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“I’m interested in Vivian Vandemark because I like to keep bureaus close.” That and the warm vanilla scent on her skin drives me wild. After dinner, when I was standing at the valet station with her, I saw the exact moment her eyes darkened. She wanted me to kiss her. Her lips parted and she tilted her head ever so slightly. She was silently begging, and I’ll bet you a thousand dollars she had no idea she was doing it.
I didn’t give in, which I’ve regretted more than once. I can’t decide if I was testing her or testing myself.
“Well, then, I suggest you RSVP yes to the Stargazer event Saturday on behalf of Owen Construction.” My brother plunges his hands into his pants pockets.
“Why? Because you’d rather not?”
“I’ll go with you if you want.” He shrugs.
“And do what, pencil pusher?” A joke. He’s great in a group of stiffs and, unlike me, everyone likes him instantly. It’s the big-ass grin that makes him approachable, or it could be his perfectly straight nose. My large frame and crooked facial features tend to spook the locals. But not Vivian, I think with a smug curve of my lips.
“A representative of CRBI will probably be there, you know.”
I hadn’t considered Vivian might be in attendance. My interest spikes. I try to hide it with a blasé, “And?”
“Like you don’t want to see the woman consuming your every thought.”
Every other thought, maybe, but not every.
“Haven’t seen you this distracted in a while. Not since Deb—”
“That was a long time ago, Benji.” Eons. And the only way she ever “consumed” me was praying-mantis style. “I don’t fraternize anymore. A dinner here or a professional function there is acceptable. A full-on affair?” I shake my head but it’s hard to do when my entire body is screaming YES. An affair with Vivian is too tame a term for what would happen if we wound up in bed together. We’d incinerate the sheets to ash. Cinders would burn for days…
“Sure, Nate. Whatever you say.”
“Don’t push me,” I warn, pointing at the car for him to get in. “Unless you’d like me to start asking a bunch of questions about Cristin.”
“Ask away,” he says easily as he slides into the car. “She’s a family friend, and arguably my closest ally.”
“Ally. Could you be more of a robot?” I reverse out of Grand Marin, vowing to take my car in for a bath today. Have to clean her up since I’ll be visiting the art institute on Saturday.
“I’m exercising the control you evidently can’t,” Benji says. “Keeping my business and my private life sequestered. Cris is a close friend and a professional. If I came on to her, she’d—”
“Faint dead away,” I finish for him.
“No. She’d—”
“Orgasm instantly.”
“Jesus, Nate.” He sounds perturbed, but not because of my lewd comment. If you ask him, he’ll say he doesn’t like to think of Cris that way. If you ask me, I think it’s because he very much likes to think of Cris that way. It’s a shame he won’t let himself have nice things.
What Benji lost as a kid was unwarranted, unexpected. Devastating. His parents were professionals—his mom was a nurse and his dad was a doctor. Talk about two people who should live as long as possible.
Meanwhile my parents were destroying themselves and the people around them. How long were a junkie and his codependent wife meant to live? Who were they helping? Not long, and no one are the answers. Anyway, Benji has a wound and it keeps him from letting himself be too comfortable.
“Vivian’s an orphan,” I say before I mean to. “She mentioned she was parentless at dinner, but she was an adult when it happened.” Whatever “it” was. I didn’t ask. I haven’t shaken the idea she’s hiding something from me, but why does it matter? Like Benji, I should keep my personal life and business life sequestered.
Unfortunately, I like amalgamation.
“A woman who works at CRBI is destined for a frumpy husband who sells insurance.”
I make a face like I ate an olive—I hate olives.
“If you saw her, you’d never say that,” I grumble. I don’t like the idea of Vivian with a frumpy anything. Including her wardrobe. She dusted off her finest frock for our dinner together. I noticed, but didn’t mention it. She wanted me to notice, but not mention it. I was merely obeying her wishes.
“I took her to Villa Moneta,” I tell my brother as I drive.
“Villa Moneta.” Benji whistles. “Fancy place if all you were trying to do is keep her in your pocket.”
