Ian, of course, was no place to be found.
Hiding.
Coward.
She wanted to rage with him, rage at him. She didn’t want to leave and give him the opportunity to build even more defenses against her. She wanted to hold him, feel again that merging she had known could exist between them. The completion that had, for endless seconds, rushed through her senses and left her shuddering in the aftermath.
“I think we need drinks before lunch,” Tally Conover commented as Courtney joined her in the foyer, her gaze sharp, her expression thoughtful. “And we definitely need to talk to Kimberly.”
Courtney barely refrained from glaring at her.
“Come along, dear, girls’ day out. Do you need to inform Ian you may be late?”
“I’ll need to be late?” Her fingers clenched on her purse as she fought to make herself follow the other woman to the door the butler held open politely.
“Please inform Ian that Ms. Mattlaw may be severely late returning tonight,” she informed him imperiously. “I’m certain he’ll understand why.”
Courtney hoped to hell he did, because she didn’t.
Her senses were overloaded. She had no business venturing out into the real world right now, and she knew it.
“This might not be a good idea,” she sighed as she stepped into Tally’s sporty little Jaguar. “Perhaps we should go shopping some other time.”
“I agree with you one hundred percent.” She might agree, but the amusement in her voice assured Courtney that the other woman had no intention of canceling whatever plans were in the making.
“I think a nice quiet lunch at my home, with a few friends, and plenty of drinks are in order. What do you say?”
Courtney turned to stare at her as tires screamed in protest at the quick application of gas she gave the vehicle. She jerked in the seat, frowning at the thought of whiplash.
“Will we get there in one piece?” She winced as Tally shot onto the main street, barely glancing at oncoming traffic as she did so.
“Of course we will,” Tally laughed with a natural, sharp humor.
Courtney shook her head, an unwilling smile tugging at her lips. She knew she liked the other woman for a reason, and she was beginning to learn why. She knew how to drive right, just to start with.
“I’m going to make a guess here,” Tally suddenly stated. “Ian has, in some way, made a complete ass of his Trojan self and you haven’t regained your balance yet. When they do that, the only thing you can do is drown your sorrows in liquor and friendship and plan his downfall to the last detail. How close am I?”
Too close.
“Are they all alike?” She sighed, bemoaning the fact that she assumed Ian was somehow different from the others.
“Hell no,” Tally laughed. “They are as unique as they can get. But Ian is the hardest. The one least affected, from what I gather, by any emotion. Even Kimberly despairs of him. Did you know he’s often the third in her marriage with Jared Raddington?”
Damn, and she had liked Kimberly too.
“She’ll join us for lunch. I’m certain she’ll have some ideas on how to bring him to his knees.”
“He’s f**ked her and you want me to meet her?” Perhaps Tally wasn’t as intuitive as she was beginning to think.
The other woman’s lips curled in a smile of satisfaction. “Don’t worry, you’ll love Kimberly. And you’ll learn we have to stick together, or else they’ll drive us insane. And trust me, there’s no way to avoid her or get out of liking her. Jared is as close to Ian as anyone has ever managed.”
Courtney frowned. “Let me guess, you’re the troublemaker of the group?”
“How did you guess?” An almost feline smile of accomplishment crossed her features, giving the unique planes and angles a decidedly wicked cast. “Now, settle back and relax. Ian will know you’re with me and that will make him crazy. He knows me. And he knows exactly what we’ll be plotting. We have to keep him off-guard, otherwise you’ll not have a chance at bringing him down.”
Courtney wanted to shake her head, to somehow jerk herself back to reality rather than this strange conversation she was having.
“Who says I need help?”