Authors: Shelli Stevens
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Lena massaged her stomach, which had begun to seriously protest its latest meal.
Fast food was the devil.
“Mind?” Stephanie’s voice rose incredulously. “I cannot tell you how much I’m looking forward to this.”
“To lunch? With me?” Lena’s eyebrows rose. “You must’ve eaten some bad shrimp down there.”
“I’m a vegetarian, you moron. And trust me, this is going to be the best lunch you’ve ever had. Just think French and dress cute. Anyways, I’ve gotta do some last minute laundry. Be ready to go on Saturday at noon.”
“All right, Steph. Take care of yourself, and, damn it, go get some rest.” Lena hung up and turned back to Keith, who appeared to be focusing on his files.
“You look tired.” She walked over to him and kneaded his shoulders. “How’s work going?”
“It’s fine, though far more hours than I’d care to spend defending abusive husbands and drug addicts.” He gave an offhanded shrug.
“And flirting with the female clients, I suppose?” she teased and ruffled his hair.
He scowled and gave her a look of disbelief. “Are you kidding? You’d run screaming if you met half my clients.”
She’d never cared for the clients whom Keith chose to represent but had supported him as she knew she should.
She kneaded his shoulders harder and was rewarded with his grunt of approval.
“Mmm, promise you won’t stop.” His eyelids drooped, and he leaned back against her, resting his head against her breasts.
Encouraged by the sudden attention, and knowing they needed to try and work on the intimacy factor, she leaned forward and let her breath tickle his ear. “I don’t have to stop. But why don’t we continue this in the bedroom? It’d be a lot more comfortable.”
His body tensed, and the breath left his body in a heavy sigh. He leaned forward, and her hands slid off his back and down to her sides.
“I’m sorry,” she replied, stung. “I didn’t realize the offer was that unappealing.”
“It’s not like that, Lena.” He averted his eyes as he spoke.
“No? What
is
it like, then?” she asked, taking a step back from him and folding her arms across her chest.
“I’m tired. I’ve had a helluva week.” He raised his gaze to her, but she couldn’t gage his emotions.
“Funny, you had a helluva week last week too.” She didn’t try to hide the sarcasm, just shrugged. “Never mind. I’m going to sleep.”
She headed toward their bedroom, wondering if it were possible for one more person to make her feel like an idiot today.
“I’m not sure you should wear that.”
Lena glanced up from fastening a black heel strap around her ankle and frowned.
“Wear what?”
“That.”
“This? You gave me this sweater for Christmas, Keith.” She glanced down at the red cashmere sweater. “What did you want me to do with it? Use it to wash my car?”
“The sweater is fine, Lena.” He stepped forward, grabbing the hem of her skirt and pulling it downward. “This shows off too much of your legs.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Lena blinked. “Jesus, you’re not. Did you attend some kind of
make your woman submissive and wear tents
seminar?”
“Of course not.” He apparently failed to share her humor. “It’s not appropriate to travel in.”
“We’re driving into Portland, not flying around the world.”
“Yes, we are.” Stephanie popped through the door with a huge grin. “And don’t you look absolutely perfect.”
“What?” Lena tilted her head.
What had Stephanie just said
? “I must’ve have heard you wrong.”
Keith turned to Stephanie and shook his head. “Of course she can’t travel in that outfit. It’s almost an eleven-hour flight. There’s no way she’ll be comfortable.”
“Flight?” Lena blurted.
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Keith, don’t be so damn uptight. She looks hot, and you’re just worried about some other guy snagging her. Relax, turbo, you’ve got to trust your woman.”
“Uptight?” He jerked backward and snarled, “I am not uptight, and I’ll have you know I have all the trust in the world in my fiancée.”
“Okay, stop it.” Lena threw her arms up between them. “Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on? Aren’t we going to lunch at a French restaurant?”
Stephanie paused and glanced at her, almost in surprise. “Of course we are. It’s in Paris. I thought you figured it out, Lena. I’m taking you to Europe as a pre
-
wedding gift. The last vacation you’ll ever take as a single woman.”
Lena’s jaw dropped, the word Paris spinning around in her head. “You’re taking me to France? Is this a joke?”
“No.” Stephanie shook her head. “I asked for some time off from this project. So I want to take a vacation.”
Lena stared at her in amazement. “But I can’t go to Paris.”
