An Inconvenient Desire (13 page)

Jonathan’s mother, Patricia, was great, too. Although petite, like Stephanie, she was a force to be reckoned with. As soon as the grandmother had seen Hannah, she’d picked her up, ignoring the toddler’s pleas for “Bibya.” Within an hour, Hannah contentedly snuggled with her nanna while Stephanie searched each store for the elusive outfit.

“That sounds like exactly what I want. Let’s go there right after lunch.” Stephanie’s renewed vigor elicited a groan from her mother.

“I’ll take Hannah back home for a nap. To be honest, I’m worn out as well,” Patricia said. “You and Olivia go and have fun.”

“Are you sure?” Olivia hesitated. After all, Jonathan paid her to look after his daughter.

“Absolutely. And I trust your taste; you won’t let Stephanie choose anything outlandish.”

“Mother, as if I would … ” Stephanie protested.

Three hours later, Olivia wished she’d been the one to take Hannah home for a nap. She was exhausted after another sleepless night battling her desire for Jonathan and worrying what his colleagues would think of him bringing his nanny-girlfriend to a work function. What if all they talked about was banking? She’d studied up about art so she didn’t come across as a complete ignoramus. But banking was beyond her. Jonathan had once spent ten minutes explaining the derivatives market and she hadn’t understood a word. And she didn’t trust her acting ability to hide her complete lack of interest. Of course, she could spend the evening remembering a naked Jonathan emerging from the pool. Although her drool may give her away.

A shriek of joy startled her out of her thoughts.

“This is it! This is exactly it!” Stephanie jumped up and down in the small changing area of Dress Again, the secondhand clothes store. The pale blue wool suit had a knee-length pencil skirt and a jacket with a wide collar. The color brought out Stephanie’s eyes and highlighted her fair hair. “And it’s less than half of what I budgeted!” she exclaimed after looking at the price tag.

“Thank goodness.” Olivia released an exaggerated sigh of relief. “I think you’ve tried on everything in the store in your size.” Despite her worries about meeting Jonathan’s family, she’d had a fun day with his sister. Stephanie was bubbly and bright with a quick sense of humor. And she had a generous dose of spontaneity that her overly analytical brother was missing.

“This shop is absolutely amazing. I am coming here every time I visit London from now on, which hopefully will be more often now that Jonathan is back. And he has a big house to stay in—without his nasty wife in residence.”

Stephanie handed several other outfits that still hung in the changing cubicle, which was a curtain stuck on a shower rail in a corner of the shop, to the owner. “I’ll take these as well. They’re not for the wedding, but I’ll find an opportunity to wear them.” After she changed back into her jeans and top, Stephanie declared, “Now we just have to find something for Olivia.”

“Something for me?” Olivia asked, stunned.

“Of course. You’re coming to the wedding. We need something that will knock my brother’s socks off. Actually, knocking all his clothes off, I imagine, would be the desired result.” Stephanie started sorting through a rack of evening gowns. Olivia could feel heat radiating from her cheeks. Had she done something to indicate she’d been picturing Jonathan naked?

“I have a couple of dresses that came in yesterday,” the owner offered. “I’ve had them cleaned but haven’t put them out yet. They might be perfect. The original wearer was a tall woman so they need someone of Olivia’s height to carry them off. They’re in the back—wait here.” She popped through a door hidden at the rear of the shop to return a few minutes later, holding a couple of garment bags over her arm.

“Try them on, Olivia. I can’t wait to see you in them. If you don’t want them, can I take a photo of you wearing them to put on my website?”

Olivia dutifully went into the cubicle to change. She didn’t want to argue and spoil Stephanie’s day of shopping. Plus, she had no idea what to wear to a family wedding. Perhaps Stephanie could give her the head’s up.

“I can’t wear this in public,” she declared a moment later, still standing behind the curtain.

“I think we should be the judge of that,” Stephanie said as she pulled the curtain aside. “Oh. My. God.” Her jaw dropped to the floor. “It looks like it was made for you.” The champagne-colored satin and chiffon fitted dress was cut low in the front, and a slit up the middle revealed almost all of Olivia’s leg when she moved. She looked like she’d been poured into it. “You have to buy it,” Stephanie announced. “But you can’t wear it to my wedding. I have to be the most beautiful woman there and with you in that,” she indicated the dress, “not a single person will look at me.”

