C.J. looked up at Delilah who stood before her dressed as if she'd walked off of fashion runaway. She shared that quality with Elizabeth, as both of them flirted with modeling jobs on the side although Elizabeth did it to raise charity money. Only Delilah hadn't been an heiress, she'd been the owner of a chain of fashion boutiques spread out through Southern California after working herself up through the food chain.
She sold top of the line designer outfits mostly evening gowns, but not the traditional kind. The types that showed more cleavage and skin than they covered, a couple of them had been worn by celebrities who headed the best dressed lists while a couple of other outfits had been featured on the not so best dressed list. So C.J. figured the jury was out on whether or not Delilah's fashions were truly a cut above the rest.
C.J. on the other hand had grown up much differently. She'd rather wrestle with steers than people and ride horses than most men. Her wardrobe included some stylish outfits to help her blend in with upper society when she needed it but the casual attire that she wore right now was what she preferred. She'd never make either the best or worst list because she kept her tastes simple, elegant cut lines to flatter her figure without putting too much of it on display.
That meant she didn't have much in common with Delilah or Elizabeth for that matter, except like the latter she had bedded Matt. But then again, maybe Delilah had too; a quick check of Matt's Rolodex might tell her that. The statuesque women with hardly a curve on her just looked at her with disdain.
"I thought I'd find you here."
C.J. just looked up at her.
"How'd you get my address?"
The other woman sniffed.
"Not hard at all," she said, "It's online for less than forty bucks."
Nice to know she went for so cheap but then again, she had realized long ago there was very little anonymity on the internet.
"So why did you go through so much trouble to find me?"
Delilah crossed her arms.
"I need your help."
That left C.J. reeling a bit.
"Why…whatever for…?"
Delilah paused before answering probably for dramatic effect.
"Because Elizabeth wants to get back together with your partner Matt," she said.
Come again, and not in the pleasurable way. But did Elizabeth really think she had any chance to get back with Matt after how their broken engagement had gone down?
"Delia…"
"De-li-lah"
"Okay Delilah, here's a news flash for you. Matt broke it off with Elizabeth and if he wanted her back, he'd be with her right now."
Delilah shrugged at that tiny little detail.
"She's at his office right now," she said, "and by now, they're probably going at it like rabbits on that pool table."
C.J. just rolled her eyes and then smiled at Delilah.
"I don't think so," she said, "I think he's very nicely showing her the door and besides that pool table's not as soft as it looks."
Delilah just fluttered her eyes.
"She's dressed in the satiny teddy."
C.J. just shook her head at the other woman.
"I don't give a damn what she's wearing or even if she's buck ass naked, once Matt tells a woman goodbye, he means it."
"Speaking from experience?"
C.J. felt that zinger and something tugged at her heart, a memory of Matt's last words to her before he took off on his trip.
"I'm not going to help you get him back with Elizabeth," she said, "He's my best friend and I don't do his matchmaking anyway."
"But I need your help," Delilah pressed, "They're a great couple who broke up over some misunderstanding."
"It wasn't just a misunderstanding," C.J. said, "Engagements don't end over little things not unless they blow up into something much bigger."
Delilah didn't appear to accept this sentiment.
"Besides if they are like you say, going at it back at the office, then you don't need my help."
That made Delilah's lips form a pout.
"You're right…I'm sure they'll find their own way back together as it's meant to be."
As C.J. listened to the other woman's pronouncement a part of her wondered if it might come true.
Matt gritted his teeth as he sat in his Porsche in traffic. The flow of cars had ground to a halt in the downtown area and he hadn't even made it out to head towards C.J.'s house. All he could think about was seeing her face, right before he cupped it in his hands and kissed her mouth so thoroughly they'd both be gasping for air by the time he finished. He loved the taste of her, the feel of her lips as he nudged his tongue in between them to further explore her mouth. Then he'd nudge her even closer to the nearest flat surface so he could turn it up a notch.
He tried to will the traffic lights to change and the cars to get moving again. Visions of the last time he had seen her appeared in front of him. She'd been dressed in ivory lace and thigh highs underneath her outfit that she'd worn to a social gala and when they'd found a darkened corner alone in the garden some distance away from the other guests,
He warned her to be quiet and she had just looked at him and kissed him until he got noisy and then…it'd been a while until they slipped back into the gala.
Leaving on that trip after what they had shared had been difficult but he'd really needed some time for himself. But now that he had returned, he intended to give her his full attentions.
Then the light finally turned green and the traffic started moving as Matt thought about the woman who he hoped would be waiting.
C.J. had finally kicked Delilah out but not the way she had envisioned. Instead of giving her the boot she needed, she had begged her off saying that she would get back to her with a more definitive answer. She had no intention of helping the ex-bridesmaid with her plot to get Elizabeth and Matt's engagement back on track but she just wanted her gone so she could finish gardening.
Then maybe heat up some leftovers in the kitchen. Her appetite had been robust although she woke up every morning wondering if it would be the first day she'd run to the toilet and throw up. Morning sickness hadn't been something she looked forward to but she'd gotten some crackers and juice to deal with it. She'd scheduled an appointment with a fine OB/GYN next week for the official prenatal exam.
She still hadn't figured out what to tell Matt, and wrestled about whether she should wait to give him the news after they'd had some great loving because right now, she thought she'd climb the walls if he didn't come along and kiss her senseless. Before him, she'd experienced a sabbatical with men given that she'd made some bad choices and at some point had decided she needed to take a break. So she made sure more of her free time was spent with a good striding horse riding in the Santa Monica Mountains than on some boring date.
