Travis doubled over, moaning, thenslumped into the chair.
"Get up!" Trey snarledagain, nudging Travis's foot with his own.
"I deserve that," Traviscroaked, huddled on the sofa, clutching his stomach.
Trey grabbed his brother's shirt andhauled him up. "Tell me you've always practiced safe sex," hesnapped, his face right there in Travis's.
"What?" Travis struggledto get his wits back.
"Safe sex. Condoms. Tell me youalways use them."
"Yeah. Yeah, of course Ido."
"How'd Lisa get pregnant?"
"I swear, we used acondom," Travis said desperately. "It broke or something."
"And every other girl you'veslept with?"
"Condoms. Always. Iswear."
Trey threw him back down in thechair. "And did any of those break?"
"No!"
"You'd better be telling thetruth."
Travis panted, staring at him.
Trey rubbed his forehead. Using hisfists wasn't exactly improving his communication skills. What the hell was hethinking. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Feel better now?"
He glanced up and saw Travis's mouthtwitch. A slow smile stretched his own lips. "Yeah, I do."
Chapter24
Marli had spent the entire weekpicking up the pieces of her business and her life. She'd been on the phoneconstantly, sucking up to clients, rescheduling shoots, having businesslunches. She'd been working late into the evenings, trying to get as much doneas she could, so her clients didn't suffer for her disappearance.
Many had heard about what happenedto her and were very understanding. A couple of others had taken their businesselsewhere, and really, she couldn't blame them. It was business, after all, andif they needed photographs to advertise their products and there werepublication deadlines and project timelines, they needed to get the job donesomehow.
Shortly after Trey had left, herparents had shown up at her door from Newport, frantic with worry about whatthey'd been seeing on the news. They'd found her sitting on her kitchen floor,crying, which had alarmed them no end. She'd reassured them she was fine, perfectlysafe, unhurt, but luckily they couldn't see her bruised and battered heart.
She also had dinner with her friendsJenn and Rachel, who'd left her a number of increasingly frantic voice mailmessages. They'd been all over her with questions about what had happened andinquiries about Trey. She wasn't quite ready to talk about Trey yet, but sheknew one day she would.
"It's so weird to not haveKrista here," Rachel said sadly.
They all agreed. Marli shared herfeelings of overwhelming guilt about how things had ended between her andKrista, and sharing it all again made it that much less painful. It was as ifevery time she talked about it expelled some of the guilt. Her friendsreassured her Krista had loved her, and had known Marli loved her, too.
"You knew Krista," Jennsaid. "Do you think right now, looking down on us, she's blaming you forwhat happened? Do you think she's up there saying, 'If only Marli had stoppedme'?"
Marli shook her head. She could notimagine Krista saying or thinking that.
"She would never saythat," Rachel said earnestly. "You know that. You werefriends. You weren't responsible for her every move, every choice."
"I know," Marli said."I know that now. I just wish things had ended with us not mad at eachother."
"You two had a whole life oflove and laughter," Jenn pointed out. "One fight doesn't negate allthat."
It had helped to talk to her friendsabout it, just as it had helped to talk to Trey. She was so grateful he'd beenthere and been so understanding, letting her open up and share her feelingswith him without judging her at all. If only he would do the same for himself.
Through all of it, her heartthrobbed with a dull pain that turned sharp whenever she thought about Trey.Her heart ached for him, and what he'd been through, and it hurt forherself--for the thought that she'd never see him again.
Through the closed door, he couldhear the thumping bass of loud music. Trey turned the knob and opened the door.The music got louder.
He walked into a huge open room,with high ceilings criss-crossed by a network of ductwork and pipes. The wallswere all white save the long outside wall, which was natural creamy brick.Hardwood floors stretched to the far end of the room where a photo shoot wastaking place.
Three women dressed in very littlewere arranged on and around a chaise longue upholstered in a plush leopardprint fabric. The blonde with long, tousled curls wore a white lace bustier,thong panties and a garter belt, with white stockings on her long legs. Thebrunette, with similar long hair, was dressed in a black lace bra and tinyunderwear that looked like shorts, and the redhead wore a bronze-colored satincamisole and thong. The scene glowed in the brilliant lights directed down onit, vivid and rich with color and texture.
A huge background hung from a largedowel suspended from the ceiling, rolling down behind them and across thefloor. A woman dressed all in black made an adjustment to the bronze camisole,while another man and woman stood off to the side, watching.
Justin Timberlake was bringing sexyback to a throbbing beat booming from a killer stereo system sitting on acounter on one side of the room.
The scene was seductive with thethree gorgeous models, but it was the photographer who drew his attention. Shestood beside a camera mounted on a tripod with her back to him, long goldencurls handing down almost to her waist. She was dancing, her hips movingtemptingly in time to the music, watching and waiting as the woman in blackmade her adjustments, then scooted off the scene in her stocking feet. As hemoved farther into the room, watching with fascination, the models all lookedat him, and Marli turned to see what had distracted them.
Her lush mouth parted into asurprised O and she stilled, staring at him.
"Trey."
He smiled at her. Man, she wasgorgeous. Her skinny jeans hugged those long, long legs and the thin T-shirtshe wore over them outlined her curvy body. His heart was about to pound rightout of his chest at the sight of her.
"Sorry. I'm
