Chapter Nine

The party was in full swing. All COBRA employees not currently on assignment were in attendance. Luke and his sister Kaitlyn were among the party-goers, as was the entire Dianetti family: Matt, Jac, Lauren, plus Matt’s folks. Logan’s brother Dan was unusually solo. At twenty-five, that was a natural disaster for him. A couple of the people from the neighborhood were there, including Mrs. Harper, the still-sprite-at-eighty-three-year-old woman who lived down the street. She treated Isabella like a granddaughter and Isabella soaked up the attention like a dry sponge. Matt’s parents were the same, showering her with gifts and affection.

He glanced over at Jade LaRossa’s house. No lights glowed from the windows that he could see, but he thought he spotted a shadow pass by one earlier. There was just enough space in the grove of trees that separated the houses for him to view her back patio. Rumor had it that old Mrs. Tinsley, the woman who used to own the house, was extremely nosey and a serial gossip. The people he'd bought his home from liked to have parties and Mrs. Tinsley couldn’t stand not knowing what was happening next door. After one really rambunctious shindig, she called a tree trimming company the next day and had them remove a section of trees that blocked her view. “Dutch Elm Disease,” she'd explained to the other family, never mind the fact that the trees were Pine.

He thought back to his encounter with Jade earlier in the afternoon. She was clearly intrigued with the preparations for his party but when he invited her to join in, she looked at him like he was a cannibal offering her a plate of food.

He shook his head. Women. Who understood ‘em?

“Hey buddy, why the dopey look?”

Logan flashed his middle finger and snatched the bottle of Sam Adams Luke offered. Luke chuckled and swung his leg over the adjoining lounge chair.

“Do I give off some kind of weird serial killer vibe or something?”

Luke choked on his beer and shot forward, sputtering, “What the hell kind of question is that?” He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. "Do you think I'd hang around you if you did?”

Logan pursed his lips in contemplation and nodded. “Good point.”

“Do you think Bella would have latched on to you so soon if she feared for her life? For better or worse, that girl thinks you hung the moon.”

Logan smiled, his gaze finding his daughter frolicking in the pool with Lauren and several of the other children of COBRA Securities. She looked over and waved. His heart clenched and he waved back.

“So who thinks you and Ted Bundy are fraternity bros? No, wait, let me guess. A chick, right?”

“You better not let Kaitlyn hear you talk like that.”

Luke cringed, his head darting around to locate his very outspoken baby sister. She was stomping away from a laughing Dan, a look of retribution on her face. “Thank goodness your brother has her otherwise occupied.” They both chuckled, feeling sorry for the currently chortling Dan. “Kaitlyn’s paybacks are always hell.”

“Yeah,” Logan agreed merrily. “My brother has the intelligence of Wile E. Coyote. No matter how many times he tries to get the better of her, he always ends up getting plowed.”

They watched in fascination as Kaitlyn sashayed her way back to Dan, her long black ponytail swaying against her back. She stopped a few feet away and reached for the hem of her blue T-shirt. In a purely seductive move, she slowly peeled her shirt off to reveal a red and white Hawaiian flower-patterned bikini top. Dan’s eyes widened comically and his gaze locked on her chest. She slinked over to him and walked her fingers up his chest. His Adam’s Apple bobbed visibly.

“Here it comes,” Logan predicted.

Kaitlyn grabbed the waistband of Dan’s orange board shorts, reached behind her back and whipped out a water bottle full of lemonade. She dumped the entire contents while a horrified Dan froze. Kaitlyn had the audacity to pat the front of his shorts once, twice and then back up and shriek, “Good grief Dan,” loud enough for everyone to hear. “I can’t believe you couldn’t make it to the bathroom in time.” She turned to one of the amused onlookers shaking her head and mimed too much to drink with her hand and then pointed to the yellow liquid dripping down Dan’s leg.

“Nice,” Logan praised, exchanging a hand slap, knuckle bump maneuver with Luke.

Luke beamed with pride. “Taught her everything she knows.”

Kaitlyn basked in the laughter like a queen with her loyal subjects.

“Uh oh,” Logan whispered.

Kaitlyn had a split second warning. Her head whipped around to see the gleam in Dan’s eyes and she yelped. She backed up quickly, trying to pacify Dan with apologies and sugar-sweet smiles.

It didn’t work.

He shot forward and scooped her up in a fireman’s hold before she could run.

Kaitlyn pounded on Dan’s back, protesting with outrage. Dan smacked her fanny and Kaitlyn halted. He kept his hand there and rubbed the sting.

It was Logan’s turn to grin with pride. “Taught him everything he knows.”

