Beauty from Pain (3 page)

“
Zac doesn’t appear too unhappy,
either. If I had to guess, I’d bet you and I have officially been
dropped for the rest of the night.”

Shit! That means we’ll be alone when we get
back to the apartment. “It’s all right. I still have jet lag. I’ll
probably go straight to bed anyway.”

A young man walks up beside us. “Mr. Donavon,
I’m sorry to disturb you, but we’re having trouble finding your
merlot.”

Ben stops swaying, but doesn’t release me from
his embrace. “I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“
I’m Greg, one of the servers for
tonight’s event.”

Ben looks puzzled. “All of my vintages were
stored together.”

Greg appears apologetic as he shrugs. “We’ve
searched everywhere and can’t find it with the others.”

He releases me. “I’m sure it’s been shuffled
around in all the chaos. Will you excuse me for a
moment?”

“
It’s fine. This is your special
night. You need to do whatever it takes to make this
successful.”

He strokes his hand down my arm. “I won’t be
gone long.”

“
It’s okay. No
hurry.”
Really. Don’t
hurry.

I walk to the dinner table feeling a little
guilty that I’m relieved by the interruption. I eye Addison and Zac
on the dance floor and recognize her signature moves. When they
circle around and his back is turned to me, she points to him and
mouths, “I’m fucking him tonight.”

I’ve heard that before and I have no doubt she
will. That’s Addison. She’s been on a different continent for all
of three days and she’s already found her next hookup. I put my
hand in the air to mimic that of a tigress claw and mouth a silent
roar.

I’m giggling at her doing the same gesture
behind his back when a man’s voice startles me. “Enjoying the wine
this evening?”

I look up at the person speaking
and I’m not prepared for whom I see. A feather could knock me over.
It’s
him
, the
beautiful man from the club.

I didn’t get to study him for long the other
night, but he’s even better looking than I remember. He’s tall with
broad shoulders, the kind I’d like to run my hands across and glide
down his strong arms. His dark hair is unruly in contrast to his
businesslike attire, and I wonder if he purposely fixed it that way
or if a woman has just finished running her fingers through it. If
it is the latter, then damn, what a lucky woman.

He’s dressed in another suit, this one dark
platinum with a pinstriped shirt beneath. His coordinating blue and
platinum tie makes his azure eyes even more intense.

Did he say something? Wait—he asked if I was
enjoying the wine? At least that’s what I think he said. “I am.
Very much.”

He shifts his attention to the glass in front
of me. “What are you having?”

Oh, shit. I don’t know what kind of wine it
is. There are only two kinds in my book: good or bad. I give it a
once-over and decide there’s no reason to pretend I know.
“Honestly? I don’t have a damn clue. It’s red and it’s good. That’s
all I know.”

He smiles as he takes the glass from my hand.
He lifts it for inspection before tucking it under his nose. “It’s
Cabernet Sauvignon.” He tilts it upward and takes a small sip. “Not
bad.”

Oh, double swoon. His lips are
where mine were. Lucky glass.
“I’ll have
to take your word for it because I know nothing about
wine.”

His brow wrinkles as he looks at me. Damn. His
eyes are mesmerizing, the kind you can get lost in with very little
effort. “If you don’t know wine, then how did you come to be at a
vintage dinner?”

“
I’m the guest of one of the
students showcasing his vintages.”

He gestures to my glass of wine he’s still
holding. “Is this one your friend’s?”

Is it Ben’s? They’d started running together
several glasses ago. “I think so.”

“
It’s good. As for most of the
others I’ve tried tonight, I can’t say the same.”

“
I’ll tell Ben you said so. Or
perhaps you’d like to. He stepped away, but he should be back any
minute.” I silently pray he won’t return and ruin my conversation
with this man I haven’t stopped thinking about since our prior
meeting.

He has a crooked grin. “If I recall correctly,
I think you owe me a dance.”

“
Yes, I believe I do.” He reaches
for my hand and leads me to the dance floor where the band is
playing a fairly decent version of Van Morrison’s “Someone Like
You.” We begin to step with the tempo.

“
You’re American?”

“
Everyday and twice on
Sunday.”

He laughs. “What brings a funny Yank like you
to Wagga Wagga?”

I glance over his shoulder and see Addison
noticing us, so I give her a smile. “My best friend invited me to
spend the summer.”

“
Your accent sounds different from
the other Americans I’ve met.”

I had taken a lot of flack from
Addison
over the years
about my strong twang. “That’s because I’m from the South,” I
explain.

“
I like it,” he says. “So, how
were you were able to put your life on hold for three
months?”

“
I needed to step away from my
career for a little while so I could clear my head about some
decisions I need to make.”

He peers over my shoulder and an irritated
countenance appears on his face. “I have somewhere to be in a few
minutes, so I have to cut our dance short, but would you join me
for dinner tomorrow night?”

How could I tell this man no? “Yes, I would
like that.”

“
I have a meeting tomorrow evening
and I expect it to run late. May I send my driver to pick you up
around seven?”

He has a driver? “Umm, okay.”

He takes his phone from his pocket. “Where are
you staying?”

It takes a moment for me to recall the
unfamiliar address, but he puts it into his phone as I call it off.
“452 Stanton Street.”

“
My driver’s name is Daniel and
you can expect him to be prompt.”

“
Okay. I’ll be ready.” As he walks
away, I remember we never introduced ourselves. “Wait. I didn’t get
your name.”

He smiles as he walks backwards away from me.
“It will be more interesting if you don’t know. See you tomorrow
night.”

More interesting? What the hell is that
supposed to mean? He tells me his driver’s name, but not his?
That’s weird. I should know his name if I’ve agreed to meet him for
dinner.

