Kiss Is a Four-Letter Word (14 page)

"Of course," Erica nodded.

"Sherry, wait. I'll walk you down." Eli stood up.

Sherry waved him back. "No, that's okay. I'll go down with Erica. If you or Simon walk me out someone's bound to see and it'll be a feeding frenzy."

Eli frowned. Sherry really didn't look right, but he didn't want to press her. "If you're sure?"

"I am." With that Sherry strode to the door, Erica hurrying after her.

Eli sent their assistant a look as she left and she nodded.

"Shit. What just happened?" Simon ran a hand through his hair.

Eli sat back down and tipped his head back. "I'm not sure."

"She was fine before all this. The photos must have freaked her out."

Eli thought about it and shook his head. "No. I don't think so. She was joking that they were good pictures, remember?"

"We should be the ones freaking out. I mean, you and me kissing? Photos of it hitting the Internet? That's a helluva thing, but why would it upset Sherry, all of a sudden?" Simon's voice was strained.

"I wish I knew."

****

Sherry opened the door to the small house she shared with her mother, hoping the older woman would be out. No such luck.

"Sherry! How was it?" Smiling, her mom walked into the living room just as Sherry shut the door behind her.

"Mom." Sherry dropped the bag that held her dress to the floor and flopped onto the couch. "It was awesome. And then horrible."

Her mother frowned and sat next to her. "Honey, what happened?"

Sherry sighed heavily. "I'm going to get fired."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Sherry looked down. "I work for an online newspaper. A very aggressive one, remember?" She rubbed her eyes. "There were pictures. Of the three of us: me and Simon and Eli. Kissing."

Sherry's mom looked confused. "The three of you together?"

"Yeah. And Eli and Simon kissing each other." Sherry's gut clenched with dismay. "I bet my editor calls in the next half hour." The landline rang and Sherry looked at her mother ruefully. The phone rang five times before the answering machine picked up. They had the volume turned down so Sherry couldn't hear the message. "I turned off my cell phone last night."

"I don't understand, honey." Sherry's mom ran a hand down her arm. "You know I'm okay with you dating both of them." She laughed. "After Zeke basically married both Eric
and
Carrie, I got used to the idea of a threesome. I won't judge you."

Sherry almost started crying. "I know you won't, Mom. You're not the one I'm worried about. I'm worried about Matt and my job."

"They can't fire you over what you do in your private life!"

"Oh, yes they can. They won't fire me because I'm dating two men, they'll fire me for not reporting on the rich and famous Eli and Simon, duo extraordinaire," Sherry said, flinching as the phone started ringing again. "Shit."

"Maybe you'd better get it," her mom said.

"Yeah." Sherry got up and went into the kitchen. She glared at the phone balefully then picked it up. "Hello?"

"Sherry, what the fuck? You have an in with Eli Moest and Simon River and you don't tell me? I gave you this job because I liked your spunk and now you pull this shit?" Sherry's boss Matt snarled into the phone.

"Matt. Matt! I'm not going to report on people I'm dating. It's a conflict of interest." Sherry said, her tone dismissive. "Besides, you hired me to edit articles, not report on anything, remember?"

"When a scoop as big as River and Moest lands in your lap, I expect you to spill your guts."

Sherry took a deep breath, struggling to hold onto her temper. "You don't pay me to do that. I'm a copy-editor, not a journalist. Remember? Those were your exact words when I told you about the hazardous waste dumping in the Pompton River. You gave Robert that story." She bit out the words.

"You weren't seasoned enough to report on that and you know it."

"That was two weeks ago. Now you're telling me I should be writing about Eli and Simon? The men I'm
dating
?"

"I would've printed it in the society pages," Matt said.

Sherry bit her cheek, hard, so she wouldn't yell curses into the phone. "I'm a copy editor. You made sure I understood that."

"Well, now you're not even a copy editor, Sherry. Don't bother coming in on Monday. You're done here." The line went dead.

