Drop Dead Gorgeous (22 page)

“Are you happy, Jeff?” Sue asked.

He shrugged, stretching his shoulders. “Yeah, I am. Strange, I’m what I expected to be, and happy at it. I’m good at what I do.”

“I’m lucky, too. I love my work,” Michael said. “I don’t need the fame—of course, a little fortune would be fine. Who knows, maybe I’ll make a communications breakthrough one day and take the scientific world by storm.”

“There we go—fame without the fortune,” Brad said dryly. “I like my work, too. I’m
good at it as well. I just love a good verbal fight.”

“I’ll agree with that,” Jan offered.

Brad grinned. “You’d better, or I’ll fight you.”

Lori smiled. “I could probably use more time on my design work, but I love teaching.” Brad made a strange noise.
“Really!” Lori laughed. “I love kids, especially at age six.”

“I guess six is a good age,” Brad said. “It’s before kids talk back too badly, want a car, and tell their parents where they should go.”

“It’s a great age. Their minds are wide open, and they’re eager to learn, affectionate, and fun. I really, truly enjoy what I do.”

“You’ll never get rich teaching.”

“I’m not sure I need to be
rich
,” Lori said. “And I do love designing clothing—”

“You need to get rich enough to buy an alarm system,” Andrew suddenly said.

Lori hesitated, seeing how Sean’s eyes darted to Andrew and then fell on her.

“I’m getting an alarm,” she said defensively.

“You need to do it tomorrow,” Sean said.

“Yeah, tell her,” Andrew said. “I told her I’d help her out if she needed the money.”

“Any of us would help her out,” Sean said firmly.

“The family can manage,” Andrew said.

“
I
can manage!” Lori exclaimed, realizing that everyone was staring at her.

“Lori, I had a client with one of the best security companies around,” Jeff Olin told her quietly. “He’ll give you great terms.”

“Thanks, Jeff, but—”

“Hey, anybody want another drink?” Jan asked, trying to change the sticky subject.

“Yeah, let’s drink to the fact that we’re all just thrilled to pieces with our jobs!” Michael said.

“Oh, yeah, so fucking happy,” Andrew muttered.

There was a sudden silence, and he looked up as if he hadn’t really expected anyone to hear him. He shrugged. “I always did want to make films. I didn’t become the lawyer I was expected to be. But I’d be happy i
f only…
”

“Ah, come on, Andrew!” Brad said impatiently. “You’re not doing anything illegal or all that terrible.”

“Yeah,” Sue said dryly. “Brad should know—since he was in one of the films.”

Jeff Olin suddenly cleared his throat. “Brad wasn’t the only one.” He found everyone staring at him, and he quickly added, “Hey, I needed the money for school, and it paid really well. Brad worked for Andrew, I worked for Andrew, Josh worked for Andrew—”

“Hey,
wait
a minute! Let me volunteer that information myself!” Josh protested, blushing.

“You guys all did
…
am I getting this right?
…
porno flicks?” Sue inquired, stunned.

“Adult films, if you don’t mind,” Andrew said.

“Hold on here!” Ricky protested. “You let all these guys do porno flicks—sorry, adult films—and you never called me and offered me a shot at it?” he demanded, feigning outrage.

“I’ve
never ignored a live body,” Ted put in.

Andrew leaned his head back, groaning. “
I’
m trying to be the next Fellini, Antonioni, Polanski
…
and this is what I get.”

“Dreams change. We never quite get a real grip on them,” Sean said quietly. “But if you want to make a certain kind of film, Andrew, you will. Just don’t lose sight of the ultimate goal.”

Andrew flashed him a sudden smile. “I probably could get by with a cheaper car,” he mused. “A few less expensive dates
…
maybe get some investors and finance s
omething I really want to try…
”

“Do it,” Lori told her brother passionately. “Do it, don’t just talk, and don’t just dream. Do it.”

He shrugged

“Wait a minute!” Ricky protested. “Don’t talk him out of doing porno films when
I’
m just about to get a starring role.”

“Oh, you guys are still disgusting!” Jan declared. “Now you’re old and disgusting instead of young and disgusting.”

Sue started to giggle. “I think that we should just all be grateful that we’re still in decent enough shape to be in porno flicks!”

“Is that an offer to work for me, too?” Andrew asked her.

Still smiling, she shook her head. “No,
I’
m the coffee entrepreneur, remember. A ‘Mrs. Olsen’ for our decade.”

“I think you’d look damned good in one of my movies, Sue!” Andrew said.

“Here, here!” Ted agreed. “And, Lori, whew, we’ve got to get you into something hot and steamy—”

“Hey! That’s sick. Lori is my sister!” Andrew protested.

“I can’t be in that one,” Josh teased. “Ugh. We’d have to be too careful of inbreeding. I mean, look at the royal family.”

Lori rolled her eyes. “Sue’s right—I feel as if I’m back in the halls at school and you guys of the 4F Club are all at it again.”

“Yeah,” Ricky said, “but Sean is back to put us all in our places again, so everything’s all right, huh, Sean?”

“She was new to the school back then, and you were torturing her,” Sean reminded him.

Ricky grinned. “The good old 4F Club. It was fun back then. We didn’t have the least idea of what we were talking about.”

“As if we do now half the time!” Ted said with a sad shake of his head.

