'No,' Nick urged. 'You're staying to eat. She's staying, Amy - right?'

'Whatever you say, brother dear.'

Brother dear? Was that a term of affection, or was she actually his sister?

'Are you brother and sister?' Cat asked.

'Yup,' Amy said, grinning. "Fraid so.'

'Oh,' Cat said, and immediately thought that Amy would be the perfect girl for Jonas.

'My steak was delicious,' Shelby said, pushing away her plate. She was sitting comfortably on an outdoor chair in the backyard of Pete's house, nursing a second glass of Sangria.

'You haven't finished.'

'I can't. This steak was big enough for a three-hundred-pound truck driver.'

'I'll give the rest to the dogs,' Pete said, picking up the plates.

'Expensive dogs,' Shelby remarked, as the dogs came bounding over.

'I believe in looking after my animals.'

'I can see that.'

'Unconditional love,' Pete said, patting the black Labrador. 'That's what I get from these guys.'

'You were telling me about your love-life earlier,' Shelby said. 'Can I hear more?'

'Why?' he said. 'It's boring.'

'No. I'm fascinated.'

'Sadist!'

'Come on, Pete.'

'Okay,' he said, matter-of-factly. 'After Liz the actress, there was Janet.'

'And what was wrong with Janet?' Shelby asked good-naturedly.

'Janet was okay, except she was desperate to get married.'

'And you didn't want to?'

'After I get to know someone, maybe. Janet wanted to get married after we'd only been together three weeks.'

'So Janet had to go?'

'Right. Then after Janet there was Clarissa, the hairdresser.'

'And her problem was?'

'Sex maniac. She wanted it three times a night.' He gave a self-deprecating grin. 'Now, I like sex as much as the next man, but three times a night, forget it.'

Shelby smiled. 'It certainly seems you've been busy since we broke up.'

'We never broke up, Shelby,' he said, correcting her gently. 'You ran off and married one of my best friends.'

'I wish you wouldn't keep reminding me.'

'I wish you'd face up to the fact that Linc is not making you happy.'

She flushed. 'How can you say something like that?'

'It's obvious, Shelby. I see the tabloids. Linc's a player, he always has been.

He likes booze, women and-' He stopped abruptly.

'Booze, women and what?' she challenged.

'I'm sure he's not into it any more.'

'Into what, Pete?'

'He was, uh, always kind of a cocaine freak.'

'Don't be ridiculous,' she said scornfully. 'If I'd ever suspected that Linc took drugs, it would've been the end of us.'

'He probably stopped when he met you,' Pete said, wishing he hadn't mentioned it.

'It's time to go,' she said, standing up. 'This was nice. You'll make some lucky girl a wonderful cook.'

'I have other talents, too.'

'I'm sure you do,' she said, petting the puppy.

'I'll walk you to your car.'

They went through the house out to the front.

'There's something I think you should know before you go,' Pete said, standing by her car.

'Yes, Pete. What?' she said, finding her keys.

'It'll sound corny, but there's no other way to say it.'

'Go ahead.'

'I love you, Shelby,' he said quietly. 'I always have and I always will. And you know what? I'm sorry, but there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.'

Chapter Thirty-Five.

Linc had never been to a strip club with a woman before, and Allegra was into it. The moment the girls began strutting their stuff, Allegra jumped up - all six feet of her - whistling as if she was a randy guy out on the town looking to get laid. 'Gimme money,' she kept on demanding of Freddy.

He obliged, bringing out his considerable bank roll.

She snatched a handful of cash and immediately began sticking twenty-dollar bills into the girls' G-strings. 'Let's get us a private room,' she shrieked.

'I'll pick out three girls, one for each of us.'

'Oh, Jesus,' Linc groaned. He wasn't thinking straight: the booze was clouding his brain. 'I dunno if I wanna do this.'

'For Crissakes,' Freddy complained. 'You're turnin' into an old fart.'

