Wheels of Fire

“Hey, girl. Feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” At first, he seems happy to see me. The welcoming smile fades as I shift and his gaze lands on Cindy. “Mallory, who’s your friend?”

“This is Cindy.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her forward. “The makeup artist I told you about.”

“Oh. Right. You didn’t need to bring her today.”

I shrug. “I thought she could help us with the location and lighting or whatever.”

Cindy holds up her makeup trunk. “I brought a few things to get an idea of the look you want.”

“Cool. Cool. Thank you.” He stands back and opens the door wider. “Come in.”

The place is neater and tidier than I expected now that Pamela’s gone. Although the furniture has been replaced and rearranged.

“You were right,” Andrew says over his shoulder as we follow him through the house. “Pamela barbequed all my furniture after New York.”

I snort and choke on my laughter.

Cindy taps my shoulder. “That’s Pamela’s ex?” she whispers.

“Yup.”

“Jesus, he’s hot. And I don’t even like rockers.”

“He’s a serial cheater,” I warn.

“And that’s why I don’t date rockers.” Her mouth twists down. “Sorry.”

I’m not offended. Chaser’s nothing like Andrew. “Nope. I hear you.”

Andrew stops at the sliding glass door that leads to a patio of sand-colored slate leading to a kidney-shaped deep blue pool the size of a small lake. The property curves to the right with lush trees and shrubbery providing the allusion of a private, island oasis.

“This is beautiful, Andrew,” Cindy says, staring at everything.

He stands by the pool and throws his arms out wide. “This is my Zen. My peaceful, happy place, you know?”

Cindy’s intrigued and keeps studying the pool and trees. “What’s your vision?”

Andrew stares at one of the elegant black, iron lounge chairs scattered around the pool deck. “Maybe some old Hollywood glam with a punk rock vibe?”

Even with his eyes hidden by dark sunglasses, when he turns my way, my skin sizzles. “Can you make her hair all wavy.” He flips his hands around his face. “Like Cleo Moore? Mallory always reminded me of that actress.”

That’s news to me, but okay.

“Definitely.” Cindy pulls me closer and pushes me into the lounge chair. “Mallory’s hair is longer, but I can curl it away from her face. Give her some sophisticated loose waves. Here.” She brushes my hair back from the side of my face. “And here.”

“Yeah, that’s good.” While Andrew seems excited, I’m more and more weirded out with every passing second.

“Who are your other models?” I ask.

“A couple girls from the clubs and um, this kid from another band.” He turns to Cindy. “You mind working on some other people too?”

“Not at all. I can handle all of it.”

They end up walking over the grounds, talking about which spots might work best. My inner matchmaker thinks they’d make a cute couple but then my practical side says Cindy doesn’t need the heartache.

“Oh shoot!” Cindy stares at her watch. “I’m so sorry. I have to go.”

“That’s all right. You’ve been a huge help, Cindy.” Andrew pulls out his wallet and hands her some cash. They speak in low tones for a few minutes while my gaze lingers on the gate leading to the driveway. I plan to make my escape with Cindy.

Andrew walks us out front with a hand at each of our backs. Cindy breaks away from us and jogs down to her car. “See you Saturday, Andrew. See you tomorrow, Mallory.” She waves before taking off.

I grab my car door handle, but Andrew presses his palm against the glass. “Hey, can you come back inside for a second? I have something I want to show you.”

“Uh… sure.” I follow him back into the house. “Do you feel better about the shoot now?”

“Yeah, I meant to take some test shots of you but we can do that Saturday.”

Inside the house, I’m not sure where to go. He bounds up the stairs. Instead of following, I perch on the edge of the couch.

Andrew returns a few minutes later and holds up a navy blue T-shirt about ten sizes too small for him to his chest. “What do you think?”

“Oh! Is that one of your shirts? It’s cute.” I stand and move closer so I can study the fairy-tale-like scene depicted on the material. Except, on closer inspection, it’s kind of gory. The busty, blonde, barely dressed princess wields a bloody knife and wears a deranged smile. “Wow, that’s…something.” I stare at it a little longer. “It’s so…detailed. You drew that?”

He shrugs. “I like drawing crazy stuff. Always have.”

“It’s incredible.” I return to leaning against the couch, my gaze straying toward the door. “Maybe you should publish comic books, instead of T-shirts?”

