Let It Breathe (12 page)

Reese bit her lip. “It often is.”

“You’re up, Reese,” Eric said. “We go in a circle, right?”

“Right,” Larissa agreed. “Come on, Reese—lay it on us.”

“Oh, fine.” She grabbed her own wineglass, not meeting Clay’s eyes. “I never had sex in the winery barn.”

Eric and Larissa both lifted their glasses and drank. Reese snorted. “Larissa doesn’t surprise me, but Eric? I wouldn’t think Sheila would agree to that.”

“Wasn’t Sheila,” he said. “This was after you, before Sheila. Remember that intern six years ago? The one with the big—”

“Okay, moving on,” Reese said. “Eric, you go.”

He shrugged. “I never had anyone spank me in the bedroom.”

Larissa and Reese both lifted their glasses. Larissa giggled. Clay felt lightheaded.

“Reese—kinky!” Larissa said.

“You said no judging,” Reese said, and Clay watched her cheeks flush crimson. “But if you must know, it was that horse trainer I dated three years ago. He thought a whip would be a nice thing to bring on a third date.”

Eric laughed. “You sure can pick ’em.”

“Hey, I’m proud of you, cuz,” Larissa said, giving Reese a reassuring squeeze. “I didn’t know you had it in you to be so experimental.”

“I didn’t say I liked it,” Reese said, her cheeks still beautifully pink. She looked at the ceiling and gave a funny little smile. “Then again, I didn’t say I
didn’t
like it.”

Larissa laughed and turned back to Clay. “Okay, gorgeous, your turn.”

Clay gripped his water glass, not sure what to say. Hell, there was plenty he
could
say. Plenty he remembered, plenty he didn’t, plenty he wished he could forget. He opened his mouth to say something. Then closed it. Then opened it again.

The sound of the doorbell dragged everyone’s eyes off him and onto the door.

Reese frowned. “What the—”

“Uh-oh,” said Larissa. “I know who it is.”

Before anyone could ask, a voice outside started shouting. “Goddammit, Larissa—I know you’re there. Open the door!”

CHAPTER EIGHT

From her perch on the love seat, Reese frowned at the front door, then at her cousin. She had a sick feeling in her gut, which made this the second time today she’d been pretty sure she was about to toss her cookies.

“Larissa? Who’s that? And how did he know where you’d be?”

“It’s Joey—the dude I was supposed to go out with tonight?”

“Right,” Reese said. “You said he stood you up?”

“Kinda. Or maybe it was the other way around, I can’t remember now.”

“You mean you stood
him
up?” Reese said, feeling the same sense of dread she always did when she ended up in the middle of one of Larissa’s romance dramas. “And then you told him where you’d be this evening?”

“Hey, a girl’s gotta play hard to get, but you gotta let ’em know where to find you.”

The doorbell rang again, and a man’s voice shouted from the other side. “Come on, Larissa. We need to talk about this. I know you’re there.”

“I don’t feel like talking,” Larissa shouted back. “I’m tired of talking. Talk, talk, talk—what about action?”

“I’ll give you action, I will. Come on, just let me explain.”

Eric lifted an eyebrow. “What did she do now?”

Reese sighed and glanced from the door to her cousin. “’Riss, you want me to call the cops, or you want to let the guy in?”

Larissa rolled her eyes. “I’ll let him in. But only so I can tell him to his face that the way to woo a woman is not by falling asleep when she’s giving you a hand job.”

Reese closed her eyes and tried to remember why she’d agreed to host this dinner party in the first place. She opened her eyes again to see Eric sitting up straighter on the couch and grinning at Clay.

“And you wanted to go home early,” Eric said, nudging Clay in the ribs with his elbow. “See? Things are just starting to get interesting.”

“Cheaper than hotel pay-per-view,” Clay agreed.

Larissa flung the door open to reveal a man whose size suggested a fondness for lifting small automobiles. He looked more sad than dangerous, but Reese watched Clay and Eric bristle anyway.

“Come on, Larissa, I said I was sorry,” the guy pleaded. “Just let me explain.”

“You don’t need to explain. I got the message loud and clear last night. Obviously I wasn’t interesting enough for you to bother staying awake.”

“But it wasn’t my fault, baby. I was just so tired. I loved what you were doing with your hands, and then when you did that twisty thing with your thumb and—”

“Hi, I’m Reese,” she said, bolting off the sofa and hustling to the door before things got more awkward. She extended her hand to the guy, not sure if she should be defending her cousin or locking her in a bedroom. “And you are?”

“Joey,” he said, and stepped inside to shake her hand. “I just want to talk to Larissa.”

