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Chapter Seventeen


I spent the next twelve hours with Cora's song "Oh My" stuck in my head. This is the song that she was banned from like 27 countries for because the lyrics were so explicit and she spent half the song making orgasm noises without even singing. My stomach turned and I don't think I slept more than an hour the whole night. I just kept tossing and turning and seeing the grin on Nick's face and that wink of his.

I took out some of my anger unfairly on Addison, ignoring it when she tried calling me midmorning, because she was the only reason I'd even dreamed that the call for condoms had been directed at me. If it hadn't been for her, I would've just dropped the stupid things off and been done with it. If it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't even know that I liked him yet. He'd just be Nick still and my jealousy of Cora would still be at a minimum.

Around noon, Nick called and suggested I go over to plan the party some more with him and show him what I had already done by way of planning. So I grabbed my binder of notes and stuff and headed over, praying that Cora would be gone when I got there. I didn't think I could handle seeing her again so soon after last night. And my prayers were answered when I arrived at Nick's place. Cora was no where to be seen.

"So I was thinking it'd be fun to have those hats like I said last night," he said. "What do you think?"

"Yeah, they'd be cool," I said.

Nick grinned. "I like that we think alike," he said, waving his fingers between my head and his head, "Like the same wavelength." He grinned.

Not even close, I felt like saying. But I stayed quiet.

He led me into his kitchen and opened his fridge. "You want anything to drink?" he asked.

"No thanks," I answered. I looked around. His kitchen and dining room connected and were beautifully finished (everything in the house was beautifully finished for crying out loud), with exposed wood beams and dark wood cupboards. He had one of those fridges that were covered with wood that matched the cupboards and virtually dissapeared when it was closed. And his oven was built into a freestanding counter in the center. Seriously Food Network could've filmed a show in there. I pictured Rachel Ray or Giada Delaurentis cooking in there.

On the counter stood a purse.

"Is Cora still here?" I asked as casually as possible.

Nick turned from the fridge, closing it, and popping open a can of Pepsi. "No. Why?"

I pointed at the purse.

"She left it here last night," he said, "I called her and told her it was here, though. She said she'd come by and get it later." A smirk travelled across his mouth, "I think she left it here as an excuse to come back tonight." He took a sip of his Pepsi.

The purse was worth probably more than my house, not even counting anything of value that might be inside the thing.

Nick put his can down on the counter, "You sure you don't want anything?" he asked.

"Positive."

"Okay."

"So I booked a caterer," I said, since we were in the kitchen and I was thinking about food.

I told him about the food they offered and he rubbed his chin, nodding as I spoke. "That sounds good," he said, "But I know this other caterer... they're really good... They make dumplings, like Japanese or Chinese or something dumplings. Have you had dumplings?" I nodded. "I love dumplings," he commented. "Shit what's their name..." He tilted his head, thinking, squinting up at the ceiling. "Man..." he wagged his finger, "You know, I have a menu upstairs. One second, I'll go get it." And he jogged out of the room.

I looked at the purse.

I knew I shouldn't. But... I glanced at the doorway. He wa gonna be a minute anyway... So I inched closer to the counter where the purse was, my palms getting sweaty in that way that they do when I'm about to do something I shouldn't. I leaned on the counter next to it. Then moved my elbow and... accidentally... knocked it off the counter. "Oops," I muttered, and I bent down to pick it up.

Unzipping the bag, I peered inside. There was a thick wallet and a bejeweled cellphone and a ring of keys and a bunch of tampons and random make-up tubes. I picked up the cell phone and slid my finger across the screen, expecting it to be locked but finding it on the homescreen instead. She had seven missed calls from Hugh, three from Nick, and one from a number labeled simply with Z. I slid my thumb over the contact. I grabbed a pen from inside the purse and wrote the number down on the inside of my palm, then dropped the phone back in there. I rooted around a couple seconds. The bottom of the bag had an assortment of random crap including an unused condom still in its wrapper. I stared at the condom. Why in hell didn't they just use this one? Why did they have to call me to go get them condoms when they had one? I turned it over in my palm.

