"Are you out of your mind?” Barron Capwell bellowed when he called Edward the next morning.
"What time is it?” Edward asked, rolling over to study the spectacular woman sleeping next to him.
"It's five-thirty in the fucking morning, Edward!” Barron screamed. “What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Give me a second.” Edward sat up in bed and tried to think. The last thing he remembered was coming inside and calling out for Heidi. He couldn't find her but he heard her warning loud and clear. When ghosts sulked they disappeared and apparently Heidi pouted until he fell asleep. “I don't follow you, Barron. Did I miss a meeting or something?"
"No, fuck no!” Barron yelled. “And I don't know if you'll ever have the joy of bringing all of us together again after your stunt last night."
"What stunt?” he asked, towering over Heidi and brushing her soft hair away from her face.
"You propositioned your driver?"
"I did?” he asked, moving away from the bed and trying to give Barron his undivided attention. “When?"
"Oh for crying out loud!” Barron continued to rant. “You told him you weren't listening to him because you had blue balls. You had a fucking erection, from what he told the reporters and you told him you were hearing voices!"
"Shit!” Edward exclaimed.
Heidi stirred, “Edward."
"Just a minute,” he said, addressing Heidi.
"Is someone there?” Barron asked.
"A friend."
Barron chuckled. “A man or a woman?"
"Grief Barron, what do you think?"
"A man or a woman?” he asked, persistent.
"A woman, happy?"
"No, put her on. Let me speak to her and this can all be resolved."
Edward stared at Heidi. “He wants to speak to you."
"Who?"
"Barron Capwell."
"Who is Barron Capwell?"
"One of my partners."
"I can't speak to him. Why is this so hard for you to comprehend?"
"Barron, we'll have to call you back."
"Oh no you don't,” Barron said. “If you have a woman there, then damn it to hell, I want to speak to her right this minute. Your name is being dragged through the mud. At least let me talk to a woman who presumably spent the night in your bed last night."
"Barron?"
"What's the big fucking deal?” he asked, cursing all the more. “I hear her in the background."
"You do?"
"He does?” Heidi asked, apparently able to hear his fit from where she sat.
"Yes. I hear her."
Edward mouthed, “How is that possible?"
She shrugged and reached for the phone. Edward grabbed it from her. After fumbling with the handset, he found the speaker option and hit the button.
"Edward, you have ten seconds to get her on the damn line."
"Hello, I'm here,” Heidi said.
"Shy little thing, aren't you?"
"Yes, well, I try to keep a low profile."
"Glad you do. Edward was in the papers last night. I need your name and how we can get in touch with you."
She pursed her lips and looked at Edward.
Edward shook his head.
"I'm afraid I can't give you that information."
"Why not?"
"'I just can't,” Heidi deadpanned. “I'm uh ... married. That's it. Married."
"Married, huh?” Barron asked, obviously not buying a word of it. “Who to?"
"I can't tell you."
"If you have a husband at home, then why are you in my buddy's bed at six o'clock in the morning?"
"He's away."
"Away."
"Yes,” Heidi said, looking beautifully bored. “On business."
Edward leaned over and kissed her lips. Shocked, or at least she looked surprised, Heidi touched her lips and smiled. “I'll let you talk back to Edward."
"Okay, you do that."
Edward sighed. “Barron, I can't talk about this right now."
"Not a problem. I'm in your parking lot. I'll be up in a minute."
"How could he hear you?” Edward demanded.
"I don't know."
"You must have some idea."
"Edward, I don't."
"He's on his way up to meet you."
"I heard,” she said. “What will we tell him?"
"How the hell should I know?” Edward stormed into the closet and rummaged through her things. He finally found his own belongings again and then quickly dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a white UNLV sweatshirt. Shaking his finger, he said, “And don't you dare pull that disappearing act on me right now. Are we clear?"
"Sure, I respond well to angry men making unruly demands at unreasonable hours of the morning."
"Do me a favor and get dressed."
"You want me to meet him?"
"You don't know Barron. He won't go away. He'll camp out here for days until he talks to you."
"He has a foul mouth."
"That's not the only thing foul about him."
"He's a ladies’ man, I take it?"
Edward frowned. “Just put something on and make sure you don't dress too provocatively. The goal is to introduce the two of you and then send him on his merry way."
"He wants me for an alibi. He needs me to help save your now tarnished reputation."
"Damn it, you think I don't know that?"
"Well, how do you propose I take care of this, sweets?” she asked, draping her arms around his shoulders when he sat on the bed.
"I don't know, Heidi,” he answered her, running his hand through his hair. He looked in the mirror and saw her there behind him. She massaged his back, working out the knots and kinks and really getting into the full impact of the massage.
"Look at us,” she said, breathing in his ear. “We're quite a pair, aren't we?"
"If you say so,” he responded, watching her tousle his black wavy hair. “I need a haircut."
"Edward,” she said, ducking under his arm and wrapping her body around his middle. “You're changing the subject."
"I have a lot on my mind."
"You and I look like a couple,” she said, landing across his lap. “Look in the mirror and tell me you see what I see."
"We are not a couple.” Refusing to glance at their reflections again, Edward remembered the first time he spotted her in the window of his living room. Looking at anything glass had proven disastrous where Heidi was concerned.
"We could be,” she said, fingering the ridge of his cock. “A couple that is."
"No, Heidi, it's not happening,” he said, grabbing her hands. He tried to get up but she wouldn't move. Finally, she left him no other choice. He dumped her on the floor.
"Ouch!"
He stared down the bridge of his nose and said, “Do you not understand where you've complicated my life?"
She knelt in front of him. “No, Edward, I didn't do that. You did. First, you all but invited me into your life. I was here, remember. I lived in the shadows and watched you focus on your work for months.” She nuzzled his concealed cock with her cheek. “I listened to your whimpers when you filled your palm with hot semen at night and I tolerated—yes, it was an effort—those ongoing replays of certain films just so you could get an erection."
He snarled. “You've been spying on me?"
"Technically, no, because I live here,” she corrected him.
"I live here."
"I never sold out! I was the original owner and I planned to die here."
"And congratulations, you accomplished precisely what you set out to do."
She shrugged. “Not quite. You still see me. That means something, Edward. I think we're meant to be. We're supposed to be together."
The doorbell rang and Edward grabbed her by the arm, dragging her alongside him. “Wait! What are you doing? I need to get dressed!"
"No, we need to find out once and for all if I'm the only one who can see you. If Barron heard you on the phone then I'll bet he can see you too and if he can, then he will help us get all our problems sorted out."
"What problems?” she asked smugly. “Now, you're sounding like one part of a happy couple."
"I'm not,” he assured her. “And Barron will help us sort out the issues you've created since you stormed into my life."
Heidi yanked her arm free and stared at the bulge in his pants. “The only problem I've seen since I showed myself is about six inches of pure sexual frustration. I have a way to heal you, by the way."
Edward glared at her. A slow smile claimed her cheeks and she waggled her brows. “Okay so maybe I'm off an inch."
He grabbed her hand and placed it against the ridge of his cock. “Feel again, sweetheart. If that's six or seven inches, then maybe I can convince you to unravel the whole thing so I can stick you with five or six more."
"You're a bastard, Edward."
"And you're a tease. We each have our faults."
She swayed up the steps and stopped halfway along the way. “I'm going to change. Then, if I'm in an affable mood, I'll come back and meet your friend."
The doorbell rang again and was followed by simultaneous knocks. “No funny stuff, Heidi."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Edward. Besides, I'm anxious to meet another man who can actually see me. Maybe the next one will know what to do with a woman who hasn't had sex in over thirty years."