Page 5 of Spark (Lust & Luster)

Aryanna

R oxanne sits down next to me at the women’s brunch, her hands wrapped around her coffee as if she’s warming them, though its ninety degrees and close to one-hundred-percent humidity outside. The air conditioning is running its heart out in here. I guess she could have a chill.

“Hello,” I say as she settles in. “It looks like you and Dante are getting along well.”

She sighs. “That man kept me up all night long. “

That’s quite the visual, but I guess that makes two of us? I think my night awake had to have been much more fun than hers, being that it involved the actual Dante and not whatever fantasy she’s peddling here. But I’m going to keep that little tidbit to myself.

Our table in the beautiful room the Ritz Carlton has for us is nearly full—though the four other bridesmaids had early flights home. So, we start to go through the gifts. I get the awesome job of cataloging who sent what so Alicia and Tom can write a thank-you note.

Roxanne sits close. “You live in San Francisco, don’t you?”

“I do.” I eye her speculatively.

“I have the possibility of a move within my company to San Jose. How far away is San Francisco?”

“By miles, not even fifty. However, the traffic is a bitch. It’s often a giant parking lot from San Francisco all the way to San Jose, so that short drive can take you well over two hours.”

She sits back in her chair. “Hmm… I wonder if I could talk him into living outside of the city.”

My brows shoot up. “Dante?”

“Yes. I’ve never experienced chemistry like I do with him.”

Well, that makes two of us .

Just then Alicia turns and reaches for Roxanne. “Did you and Dante hook up?”

“A lady never talks.” Roxanne sits forward. “But can I say that man just looks at me, and I come.”

I’m trying desperately to hold in my surprise that Roxanne is considering a job transfer and a move to be close to a man who spent the night with me.

But, maybe there’s still hope for them. He’s going to need somebody to help him nurse his wounds because he’s going to be very pissed off at me before too long.

Before I can formulate a comment, fireworks explode with the arrival of the step-monster.

“It’s bad enough you had to ruin my daughter’s wedding for me,” Mrs. McKay laments. “Now you’re going to do this?”

“I was invited to the wedding.” Melissa McKay, step-monster and the other Mrs. McKay stands with her hands on her hips.

“No, you weren’t.” Mrs. McKay faces off against her. “In fact, I know for certain that the invitation was written to Alicia’s father only. It did not include a guest.”

“I’m his wife. You are not. It’s not my fault your husband went looking for something else.”

I look at Roxanne and Alicia, and we all are wide-eyed.

“You may be his wife, but you had to open your legs for a married man.” The first Mrs. McKay shakes her head. “Remember, a zebra’s stripes never change.”

“It’s not like you were a saint.”

“Why are you here today?” Alicia’s mother asks.

“I’m here to celebrate with Alicia. We have a fabulous relationship, and we like each other. I know that’s not something you want to hear, but for the sake of our family, cool your jets and get over yourself.”

Alicia’s mouth hangs open. I know for a fact that she despises her father’s current wife.

Nothing about their relationship makes the situation anything more than tolerable in Alicia’s eyes.

Not to mention, Alicia is firmly in her mother’s corner when it comes to how the marriage dissolved. Her father managed it terribly.

I reach for Alicia’s hand and squeeze. She stands, and I call over her mother to sit with Roxanne and me. Alicia moves her step-monster to the other side of the room, and without a word being spoken, it becomes our goal to keep them as far apart as we can all morning.

Thankfully, as far as I know, Alicia’s father’s wife doesn’t have an appointment with us at the spa after we’re done here.

“Mrs. McKay, what did you think of yesterday? Did you have fun?” Roxanne asks.

Thank goodness someone is thinking on her feet.

Alicia’s mother nods. “It was a beautiful day, despite the heat and the little bit of drama we had with your dresses. It was a lot of fun. It really spoke to Alicia and Tom’s personalities.”

I nod. “I think you’re exactly right. It was totally them, and it was the most fun I’ve ever had at a wedding.”

“So much fun that you disappeared at nine o’clock last night,” Roxanne snipes.

I count to five in my head before I respond. “I suppose I could have stayed longer, but Alicia and Tom had gone, and while all of you have been very kind and open and friendly to me, after a long day, I was exhausted and figured I was better company to myself than I would be with anybody else.”

Roxanne looks at Mrs. McKay. “I got to spend the evening with Dante.”

Guess she’s sticking by that one.

Mrs. McKay smiles. “That man is a catch. Tragic story with his parents being killed when he and his brothers and sister were children, but they’ve done so much to keep their parents’ legacy alive. With the diamond mine, on paper they’re worth several billion dollars.”

Roxanne’s eyes are saucers. She seems sure she’s hit the jackpot. “They have a diamond mine?”

I turn and look at her stunned with this revelation. With all his bragging he never mentioned that.

“It’s in northern Nevada,” Mrs. McKay says. “It’s being run by their father’s business partner. They own several businesses.”

I can see the wheels in Roxanne’s mind churning as she figures out a way to get to Dante.

I shouldn’t be jealous. Sure, we had an amazing night—and quite possibly we’ll have another one this evening—but we’re a wedding hookup.

