A Collateral Attraction (17 page)

“How dare you show up at the afternoon tea pretending to be me!” Blythe begins her diatribe. Still, I can’t help but feel relieved, for Blythe is back in her usual form. “Now everyone’s thinking I’m cheating on Ethan with Heath, of all people.”

“Heath made sure to tell everyone my name, so it’s their problem if they refused to listen,” I say.

“It doesn’t matter now,” she says angrily, though her voice is low, like she’s talking in a hushed whisper. “The damage has been done, and even Ethan’s pissed off because he says you fooled him.”

“How on earth could I have possibly fooled Ethan when I was minding my own business,” I exclaim. “Now if he had bothered to see who he was kissing before he actually kissed me-”

“I don’t want to hear anymore.”

“Fine! People see only what they want to see, Blythe, just like you,” I continue. “Now, regarding your surprise visit to the shop where you managed to make my employees feel like your servants, if all you wanted was your passport so you can go to Geneva and collect your four million dollars, all you had to do was ask me.”

She scoffs. “God, Bee, what is this about Geneva and four million dollars that you keep harping about? I checked, alright? I don’t have four million dollars in my account, and if Ethan ever gave me anything close to that, it was a loan.”

“What for?”

“You’re not the only one who has dreams, alright? I’ve got dreams — if anyone bothered to listen to me and see what I can do instead of being just some decoration to put around Ethan’s arm. And that money he loaned me came with stipulations, even interest. So this four million dollars you keep on screaming about is not true, alright? Not true at all, and I’m tired of you always saying it,” she says. “Now can I just get my passport back?”

“No,” I say and I hear her gasp, “and you know why? Because I don’t care if you have no idea about the four million dollars being embezzled under your name. What I do know is that your name is on Swiss accounts that have four million dollars. Your name. And that Ethan’s flight plan includes Geneva right after the polo match.”

“If it is my name, then why hasn’t Ethan told me?”

“Because he doesn’t know,” I say through gritted teeth. I don’t understand why she refuses to see it. “But do you want to know who knows about it? Harris, Heath and Tyler. All members of the board and all of them, just waiting for you to show up in Geneva and…I don’t know, withdraw the money and buy whatever you want with it? Shoes maybe? But you showing up to withdraw that money, embezzled during a course of eight months, is all they need to put you away.”

There’s silence on the other end of the line for a few moments. “I’ve only been seeing Ethan for six months, Bee,” she says in a whisper. “You said it’s been going on for eight months, so how can you assume it’s me?”

“I’m not! They are! And I’ve only been trying to tell you this since Saint Lucia,” I exclaim, running my fingers through my hair that’s grown stiff from being outdoors, whipped about by a stiff ocean breeze. “Now you could be flying to Geneva and getting married there for all I know, but it doesn’t change the fact that your name and your signature are on Swiss accounts bearing four million dollars of swindled funds – I saw the paperwork, Bee. They’re yours. And not only that, but everything you’ve had access so far — the penthouse, that gold card you keep flashing around — that’s from Kheiron Industries, not from Ethan.  And maybe it’s an oversight, but as far as the board sees it, it’s embezzlement, the improper use of company funds to finance expenses that have nothing to do with the company. Can’t you get what I’m talking about, Blythe? Can you see what a shitload of trouble you’re in?”

There’s silence on her end of the line again, and I wonder if she hung up. I pull the phone away from my ear to check the display but see that she’s still there. When I return the phone to my ear, I hear the sound of water running, and her saying, I’ll be right out, darling.

“You’re asking me to believe you,” she says, “whatever this…thing you keep talking about. Embezzlement, fraud.”

“I didn’t just travel halfway around the world to say hello, Blythe.  I’ve seen the documents-”

“Documents that Heath showed you,” she snaps. “Heath Kheiron, who I’m sure has told you that whatever is in those letters Ethan got from their mother must be lies.”

“No, he told me they are true. His father isn’t Edgar.”

“Oh,” she says, pausing. “So you’re asking me to take your word — no, Heath’s word — over Ethan’s? The same man who took his position as President of the company away from him.”

“The board took Ethan’s position away from him, Blythe, not Heath.  But, yes, I’m asking you to take Heath’s word and mine over Ethan and everyone else on his team, Jackson, Charlene and Richard, until I get both of us out of here.”

