Page 7 of Carnal Desire

It was my fault for being passive with her. For not learning to stand up for myself, for not learning to stand on my own two feet. I’d learned my lesson the hard way. There was no way I’d ever be so dependent on another person again. I was strong and independent now, relying only on myself.

But when I saw the fierce expression on Ariel’s face as she promised to ruin Jane for what she did to me, something broke loose inside me. And for the first time in a long time I felt something like hope. And the sensation that someone actually cared for me.

Maybe it was inappropriate for me to hug her like this, but I wasn’t sorry about it. Not when her soft curves were pressedagainst me and my face was buried in the soft skin of her neck. Somehow she smelled good, even after a long day of traveling.

I pulled away slowly, regretfully. “I’ll let you take your shower.”

“Sadie.”

I paused, my face about six inches from hers, and looked into the chocolate brown depths of her eyes. “Yeah?”

“Everything’s going to be okay now, I promise.”

She couldn’t promise that, but for some crazy reason I believed her.

Ten minutes later someone knocked on the front door. Ariel was still in her bedroom, so I pulled open the front door, thinking it was the pizza guy. It wasn’t.

Two blonde women stood in the doorway, looking me over curiously.

“You must be Sadie,” the woman with the wavy hair said as she pushed past me to enter the condo. “I’m Grace and this is Maeve. We’re Ariel’s friends.”

I recognized Ariel’s best friends and business partners from the pictures scattered around the condo, as well as from some magazine articles I’d read about Ariel. I knew that they livedon the two floors beneath Ariel, although I’d never been inside either of their units.

They were both beautiful women, effortlessly sophisticated, dressed casually but wearing clothes that clearly cost more than anything I owned. The women studied me carefully, and I couldn’t help but feel that I was coming up lacking. I felt frumpy in my wrinkled shorts and faded tee shirt. I wondered if they could tell that I wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Hi,” I said. “Nice to meet you both. Ariel should be out in a minute.”

I started to close the door, but then I realized the pizza guy was walking up from the elevator. He handed me two large pizza boxes with a paper bag balanced on top, then hustled off after saying, “Thanks for the nice tip, lady. Enjoy your pizza.”

Apparently Theo had taken care of everything.

“Ooh good, the pizza is here! I’m starving!” Maeve eyed the boxes in my hand hungrily. “We got here just in time.”

I wondered how she knew we were getting pizza.

“Who invited you two?” Ariel called as she walked down the hallway with a bemused smile.

She was wearing navy blue sleep pants and a baggy Chicago Cubs tee shirt, her feet bare. With her face free of makeup andher dark hair slicked back from the shower, she looked younger and more carefree.

“Theo said you had a new friend, so we came to meet her,” Maeve said with a wicked smile. “He sent extra pizza for us. We thought we’d get to know your new friend.”

Maeve and Grace turned to study me again. I resisted the urge to squirm under their perusal. They didn’t seem judgmental, just curious about me.

“Remind me to fire that blabbermouth.” Ariel slid one of the boxes out of my hand and gave it to Maeve. “Why don’t you nosy bitches enjoy your extra pizza downstairs?”

“But…”

She gave her friends a little shove. “Go on now, kids. I’ll talk to you later.”

Maeve and Grace exchanged a look, then their gazes swung from Ariel to me and back again.

“You’ll bring her for Found Family Dinner tomorrow, right?” Maeve demanded, moving slowly towards the door.

Ariel looked the tiniest bit uncomfortable. “Maybe.”

“Oh this is interesting,” Grace said. “You know, I had a feeling about this, didn’t I tell you, Maeve?”

“You sure did,” Maeve answered, her expression amused as she looked between me and Ariel again.

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