Chapter 17

I woke with a start and felt the bed shift beside me. I was confused at where I was and who was with me for a long moment. “Jane?” I whispered when I’d figured it out.

“You were having nightmares,” she said softly. She was wearing a long sleep-shirt and she climbed under the covers with me. We settled down and I pulled her against me. It felt good to share a bed again. My daytime adventures with Doris didn’t count since we were just using the bed for sex. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and we fell asleep spooned together comfortably.

The next morning, I woke up feeling pleasantly warm. I didn’t want to wake up, so I burrowed deeper under the covers, pulling Jane’s equally warm body closer as I settled back down, drifting in between being asleep and awake. I held her close, loving the feel of my skin on hers as we drifted together.

Wait ... SKIN?!!?

That thought woke me up and I opened my eyes reluctantly. I was looking at a bare shoulder. I could swear she was dressed when she got into bed with me. Then I became aware that I had a breast in each hand as I cuddled to her from behind. How the fuck was I going to get my hands back and get out of bed without waking her and freaking her out? I was trying to figure out if I could ease her into a better position to move my hands when she spoke.

“A girl could get used to this,” she said and suddenly her hands were covering mine on her chest. She pressed them more firmly against her breasts, purring contentedly.

I took the hint and gently massaged her breasts while she stretched lazily. Her breasts were very small compared to what I was used to and much firmer. My last three lovers had been Cecilia, Barb and Doris. Cecilia was the smallest of them and she was a D-cup. Doris had to be a whole different category.

“Mmm! That feels nice,” she said softly. “You slept pretty well after I snuggled up to you,” she observed.

I kissed the side of her neck affectionately. “I’m not used to sleeping alone,” I confessed.

“Maybe tonight, you’ll find a nice, sexy, TEMPORARY lady to keep you comfortable at night then. If not, then you’ll just have to figure out another remedy. Maybe we’ll get you a dog.”

I chuckled at that. “You know, I thought of that when Barb started her shit. I kept thinking that at least dogs are loyal.”

She laughed at that. “Nice. You’d probably get a better fuck out of a bitch we found at the pound, too,” she WAS feeling vindictive toward her sister today. I didn’t protest. It felt pretty good to have someone else saying the things I was only able to think. I kept it on simmer because Cecilia worked with her. I didn’t want to poison that relationship for her by getting her in the habit of trashing Barb.

“I promise, I’ll get a dog if I ever start thinking about taking Barb back,” I said dryly.

She chuckled and then cuddled in closer. I hugged her from behind and whispered that I was looking forward to having her visit in the summer. We stayed like that for a little while longer and then she sighed. “We really should get up,” she commented. “I’m going with Cecilia today and she said she was starting early.”

I murmured my agreement and gave her one last squeeze and a very attentive kiss just beneath her ear before I let her go.

She flung back the covers and sat up, running her fingers through her hair to shake it out. She looked beautiful in the morning light and I told her so. She turned back to me and gave me a kiss on the lips before she hopped out of bed. She was dressed in the tiniest black thong imaginable. She smirked at me and deliberately bent over to get her night-shirt from the floor, giving me a direct view of her ass and pussy. Her peach was cupped in the tiny scrap of fabric and I was sorely tempted to reach over and tear her panties off. Fuck Barb, fuck the party, fuck the world, but fuck that perfect pussy first, hard and often.

I groaned and flopped back into bed with my eyes closed, burning that image into my memory forever. I heard her giggle in delight and then she scampered off to her room to get ready to face the day. I poked around the kitchen and decided that Barb had left a few holes when she’d been putting the household together. I needed things in the kitchen. I missed having a waffle iron and there were several utensils that I wanted to make the kitchen complete.

Since I didn’t have anything to do for the day, I started making a list and added an ice-cream maker to it as an afterthought, smirking as I did it. I started making breakfast and coffee while Jane showered. When she came out to the kitchen, I put a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast at the table for her and poured her some coffee. I kissed her lightly and was struck at how comfortable, how RIGHT the moment felt. I shook my head and tried to get those thoughts out of circulation for the moment.

