Several weeks later Tina dressed to attend a Labor Day picnic with her parents. It was unseasonably warm for September, so she slipped on a thin, blue sundress with a full skirt that fluttered around her knees. She tied the halter straps around her neck and glanced in the mirror to appreciate how the dress left her most of her back exposed. She gently pulled on sheer, thigh-high stockings and attached them to the straps of a pale blue garter belt.
She sighed and rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror as she fastened long silver dangles at her ears. She hated going to these "family" things. Her parents had insisted on this one, since the host was a long-time friend. And since she had little other social life lately, she finally agreed to meet them there.
Actually, she had had no social life to speak of since the night Rob had caught her at the bar. For a few days after the incident she had been depressed, not understanding what had happened or why it had ended the way it had. She had indulged in long naps and ice cream, wondering if the way she lived her life was as bad as he said it was.
Then she had gotten fed up with her self-pity and had turned her hurt feelings into anger. It was all his fault. He should have left her alone in the first place. But instead he had taken her to his home and seduced her. He was a jerk, just like all men. She thought this with renewed vengeance as she applied her lip-gloss. Men were just not worth the trouble.
The most annoying thing was that now she felt kind of ashamed of the way she had teased men in the past. Again, she blamed it on Rob. He had made her feel both dirty and undesirable, and now she didn't really feel like going to bars and picking up men. But her desires had only grown exponentially since the events of that night. The urgency of her needs and the inability to meet them was slowly driving her crazy.
She picked up her purse and slid her feet into a pair of heeled sandals. Switching off the lights, she headed out of the apartment and down to the parking garage. The picnic was about a twenty-minute drive from her apartment, so she cranked up her music and put down the windows. She prepared herself for a dull afternoon of small talk.
Since she was late getting to the party, she had to park her car fairly far from the house. There must have been fifty cars lined up down the road. She sighed as she thought of all the people whose names she would have to remember. Slowly she strolled across the front yard and rang the doorbell.
Her mouth fell open in surprise when Rob opened the door. She took an instinctive step back and would have tumbled off the stoop if he hadn't grabbed her arms. He held her body close to his until she caught her balance, then he released her and turned and walked back into the house, trying to contain his own shock at seeing her there.
Tina stepped unsurely into the foyer of the house. She cursed herself for not realizing that the hosts were good friends of his as well as of her parents. Of course he would be there. She worked to regain her composure. When he turned back to her, she managed to look at him without emotion.
He looked back at her with a raised brow. "I didn't realize you would be here," he said calmly. "I hope this won't be uncomfortable for you." Tina bit back the string of curses that came to mind. "Not at all," she said smoothly. "Why would it be?" She crossed the room and headed for the stairs that led down to the patio.
He watched her leave the room and he had to smile in appreciation of her confidence and spirit. She was quite a woman. Not a woman, he corrected himself quickly, just a girl still. He shook his head and reminded himself to stay away from her. There was no need for any more trouble between them.
He went back into the kitchen to grab the extra beers he had promised to fetch for the host and then headed down the stairs himself and joined the people spread across yard. The house and property were huge and included a wide-open yard, as well as a pond and a magnificent garden. His eyes scanned over the people, looking for Tina.
She was sitting with her parents at a round table in the middle of the lawn. As he watched, three young men approached the table and sat down. His jaw clenched painfully as he watched them talk with her and he heard her low, seductive laughter drift across the yard. His eyes narrowed as one of the men ran a finger down her cheek. He knew what it would feel like--warm and smooth. Even recognizing the emotion running through him as petty jealousy, he had trouble controlling it.
He joined his host at the barbeque pit and tried to take his mind off of her. But he could hear the sound of her voice, the seduction of her laugh. He barely controlled the urge to storm over to her table and pound the three young men into the ground. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed that she was walking, alone, down to the gazebo at the edge of the pond.
After a moment's consideration, he decided to follow her. When he entered the small, enclosed wooden structure, he saw that she was sitting quietly on a bench, peeking through one of the holes in the latticed walls. She turned towards him at the sound of his footsteps. Her eyes frosted over when she saw who it was.
She stood abruptly. "Excuse me," she said as she moved past him, intending to return to the party. He blocked her way. She glared at him in frustration. "I'd rather not talk to you right now," she said coolly. He glared back at her. "I saw you talking to those guys out there--flirting with them," he said bitterly.
"What I do is my own business. There is nothing you can do about it, understand?" She stared up at him angrily, challenging him to say anything else. She turned to leave the gazebo and he grabbed her arm. She struggled to pull away, but he pulled her over to him and locked his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides.