That’s all he’s ever going to be for me.

If he’s going to be Roxanne’s happily ever after, I guess I’ll be excited for her.

But not right now.

I turn back toward the enormous pile of gifts.

The old Mrs. McKay and the new Mrs. McKay snipe all morning at each other, and eventually, I worry they’re bringing on a migraine.

Fortunately, before we’ve even finished our task, we say goodbye to the new Mrs. McKay, who is leaving with her husband for Barbados for a few days, to rest and relax after the stress of the wedding.

Once she’s gone, the old Mrs. McKay harrumphs. “That asshole couldn’t be bothered to put any money toward Alicia’s wedding. I hope he wrote them a big check yesterday.”

When we’ve finally opened and organized everything, we pack up all the gifts, leaving several trash bags full of wrapping paper.

Tom and Alicia did extremely well. I counted over fifty gifts that she received at the wedding itself.

Alicia told me discreetly that they’d received almost twenty thousand dollars in cash.

“Plus the gifts that were delivered to the house.” She shakes her head. “I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.”

“What did your dad give you?” I ask.

Alicia narrows her eyes. “Did my mom ask you to find out?”

“No,” I tell her, leaving it at that.

Alicia looks over to where her mother is talking to someone from the hotel. “Don’t tell her, but he wrote me a check and it bounced.”

“Was this before he paid for Barbados or after?”

“I don’t know. But Tom says he’s been thinking with his dick for too long, and he needs to pull his head out.”

I smirk. “I think I agree with Tom.”

Shortly after that, we head over to the spa here in the hotel. They’ve given us our own room so we can spend the afternoon relaxing as a group. I drink my mimosas and smile, despite it feeling like a migraine is blooming.

My cell phone pings.

Dante: Wish I was there rubbing oil all over your back and other places.

Me: Chances are you can do that later. I have a spot that is rather hard and tight that needs work. I promise to return the favor.

Dante: Only because you asked so nicely.

Me: How’s the golf going?

Dante: Charles and Chip are making bets on who’s going to take you back to their room tonight.

Me: Ha! How little they know.

Me: According to Roxanne, you brought her to multiple orgasms last night.

Dante: Who’s Roxanne? Isn’t that Alicia’s stepmom?

Me: She’s the woman who flirted with you in the elevator this morning.

Dante: As long as she didn’t ruin my cred. Chip and Charles might be jealous if they knew I was getting both of you off last night and not in the same room.

I snort.

Me: I don’t want to hold you back, if you want a piece of that. Go for it. But you should be warned, she’s already talking about transferring her job to San Jose and wondering if you’ll commute up the 101 into the City.

I know it was catty to share that, but I couldn’t help myself.

I shouldn’t care who Dante spends his time with. We’re a wedding fling. But the thought of Roxanne in his orbit makes my chest feel tight in a way I’m not ready to examine.

Dante doesn’t respond before my name is called, and I go back for my ninety-minute massage.

When I return to our private room, it’s just Alicia there.

“I really wanted you to hook up with Dante,” she says once I’ve relaxed in a lounger. “He seems more your speed than Roxanne’s.

I’m not ready to tell her about my night, but I want to let her know about Roxanne. “I think if you were to ask Dante, you might get a different story than the one Roxanne’s telling.”

Alicia sits back, her eyes wide. “That girl did that when we were in school. She was once planning a wedding to a guy she’d never even had a single date with.”

We both shake our heads.

“When I talked to him this morning, he honestly didn’t know who Roxanne was.” I shrug.

Alicia’s face twists. “I did tell you Dante was a bit of a manwhore. He may have had fun with her without ever catching her name.”

I nod. “You could be right. Maybe that’s exactly what happened.”

Roxanne returns and flounces into another lounger. “I feel so relaxed.”

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Alicia says.

“If I could do this every day, life would be perfect,” she replies.

“What do you do for work that you can transfer to San Jose?” I ask her.

“I work for a marketing firm out of Chicago. We handle multibillion-dollar companies, and there are several managed out of our offices there. The head of the office just left to stay home with her kids because her husband’s startup hit big, and she doesn’t need to work anymore.”

“Lucky her,” I say.

“I know. Millionaires and billionaires must be on every street corner.”

“It doesn’t really work like that. There are a lot of people with money, but it’s all paper money.”

“Isn’t all money paper?”

I shake my head. “I mean they have stock options. They can only be exercised a few times a year, and they’re sold for the lowest price of the quarter.”

“Why do they do that?”

“They know all the down and dirty about the company. It prevents a giant sell off, which could tank the stock prices. But a lot of stockholders don’t sell, because if they do, they lose the ability to control the company.”

“Well, it’s better than cold Chicago winters.”

I smile. “I hope you get the job then.”

“They’ve been bugging me about taking it over, and now after this weekend, I’m seriously considering it.”

“I think you should do it,” I tell her. “Even if Dante doesn’t work out, it’s good for your career, right?”

“That’s what I’m thinking while I was getting my massage. I figure there are plenty of men in the Bay Area, if he’s not the one.”