She looked up at me and grinned. “Thanks!” she said appreciatively and started to eat while I got my own plate ready and joined her.

“So you excited about today?” I asked. “You get to spend the whole day with Cecilia taking turns on sharing embarrassing stories about me.”

“It won’t be that bad,” she said with a chuckle. “Well, okay. Maybe it will be, but you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind,” I agreed. “Cecilia’s become my best friend. You should spend time with her.”

She nodded. “Hopefully she’ll give me the dirt on Barb, too.”

I shrugged. “Barb’s not particularly focused on hiding her dirty little secrets,” I told her dryly.

She nodded and we changed the subject to something less nauseating. “So tell me about your milk maid,” she suggested.

“Well, her name is Doris,” I said. “Her son is nearly two and she’s starting to wean him. Her pregnancy was hard on her and she put on a lot of weight. That’s about when her husband started to hook up with Barb. She’s got red hair and a pragmatic nature. She and I have both decided that we like each other well enough, but that there’s no spark there. So we’ll have sex with each other for the support and the revenge, but at some point, we’re going to put an end to it and either be friends or go our separate ways completely. I’m helping her get her body back so she’ll be in shape when the man of her dreams comes along. I hope we stay friends long after she finds someone she loves.”

“She’s nice?” she asked curiously.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “She didn’t deserve this shit. She gave her husband a son. He treats her like she’s fat and ugly and worthless. He gambles all their money away and then tells her that he’s not making good money.”

“That’s shitty,” she said sadly.

I nodded again. “I’m trying to help her out as much as I can. I mean, the asshole wouldn’t buy her a breast pump. You saw what’s in the fridge. She NEEDED one. I just wish she could take it home, but then he’d ask where it came from.”

She nodded and we talked a little about the weight-loss program I was starting her on and how we met and general small-talk about her until the doorbell interrupted us. We’d finished breakfast at that point and were chatting over coffee. I got up to get the door and let Cecilia and Marty in. I hadn’t expected Marty, but he was welcome here. I hugged Sissy and Marty got pulled into one of his own when he offered me his hand.

I introduced Marty to Jane and then poured coffee for them to join us.

“So what’s the plan for today?” I asked lightly.

“You’re going with Marty,” Cecilia told me. “Jane and I are going to spend the day together and you two get to do whatever it is guys do when there’s no women around.”

“We talk cars and barbecue a lot,” I deadpanned. “Sometimes there’s beer, sometimes not.”

“No beer,” she warned. “I want you in control. We all know your wife lied to you when she told you her lover wasn’t attending the party. I want you in perfect control of yourself. I don’t want you to take a swing at him while you’re half drunk.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” I said. “You heard her, Marty. Hard liquor only.”

“You leave me out of this!” he protested with a laugh. “I’m following orders. She says no getting drunk, so no getting drunk.”

“Your wife sets you up to spend the day with a Hooker and you don’t wanna party?” I asked, disappointed.

“You’re not my type,” he said flatly.

“Picky, picky!” I complained while the girls laughed. “Alright,” I said, getting more serious. “What are we doing while the girls bond over make-overs?”

“Car shopping,” he said. “I hear you’re planning on upgrading to an SUV that was made in this century. I’m your wing-man today.”

“I’d sort of given up on that for now,” I admitted. “That was one of Barb’s ideas for how to make everything better. Since we’ve all come to the understanding that she can’t, I figured I’d take a little more time and get something a little less luxurious.”

“Let’s just go look at them,” Marty said. “The girls are gonna be tied up for hours. Not much else to do.”

I shrugged. “Fair enough. I already tried the one I wanted yesterday,” I said. “Can’t hurt to look around though.”

“Don’t forget to call Mom and Dad,” Jane reminded me, finishing her coffee. “You promised them you’d make plans to do something today.”

“I will,” I promised. “If your ex-sister tags along, I’ll tell her that you’re still avoiding her.”

