch engagement.”
Angela sniffed disdainfully. “Another new girlfriend, I assume?”
He gave her a knowing smile, quite certain that was jealously he heard in her voice. “A client, actually. I’ve, ah, been out of the dating game for quite some time now. It’s tough meeting the right girl these days.”
Angela made a very undignified snort of disbelief, while Dwayne was all too eager to offer his assistance.
“Oh, I could probably introduce you to someone, Nick,” he chimed in. “There’s a whole group of single women who train with me up in Oregon. Or Angela’s got this friend she could introduce you to. Her name’s Lauren.”
“No!”
Angela and Nick both uttered the exclamation simultaneously, causing Dwayne to stare at them in bewilderment.
“Ah, I don’t think that’s a very good idea, Dwayne,” Angela mumbled hastily. “I mean, Lauren travels so much and she’s so independent that I don’t think she’d appreciate anyone setting her up.”
“Yes, thanks for the thought, Dwayne,” Nick told him amicably, “but I’m not much into blind dates at this point in my life.”
“Sure. Okay.” Dwayne nodded, still looking a bit bemused. “Probably all for the best, anyway. I mean, you’re a big, tough dude, Nick, but Lauren – well, she can be kind of scary. Some of the stories Angela has told me about her are hard to believe.”
Angela took Dwayne firmly by the arm. “We should let Nick go meet his client, Dwayne,” she said, not even trying to sound tactful. “Besides, he was right before. I’m starving.”
“Okay, let’s go. Hey, great to meet you, Nick,” enthused Dwayne. “I hope we meet again soon.”
Angela practically yanked Dwayne into the waiting elevator car, not giving Nick a chance to reply.
But it didn’t matter, thought Nick in a very satisfied manner as he walked back to his office. Because, having seen Angela and Dwayne together now, he had all the answers he needed. And knew what his next step in luring her back into his life was going to be.
Late June
Angela had been trying – really trying – all evening to get into the swing of things. It was, after all, Julia’s bachelorette party and a night to just let loose, have fun, and drink until she got shit faced. But so far she had only been able to achieve one of those goals – namely, the latter one. And, as she sipped at another tumbler of lemon infused vodka, she wondered if part of her problem was because she was secretly jealous of Julia, or that she wasn’t wishing it was her own bachelorette party being celebrated tonight, or her own wedding scheduled for a week from now.
She shook her head angrily, finishing her drink and motioning to the bartender for a refill. Julia had been considerate enough to hire a stretch limo to pick up and drop off all her guests tonight, so no one had to worry about driving home drunk. Though admittedly she hadn’t been drinking much at all as of late – part of the so-called healthy eating plan that Dwayne had designed for her. He was thrilled that she’d gained a full twelve pounds, was feeling stronger, and laying off the booze. What he didn’t know was that she’d gained most of the weight by stuffing her face in angry reaction each time that jackass Nick popped his arrogant head inside her office.
She refused to think about that heartless bastard tonight, and instead focused her thoughts back to Dwayne. Angela couldn’t help but smile as the goofily grinning image of her – exactly what
was
Dwayne to her anyway – came to mind. He really was the sweetest guy – kind, considerate, funny. She’d laughed more in the past few months than she had in years, and most assuredly during the past four years – a time when she’d feared she had forgotten how to laugh. Dwayne had been a great friend to her, they’d had a lot of fun together, and he was one of the few people in her life that she genuinely liked.
But, she realized with real regret, what she felt for him would never be anything more than friendship. There was zero physical attraction on her part, and aside from some friendly hugs and a few awkward kisses, there’d been no intimacy between them. Dwayne had never once pressured her about having sex, and frankly, she’d had her doubts for some time that he’d
ever
had sex with anyone. Via a couple of somewhat uncomfortable conversations, she’d learned that he was not, after all, a virgin but he was most definitely still very awkward and inexperienced with women. As for herself – well, after spending nearly a year as Nick Manning’s lover there wasn’t much she
hadn’t
done in bed.
She’d kept that knowledge to herself, however, and had never fessed up to Dwayne that Nick had been the man responsible for the deep funk she’d fallen into. She preferred, in fact, not to talk about those eleven months with anyone, be it Dwayne, Lauren, or Julia. And while Dwayne knew there had been somebody, she’d never told him any details, whereas the twins at least had some vague idea of what her ill-fated relationship with Nick had been like.
Angela grimaced as reluctant thoughts of her annoying ex-lover came to mind now. Nick continued to make a pest of himself, sticking his head inside her office door almost daily and saying something to get under her skin. By now her suspicions that he and Cara were in cahoots to get her to eat more were well founded, and if either of them thought they were continuing to fool her then they badly needed a reality check. Oddly, though, it didn’t irritate her any longer and she almost looked forward to both Nick’s deliberately antagonizing comments as well as whatever tempting treat Cara would oh so subtly plunk in front of her. It felt good to actually have something of an appetite again, and she even found herself eating dinner most nights of the week now. And by now she’d put on a few more pounds, enough to necessitate wearing her size four wardrobe and even some of the slimmer cut size six pieces.
Like, for example, the dress she wore tonight. It was one of the first things Nick had bought her and had always been one of her favorites – a strapless Dolce and Gabbana with a pleated bodice and full skirt. The black background was relieved by the pale pink and green floral print. The fine, silky fabric felt luxurious against her skin while the fuller skirt helped to hide how slender her lower body still was. Almost defiantly she’d added a pair of strappy black sandals with a towering heel, so that she stood well over six feet tall. And so far this evening – both at dinner, the first bar they’d hit up, and now this place – Angela hadn’t spotted even one guy who might be taller than she was. Not that trolling for men was even close to being on her agenda this evening, especially not on the night of Julia’s bachelorette party where almost a dozen other semi-inebriated women were along for the ride.
