One Wicked Night (4 page)

He hadn’t thought before he’d done it, just reacted, but the feel of her soft, warm body against his, the smell of her hair, a sweet, fruity, floral scent that filled his senses, almost took him out at the knees and stalled his breath. He wanted to press his mouth to the top of her silky head, wrap her up and… His eyes met Nick’s over Kaelin’s head, Nick’s steady, knowing gaze, and he released Kaelin and stepped back.

She blinked and tugged at the neckline of her dress, cheeks even pinker now.

Avery arrived and her gaze tracked over Kaelin’s flushed cheeks, and Tyler’s own face heated up. “What’s up?”

“I was going to ask if there’d be beer at the reception, but Kaelin tells me there will be.”

Avery laughed. “Beer. Gawd, Tyler. Come on, my other bridesmaid just arrived. Come and meet her.”

Nick and Kaelin followed brother and sister to the French doors into the house where Scott’s best man Hardeep and his girlfriend Maddie stood. Kaelin had met Avery’s new friend a few times. She liked her, but sometimes it was hard not to feel left out when she and Avery talked about all the things they now had in common that Kaelin wasn’t part of. Plus, with Maddie and Hardeep being a couple, and Hardeep and Scott being good friends, the four of them spent a lot of time together. Maddie lived in Avery’s new world, with other friends Kaelin didn’t know. Although Kaelin and Avery shared a history and they would always be friends, their relationship had changed.

Last time Kaelin had visited Avery in Los Angeles, Avery had suggested Kaelin move there. “Don’t be silly,” Kaelin had said. “I can’t move away from Mapleglen.”

“Why not? Seriously. Your mom and dad are gone now. You can easily get a job here at some law firm.”

Kaelin looked down at her wineglass now, remembering how ridiculous and scary that thought had been, and yet…her life in Mapleglen was not the life she somehow had anticipated living. She didn’t even know exactly what she wanted, but she knew there was a hole in her life, an empty dissatisfaction that shifted from mild discontent to aching loneliness.

Maybe she should think about that idea again.

“Okay?” Nick asked in a low voice for her alone.

She smiled at him. “Of course.”

He’d talked to her after she’d slapped Tyler, made sure she was okay, agreed with her that Tyler could be a real jerk, made her laugh. And then he’d hugged her and a warm rush of affection had flowed through her. Well, and a little tingle of something else. Nick was really buff, big and strong and hard.

And so was Tyler. She sighed, thinking about her body’s reaction to Tyler’s casual hug. Man, maybe she should go back to Brent, just so they could sleep together. She was obviously sex-deprived. But sadly, sex with Brent hadn’t been all that great.

Avery introduced people and fetched drinks, and the evening sped by in a blur of conversation and laughter, a lingering awareness sparking her nerves every time she and Tyler locked glances, or she and Nick shared a smile.

“We’re heading out now,” Nick murmured to her later. “Guess we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Oh. You’re not staying here at the house?”

Nick shook his head. “No. Tyler wanted to stay at the hotel.”

“At the Red Maple Inn?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. Well. That’s good, you’ll be right there for the wedding. And the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night. Mrs. Wirth has booked a private room there for dinner.”

“I won’t be at the rehearsal dinner.”

“Oh.” The dinner was the one part of the weekend Kaelin hadn’t had a hand in planning. Avery had allowed her mom to do whatever she wanted for the rehearsal dinner. Kaelin licked her lips, and looked up at Nick. “I guess it’s just for the wedding party.”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “No big deal. I can amuse myself for an evening.”

“I’m sure you still have some friends here.” Nick’s parents had moved away a few years ago, she knew, which was why he had an excuse for never coming back even if Tyler didn’t.

“Yeah. A few.”

Tyler walked up. “Ready to go?”

“Yup.” Guests had started leaving a while ago and the party was winding down.

“I told Avery I’ll help with whatever she needs done tomorrow,” Tyler said. “Apparently there’s all kind of shit to do—picking up decorations and crap.”

Kaelin grinned. “Yeah. Avery will be busy having her spa day.”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “I suppose you’re going with her.”

“Yes.” She sighed. “It’s not my thing, but Avery insisted on treating Maddie and me to manicures and pedicures and some kind of body scrub thing.”