“What? You have to,” Keith snapped.
“I—I have to work, for one reason....”
“I rearranged your schedule,” Keith intervened. “I’ve known about this for about a month. You’ve got the next two weeks off. Your work arranged to cover for you.”
“You did what?” Lena’s eyes widened. “But how? This is so sudden. I’m not even packed.”
“Well you’d better hurry up and do it before the limo gets here.”
“Limo?”
Stephanie grinned. “I hired one. But we’re going to miss our flight if you don’t hurry your butt up, so let me help you.”
“I can’t believe this,” she muttered as they finished packing. “Is this really happening?”
“Oh yeah.” Stephanie nudged her in the side after tossing another shirt in the case. “This is happening.”
Once Lena snapped her suitcase shut, Keith pulled her in for another hug and gave her a quick kiss.
“I wasn’t too keen on this whole trip, babe. But we’re not married yet, so it’s kind of hard for me to say no.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “You know, you’re kind of a control freak, Keith.”
“Yeah, and you’re kind of a bitch.” Keith gave her a hard smile.
Lena, refusing to get sucked in by their usual bickering, instead grabbed her jacket. “Can you guys at least
try
to get along?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll work on that. Right after we get back from Europe.” Stephanie grabbed her arm and ushered her out the door.
A second later Lena found herself stuffed into the back of a shiny limo. And then, as she waved good-bye to Keith and the limo pulled away, it all began to sink in.
“I’m actually going to Paris.”
“Yes, you are.” Stephanie gave a wicked smile and pulled out a bottle of Dom Perignon. “This is your
get out of jail free
card, Lena. So you’d better get ready. We’re celebrating.”
“Apparently.” Lena accepted the glass of champagne and watched Keith walk back into the house as the limo pulled away.
“And since I’m using my money to fund this trip, I have one condition for you.”
“And that is?” Lena would have agreed to anything at this point.
She was going to freaking Europe!
“There is to be no talk whatsoever about Keith. You are a single woman these next two weeks. Flirt. Have fun. It’ll be like a two-week, European bachelorette party.”
Lena hesitated. Hell, all she had to do was agree, it didn’t mean she’d actually flirt with anyone.
She raised her glass and clinked it into Stephanie’s. “You’ve got a deal.”
“Good.” Stephanie winked. “And, by the way, speaking of party? We’re going to Amsterdam first.”
Chapter Two
“Will you please get up? You’re sleeping the entire day away.”
Lena groaned and pulled the pillow over her head. She may as well have had a hangover for how awful she felt. What a long flight that had been.
“It’s not daytime, Steph. It’s the middle of the freaking night.”
Stephanie spun from the mirror and pounced on her, dragging the blankets off Lena’s curled up body. “It is the middle of the night in Portland. We, in case you haven’t noticed, are in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam, Lena
. It’s ten in the morning here. Now get your ass out of bed before I drag you out.”
Lena answered with her face still buried against the pillow. “Can’t we just take a couple more hours to sleep?”
“No, we can’t sleep. I want to go eat Dutch pancakes and drink wonderful coffee.” Stephanie grabbed Lena’s leg and jerked her toward the edge of the bed. “Once you have your coffee, you’ll feel fine.”
Lena pulled her leg back from Stephanie and then sat up on her own.
“Jesus.” Stephanie sat back on her heels, her face settling into an expression of wonder. “What did you do to your hair?”
“Don’t make me hit you. You know I’m not exactly Mary Poppins in the morning.” Lena yawned and patted down the hairs on her head that were sticking straight up. “I’ll go shower.”
An hour later they strolled down the streets of Amsterdam, careful to avoid the astonishing amount of bicyclists. Cars rarely passed by.
Lena had traded in her pajamas for jeans and a black sweater, with a heavy wool coat to combat the cold. She nursed a latté as they walked the streets of the city. The weather must’ve been just above freezing. It almost hurt to breathe. Not that she cared. She was in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam.
“This is too amazing. Saying thank you seems somewhat inadequate.” Lena glanced at her friend, giving her a big grin. “So where do we go now?”
“This great café.” Stephanie stepped to the right and allowed a bicyclist to pass on the left. He smiled, waved, and pedaled on by. Stephanie’s gaze followed him down the road. “People are so friendly here. Not to mention hot.”