“We’re busy right now,” Larissa huffed, turning to march back to the living room. She plunked down on the love seat this time, then turned back to face them with her arms folded over her chest. “We’re playing ‘I Never.’ Here’s one:
I never had a guy fall asleep during a hand job until last night
.”

Reese winced, wondering if there were normal families somewhere that didn’t feel the need to overshare. She looked at Clay and Eric, who were staring at Joey with expressions of male sympathy.

“Dude,” Eric said.

“Ouch,” Clay agreed.

Larissa’s date gave an exasperated sigh and followed her into the living room. “Well,
I never been so tired as I was last night
. Come on, I worked late and—”

“Are we supposed to drink to that?” Eric asked Clay. “Because I’ve been pretty tired, and there was this one time a few years ago with Sheila where I just didn’t feel like it.”

“I think we’re still playing,” Clay said. “You should probably drink.”

Reese shook her head, pretty sure the time had come for the game to be over. “Can we just call it a night?”

“We’re still playing,” Larissa insisted as Joey sat down beside her on the love seat. Reese couldn’t help noticing her cousin didn’t move away.

“Clay hasn’t even gone yet,” Larissa pointed out. “Everyone sit down and let’s keep going. I haven’t decided what to do with
you
yet,” she said, directing her ire back at Joey. “But we’re not done here. Clay, go. It’s your turn.”

Clay lifted his water glass, considering. “I never had sex on an airplane.”

Larissa rolled her eyes. “No fair, I already did that one.”

“You just did it as an example, not as a real
I never
,” Clay pointed out.

“No dice, go again.”

Clay sighed. “I’ve never been in love with anyone I’ve dated.”

Reese bit the inside of her lip. Larissa’s eyes widened. Everyone was quiet for a second.

Joey was the first to speak. “Wow, man. That’s kinda depressing.”

“Yeah,” Eric agreed. “Not exactly sexy.”

Clay rolled his eyes. “You didn’t say it had to be sexy. Just that it had to be the truth. I’m making amends for past wrongs here, remember?”

“And we’re not judging,
remember
?” Larissa said, shooting a pointed look at Reese.

“I’m not judging,” she said. “That’s just the first time I’ve ever heard someone say something like that when playing ‘I Never.’”

“It still counts,” Clay said. “Come on, I’ve gone twice, someone else go.”

“I’ll go,” Joey said. “I’ve never slept with anyone in this room, but I’d really, really like to. Um, I mean Larissa. I’m talking about Larissa. Because she’s so smart and pretty.”

Larissa beamed, and Reese resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Clearly, Joey had homed in on her cousin’s fondness for flattery.

“That’s sweet,” Larissa said, edging closer to him on the sofa. “Fine, you’re forgiven. You can take me to dinner next week.”

Joey put an arm around her. “That’s great, baby. I won’t let you down, I swear.”

Reese felt someone kick her shin and looked over to see Eric holding up his glass of wine. “I guess we have to drink to what he said—the
I never slept with anyone in this room
? We were married. I think we might’ve had sex once or twice.”

Reese shrugged and felt her face start to flood with heat. She wanted to blame it on the public spectacle of the whole thing, but she knew damn well she was avoiding looking at Clay. “Fine,” she said, and took a sip of wine.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Clay shift in his seat. She set down her glass and kept her expression neutral and her gaze trained on a throw pillow for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, she couldn’t stand the suspense. She stole a glance at Clay. He was looking at his water glass and frowning, but he must have felt the weight of Reese’s stare. He looked up and gave a shrug so small, she might have imagined it. Then he set his glass down without taking a sip.

“I think that does it for me, guys,” he said as he stood up. “I have to get up early in the morning.”

Reese stood, too, wiping her palms on her jeans as twin surges of relief and disappointment coursed through her. “Thanks for coming,” she said. “And for the help with Leon earlier.”

“No sweat,” Clay said. “Good seeing you guys.”

“Later,” Joey said, his eyes focused on Larissa. “I think I’m gonna take off. You want to go grab a drink?”

“A drink, huh?” She grinned at him. “Yeah, that’s what I’d like to grab.”

The two of them stood up, and Joey put his arm around Larissa. Reese stepped aside as they moved toward the door in a cloud of sexual energy Reese could hear crackling in the air.

“Be safe,” she called, then felt like kicking herself for sounding like a schoolmarm. She walked them all to the door and flipped on her porch light to make sure they made it to their cars.

As soon as the door shut, Eric stood up. “Thanks for dinner, Riesling.”

“Don’t call me Riesling.”

He grinned and carried his wineglass and empty cobbler bowl to the kitchen. When he turned back around, the grin had vanished.