“I can barely breathe.” Olivia stared at her reflection in the chipped mirror. She’d worn dresses like this when she was working, but they’d always been for a show or a photo shoot; she never thought of taking them home or wearing them out in public.

“That only seems fair,” Stephanie laughed. “Any man who sees you in it will barely be able to breathe, either. Jonathan will probably faint,” she added gleefully.

“I have the shoes to go with it as well. I was going to keep them for myself but it would be a shame to separate them from the perfect dress. You are lucky, my friend, that we have the same size feet.” The store owner handed her a pair of strappy, gold-heeled sandals.

“Where am I going to wear it? Taking Hannah for walks around the park?” Olivia tried to think practically, although the beautiful dress held her mesmerized. She’d denied herself Jonathan. Didn’t she deserve some treat for her abstinence?

“Aren’t you supposed to be going to that art opening with my brother tonight? He said it was a formal event. Wear it there,” Stephanie replied.

“Tonight! Oh my goodness, I lost track of time. Good grief, it’s almost six thirty,” she said, looking at her watch. “We were supposed to leave at seven thirty. There’s no way I’ll make it home in time to get ready.”

“Don’t go home, then,” Stephanie said. “Finish getting ready here and meet Jonathan at the party. I’ll give him a call and let him know you’ll meet him there. I can take the rest of our purchases back to his place.” Stephanie was already calling Jonathan on her mobile. “There, that’s sorted,” she announced, shutting her phone. “He’ll wait for you at the entrance at seven forty-five. Now we just have to get you ready.”

• • •

Jonathan stared into the dark night. The street lamps hugged the light to themselves in the chilly air. He forced himself not to glance at his watch again. But he couldn’t stop from shifting his weight from one foot to the other. What if she didn’t come? He’d already been seen by several of his colleagues so he couldn’t go home without putting in at least a brief appearance. But he had no desire to be there without Olivia.

“Sorry I’m a bit late,” Olivia apologized, her voice breathless as she hurried toward him. With only a scarf protecting him against the chill in the wind, he’d been cold. Until he’d spotted her. Then the heat hit him like an oven opening. Would there ever come a time when his body didn’t respond to her?
Maybe when I’m dead … maybe.

“I don’t think eight minutes counts as late,” he replied smoothly, his voice, thankfully, remaining even.

“Your sister wouldn’t let me leave until everything was perfect, in her opinion.” She fidgeted with the clasp of her bag. Was she nervous? Surely she’d attended hundreds of these types of events in her career. He’d been to enough of them with Celeste.

“I’m sure the effort is well worth it.” He held out his hand to her, pleased when she placed her cold hand in his. The evening suddenly held more promise of enjoyment than he’d thought.

He listened as Olivia told him about her afternoon with his sister. Stephanie had called him twenty minutes ago to say she’d had a fantastic day and warned him not to cock this one up. Then she’d rung off with a particularly wicked laugh, which had made him a little wary about the evening.

Whatever they’d found for Olivia to wear, it was something, because her face was animated. At the moment she had on a black cape coat with a fur-trimmed hood covering her hair. The coat fell almost to the ground. And the only thing Jonathan could tell about her dress was that it was light-gold and a satiny material. Her shoes clicked across the concrete as they made their way through the nearly empty building. After a minute Olivia pulled back the hood to reveal her elaborately styled hair falling in cascading curls down her back.

He led the way to the East Room with its stunning views across the river to St. Paul’s Cathedral. A coat check clerk offered to take her cloak. Slowly Olivia unbuttoned the toggles. “Oh … wow,” he managed to get out at last. “It’s a good thing we met here. If you had come downstairs wearing that, I wouldn’t have let you out of the house,” he whispered into her ear from behind.

“Damn, isn’t it appropriate?” Olivia craned her neck, clearly checking out what the other women were wearing. A few were in shorter cocktail dresses but a number of women were also wearing full-length gowns. Jonathan scanned the crowd as well, but more to get the general reaction to Olivia’s arrival.

