“I hope it wasn’t all a waste of time.” She pushed her toe into his crotch.
He smiled. “Certainly not. In some ways, this has been an extremely lovely trip.”
“Well, if this is going to be our last night together, I’ll have to make it a special one,” she said.
“They’ve all been special,” he replied. “Especially the weekend at Tiptop.”
“I’d give you their unlisted number,” she said, “but I wouldn’t want you going there with anyone but me.”
Their food arrived, and Betty returned her toe to her shoe.
“I left a couple of messages for you at Le Parc,” she said. “Why didn’t you call me back?”
“I’m sorry; I haven’t been by the desk, I guess. I tend to go straight from the garage to my room. Was it something important?”
“I just wanted to tell you about Arrington.”
“Why didn’t you call my portable number?”
“I always feel as though I’m interrupting something when I do that.”
“Oh.”
“Stone, something’s really wrong, I can tell. Why won’t you talk to me?”
Because I might as well whisper it into Vance’s or Ippolito’s or somebody’s ear, he thought. “There’s nothing, really.”
“It’s Arrington; you’d hoped to see her again, hadn’t you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
They finished their dinner in silence. He paid the check, and she took his hand on the way out.
“I’m going to make you forget her,” she said.
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll meet you at Le Parc in fifteen minutes.” “No,” he said, “meet me at the Bel-Air Hotel. I’ve moved.”
“See you in the parking lot there,” she said.
He followed her all the way, checking his rearview mirror to see if anyone were following him. As far as he could tell, there was no one behind him.
She walked ahead of him into the suite, shedding clothing as she went. Stone allowed himself to be undressed, then she went into the bathroom and came back with a bottle of body lotion.
“Where does it hurt?” she asked, kneeling over him on the bed.
“All over,” he said.
She warmed the lotion between her palms and began rubbing his chest. “I watched you having your massage at Tiptop,” she said. “There was a peephole for that very purpose. I saw the effect Lisa had on you.”
“And what effect did watching have on you?” he asked.
“It made me want you both,” she replied, pouring more oil into her hand.
“Then why didn’t you have us both?”
“I didn’t think I should tamper with the staff.”