'I got a reputation to protect.'

'What friggin' reputation?' Freddy exploded. 'You're all over the goddamn papers with the Latina sex bomb and Shelby's dumped you, so relax, have yourself a ball.'

Yeah, that's what he should do - have himself a ball. Although Shelby hadn't dumped him. He'd told her to fuck off.

What a mistake.

No. It wasn't a mistake. He was free now. He could do whatever he felt like without having to listen to her sanctimonious nagging.

Allegra spent fifteen minutes picking out girls to accompany them to the private room. She selected three different types: a sinuous black girl, a southern redhead with huge knockers, and a petite Asian.

On their way to the private room, Allegra was whooping and hollering, causing other patrons to stare and recognize Linc - which pissed him off.

'This is fuckin' ace!' she yelled, in her loud Australian accent. 'You guys are fan-fuckin'tastic!'

Finally they settled into a private room.

One of the strippers had a key, and Allegra ordered her to lock the door. 'I've been here before,' Allegra offered, winking jauntily at the guys. 'We gotta have our privacy.'

Linc sat back, ready to enjoy his first lap dance in a while.

'I'll take the one with the big tits,' Freddy roared.

'Fake,' Allegra pointed out, in a bitchy tone.

'You think I give a fast crap?' Freddy chortled, waving a wad of bills at the redhead.

The black girl was all over Linc, humping and grinding while brushing her pointed breasts against his mouth as she straddled him.

Half-way through her routine she did something that turned him off, so he shoved her away and clicked his fingers for the delicate Asian with her china-doll features.

'Looks like I'm stuck with you,' Allegra said, attempting to kiss the black girl on the mouth.

Soon everyone was going at it. Dry-humping, heaving and groaning.

Before long, Linc found himself getting a blow-job, although it was strictly against the club's rules. Any kind of fucking or sucking was against the club's rules. But who gave a shit?

The Asian girl was into it - a regular little suction pump.

Linc leaned back like a king, allowing her to service him. Hookers and strippers were the best. A man didn't have to buy them presents or take them out to dinner. No foreplay. No declarations of love. And no recriminations in the morning. Merely a businesslike exchange of cold hard cash. It suited him fine.

By the time they left the club he was completely wasted. Allegra was all over him, while Freddy had paired up with all three strippers.'

'Everyone back to my place,' Freddy announced.

'I'm on!' Allegra said, before whispering in Linc's ear, 'Or we could dump him and have our own party at your hotel. I can do things you've only ever dreamed about!'

God! He was so fucked up. Drink, drugs, women - he was back to his old ways big-time.

What was so bad about that? At least he didn't have Shelby watching him like the town detective.

Outside the club, two paparazzi came darting out of nowhere. Flash! Flash!

Flash!

For a brief moment Linc was blinded. Then he lashed out, grabbing one of the photographers, wresting his camera away from him and smashing it to the ground.

The photographer was livid: he lunged at Linc, who managed to kick him in the groin. Within moments they were fully involved, while the second photographer snapped away.

The club bouncer emerged from inside and separated them.

'You'll be sorry for this,' the photographer yelled, picking up his broken camera. 'My friend got it all, buddy. You fuckhead movie stars think you can get away with anything. Forget it, cocksucker.' Then the two photographers ran off down the street.

'Shit!' Freddy mumbled, attempting to bundle the three strippers into his limo.

'What didja havta do that for?'

'He deserved it,' Linc answered, rubbing his jaw where he'd received a glancing blow.

'Come on, mate,' Allegra said, pulling him by the sleeve of his jacket. 'Let's go get it on.'

Why not? Why the hell not?

Only a few hours later, Linc sat in the makeup trailer, scowling and hung-over.

'What am I supposed to do with you today?' the makeup girl bitched. 'Your skin's like sandpaper, your eyes are super bloodshot. Lean back, Linc, I'll try putting Visine in them.'