“Good,” she nodded her approval and then she and Sissy were off for their day of getting to know each other and bonding over getting pampered. I remembered to give her a key to the house and got a kiss on the cheek in response.

Marty and I spent most of the morning looking at different vehicles, even test driving a Mustang for something to do, but in the end, I was more interested in the model I’d looked at first. “I think I’d pick the fully loaded Suburban I drove yesterday, if I was getting one,” I admitted as we left the last dealership.

He nodded thoughtfully. “The Chrysler was nice though,” he said lightly.

I nodded and called Jane’s parents. Janice answered. “Good morning,” she said. “What plans do you two have for the day?” she asked brightly.

“Morning, Janice,” I said with a smile. “Jane’s actually abandoned me for the moment. She went with my friend Cecilia for the day. Cecilia works with Barb, so she’s getting herself the full treatment today and invited Jane to come with her. Cecilia’s husband, Marty, and I were just looking at cars this morning so far. What are your plans?”

“Well, Barb invited us to come to the party tonight,” she said delicately. “I hope you don’t mind us being there.”

“Not at all,” I said. “I’ll be glad to have people there that I know. I’m guessing you didn’t exactly pack formal wear when you drove down yesterday though.”

“No, so Barb’s taking us shopping for new outfits. She says you’re welcome to join us,” she added. I thought she sounded a little reluctant about that last part.

I smiled knowingly. “It’s okay,” I said gently. “I know Barb wants to make sure that if we went to lunch, she gets to tag along.”

“Yeah,” she admitted. “That’s bound to be an awkward meal. Would you rather skip it or are you okay with sitting at a table with her?”

I thought about it. “I can manage,” I said carefully. “I knew as soon as I mentioned it in front of her that she was gonna try to fit herself into the picture somehow. Now the real question: would you prefer to have the day for just the three of you and meet at the party or would you rather all of us get lunch together?”

“I think we’d like to spend time with both of you,” she said. “Ideally, we’d like to see the two of you straighten everything out and put this behind you.”

“You mean for us to get back together?” I asked, a little surprised.

“Well, that would be the happiest ending,” she allowed sheepishly.

“That would make Barb very happy,” I agreed without the enthusiasm that Janice had for the plan. “Where are we going to lunch?” I asked, wanting to put an end to that particular conversation topic.

“Barb suggested that we have lunch somewhere a little fancier than she normally dines,” she said, sounding excited about the prospect. She told me the name of the place and I ground my teeth. It was trendy and upscale and overpriced and pretentious and was only popular because celebrities ate there. Welcome to LA. You could serve food out of a truck, but if celebrities got on board, you were a made man.

“We’ll see you there around noon,” I told her, trying hard not to swear and throw the phone out the window.

“Barb’s throwing money around,” I told Marty and told him where lunch was planned. He whistled and we wandered around for the hour or so before we went to the restaurant to meet. We parked about a block away and walked to the place.

Oceanside Cafe was on a prime piece of real estate on the corner of the block. It had sunshine almost all day and had outdoor seating, separated from the street by wrought-iron fence to take advantage of the sunlight bathing the building most of the day. Barb and her parents were seated at one of the tables and Barb waved manically when she saw me. I wanted to throw up.

She’d arranged it so that Marty and I were separated and I had to choose between sitting in between Barb and her father or Barb and her mother. After the conversation I had with Janice, I chose to sit with Janice, not because I liked her better right now, but I figured that Arthur and Marty might hit it off and at least he wouldn’t have to be miserable through lunch. I took a deep breath and told myself it was an acting class. Everyone in LA has dreams of making it in Hollywood, so everyone tries to polish their acting ability even as a minor hobby. I just kept telling myself that in twelve hours, I’d be able to walk away and never be in a room with her again.

It turns out that Marty and Arthur worked with some of the same people, so they disappeared into their own conversation about work and projects. My father-in-law was a real estate developer in the Bay area and some of those jobs had overlapped. That left me with the least enviable position in the city. Wedged between my future ex-wife and my mother-in-law who was hoping to steer our marriage off the rocks.