Mr. Imperfect

chapter 42



He actually called the next day. Rori had not seen that one coming. She’d given Mike every reason to believe that she’d slept with Anton the night before, and the next day he was acting like everything was normal. No tension in his voice, nothing.

“Hey,” Mike said when she picked up her phone. “So I just got this email from some guy named Fredrik that my room fell through for my New York visit next month.”

Rori bit her lip, glad he couldn’t see her face while she lied. She’d made a decision earlier that day. One that involved her seducing Mike when he came to film her exhibit. She wanted him, and was certain he felt the same way. If she was going to have a future with Anton, she needed to get Mike Cannon out of her system. Fredrik had been more than willing to help her give them ample opportunity to fall onto a mattress together.

“Yeah. I’m sorry about that. I got the same message, but the good news is that the flat I’m subletting is a two bedroom. If we can’t find anything else in the area then you can just use my spare room.”

“Oh, okay,” he said, relief obvious in his voice. “That might be perfect, actually. It definitely makes communication easier.”

Communication… among other things. “Plus we’ll both be so busy. It’s not like you’ll be spending much time at the flat.”

“True,” he said, then breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, well that’s a load off. We’re good for next month then?”

“If that works for you, then yeah.”

“Yep. That works. Glad I don’t have to stress about that anymore. It might have killed my buzz tonight.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Rori said, as if just remembering his plans for that night. “It’s your celebration night, right? Your loans are officially paid off?”

“I sent the check in last week and it posted. I’m officially debt free!”

Rori grinned, proud of him. “That’s amazing, Mike. Congrats!”

“Thanks. We’re hosting the party here in about an hour. Should be pretty memorable.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Bummer you couldn’t show,” he said, sounding like he meant it. “That would be awesome.”

“And maybe a little awkward with Luke and Kris there.”

He laughed. “Nah. They’re happily engaged now. The wedding is going down on New Year’s Eve in Hawaii. It’s all set. Another working vacation for me. I might just get spoiled with gigs like this.”

“You deserve it,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound too doting.

“Thanks. Well, um, I should probably go. Lots to do. I haven’t even taken a shower yet.”

Yes, that was definitely a good visual to leave her with. “Go. Have fun.”

“You, too.”

Then he was gone. Off to take a shower and party. With women. Rori knew what that meant. She could have repeated his own advice back to him from the night before and told him to let the girls suffer. But she hadn’t. She hadn’t said a word, nor did she know what she should say. Yes, she wanted him, but she wasn’t quite ready for the indignity of calling him back, announcing that she hadn’t slept with Anton and asking Mike to keep his night sex-free for her, because… why?

What could she possibly tell him? What reason could she give for him to be faithful to their very platonic relationship?

Pulling up Fredrik’s number, she called the person in her life that knew the most about dealing with men. He would know what to do.

“Hey, sweetie,” he said picking up. “Did your boy take the bait about there not being a place for him to stay?”

“Yes. He’ll be staying at my place while he’s here. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but why don’t you sound happier about it?”

“Because,” Rori said, pacing. “He’s been on this dating moratorium since I’ve known him. No dating, no sex until he paid off his student loans.”

“No!” Fredrik gasped. “That’s cruel.”

“Maybe, but as of today that’s over. He has officially paid off the loans. As of tonight the moratorium is over and he’s throwing a huge party. With women.”

“As he should!” Fredrik said, then seemed to catch on. “Wait, are we jealous?”

“Hell, yes, we’re jealous!” Rori said. “I could have gotten laid last night by Anton, but I didn’t.”

“I see. So by that logic he shouldn’t be getting laid either.”

“Exactly!”

“I see. And you made it clear to him that you skipped out on Anton last night because you’re keeping a clean slate for him for next month?”

“Well… I might have given him the impression that Anton and I got together.”

Fredrik let out a slow breath. “Ah, it’s all coming together now. So your boy hasn’t had sex in ages and you’ve given him no reason not to have a ménage á trois tonight?”

“Fredrik,” she snapped. “I called you to make me feel better, not so you could recount my missteps to me.”

“Sorry, honey. What do you need? Freddy’s here.”

“What do I do? There’s going to be women and alcohol. You’ve seen how hot he is.”

“Mmm-hmmm.”

“What are the chances of him not hooking up?”

Silence.

“Fredrik?”

“I’m here, honey. I’m just looking for the silver lining in all this.”

That was not what Rori wanted to hear.

“Babe, why don’t you just tell him you want him?”

Why didn’t she? Rori didn’t really have an answer for that.

Fredrik sighed. “Honey, the way I see it you have two options.”

“Which are?”

“One, tell him you want him and ask him to hold out another month.”

No way. That would basically be the same as telling Mike she had feelings for him and that was a can of worms she definitely wasn’t ready to deal with. “And option two?”

“Let him know that you’re watching him and see what he does. If the party is everything you say it is people there should be uploading pictures all night. Comment on some of them, or text him about one or two. If he comments back or responds to your texts he’s thinking about you.”

“But that doesn’t mean he won’t hook up with someone there,” Rori said, pressing her hand to her stomach. Suddenly she wasn’t feeling so well.

“Is that really that big of a deal, though?” Fredrik asked. “So he has some fun tonight, and you have some fun with him next month. It’ll be good for him to clean out the pipes on someone else. You don’t want him to hit the sack with you while he’s all rusty and out of practice, do you?”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” she said without elaborating. Did she want him “cleaning out the pipes” on someone else? Hell, no. She wanted him—all of him. And she didn’t want to share.

“See? So there is a silver lining here. The crazier he gets tonight the better shape he’ll be in for your time with him next month.”

Rori wanted to gag at the thought, but kept her mouth shut.

“I have a party tonight. Want to come with me and get drunk off your rocker?”

“Totally,” Rori said without hesitation. “When do I need to be ready?”

“About ninety minutes.”

“I’m in,” Rori said, and headed to her closet to find something off the shoulder that would look good and a little bit slutty when posted to Facebook. No way was she just going to sit around all night and wait to see pictures of the women Mike had his choice of that night. Rori had options, too, and she was more than happy to let Mike see it.