Part 10 (1/2)

”No. I mean, yes, I slept with him, but the chicken isn't about the s.e.x. The chicken is about me saying no to more s.e.x,” Claudia said.

Sadie still looked perplexed, and Claudia sighed heavily.

”Maybe we should grab Gracie and go for an early lunch,” she suggested.

Twenty minutes later, Claudia was surprised at how much lighter she felt after telling her friends the whole sordid story.

”I can't believe you did Leandro Mandalor,” Grace kept saying, shaking her head in disbelief.

”I know, I know. It was dumb. My G.o.d, if Harvey ever finds out...” Claudia said, referring to her immediate boss at the production company.

”No, I mean, he's so big, Claud. I mean, he's huge. And you're so little,” Grace said, her hands gesturing vividly to ill.u.s.trate her point.

Claudia felt herself blus.h.i.+ng. ”We worked it out,” she said.

Sadie smirked. ”Are you blus.h.i.+ng? I don't think I've ever seen you blush before.”

”We are talking about possibly the stupidest thing I have ever done,” Claudia said defensively. ”Of course I'm embarra.s.sed.”

”Because of Heartlands?” Grace asked. She waved a hand dismissively. ”It's no big deal. It's not like you're going to be telling each other secrets between o.r.g.a.s.ms or anything. You're both grown-ups, right?”

”h.e.l.l, no one would have s.e.x with anyone in L. A. if they worried about conflict of interest,” Sadie said.

Claudia stared at her friends.

”You really don't think it's a big deal? We're compet.i.tors. Rivals. Arch enemies,” she insisted.

”Yeah...but none of that stuff's serious, is it? It's not fight-to-the-death material. It's just...fun, to keep us all on our toes,” Sadie said.

Claudia blinked. Sadie and Grace didn't think her sleeping with Leandro was a big deal. Better still, they didn't think anyone else would think it was a big deal, either.

”Why am I the only one who sees that this is a big problem?” she asked. ”There's no way I am going to risk years of hard work for great s.e.x. It's not worth it.”

”Great s.e.x? Now you're talking,” Grace said, rubbing her hands together salaciously.

”You guys didn't give me details, so you get none,” Claudia said repressively.

”Fine. I'd just like to place a small wager on the table. Twenty bucks says you see him again,” Grace said.

”What? Get out of here,” Claudia said.

”I want in,” Sadie said, reaching for her purse.

Claudia stared at her. ”What is this, a conspiracy or something?”

”No. I just recognize the look,” Sadie said.

”Definitely.” Grace nodded.

”What look?” Claudia asked.

”The look I saw in my own bathroom mirror when Dylan came back into my life,” Sadie said.

”Mac for me, but same deal,” Grace said.

Claudia rolled her eyes. ”Guys, it's not going to happen. Even if he wasn't the enemy, I'm not interested in a relations.h.i.+p and I don't have the time for anything else. I work seven days a week, remember?”

”Ask yourself-how long does great s.e.x take?” Grace asked.

Sadie shot Grace a confused look. ”I don't know about you, but great s.e.x can chew up a bit of time for me.”

Grace looked arrested, then nodded her agreement. ”You're right. I withdraw the statement, your honor. How about this instead-how often does great s.e.x come along?”

”Nice,” Sadie said.

Claudia rolled her eyes again and collected her handbag. ”Love your work, ladies, but I have a show to produce,” she said, sliding out of the booth they were sharing.

THAT NIGHT, Claudia tore herself away from her desk to leave work early and stop in at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica to buy a birthday gift for her nephew, Nicco. He was turning five and was obsessed with pirates, according to her eldest brother, Cosmo. She selected a wooden pirate s.h.i.+p, complete with pint-size buccaneers, and tried not to notice how much the pirate captain looked like Leandro. She'd called him a pirate once, she remembered. Maybe she hadn't been that far off the mark, the way he kept hijacking her thoughts.

And she was doing it again-thinking about him! She frowned as she handed over her credit card to the teenager at the checkout. She'd made a deal with herself after her lunch with Grace and Sadie-she wasn't going to think about him anymore. For starters, that was exactly what he wanted her to do, with his little gifts and sly digs. He was counting on her making contact. And she'd be d.a.m.ned if she was giving in to his manipulation.

Annoyed with herself for wasting yet more time on something she'd consigned to the dustbin of history, she made the short drive to her brother's place in the Palisades.

”Auntie Claudia,” Nicco yelled from up the hallway as her brother opened the door.

Claudia crouched down, her gift balanced in one arm, and returned his exuberant hug.

”Hey, my favorite monkey,” she said, ruffling his hair. ”How's the big birthday guy doing?”

”It's not my birthday yet, silly. Not till tomorrow,” Nicco corrected her, his words lisping adorably through a new gap in his front teeth where his two baby incisors had dropped out.

Claudia gasped with laughter when she registered the profound change.

”Look at you! When did that happen? I bet the tooth fairy has been busy around here,” she said.

”He brought me a whole dollar in quarters,” Nicco said proudly.

Claudia raised an eyebrow at her brother. ”When I was little, we only used to get a nickel per tooth,” she said.

”Inflation,” Cosmo said dryly.

”You want your present now or do you want to wait until tomorrow?” she asked Nicco.

His little face screwed up as he thought it through.

”I want to open it now, but it wouldn't be right because it's not my birthday yet,” he finally said. She'd half-suspected this would be his answer-for an almost-five-year-old, he had some very rigid ideas about what was and what wasn't okay.