Redoubling her efforts, Kaitlyn struggled in his arms. Dan kept walking with purpose, unfazed by her protests. You could almost see a light snap on in her head. She stopped struggling, waved to Luke and Logan with a wicked gleam. Then she grasped the waistband of Dan’s shorts on both of his hips and jerked upward with all her strength.

And Kaitlyn was pretty darn strong.

A collective “Oohh,” rippled through the crowd and more than one guy covered his groin in sympathy. Dan’s eyes rolled back in his head, his knees buckled and his steps faltered. He gritted his teeth, but he didn’t lose his grip.

Kaitlyn propped her hands on his back and lifted her head to the onlookers. “And that my friends, is called an atomic wedgie.” She smiled and waved to her constituency, not realizing Dan’s destination until it was too late.

“Don’t you dare throw me in, Daniel John Bradley! These are brand new Jimmy Choo sandals!”

Dan reached down, slid one shoe off and tossed it over his shoulder. Kaitlyn made a swipe at it, missed, and watched with horror as it plopped to the ground with a thud. She “humpf-ed.” The second shoe followed and she missed again. “Put me down this minute, Dan.” She grabbed his waistband again. “Or I’ll give you a wedgie that'll make the atomic one seem like a caress.”

“Try it sweet pea,” his free hand grabbed the back of her shorts, “and you'll be flashing this pretty little heart-shaped ass to all of your friends.”

Kaitlyn curled her lip in frustration. “You're pure evil Dan Bradley.” She settled for a loud snap of the waistband and before she could so much as sputter, Dan leaned forward and tossed her into the pool. In typical Wile E. Coyote fashion, his reflexes weren’t quick enough. Kaitlyn made a desperate grab and snagged his wrist. Dan went headfirst into the water after her.

“I wish those two would wise up and get together already.” Luke shook his head, his lips curved in a smile.

“Yeah,” Logan concurred. “He needs to stop serial dating. Every woman he goes out with looks like her.”

“And she throws herself into her work to avoid dating.” He focused on Logan. “Speaking of serial, what was the killer question about?”

Logan shifted in his chair. “Oh…it’s just the woman who rented the house next door for the summer.”

“Really?” Luke sat up straight and craned his neck. “I didn’t know anyone rented it. A looker?”

God, yes. Logan shrugged a shoulder. “Eh.”

Luke pushed to his feet. “Maybe I’ll go introduce myself.” Logan completely missed the teasing note in his voice.

“Sit down you bastard, she isn’t home.” He squirmed. “Besides, I think she’s a lesbian,” he grumbled.

A wide, knowing grin split Luke’s face. “Turned you down, did she?”

“Twice.”

Luke threw back his head and roared with laughter.

#

Jade pushed the porch swing back and forth with her foot, a glass of Merlot in hand as she surveyed the festivities next door from the shadows.

Dozens of people of all ages wandered around Logan’s yard, some swimming, others playing volleyball or talking with friends or sampling food from the amazing spread spanning two tables. Colorful bowls filled with goodies, bags of chips and an assortment of beverages waited for hungry partygoers. The heavenly scent of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs tempted her resolve and was almost enough for her to crawl over on her hands and knees and beg for scraps. She couldn’t remember the last time she ate a burger, let alone a grilled one.

She also couldn’t remember the last time she attended a party and actually had fun. Maybe back in college. It had been that long.

The glamorous Hollywood life wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Sure, she was invited to hundreds of parties, but never for pure enjoyment. They were for networking or appearances, never for the opportunity to just relax and hang with friends. Many times the buffet of drugs available outnumbered the selection of food.

Most parties she wouldn’t have been caught dead at in the first place but either her agent or Kyle insisted. Whenever the illegal stuff came out, she left, always alone. She knew Kyle dabbled in all kinds of drugs but when she confronted him, he denied it.

It was another bone of contention in an otherwise lousy marriage.

Shouts of triumph rang through the air. She watched the players on one side of the volleyball net high-five each other. Not surprisingly, Logan’s team won. When the woman with the long black ponytail jumped into his arms and he spun her around, Jade averted her gaze.

What would it be like to go to a party just to hang out with friends? Play games? Eat hot dogs and chips and potato salad and drink beer? To know that people wanted you there for you, not what you did for a living or who you knew or what you could do for them. To play volleyball or croquet or badminton and share in a victory with teammates or boo the opposing team good-naturedly when you lost.

To grab Logan Bradley and hang on.

She longed to fit in, to be part of a group of people that looked past the gloss of Hollywood and saw the individual underneath the gaudy make-up.

Logan’s friends looked like those kinds of people, the ones who would judge her for who she was inside, not the glamorous star on the outside.

For the one hundredth time tonight, she regretted declining his invitation.