Lauren, of course, had organized the whole thing, though she’d consulted with Angela about what places they ought to hit up. Lauren didn’t venture up to San Francisco all that often, and had never been a big city girl, unlike her twin. But Lauren certainly seemed to be in her element tonight – daring one of the other women to order a dangerously potent sounding drink; asking the DJ to play a certain song; bullying several of the others in their group to get up and dance; openly flirting with one good looking guy after another. Angela, who’d watched her best friend in action at bars just like this one far too many times to count, knew that the vast majority of Lauren’s flirting was all for show. She was extremely picky about the men she dated, much less slept with, and Angela couldn’t recall the last time Lauren had actually gone home with a guy.
As she remained seated on her barstool, ignoring Lauren’s attempts to cajole her onto the dance floor, she had the oddest sensation of being watched. But a quick glance around the dimly lit bar revealed nothing amiss, and she told herself she was just being paranoid. Someone as tall as she was got a lot of curious stares, from men and women alike, and she should certainly be used to it by now.
It had been Angela’s idea to come to this particular bar, even though it was more on the subdued, darkly sophisticated side than some of the others on Lauren’s schedule for the evening. This place had always been one of Nick’s favorites, and the owner was an old friend of his. They had always been assured of their privacy here, had always been given a secluded little booth in a darkened corner where they could talk, touch, kiss.
She bit down on her lip to stifle a groan as she recalled one of the times he’d brought her here, and, if memory served her correctly, she’d been wearing this exact dress. The full skirt had allowed Nick easy access to her, and he’d taken quick advantage of that fact by finger fucking her to a heart-stopping orgasm. He’d made her suck on an ice cube the whole time, cautioning her not to make even the slightest sound or else he’d stop what he was doing. It had been one of the many, many ways he’d enjoyed exerting his control over her, and she’d loved it.
Angela shuddered, forcing her thoughts back to the present, and bolted down the rest of her drink quickly. As she shifted slightly on the padded leather barstool, she realized her panties were now soaking wet – the mere recollection of what Nick had once done to her in this place more than enough to arouse her. Gingerly she eased herself off the stool, catching Lauren’s eye and mouthing that she was headed off to the ladies room.
Lauren frowned as she mouthed back, “Hurry it up. Time to move on to the next place soon.”
Angela sighed as she made her way to the restroom, for she should have guessed that a sleek, classy place like Orphus wouldn’t have been happening enough for Lauren. It had been a stupid decision on her part to suggest this place, particularly when it was chock full of memories she had no business recalling.
She made quick work of her visit to the ladies room, but the hairs at the nape of her neck prickled with awareness again as she walked down the long, darkened corridor on her way back to the bar area. She was just about to the end of the corridor when a slow, lazy drawl – an achingly
and
annoyingly familiar drawl – stopped her dead in her tracks.
“Funny you should have worn that particular dress tonight. Were you by any chance remembering what happened the last time you wore it? And in the very same bar, too. Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
Telling herself that it couldn’t possibly be him – that she’d had more to drink tonight than she’d thought and was starting to hear things – Angela turned around slowly, disbelievingly, and found herself staring into Nick’s dark, wicked eyes.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she muttered in revulsion. “Please tell me that I just can’t hold my liquor anymore and that you’re a really bad figment of my imagination.”
Nick chuckled and shook his head. “’Fraid not, Angel.” He reached out and grabbed her hand, jerking her flush against his big, hard body before she could protest or resist. And with the ridiculously high heels she’d stupidly chosen to wear tonight, escaping him wasn’t going to be easy.
“But,” he added sternly,” the mere fact that you think you’ve had that much to drink doesn’t please me one bit. I know you’re here for your friend’s bachelorette party, Angel, but that doesn’t give you automatic leeway to get plastered. How much have you had to drink anyway?”
She was so furious that she was almost shaking in her stilettos. “You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question, do you?” she retorted scathingly. “Or that you’ve got any right at all to ask it?”
Nick smiled, but it was one of those icy cold smiles he gave when something displeased him mightily. “Oh, I’ve got every right in the world, Angel,” he replied harshly. “And once you stop playing these pointless little games with me, you’ll realize just how many rights I still have over you.”
She gave him a futile shove with her free hand. “You’ve got no rights over me at all. Not-a-single-one.” She enunciated each word with careful precision. “And this really annoying tendency you have of showing up in places where I happen to be – if it keeps happening, Nick, I’m going to file a restraining order against you.”
He gave a shout of laughter. “Oh, that would be a good one, Angel! Speaking of which, I can just see the reaction on some judge’s face when I talk about all the different ways you used to love being restrained – scarves, cords, cuffs. The cuffs were your favorites as I recall. Tell me – did you keep all that stuff? Though I honestly can’t see Dwayne being the sort who’d get much of a kick out of -”
As a group of giggling, half-drunk, forty-something’s – all wearing far too much makeup and far too little fabric – stumbled past on the way to the ladies room, Angela placed her free hand over Nick’s mouth, her gaze furious while he was wildly amused. And, in spite of how angry she was at this particular moment, she didn’t miss the way the drunken pack of cougars were checking Nick out very thoroughly, and for some reason that really,
really
pissed her off.
When the women – who were all wearing dresses far more suited to someone half their age – had tottered noisily into the restroom, Nick took her firmly by the arm and began steering her back towards the bar. But instead of escorting her over to where Lauren and the others were waiting, he continued to walk her towards a back corner of the room – towards a secluded corner she was all too well acquainted with.