“And where the hell do you think you’re going to take me?”

“Home,” I say softly, exhaustion causing my shoulders to slump forward as I gaze at my reflection in the mirror. “Just come home with me for awhile, Blythe. Whatever is going on between the brothers or their company, we can weather it from afar. Then when the dust settles, whoever wins or whatever happens, if Ethan really loves you, he’ll come back for you.”

There’s another long stretch of silence though I hear her moving around.

“You’re out of your fucking mind, you know that,” she mutters. “You can’t possibly expect me to believe such drivel. Even Richard told me today that you’re trying hard to look like me, act like me even. You’re just jealous of me, Bee. Jealous.”

I sigh, finally defeated. I don’t know what else to say to get it through her that she’s in trouble. I rub my temples, easing the headache that’s threatening to engulf me. Then I realize she’s talking again.

“My passport, Bee,” she says. “I want it.”

In the other room, I can see Heath pacing across the floor in front of the gas fireplace that’s unlit. He’s on the phone as well, speaking to someone. Worry is etched on his brow.

“If you want your passport that bad, then I want something for it,” I tell Blythe.

“Oh, please,” she groans. “What the hell do you want now?”

“I want the letters that Ethan stole from his mother,” I say. “Every single one of them. Tit for tat.”

“That’s ridiculous! You can’t do that,” she exclaims.

“I just did,” I say. “The letters, or you don’t get your passport and driver’s license back. You can apply for your own passport in San Francisco. Get Ethan and company to pull as many strings as they can to expedite it for all I care, but you’re not getting your documents back. Oh, and one more thing, you’re going to need your birth certificate and your old driver’s license to prove that it’s you at the passport office, so unless you plan to fly back to Nevada City, drill the floorboards and take the safe with you, then by all means, knock yourself out.”

“You’re a bitch, you know that,” Blythe says coldly.

“What can I say, Blythe?  I learned from the best.”

When Heath knocks on my door, I’ve collected myself and greet him with a weak smile. As I slip my hands into my jeans, I realize too late that I’ve been tracking sand all over the suite and so has Heath.

“What did she say?” he asks.

“She wants her passport.”

“Are you going to give it to her?”

“Not yet,” I say. “She’ll call me when she gets me something I want.”

Heath’s eyes narrow. “What is it that you want?”

I shrug. “Just something I thought of that will hopefully delay any of her plans to leave the country.”

“But you won’t tell me what it is,” Heath says slowly.  “I thought we’re in this together, Billie.”

“It’s just something between sisters, that’s all.”

“Billie-“

“Will you trust me on this?” I ask though I don’t wait for him to answer me.  “Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve got other plans for the night, but I’m going to take a shower and just stay in.”

I zip open one my suitcases, looking for something to wear for bed, grimacing when I end up only pulling out a baby doll lace ensemble that I immediately tuck back into the assortment of clothes that Alicia packed for me. Goodness gracious! Did Alicia at least pack some t-shirts for me?

“There’s a charity ball tonight, but I wasn’t planning on going,” Heath says softly, and as I turn to look at him, I can’t help but notice how his eyes slowly travel from my face down to my feet.  It’s a lazy gaze, and one that sends shivers running up and down my spine.

“Oh,” I mumble, my cheeks burning as I bundle a negligee and my toiletry bag under my arm and head to the bathroom.  “Well, I’m going to hit the shower.”

By the time I finish my toilette half an hour later, I can honestly say I’m not in a good mood, not when the shower only ends up getting me more worked up than I already am.  I’ve been flirting with a handsome man for the last 48 hours, maybe even more, and all I’ve gotten is a kiss that should have gone longer if not for one phone call after another.

I hate that I’m feeling like a kid denied her treat but I can’t help it. I wish I were like Blythe, so carefree and without a care in the world, even though the sensible part of me says that’s also the reason why she’s in a lot of trouble.

Heath is settled in one of the armchairs when I emerge from the bathroom, my negligee hidden beneath the hotel bathrobe and my damp hair wrapped in a towel.

“All yours,” I say as he folds the paper, sets it aside and gets up. I realize that I’ve never really seen any man as handsome as Heath before, and no man I’ve ever met before can hold a candle to my attraction to Heath’s handsome face and tall, lean frame, the muscles evident beneath the shirt he wears — not that I’ve been a lot of them.

