Mad, Bad and Blonde - Cathie Linz [23]
“But if I really truly loved Alan, then Caine shouldn’t have been able to tempt me, no matter what.”
“Are you saying you weren’t in love with Alan?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t face sleeping in the same bed I shared with Alan, so I donated it to charity and bought a new one. That’s how I spent my afternoon. They deliver it tomorrow, so I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.” Faith paused for a moment. “Hey, get up and help me move the dining room table.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“What about the plates?”
She whisked them off the table as well as their glasses and the wine bottle. “There. Now, take hold of the other end, and we’ll rotate it so that it’s going the other way.”
“Why?”
“To get a new perspective.”
“We have to move the chairs out of the way first.”
“Right.” Faith released her hold on the edge of the table and headed for the nearest dining room chair, setting it aside. “Okay, that’s done. Now, let’s move the table.”
Megan said, “Watch the—”
Faith swore as she hit her head.
“—hanging lamp.”
Faith set down the table and rubbed the back of her head. “Maybe we should leave it like this.”
“At an angle?”
“The decorating magazines all say not to keep things all straight and commonplace.” She returned her plate and their glasses to the table before tugging a chair closer and sitting down.
“Is the view different enough?”
“It was perspective not view.” She automatically looked out the immense floor-to-ceiling window, where she could see Lake Michigan and the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier. Several sailboats dotted the blue water, while the greenery of a nearby park’s trees provided a welcome splash of color. “I love the view here. I don’t want to change that.”
“I should hope not. That view is worth a mint.”
Talking about views reminded her of the view from her hotel room in Positano and Caine. She blocked him from her mind and returned her attention to her final slice of pizza. It was bad enough that her ex-fiancé was haunting her, now she had a mad Marine doing the same thing.
“We packed up all Alan’s stuff and sent it to his address as you requested when I talked to you in Italy,” Megan said. “His condo is still on the market.”
“He was going to move in here with me because I have more room.”
“And because your condo is a lot better than his. Better view, better neighborhood, better everything.”
“Yet he dumped me. The former me. He wouldn’t have a chance with the new me.”
“Good to hear. After hurting you so badly, Alan doesn’t deserve another chance.”
“Neither does Caine. I feel like such an idiot. A week ago I was eating pizza with Caine in Italy.” Faith left her last half-eaten pizza slice on her plate. She’d suddenly lost her appetite. She should have lost it sooner, but she was too damn tempted by the deep-dish specialty. Giving in to temptation was turning out to be a big problem with her lately. And not just with food but with men too. One man in particular.
“Did you fall in love with Caine at first sight?” Megan asked. “I mean, it’s just . . . well, you don’t usually give your body without giving your heart.”
“I know. What’s wrong with me?” Faith sniffed back the sudden threat of tears. “How could I have messed up this badly?”
“It wasn’t easy. You must have really been working hard to mess up this much.”
Astonished by her cousin’s reply, Faith blinked before cracking up.
“I mean it’s bad enough being a jilted bride,” Megan continued. “But how many women can claim to be a jilted bride and then have a fling go bad in Italy? Not many.”
“I know.”
“And it’s Italy. I mean come on. The home of David. Well, the statue of David. The birthplace of hunks like . . . help me out here.”
“Uh. . . . Michelangelo?”
“Come on. Hardly a hunk. Think of someone else.”
“I can’t.”
“You’re a librarian. If you don’t know the answers, you know where to find them. Where’s your BlackBerry?”
“Why?
“Because we’re gonna Google hunky Italian men.”
“No, we are not. You do that, and I’ll be getting e-mails for penis enlargements by the thousands.”
“Really? How