Playing With Fire. Carrie Alexander

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      The shop doorbell chimed. “Buon giorno!” a male voice with a bad Italian accent called from the storefront, and Bianca’s face lit up like the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree. Total admission, Lara thought, if only Bianca had been looking in a mirror to see it.

      Eddie Frutt came through the swinging doors, holding a bunch of sunflowers in one hand and a square envelope in the other. A large, shambling, redheaded man, he possessed a rapidly enlarging bald spot that he’d been passing off as a receding hairline for one too many years. Bianca called him Old Baldy, but kissed the top of his head every time she passed his chair on her way to the kitchen.

      Eddie, who owned a shoe store across the street, greeted Bianca with a smooch. He did a sloppy Fred Astaire twirl and handed the flowers to Rosa, then waved the envelope at Lara. “I ran into a courier out front. This is for you. I want a hug in return.”

      “Of course.” Lara went to him and was enveloped by his big, cushy body and strong arms. He smelled of leather and the peppermints he kept in a brandy snifter by his register. “It’s been too long.”

      “Enough, Eduardo,” Bianca complained. “You’re smothering the girl.”

      Eddie whispered, “She’s jealous,” to Lara, then stretched out an arm and snared Bianca into the embrace, snuggling them to his chest until Rosa yelled, “Frower!” and smacked her tray with the bouquet. Exclaiming in spicy Italian, Bianca ran to rescue the flowers while Eddie turned aside, muttering over the corkscrew. Amidst the chaos, Lara ended up with the envelope. It was inscribed across the front with her name.

      Unsuspecting, she tore it across the flap and took out a plain card with an embossed border. It read, “Tonight.”

      And that was all.

      Daniel’s face flashed before her. He was smiling in invitation, and his eyes were the color of pussywillows, velvety with seduction. The man was pure temptation. Sex incarnate.

      All the blood drained from Lara’s face.

      Tonight, she thought, strung taut with anticipation.

      One word was enough.

      “THERE’S A LIMO,” Eddie Frutt bellowed from the storefront. “A limo for Lara!”

      “A limo, a limo for Lara,” echoed the group gathered around the long farmhouse table. The elegant white-haired woman stationed by the bedroom door passed on the word. “Your limo has arrived, Miss Gladstone.” Genevieve peered through her half-moon glasses and gave a small shake of her head, looking appalled. “No. Not the red leather. Try the plain black shoes with the chains. You’ll look like an S and M Holly Golightly.”

      “Did Daniel come to the door?” Lara said, hopping on one foot as she changed shoes. Bianca’s bed was occupied with onlookers. Getting Lara ready for her big date had turned into a neighborhood event.

      The question was relayed to Eddie, who guarded the front door like a concerned father. The answer made its way back via Genevieve, who had once been an editor at Vogue and now ran a vintage clothing store in Little Italy. With an unerring fashion instinct, she’d supplied Lara’s dress.

      “No Daniel. Just the chauffeur.”

      “Ooh, a chauffeur,” said one of the gang on the bed. “How bourgeois,” chimed another voice. “But fun,” said a third.

      Bianca handed over a silver beaded purse, another loaner since Lara hadn’t come to New York expecting to be swept off her feet. They embraced. Lara said, “You’re sure it’s okay for me to leave after I offered to baby-sit—”

      Bianca grabbed her face and smacked a kiss upon both cheeks. “Go. Have a good time.” She pushed Lara toward the door, clearing discarded shoes and trampled scarves with a sweep of her foot. “Gah, I feel just like a mother sending her daughter to the prom!”

      A smattering of applause broke out when Lara was paraded through the living space. Eddie enveloped her in another of his big hugs when she reached the studio. “But something’s missing,” he said worriedly, holding her out to look her over. “Little black dress. Gloves. Pearls. Bow in the hair. I know. The sunglasses. I might be balding and middle aged, but I saw Breakfast at Tiffany’s too, ya know.”

      “Sunglasses at night? That’s overkill,” Bianca said. “You have no subtlety, Eddie.”

      He made a comical face. “Isn’t that the point?”

      “I knew it.” Lara tore the silly black silk bow out of her hair, leaving in the rhinestone pins. “We’ve gone over the top.”

      “No, no, leave the gloves,” Bianca urged as Lara went out the door, tugging at them.

      The chauffeur waited at the curb, holding the door open on a long black limo. Lara stopped. Her stomach did a flip. She turned back to Bianca and Eddie, who were watching arm in arm from the lighted doorway, along with the crowd pressing behind them and up against the studio windows.

      I can’t back out with everyone watching, Lara thought, bolstering herself. The front of the glass studio was painted with bright, boisterous graffiti that distracted from the chipped cement and gritty windows. The place was on the shabby side of humble, but it was her safe home in the city, far more comforting than her parent’s expensive town house in Gramercy Park.

      “I don’t know this guy from Adam,” she blurted. “I don’t even know his last name. What am I doing, getting into his limo? This is crazy.” She offered up a smile, recognizing the drama. “Crazy, I tell you!”

      Eddie’s brows knitted. “Maybe she’s right….”

      “Savage, ma’am,” said the driver. “Daniel Savage. I have his address for you. He said you might be concerned.”

      “Oh. That was thoughtful of him.” She took the card and stepped over to press it into Bianca’s hand with a hollow laugh. “In case I disappear, you’ll know where to start looking.”

      “This is romantic,” Bianca reassured her. “Don’t look so worried.” She pinched one of Eddie’s love handles so he’d stop frowning. “You’re going off with a chauffeur, not a white slaver.”

      Lara muttered, “Uh, yeah, thanks for bringing that up,” but she allowed the driver to escort her into the car. It was luxurious, with a tastefully done interior of soft gray leather and burled walnut. As the limo slipped away into traffic, she turned and waved to Bianca and Eddie and all the rest, who were cheering—or jeering, given their individual levels of cynicism—as they watched her go. She stripped off the gloves as soon as she was beyond Bianca’s scope.

      All well-equipped limos had ice buckets. In this one, a freshly opened bottle of champagne nestled into a bed of crushed ice. A thin trail of vapor curled from the bottle’s neck, inviting her to partake. Lara reached for the crystal flute, then decided that she was tipsy enough without aid. Tonight she’d need her wits about her.

      A florist’s paper cone rested on the seat beside her. She picked it up and peeled back foil and tissue. Calla lilies. Beautiful. They were strong flowers, sleek and smooth and assured.

      “Me, too,” she said, stroking a lily, glossy on one side, soft on the other. “For tonight, me too.”

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