When he brushes past me for I’m standing in the middle of the door, I realize I’ve probably been staring a little too long. He shuts the door and minutes later, I hear the shower running and I hurriedly dry my hair and pretend that I’m not as unaffected as I really am.

Half an hour later, I’ve pulled out the sofa bed and set the pillows and the spare blankets on top when Heath emerges from the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist.

“Are you cold?” Heath asks as he sees me still wearing my thick hotel bathrobe.  “Would you like to light the fireplace?”

“No, no I’m fine,” I say as he walks towards me, his hair still damp.

“You didn’t have to pull the sofa bed out, Billie.  I could have done that.”

“I’ve decided to take the sofa bed and you can take the bed-“

“You’re doing no such thing,” Heath says, pulling me back to the bedroom.  “You take the bed and I’ll take the sofa.”

I don’t know why I’m so nervous all of a sudden, as if the touch of his hand is enough to set my nerves on fire.  Not only that, but it’s like my mouth goes on auto-pilot.

“I…I just wanted to say thank you for this afternoon, for taking me to the beach so we could go horseback riding. I’ll be sore tomorrow but it was so worth it.”

He stops to stand right in front of me and I can feel my face burning, the blush beginning from my chest all the way to my face.

“And thank you for the dinner-”

“That was Lorna,” Heath says softly, still watching me and I focus my attention straight ahead of me, only it’s his bare chest, tanned and muscled and glistening with water from the shower. He smells of sandalwood, vetiver, and tonka bean, and the blend of notes make my nostrils flare.  If not for all the essential oils I carry at the shop, I wouldn’t be able to tell one note from another, but it’s enough to send my libido on overdrive.

“Well, thank her, too, and Bob, as well. That was really nice of them to let us do that at such short notice,” I’m babbling now, my words tumbling from my mouth so fast I barely know what I’m saying. We already thanked Bob and Lorna, but I don’t know what else to say for Heath takes another step forward, closing the distance between us. “And I just loved Pie, and wasn’t your horse called Shadow? It’s a perfect-”

“You’re perfect, Billie,” Heath whispers as his hand moves up towards my face, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear.

But if I’m supposed to take that as a hint, I don’t. It flies past me, my nervousness rising with each passing second even as the butterflies in my belly are fluttering like crazy, my knees feeling weak.

“I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”

“I don’t either,” he says softly.

“Maybe someone should crack a joke or-“ I pause, my heart hammering against my rib cage as my own body betrays me, my fingers move up his chest, flicking a drop of water that trickles down his collarbone.  I bite my lower lip, my eyes refusing to meet his gaze.

“Or what?” His voice is soft and his index finger brushing against my cheek even softer, sending shivers up and down my spine. I don’t need to lower my gaze to know that Heath’s body is responding to the nearness of me, too.

I wish he’d say something, or better yet, do something before I say one more thing, and this one probably more stupid than the one before. And Heath does.

He lowers his head and kisses me, silencing whatever words I would have babbled next. My arms slide around his slim waist as he kisses me deeply, one that matches the intensity of his hold around me, pulling me roughly towards him. His other hand slips the bathrobe off my shoulders, letting it slide to the floor to reveal the white lace negligee I’m wearing.

“Alicia picked it out,” I stammer as Heath kisses me, silencing whatever I’m about to say about sizes or colors or how risqué Alicia’s nightwear choices were.  He pulls away, his gaze moving down my face to the deep V of my negligee.

“It fits you perfectly,” Heath murmurs as his fingers trace the slope of my shoulder down to the curve of one breast.  I gasp when when his thumb and index finger brush against my hard nipple, straining through the silk lace.

Heath kisses me again, his tongue slipping between my teeth, brushing deliciously along the insides of my mouth. The towel around his waist falls to the floor and my hands move down from his narrow waist to his hips, brazenly cupping his firm buttocks.

As his lips leave my mouth, giving me time to catch my breath as he sucks on the skin of my neck, just behind my ear, I silence the protests of my mind begging me to stop. I know I shouldn’t be doing this, but I don’t care. I want Heath. Even if it’s just for tonight, I want him.