Fuck.
Sherry pulled the phone away from her ear and pressed the End button. Her shoulders slumped.

"Oh, honey." Her mom pulled her into a hug.

Sherry turned her face into her mother's shoulder. The familiar scent of roses wafted over her. "I knew this would happen. As soon as I saw those pictures this morning."

"You'll find something else. And it's not like I'm going to kick you out of the house. I like having you here now that you've finished college."

Sherry sniffed, willing herself not to cry. "I know, Mom. I like it here too, it's just—" She leaned back to look into her mother's eyes. "I went to school for journalism. It's all I ever wanted to do. And it's totally impossible. Papers are firing editors and reporters left and right. I was lucky to get that stupid copy-editing job." She felt a tear roll down her face and hurriedly wiped it away. "Dammit. And Eli and Simon are so successful. They're not going to want to date a loser like me." She repressed the pang of relief she felt at the thought then ruthlessly repressed a pang of grief, too. God, she was fucked up. Everything was so confusing.

Sherry's mom looked at her seriously for a moment. "You are a good writer. But more importantly, you made sure that you had other skills. What about all of those marketing classes you took? And didn't your friend Melody get a job at some big company? I bet she could help you."

Sherry sighed. "Yeah. She's worked for her uncle for several years now. I know she'd help me. I just didn't want to have to ask her."

"I know. But your student loans are going to kick in soon and as much as I love having you here, you know I can't afford to help pay them. You don't need to worry about rent or food though."

Sherry looked at her mom, both grateful and ashamed. "I know, Mom. And I really appreciate it." Sherry never wanted to accept charity. She wanted to make it on her own. "This sucks though. I wanted to pay my share, not sponge off you like a parasite."

Her mom laughed. "You're not a parasite. You're my daughter. I love you. You can live here forever. I enjoy your company. And you're a strong woman. You'll figure this out. You always do. You put yourself through college and didn't let what happened with your father hold you back. I'm proud of you. And I have confidence in you."

Sherry hugged her mom close, flinching internally. Her mom didn’t know everything about her. Her mom didn’t know what she’d done in high school. She gritted her teeth. She didn't want to think about high school. She never wanted to think about what happened back then ever again.

Her mom hugged her then gently pulled back. "Now, I've got a hot lunch date with your Aunt Maggie and I've got to get dressed." She kissed Sherry on the head and walked out of the kitchen.

Sherry smiled and looked out the window over the sink. The garden she and her brother Zeke had built beyond the small deck sat in full bloom. Butterflies fluttered around the coneflowers. Sherry knew her mom was right. She'd figure something out. She had to get her shit together. She swallowed, suddenly sure of one thing. She had to get her life in order and she had to do it by herself. For herself. She couldn't see Eli and Simon again.

Chapter Eight

The sixth time Simon set eyes on Sherry it was completely fucking unexpected.

"Okay, we're meeting Melody Tekel and her team at one, right?" Eli asked Simon as they stepped out of the elevators. Simon nodded as he read his email on his phone, not really paying attention to where he was going. Eli continued, "Damn, we need those figures. Did Erica get them to us yet?"

"That's what I'm trying to check." Simon opened up the new message Erica just sent him. "Nope. She doesn't have them yet." He ran into Eli who'd suddenly stopped walking. "Dammit Eli." Simon grabbed his friend's arm. "What the hell—"
Whoa
. Simon stared. At the end of the hall stood Sherry, her back turned to them. He'd recognize that hair anywhere.

"Yeah. Hell." Eli said.

"It's Sherry," Simon breathed. She didn't see them. She was wearing some kind of gorgeous, soft purple dress. She gestured and smiled as she talked to a group of people gathered around the receptionist's desk. Between the dress and her long, curly hair that just touched the delicious curve of her ass, Simon felt like he'd been shocked with a live wire. His cock hardened in his dress pants, growing heavy and sensitive.

