Love Unrehearsed
Page 56
I mean, look at him. He’s tall and gorgeous and perfect.”
I rubbed her back reassuringly. Oh how I knew exactly how she felt. “You’re gorgeous, too, you know. And you are good enough. I think it’s about time someone starts treating you like the goddess you are.” She grimaced at me.
“You know as well as I do that things happen for a reason. And by some freakish miracle, two of the most amazing men in the world are sitting out there at a table waiting patiently for us to come back to them. We are two of the luckiest women alive. But
instead of spending these moments with them, we’re holed up in a tiny bathroom worrying like two idiots. What do you say?
Ready to see where the chips fall?” Marie took a breath and righted herself.
“Yeah, I’m ready. Time to trust in fate.” She gave her boobs a bit of a lift and took a deep breath. “Let’s go make our mamas proud.”
“Good morning,” I uttered over my coffee cup, even though it was close to ten. Marie’s long brown hair was all bushy and tangled and she was wearing the Brown University T-shirt I got her eons ago.
The wench failed to look me in the eye. Instead she searched for another coffee cup, ignoring me.
“I can feel you staring holes in my back,” she muttered matter-of-factly, pouring the piping-hot liquid into her cup. “No, I didn’t
sleep with him. Yes, he is fully aware of the location of both of my breasts, and yes, he is an uh-may-zing kisser.” She turned and grinned like a girl who was definitely up to no good last night. Her lips were still puffy.
“And if the super-large, extremely hard bulge that I sent him home with is any indication of the potential he has to rock my world, I’m signing up for a full membership.” I couldn’t help but laugh. I pushed out a kitchen chair for her with my foot.
“My nosey fiancé was quite worried about how you two were faring. Even got out of bed once to see if Mike’s car was still here.” Marie shook her head from the news. “We talked a lot. He knows I’m in the middle of dealing with something ugly. And he doesn’t want to push anything until I’m ready, which I thought was very . . . thoughtful.” Yeah, she had it bad for him.
Marie had only stayed for four days and in that time we spent every night with Ryan and Mike. I was glad to see that Marie had a renewed sense of hope. Gary couldn’t rip her heart out because she was well on her way to falling for another man.
Mike appeared to be genuinely sad to see her go. He had arranged for other security to cover Ryan so he could personally see Marie off at the airport. That scored major points for him in my book.
As we all hugged goodbye in the terminal, I smiled when Mike promised that he’d keep in touch with her.
Mike paid the toll to get us out of short-term parking. I watched his lips press down into a grumpy scowl. By the looks of it, he was majorly pissed.
“She’ll be all right,” I said softly.
He looked over at me and nodded once.
“Yeah.”
I stared at the bumper of the car in front of us, feeling relieved that Mike had been a gentleman throughout, not playing the game to get Marie into bed for a quick hit-and-run.
Still, I could see he was all knotted up.
“How are you?”
His jaw flexed and his expression darkened even further. He didn’t answer right away, but when he did he said, “Just tell me if shit goes down with her. I’m figuring she won’t tell me so I’m telling you I want to know about it, okay?”
I stared at him for a minute, sort of in shock. “You sure you want to make it your business?”
Mike flicked his turn signal on and was watching oncoming traffic until his eyes locked on to mine. His anger quickly dissipated, replaced with softened but adamant sincerity. “Yeah, I do.”
I recalled how it felt to find out your man was cheating on you. Was Marie ready for her “next” or did she need time to sort it out?
Some of his tightness came back. “You have a problem with that?”
Yeah, I do.
Instead, I said, “She’s not just my best friend, Mike. She’s just about the only family I have and I don’t want her to get hurt. She’s already got one guy breaking her heart. She doesn’t need two.”
He
gave
me
another stiff nod.
“Understood.”
Marie had told me that Mike held her while she cried in front of him last night. She hated that she broke down like that but they were talking and he was asking why she ever settled for less and it just happened.
I rubbed her back reassuringly. Oh how I knew exactly how she felt. “You’re gorgeous, too, you know. And you are good enough. I think it’s about time someone starts treating you like the goddess you are.” She grimaced at me.
“You know as well as I do that things happen for a reason. And by some freakish miracle, two of the most amazing men in the world are sitting out there at a table waiting patiently for us to come back to them. We are two of the luckiest women alive. But
instead of spending these moments with them, we’re holed up in a tiny bathroom worrying like two idiots. What do you say?
Ready to see where the chips fall?” Marie took a breath and righted herself.
“Yeah, I’m ready. Time to trust in fate.” She gave her boobs a bit of a lift and took a deep breath. “Let’s go make our mamas proud.”
“Good morning,” I uttered over my coffee cup, even though it was close to ten. Marie’s long brown hair was all bushy and tangled and she was wearing the Brown University T-shirt I got her eons ago.
The wench failed to look me in the eye. Instead she searched for another coffee cup, ignoring me.
“I can feel you staring holes in my back,” she muttered matter-of-factly, pouring the piping-hot liquid into her cup. “No, I didn’t
sleep with him. Yes, he is fully aware of the location of both of my breasts, and yes, he is an uh-may-zing kisser.” She turned and grinned like a girl who was definitely up to no good last night. Her lips were still puffy.
“And if the super-large, extremely hard bulge that I sent him home with is any indication of the potential he has to rock my world, I’m signing up for a full membership.” I couldn’t help but laugh. I pushed out a kitchen chair for her with my foot.
“My nosey fiancé was quite worried about how you two were faring. Even got out of bed once to see if Mike’s car was still here.” Marie shook her head from the news. “We talked a lot. He knows I’m in the middle of dealing with something ugly. And he doesn’t want to push anything until I’m ready, which I thought was very . . . thoughtful.” Yeah, she had it bad for him.
Marie had only stayed for four days and in that time we spent every night with Ryan and Mike. I was glad to see that Marie had a renewed sense of hope. Gary couldn’t rip her heart out because she was well on her way to falling for another man.
Mike appeared to be genuinely sad to see her go. He had arranged for other security to cover Ryan so he could personally see Marie off at the airport. That scored major points for him in my book.
As we all hugged goodbye in the terminal, I smiled when Mike promised that he’d keep in touch with her.
Mike paid the toll to get us out of short-term parking. I watched his lips press down into a grumpy scowl. By the looks of it, he was majorly pissed.
“She’ll be all right,” I said softly.
He looked over at me and nodded once.
“Yeah.”
I stared at the bumper of the car in front of us, feeling relieved that Mike had been a gentleman throughout, not playing the game to get Marie into bed for a quick hit-and-run.
Still, I could see he was all knotted up.
“How are you?”
His jaw flexed and his expression darkened even further. He didn’t answer right away, but when he did he said, “Just tell me if shit goes down with her. I’m figuring she won’t tell me so I’m telling you I want to know about it, okay?”
I stared at him for a minute, sort of in shock. “You sure you want to make it your business?”
Mike flicked his turn signal on and was watching oncoming traffic until his eyes locked on to mine. His anger quickly dissipated, replaced with softened but adamant sincerity. “Yeah, I do.”
I recalled how it felt to find out your man was cheating on you. Was Marie ready for her “next” or did she need time to sort it out?
Some of his tightness came back. “You have a problem with that?”
Yeah, I do.
Instead, I said, “She’s not just my best friend, Mike. She’s just about the only family I have and I don’t want her to get hurt. She’s already got one guy breaking her heart. She doesn’t need two.”
He
gave
me
another stiff nod.
“Understood.”
Marie had told me that Mike held her while she cried in front of him last night. She hated that she broke down like that but they were talking and he was asking why she ever settled for less and it just happened.