“Maybe.” He slings the shirt over his shoulder and approaches. “Thanks for being so cool about my art. Pamela always told me how lame it was.”

“It’s not lame at all. You’re really talented.” My eyes return to the door. “I should probably…”

“Come here, girl.” He envelopes me in a friendly enough hug, patting my back a few times. “I’ve missed you guys. How’s Chaser doing locked up with Mark?”

“Good, I think.” I pull away and hold up my hand between us, flashing my ring. “He proposed when we were home visiting his family.”

He rolls his lip and stares at the ring for a second. “I heard about that. That’s great. Congratulations,” he says with all the enthusiasm of someone just given a week to live.

Huh. Maybe his breakup soured him on all relationships.

He lights up a cigarette. My eyes water and my nose twitches. I step away and run my hand over the back of the new couch. “This looks nice.”

He snorts a stream of smoke through his nose and casts a sad glance at the new furniture. “It’s been hell without her.”

My heart twitches but I can’t muster up any sympathy after what he did. So, I say nothing.

“Do you want something to drink?” He bangs his palm against the side of his head. “Fuck, I should’ve asked you sooner. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He seems so forlorn or anxious. As much as I’m dying to leave, I can be polite and stay for a simple glass of water, right? “Water would be good.”

“Have a seat.” He sweeps his arm in the general direction of the couch.

I set my purse on the coffee table—noting the absence of the giant cocaine-filled Tupperware containers—and perch on the edge of one stiff couch cushion.

A few seconds later, something instrumental that I strongly suspect is Andrew playing the piano drifts from the speakers. “This is pretty,” I call out. “Is that you?”

“Pretty.” He returns to the living room with two wineglasses and a green glass bottle. The cigarette in his mouth bounces. “It’s something I was fucking around with since I have all this time on my hands.”

He sets the wine and glasses on the coffee table in front of me. “I’m all out of water.”

“Seriously?” The last thing I need to do is get tipsy when I’m alone with Andrew. “I’m not a fancy girl. Tap water is fine.”

He drops down next to me, so close his body heat simmers over my skin. I shift away but he follows.

“I can’t believe you two are engaged.” He takes my hand and stares at my ring. “Where’d Chaser get this from? A gumball machine? It’s not even a diamond.”

Stunned by the bitterness in his voice, I yank my hand out of his grasp. “It’s a sapphire. Like Lady Di’s ring.”

“I expected him to be more original than that.” Andrew shrugs.

“Well, I love it and he knew I’d love it.”

He turns his big puppy eyes my way. “How’d he do it?”

“In Niagara Falls.” My heart flutters at the memory and I can almost

feel the mist from the falls over my skin.

“What a sap,” he grouches, wiping the smile off my face.

Maybe he’s just being a jerk because he’s upset about his own breakup. Had he planned to propose to Pamela eventually? “I’m sorry about you and Pamela.”

He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “It’s my own fault.”

“Can’t argue with you there.”

He twists, tucking his leg under him so he’s facing me. “So, what’s next? Going to settle down and pop out some babies?”

“Sheesh. Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

“It’s a natural question” His gaze drops to my left hand. “Why bother getting married otherwise?”

“Because we love each other.”

He reaches over and brushes his knuckle over my cheek, pushing a few strands of hair off my face. “You’re so pretty. I only watch Shallow End to see you every week. Did I ever tell you that?”

“Uh, no.” I scoot back a few inches. Nervous laughter bubbles out of me as I try to subtly shake off his touch. “Why wouldn’t you watch for Pamela? She has way more lines.”

“That’s only ’cause her tits are bigger. You’re a better actress.”

I blink, and stare down at my chest, unsure of what to say. An icky sensation rolls over me from talking about Pamela this way with him.

As I’m trying to come up with something to break the silence, Andrew cups the back of my head and drags me toward him.

“Whoa. Stop.” I slap my hand on his chest and shake out of his hold. “What are you doing?”

His gaze drops to my lips. “Kissing you.”

“Hold up. What?” My eyes bug out. “No. No way. You and I are friends, Andrew. That’s it. I’m with Chaser. We’re engaged.”

“Jesus Christ, Mallory.” He throws his hands in the air and swivels away from me. “I don’t want to be your friend.”

“W…What?”

When he turns my way again, sweet fun-loving Andrew has left the building. I barely recognize the wicked sex fiend in front of me. “I want to fuck you.” Each word oozes from his mouth with deliberate ease.