Stilettos & Scoundrels (50 page)

“Then you shouldn’t piss me off.”

“Listen, can I come in or are we going to sit on the porch all night? It’s getting chilly.”

“I’m fine,” I
said crossing her arms.

“Really?” he said looking at my
chest. Horrified
, I
realized I
might not feel cold
,
but some body parts did. But I
wasn’t going to let th
at get to me
either.

“I’m fine.”

“C’mon
,
Pres. Let’s go in. I am freezing,” said Katy.

“No.”

“Why not? Afraid to be alone with me?”

“You wish. Like I would be afraid of you. Its girls
’
night and you’re not invited.”

“For
G
od
’s
sakes
,
let him in,” Katy sai
d behind me. I
didn’t want him to come in
, and I turned over my
left shoulder to give
Katy
a dirty look.

Katy smiled at me—
she knew exactly what
she was doing. She told me
earlier
that week that
she thought
Cooper and I
should get together
, e
ven if just for a one
-
night
stand,
(
though
that was
more Katy's style than
mine),
but with
Cooper,
I thought I
might be willing to make an exception.
It made me sound morally bad, but I had a feeling he would be worth it.
Katy thought
I
should live dangerously and at least try it, see if
I
liked it. At the time,
I
furiously protested, although deep down
I
wasn’t completely opposed to the id
ea. That man knew how to get me
going
, and I
was sure it would be all kinds of fun.

“Want some ice cream,
Cooper?” Katy asked him as we
walk
ed
in the living room.

“No, thanks.
What I want is for you two to tell me what you have been up to. What happened here tonight that had you crying on the phone
,
but now
,
five minutes later
,
you want me out of the house?”

“What makes you think we have been up to anything?”
I
asked indignantly.

Cooper
looked at
us
, then looked around the room, taking in the spoons and almost empty ice cream carton.

“You’re in pajamas eating ice cream for starters. I know with a woman that’s usually evidence of something bad happening.”

“You really know women don’t you
,
Koop,” Katy said
,
giving
me
a look.

I
hit him on the shoulder and began to retort when th
e doorbell rang. It startled me, and for a moment, I
was glad
Cooper was there. I
had no idea who it could possibly be and
,
after that phone call
,
was a little leery.

“Want me to get that?” he asked, walking toward the door.

“No! I am perfectly capable of getting the door myself.”

I
s
aw Katy out of the corner of my
eye, trying not to smile. The doorbell rang again. Someone was impatient.

“Hold on,” I
muttered.
I reached the door and put my hand on the brass doorknob. I had to admit I
felt a little tingle of apprehe
nsion. That phone call had me more rattled than I
thought.
I was so rattled that I failed to use the peephole to see who it was.

The door swung open and I
couldn’t have been more surprised if it
had
been some lunatic.

“Hey, Sweet
P
ea! Give me a hug!
”

“Oh my God!” It was Rick. What the freaking hell was he doing here? He stepped in and tried to hug
me. I
stepped to the side and put
my
hand on his chest to stop him.

“Rick, w
hat are you doing here?” I
asked.

“Baby, you don’t seem happy to see me
,
and after I came all this way
…
” Again, he leaned in
, trying to kiss me
or something. That was certainly the understatement of the year.
What the hell did he think he was doing?

“Why did you come all this way? I don’t want to see you.”

Out of the corner of her eye,
I
saw
Cooper
and Katy come into the foyer.
Great.
I
was sure
Cooper
was going to have a field day with this.

“Oh, I see yo
u have company,” Rick said. I
could already hear that childish tone of his coming out
,
and he had only been
here two seconds. How had I
not noti
ced it for so long? It drove me
crazy now.

I
sighed. Might as well get this over with.

“Rick, this is Katy, my best friend from high school who I always talked about. And this is
Cooper
.”

“Good to meet you, Katy,” Rick said, barely glancing her way
; he
mainly focus
ed
on
Cooper,
who
just looked back at Rick
, smirking amusedly.
Finally, Rick held out his hand. Guess he didn’t want to look like a total ass.

“Nice to meet you
,
man.”

“Likewise.”

“So, Presley, is there somewhere we can go and talk?” Rick asked.

“I don’t see what about, Rick. Whatever you need to say can be said right here. For the second time, I don’t understand what you are doing here.”

