Tangled Beauty (13 page)

***

Reed

After leading
Pastor Richie to my mother, who was in the kitchen making plans with the caterer, I went upstairs to check on Sela. Unfortunately, she wasn’t around. I called her cell phone.

“Hello,” she answered, sounding slightly winded.

“I’m back. You still by the pool?”

“
Yes, I’ll be right up.”

“Okay, I’m in
your room.” I hung up, collapsed onto her bed and turned on the television. A few minutes later, she breezed into the bedroom, engulfing me with the smell of coconuts and mango.

“Hi,”
she said, leaning over to kiss my lips.

“Hi. How’d it go?” I asked.

Her eyes widened. “How did
what
go?”

I yawned. “R
elaxing, swimming, working on your tan…how did it go?”

She walked over to
her suitcase and started rifling through it. “Okay. I’m full of chlorine and tanning oil. I’m going to take a shower.”

I started flipping through
the channels. “Good idea.”

“Reed, I’m starving,” she said
, grabbing her shampoo. “Let’s go someplace and eat.”

I glanced at her
. “I’m sorry, I just went to lunch. I’m sure Gretchen can fix you something. We’ll go check with her when you’re finished with the shower.”

She
put her hands on her hips and gave me a venomous look.

Oh shit.

“You went to lunch
without
me? I thought you were just doing a couple of errands,” she snapped.

I shrugged.
“I met up with Jesse and Sinclair. It wasn’t something I’d planned to do
without
you, it just happened. Beside,” I smiled.  “What’s one less salad in your life?”

“What
in the hell is that supposed to mean?”

I turned off the television and stood up. “You hardly eat anything,
Sela. Even if you would have joined us, you probably would have nibbled on vegetables and crackers.”

She raised her chin in the air. “At least I wouldn’t have been stuck here
.”

I stared at her incredulously.
“I asked you if you wanted to join me today, but you declined.”

Her lips thinned.
“Well, you should have asked
harder
.”

Jesus Christ.

Her phone started vibrating and she grabbed it. After reading a text message, she looked at me. “Fine, if you’re not going to take me anywhere then could you find me something to eat while I’m in the shower?”

I nodded.
“Sure, how about a sandwich?”

“
I’d
prefer
a salad, tossed in vinaigrette dressing.”

Sighing, I walked towards the door. “I’ll see what I can find.”

***

Sinclair

I finally got a hold of Jesse, who had driven all the way back to Alex’s. Apparently, Alex had given him an ultimatum- either tell his parents about the two of them, or move on.

“He wants to marry me, Sin,” he said. “But, the truth is, I’m not really ready for marriage. I mean, I care about him, a lot. But…”

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

“I don’t know, yet. He’s actually giving me a week to decide.”

“What about you
r job? Are you going to have to leave the company?”

“He said I could stay but our relationship would have to be totally platonic.”

“But that would be…”

“Awkward,” he said.

“Obviously. Well, at least he’s not being a total asshole about it.”

Jesse sighed. “He’s a good guy but he just doesn’t understand, I’m only twenty-four and he’s thirty-six. I’
m not ready for that kind of commitment, yet.”

“
Then you’d better not do it,” I said. “If you do it just to make him happy, it will never work. You’ll both be miserable in the long run and you’ll end up hating each other.”

He sighed.
“My thoughts exactly. I just needed to hear it from someone else.”

“You’re
um…driving back to your parents, right?”

“I’ll be back before
the party. I want to try and talk to him a little more. Try to somehow reason with him.”

“Okay. Don’t f
orget, you still have my dress and shoes for tonight’s party in your trunk, though.”

He swore
under his breath. “Okay, I’ll be home by six, at the latest.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Hey,
there’s something else,” I said.

He paused. “What?”

I thought about everything he had on his plate at the moment, and decided to wait. “I’ll tell you later, it’s not important.”

He snorted. “My dad didn’t hit on you, did he?”

“I…ah… no,” I said.

“Good. If he does, you have my permission to slug him.”

“Okay,” I said.

“And stay away from Mimi until the party starts. She’s going to be going nuts, getting everything ready.”

“Maybe I should try and help her out?”

“God forbid, don’t even offer. This is her show and she won’t even appreciate your offer. Just relax, go for a walk, or stay in the room until I get back.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

“
Sin, I’m sorry about taking off like this,” he said.

“No,
it’s okay,” I said. “I get it. Really I do.”

“Thanks sweetie
, I’ll see you in a few.”

After hanging up, I
couldn’t help but agonize over the horrible scene in the sauna. When it was all said and done, I decided to talk to Reed, since it was his right to know about Sela. If it was me, I would certainly want to know.

I left the bedroom and walked down the hallway towards his bedroom. As I raised my hand to knock,
I heard someone clear their throat and turned my head.

