Неизвестный - 2. Beyond The Breakwater

Bri laughed. “It sounds like charity, or else you’ve lost your mind. Look, Allie, I really appreciate it—”

Allie put her fingers on Bri’s arm just under the edge of her shirtsleeve, high on her upper arm. “Hey, we’re supposed to be celebrating tonight. Don’t worry about it. I’ll give you my number and if you don’t find something, or you change your mind, the offer’s always open. Okay?”

“Sure,” Bri said with a smile. Allie was hard to resist. Bri leaned down, fished another beer out of the cooler, and opened it. For the first time in weeks, she felt almost good.

Forty-five minutes later, the party was in overdrive, with everyone talking too loudly, most everyone drinking too much, and more than a few forgetting whatever social inhibitions they might once have had.

“Let’s dance,” Allie shouted close to Bri’s ear, grasping her hand at the same time.

“Here?”

“Why not?” Allie moved her hand to Bri’s waist, hooked her thumb inside Bri’s jeans where they rested on the crest of her hip, and ran her fingers back and forth on Bri’s side under her T-shirt. Leaning so close that their thighs brushed, she said, “Do you think they might get the wrong idea?”

Bri could smell her perfume, the same scent she’d noticed that day in Allie’s apartment. Even more distractingly, she could feel the light press of Allie’s breasts against her chest. They were both wearing Tshirts, and neither had anything on underneath. Allie’s nipples were hard, and Bri’s tightened instantly in response. Totally involuntarily, her stomach clenched and a thrum of pleasure shot down her spine. When the jolt of excitement hit home, she got stiff in the space between one heartbeat and the next. “What…idea would that be?”

She didn’t recognize the low, husky timber of her own voice. Or she did, and she didn’t want to think about what it meant. Christ, I’m getting so hot.

“Well, if any of them are half the hotshot investigators they think they are,” Allie murmured, stepping even closer now, edging one thigh slightly between Bri’s legs, “they’ll figure out that I’m trying to get you to kiss me.”

“I don’t…think…”

“Good. Don’t then.” Allie nudged harder with the leg resting against Bri’s crotch, smiling when the unexpected pressure on Bri’s rampantly hard clitoris drew a soft groan from Bri. “And after you kiss me for a long, long time, I’d really like it if you’d make me come.”

“Jesus.” Bri blinked to clear her suddenly hazy vision. Then she found herself staring into the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen. Eyes so warm, so deep, that just looking into them was like the tenderest of embraces. Her voice was a mere whisper. “Carre.”

Bri had never believed it when people used the expression time stood still , but for that brief instant when her eyes met Carre’s, before Carre turned with a small cry and pushed hurriedly away through the crowd, everything simply stopped. The blood ceased to rush from her heart, the air halted its journey through her lungs, and every thought just…vanished. There was nothing left in her world. Nothing at all.

“Oh my God.”

“What?” Allie asked in confusion as Bri suddenly took her by the shoulders and pushed her aside.

By the time Bri managed to force her way through the crowd on the deck, into the bar where another roiling mass of people awaited, and, finally, to the front door, Caroline was nowhere in sight.

Fuck, where is she?

Bri turned around and sprinted, or rather tried to sprint, toward the parking lot. She was a little unsteady and realized that she’d inadvertently had more to drink than she intended. Plus, it was hard for her muscles to work when there was no blood flowing through her veins. Everything was frozen inside. She’d never been so damn terrified in her life.

Then the cough of an engine turning over caught her attention, and, turning in the direction of the sound, she saw taillights flicker. She raced toward the car as it backed out from between two trucks, and without even giving it a second thought, slammed both palms down on the trunk. “Carre! Wait!”

The car came to a jerking halt, the force of the bumper as it rocked against her legs bouncing Bri back a step. It hurt but she didn’t care. The door flew open and Caroline jumped from the car. Quicker than Bri would have thought possible, Caroline was in front of her, her hands fisted in Bri’s T-shirt, shaking her violently. “Are you crazy? Are you completely nuts? I could have killed you. God damn you, what is wrong with you?”

“Carre, listen…” Bri began desperately.

“No, you listen. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of you pushing me away, and I’m sick of you running away.”

Bri stood with her hands loose at her sides and allowed Caroline to manhandle her. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t care. That’s not good enough. What were you doing in there?” Finally, Caroline stepped back, staring at Bri with wounded eyes and fury in her face. “Is she why you moved out? Didn’t you even have the guts to tell me?”

“No! God, no.”

“I know what you look like when you’re hot, Bri.” Caroline ran a trembling hand through her hair. “You want to tell me that she wasn’t making you…” her voice broke and she turned away.

Bereft, bleeding at the sound of tears in Carre’s voice, Bri took one tentative stepped forward. She raised her hand but for the first time in their lives together, she was afraid to touch her. “Babe…she’s just a friend.”

“You’re such an idiot, Bri. She was all over you, and you looked like that was just fine with you.” Taking a deep breath, Caroline turned back and studied Bri’s face as if she were a stranger. “I thought you left Manhattan because of this job. Because you needed something for yourself—something that would make you feel better about yourself. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was her…or someone like her.”

“No. Jesus, no. You’re wrong.”

“Maybe I’m not wrong, and you just haven’t figured that out yet.” Caroline shook her head unhappily. “I’m going ho…back to Manhattan. Don’t call me for a while, okay?”

“Carre, please,” Bri begged. It felt like her legs were going to go. In another second, she’d be kneeling. She didn’t even care. She’d do anything… “Please, I love you.”

“You know what the worst part is?” Caroline said as she slipped back into the car. “I believe you.”

Bri thought she might die as she watched Carre carefully back the car the rest of the way out and drive slowly away. Carre didn’t look back, not even once.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Bri opened her eyes, blinked in the bright sunlight, and immediately closed them. She lay very still, aware that she was in a strange bed and that she was not alone. The crisp cotton sheets felt oddly rough against her bare nipples. Her shirt was off. Her jeans were on. Her fly was open.

Fuck.

She hadn’t been too drunk to remember what had happened.

“Come in with me, Bri,” Allie whispered as the car carrying the two of them and several of their friends pulled to a stop in the lane in front of Allie’s rented bungalow. “You can stay here tonight.”

She couldn’t ride back to Reese and Tory’s. And the prospect of being alone with her pain was more than she could handle. Allie’s hand on her thigh was soft and reassuring. “Yeah, okay.”

They said nothing as they walked down the path to the front door, but Allie had her arm around Bri’s waist again. It felt strange. Good, though. Solid. Firm. Alive.

“This way,” Allie said softly after she closed the door behind them. She held onto Bri’s hand and led her through the dark living room.