“Sweetie, I came out here to see you and to show you how much I care. I called your mother to make sure you had made it safely
.
I was worried.
You should have called me.
I thought I could use a few days away from the city
,
so I came
t
o relax and see you.”

“Listen, Rick. I’ve told you a million times. It’s over. Go back to your bimbo
s
. I don’t want you.”

“Presley, you have to give me another chance,” Rick whined.

I
was so done with this.
This
is the last thing
I
need
ed
to deal with.

“Rick, I don’t have to do anything.”

“I can’t believe you are being such a bitch, Presley. After everything we have been through
,
you can’t see your way to giving us a second chance?”

“Rick, just leave.”

“Damn it, Presley...” Rick said a
ngrily, taking a step toward me
.

“Hey, buddy. Presley told you to take a hike.”
Cooper
stepped forward. Chiva
lrous touch, but I
didn’t really want
him around right now either. I
didn’t need him defending
me. I
was perfectly
capable of handling this on my
own.

“
Cooper
, stay out of this. Rick was just leaving.”

“You heard her. Stay out of it, this is between us,” Rick said.

“Well, if you heard her, she told you to leave,”
Cooper
fired right back.
“So leave.”

These two were giving me
a headache
, but
it was amusing to see someone
else
give Rick a hard time. He was so
“
city
”
in his pressed chinos, forest green Banana Republic button down, and brown loafers
, in p
erfect contrast to
Cooper
’s well-used jeans and t-shirt, which was much
sexier. Looking at Rick now, I
just saw an uptight yuppie who was clueless about everything, especially his own appeal.

“Why don’t both of you leave?”

“Presley, if I leave now
,
this is it. It’s over, no chance of coming back,” Rick
threatened, seeming to think I might actually change my
mind.

Was he serious?
Did he really think after I
had already told him a hundred times
that
it was over, because
of his actions, that giving me
one las
t ultimatum was going to make me
change
my
mind?

“Well, why didn’t you say so, Rick? I wouldn’t have wasted this much time trying to get you to leave.”

“Fine, Presley
.
” Rick’s face slowly turned an unhealthy looking shade of red. “You’re going to regret choosing this…this country boy over me.”

I
found it funny
that
Rick was so conceited
that he thought I
would only turn him down if
I
had someone else.
I
glanced sideways at
Cooper
to see how he took the
“
country boy
”
comment and
saw that
he looke
d more amused than anything. I
wondered why
Rick automatically assumed we
were an item. A
s long as it got rid of him, I
didn’t care what he thought. Maybe he would finally get the picture.

“Bye-bye, Rick. Have a safe trip back.” I said to his back as he stormed to his car. “Good riddance.”

“You actually dated that guy?” Cooper asked.

“Shut up,” I said, giving him a dirty look but not able to hide my smile. Rick wasn’t one of my prouder moments.

I
heard
the phone ring from inside. I
looked at
Cooper
. “Want me to get that? In case it’s them again?”

Cooper
nodded
and we walked back inside
.“Pres,”
Cooper said. I
looked at him questioningly. “Stand where I can see you. If it’s them
, nod your head.” I
nodded in agreement.

“Hello
?” I
said somewhat nervously.

“Hi
,
honey,” It was my
mother.
I released a breath I didn’t know I
had been holding and mouthed to
Cooper
, who was still on the porch with Rick, that it
was my
parents.

“Hi
,
M
other
.
A
re you having fun in Chicago
?
”
I sat down in the kitchen chair. I was so relieved that it was just my mother on the phone. I felt almost weak.

“We sure are. I just had to call and tell you.
You were right, your dad was hiding something, and you will never guess what it was
.”

My mother sounded happy, so it couldn’t be a bad thing. “Are you going to tell me?”

“He’s been taking salsa lessons at a dance studio in Overstreet, so he could surprise me by taking me dancing in the city.”

“That is so exciting!
I am so happy for you.” I
was relieved
. I
again wish
ed I
could find a good guy
like
that some day.

“I know. I can’t wait to see his moves.
Well
,
honey
,
I have to run. They’re all waiting on me.”

“Ok
ay
. Have fu
n!” As I
hung up the phone for the second time,
Cooper
and Katy walked back in
the kitchen. Cooper opened the refrigerator.