Noah quickly withdrew his hand. “You might need to change those shorts now,” he said with that smug look. Then he stuck his fingers in his mouth and sucked them clean.
I was quite perturbed by his tease. “Are you finished? Did I pass inspection?”
“You did,” he acknowledged, and then turned toward the refrigerator. “I have to run out and pick something up today, but I’m expecting a package to be delivered. Samuel can sign for it, but the contents belong to you, so feel free to open it.”
“What is it?”
“A gift.” He shrugged his shoulders as he poured himself a glass of milk.
“You spent two million dollars on me and you’re buying me gifts on top of that?”
“It’s as much a gift for me as it is for you.” He kissed my forehead and patted my ass before he walked back out of the kitchen and left me standing there by myself.
I had no idea what sort of gift it might be, but my curiosity was piqued. What woman didn’t enjoy getting presents?
I found out a little later. The doorbell rang—and, by the way, it was one of those snooty doorbells that seemed to go on forever—and Samuel signed for the package. “Here you go, Miss Delaine,” he said kindly, and handed the package off to me.
“Please, Samuel, it’s Lanie,” I said, and smiled at him. He nodded respectfully and then took his leave.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I felt sort of like a kid on Christmas morning when I knelt on the floor in my skirt—yes, I changed—and ripped into the box. It wasn’t an easy task, either. Whoever packaged that thing had sealed it up like Fort Knox. I even had to leave it in the entryway and retrieve a knife from the butcher’s block in the kitchen. No worries; I was careful so that I wouldn’t destroy the wee bit of treasure on the inside.
All that went out the window though when I finally got into the stupid thing and looked inside. “Le Petit Boudoir” was written all over the tissue paper, and there was a note from none other than Fernanda. I opened it up, and I’ll be damned if her handwriting wasn’t every bit as beautiful as she was.
Dearest Delaine,
Noah asked me to send these over. He’s going to absolutely love them on you. I have to admit that I’m a bit jealous. So sorry we didn’t get a chance to play.
Enjoy!
Fernanda
That bitch!
And Noah had obviously lost his mind, thinking it was okay to have this stuff sent to me. You’d think he would’ve gotten the clue when I walked out on them yesterday. He couldn’t have actually thought I wanted to put something on my body that would remind him of her.
I wadded the note up and crammed it in my pocket.
In a fit of rage, I punched the box. Of course, that didn’t quite quell my anger, so I stabbed it with the knife that I was still clutching in my fist. I didn’t stop stabbing the damn thing until my arms got sore. Bits and pieces of lace and silk lay unrecognizable in the cardboard box, but I wasn’t satisfied. I could still see it, and I knew what it was and what it represented.
I jumped up and ran with purpose to the supply closet in the laundry room. Sifting through its contents, I finally found what I was looking for: lighter fluid.
I ran back, grabbed the matches out of the kitchen pantry, and dragged the offending box out into the driveway. I doused it with every last drop of lighter fluid left in the tin, struck a match, and dropped it into the box. I had to take a step back when a ball of fire ignited and shot up into the air.
Yes, I knew I was exhibiting irrational behavior. Yes, I knew my reaction was a bit on the psychotic side. But damn it all, I was not about to wear something one of his whores had picked out because she knew what he liked. And I wanted there to be no doubt in his mind how I felt about it, either.
As they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
I turned my back on the inferno and walked away. Even though the fire was relatively small and contained, in my mind it was huge. In fact, I was sure I looked just as awesome as little Drew Barrymore in Firestarter with flames engulfing everything around her, because Samuel stepped onto the porch with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide in awe.
“Are you okay, Lanie?” he asked frantically.
“Oh, I’m just perfect … now.” I heard the gentle purr of an engine as I stepped past him and across the threshold to the house, so naturally I turned around to see who had come to pay us a visit. It was Noah, and he was actually driving. His car was a sleek, shiny black sports number that looked like it cost him more than I did and reminded me of a leopard on the prowl.
He threw the car in park and jumped out, not even bothering to shut his door as he stalked over to my little bonfire. He looked at it and then up at me.
“Your gift was tainted,” I said matter-of-factly before I set my chin and walked away.
Of course Noah chased after me. “Samuel, get the extinguisher and put out that fire!” he ordered.
“Let it burn, Samuel,” I called in a bored tone over my shoulder.
“Delaine!” he shouted, but I kept walking. “Delaine! You stop right this instant or I swear to God I’ll—”
I spun on my heels to face him. “You’ll what?”
I watched his face contort in shock. The muscles in his jaws flexed as he ground his teeth, obviously trying to come up with a retort and failing miserably.
“That’s what I thought,” I said, and then turned and continued up the stairs. “You know, something’s seriously wrong with you, Noah Crawford. You saw that I was infuriated when we were at your girlfriend’s little shop. And yet, for whatever asinine reason, you thought having a woman who obviously still has the hots for my man send over something that she picked out was a good idea? And you’re supposed to be some huge business mogul?” I laughed incredulously and shook my head. “Soooo messed up. Oh, and by the way—” I stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to look down at him while digging in my pocket. “She left a note.”