David knew they had to stop. The crook of his arm proved a good place to settle in and Kate enjoyed the safe, secure feeling she had when she was with him. Then she felt him move and watched as he grabbed something off the night table. He brought it over his head and stopped in front of her face.
In his hand was a small red box from Cartier’s.
Kate didn’t know if breathing was going to be part of this scenario or not, but she thought it would be good to try and take in some air.
Sitting up, she took the box. Swallowing hard, Kate faced him. “What did you do?”
He grinned and sat up. “Not what you’re thinking. It’s not a ring, so calm down.”
“I mean, I don’t mean that, I wouldn’t… I…”
“I know. Just open it.”
Taking a breath, she opened the little red clamshell. Nestled on dark velvet was a pair of earrings that matched the pendant he gave her for Christmas. Three intertwined bands, each a different color of gold. However, unlike her necklace, the earrings had fire. Set in the white gold band was a channel of diamonds. “Oh, David…”
The earrings were so beautiful, Kate couldn’t speak. What made them perfect wasn’t the flash factor, it was the unique quality. It was also that he thought about her; he always thought about her. “I don’t know what to say. I love them.”
He smiled when she kissed him. “That’ll do.”
“They’ll look beautiful with my dress.”
“Speaking of your dress, we should get ready. Jay and Annie will be here in less than half an hour.”
Kate kissed him again. “Stop buying me presents,” she whispered.
He stood and winked at her. “Not a chance.”
*
Jack arrived at Laura’s house and once again saw only one car was in the driveway. There was no Mercedes, which meant she was probably alone.
He was anxious. He wanted everything to be perfect for her. But there was no denying the past month had been torture. He loved her, but if he didn’t have sex soon, he’d explode. He hadn’t gone this long without sex since he was seventeen, but since he’d started seeing Laura, he hadn’t been with anyone else.
In the beginning, he could have kept going out, seen other girls, but once he’d spent time with Laura, kissed her and tasted her, he was done. He’d brought her home after their first date and the good night kiss lasted for half an hour.
He had to be careful with her and make sure she wouldn’t get scared off. When she’d been at his apartment a couple of weeks before, he couldn’t believe her body. It was amazing, soft and curvy, and just thinking about her got him hot.
Tonight she’d meet his friends, and after that he’d take her home and get her in bed. Then things would be better.
Laura came out of the house as he was walking up the front stoop. He kissed her first, loving her sweet and the way she responded to him, pressing against him, letting her tongue drift in his mouth. The look she gave him let him know she wanted the same thing he did. He took her bag and put it in the back seat.
*
Laura got into the truck and folded her arms against the cold. “Will there be many people at the party?”
“A good amount. The guys I really want you to meet won’t be there, but I guess you’ll meet them another time.”
He was talking about David and Jay. She already knew they weren’t going, which was why she agreed to go to the party at all. If she’d said no, they still could have gone to his apartment for the night, but she wanted to meet his friends and was glad Mom told her about their plans ahead of time.
He looked so gorgeous her heart almost stopped. They were still sitting in the car in front of her house, and he turned to her and handed her a wrapped box. “I never gave you this. Merry Christmas, kind of.”
She giggled and took the box from him. “You didn’t have to buy me anything.”
“I wanted to. I hope you like it.”
She opened the box and gasped at the necklace. A diamond heart pendant. It was beautiful—and, she was sure, very expensive.
“Jack, thank you. I love it.” She unbuttoned her coat and took it from the box. She had started to put on the necklace David gave her and stopped, because she felt guilty because of all the lies she was telling. It turned out to be a perfect decision. “I want to wear it. Will you help me put it on?”
He maneuvered himself so he could get behind her, took the necklace and Laura picked up her hair. After he’d fastened the clasp he planted a kiss just beneath her ear. Jack looked at the pendant and smiled.
“It looks perfect on you, babe.”
Laura leaned forward and kissed him. “Thank you.”
*
David smiled when he looked in the rearview mirror and saw Annie and Kate getting along like old friends. The four of them spent the better part of dinner laughing and telling stories. She blended with his friends, and into his life, so easily it seemed she was meant to be there all along. Jay smiled himself, until he heard his name and realized he was being talked about in the third person.
“Hey, hey,” he turned. “I’m right here, ladies.”
The girls giggled and David made a mental note to himself. It seemed that while Kate could handle wine, if hard liquor was thrown into the mix, the story changed. It didn’t seem like a lot, but thinking about it, she’d consumed quite a bit—a martini at his house, another at the restaurant, two glasses of wine at dinner, and one after dinner drink. She had a pretty good buzz going. It surprised him, because she drank a whole bottle the day she met him in California, and he didn’t see the silliness he was seeing now.
The drive from downtown across the river to New Jersey had taken about forty-five minutes. David pulled up in front of their destination in Mullica Hill. Kate looked out the rear window of the Rover at the monstrosity his friends called a house.
“Oh, my God,” Kate said, staring at the structure of white concrete. She was pretty much speechless because from a certain angle, the turret that made up the eastern side of the house looked like a giant hard-on.
“What is it?” Kate was really examining the building, not quite sure if it was real or if they were playing an elaborate joke on her.
“That,” Annie said in her best French accent, “is Chateau Girard. Or as I like to call it, Moby Dick.”
“They live here? I mean, this is such a lovely area, they let that be built here?” Kate tilted her head as she stood on the walk in front of the house. “It looks like… people live in it?
Annie laughed. “Sebastien and Brandy designed it together.”
“Brandy?” Kate asked.
David saw her writer brain going. No doubt someone in her next book was getting named Brandy, and it wouldn’t be a good thing.
She looked at David and squeezed her eyes shut. “Please tell me about Brandy before I go in there and say the wrong thing. I’m sure she’s perfectly nice, but…”
“Brandy and Bas, that’s what we call Sebastien, got together a couple of years ago, I think. Jay, do you remember?” David looked at his friend.
“Two or three years ago. He met her at a bar one night. They hooked up, end of story.”
“Pssht. They don’t know anything.” Annie took Kate aside. “Brandy went to a fancy college, worked in a boutique on Rittenhouse for about ten minutes. Knows a good number of the guys on the team intimately.”
Jay made a face at his wife. “I was going to leave some of that out, but fine. She dated different guys on the team until she and Bas found each other. Don’t judge, Annie. That’s not fair.”
“She found him,” Annie snapped. “As soon as they were engaged he bought all her clothes, bought her a new car. For God’s sake, she upsized her engagement ring three times.”