Читать книгу Twisted Flames - Victor J. Banis - Страница 5

CHAPTER THREE

They laughed gaily as they entered the house, both of them for a fleeting moment carefree and happy.

“Enter the typical newlyweds,” Laura declared, hugging Neil’s neck.

Neil’s smile faded and became a frown.

“Well, almost,” he said glumly, lowering her to her feet with almost rude abruptness.

They stood in silence for a moment, looking about the room. They had been there often in the two weeks past, preparing the house and arranging the new furniture. It was comfortable in good taste. The decor was mostly Danish Modern, inexpensive but good pieces. Laura had made many plans for further decorations of the house. Now those plans seemed pointless to her.

“How about a drink?” Neil suggested in a quick attempt to restore their spirits.

Laura scowled. “It’s early in the day for that, isn’t it?”

“It’s our wedding day, remember?” He led her firmly toward the small bar built into one end of the living room. “People have a right to break the rules on their wedding day.”

A new doubt crept into Laura’s mind as she remembered the two weeks just past. Neil drank rather frequently, although she could not remember him drinking at all before. She had paid little attention to this fact, dismissing it as caused by the nervousness natural in a bridegroom. Now, however, she could understand that other factors had played a part, and she wondered how much he had come to rely upon alcohol as a solution to his problems. It was another area in which she realized she knew little about her husband.

“I guess you have a point there,” she relented, wanting to avoid dissension at the moment. Surely he would relax more now that they were actually married, and his drinking would be unnecessary. She went along with him, seating herself on one of the tall stools. Neil went behind the bar and produced a bottle of Bourbon.

“We have Bourbon and Bourbon,” he quipped. “What’ll it be?”

“That’s a tough question. How about Bourbon?”

He brought two glasses from the shelf underneath the bar. “Ice!” he demanded imperiously.

“Ice,” she repeated and jumped down to hurry to the kitchen. She was back a moment later with a tray of ice and a pitcher of water. Neil poured the drinks, leaving little room, she noticed, for water.

“Here’s to us.” He toasted her, handing her one of the glasses.

Laura returned the toast and sipped the drink cautiously. It burned slightly as it went down. She was not much accustomed to drinking, and moreover she had eaten little lunch.

The lack of lunch, however, did not seem to worry Neil. He downed his drink rapidly and poured himself a second before she had done more than taste hers.

“Hey, you are celebrating, aren’t you?” She tried to make her tone light and joking, but in fact she was frightened by his intensity. It was as though he were determined to get as drunk as possible, as quickly as possible.

In answer, he tilted his glass up again. Laura held her tongue, reminding herself that he had every reason to be nervous. If liquor would help to restore his spirits, there was probably no harm in it, and it certainly seemed to be doing just that. He was smiling pleasantly, his eyes gleaming perhaps a little too brightly.

“It’s a rotten shame we can’t take a honeymoon,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Laura shrugged and allowed herself to relax a little. The drink helped her nerves also.

“We’ll make up for it,” she told him with a smile.

“You’re damned right we will,” he agreed loudly. “I promise you a first-class honeymoon next year. Where would you like to go—Paris? Rome? Say the word and your husband will take you there.”

The word husband brought Laura’s tension back with a flurry. Her husband! Looking at him, clearly feeling the effects of his liquor, she realized once again that they were strangers to one another in a very real sense. Worse, they were without the all-important link that gave most couples the opportunity to comprehend and join with one another.

She was spared the necessity of an answer by the doorbell.

“We’ve got company,” she said aloud. “Our first visitors in our new home.”

“It’s the back door,” Neil told her as she started toward the front.

With a grin, Laura went in that direction, across the compact kitchen, to the door that opened to the patio in the rear.

Her first impression of the woman standing outside the door was one of breathtaking loveliness. The stranger was taller than she, slightly more slender. Her age, Laura guessed, was somewhere between twenty and thirty-five. Gleaming black hair, cut stylishly short, framed a narrow face that was dominated by hauntingly dark eyes. The brightly patterned blouse and skin-tight capri pants she wore set off her trim, youthful figure to the best possible advantage.

“Hello.” Laura greeted her visitor meekly. She felt almost unattractive in the presence of this sleek, striking creature.

“Hello. I’m Eve Blair.” Her visitor returned the greeting with a flash of white teeth. “One of your neighbors. I saw you arrive and thought I’d better come over and welcome you to the underworld.”

A strange way to describe the neighborhood, Laura thought, but she found the gesture flattering. It was comforting to know that she was among friendly people.

“Come in,” she said, opening the door wide. “We’re just having a drink.” Then, thinking that this might create an unfavorable impression, she added quickly “We’re newlyweds.”

“I noticed.” Eve Blair’s smile was not particularly pleasant, as though she were mocking everything that she saw or heard. Laura blushed, remembering how Neil had carried her across the threshold, announcing the newness of their marriage to any onlookers.

That’s silly, she told herself, leading the way into the living room. There’s no reason to be ashamed of my marriage or embarrassed by it. But somehow, aware of Eve’s dark eyes on her as they walked, she had the impression that this beautiful woman could see through the sham they were putting up, could somehow know the truth about the marriage.