I’m about to chase him when I feel a warm hand
on my arm. “Hey, what are you doing standing out here on the dance
floor by yourself?” Ben asks.

“
I wasn’t alone. I was dancing
with someone, but he had to leave.” I search for Nameless, but he
is already gone. Like a phantom.

Ben gives me a bewildered look, as if I made
up the whole thing. “Okay. Would you like to finish the
dance?”

“
Sure.”

As I dance with Ben, I can’t stop thinking
about the phantom or the way he disappeared without giving me his
name. Shit! I bet the good-looking bastard is married and that’s
why he wouldn’t tell me who he is.

That isn’t going to work for me. If there is
one thing I don’t do, it’s married men.

I need to talk to Addison, but she is in the
middle of her presex show with Zac. That means she’s sending me
home alone with Ben. I’m not in the mood to deal with that. “I’m
not feeling well. I think I’m going to catch a cab back to the
apartment.”

“
I’ll drive you.”

I put my hand on his arm. “I can’t ask you to
do that. This is your big night. Stay and show off what you’ve
accomplished.”

“
I don’t mind. Really.”

Yeah, I know. He’s such a nice guy, but I’m
not interested. “I know, but I’d feel worse if you didn’t stay to
promote what you’ve worked so hard for.”

He concedes and I catch a cab back to the
apartment. I make a point to be in bed when he comes home. I
pretend to be asleep when he taps on the bedroom door because I’m
not sure what he wants.

Well, that’s not true. I know what he wants,
but I’ve chosen the coward’s way. I should be brutal and tell him
to back off, but I don’t. I dodge him, only prolonging the
inevitable.

–––––

I jerk awake with the shift of the
bed beside me.
What the hell?
The adrenaline surging through my veins makes my
heart take off like a helicopter. It’s throbbing erratically in my
neck, my chest, my head. Even my hands.

“
Addison?” I pray I hear her voice
answer me.

“
Yeah.” She whispers like she’s
afraid she’ll wake someone. Too late.

I’m relieved to hear her voice instead of
Ben’s, but I’m madder than hell. I look at the clock on the
nightstand. It’s 3:18 in the morning. “You scared the shit out of
me. What are you doing climbing into bed at this time of the
morning? I thought you were at Zac’s place.”

“
I was.”

Yeah, and now you’re not. “Why did you come
back? Did something happen?”

“
No, but you
know me. I don’t want to be
that
girl
, the one who wears out her
welcome.”

Right. Because Dude doesn’t owe
you anything after he gets in your pants.
“Let me get straight on this. You don’t want to be the girl
to wear out your welcome, but you’ll be the girl who lets him wear
out your vagina?”

She slaps my arm in the dark. “That’s just
crude, Laurie.” She giggles. “But oh so true. He did wear it out
like a champ.”

Ugh! I was joking. She’s not.

“
It’s a game, Laurelyn. Trust me.
I know what I’m doing. He’ll want me more if he has to lie in bed
thinking about me from across the hall. He’ll wish he’d asked me to
stay, but there’s another reason I came home. I don’t want Ben to
know I locked loins with Zac.”

Good grief. That’s what we’re
calling it these days.
“Why would Ben
care?”

“
You’re an only child so you don’t
get it. Brothers don’t care how old you are. They’re weird about
their friends screwing their sisters.”

What about a sister freaking out over her
brother trying to lock loins with her best friend? Shouldn’t she be
trying to dissuade Ben or something?

“
So, I saw you dancing with a
good-looking suit last night. What’s going on with
that?”

Good-looking suit. I can roll with
that.
“That was
him
, the man I ran into at the club
on our way out the other night. The same one I haven’t been able to
stop thinking about for three days.”

“
Oh, wow. What a coincidence.” She
doesn’t have to tell me. I thought I’d never see him
again.

“
I know. He asked me to dinner
tonight.” I let out a high-pitched squeal that shouldn’t come from
a twenty-two-year-old woman. “He’s sending his driver to pick me up
because he has an afternoon meeting. Is that weird?”

“
I guess not, unless he’s calling
the man behind the wheel of a taxi his driver. He must be rich.
What does he do?”

“
I don’t know. We didn’t get that
far.”

“
What’s his name?”

I opt to not tell her he said it would be more
exciting if I didn’t know. “Umm, we didn’t get that far,
either.”

“
Well, that’s fucked up. You’re
going out with a guy and don’t know who he is? Who am I going to
report to the police if you go missing because he’s another
good-looking serial killer? You know, Ted Bundy was terribly
charming too.”

Oh, hell. I hadn’t thought of that. What if he
is some kind of weirdo? “I guess tell them it was the good-looking
suit who did it.”

4

Jack McLachlan

Daniel messages me when he is pulling up to the
front of The Ashford Hotel, so I leave our table in the hotel
restaurant to meet her. When I walk out of the hotel to greet my
American girl, Daniel is circling around to open her door, but I
stop him. “I have it, Daniel. Thank you.”

After opening her door, she steps out onto the
sidewalk. She’s wearing a satiny floral one-shouldered dress belted
at the waist and mile-high heels that stretch her legs even longer
than they already are. She’s beautiful and I ache to reach out my
hand to touch the exposed skin on her shoulder.

She looks up at the hotel and then back to me.
“Seriously? You brought me to a hotel?”

Her face tells me she’s pissed off, but it’s
easy to see why she might jump to conclusions. “The meeting with my
sales team was in the hotel’s conference room. I thought we might
have dinner at Ash. It’s the hotel restaurant. I’m told it’s the
best in town.”

Her cheeks pink. “I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t give it another
thought.”