Page 29 of Storm in a D Cup

‘This is different.’ Way different. This woman was not only a sex bomb, she was a ticking bomb waiting to go off. With my husband. ‘And did you or did you not see the effect she has on Maddy?’

‘Actually, I saw the effect she had onWarren,’ Julian said and chuckled.

I glared at him. ‘You find this funny? We’ve got the queen of sleaze in our home and youlaugh?’

‘Oh, for God’s sake, Erica. Lighten up – she’s harmless.’

‘She’s your blonde beauty, isn’t she?’ I asked louder than I’d intended.

He groaned again. ‘Which blonde beauty are we talking about now?’

I crossed my arms over my chest. ‘The one with the Brazilian butt. Or is that another friend of yours who will be dropping in on us sometime soon?’

He exhaled sharply, as if I’d punched him, and let me tell you I wasn’t far from it. ‘You went through my manuscript? I asked you to wait.’

‘Yeah, whatever,’ I muttered.

Julian turned in the bed. ‘That’s not like you, is it?’ he said softly, as ifhe’d been the offended one. Huh. ‘What’s going on, Erica?’ he asked, and suddenly I knew it wasn’t just about the fact that I didn’t have a Brazilian butt. The problem was that Genie Stacie did. Years of trying to build my self-confidence and now he comes up with this bloody penchant for Amazonian asses – what thehell?

‘What made you do it?’ he persisted, and I rolled my eyes.

‘Oh, for Pete’s sake. I was just curious. How the hell was I supposed to know I’d come face to face with your favorite kind of butt? And don’t even think of denying it!’

Boy, was he mad now. ‘First of all, Erica, Genie Stacie is not the only blondebombshellI’ve met. Second of all, my book is purely fiction.’

‘Right, so you managed to describe her, making men literally drool at the sole idea, and yet… you say you aren’t attracted to her? Because I find that very hard to believe.’

‘Andthirdly,’ he continued, ‘I was attracted to her a long time ago. But then I got to know her and the attraction waned, because she was not the girl I thought.’

‘Meaning?’

He shrugged, still angry, and I knew he would be for a long time to come, but what the hell, I was much angrier than him.

‘Meaning that she was someone I couldn’t trust or depend upon. Someone like you, Erica.’

I turned to face him, determined not to let him charm me, because that was the way our arguments ended. With me forgiving him. And, moreover, possibly even apologizing to him.

‘That’s why I’m with you and not someone like her, sweetie,’ he murmured, bending over me, his forehead against mine. Uh-oh – I was falling for it.

‘Get away from me,’ I snapped, pushing him away. ‘I don’t trust you.’

He exhaled, exhausted, the poor guy. ‘Fine. Whatever. I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.’

And so we slept, back to back, not talking, for the first time in seven years. It hung in the neutral space between us, heavy and humongous, my insecurity, back in all its glory.

I was jealous of Genie Stacie. I was jealous of the way Julian smiled at her, took her by the elbow, placed his hand on the small of her back as he indicated for her to step in front of him when exiting a room.

Who cares?I said to myself. She was only a Hollywood paper doll. I was a real woman, a good wife and mother who cared about her kids. I was the one who had given up a career to be with them. I was the one who was going to give him a child. I hoped.

9

Genie Stacie’s Stay

Please don’t ask me how or why, but harmless Genie Stacie’s sleepover turned into a mini-vacation (for her) and I had to sit opposite her while she picked at lunch (she always slept through breakfast-time) and dinner, making brainless comments about everything. And then Julian made the mistake of telling her we were going to show her around and take her to the largest and oldest church in Siena, which had been erected (at which she smiled coyly at him) between the eleventh and twelfth century.

‘Eleventh century, really?’ she breathed, batting her baby blues at him. ‘Before or after Christ?’ You get the picture.

What didn’t surprise me was that Maddy and Genie Stacie were in total sync and there was no way of putting a word in edge-wise. By day two they were like Siamese twins. Maddy had insisted on even sitting next to her during meals, like little girls on lunch break.

---