She sighed as she got on up to go get something to fill her stomach. Something warm and soothing, a comfort food like chicken and rice soup…the kind she got from a can to remember what it had been like to eat it from scratch the way Julia had prepared it when they'd been roommates early in law school at Harvard.
She felt tired and knew it might be more than a week's worth of grind at the office that brought that on, because wasn't that one of the earliest signs of pregnancy? Her friend Elise had been wrung out when she had been pregnant as a surrogate for someone else. She hoped she wouldn't fall asleep on the job, because the workload was only going to get harder now that Matt had returned.
In her kitchen, she took the soup out of the refrigerator to reheat it and then went to pour herself a glass of milk to go with it. She wondered what Matt might be doing now because she figured he had returned to town. She hoped he'd drop by her house so they could catch up.
Afterward they could lie together as their hearts returned to normal, snuggling together and maybe just before he drifted off to sleep as many a spent man had done, she could find the words to whisper in his ear to tell him.
No, she couldn't do that, C.J. decided. She couldn't seduce Matt into her bed, rock the posts and then drop the bombshell on him that one of their steamy encounters had knocked her up.
She took a deep breath looking around her at the garden sitting there with the glass of milk she usually despised.
She shook her head wondering if her fantasies about him were an early sign of pregnancy. She had to remind herself that they'd been great friends and tremendously successful business partners before they'd fallen into bed. He was after all, the best kind of friend who was gentle, kind and full of fun with a wicked sense of humor. Okay, he was all that but much more and great at giving a woman pleasure down to her toes.
Who would have guessed?
She'd seen a parade of happy women leaving his bedroom, or his office or in a couple cases, one of his sports cars. But still, if she'd known how talented he was in certain…areas she'd have tested the boundaries of their friendship years ago. She wondered if he felt the same way. But then again, Delilah's arrival had given her some pause because the vixen had done more than hint that Matt was frolicking back at the office with his ex-fiancée Elizabeth.
On the pool table no doubt. Their pool table, well at least the one that the two of them had christened during their time together. She hadn't lied to Delilah when she said it hadn't been as comfy.
Which reminded her again she had news to tell him. She felt wistfulness crowd out the lust when she wondered what she'd see in his eyes first when she told him her news. Well, after the shock wore off. She wanted to see something besides dismay or even horror on his face.
She wanted to see happiness instead.
Not that it was realistic to expect that given that neither of them had been close to even consider settling down with a single partner for life. And she knew that as footloose and fancy free as he might appear on the dating scene, once Matt settled down with one woman, he'd have the mating habits of a wolf. Meaning there wouldn't be anyone else for him but his chosen woman.
The trick for him remained finding that one woman. For a while it looked like it might be Elizabeth but that hadn't worked out…unless they had just reunited and were going through a round of steamy sex right now. God, that sent more nausea through her than even pregnancy could, she just couldn't, she wouldn't envision the two of them together. But Matt had always been a man who made his own decisions including in his dating choices and for the most part she had respected that.
Delilah had ripped a seam loose in her idyllic day with her statements about wanting to reunite Matt and Elizabeth and had asked for her help. Like hell, she was going to do that, not why she carried Matt's baby. If he was going to pair himself off with another woman, C.J. had to make sure she would be suitable enough to spend time with their child because even apart, C.J. would make sure Matt could spend time with his son or daughter not that she'd need to do that.
She finished off her milk and gladly put the glass down, pleased at how her gardening had gone. Even if the rest of the world had gone crazy, at least she would soon be able to sit here and look at rows and rows of colorful flora.
But would she be sitting alone?
Matt pushed through the traffic jam which had finally, reluctantly allowed him to leave the downtown area. He hit the freeway which would take him to PCH and closer to the enclave where both he and C.J. lived when they weren't busy at work. They didn't live more than a couple blocks apart and he had decided just to head straight to her place. The images that filled his head during his drive helped alleviate some of the drudgery, what with imagining what she'd be wearing when he saw her.
His brows furrowed at that as he watched the cars inch in front of him on the turn off on Sunset which would take him to PCH. God, what had gotten into him? He'd felt horny enough when he got off the helicopter that seeing Elizabeth should have been enough, after all she had wanted to get back with him. Then there had been Maureen who was pretty enough and obviously a bit more creative than he imagined.
All he could think about was C.J. and how much he had missed her and wanted to see her again. And not just for the sex, because once they softened the edges with a romp, they'd lie together afterward and they'd talk. She'd ask him about his trip and he'd tell her about the sights he'd seen, the people he'd met and the tremendous high he felt when he reached another summit. Then she'd slyly tell him she'd help him reach another and...he smiled even while in the thick of L.A. afternoon traffic.
He finally made it on Sunset and drove the windy street towards where it would take him down past a row of stores on both sides onto the highway which ran parallel to the beaches.
The phone rang just when he reached the PCH. This time, Elizabeth and a red light appeared in front of him, a really long one most of the time.
"Elizabeth…"
A husky voice greeted him in return.
"No this is her best friend Delilah," she said, "I'm just borrowing her phone while she's in the bathroom."
His jaw clenched, as he remembered the bridesmaid who had threatened to destroy a valuable Faberge egg collection belonging to his best man's father when the engagement went kaput. After meeting her, he deduced that Elizabeth needed to pick her friends better. He definitely believed that after she had tried to corner him in the atrium of the country club and then telling him she had forgotten to wear an item of clothing.
The oldest trick in the book and sometimes it worked but he had been engaged to Elizabeth then and so wasn't interested in anyone else. But that hadn't been true because even during the planning of his wedding to Elizabeth, C.J. had been on his mind.
That was fine with him because he had no intention of curtailing their relationship, no he planned to pick up where they left off before he left town.
Now if he could just hurry up and get there so he could see her again.