"So I found the menu," Nick was shouting and I heard him thundering down the stairs. I shoved everything back into the bag, pocketed the condom, and put the bag back on the counter. I nudged it back into the same position it was in when he left and quickly launched myself back to the spot I'd been in, making it only just as Nick came through the door of the kitchen, waving the menu. "Here it is," he said, dropping it in front of me. "Japanese dumplings," he said, pointing at a listing on the front, "See? They're so good. I love dumplings."

"I'll give'em a call and see if they're available," I said.

Nick grinned, "Great!" He waved for me to follow him, "C'mon, let's go outside, it's stuffy in here." He grabbed his Pepsi can and led the way out of the kitchen. I followed, glancing back guiltily at the purse. Nick trotted across the stairway and by the pool to a couple of lawn chairs set up by the beach, and he put his Pepsi can down on a tiny table that sat between them. I joined him, hugging my binder and the menu to my chest.

"So you found the balloon arches, then?" he asked.

I told him about the dramas I'd had finding the pearl white balloons and how I'd finally got the vendors to cooperate by name-dropping. I held out my binder so he could see the progress I'd made. He stared down at the binder, then turned it to one side... and the moment he did, I knew what page he was on. The info about Addison's group. I'd included a show flyer in the binder that she'd given me. He stared down at the picture. "Who is Addison Gray?" he asked.

"She's my best friend. She's a dancer," I replied.

He turned the binder, "Which one is she?"

The photo was of Addison's full cast. I pointed at her. "I hired them all though, not just her. They're really talented. I mean, I've seen their show. They sing and dance, too. It's like Moulin Rouge..."

Nick was staring at Addison. "She's pretty. She sings, you said?"

"Yeah."

"Is she any good?"

"I think so."

"Interesting."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "We're just looking for a new opening act for Cora's tour this summer," Nick explained.

"Addie's a stripper," I laughed, "She doesn't have an record deal or anything."

Nick shrugged and handed me the binder. "Looks like you're making some great progress on the party, though. I really appreciate it. I can't wait for you to meet Cora. You're going to like her." He smiled and took another sip of his Pepsi.

"I met her last night," I reminded him.

"Ehhh.. she was in a pissy mood last night," he said. "I don't know what her problem was. She was all worked up 'cos she thought you were a guy," he laughed.

"She was jealous," I commented.

Nick laughed, "Jealous? Of what? You? C'mon."

I raised an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just... I mean... I'd been telling her how I'd spent the night at your place and stuff, I guess," he said.

"Oh." I couldn't help but feel hurt at the words. I mean I knew Nick was way out of my league but the way he'd said that made me realize that he knew it, too, and I felt kind of silly sitting there, and even more embarassed for putting on my good lingerie the night before when he'd asked for condoms. How in hell did I ever listen to Addison and believe that he might seriously have intended the condoms to be for me? Of course he didn't.

He must've been picking up on the fact that I was upset because he said, "You looked real pretty last night."

I laughed. Mainly because I didn't know how else to respond.

"No really," he insisted, "You did. I thought you'd said you were just at home and stuff, or maybe that's just what I'd assumed, 'cos of your back, but you looked good. Were you out on a date or something?"

"Kind of," I mumbled.

Nick grinned. "I never asked you if there was someone in your life. Who's the lucky guy? Or girl?"

"Guy," I said.

"What's his name?"

"Ben," I said the first name that came into my head. "He's um - he's an architect." I nodded.

"Cool," Nick said, "I hope I get to meet him at the party."

"Oh I'm sure he'll be busy that night," I said.

"He works nights then?"

"Yeah sure," I replied.

"Too bad."

"Yeah."

Nick stood up suddenly. "Well," he said, "Anyways. I gotta get to the studio. You're welcome to come if you want to."

"I've got party business to attend to..." I said.

Nick nodded, "You're a hard worker. Best fake assistant I ever had." He smiled. "I'm looking forward to you meeting Hugh. I think it'll be interesting."

"Yeah, me too."

Nick led the way across the yard and back through the house to the front door, which he held open for me. He watched as I walked across the driveway to my car. "Hey," he shouted just before I got in. "You really think she was jealous?"

"Definitely," I replied.

His face broke into an excited smile. He waved, "Have a good day, Samantha!"

"You, too, Nick."