16
SURI
After I leave Marchant’s cottage, I have coffee with Rachelle and her partner, meet the team of gem-finders I hired to find Gran Gran’s ring, and take a quick flight back to Napa.
I spend three days getting the house in order, collecting my “toolbox” full of fabric and textile samples I think would interest Marchant, and lying low.
Most of the lying low is because of Adam and Brina. My sisters have given me the heads up that Brina is parading Adam all over town, and the last thing I need is a run-in with the two of them. I’m ashamed to admit, I’m hiding from Lizzy, too. Because once she knows I took the Love Inc. job, she’ll know about Marchant and me. I just know she will.
When she texts me the first day I’m home, I tell her I’m chin-deep in a new project and need to talk later. When she calls the second day, we talk for half an hour, focused completely on how she and Hunter are dealing with the pregnancy. (Hunter is playing the part of nurse but not saying much about the baby, which is fine at the moment because Lizzy has just started getting morning sickness).
I spend the third day at Crestwood Place cleaning. I’m kind of a neat-freak, and I can’t leave the house without cleaning it. I’m feeling even tidier than usual because moving around helps me avoid dwelling on Marchant. Not that I don’t want to think about him. Because I do. I just don’t want to
dwell
.
Finally, it’s go time.
The plane is in the air just a few minutes after ten on Monday morning. I spend the flight jotting down design ideas and indulging a rare classical music mood with a little Chopin.
The CRV I rented this time is white and waiting for me at the little private airport about twenty minutes from the ranch. I stop by a little grocery store before heading toward Love Inc., still feeling good about things.
But by the time my grocery-laden Jeep is bouncing down a ribbon of freshly paved county road, it’s mid-afternoon, and I don’t feel relaxed. My heart kicks into an erratic rhythm as I turn onto an even smaller drive. As I follow it through a grove of trees, toward a small, square parking lot, I try to convince myself that I took this job for personal reasons. Because I need a few weeks to lie low. Because it’ll be nice to get out of my big, lonely Crestwood Place for a little while. Because the job will look good on my resume.
I see a swatch of stone through brush—one of the cottages—and my stomach knots, because I know I’m lying to myself. I’m here because Marchant Radcliffe offered me the job. I’m here because, despite all logic, I enjoy sex with him.
He’s obviously got problems, but when I’m kissing him, I don’t think about anything but him. I don’t worry. I don’t feel lonely or sad. In a way,
he
is like
my
drug. His skin and his scent. I like the way he moves, the way he speaks. He intoxicates me, and like an addict, I’m parking my CRV and opening the door because I’m back for more.
It’s not just his body that intrigues me. I want to know his secrets, too. What does that tattoo mean? Why the drug problem? I want to fix him. And that’s not just stupid, it’s reckless. Yet I’m hoisting my duffel bag onto my shoulder, scooping up bags of groceries. Walking down the little pebble path that leads from this discreet parking lot to the row of cottages. To his cottage.
It’s my choice. I can choose to be stupid if I want to be.
Before I see his cottage, I see the main house, and whoaaaaa. During my breakfast with Rachelle the morning I was here last, when she told me the main house would be built in under a month, I didn’t believe her.
But...whoa. I’m not construction site-savvy, but I’ve worked on a few new builds with clients, and there have to be at least five crews working on this building. And what they’ve done in four days! There are walls now. Scaffolding walls, but walls nonetheless. Stone is piled high around the newly resurrected building skeleton; stone and shingles and shutters.
Marchant’s place is on the end of the row of cottages—the one that’s closest to the pond and the new “main house” at Love Inc. As soon as my eyes hit the front door, my pulse goes crazy and I start to sweat.
I tell myself this can’t end badly. He’s a pimp. I could never fall in love with a man like him. But I can have fun. And I’m overdue for some fun.
Marchant meets me on his porch. He’s wearing dark slacks and a white shirt. His face sports stubble that’s making its way into a beard. His eyes are sharp. I can feel him look me over. Can literally feel the heat.
I smile a little, but his lips don’t curl at all. He looks…like a hungry tiger. It’s a long moment before he takes the groceries from me. Our bodies brush, and I have a hard time making my legs carry me through the door he pushes open for me.
“Let’s put your groceries in here,” he says. “I’ve got the contractor waiting for us so we can talk about the timetable.”
I watch the way his back ripples under his shirt as he puts my orange juice, butter, milk, and eggs into his wide stainless steel refrigerator. I watch the way his strong hands flex as he lets go of the other bags, leaving them lined up on his counter.
“I’m excited to meet him—or her.”
“Him,” he tells me, leading the way back to the front door. He’s walking slightly fast, a step ahead of me; when he looks at me, he’s glancing over his shoulder. I get the strange sense that he’s wound up. Slightly tense. Is it possible I’m making him as antsy as he makes me? With his history, it seems doubtful. But still, I entertain the idea as I follow him out onto his porch and stand behind him while he locks the door.
I watch him slide the key into his pocket, noting the small, manatee keychain, and when he turns to me, our gazes collide. I take a small step back. A second passes as he seems to collect himself.
“Shall we?” He nods at the construction site two or three hundred yards through the trees, and I say, “Sure.”
We walk close together, shoulders and elbows bumping once or twice. Past the pond. Past the grove of trees. He tells me about the construction crew—one big crew that typically does big, casino-style jobs—and the timeline as we move within sight of the pool.
