Animalistic (Tiger in Her Bed)

Why of course…

Arielle stared at him. Good lord, he IS one hell of a looker, she realized. Any woman would fall for him instantly. What have I been doing for the past two weeks? “I see you have a bunch of female fans already. Maybe you should consider acting or a modeling career.”

Trent grimaced. “No thanks. I’m not a people person. Maybe next time I should come with a paper bag on my head so I won’t make a scene.”

“You’ll do no such thing.”

He shot her his killer smile. “Well, I don’t want to bug you while you’re working. You’re going to come to my mom’s dinner party, right?”

She nodded.

“I’ll pick you up at six?”

“Sounds like a plan. You know, your mom and I have really bonded. Aren’t you worried she might replace you with me?” she joked.

Trent dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “Babe, you can have her all to yourself. A lot of the time, she drives me nuts with her constant mothering. It’s suffocating.” He started to leave, but turned back and planted a kiss on her cheek. “This is for our audience so they know I’m staking my claim on you.” He winked. The women by the door parted to make way for him.

The most satisfying outcome from this pleasant interruption was seeing Chris’ expression. Once the crowd dispersed, Arielle noticed that her ex was standing in the hallway with his mouth gaping open.

For the first time since she caught him with Sabrina, she felt that all the emotional anguish he had put her through had been paid back a thousand-fold.

It was priceless.

~~~

The dinner party that Trent’s mom had in her house was more about socializing than actual dinner. The chef that was hired to cater the event served them minuscule French frou-frou food that, even with the five-course menu, she and Trent were still hungry afterward. They decided to stop and get some sandwiches, then head to Washington Square for a late evening picnic in the park.

They walked to see the fountain, then stopped to watch some street performers before heading to the bench area, away from the crowds. Trent had ordered Cuban sandwiches from a shop in the Village and she had a yummy gordito. They washed the sandwiches down with some iced tea.

“Does your mother often have dinner parties catered by a chef like that?” she asked.

“All the time. Mom can’t cook except for salads or maybe a dessert that doesn’t require the use of the stove or oven, but she’s good at microwave th

ings. But John, he’s good at cooking. He’d make someone a great wife someday.”

Arielle chuckled. “How about you, Trent? Can you cook? I’ve only seen you with takeout.”

“I can make grilled cheese sandwiches. And mac and cheese from the box. Does that count?”

“It counts.”

“Do you cook?” he asked back.

“Nothing fancy. As long as I have the recipe, I can manage. My mom was a domestic diva. She forced me to learn to cook when I was six as part of ‘bridal training,’ she said. She was an old-fashioned schoolmarm.”

“I bet she made great home-cooked meals. Do you miss her?”

“Every day. But it’s a little easier now. I mean, toward the end of her sickness, I knew she’d be gone in less than a month, and yet, I wasn’t ready to let her go. But I had to. She was in so much pain. She didn’t even recognize me anymore.”

Trent’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

The mood turned somber and Arielle quickly changed the topic of their conversation. “Anyway, I was surprised that Vanessa asked me to be her bridesmaid. It’s an honor, but I barely know her. And I don’t think her sister Stacy liked it.”

The dinner party earlier was a get-together between the Alexander and the Lyle families to discuss the upcoming wedding of Quinn and his fiancée, Vanessa. Vanessa wasn’t exactly the woman she had imagined as Quinn’s fiancée. Quinn was refined, elegant and rather haughty and stiff, while Vanessa was a free-spirited nerd, friendly, with a down-to-earth personality. She had two sisters – stunningly beautiful sisters that didn’t look like her at all. The oldest one was the wife of a congressman and the other was an actress. Arielle thought both of them were rather stuck up. Especially Stacy, the Broadway actress. She gave Arielle a dirty look because Arielle came with Trent and the two were chummy. Stacy had even tried to change Vanessa’s mind about the bridesmaids’ thing while they were still at the dining table. Vanessa put her foot down and threatened to elope if she didn’t get the wedding she wanted.

Arielle thought Vanessa seemed to actually prefer to elope, rather than having a grand wedding in the first place. But her own mother and Savannah were eager to hold a large reception. Arielle liked Vanessa. She found a kindred spirit in her. Vanessa had a great self-confidence and Quinn seem to dote on her. There were times when Arielle was bothered by her own self-consciousness. She wished she could be more like Vanessa.

“You’re family now. You’re mom’s new daughter,” said Trent. “As for Stacy, she’s sour because I ditched her a couple of times in the past.”