Beguile her: Laws of Seduction Book 2 (3 page)

Davis asks me what I would like to drink and heads to the bar to fetch our drinks. I surreptitiously look around for James and Elizabeth but don’t see them. When Davis comes back, I gratefully accept the gin and tonic he has brought me and take a big sip. Mmm, juniper berries, yum. Andrew Mills approaches us and charms us with anecdotes from the firm’s earlier days. I can see why he is so successful. His shock of silver hair and gray eyes contrast starkly with his tanned skin. I realize that he is quite good looking in an older, distinguished kind of way.  He is wearing khaki pants with a white button-down shirt and blue blazer. It makes him appear somehow younger and less stuffy than the suits I am accustomed to seeing him in. If he were single, I would consider setting him up with my mother. Ok, maybe not, because that would be weird, but I am sure she would think he was attractive. Looking around, I note that khaki pants and dark blue blazers
 
seem to be a uniform of sorts among the men from HM. They must have all gotten the same memo, I snicker to myself. 

After Andrew leaves to join another group, I smile up at Davis. He
 
definitely does not fit the HM mold. You can tell just by looking at him that he works in the fashion industry. He is wearing tight gray trousers with a white button-down shirt which he has rolled up to his elbows. A vest which he has buttoned over a narrow, dark tie finishes his look. He looks as if he has just walked off the pages of a fashion magazine. I feel guilty when I remember how pleased Davis was at my invitation. I promise myself to go out with him more often and give him a chance.

As we head north up the East River, we chat with a group of junior associates including Alex and his date. The view of the Manhattan skyline is spectacular. I find to my surprise that I am actually enjoying myself. Davis is witty and charming. When we are not chatting with the other associates, we spend a lot of time talking and laughing. At some point I do see James. Our eyes meet, and I feel a jolt of heat shoot through me. I see Elizabeth approach him and reach out to touch his arm, and I, resolutely, turn away. They do not approach us.

A large buffet is laid out in the main cabin. I stuff myself on lobster patties and shrimp cocktail. Davis declares the sliders delicious, but I am too afraid of them sliding right onto the front of my dress. I debated what to wear this evening, deciding not to wear the proverbial little black dress. Instead, I opted for a marbled gray, strapless chiffon dress. A knot is tied across the sweetheart neckline, and the chiffon material comes down to an asymmetrical hem at knee level. I love the way the flow of the fabric brings out the grays in the pattern.

Davis and I are chatting with a group of junior associates
 
when Becca and her date join our group. Her date is also a lawyer, but he works at another firm. They apparently know each other from law school. After the introductions are over, Becca turns to me. “Nice dress, Lainey.” Somehow the way she says it makes it sound like she means the exact opposite. Davis must have picked up on it too, because he puts his arm around me and draws me closer. Leaning down he kisses my cheek next to my ear and whispers, “Ignore her. She’s just jealous. You’re beautiful.” 

Shifting my head back to look up at him, I meet James’s eyes squarely over his shoulder. I don’t know what thought process was going through my head, because suddenly I am reaching up and pulling Davis’s head down for a kiss. I know that we are standing with a group of people, but I don’t care. The thought that James is watching makes me burn and spurs me on, and I deepen the kiss. Finally, Davis pulls back and grins down at me. “Well, that was unexpected.” Realizing what a spectacle I must be making of myself, I blush, and an uncomfortable laugh escapes me. Looking around at the others, I see that they are all gaping at me. I do the only thing I can do in this kind of situation: escape to the ladies’ room.

Was I trying to make James jealous? Is that why I kissed Davis so publicly? I question my own behavior. How can I treat Davis like that? I was basically using him to get back at James, and he doesn’t deserve that. “What kind of person does that make me?” I wonder dismally. I am beginning to realize that there is something about James that makes me behave in a wild, unruly manner that is completely uncharacteristic. At least I thought it was against my nature. I am coming to realize some things about myself that are new and surprising. I am starting to see glimpses of the girl that I used to be before everything changed. I refuse to let my mind wander to the incident that was the turning point in my life. I thought the girl before the incident was gone,
With
d by ordered, structured, and goal-oriented Elaine. Now I wonder.

