Breathless (Meadowlarks) (9 page)

A knock on the door startle
d me as I heard my mother's sweet voice from the other side of the door.

“Riley, are you almost ready? Alex is already downstairs charming the pants off everyone!”

He’s good at that.

“Okay, mom. Ten minutes!”

My hair was dried and curled into long flowing strands, I applied my eye makeup and a touch of clear gloss to my lips. I had chosen to wear an off-white tunic dress that landed above my knees, and I had fastened an aqua coloured belt around my waist.

I walk
ed downstairs, the sound of laughter flowed from the great room and I could hear Alex's voice loudly talking about something on Blaine's farm. He stopped talking when he saw me, his eyes flashed quickly into a menacing look I had definitely seen before, but quickly turned back into a soft tone when my dad asked him what happens next in his story.

“So, Blaine starts running through the field like a madman, flinging a big stick around in the air. The bull almost gets him but Blaine jumps over the fence and falls right on his face!”

Everyone laughed and Alex smiled. “It was hilarious.”

There ha
d to be at least thirty people in the house, all relatives of some sort, and they were eating up Alex's stories like they were made out of candy.

My
Great Aunt Shelley held her face in her hands, laughing so hard she was almost crying. I smiled, happy to see everyone in a good mood considering the reason why we were all there right then.

My dad.

“Riley, dear! How are you?” Marielle, my dad’s sister, asked me, hugging me tightly. “It's been too long, darling.”

“I know, Aunty. I’m
great, how are you?”

“Oh, you know me. Here one minute, gone the next. I am leaving for Sicily in three days,” Marielle
said, smiling.

She's a higher-up in the life of fashion, close to the top of the world of the Il Tocco industry. Il Tocco meaning
The Touch
in Italian.

I ha
d always been spoiled by Aunt Marielle, she had sent me so many clothes over the years I had hardly shopped for myself.

“You look gorgeous, Riley. You're glowing,” she
said melodically. “I’m sure I know why!”

She point
ed across the room to Alex, he was sitting beside my father and my Uncle Wes, telling yet another story from Wyoming.

“Maybe.”
I smiled. “But, yes. Really, Aunty...I am so happy.”

I wasn’t
saying my family members were a bunch of alcoholics, but they enjoyed their wine like nobody's business. After dinner everyone started drinking a little more, and out came the hard liquor. My dad had a few glasses of wine and came to find me to tell me he was going to bed. “Enjoy yourself, my darling,” he said. “I am so happy you're here.”

“I love you, daddy.”

“I love you, my baby.”

“
Riley, dear?”

I turn
ed to see my Uncle Wesley walking toward me, a tall blonde woman attached to his arm. She was wearing a long black dress with a long slit up the side, revealing her tanned and toned leg.

I gaze
d up her body, kicking myself for doing it, but I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Her boobs were all but falling out of her dress, they were spilling over the seam across her chest, and they rose and fell with each breath she took.

“Hello, Riley,” the woman
said, extending her hand with its painted nails and ridiculous diamond ring at me. “I’m Celeste.”

So
that was the newest Mrs. Wesley Harrison.

Celeste.

I sized her up and smirked at my uncle, who looked a little like Hugh Hefner in this newly adjusted light.

“Nice to meet you,” I sa
id, too sweetly and shook her cold fingers with my hand, not wanting to really touch them as I wasn’t sure where they had been.

“Wesley, I need another drink, sweetheart,” she
said and smiled at me. “I'll only be a minute.”

“Okay, darling.”

Celeste turned on her heel and slowly walked away, the sway of her hips moved the dress in such a way it was almost mesmerizing to see.

I
shook my head and looked at my uncle with narrowed eyes. “How old is that one?”

He grin
ned at me. “Riley! I’m offended. What kind of man do you take me for?”

I cross
ed my arms, waiting for his answer.

“Thirty. She's thirty, okay?” he
said, acting insulted, but smiled.

“She seems a lot like the others, Uncle Wes.”

“Eh.” He shrugged. “She's good to me, and she's not too bad on the eyes. What else does a man my age need?”

“You're too much! But, I love you. And if you're happy, then I am happy.” I smile
d and hugged him.

***

There
were so many people here, I thought even more had shown up since dinner. Faces I didn’t recognize at all, I thought maybe they were people who worked with my father.

I slowly
moved through the crowd, smiling at the faces I did know and even to the ones I didn’t. By the edge of the garden I swore I saw something, so I stood on the tips of my toes, stretching up to see over the crowd. Standing and talking to my uncle's new wife, Celeste, was a man with olive skin and a shaved head. Someone bumped into me and I lost my line of sight.

I made my way over to where I saw Celeste just moments before, talking to the stranger. They had both gone, so I looked around the vast back lawn, hoping to find Alex. I hadn’t seen him since just after dinner, which was very odd.

A sexy man
with dark eyes and a shaved head walked by carrying a serving tray with glasses of wine and I took two, thanking him. I tossed back one glass in less than a minute and started on the second; now that my dad was sleeping I could let go a little and enjoy myself. I swallowed a long sip of the wine, and scanned the crowd again with my cheek full of the sweet alcohol.

Sexy server
was back at my side, and he took the empty glass from my hand, and passed me another. “Un altro?”

“Si,” I breathe
d.

His dark eyes tower
ed over me, he pulled his lip into a smile and traced his finger down the bare skin of my arm.

