“Should it bother me? I mean, you did call me. If it doesn’t bother you, why should it bother me? We’re just two adults sitting at a bar, having a drink, talking.” He shrugged, then pierced me with those beautiful eyes. “Why? Does it bother you, London?”
He said my name like he knew me, like he knew things about me I’d yet to tell him. “Yes ... no ... Hell, who am I fooling? Sure it bothers me. I’m a married woman. Tony, I love my husband, and we have a good marriage. It’s just that every once in a while I need someone to talk to and he isn’t there.”
“I believe you, London, and I understand. Everyone should have someone to talk to. So, I guess the only real question is, why me?”
All I could do on that one was call out to the bartender for another drink, because I didn’t have a clue how to answer him. In one of those saved-by-the-bell moments, my cell phone rang, only this was a call I didn’t want to have to take. Adultery 101 again: put that shit on vibrate. I contemplated letting it go to voice mail, but why? I was there only to have a drink and talk. Ignoring my husband’s call would make it look like I was doing something wrong. I hit the TALK button.
Harris’s voice shot through the phone. “Where are you?”
“I’m out having a drink with a friend. Why?” Unlike his angry tone, I kept mine calm and even.
“Get home right now, London!”
I felt my stomach tighten up with fear. My heart was pounding as I searched the bar area for a familiar face. Was someone reporting back to him?
“Did you hear me? Get your ass home now.”
I flashed back to that morning, when he dared to raise his hand to me, and I felt some fire return to my attitude. He was not going to bully me, dammit. Besides, I didn’t see anyone in the bar that I recognized, so there was still a possibility he didn’t know anything. Maybe I wasn’t busted; maybe he was just in one of his macho moods, the ones that seemed to be becoming more frequent the deeper he got into the family business.
Well, I could give as good as I got. I answered him with, “You’re not my daddy. I’ll come home when I damn well please.”
“I don’t have time to argue with you. Now, get home right now.”
If he knew I was in a bar with another man, he would have said so by now. It was safe to say that this particular ego trip was for some other reason. Just Harris trying to force me to do what he wanted. Except this time, I decided, I was done playing by his rules.
“I’m not going anywhere until I finish my drink. Not after the way you put your hands on me this morning. If my father—” I was about to scare him with another threat to tell my father but realized it was best not to get into all of that with Tony next to me, listening to every word. “You know what? Never mind. Just go to hell, Harris. I’m not coming home until I damn well please!” I hung up the phone, pissed that he had fucked up my buzz.
“Wow, sounds like trouble in paradise,” Tony said.
“Who said anything about my marriage being paradise?” Shit! I did it again. I gave him information about the home front.
The bartender had brought me another drink during my phone call. I finished it off quickly and ordered another. “Look, let’s talk about something else. Something nice,” I said to Tony and then proceeded to sit there and say nothing. I was too busy fuming about Harris’s macho ass.
Tony reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, it’s fine. We don’t have to talk at all if you need a minute.”
I gave him a nod to let him know that was exactly what I needed. From guilty and nervous to turned on and then angry, my emotions had been all over the place in the last hour or so, and I needed a moment to sort myself out.
Tony picked up his drink with his free hand, but the other one stayed on my shoulder, patting it gently. Then, ever so subtly, it traveled up from my shoulder to my neck. I felt myself relaxing as he massaged my neck and the base of my head. Before I knew it, his fingers were all up in my hair, and he was stroking it. It felt so good that for a second I thought I moaned with pleasure—until I realized it was Tony who was moaning.