Eli sucked in a hard breath. "After two months, she never returned our calls and there she is. Right here under our fucking noses."

Simon's heart gave a desperate thump. She was indeed right there. He stared some more, grabbing at Eli who'd started forward. "No."

"Simon, let me go."

"Not like this. Don't be angry." Simon worried that Eli's temper would get the better of him and Sherry would run.

"I'm fucking pissed. She basically dumped us. I want to know why," Eli insisted, shaking off Simon's hand.

Simon looked at him. Eli looked back.

After a minute of staring, Eli backed down. "Jesus, Simon. Aren't you angry?"

Simon ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I'm angry. She left us. She didn't return our calls."

"And she's a reporter, don't forget about that. Erica found out about her, remember?" Eli leaned against the wall and clenched his teeth. "She didn't tell us."

Simon moved closer. "She didn't rat us out, Eli. You know that. She was with us the entire night."

"She was at the dinner before we arrived. She would've had time to call her editor." Eli bit out.

Simon shook his head and put a hand on Eli's arm, discreetly. "Yes, she did. But you and I both know she wouldn't do that. We
know
her, Eli. And besides, if she was still working as a reporter, what's she doing here?"

Eli sighed, loudly. "I don't know."

Simon looked around, making sure no one was watching their conversation. "Sherry was a virgin,” he insisted quietly. “She waited because she wanted to be sure. She’s not the kind of girl who sleeps around and makes a habit of gossiping about it. And the identity of the woman in the newspapers was never disclosed."

"She wouldn't want her name splashed all over the papers, so of course she didn't let them publish her name," Eli argued.

Simon wanted to throttle his friend. "No gossip rag editor would've let her weasel out of that and you know it." He shook Eli gently. "No. She didn't betray us that night. It was just chance that someone saw us go into the elevators."

Eli pursed his lips. "Then why did she run?"

Simon closed his eyes, the familiar hurt welling up all over again. "I don't know. Maybe she was scared. I know I sure as hell was. What we had together—" He broke off and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, Eli had a tender look on his face. "Oh no, don't start with the googly eyes now." Simon backed up.

Eli laughed, the tension broken. "I can't help it. I fucking love you."

Simon flushed. "Oh for Christ's sake, not here."

Eli grinned. "I love you."

"Stop it. Fuck you." Simon straightened his suit jacket, hoping to cover up the hard-on that pressed out against his pants. Eli's teasing was
not
helping. He deliberately turned his back on his friend. God knew he didn't want to get caught staring like a lovesick fool.

"You know what? Yes. Yeah. I want you to fuck me. Tonight," Eli said quietly into the nape of his neck.

And just like that Simon's world broke apart and remade itself. Again. He whirled around and stared at Eli, thinking of all the nights they'd slept together since August. The hand jobs. The blow jobs. Jesus, his cock ached at the thought. They'd never fucked, though, never taken that last step. Why, Simon wasn't sure. Now Eli had obliterated that line and Simon wanted to take him right now. He wanted Eli badly.

He looked his lover up and down, taking in the broad shoulders and strong hands. The short, golden hair. Simon had to stop himself from pressing a hand against his dick. "Hell, Eli." He looked away down the hall, hoping to gather up some sort of control and found Sherry staring at them. When her eyes met his, she paled and took off through a side door.

"And just like that she's gone again," Eli muttered.

"No, she's not. If she works here, we'll find out everything about her," Simon said. Eli pushed off from the wall, looking skeptical. "We'll get her back."

"Do we want her back?" Eli asked. Simon just looked at him and Eli flushed. "Yeah, okay. That was a dick thing to say."

"You want her as badly as I do, and don't even try to deny it." Simon started walking towards that closed door. He didn't give a flying fuck about their meeting anymore. When Eli put a hand on his neck and moved up beside him, he knew his friend was with him in this, as in all things. They were going to find her.