“Miss me already?” asked
Reed, coming towards me, holding a tray of food.

I blushed. “Um, no I just needed to talk to you.”

“Okay. I have to take this salad back to Sela’s room, first.”

Before I could answer,
Sela walked out of
her
bedroom. “Oh, there you are…”

He handed her the
tray of food. “I’ll be right back, Sinclair needs to talk.”

Sela
turned and glared at me. “
You
need to talk? Where’s Jesse?”

“He had to check in at work,” I said. “But he should be back
, soon.”

“Well, I’m sure you two can talk in front of me,” she said
, her lips thinned. “Reed and I have no secrets.”

Right.

He stared at me and must have noticed something in my expression. He turned back to Sela. “I’m sure it’s about Jesse. Why don’t you finish your lunch and I’ll be back as soon as I can?”

She frowned. “
Make it quick. We’ve had hardly any time to ourselves.”

“It won’t take long,” I said.

She glared at me one last time, then turned and slammed the bedroom door.

Reed winced. “Sorry about that. She’s a little sensitive.”

“That’s a nice way to put it.”

He walked over to me and smiled.
“So, your bedroom or mine?”

“How about by the pool?”
I said.

“The pool?”

I nodded.

Yes, near
the scene of the crime.

***

Reed

I followed Sinclair out to the pool, staring in awe at the way her ass moved in her shorts. It seemed to taunt me with every step.

“So,” she said, sitting down at one of the poolside tables. “I don’t even know how to tell you this…”

I sat down across from her. “Don’t worry, I hear it all the time.”

She looked at me, shocked. “What?”

“You can’t stop thinking about me,” I said, grinning broadly. “I know, it’s tough.”

She
sat back in the chair and sighed. “Somehow I think you’re going to get through this just fine.”

I raised my eyebrows. “
Get through what?”

“Reed!” hollered
Jack, waving from patio. “Mimi needs you!”

“Can it
wait?” I yelled.

He shook his head.
“No, she needs you right now.”

“Shit,”
I said, standing up. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”

“Okay,” she said.

I walked back towards the house. “What does she need?”

“Go and find out,” he said
, taking a sip of brandy or whatever the fuck he was drinking, now. “She’s in the dining room.”

“Fine.”

Jack rubbed the side of his moustache and motioned towards Sinclair. “Where’s Jesse?”

“I’m not sure.
”

“Huh. Well, I’ll keep Sinclair busy until you get back,” he said, stepping off
of the deck.

I glance back towards Sinclair, who looked less than pleased to see Jack walking towards her.

***

Sinclair

Crap, what in the hell does
he want?
I thought, watching as Jack approached.

“Mind if I join you?” he as
ked.

“
Go ahead,” I said, wishing he’d just go away.

Instead, he sat down right next to me.

He raised his glass. “Would you care for a drink?”

“No thanks,
” I said, looking towards the house.

He drank the rest of his and
set it down on the table. “So…”

I looked back
at him and tried to hide my revulsion. He repelled me, made my skin crawl.

Jack glanced
back towards the house and then his eyes shifted back to me. He licked his lips. “So,
Sinnn
…did you enjoy the show in the sauna?”

My eyes widened in shock
.

“You
could have joined us, you know,” he said with a wolfish grin.

I stood up
, totally appalled. “That’s sick.”

“Sit down,” he demanded
, sharply.

Stunned
by the acid in his tone, I obeyed, like a small child.

“Now,” he said, his eyes pinning me to the chair
. “You’re going to keep your mouth
shut
. If you say one word to anyone, you’ll regret it. I have connections everywhere and trust me- you
don’t
want to fuck with me. You got that, sweetheart?”

I opened my mouth but
couldn’t speak.

“You got that?” he growled. “I’
m not fucking around here. Answer me!”

I nodded
, vehemently.

He rel
axed, his entire demeanor changed and I wondered if he was psychotic.

“
Good,” he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Because I can also make things very good for you, too. You’re a beautiful girl and as you witnessed, earlier, I enjoy beautiful girls.”

Bile rose in the back of
my throat as his eyes raked over my body.

“You’re not f
rom around here, so I’m sure you have no idea how powerful I am. But,” he smiled, smugly. “I’m a fucking
king
in these parts, so, having me as a friend is to your benefit. You need a favor- anything, you come to Jack. A small loan, some financial advice, a little company…”

“Never,” I whispered
, hoarsely.

His face darkened.
“Well, I can see that you need some time to understand the gravity of this situation. While you do that,” he said, standing up. “I’m going to go and mix myself another drink. Would you like one?”

I shook my head.

“Fine,” he said, swaying slightly. “Your loss.”

As he walked back
towards the house, I looked down at my hands and noticed they were trembling. I stood up and went inside to my room, not wanting to be around when the sociopath returned.

Reed