Tyler eyed her body and heat followed his gaze.

“If you’re picking up the decorations, you can bring them to my place,” she said. “So I can take them on Saturday.”

“Where do you live, Kaelin?” Nick asked.

“Same place. My parents’ house.”

“Okay.”

“So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she rushed on a bit breathlessly.

She watched the two men leave out the front door, her nerves twitching, skin tingling. Exhaustion fell over her like a heavy blanket. Wow, what a roller coaster ride of an evening. Seeing Tyler again had her emotions all over the place, leaving her both drained and excited.

Bad. It was so bad.

She’d been so focused on pulling off this wedding for her best friend, making it everything Avery wanted it to be, she’d barely even thought about what it was going to be like to see Tyler and Nick again. It added a whole other dimension to everything, an unexpected, unsettling dimension. She covered her face with one hand briefly and lowered it just as Avery approached her. Avery wrapped her arms around her and hugged her.

“I’m sorry about the scene, Ave,” Kaelin said, hugging her best friend back.

“Don’t even worry about it. Every party needs a little excitement.”

“I don’t think your mom would agree.”

Avery snorted. “You know what she’s like.” She released Kaelin. “What was that about anyway?”

“Um…you mean with Tyler?”

“Yeah.” Avery’s searching gaze had Kaelin turning away to pick up some empty glasses off a table.

“Oh, he just drives me crazy.” She tried for a light and casual laugh but nearly choked on it. Avery followed her into the kitchen with more dishes.

“Mmmm.” Her noncommittal response made Kaelin nervous. “He’s such an intense guy.”

“Intense?” Kaelin shot Avery a glance over her shoulder from the dishwasher. “That’s not a word I would have used to describe Tyler. He always seems like he doesn’t give a shit about anything.”

“He
seems
that way,” she agreed. “So. Let’s talk about what’s happening tomorrow.”

The party finally over, the guests all gone, the kitchen spotless once again, Margot poured herself one last glass of wine. Ken had already gone up to bed, but she needed a few minutes to wind down. Her nerves were stretched taut, her face hurt from the smile she’d kept firmly in place all evening and she was exhausted from making small talk and her constant efforts to make sure every detail of the party was perfect. She really had to get over that, but it wasn’t so easy to let go of the few things she felt control over in her life.

She also wanted to sit down and think about her son.

Tyler. He’d walked into the house and her heart had leaped with joy at the sight of him. He was a man now, taller than his father, broader than his father, though with the same lean athletic build. Everyone said both her children looked like her, with blond hair and blue eyes, but she saw Ken’s strong jaw and high cheekbones in Tyler’s handsome face. She longed to run her hand over his cheek, as she had when he was small, to enfold him in a hug, except now he was a good seven inches taller and probably sixty pounds heavier than she. She smiled wistfully and carried her glass of wine toward her office.

But Tyler hadn’t been so happy to see her. Her heart constricted remembering his cool greeting, the way he’d rebuffed her attempt to hug him, the way he’d avoided her and any attempts to talk to him all evening. Now she ached, deep down inside, a sad painful ache.

She shouldn’t check her email again. There’d been nothing from him earlier, and now it was after midnight there likely wasn’t now. But she knew she was going to. Because chatting with him, telling him about her children, telling him what had happened with Tyler without having to hold anything back, was a bright glowing spot in her bleak, exhausting evening.

She opened the door to her office and stopped short in the doorway. Her husband sat at her computer. He turned to her, his eyebrows drawn into a bewildered frown, his mouth open. “Margot.”

Her heart actually stopped, and she put a hand to her chest as it then hurdled into a rapid, uneven rhythm. “What are you doing?” She thought he’d gone to bed.

“What are
you
doing?” he asked slowly, gesturing to her computer. “Who is this man you’ve been emailing with?”

Her mouth went dry and she swallowed. “Just a friend.”

He rose to his feet and stood here, looking back and forth between her and the computer. “You never mentioned a friend.”

“Ken.” How could she explain this to him? Why did she feel guilty? She’d never met Jeff in person. It was just a friendship, as she’d said. Someone to talk to and laugh with and maybe even flirt a little, but it had never gone beyond that.

He gazed at her and moved his head slowly from side to side. “Margot. I don’t understand what’s been happening with you.”