“I don’t really look anymore.” Lena shrugged and paused to lean over the rail of the bridge they were on. “But this
view
is gorgeous.”
The canal shimmered in the muted winter sunlight. Tour boats glided through the icy water. Beyond the canal lay buildings that had probably been around longer than America had been a country.
Lena inhaled the cool air and watched her breath drift upward as she exhaled. “Do you smell that? It smells like aged Gouda…” Her nose scrunched. “And cigarettes.”
“Hmm, speaking of…” Stephanie dug into her purse. She emerged a moment later with a pack.
“When did you start smoking?”
“Last film I worked on,” Stephanie replied. “I planned on quitting, but then I realized that we were going to Europe, and everybody over here smokes. So I figured, what the hell. I’ll quit when I get back.”
Lena narrowed her eyes, watching her friend. Stephanie was stunning. Her mother was half-Japanese and half-Caucasian, her father German. Her long, black hair swung halfway down her tall, slender frame while blue, almond
-
shaped eyes and olive skin made her appear exotic.
“I was here once when the temperature hit below freezing.” Stephanie waved her cigarette toward the canal. “That was frozen, and there were kids skating on it. Totally fantastic.”
Lena turned her gaze back to the canal and sighed. “Oh, how fun. You know, we should try to go to the Van Gogh museum.”
Stephanie crushed out her cigarette. “Sure, but first, let’s eat.” When they entered the café, Lena gave it a dubious look. Thick smoke hung in the air, and soft music played from a stereo behind the bar. They found a booth near the back and settled in.
Lena removed her sunglasses and grabbed the paper menu off the table, relieved to see it also offered the English translation of the food. “I’m starving. Do you think they’re serving lunch yet?”
“Hello, hot guy at the bar,” Stephanie whispered, ignoring her question. “And he was showing strong signs of interest when we walked in.”
“Now that’s a surprise,” Lena murmured. “You could draw looks from the blind.”
Stephanie raised her eyebrows and smiled at the man, making Lena glad that she had her back to him.
“Okay, he’s coming over.”
“What?” Lena dropped the menu, her pulse quickening. “Are you nuts? He could be a complete wacko.”
“Well, hello, my fellow Americans.” The voice, a deep and sensuous baritone, lifted the minuscule hairs on the back of Lena’s neck.
I will not
turn and look.
“Oh, now that’s too bad.” Stephanie pouted. “I was hoping you’d be foreign and not another boring American. Accents are so delicious.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you.” He didn’t sound apologetic in the least. “Was that an invitation to sit down a second ago?”
“You’re a quick one.” Stephanie slid over in the booth and made room for him.
Lena saw his backside first as he walked past her. Okay, so he looked good from behind. His hair was brown and cut short, but it had some curl to it. A hunter green crew neck sweater covered thick, broad shoulders and muscular back. Hmm. A possible swimmer? Her gaze traveled down to the solid looking butt tucked into faded jeans.
The front of him would be a big mess. No man could look that good on both sides. He probably had yellow teeth, acne scars and crossed eyes.
He turned around.
Sweet Jesus
. This icon of a man could make the statue of David appear to be an overweight nobody. It shouldn’t be legal for a man to look this good. Lena’s defenses went on red alert, a common reaction when she was confronted with an impossibly good
-
looking man.
His brown eyes met hers across the table, and he gave her a broad smile, displaying perfect, white teeth. She gave an inaudible harrumph. What, did he promote toothpaste too?
“So where are you from, Mr.…?” Stephanie asked as she trailed a manicured nail up his sleeve. She didn’t seem nearly as bothered as Lena by their new friend.
“Bentz,” the man replied. “But formality is wasted in a place like Amsterdam. Call me Tyler. I’m from New York.”
“New York?” Stephanie replied. “I love New York. Great shopping. The name’s Stephanie, and this is my best friend Lena.”
Tyler shook Stephanie’s outstretched hand and then turned to Lena, who’d tucked hers back into her lap.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Bentz.” Lena gave an inward groan, wishing she didn’t sound so damn stiff.
Tyler cocked an eyebrow and pulled his hand back, keeping his gaze locked on her.
Lena didn’t answer and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, turning her gaze away from the amusement in his brown eyes. The hot body she could ignore, but the steady intensity in him struck a chord in her.