The Social Climber of Davenport Heights Read Free Page A

son of a recently deceased trucking company boss, Gil was always flirting with me, and when he was sloshed he tended to get obnoxious.
    “That husband of yours ought to be worried, a sexy fox like you out among the wolves on her own.”
    Sexy fox? The man was still living in the seventies.
    I gave him a dismissive half smile and focused my attention in the direction from which my car would arrive.
    To my displeasure, Gil didn’t pick up on my hint, but instead slithered up beside me and wound a sweaty arm around my waist. Gil was not an unattractive man. He had the tall, lean frame of an athlete. But the years, getting close to sixty, I’d guess, were beginning to collect around his belt, and his once-handsome face now had the perpetually florid hue of a daily drinker.
    “Jane, baby,” he said, his gin-and-tonic breath much too close to my face, “I’ve been hot for you for a while now.”
    “I’m not interested,” I stated flatly, peeling his hand off my body.
    “Ah, come on, honey,” he tried again. “We’re all interested. Life is short, we’ve got to grab for the gusto while we can.”
    I rolled my eyes and stepped away from him. My car, a red BMW 328i convertible, was coming up the driveway. I felt safe and confident enough to fling insults.
    “It seems pretty pathetic, Gil,” I said, “that your pickup lines are so stale you have to resort to beer commercials.”
    The Beemer stopped and I walked around the back of it to the driver’s side. The parking attendant got out and handed me the keys.
    “Bitch!” Gil cursed at me.
    The parking attendant was immediately alert.
    “Is he bothering you?”
    “Not enough to make it worth your while,” I told him.
    “Whoring slut!” Gil shouted out. “Frigid lesbo!”
    The young man’s eyes widened.
    I smiled reassuringly at him. “Is it possible to be all those things at the same time?” I asked, and gave the kid a teasing wink.
    He opened the car door for me and I handed him his tip. I seated myself behind the steering wheel and reached for the handle just as the parking attendant closed the door. In the resulting collision I broke a fingernail.
    I cursed under my breath, but he didn’t hear it. Gil was screaming for his own car.
    The young man leaned over my door to speak to me privately.
    “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll stall him long enough so he can’t follow you.”
    I thanked the guy. It was nice of him to try to protect me, but the truth was that Gil knew exactly where I lived. If he was intent upon continuing this confrontation, he could easily do so.
    “Better put up the top, ma’am,” he said. “It’s started sprinkling.”
    I nodded. As I headed down the drive and out of the gates, I pressed the button for the roof. It rose slowly, leisurely, like a protective cover keeping out the night sky and drops of rain. I slid the latch at the stop sign. There was just enough drizzle to be a nuisance. I switched the wipers on to intermittent.
    Going straight home didn’t seem like a good idea. I wasn’t afraid of Gil Mullins showing up, I just didn’t want the hassle of dealing with him if he did. And I wasn’t ready to face the empty house yet. David would undoubtedly spend the night at Mikki’s apartment and come sneaking in at breakfast. We’d both pretend that he’d been in his bedroom all night.
    I drove down Highland Boulevard and got on the freeway. I wasn’t headed anywhere specific, just driving in the night air. Driving and thinking.
    Lexi was right, I probably shouldn’t put up with David’s infidelity. But I couldn’t imagine what I could do about it. Of course I could ask him for a divorce. He’d probably love that.Our marriage had been over for years. Brynn was the only common interest we had. If we divorced I’d lose everything. Financially, I’d probably do all right. I didn’t even need his cash, and I’m sure the court would see that I got plenty of it anyway. But it was David’s lineage that was old