“Delizioso.”

Oh, shit.

Really?

I smiled innocently and started to walk away from him.

There's no
fucking way, sweetheart.

The man
stood where I left him, still holding the serving tray with wine glasses sparkling underneath the blanket of lights hung from tree to tree.

The alcohol start
ed to hit me quick and I stumbled a little on the grass, so I pulled my heels off and held them by their straps between my fingers. I still couldn’t find Alex, so I decided to make my way into the house to find my cell to call him. I remembered I left it upstairs in my bedroom, and knowing my father was sleeping I crept up the stairs slowly.

I ha
d four missed calls and seven text messages. Two calls and three texts from Addison. I cursed myself for not having my phone on me earlier.

Addison:
Hey girl, just wanted the kids to say goodnight before they went to bed.

Addison:
Isaac had a great day and he's excited for tomorrow.

Addison:
Hope all is well. I'll call in the AM! XO

Shit!
I slapped my thigh with my hand, angry at myself, as I quickly texted back.

Me: S
orry, babe. I didn't have my phone on me, but I do now.

Me:
Give my babies a kiss. You're the best. XOXO

The other calls
were from Leah and so were three more texts. She wanted to know if I was up for going out with the girls before go back to Wyoming. I decided to message her back later.

The last text
was from Alex, the time stated it was only sent fifteen minutes ago.

Alex:
Where R U?

Me:
In the house! Where have you been?

He
didn’t respond, so I shoved the phone under the strap of my bra. Without pockets in this dress I had nowhere else to put it. When I reached the top of the staircase my phone vibrated against my skin, I fumbled into my dress to pull it out. It was Alex calling.

“Hello? Alex?”
I couldn’t hear anything except muffled voices and the faint noise of the music playing from outside. “Alex!” I said a little louder, but he still didn’t answer me.

“Don't worry about her,” I hear
d a woman's voice say huskily. “No one will know.”

I gape
d. “Alex?”

Still nothing.

“I can't do this,” Alex's voice muffled through the phone into my ear. “No, fuck. I can't.”

“Oh, baby. You can do anything you want,” the woman's voice
said.

“No, I can't do
that to Riley,” Alex's voice said, sending shivers into my ear and down my spine. “I love her.”

The sound of scratches and fumbling around overpower
ed the voices and the line went dead. I held the phone out and stared at it blankly. There was no way in hell I just heard what I thought I heard. I braced myself on the railing and almost fell down the stairs trying to get outside as fast as I could, my shoes and cellphone still clutched tightly in my hands.

The view from the
French doors leading outside remained unchanged, friends and family were still mingling and drinking. Music was still softly playing from speakers set in the corners of the lawn, and I still didn’t see Alex anywhere. My mom saw me from across the lawn and waved, I waved back and forced a smile.

When I step
ped out on to the stone patio I saw Celeste out of the corner of my eye. My head felt woozy and I almost needed to hold on to something to steady myself.

She walk
ed toward me, and stuck her finger suggestively into her mouth. “Mmm, he's sweet.”

Behind Celeste's big and blonde head I
saw Alex walk from around the house and look around the crowd of people, he didn’t see me standing in front of her as he slipped through the bodies of people, adjusting his suit jacket over his t-shirt.

“You've got to be shitting
me,” I hissed.

Celeste grin
ned. “Younger is better, sweetie. But, obviously you know that.”

Before I
could reach out and pull her hair from its roots she brushed past me, tipping me over and I nearly fell before someone caught me.

“Let's get you out of here,” a deep voice
said. “
Ora.
”

I turn
ed to look into the dark eyes of the man who served me wine earlier. “Now?” I asked.

“Now,” he whisper
ed.

“Let's go.”

The man led me through my parents’ house and out the front door, down the paved driveway and out onto the street where a long black Cadillac limo as idling. He opened the back door and motioned his hand for me to get in, I inhaled deeply and turned to look back at the house.

Riley..
.what the hell are you thinking!?

I lean
ed into the door of the limo as my hand searched for the seat in the darkness. My breath was heavy as I was coming to terms with what I was actually doing.

What
was I doing, anyway?

I s
at on the leather seat as the door closed behind me, the man disappeared behind the car and I expected him to open the other side and get in, but he didn’t. Instead, my heart stopped completely when a voice, dripping like honey and raw sex, flowed from the seat a few feet in front of me.

“Hi,
baby
.”

“D-Dane?” I breathe
d.

“Drive until I tell you to stop, Maxwell.”

A dimmed light graced the floor of the limo, slightly letting me see what exactly I had got myself into. I pushed my knees together when I saw Dane sitting in the seat across from me, he was leaning back into the leather, his thighs were spread apart and my eyes automatically gazed on the massive bulge in his dress pants.

Dane ha
d always dressed to kill; like his wardrobe should come with a warning label to all women. Even when he was just a landscaper, he would wear jeans that hung on his body in the most ridiculous way, and tight t-shirts or tanks that left nothing to the imagination.

I breathe
d sharply when he unbuttoned the top of his crisp white shirt, letting it fall open and showing enough of his chest to make my insides do back flips.

“Riley, you look...” He shift
ed in his seat. “Beautiful.”

“Dane, what's going on?” I ask
ed, trying not to let him see I was flushed, but I was sure he could tell regardless of what I did. “Who was that guy?”