Risky Investment Part 18

Lynn unlocked the door and pretended to strangle Chris as they walked into the living room.

"Are you killing my fiancee?" Matt asked from the couch. Sitting next to him was a very attractive man.

Lynn laughed. "And you're next if you don't introduce us to your friend within the next ten seconds."

Paul stood. "Hi, I'm Paul. You must be the best friend and enemy." And then turning to Chris, he remarked, "And you must be my compet.i.tion,"

That got a chuckle out of Chris. "Well, I don't think that I have the necessary parts to be any kind of compet.i.tion."

Lynn had to put her two cents in after that comment. "Oh, I think you have great parts!"

Matt groaned. Paul clapped his hands together. "Girl, you and I are going to get along just fine!"

The four sat around the living room sharing stories and laughter over drinks. Suddenly, Lynn looked at Chris. "Did you happen to tell Matt what happened last night?"

Chris shook her head and turned to Matt. "We had s.e.x last night."

"Well, I'm gone for one night and I miss all the fan!" Matt chuckled and looked over at Paul.

Lynn, feeling like the statement needed some clarification, looked over at Matt. "No, she means you had s.e.x last night," she said, motioning to Matt and Chris. She looked at Chris, who had lowered her head and was blus.h.i.+ng at the misunderstanding.

"Well! I guess I really did miss something! Was I good?" Matt kidded.

"You were terrific!" Chris responded and then filled him in on the details of what had happened the night before.

"You should've seen the looks on your parents' faces!" Lynn laughed.

Matt's face looked panicked as he quickly glanced at his watch. "Speaking of my parents, we're meeting them in an hour."

"Uh-oh," Chris remarked. "I'd better go get in the shower. Lynn, do you*"

"Want to join you?" Lynn finished her sentence with a straight face.

Chris smiled. "In your dreams!" she answered as she made her way down the hall.

Lynn looked at the men and shrugged. "Can't blame a girl for trying!"

An hour later, the three joined Charles and Marie, who were waiting in front of the restaurant. Charles immediately approached and put his arm around Matt. "Hey son, hope we weren't too much of an interruption last night!" Laughing, he pulled his arm tight around his son as if to show Matt that he was proud of him.

Marie blushed and turned to Chris. "We really are sorry about barging in last night."

Chris, pretending to be embarra.s.sed, laughed softly.

The next hour dragged on, partly because of the slow service, but mosdy because the conversation lulled. Lynn attributed it to Marie, who kept her fingers at her temples most of the evening.

When Marie excused herself from the table, Matt seemed to jump at the opportunity to call it an early evening.

A short time later, the three walked out of the restaurant and into the lobby. Matt turned to Chris and asked, "Would you mind if Lynn took you home? Since it's so early, I thought that I might drop in on Paul."

"Weren't you with him all afternoon? Matt, is this serious?" Lynn kidded. "But I promised to stop by Sam and Beth's place."

Matt rolled his eyes and looked at Chris for her answer.

"I don't mind, if Lynn doesn't mind me tagging along," Chris said.

"No problem," Lynn responded.

Lynn turned onto the highway and headed toward their next destination.

"Sam told me about Beth being an alcoholic," Chris remarked. "That has to be hard, her owning the bar and all."

"Yeah, it is. But they must be doing something right, they've lasted longer than most couples I know."

"How long is that?" Chris asked.

"They're having their ten-year anniversary in September."

"Wow, that's great!" Chris said, thinking that even some of her straight friends didn't last that long. "What do you think their secret is?"

"Compromise, definitely compromise," Lynn stated, then upon further a.n.a.lysis continued, "and respect, honesty, and faithfulness."

"Sounds like things that should belong in any relations.h.i.+p."

"Yeah, sometimes people just forget what is really important," Lynn answered, feeling a little guilty about her lack of honesty with Chris.

Lynn drove into the condominium complex and parked. Walking around to the pa.s.senger side, she again opened the door for Chris. Chris had come to expect it and was waiting patiently.

"Nice place," Chris commented as they walked down a pathway to arrive in the doorway of their hosts.

Lynn rang the doorbell, which was immediately answered by Sam.

Swinging the door open, Sam tried to hide the surprised look on her face upon seeing Chris. "Well, look who we have here, honey."

Chris stepped into the house followed by Lynn. She was approached by a tall, slender woman with long blonde hair, which was pulled back in a thick braid. Chris was taken aback by the woman's beauty. She hadn't really had a clear picture in her mind of what Beth would look like, but this definitely wasn't close to anything she would have imagined.

"You must be Chris! Lynn didn't tell us you were coming with her!" Beth exclaimed.

"Kind of a last-minute thing, I hope you don't mind," Chris explained.

"Not at all. I've been dying to meet the woman who has"* Beth thought quickly; she was going to say, "who has smitten Lynn," but instead, she finished*"graciously saved Matt's b.u.t.t."

Chris smiled. "I was just telling Lynn how beautiful your place is."

"Yes, we got it for a steal!" Sam exclaimed. Turning to Lynn, she said, "Lynn helped*" Quickly noticing the look in Lynn's eyes, Sam who was about to say, "Lynn helped us out with some investment advice," stopped cold. "Lynn helped us move," she corrected herself.

Beth, catching Lynn's glance, offered Chris a tour of the house while Lynn and Sam stayed to discuss matters.

