A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [99]
“And I love you,” he said. “I wish I was there with you this week.”
“You had things to do, I understand,” she said. “Besides, with this new makeup campaign, I’ve been getting up at the crack of dawn for shoots. We’re still on for next weekend, right?”
“Definitely.” He wouldn’t spoil his surprise by telling her just how on they were. The game plan was for him to arrive in L.A., spend the night and then whisk her off to a bungalow in Australia’s outback that was owned by a business associate of his.
“Get some rest, baby. You’re going to need it for next week,” he said and chuckled.
“I think I’ll give you the same warning.”
“Warning taken.”
When he hung up the phone half an hour later, he snuggled beneath the bedcovers thinking that one day he wouldn’t sleep each night alone in this bed anymore. He couldn’t wait.
Chapter Thirty
Erica felt elated as she entered Brian’s home. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he came home from work. She had thought about telling him she was coming and then decided to surprise him, although he would probably figure out she was here when he saw the rental car in his driveway.
She and her mother had two more weeks at Lake Tahoe and then there would be no reason she and Brian couldn’t reschedule their wedding. They needed to talk about it while she was here for a few days.
And she had decided to meet with Rita while she was here, too, and get a grip on the other woman’s relationship with her father. Angry that her father hadn’t at least tried to contact them, she had called him from the airport to tell him exactly what she’d thought of his insensitive behavior, only to be told by him that he had indeed tried calling both her and her mother several times. Her mother had outright refused to talk to him, told him not to call back, and he’d said for some reason he couldn’t get through on her line.
She really wasn’t surprised her mother hadn’t mentioned that her father had tried calling them on the cruise. Karen had been perfectly happy letting Erica assume he had basically written them off.
Pulling her carry-on luggage behind her, she moved up the stairs. The first thing she was going to do was unpack and then she would start preparing Brian’s favorite meal. Unless he worked late at the office she could expect him home in a few hours and she wanted everything ready. She smiled, thinking she would greet him at the door wearing the sexy nightie she’d purchased at an airport shop. Brian would definitely like that.
She couldn’t help but envision how her night with Brian would pan out. She intended to stay until Sunday night, returning to Lake Tahoe before her mother did on Monday evening. Hopefully the glow would have worn off her face by then.
The scent of Allure met her nostrils the moment she opened Brian’s bedroom door. She glanced around the room and felt a sickening lump in her stomach. Brian’s bed was unmade, which for him was not uncommon, but she knew he stayed on his side of the bed—unless he was sharing it with someone. It was plain to see the way bedcovers were strewn all over the place that there had been two bodies in this bed.
She pulled in a deep breath, refusing to jump to any conclusions, but the heavy scent of Allure that swept through her nostrils was making that hard to do. Whoever had been in this room wore that fragrance. Leaving her carry-on by the door, like a person in shock she slowly moved to the center of the room. There had to be a reason why his clothes were tossed carelessly on the floor.
She picked up his dress shirt and blinked back tears at the red lipstick stain she saw on the collar. A strangled sound of pain caught in her throat. He hadn’t known she was coming. Had he been playing her for a fool all this time?
She closed her eyes and shook her head not wanting to believe what was so clearly in front of her. A man and a woman had shared that bed, and the woman wore Allure. She then