“Don’t be silly!” Sue told him. “We’re all gorgeous, and, Ted, you can have whatever you want in life. Just go out and ask for it.”

Jan suddenly yawned.

Sean was the first to stand. He looked at Lori, reached for her hand, helped her up. “Jan, this was great. Really great. Thanks.”

“We have to do it again,” Brad said.

“We should plan something once a month. Report on career achievements—and even failures!” Andrew said.

“Sounds good,” Michael agreed. “It’s fun coming together for a real reason.”

“Lori can host the party next month in her new place,” Andrew volunteered for her, setting an arm around her shoulder.

“Andrew!” Jan said.

“My place. Four weeks from tonight,” Lori agreed. She hugged Jan and then Sue, and started to wave to the others.

“Excuse me, didn’t you just forget your brother and your cousin?” Josh asked.

She grinned, hugged them both, and headed out the door. She heard Sean saying his goodbyes, then heard him following her. She slipped behind her steering wheel, and saw him back by his car, saying good night to his brother. She started her engine, then discovered that he was at her window.

“Brendan went home with your folks?”

She nodded.

“Want to fool around?”

She nodded.

His dark blue gaze was devastating, his smile magnetic.

“With me, I mean.”

“
I’
m going to hit you in a minute.”

His smile flashed again.
“I’m right behind you.”

She started her car, eased slowly onto the street. He was on her tail all the way.

She barely opened the door to her house before he was with her, urging her through, slamming the door behind them, fumbling for the bolts without looking at them, his eyes on hers.

Then the door was locked, and he was
reaching for h
er. She cried out, throwing her
self into his arms, leaping up at him and locking her legs around his hips.

He groaned, kissing her, fingers tangling in her hair. He raised his lips from hers at last. “I don’t think I can walk up the stairs this way.”

She laughed, starting to unwind herself from him.

“No, no, wait! Don’t
…
don’t move, let me try. It feels too good to stop
…
”

He didn’t quite make it. They stumbled on the third step. Laughing, he eased them down together. She couldn’t keep her hands off him, had to feel his flesh. She had his shirt out of his jeans, then her hands were in his waistband. Her fingers curled around him, freed him. He inhaled sharply, ripped at the snap of her jeans and tugged them off her where she lay on the step. His mouth fused with hers again.

Soon his body was joined with hers as well.

They were entirely unaware that a killer drove by in the night, thoughtfully studying the house
…

But it didn’t matter that they were oblivious.

The killer had other business that night.

A
lthough Sue had been in bed for over an hour, she was awake and immediately heard the soft tapping at her door.

Her heart took flight.

He’d come to her.

It was a miracle, this feeling. It was special
, unique, so wonderful…
something she wasn’t willing to share with anyone yet, because she’d been around, because it felt so real and so right, and yet she
knew
that you just couldn’t count on things so easily. It might have just been sex, because the sex of course had been so good,
even if at the end there…
but no matter, she could deal with that kind of a situation.

What mattered was she was certain that he had come back.

She ran downstairs, prepared tonight. She had been out to the lingerie shop, purchased the sexiest black nightie with a matching robe.

She’d kept her makeup on—no, that wasn’t exactly true, she’d added to it, enhancing it. She was a little tipsy, too—she’d had a few too many wine coolers at Jan’s, but that was all right, too. It just seemed to add greater sensation and boldness to every move she made. She couldn’t wait to touch him
…

If it was him. It might not be, she chided herself.

Who else, at this time of night?

She raced to the door and looked through the peephole.

She leaned against the door, her heart thundering.

It was him.

She fumbled with the locks, she was in such a hurry to open them, but then got something of a grip on herself and opened the door slowly. She could have played coy, but she decided not to.

“Hi.”

“Can I come in.”

“Of course.”

He smiled. God, he was great. She almost came in her new thong panties just looking at his smile. Who’d have imagined that
he
would want her after all these years?

“Wasn’t it a great party? But then, of course, you’d expect no less of Jan.
Nice, so nice to be together…
”

He set a finger on her lips and stopped her speaking. He kissed her then, and she felt as if she were melting.

“Want to come up to the bedroom?”

“I like it right here. You know what I want.”

She did know. And she was willing to comply.

He was more urgent tonight, rougher. And still, he
was so charming and exciting…
she was willing.

Even when what he asked hurt her.

“We need something more to drink,” he told her, later.

Another drink would be good now, she thought. She didn’t feel quite as excited, as filled with wonder, as she had before. Something was wrong; something was simply not quite right. She didn’t understand, and she was willing to laugh and joke and tease as they shared a bottle of her best champagne. She realized vaguely, leaning against the couch with
him, that he didn’t touch anything, or hadn’t touched anything—other than her—until she’d come out with the champagne. And that they were drinking straight from the bottle.

He nuzzled her throat, his whisper a little drunken. “Let’s go away.”

“What?” she asked, surprised.

“Let’s go away.”

She giggled. “Great idea. Except that I’ve got a business to run.”

“People w
ork for you. Trust them.”

“Go…
?”

“To the islands. Pina coladas, sun, sea, surf, we can just play on the be
ach all day, play in the sand…
”

“Umm…
”

“Let’s be reckless. Daring. Let’s do it.” What the hell? She had been careful in life, respectable, responsible. Where had it gotten her?

Here. Alone. With a cat.

“Are you serious?”

He smiled. “Dead serious,” he told her gravely.