“You win,” I said, and could see her visibly relax.
“I found out what’s been making Tracy nuts. It all ties back to Bill Rogers this last summer. An accident happened, and Bill and Tracy were involved in a cover-up. He used that to blackmail her. She ended up being his personal punching bag, and he raped her repeatedly. She tried to stand up to him, but he kept harassing her. He even threatened to kill me. Then at the party where we fought, he choked her and would have killed her.
“The reason no one’s talking is because almost nobody outside my immediate family knows. That, plus I signed a nondisclosure agreement. Tracy told me the whole story Saturday. Since then things have been cleared up, and she’s talked to the police. So you’re right, some serious stuff was going on. I don’t keep secrets from you, normally, but I felt this one was not mine to tell.”
“Is Tracy all right?” she asked.
“I’m worried that she’s a little manic right now. I think she’s going to be in therapy for a long time. I know I would be if I took that kind of abuse.”
“That’s probably a good idea. David, I’m sorry for acting like a stalker. I knew you were involved, and it had to be something bad because no one would even give me a hint. I was just worried about you.”
“I know. I love you, too. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you.”
“I understand. Next time make me listen,” she said. “What am I saying? There’ll never be a next time, right?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“God, I miss you. I could really use a hug.”
“Hang on.”
I picked up my cell phone and called Harper.
“This better be good,” she said.
“Tami needs a hug. She’s been a little upset.”
She just hung up on me. I smiled at Tami and waited for Harper to come into her room. The girls hugged.
“What did the ‘stupid boy’ do?” Harper asked her while giving me a dirty look.
“He kept a secret from me.”
“Well, I’m here now. Did you straighten him out?”
“Yes. He and I talked it out. I just needed a hug.”
Harper gave me a smile that let me know she’d take care of Tami for me.
AT LUNCH, I NOTICED the guys had split off from the table to spend time with their new girlfriends. We were now able to get everyone at two tables.
“David, I have news,” Gina smiled at me.
It had to be about Kara.
“So, tell me.”
“Guess who just signed with Adrienne’s new agency?”
“I thought they were waiting till August to start that?”
“Ford jerked her around. She went ahead and had Tyler get it set up. Adrienne won’t be running it till then.”
“Has she signed anybody else besides Kara?”
“I don’t know, but Kara was excited. They got her the cover of Torque magazine. She’s doing the center layout as well.”
Torque was similar to Maxim, in that it was geared towards hip young men that liked a little skin in their reading materials. Getting the cover of Torque was a big deal. Torque’s Internet site was genius because they were basically a porn portal. They’d figured out a way to mask your Internet activity at work. So if you were watching a hot threesome, your company’s security software would think you were watching a work-related video. Kara’s picture would be on the home page for the month her issue was at the newsstands. She would get a hundred times more exposure from the website than the actual magazine.
“That’s a big deal. Next time you talk, tell her I’m happy for her.”
Gina looked behind me and grinned.
“Incoming! Looks like someone’s had a change of heart,” Gina announced.
Everyone but me turned to see Lisa Felton headed over.
“Hey, Lisa,” Gina said to let me know she was right behind me.
I glanced back and did a little head-bob with a half-smile and then turned back to Gina. I winked at her, letting her know I was playing hard to get. All conversation for a couple of tables around us had stopped. Ed looked over and I gave him a smile. He shook his head in defeat.
“Ah, David ...?” Lisa started out tentatively.
I turned to face her and looked into her eyes, waiting for her next move.
“If your offer’s still good, I’d like to go out with you next weekend.”
“I’d almost forgotten about that. Are you sure? You didn’t act like you wanted to, the last time we talked. I’d hate to force you to go out with me.”
Okay, that was a little mean. Greg had taught me that if they were skittish or bitchy you needed to do a little take-away to close the deal.
“No, no, I really want to go out with you. I was just not thinking right last time. I’m sorry.”
“Let me get this cleaned up, and we can go spend a few minutes talking about our date ... alone.”
Her smile could have lit up the whole town as I grabbed my tray. I deposited the garbage and stacked my tray on top of the tray bin. The whole cafeteria watched in stunned silence as I took her hand and we walked outside by side to the exit.
We found a vacant classroom and stepped in for some privacy. I felt I should tell her that Missy was coming up next weekend.
“Come here,” I told her, and she came into my arms and kissed me.
“I have a conflict next weekend. Do you know who Sunny Skye is, the entertainment reporter?”
She nodded.
“She’s taking me to the dance on Friday.”
Her eyes clouded over.
“What about Saturday?”
“I have a friend coming down from Wesleyan for the weekend.”
“Is this the same kind of friend as your others?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“I’m so stupid. You’re never going to be my boyfriend, are you?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean that I want to be anyone’s boyfriend. It also doesn’t mean that I don’t want to spend time with you. You’re a sexy girl. I’m not ready to have a girlfriend. I found that out the hard way when I was dating April. All I can do is be honest with you. It’s up to you if you want to spend time with me.”
“So the best I can hope for is that you’re my friend-with-benefits.”
“You make that sound like something bad,” I said to her, smiling.
I slid my hands up the back of her legs to lift her skirt and cupped her bare bottom. I pulled her to me as our eyes locked and I gave her a smoldering look. The bell rang to signal the end of lunch.
“What’s it going to be?” I asked.
“I’m defenseless when it comes to you. Yes, I’ll be your friend-with-benefits,” she said, and then ran from the room.
I WAS AT THE HOTEL in Miami by ten o’clock. I had a message to meet Adrienne in the club attached to the hotel. I asked Angel if she wanted to go, but she passed. I went down to the club and the bouncer gave me a smirk and let me in. I’d figured he would check my ID. I found Adrienne with Abby and Andi Ferrell and three men in suits.
I’d been around Adrienne enough to know when someone irritated her. The man next to her seemed to be hitting on her. Good luck with that. Abby and Andi were into conversations with their guys. Adrienne’s eyes caught mine and begged me to help her.
I figured there’d be a price to pay for my help. I walked up and put my hand out. When she took it, I pulled her up and gave her a big kiss hello. She gave me a look that told me she’d pay me back later. The kiss got the attention of the twins. They jumped up and wanted kisses hello as well. I now had three gorgeous women happy to see me, and three irritated men thinking of ways to get rid of me.
Adrienne introduced me to the guys.
“This is David. We’ll be working with him tomorrow. This is Dave, Paul and Al. They’re all with Ford corporate and are here to make sure the shoot goes well.”
I grabbed a chair from another table, and we all sat down. The waitress came over, we ordered drinks and Adrienne asked if I was hungry. Of course I could eat, so she ordered some appetizers and me a salad. I guess I must be getting fat.