He’s saying something about, “Tom, the main guy,” and how his last project was a dog track, but I’m not really listening. I’m imagining him on the concrete, shirtless and pale. I have a strange memory of myself, lying on my back, choking on blood beside my own pool. March 15. I wonder for the jillionth time what that date means to him.
“Suri?”
“Yes?”
He’s standing in front of me. He puts his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t think about that.”
I feel a blush cross my cheeks. “How did you know?”
“You look like someone just killed your kitten.”
I scrunch my nose. “I’m more a dog person.”
“Then puppy,” he says.
Behind him, men and women move about the cement and plywood site, but all I see is those brown eyes. Hypnotic eyes. Heat flows from his palms, through my blouse, into my shoulders, spreading downward. I can barely find the words to reply, “That’s not how I look.”
“It is,” he tells me softly. “Don’t.”
There’s a hint of something stern in his voice—almost harsh. A warning? Don’t make this into more than what it is, he’s saying.
“I won’t.” I toss my hair—to…what? To show him that I’m not getting too serious about all this.
“I mean it,” he whispers. “I want you to forget about that. Forget everything that happened before right now. If you need help,” he says with a smug look, “I’ll help you when we’re done here.”
I’m so rattled I can barely manage a nod. A few seconds later, a tall African-American man strides over with his gloved hand outstretched. Tom.
We spend the next half hour walking the site, with Marchant introducing me to his construction crew and me asking questions. I discuss some of my ideas, little things to make the original design a little cozier, a little sexier, and Tom tells us how long it would take to make them happen. Since the escorts’ dormitory building also got damaged, it’s being gutted and expanded slightly, with new suites carved out for the girls (and guys). For coordination purposes, the building on the right, the one with the library, salon, doctors’ office, and whatever else is there, will be getting new décor as well.
By the time our conversation with Tom is over, I’ve decided I’ll probably be here at least three weeks. Maybe four. And I feel giddy. Middle school crush giddy.
The feeling quickly dissipates, leaving cold anticipation as we walk back through the grove. He feels it, too. I can tell. And I think it’s just sexual tension—same as what I feel—until we reach his door and he turns to me. “Suri…there’s been a change. You’ll be staying here with me.”
*
MARCHANT
I watch her eyes widen. Pretty eyes. She looks startled.
“If that doesn’t work, there’s a decent hotel about seven miles away. I can book you there.”
The sun is going down, casting a red sheen over her face. I can’t tell what she’s thinking. But I’m on edge, waiting for her answer.
She smiles. “You don’t have to do that. I’m okay here. But where will you stay?”
“I’ve got a suite downstairs in the basement.”
“Oh.” She nods. “That sounds fine. Did you run out of rooms?”
“Something like that.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind? I could do the hotel if that’s easiest.”
“No—you’re fine.”
I lead her inside and wave toward my room. “I’ve got another bedroom by my room, but it’s kind of bare bones. My room is yours if you want it.”
I watch the uncertainty flit across her face, followed by a long look into my eyes. She’s trying to see what I want, but I keep my face neutral. I want to see if she’ll take the lead.
“Um, okay. If you’re sure?”
I like the way she hesitates. Polite. I don’t see that often in Vegas.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” I tell her, as I step to the couch where I sat her bag. I throw it over my shoulder and lead her down the hall. Turn on the light to my room. It’s large, with a bed, a bookshelf, a dresser, and a couch.
Truth is, I don’t like being in it. Not after the last few weeks. I need a break. And there’s something good about seeing her in it. I have the preposterous thought that the room deserves an occupant like her—to sort of clear out the bad vibes. But that’s just fucking stupid.
“Bathroom’s in here,” I say, opening that door. “I already got my stuff out. Just use what you want.”
She gives the bathroom an appreciative glance—it’s large, and done to the nines—and I realize I left my medicine in the medicine cabinet. Stupid!
No—wait. Rachelle has it. Because no one trusts me.
Which leads me to remember I need to go see Libby. Soon.
I surprise even myself by grabbing Suri Dalton around the waist and tossing her onto my bed. Pulling down her pants and eating her pussy. She’s screaming by the time I’m done, and I’m laughing, because really, I do enjoy eating her pussy.
I lick my lips and scoop the TV remote off a bedside table, toss it her way. Walk over to the wall and press the button that brings the TV down from the ceiling.
“Wow,” she giggles, pointing the remote at the screen.
I arch my eyebrows. “I’ll be back in a little while. You eat meat?”
That earns me a laugh. “Yes. I eat meat—when I’m in the mood.” Another giggle, followed by a palm-muffled, “I’m sorry. I’m not usually quite so weird.”
If this is weird I don’t even wanna know what she would call me.
“There’s a TV guide if you press the round, blue button. I’ll be back in an hour.”
I saunter down the hall feeling oddly light, despite where I’m going.
17
SURI
“Okay, you said not to say it, but I’ve gotta say it. Suri, I think the odds are really good that you have lost your mind. Like…really lost it. Or maybe been abducted by aliens. Is that what happened? You’re the freakish, robotic, sex-obsessed—”
I squeak. “C’mon, Lizzy! No! This is not about sex.”
She laughs. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying!”
“And that’s how I know you are. Your voice goes up and gets all squeaky, and—”
“It’s not! It’s not about sex! It’s about…freedom.”
She laughs even louder. “Being free to be Marchant’s little bunny?”
“Is that why they call it the fluffy bunny ranch? I thought bunnies were Playboy.”
Lizzy snorts. “There are actual bunnies, Suri. Look outside.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No, I’m really not.”
I frown at the phone. “How did I miss that?”