KNOT: A Wake Family Novel (33 page)

Janel cheerfully said, “Yes. Justin and Penelope are picking up two other couples they know from the airport. They should be here in an hour or so.”

“Justin and Penelope
Beckham
?” Reagan asked, revelation thick in his question. Another roll of nerves came to life inside me.

God, he knew these people?

“Yes,” Ives confirmed. “That’s right. You two work together. We met Justin and Penelope at the
InformaTrade
party. They are the ones who invited us.”

Janel turned my way and added, “This is Penelope’s family’s farm. They breed horses here, but mostly they use the property as a family vacation home. I’ll have to show you the back. The lake is right there. Nora, it’s gorgeous.”

“I’m sure,” I said. My heart was racing, afraid of how my newest lover would react. I chanced a look at him to gauge, but he still looked as relaxed as in the vehicle.

Reagan’s colleague?

I’d never felt shame from my lifestyle. Undeniably, I felt something just shy of it.
For him.
I didn’t know if everyone who was attending would be like us, I’d only assumed.

“Let’s go in and have a drink while we wait. You two can go get settled in a room.” She walked, and I stayed in step with her, leaving Reagan and Ives to follow.

When they were a safe distance back talking about some work thing, I asked her quietly, “Are Justin and Penelope…” I started but knew I didn’t need to finish the sentence.

What was wrong with me? Get it together.

“Are they poly, Janel?” I glimpsed behind me at the men who were still talking in the grand foyer.

Holding her bottom lips between her teeth, she looked their way, too. Then whispered, “They’re interested. We’re not sure. We’ve hung out with them a few times, had dinner with them. It’s really none of our business, but they
are
very nice.”

My dear friend blushed. I knew her. She was obviously attracted to them.
Intimately
.

“Penelope is beautiful. Ives and I adore her. He and Justin have a lot in common, too,” she rattled quickly like she was defending her feelings.

She didn’t have any explaining to do, especially to me. That was how we were—how I’d been. How our type of relationships worked.

I was comforted. Their attention would most likely be on Justin and Penelope, rather than me. Rather than
us
. It would ease up the pressure I felt. It would let us wade into things instead of getting dunked.

Maybe that was my problem. I was being too careful. Paranoid. Almost as if there was some arbitrary countdown to when it would be too much for him, and he’d give up. It only intensified because we weren’t with strangers. Reagan knew them.

Would he be humiliated because of me?

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to soothe my nerves. “Okay. What room is ours?” I asked, satisfied with her information. I was simply overreacting because it was all so new. I was over thinking things.

“The one at the top of the stairs. We’re down the hall to the left.”

I studied the massive room, feeling winded like I’d been doing hurdles. I had, but they’d been in my mind. “This place is incredible.”

She reached for my hand and gave it a little squeeze. “Just be yourself, Nora.” She’d picked up on how out of place I felt. Of course she did, she knew me well, too.

Scanning, my eyes found his, and he nodded upstairs. That was a good idea. I needed to get myself together and see how he felt about someone from his work being there, even if I didn’t think it was too worrisome now, knowing what I did about Janel and Ives.

“Meet us by the pool. We were about to get our suits on,” Janel called as I saw them come up the stairs right before I shut the door to our suite, Reagan already inside.

And a sweet suite it was
.

“I must say, you have nice friends,” he said, then whistled like he was impressed. He wandered around the expansive room, complete with a private terrace which looked out over the water. He still didn’t appear too rattled, and again it relaxed me that much more.

I fell backward on the big bed, and he came to me and brushed the hair out of my face.

“Thank you,” I said, appreciating everything he was doing. It’s scary outside your comfort zone. I was beginning to feel like I was outside of mine instead of it being the other way around.

He placed a tender kiss on my lips, “Thank you, too.”

“Are you okay?” I asked him, a question that was usually pointed in my direction.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m a little surprised,” he admitted, but I saw a flicker of humor in his eyes.

“Yeah. I didn’t know it was their place. I would have mentioned it.”

He wiped a gentle hand down my face, forehead to lips and I kissed his fingers. “Take your panties off.”

I laughed. He wasn’t stressed in the least. I could chill out.

“We wouldn’t leave this room all weekend. We could have stayed in the city. Rain check?” My mouth reached out to him and pressed itself to his neck.

He bargained, “Two rain checks.”

“I’ll have to check my account.”

A wicked grin split his face. “I believe you had a few deposits last night. I’m sure you’re good for it.”

I let myself sink into the bed and finally breathe somewhat easier.

“Do you want to go swimming?” he asked.

Although I was dying to see him in his trunks, I wasn’t sure how he’d handle me walking around in a bathing suit. I’d noticed the way
he noticed
when men looked at me. “I’ll be in a bikini.”

He shrugged, then rolled to the edge and got up.

“So?” he asked assertively as he lifted his small suitcase to the mattress and unzipped it.

“So? You growl at Dirk, the lobby guy.” This was an indisputable fact. He couldn’t deny it.

He straightened to his full height and looked me dead in the eyes. “You told Janel and Ives I was your lover, Nora. Not the other way around. You didn’t say to me
and these are my other lovers, Janel and Ives
.” He nodded and went about his business, adding, “Furthermore, you hate it when Dirk Dangler looks at you, too.”

