Free The Deception Dance by Rita Stradling Page B

care!” Linnie says glaring at the wall. “She
takes my baby sister to a club, feeds her hard-alcohol then ditches
her to get a tattoo with some random men.”
    “So that’s what she left to do?” Strange, didn't
Chauncey say just last night that she'd never get a tattoo? She's a
walking contradiction.
    Linnie harrumphs. “Chauncey told me that you told her to leave
you alone with Nicholas, but I can tell she's lying. What really
happened is she met some guys at the bar who convinced her to go get
a tattoo."
    "Nicholas chased after her," I say.
    "And by the time he caught up to her, she'd already gotten it.
He ran back to the club, but couldn’t find you." She
glares at the ceiling, “Stupid, stupid Chauncey, I hope she
catches hepatitis!”
    I shake my head, “You don’t mean that.”
    “You’re right. I hope she gets a nasty fever.”
    I say, resigned, “so, I guess you called dad.”
    “No,” she says, gritting her teeth in apology.
    When my eyes widen in surprise she holds out her hands, “I'm
sorry. I was about to, but I knew the moment I did, our trip would be
over and I wanted to give you half an hour more to return, in case
you just left with some cute guy. Not that I ever thought you would
do something like that.”
    I look away; shift my weight and say, “How was your date?”
    Tears flow again and Linnie hides her face in her hands. “I’m
sorry!” She sobs, “I don’t know if I’m crying
because I thought I might never see you again, or because I made-out
with a married man.” She dissolves into wet, breathy sobs.
    I pet her hair. “Wow, both are pretty awful. So he’s
married, what a jerk.”
    She turns her face to me, tears still glistening on her cheeks. “Can
we leave Italy?”
    Green eyes glitter in my thoughts… the way his soft lips
trailed down my neck. I rush to say, “Yes, we’ll leave
today. We’ll take the train to Paris and...”
    Someone knocks on the door. Before we can stand up to answer it,
Chauncey saunters in with Nicholas on her heels. Unlike everyone else
in the room, Chauncey does not look disheveled; I’ve never seen
her look more stunning. Looking at her, having her near me, makes me
nauseated.
    “I am so sorry...” she starts. I glance over and she
breaks off her apology. She drops a shopping bag. Yeah, right, she
was so distressed about me that she had to buy more shoes. “I
had no idea you couldn’t handle your alcohol. You don’t
know how bad I feel.”
    Yeah, I think I do.
    "Nice, Chaunce. You know this is entirely your fault, right?"
Linnie says.
    Chauncey rolls her eyes, then narrows them at me.
    Nicholas kneels on the floor. “No, this is my fault. I should
have never left you.” His expression makes my breath catch.
    I shake my head, “Last night just happened, it wasn't your
fault...”
    “Yes, it was,” he says.
    “No. You’re not responsible for
me.” I shrug. “We just met." I realize I sound
pretty ungrateful and rude. "Thank you for searching for me; it
was really nice of you. Don’t worry, I’m fine now, you
should get some sleep.”
    He stands up and then slumps into a black and
white striped wingchair. He shakes his head, “I just had
another espresso. I have to leave today for Sweden. But I'd like to
invite you ladies to stay with my family for a couple weeks.”
    “Sweden?” Linnie sits up.
    “You’re too kind,” I say. “But we're
heading to...”
    “We were just saying we wanted to leave Italy.” Linnie
says, as if I hadn’t spoken.
    “I’ll go,” Chauncey announces as if her approval
decides things. “I’ve always wanted to stay in a castle.”
    Linnie’s splotchy face breaks into a grin. “A what?”
    “Blondie, here, lives in a castle,” Chauncey says,
sounding almost bored.
    “Are you serious? Oh, that's so awesome. I can’t wait!”
And as if she weren’t bawling a minute earlier, Linnie rolls
off the bed and starts jumping around.
    Nicholas catches my gaze and I realize I’ve been shaking