“It’s appropriate … it’s just … wow.” He was at a loss for words. Olivia looked stunning and clearly outshone every other woman in the room. The dress showed off her hour-glass figure, pushing up her luscious breasts, tempting his restraint. She was exquisite. And she was with him.

“You can blame your sister. She insisted I buy it and wear it tonight.” She smiled up at him as he put a possessive arm around her waist and led her toward a couple standing by the window.

“I shall have to think of a suitable thank you for her, then,” he replied.
Like maybe paying for her entire wedding and honeymoon.
“Olivia, may I introduce you to Tom and Jennifer Bannister? Tom is head of the European equities division and Jennifer is a corporate lawyer. Tom, Jennifer, this is my girlfriend, Olivia Chapman.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Olivia shook hands with the couple. He could feel the tension in her. He gave her a gentle squeeze of encouragement and pulled her closer. Together they circled the room for half an hour. He introduced her to colleagues and acquaintances, never moving his hand from her. Nothing and no one was going to get between him and Olivia tonight. He desperately wanted to add more romance to their relationship, move things along before he exploded from frustrated desire.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the gallery is now available for you to view the exhibition,” a voice announced.

Slowly the crowd made their way to the gallery. He and Olivia wandered leisurely along, looking at each work of art.

“Do you like this?” Olivia whispered to him as they stood before what seemed to be the tenth painting that looked just like the previous nine.

“Not really,” he whispered back. “I have no idea what the artist is trying to say, or portray, or whatever it is one is supposed to get out of art. Let’s skip the next few and move on down the hall. It looks like those pictures have people in them. At least they look like people from here.” He inhaled deeply of her perfume, letting the intoxicating scent fill his mind before he steered her toward the next gallery.

Olivia smiled and then winked at him as they passed several couples enthusiastically discussing the “texture of the light” and the “juxtaposition of good and evil.” It was as though they were sharing a private joke. His heart lightened.

His job came with a lot of pressure and stress. He’d gotten so used to it over the years, he barely noticed its effect. It was only when he was with Olivia that he realized how tense and stuck-up he tended to be. With a single laugh she took the weight from his shoulders and reminded him what was important in life. Love and happiness. If only it would last.

“This one just looks like a bunch of squiggly lines to me,” she confessed. “In fact, Hannah drew something like that one the other day,” she said, pointing to a picture across the hall.

He laughed loudly and several people turned to look at them. He nodded at a few and then hurried her along to the next room, wishing they could just disappear into the night. The artwork in this section was less abstract and there were indeed a few people on the canvases—people with three heads or seven arms, but at least somewhat identifiable forms.

“Let’s go back to the East Room. There should be canapés and champagne.” He steered her away from the artwork and back the way they had come. Once they’d spent a respectable time at the event, they could find somewhere more private to continue their date. He ran through a list of romantic venues where he could take her.

If he played his cards right, he wouldn’t have to wait till his sister’s wedding. Tonight might be the night.

• • •

“I’ll get us a drink,” Jonathan said as they returned to the refreshment room. As he strode away, Olivia admired his fine arse.

“Did you enjoy the exhibit, Olivia?”

She whirled around to find Jennifer Bannister standing behind her with a compassionate look on her face. As a lawyer, she’d probably be able to spot a lie from across the room, so Olivia decided to go with the truth. “I don’t really understand modern art,” she confessed. “I like the stuff by the Impressionists or the pre-Raphaelites.” She was so glad she had swotted up a bit about art last night before going to bed. Thank God for the Internet. “I guess I don’t have enough imagination to appreciate modern art.”

“Well said,” Jennifer smiled at her. “It’s not really my cup of tea, either.”

Olivia relaxed for the first time that evening. When she’d attended these events as a model, people had only expected her to stand there and look good. Attending as Jonathan’s girlfriend
,
she wanted to be able to converse intelligently. Then maybe Jonathan would realize that aside from looking after his daughter, she had a real place in his life. And that there was more to her than her modeling career.

She caught sight of Jonathan returning, a glass of champagne in each hand. Her breath stuck in her throat and Jennifer’s voice seemed to come from a long way away. His dark tux made him look taller and more powerful than usual. Even though all the other men were similarly attired, he stood out.