It tickled me every time he made fun of the poor guy, and I covered my laugh with my hand.

He unbuttoned his shirt and neatly laid it on the bed, then pulled off his undershirt putting his chiseled top half on full view.

A day at the pool with him wouldn’t be a burden.

“You’re right,” I relinquished and dropped my head back on the pillow.

He made good points. I’d introduced them that way and Dirk was harmless, but kind of creepy. I lay there and chastised myself trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me.

He pulled my legs down the duvet, and I squealed. “Hey!”

“Stop, you like it,” he said and bit at my earlobe. “Get your fucking suit on. Let’s go see if I’ll growl.” Then, he pretended to eat my neck like a savage beast.

I needed to relax and cross bridges as they came.

Reggie—Friday, August 29, 2008

I
didn’t want to act like a barbarian, but I’d have to set that bridge on fire when I got to it.

Everything I’d said to her was true. I didn’t care if she wore a bathing suit. She wasn’t my possession.

Looking
was one place, I’d decided I could compromise that weekend. I didn’t fucking like it one bit, but it was the lesser of all of the evils I thought I’d encounter on the trip.

She went into the bathroom, and I prayed for mercy.

It was what would happen if they wanted to touch her—hell, depending on the conversation, what they’d say to her—I needed to be prepared for. Their eyeballs I could deal with, and the rest I’d just have to wing.

One thing was for sure, when we got back to the Lunar, now that I knew for a fact he had made her uncomfortable, I’d be talking to Dirk.

She was precisely right. That last time I growled, but Dirk was on my shit list. It was her home, where she should be comfortable, and goddammit it was my home, too.

I pulled my black trunks up over my hips, grabbed my sunglasses, and then waited for her on the terrace. When she walked out in a red bikini with a sheer red piece of fabric wrapped around her waist, I almost changed my mind about everything.

I’d made it a priority to take my medicine that morning and thankfully it was powerful enough to keep anxiety from taking me down at that moment. Because without it, it would have.

You can handle this.

“You look beautiful,” I said as she wrapped an arm around me and shared the view of the lake. I kissed her head when she moved her big sunglasses down over her eyes.

Before we even left the room, I insisted on sunblock. My motives weren’t that hard to guess. I didn’t need to leave anything up to chance, not where I could prevent it. It just so happens it was a winning move two-fold. They wouldn’t need to touch her, and sun protection was always important. Especially for her unblemished porcelain shell.

We found the pool easily enough, and we were the first people down there, save for the woman who we saw walk out from the other end of the massive back patio the same time we did.

“Hello, I’m Denise. I work here at Penelope Stables. Is there anything I can get for you? Something to eat? Something to drink?” Denise was middle aged and wore the same type of attire as the guy who took the Range Rover earlier.

“Rum and soda?” Nora asked politely.

“Certainly, and you?” She smiled in my direction.

I asked, “Do you have cold Heineken?”

“Yes, sir. Would you like it in a glass?”

“No. Thank you. Bottle is fine,” I assured her. Nervously she laughed and placed a hand over her chest, then took a long sweep over my body.

Flustered, she said, “Enjoy the pool. I’ll put your drinks over there.” Then pointed to patio furniture tucked under a large shade umbrella.

Then I caught a glimpse of Nora. She’d turned to me, head cocked and a hand on her hip.

“I think her and Dirk would make a handsome couple,” Nora teased with a clever smile.

That couldn’t be jealousy. She didn’t think like that.

“I think you’re right,” I agreed.

It wasn’t long until Janel and Ives joined us, but Nora never left my side. She sat on a benched edge in the pool next to me and held herself up with her arms, slowly kicking her feet back and forth.

Janel told us about how she’d applied for a guide position at the museum. It was easy to see why Nora and Janel got along so well. They were both smart and business-minded. They reminisced, and as I relaxed, enjoying the tales of Nora as a coed, the other group arrived.

Having spent most of the afternoon there drinking and lounging, we hopped out of the water to greet them.

“We’ll be right back,” one of the ladies said as she pulled her husband off to go inside. “Excuse us.”

As far as I knew, Janel and Ives only knew Justin and Penelope. The other two couples were friends of the Beckhams.

“Reggie,” Justin laughed as he neared with his hand stretched out. “I should have put two and two together.”

I was both relieved to know someone and apprehensive about the aftermath. “This place is spectacular,” I said, firmly shaking hands.

“And this must be Nora, Janel and Ives friend?”

Friend, yes. I’m her lover now.

“Nora Koehl, this is Justin Beckham and his wife Penelope,” I introduced. His wife was a petite strawberry blonde, I’d met her a few times at events and dinners. Penelope was a sweet woman, and she smiled brightly at Nora as she leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks for coming,” she said to us.

“What a treat. The view from our room is spectacular. Thank you,” Nora replied in a tone I recognized as her professional work voice. I’d heard her speak on the phone to her counterpart many times, and it was always the same, but her voice was contrasted to how she normally spoke to me.

“Well, please, make yourselves at home. Most of the staff will be leaving us in a while. They’ll be in and out in the afternoons from about lunch until after dinner. Other than that, help yourself to anything.”

Justin scratched his chin and asked, “So Nora, how’s that foot? If I remember correctly, you’d hurt it or something around the Fourth of July. You didn’t get to come out on the boat.”