“I’ve tried to tell you,” she whispered. She clutched the glass of wine in both trembling hands. “I’ve tried.”

He squinted at her, as if having trouble seeing her. Since their children had both left home, she’d been increasingly unhappy with her life. She’d tried to keep busy, with the charity work she knew Ken liked her to do, with her golf and tennis and her friends. Shopping and decorating the house. But lately it hadn’t been enough.

The most embarrassing thing was that she wanted sex. Lots of sex. All the time. She’d chalked it up to some premenopausal hormonal surge. She’d bought sexy lingerie and tried to seduce her husband. It worked. Just not as much as she wanted it to. Perhaps sex every day was a little unrealistic for a sixty-year-old man, but she still believed a couple of times a week was reasonable. Wasn’t it?

Now they had no children around, no reason not to have sex anytime, anywhere they wanted it, but Ken still worked long hours, still came home tired. The frustration from that built on her long-buried hopes and dreams for her life.

“You said you wanted me to retire,” he said now.

“And you said you don’t want to.” She’d suggested they could travel. Maybe to Europe. Australia. Thailand. She’d always wanted to go to Thailand. He’d thought she was nuts.

“I’m not ready to retire. And I don’t understand this…” He threw out a hand toward her computer. “Why?”

She moved across the room on stiff legs. As if it hadn’t been stressful enough with Tyler coming home, disappointing her with his cool demeanor, and then he and Kaelin having that awful blowup, now she had to deal with this.

“I was going to talk to you after the wedding,” she said, sitting on the small couch. She looked down at her wine. “I don’t think I can go on like this.”

He stared at her, hands hanging at his sides. “What are you saying, Margot?”

“I’m saying…I don’t know.” She closed her eyes. Did she have the nerve to leave him? Probably not. Where would she go? What would she do? “I just wanted to get the wedding over with and then talk about it. I’m not happy, Ken.”

His face actually paled. He blinked at her. She’d kind of thought that if she left, he might not even notice.

But yes, he would, because he needed a wife to be out in the community, all smiling and happy and doing charity work and putting on a show of living the life he thought they should live.

“I haven’t been happy for a long time. You knew that.” She kept her voice soft.

She’d tried to explain to him how she felt, but he hadn’t wanted to hear it. He’d never been one to talk about feelings, always wanted to ignore problems. Which was probably why talking online to someone like Jeff had been so easy, so appealing. So dangerous.

Ken still just stood there. He turned back to the computer, where she’d apparently forgotten to delete those last emails. And had left her email program open.

She sighed. They said when people made stupid mistakes like that it was because they wanted to get caught. Not that she’d cheated on him or anything. But maybe it was her subconscious trying to make her deal with this, after so many years of trying to push it so far below the surface.

“I haven’t cheated on you,” she said, voicing that thought. “He is just a friend. Someone to talk to.” She pressed a hand to her aching forehead. “I can’t do this right now. But after the wedding…Ken, we seriously have to talk.”

He left the room, and she heard him climbing the stairs with slow, measured steps, up to their room, upstairs where Avery was now sleeping in her girlhood bedroom. She leaned back and closed her eyes.

At the Red Maple Inn, Tyler and Nick walked into their room, flicking on lights.

“Fuck,” Tyler said. “What a night.” He let out a heartfelt sigh and fell onto the bed. He stared up at the ceiling. He’d been back in town, back with his family, less than a day, and already he’d started acting out all the tension and anger that simmered below the surface with his family. Shit.

“Want one of these?” Nick opened the small bar fridge and held up a beer.

“Nah. Had enough booze.” He heard the fridge door close and then the bed dipped under Nick’s weight as he sat beside him.

Silence settled around them. Tyler lifted his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Neck sore?” Nick asked.

“Hell yeah.”

“Roll over.”

Tyler turned away from Nick, face-down on the bed. Then Nick’s hands found his shoulders and started massaging the tight muscles. His strong fingers dug into rock-like muscles and Tyler groaned.

“You always store all your tension here.”

Tyler grunted a wordless response, his eyes closing. Then the bed shifted again and he felt Nick moving over him, straddling his ass, still kneading tight muscles, using his thumbs to work his way down his spine.