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Someone pounds on the door, and then I hear my grandmother’s voice. “Rudy! I know you’re in there!”
CHAPTER 14
Lily
There’s no fear like the feeling of Agnes walking in on a topless me making out with her grandson. Or, horror of horrors, her walking in on me riding his fingers to orgasm. I shove away from him, scramble to button my blouse, and tamp down my hair, my heart hammering against my ribs.
For some reason, instead of staying in the kitchen and gathering myself, I follow Rudy down the hall to the front door. Don’t ask me why. I have no idea. Maybe there’s some tether attaching me to Rudy, and my tightly wound body just can’t bear to be that far away from him. Rudy paints that charming smile on his face and opens the door once we’re both decent. “Hey, Grandma.”
“I found these ledgers at home. They have sales from when the computers go down.” She hands him a stack of red-bound ledgers, then cuts her gaze to me. Her eyes travel down to my shirt, and I realize with horror that I misaligned my buttons. There’s a gaping hole in the front of my blouse right at boob level.
Wonderful. I wonder how long it’ll take for the whole town to hear about this.
I clear my throat and duck into the spare bedroom to grab my purse. “I should go,” I say, reappearing with my arms crossed to hide my chest. “I’ll be back in the morning to keep working,” I tell the room at large, looking at no one.
“Lily, wait,” Rudy starts, but I just shake my head.
“Bye!” I make my escape, and don’t take a full breath until I’m back outside my own apartment building. When my phone rings, I jump.
It’s Trina. Somehow, I manage to keep my voice steady as she invites me over for dessert, since the girls somehow congregated there this evening and they were missing me. Not wanting to go up to my lonely apartment, I tell her I’ll be there shortly. After a quick trip upstairs to get her freshly dry-cleaned velvet dress, I head across town to Trina’s place.
The lights are ablaze when I get to Trina’s house, and I enter just in time to say goodnight to Toby and Katie as Mac leads the kids upstairs. Trina, Candice, Fiona, Jen, Simone, and surprisingly, Nora, are sitting around the kitchen island sharing what looks like far too many bottles of wine.
They all cheer when I enter.
I drop my purse and the garment bag with Trina’s dress on the kitchen counter and face them all. “Agnes just nearly walked in on me making out with Rudy.”
If I thought their cheer was loud, it’s nothing compared to the squeals that follow my words. I bury my face in my hands until I’m pulled closer and told to explain.
The girls are in stitches by the end of my story.
“But why did you leave?” Simone says, outraged.
“Come on,” I reply, giving her an incredulous look. “Would you have stayed?”
“With Rudy? Hell yes!” Trina giggles right after yelling the words.
More laughter sounds. Mac appears at the mouth of the kitchen with arched brows. “Do I want to know what you ladies are talking about?”
“That depends,” Jen says just as Fiona interjects with, “Probably not.”
Grinning, Mac just crosses to Trina and plants a wet one right on her lips. “I’m going to the studio. Be back in a couple of hours.”
We all watch him walk away—it’s a nice view—and then all attention returns to me. I jerk my chin to Trina’s dress. “I think they got all the champagne out, but if not, I’ll reimburse you for it.”
Trina waves a hand. “If that dress died in service of getting you laid, it’s a worthy sacrifice.”
More cackles sound, and I just roll my eyes. I help myself to some sparkling water from the fridge and slide onto a barstool, then let the embers of embarrassment fade from my blood. I learn that Nora is an art director for a magazine in Reno, and has to drive back to Reno for what seems like the millionth time because her boss is demanding she attend a meeting.
“My boss said he was fine with me moving away as long as I did the work, but there always seems to be some fire that needs to be put out in the office. It’s costing me a fortune in gas,” Nora says, sipping her wine.
“Clearly, he was lying,” Simone says. “You should put out some feelers. I can ask around for you too.”
“That would be good,” she says. “I love my job, but the drive is getting old.”
By the time a few hours have gone by, the remnants of my evening with Rudy have faded. I say goodbye to the girls and make my way home, sinking into my bed with a sigh.
Now I just need to face Rudy tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, until this audit is over…and somehow do it without falling for him or embarrassing myself.
