A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [40]
“Oh.” The surprised look on Lori’s face would have been priceless if the situation wasn’t so awful. Tears she couldn’t hold back sprang into her eyes.
Lori was out of her chair in a second and leaned over and hugged her tight. “Hey, it’s not so bad. Don’t cry.”
Rita pulled away. “You haven’t heard the worst of it.”
Lori reached out and grabbed hold of her hand. “Okay, so you slept with a married man. The bastard probably didn’t tell you the truth and you found out and—”
“No, no,” Rita interrupted, shaking her head while trying to wipe her eyes. “That’s what’s so awful. I knew all along he was married, but I slept with him anyway.”
Lori lifted a brow. “Were you drunk?”
“I don’t think so. I’d had more wine than I needed to have, I will admit that, but I won’t lie and say I was drunk. I was attracted to him and my hormones got the best of me.”
“Well, was the toss between the sheets worth all this misery you’re going through?”
Rita thought of everything she’d done with Wilson last night, every single thing. Even now she could feel his hands on her, touching her all over. And his mouth performing oral sex on her that had her practically blushing. But nothing could compare to the way he’d made love to her. It had been a long time for her, but he’d been gentle, sensual and thorough. She hadn’t thought making love to a man could leave a woman breathless, panting for more and wishing the night would never end.
“Well? Was it good?”
Rita drew in a deep breath and said as if still in awe, “Yes, it was good. Very good. I felt things I’d never felt before. It was totally awesome.”
Lori smiled and threw up her hands and looked heaven-ward. “Thank you, Jesus.” She then returned her gaze to Rita. “Now you see what you’ve been missing. Forget about the fact he was a married man.”
“I wish I could.”
“I don’t see why you can’t, Rita. Chances are you’ll never see him again and he’ll never tell his wife what—”
“You don’t understand, Lori. I know the guy.”
Lori looked stunned. “You know him?”
“Yes.”
Rita knew how Lori’s mind worked and knew her best friend was trying to grasp all she was saying; trying to put it together, shove it all into that brilliant brain of hers. “And you also know his wife?”
“Yes.”
Lori grabbed her head and pretended to pull out her hair. “Please. Please tell me it wasn’t Fred.”
Rita fought to keep from laughing. Fred McConnell and his wife were Lori’s neighbors and he tried hitting on them behind his wife’s back every chance he got. “No, it wasn’t Fred.”
“Thank God.” She paused a moment and then asked, “So who is he? What’s the name of this married man that you know?”
Rita met Lori’s gaze and fought back more tears from her eyes when she thought of what she’d done and the ramifications of the mess she’d gotten herself into. She drew in a deep breath. “Wilson. Wilson Sanders.”
Rita knew when Lori remembered where she’d heard the name before. A stunned look appeared on her face. “Wilson Sanders? Hey, isn’t that…?”
Lori’s words trailed off and she figured her best friend was probably too shocked to finish what she was about to say, so Rita finished for her. “Yes, Wilson Sanders is Erica’s father.”
Rita glanced down at her hands as she rubbed them nervously together. Her body began trembling in despair and gloom. “I slept with the man who in a few months will become my son’s father-in-law.”
Chapter Ten
“Is everything all right, Brian?” Erica asked, watching him hang up the phone with a concerned look on his face.
He glanced over at her and shrugged. “That was Mom. She can’t meet us for lunch and doubts she can reschedule for dinner. She sounded pretty awful.”
“Really, what’s wrong?”
“I guess she’s just tired from the delay in Sweden. She’ll probably sleep the rest of the day. Get over all that jet lag.”
“I talked to my mom a while ago and she said Dad’s flight got delayed somewhere in Europe as well, all because of that volcanic ash in the air. I have to agree with the airlines in delaying flights instead of trying to fly through it.”
“Same here,” he