“Look, Reese—promise me something, okay?”

“To love, honor, and cherish?” Reese leaned back against the counter. “Sorry, been there, done that, outgrew the T-shirt.”

Eric shook his head. “I’m being serious for once. Just promise me you’ll be careful with Clay.”

Reese felt the words like a punch to the gut. Her pulse sped up, but she forced herself not to blink. “What do you mean?”

“I think you know.”

“I really don’t.” She swallowed hard, hoping he didn’t see her tight grip on the counter behind her. “Are you worried about me or him?”

“Yes.” Eric frowned. “I love you guys, but you’re totally wrong for each other. A recovering addict and someone with an unrealistic concept of relationships? I just don’t want to see either of you mess up each other’s lives.”

“Bite me, Eric.”

He managed a small smile at that. “You mentioned the spanking, but I didn’t realize biting was your thing, too.”

She shook her head, not willing to loosen her grip on her irritation in exchange for his dumb jokes this time. She folded her arms over her chest, hoping he couldn’t tell how much his words had gotten to her. “Were you always this charming? I can’t remember if this is why I married you or divorced you.”

“Both.” He gave her a smile she knew was meant to soften his words, but they still sliced through her like little bits of hot wire. “Just promise you’ll listen to me. Clay’s rebuilding his life here, and we’re the only friends he still has. You guys can’t let something stupid like libido screw that up.”

She shook her head, determined not to let him see the way her hands were shaking. “I’m not promising anything because there’s no need,” she insisted. “I’m not hot for Clay, and he’s not hot for me. We couldn’t be more wrong for each other, and we both know it.”

He stared at her, an expression she recognized as his best effort to bite back the word
bullshit
. Reese stared back, unflinching.

“Nothing’s going to happen between Clay and me,” she insisted, as much to reassure herself as Eric.

“Whatever you say.”

“Go home, Eric. Say hello to Sheila.”

“You want help with the dishes?”

“I’ve got it, thanks.”

“Goodnight, Riesling.”

“Goodnight, bastard.”

Eric gave her a chaste peck on the forehead, which she answered with a soft punch to his gut.

“Ow,” he muttered, grinning as he headed toward the door. “See you tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

As soon as he was gone, Reese closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the cupboard.

She didn’t love Clay. She
couldn’t
love Clay.

She thumped her head on the cupboard a few times, willing it to be true.

Clay put off going into Reese’s office for as long as he could the next day. Finally, there was no avoiding it.

She looked up the instant he knocked on the doorframe, her green eyes flashing under the fluorescent lights. Her hair slid back over her shoulders, framing her face in a cinnamon-gold halo, and Clay felt his breath catch in his throat.

“Hey,” she said. “Thanks for coming over last night.”

He nodded, trying not to think about what her hair would feel like sliding through his fingers. He didn’t see it down too often, and he ached to reach out and touch it. He pushed the thought out of his mind and cleared his throat. “Thank
you
for dinner. It was great.”

Reese smiled. “Even when things got a little weird with Larissa?”

“I’ve known Larissa since she was a teenager,” he said, returning her smile. “When do things not get weird with her?”

“It’s part of her charm. What’s up?”

Clay hesitated a moment at the threshold, then came in and shut the door behind him. He dropped into the chair in front of her desk and rested his clipboard on his lap.

“We’re reaching a point where you’re going to need to make some decisions,” he said. Seeing her face register alarm, he gripped the edge of his clipboard tighter. “About the building. Decisions about the building project, I mean.”

“I know what you meant,” Reese said. “I’ve got an appointment with the bank tomorrow to discuss additional financing in light of your increased estimate.”

“Technically, it’s not our estimate that increased,” Clay pointed out. “It’s the price of materials.”

Reese rolled her eyes. “What’s the point in having an estimate if the numbers are completely arbitrary?”

“They weren’t arbitrary. They were based on market conditions at the time, and it’s not our fault material costs went up.”

Reese gritted her teeth. “I’m not going to argue with you. I’m too tired, and the bottom line is that we can’t do anything about the price of the stupid fly ass.”

“Fly ash.”

“What?”

“It’s fly ash, not fly ass.”

“Whatever,” she said, beautiful in her flustered state. “Just give me a few days to work things out with the bank. Do you and your crew have enough you can do in the meantime?”

Clay gave a small nod. “We’ve got several more days of clearing and grading, but we can’t stall too long.”

Reese gritted her teeth. “We should know something by then.”

“Okay, then. I’ll get back to work.”

Reese nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She picked up her letter opener. Clay watched for a moment as she rolled it between her palms.