Page 71 of Push & Pull
“As long as you can breathe, you will do all right. Trust me. I’ve been in some doozy relationships and I’m still here.”
Simone didn’t add to the conversation what she was thinking.You didn’t turn to the wrong things when you were in the thick of your breakups.As far as Simone knew, Elena had never abused substances or gone down the toxic rabbit holes of illegal delights. Elena’s answer to her last breakup was to work herself half to death. Still not admirable, but better than ending up in rehab.
“I have a feeling things will work out for you this time,” Elena said. “Maybe not necessarily with this girl, but it will be what you need. As long as you’re happy and making good decisions.”
“You really sound like my mom right now. That’s exactly what she would have said.”
“I may not be a mother,” Elena continued, “but it sounds like common sense at my age.”
“I’ll be thirty pretty soon. I’m ready for that to be common sense.”
Another diabolical smile, onejustbig enough to catch Simone’s attention, flattered Elena. “It’s hard to believe the wedding was only a month ago. Do you remember who caught the bouquet, though?”
Simone immediately frowned.
“You’d make such a lovely bride.” Although Elena was nothing but a tease right now, she still had the power to fell Simone where she sat. “Like you were so lovely with that bouquet.”
Their appetizers arrived. While Elena changed the subject, Simone thought of Petra, hoping she would be waiting in their room when this dinner was over.She’s doing her own business right now. I wonder if she’s thinking of me.Simone hated to admit how giddy that made her feel.
Chapter 24
Thehotelwasonlyacross the street from where Simone had a long and productive dinner with one of her most trusted friends. After sharing a kiss on the cheek and allowing Elena to pick up the check, Simone returned to the hotel lobby, where she stopped along her way to the elevator to check the notifications on her phone.
“I might be late getting back tonight,”Petra had sent her.“These meetings can run awfully late. Don’t feel bad about not waiting up, all right? I’ll see you in the morning.”
While that wasn’t what Simone wanted to hear when her heart was wild and her mind was open, she wouldn’t keep Petra from doing her job.I’ve got to think about getting back to mine, anyway.Simone had a date with Astrid the next afternoon. Even if Petra stayed in Simone’s place, she wouldn’t go to Evans Manor. That was for Simone to deal with on her own.
“It’s fine,” Simone said out loud to reassure herself. “I’ll take a bath.” Jacuzzi. How could she say no?
She happened to glance toward the big, wide entrance to the hotel bar and restaurant. A woman with short hair and a snazzy orange dress caught her attention. Not only because she had an energy that echoed over a hundred miles, but because she looked awfully familiar.
Petra?In a dress, no less.
Simone could hardly believe it as she did a double take. That was Petra, all right, and that was only confirmed as Simone approached the bar.In. A. Dress.She was pretty in it, of course. Downright gorgeous if Simone allowed herself a moment to think. No average woman could pull off a flirty cold-shoulder summer dress that was the color of Halloween. Yet there Petra was, dolled up in makeup that could seduce the re-avowed virginity out of a good girl.
Well, the bar was a convenient place to have a meeting in Manhattan, and it wasn’t unusual that she might be meeting a man old enough to be her father, especially since Simone still had no idea what her companion did or what her role was in the family business. But the thing that was off enough to make Simone cock her head in confusion?
The way Petra acted with the man who sported a receded hairline and a toothy smile.
She put her hand on his arm every chance she had, going as far as to brush her fingers against his whenever his drink was topped off. Petra’s whole body was constantly turned toward him, her legs crossed and her meager chest pushed up toward her chin. Her bright smile was clouded by a fake familiarity that reminded Simone of the charlatans who sometimes attended Hailey’s parties – they pretended to blend in, but what they really wanted was an investment or an introduction to a higher entity.Grifters.The old-fashioned kind.
Perhaps Petra was in sales and this was a tactic. Or maybe she was in “client satisfaction,” which required wining and dining with a heaping of flirting for dessert. All Simone knew was that Petra’s dress and behavior was a complete one-eighty from the woman who had accompanied her up the east coast that past week.
Simone should have left it alone. Except a hoot of laughter had caught her attention. And Petra leaping into the man’s lap so her chest was right in his face shocked the shit out of Simone.
“Earl, I swear toGawd!” What the hell was that accent? Was it supposed to be Southern? Country Midwestern?Canadian?“You are the sweetest, funniest man I haveevahmet in this sinful city!” She said “sinful” as if it were tongue-in-cheek. “Where ya been all my month, honey?” She slid out of his lap, her hand still firmly pressed against his chest while half of her skirt remained in his lap. This “Earl” didn’t think it beneath or above him to tug on Petra’s hem and bring her closer again. As Petra’s arms wrapped around his shoulders, one thing was clear.
Petra was going to kiss him.
Maybe not on the mouth, but somewhere that completely went beyond business propriety. She had already been in his lap. She had already touched him numerous times, luring him closer to her web.This is seduction…It may not have been the same technique used on Simone that past week, but it was obvious, and it was real.
And it punched her right in the heart.
This wasn’t like catching Daria in Petra’s lap. At least Petra had beenherselfat that moment. At least she had been an unwilling player to Daria’s boundary-breaking bullshit. This, though? Petra was in charge here. The hem of her dress danced upon Earl’s lap as she shimmied her shoulders and encouraged him to take another drink. “Let’s finish this beguiling conversation up in your room, sweetie,” she said with that insufferably fake accent. “You’ve got the kind of old-fashioned energy I gocrazyfor, and I’ve got abigsurprise for you that I think you’re going to like.” That came with a slight raise of her skirt, followed by a wink and a collapse into laughter. She wasn’t the only one laughing, either.
Simone was definitelynotlaughing.
“Petra!” She couldn’t help herself. How else was she supposed to respond to this ridiculous display of… whatever this was!
