make-up sex. Then Pearl would get suspicious again; the cross-questioning Homeland- style would begin once more, with me trying to explain. Then I’d fuck her again, and so on. Was it the drama that turned us on so much? Pearl getting me wild and emotional, with her cool games that got me simmering with pent-up irritation and desire? It seemed she loved playing cat and mouse so that I would then ravage her, dominate her; fuck the coolness out of her—make her crumble beneath me. Sexually, she was a natural submissive and this was bringing out my bestial instincts. It worried me and excited me. I didn’t want to fight; I wanted a smooth ride, but I asked myself if the kind of ride Pearl desired was more of a roller coaster. Or perhaps she was just testing me to see if I was worthy of her love.
But I couldn’t blame her suspicion about Laura. The question still remained unanswered. How the fuck did Laura know all those intimate things about Pearl? I sure as hell hadn’t let anything slip. Had someone betrayed me?
CROSS-QUESTIONING
PEARL
M Y LEGS WERE tucked beneath me on the couch, Alexandre’s head in my lap. He had thoughtfully stocked the refrigerator for me before my return, and we were sipping freshly squeezed orange juice. He knew exactly when my plane had landed. He’d had my every move monitored since I’d last seen him. How? Through my cell phone, he now admitted. Duh. It was Alexandre who’d bought me that Smartphone; it was as good as a GPS. I should have thought that might happen, although assuming he had lost all interest in me, it hadn’t occurred to me that he’d be tracking my movements with modern technology.
I’d been trying to make sense, all morning, of what was going on between us, and I was still confused. For hours we’d been talking things through, about Sophie, about Laura, about the fact that he’d left me broken-hearted for two weeks, believing it was all over. Now he said he wanted me to return to his apartment and leave this place to Daisy and Amy. He’d shut me out, now he wanted all of me back. I was still recovering, still assimilating what had passed between us. I was not ready for this. Well, I was; all I’d been daydreaming about was getting back with him, but I still didn’t trust him a hundred percent. Maybe not even seventy-five percent.
I plumped up the cushion behind my back. “Is that really true, what you say, that you followed me to Laura’s through my cell phone?”
“Yes. But I got there too late. I did a quick detour to my hotel to pick up Laura’s box of books, but I wasn’t fast enough—you’d already left.”
“There I was, watching you, sitting on that park bench, listening to heartbreaking lyrics by Patsy Cline and thinking we were over and that you were back with Laura for good.”
He threaded his fingers through mine. “And I thought the same. She told me you’d had a talk and that as far as you were concerned, we were finished.”
I wanted to scream. She had me fooled and tried to do the same to him! “And you believed her?”
“No. That’s why I’m here now. I knew in my heart you still loved me.”
I threw my hands in the air. “You’re so cocky! I wish I’d been that sure of myself. There you were, all cool, calm and collected, and I was a friggin’ basket-case!”
“Not cocky, just confident. I thought, If I can fuck Pearl just one more time, she’ll remember how much she needs me.” His lips flickered into a subtle but wicked smile.
I shook my head and raised my eyes to the ceiling. “So unbelievably cocky! By the way, Monsieur God’s Gift to Womankind, I’m not done with this conversation yet. I still have quite a few more questions. I mean . . . I’m sorry, Alexandre, but someone must have told Laura about Alessandra Demarr and me. You swear it wasn’t you . . . then who the hell was it?”
“I have no idea.”
I took a long sip of juice and said coolly, “Wouldn’t it just be easier to tell me the
But I couldn’t blame her suspicion about Laura. The question still remained unanswered. How the fuck did Laura know all those intimate things about Pearl? I sure as hell hadn’t let anything slip. Had someone betrayed me?
CROSS-QUESTIONING
PEARL
M Y LEGS WERE tucked beneath me on the couch, Alexandre’s head in my lap. He had thoughtfully stocked the refrigerator for me before my return, and we were sipping freshly squeezed orange juice. He knew exactly when my plane had landed. He’d had my every move monitored since I’d last seen him. How? Through my cell phone, he now admitted. Duh. It was Alexandre who’d bought me that Smartphone; it was as good as a GPS. I should have thought that might happen, although assuming he had lost all interest in me, it hadn’t occurred to me that he’d be tracking my movements with modern technology.
I’d been trying to make sense, all morning, of what was going on between us, and I was still confused. For hours we’d been talking things through, about Sophie, about Laura, about the fact that he’d left me broken-hearted for two weeks, believing it was all over. Now he said he wanted me to return to his apartment and leave this place to Daisy and Amy. He’d shut me out, now he wanted all of me back. I was still recovering, still assimilating what had passed between us. I was not ready for this. Well, I was; all I’d been daydreaming about was getting back with him, but I still didn’t trust him a hundred percent. Maybe not even seventy-five percent.
I plumped up the cushion behind my back. “Is that really true, what you say, that you followed me to Laura’s through my cell phone?”
“Yes. But I got there too late. I did a quick detour to my hotel to pick up Laura’s box of books, but I wasn’t fast enough—you’d already left.”
“There I was, watching you, sitting on that park bench, listening to heartbreaking lyrics by Patsy Cline and thinking we were over and that you were back with Laura for good.”
He threaded his fingers through mine. “And I thought the same. She told me you’d had a talk and that as far as you were concerned, we were finished.”
I wanted to scream. She had me fooled and tried to do the same to him! “And you believed her?”
“No. That’s why I’m here now. I knew in my heart you still loved me.”
I threw my hands in the air. “You’re so cocky! I wish I’d been that sure of myself. There you were, all cool, calm and collected, and I was a friggin’ basket-case!”
“Not cocky, just confident. I thought, If I can fuck Pearl just one more time, she’ll remember how much she needs me.” His lips flickered into a subtle but wicked smile.
I shook my head and raised my eyes to the ceiling. “So unbelievably cocky! By the way, Monsieur God’s Gift to Womankind, I’m not done with this conversation yet. I still have quite a few more questions. I mean . . . I’m sorry, Alexandre, but someone must have told Laura about Alessandra Demarr and me. You swear it wasn’t you . . . then who the hell was it?”
“I have no idea.”
I took a long sip of juice and said coolly, “Wouldn’t it just be easier to tell me the
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