Wrong Way Renee (14 page)

Sh
e
peeled
off her pants as he removed his. He pulled a condom from his wallet, deftly slipping it over his
cock
.

He wanted
her,
not Bunny/Bonnie.
When he was drunk.

Bonnie.

He left me for another woman.

What the hell was she doing?
She shoved him away, grabbed her clothes and dressed in seconds. “Get you
r
cheating black ass out of here.”

“Renee, honey—”

But she wasn’t having it. She reached for her phone and took a picture of him stark naked.
“Get the hell out of my apartment before I send this to your rich girlfriend
and my three hundred Facebook friends
.”

His eyes grew huge. He held up his hands in surrender. “Now calm down, baby. I’m getting dressed, see?”
Practically tripping over himself, he yanked on his pants.
He
stormed out the door
a minute later without saying another word, leaving her feeling
like a fool for entertaining the thought of sleeping with him again
.

What was wrong with her? How could she even consider having sex with that slime-ball ever again?
She straightened the mess they'd made then headed to the bathroom to scrub away the memory
, thanking God she’d stopped before it was too late
.

* * * * *

“Holy cow, you look great,
”
Cleave said when he arrived to pick up Renee for their date Sunday evening
.

“Could you use another animal, please? I don't like to be in the same sentence with a cow.
”
She'd pulle
d out all the stops and opted for
a
pink
sequined dress she'd bought for a New Year's party she and Dan went to last year. The
pink
highlights in her hair looked so good, she wondered why she'd never thought of it before Zoey suggested it. She showed him in then offered him a glass of wine from the same bottle she and Joe had drunk from two nights earlier. Guilt evaporated quickly when she reminded herself she had no commitment to either man.

Cleave
set his glass on the coffee table.
“Have you been to the Southern Estates Country Club? Isn't that where your parents are members?
”

“Yeah, but it's
been years since I've been
. I've never played golf. I went there for parties and stuff whi
le I was still living at home.”

“You've never played? We'll have to fix that, young lady. Would y
ou like to join me for a oneon-
one lesso
n?”

She thought about turning him down but in truth, she was enjoying his company. “Why not?
”
She was going to have to keep track of which man she had a date with when.
A couple weeks ago she wouldn’t have believed she’d have one man in her life, let alone two
.

Cleave
stood and
offered his hand.
“Are you ready? We hav
e a reservation at Manfred's.”

“Wow
.
”
She’d heard it took connections just to get a reservation
.

After a short drive, Cleave pulled his BMW to the door of one of the tall bank buildings in downtown Orlando.
He handed the val
et a twenty-dollar bill.
“Take good care of her.”

When they stepped off the elevator, Renee was overwhelmed by huge lighted garlands draped from massive crystal chandeliers and twenty-foot high windows with red velvet swags. Each table seemed to
glitter under the tiny lights.
The effect was that the
room
appeared to be under a sea of stars. It was the most beautiful setting she'd ever seen.

“
I thought you'd like it.
”
H
e
took her hand as they followed the maître d to their table.

She took in the opulence of the place.
“It's so
…
”

“Romantic.”

“Yeah, romantic.
”
She could get used to this. Dan took her to very nice restaurants when
they first met. After a while that
went the way of the greetings cards and the little gifts for no reason.

A waiter appeared and asked for their drink order.

“We'll have a bot
tle of your best Merlot, please.
”
Cleave
winked
at Renee.

“Yes, sir.”

She
wasn't sure if she liked that or resented that he didn't even bother asking if she liked Merlot.

“Would it be all right with you if I
ordered dinner for both of us?”

At least he was asking this time.
“Can you run it by me firs
t? I'm a bit of a picky eater.”

“I was thinking about vichyssoise followed by rack of lamb and cherries jubilee for
dessert. How does that sound?”

“Fine.”
She
rubbed a
hand over her abdomen to muffle her stomach's growl as she scanned the room, noticing the vast majority of the tables were taken by parties of two.
T
his was the place if you wanted a romantic dinner for two.

After the waiter had served the wine
,
Cleave
raised his glass
.
“To t
he start of something special.”

Boy, that sounded familiar.
She drank, savored the smooth taste of the wine. “I
s your fami
ly back from their cruise yet?”

“
They returned this afternoon, actually. Mom called me from the airport before they boarded
their flight back to Atlanta.”

“What do they do?”

“Do?
”
He crinkled his brow as if she spoke a foreign language.
“My f
ather is retired. He sold his imports business to a big conglomerate a few years back. Mom never worked, of course.
Rose
is still in college, but she's en
gaged to a great guy, pre-med.”