Neil had already started on another drink when they entered the room. Laura saw his eyes take in their guest and glimmer even more brightly with appreciation. For an instant, she suffered a pang of jealousy. That’s ridiculous, she told herself, almost laughing aloud. That’s one thing I won’t have to worry about. Physically, at least, there was no likelihood that Neil would be unfaithful to her.

“Neil, this is Eve Blair. She’s one of our neighbors, and she came by to wish us welcome.”

“Now that’s what I call hospitality,” Neil said loudly. “I hope you’ll have a drink with us.

“And that’s what I call hospitality,” Eve answered him, settling herself gracefully on the other stool. “You’ve talked me into it.”

Laura watched with bitter amusement as Eve’s eyes took in Neil’s large, husky body, her admiration unconcealed. If only she knew, Laura thought to herself. What would Eve Blair have done, faced with the same decision? Would she have sacrificed her own physical needs for the sake of a man who was incapable of performing sexually. Studying the dark beauty, Laura found the prospect unlikely.

Eve accepted her drink with a warm smile at Neil, and turned toward Laura. “I don’t suppose you’d consider loaning him out,” she said with a nod in Neil’s direction.

“I don’t think so,” Laura answered, trying to keep her tone light and bantering.

“That’s just what she says,” Neil commented.

Laura blushed at the exchange. Surely Neil wouldn’t create embarrassment for them both by revealing the truth about their marriage.

“Will I sound smug if I say I’ve got nothing to worry about?” Laura asked aloud, with a cold glance in Neil’s direction.

He laughed again, but said nothing more. Eve Blair looked from one to the other of them, apparently weighing the situation. What conclusions she reached Laura could not guess, but of one thing she was certain: Eve had not been entirely joking when she made the suggestion. Everything about the woman was sensual, hinting at wanton desire for physical sensation.

“Well, I imagine the two of you will keep one another quite well entertained for a while,” she said dryly.

They sat for a moment in silence. Laura felt uncomfortable in the other woman’s presence, and was painfully aware that Neil was rapidly drinking himself into a stupor.

“May I say, your husband is a very fortunate man?” Eve said finally, breaking the silence.

Laura turned in Eve’s direction, flattered by the compliment, but the words of thanks caught in her throat as her eyes met the other, darker pair.

The impression was gone at once, but the shock stayed with Laura, lingering in her awareness. Had she been mistaken, or had she seen in Eve’s eyes the same frank admiration, even desire, that had been directed a moment before toward Neil?

Surely not, she assured herself. True, she had heard of such things. She knew, mostly from books she had read, that some women did have an attraction for other women. But certainly there was no reason to suspect Eve Blair of that sort of perversion. After all, the woman was married—or presumably so. Eve had not specifically made any comments on her own marital status.

“What sort of work does your husband do?” Laura asked aloud, wanting to reassure herself on that point.

“Hank?” Eve said the name with a shrug that made Hank Blair seem like the most unimportant subject in the world. “Oh, he sells insurance. At least that’s what it says on his income-tax return. Most of his time is spent hopping from one bed to another.”

Laura blushed at the boldness of the statement. Eve Blair might be married, but it was evident that the marriage was not a very romantic one.

“What about you, Neil,” Eve was saying, directing her attention once more in his direction. “With that build, you must be an athlete.”

Neil swelled with noticeable pride although, in his drunken condition, he did not look particularly athletic to Laura.

“I was,” he answered proudly. “In school. Now I’m an aeronautical engineer. At least that’s what it says on my income-tax return.”

Eve laughed aloud at that. “Touché,” she answered, lifting her glass in a salute before she drained it. “It sounds terribly intellectual.”

“Not really. I’m a stress analyst, actually. I look for the weak spots in planes, and make recommendations for the design.”

Laura remembered the past. How enthusiastic Neil had been about his job when he got it, and how often and long he had talked about it! It occurred to her that he had scarcely mentioned it at all since she had arrived in Los Angeles.

Eve stood, stretching her shoulders lazily.

“I won’t make a pest of myself, not just yet. Incidentally, if you should be bored with one another’s company, we’re having a little get-together for the neighbors tonight. Nothing fancy, just the typical all-American barbecue. Feel welcome to join us.”

“Thank you,” Laura said, standing also. “We won’t be bored with one another, but we’d love to come. It would give us a chance to meet our neighbors.”

“Don’t thank me until you’ve met them,” Eve told her, starting toward the back door. “You may regret the decision. I’m in the house next door—but you’ll see us gathered joyously about the patio. Come whenever you feel up to it.”

Laura moved impulsively to show her out, but Eve waved away the gesture with a brisk sweep of her hand.

“I know the way. This house is exactly like mine, you know.”

With that, she was gone. Laura found herself staring after the woman. Her initial reaction to Eve’s visit had been one of gratitude and pleasure. She had been happy to learn that her neighbors were the friendly, sociable sort.

Now, with the visit concluded, her feelings were mixed. Eve Blair impressed her as altogether too friendly, and not in a mere neighborly way. Laura wondered about the others. The evening, she concluded, should be interesting, if nothing else.