As soon as the two women left the room, Sam questioned Lynn. "You mean you haven't told her yet?"

Lynn, acting as if she was examining a picture on the wall, replied, "Told her what?"

"Don't act dumb with me!" Sam exclaimed. "I saw the look on your face when I was about to tell Chris how you helped us get this place!"

Lynn turned to look Sam straight in the eye. "No, I haven't told her yet. I don't know, there just never seems to be the right time."

"You're just asking for trouble, Lynn. How do you know that she won't get mad when you finally tell her? She'll probably feel like you've been lying to her!"

"Isn't this coming from the person who told me that I was asking for trouble just falling for a straight woman?" Lynn argued. Then lowering her eyes, she mumbled, "Besides, what will it matter? The feeling isn't mutual."

Sam sighed and finally admitted to Lynn, "I may have been wrong about all that."

"Why do you say that?" Lynn asked, confused.

Sam shrugged. "Just a feeling I have."

Lynn smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, really," Sam said as she picked up the packet meant for Lynn, threw it to her, and walked from the room.

"I hope that I'm not imposing," Chris said to Beth.

"Don't be silly. There's plenty to go around!" Beth a.s.sured her as she pulled a pan of hot brownies from the oven.

"Can I help with anything?" Chris asked as Beth ran a knife through the chocolate, cutting the brownies into squares.

"Well*" Beth began to answer as she pulled some bowls out of the cupboard.

"No. Why don't you go relax in the living room, you've had a tough week," Sam said, entering the room and the conversation all in one sweep. Sam grabbed ice cream from the refrigerator.

Chris shrugged and turned to leave when she saw Beth place a brownie into one of the bowls.

"Umm* you may want to leave the brownie out of Lynn's dish. She doesn't like nuts," Chris suggested as she left the room.

Beth looked over at Sam in amazement. "How long have we known Lynn and I never knew that she didn't like nuts. Did you?"

Sam shook her head. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."

Beth smiled as she scooped the ice cream into the dishes. "Yeah, just a coincidence that this woman has gotten to know Lynn better in two weeks than we have in over a year. I don't think so."

Chris strolled into the living room to find Lynn focused on the paperwork in her hands.

"Hey, what's that?"

"Oh, nothing, just something Sam wanted me to look at," Lynn replied, shoving the papers back into the envelope.

Chris nodded. A picture alb.u.m sitting on the coffee table caught her attention. Sitting down on the couch, she leaned forward and opened the book.

"Are these their wedding pictures?" she asked, looking up at Lynn.

"Yes, among other things," Lynn replied. She walked over and sat down on the floor in front of Chris. Chris placed her hands on the shoulders in front of her as Lynn flipped through the pages.

"Okay! Dessert time!" Sam said as she entered the room carrying the tray of bowls. Beth followed her with a pitcher of tea.

Beth nudged Sam and whispered into her ear, "How cozy they look. She can't even keep her hands off Lynn!"

Sam shrugged and continued on her way toward her awaiting guests.

"What are you guys looking at?" Sam asked.

"Pictures of you when you were younger," Lynn answered sarcastically.

Sam set down the tray and handed out the bowls, while Beth handed out the gla.s.ses of tea.

Lynn looked into her bowl, then into Chris's bowl. "Hey, how come I didn't get a brownie?" she exclaimed.

"Nuts," Chris answered nonchalantly. Lynn nodded in understanding.

Sam sat down on the couch and Beth settled down in front of her, adjusting the alb.u.m so that all could see.

"Yeah, ten years sure adds the wrinkles!" Beth commented.

"Honey, you're more beautiful now than you've ever been," Sam replied, Beth just rolled her eyes. "Hey, there are a few pictures of you in here, too, Lynn!" Beth said, flipping ahead a few pages.

"I want to see!" exclaimed Chris, leaning over for a better view.

Beth looked through the photographs, then found the one she was looking for. Picking up the alb.u.m, Beth handed it to Chris.

"Where were you guys?" Chris asked, focusing on the picture in front of her.

"I think that was the time we went down to Tijuana, thus the sombrero," Beth answered.

Sam took the book from Chris to examine the picture. "Yep, that was a wild time!" Then, looking at the opposite page, she said, "Look, here's another one of Lynn and one of her conquests of the week."

Sam handed the book back to Chris, pointing at the photograph in question.

"Conquests of the week?" Chris questioned.

"Yeah, you know, seducing women is kind of a game for Lynn." Sam chuckled. Realizing what she had said as soon as the words left her mouth, she backpedaled. "Well, not all the time*"

Beth reached up and slapped Sam's leg and turned to Chris. "Please excuse my wife, sometimes she doesn't think before she speaks."

Chris laughed and ran her fingers through Lynn's hair. Looking down, she teased, "Is that right Lynn? Always a game, huh?"

Lynn's face turned red. Beth watched as Chris's fingers stroked Lynn's hair, then nudged Lynn and made her face turn even redder.

"I think we've seen enough pictures for one evening!" Lynn exclaimed as she reached up and s.n.a.t.c.hed the book out of Chris's hands. Then trying to change the subject, she complimented the chef. "Really good dessert, Beth!"

"Well, ours was really good. Yours wasn't much without the brownie. I'm sorry that I wasn't privy to your likes and dislikes," Beth said sarcastically.