“What's her major?”

“Art history, I think. Used to be philosophy, but she g
ot too bored with that.”

She stifled a laugh.
“Sounds like
Rose
has a
lot in common with my sister.”

“Oh? How so?”

“
Char
majored in husband. S
ounds like your sister is too.”

“Not at all. She
wants to be a museum curator.”

His scowl convinced her to change the subject.
“Do you have any pets?”

“Yes. A German shepherd. Duke is his name. D
o you like dogs?”

“I'm more of a cat person.
”
She racked her brain to avoid the slope into the great void the conversation was quickly falling into
.
“Have you ever been married?”

“I have. B
een divorced about four years.”

“I'm sorry
. Is it painful to talk about?”

“No, no. I'm way past that.
Alison
and I
grew in different directions.”

She nodded.
“Any kids?”

“Not of my own.
Alison
had a son
from a previous marriage, an
autist
ic boy.”

“Oh, how sad.”

He shook his head.
“
Not at all.
He's a great kid. I go see him every time I'm in Atlanta. Take him out for ice cream or something. I flew him here for his last birthday, his thirteenth. Too
k him to Disney and Sea World.”

Her heart squeezed.
“That is so
…
admirable,
Cleave
. It's very sweet. That says a lot about you.
”
How many men would take on something like that if they didn't have to? She mentally gave him points for compassion.

“He's a great kid, like I said.
”
A smile
lifted the
corner
s
of his mouth.

Sh
e gazed around the restaurant.
“This place is really beautiful.
”

“It's always lovely, but at holidays, it's spectacular.
”
He straightened his silverware.
“What does your fa
mily usually do for Christmas?”

Ah, a new subject.
“We usually go to
my folks’ place
Christmas Eve for dinner, then we come back Christmas morning to open gifts. Since my niece and nephe
w came into the picture, there have
been a mountain of
presents
. It's
on the decadent side but it’s
really a sight to behold.
”
She wondered if he
was
looking
for an invitation in a roundabout way.
“Will you be going to Atlanta?”

“I think so. If I can get away from a case I'm working on now. I guess you've noti
ced I'm a bit of a workaholic.”

Thinking of her father
who
’d
spent so much of her youth at the office, she nodded. She had missed him terribly, always preferring his company to her
mother
's. Elizabeth scolded and corrected. Her father was more prone to compliment and gently cajole.

He refilled his glass.
“I admit it. When I'm not in a relationship, I pour m
y heart and soul into my work.”

“D
o you do
mediation and trial work like Gary and my dad?”

“I'm mostly in
volved in auto accident cases.”

“H
ow often do you play golf?
”
Her best bet was to keep him talking about himself to avoid long bouts of uncomfortable dead air.

“At least twice a week, weather permitting. Gary and I have a stand
ing date every other Saturday.”

“I didn't know that.”

“
Sometimes
Char
comes alon
g. She's quite good, you know.”

“She looks great in golf clothes. She has on
e of those leisurewear bodies.”

He
laughed and his
dark
eyes sparkled. It was a warm sound and it made her relax. He was a little stiff, but he was starting to loosen up. She liked that he got her humor.

“Since you enjoy shopping so much, why don't you let me take you shopping for a golf outfit? You'll need one if you're going to learn to play. That's lesson number one. Have t
he right clothes for the game.”

She grinned.
“I like this game already. It inv
olves my favorite thing to do.”

They chatted about golf, shopping and the law firm through their main course. When the waiter came with the Cherries Jubilee, they watched him flambé it.
Cleave
put his hand over Renee's and she
was surprised that
didn't want
him
to take it away.

After dinner
he
took her straight home, explaining that he had an early meeting the next morning. He walked her to the door, then kissed the top of her head.
“I had a perfectly lovely time with you, Renee
Wright.”

“It
was
perfect. Thank you.” Mostly, she meant it.

“So, do you think we might go shopping for yo
ur golf ensemble next weekend?”

“How about Sunday afternoon?
”
She'd have to keep
Cleave
dates on Sundays and Joe dates on Friday or Saturday nights in order to keep them straight.

“I'll pick you up at one.
”
He kissed her softly on the lips.
“Night.”

“Night.
”
She watched him descend the stairs then melt into the darkness. Despite her initial reservations, she'd enjoyed herself, more than she'd anticipated. Now what? She'd never liked two men at once. Since it was only ten and she wasn't ready to go to bed, she decided to call
Toy
, a notorious night owl.