As I exit the restroom, I am surprised to find James standing on the other side of the door. Before I realize what is happening, he has taken my wrist and is pulling me down the darkened corridor. Coming to the end, he opens a door and pulls me in. I briefly register that we are in some kind of lounge meant for the ship’s crew. There is a couch as well as some folding chairs that look like they have seen better days. The room is small and lit by a standing lamp that is bolted to the floor in the corner. I hear the sound of the lock turning in the door and turn around to confront James. “What are you doing?” I ask him incredulously. 

“I wanted to speak with you… in private.”

“I can’t just disappear,” I protest.

“This won’t take long.” He pulls me close, and turning, he presses me up against the door. His mouth swoops down and covers mine in a blazing kiss. I resist the urge to respond in kind and shake him off. Putting my hands on his chest, I push him back. He steps back, and, with his breathing labored, he stares down at me.

I take in the firm set of his jaw and his flashing eyes and realize that he is angry, really angry. “What is the matter with you?”

He scoffs, “Don’t play dumb with me, Lainey. We both know perfectly well what you were doing out there. Are you sleeping with him?” The power of speech deserts me as outrage floods every pore of my being. “Well, are you?” he snaps.

“Who are you talking about? Davis?” I struggle to keep my voice steady.

“Of course, Davis, unless you have another date hidden in your pocket,” he chides snidely as he rakes his eyes down my body.

James is not touching me, but his gaze alone sears me more than a touch from any other man. This fact enrages me further. I wish the door behind me wasn’t preventing me from stepping back and gaining some
 
distance from him. “That is none of your business. What kind of dog in the manger behavior is this, James? You don’t want me, but nobody else can have me either? Is that it?”

Looking away from me, James runs both hands through his hair and grips his head in agitation. Holding my breath, I wait to see what he will say next. He steps back and sits down on the couch, bending over and placing his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know what to do anymore, Lainey.” His words surprise me. He is always so self-assured and confident, and this hint of uncertainty melts my anger. I walk over and sit down beside him on the couch. “Jesus, Lainey,” he continues, raising tortured eyes up to mine. “The thought of someone else touching you makes me insane. I feel like tearing something apart with my bare hands,” he states fiercely. 

I take in his words, and they make me feel lighter. “I guess you wouldn’t be into a ménage a trois?”

He snorts out a laugh. “God no. At least not where you’re concerned.”

I bristle, “But it would be okay for you?”

Clearing his throat, he clarifies, “I was referring to the past.”

I roll my eyes. “Of course you were.”

Turning towards me, James picks up my hand and brings it to his lips. He holds my hand to his mouth for several long seconds before kissing the sensitive skin on the inside of my palm. Retaining his grip on my hand, he brings our joined hands down to rest on his knee. “Lainey, I have tried to stay away from you. You know I have tried, but I can’t do it. I want you too much, and I can’t stop thinking about you.”

I squeeze his hand. “What is so terrible that you feel like you can’t be with me?” Everything inside me pleads for him to answer.

“I’m damned if I do, and I’m damned if I don’t,” he answers cryptically.

“Please just tell me.”

James gives a resigned sigh. “Ask your brother.”

“What? My brother? Do you mean Jett? What does he have to do with anything?”

“We were in law school together. Just ask him about me.”

I sit quietly and allow this new information sink in. Jett and James were at Columbia together? Why am I just now hearing about this? Thinking back, I realize that I never gave James’s name to Jett. It had all been so new when I spoke to Jett on the way back from the Hamptons. Hadn’t I detected a coolness in James when he dropped me off at my apartment on Sunday night? I had just told him all about my brother Jett. He must have realized that my brother was someone he had known in law school. A lightbulb goes off in my head. That is why I hadn’t heard from him at all the following week. 

Why won’t he explain this mysterious problem with Jett to me himself? I look up at James, and as if reading my thoughts, he says, “I want you to draw your own conclusions.” Feeling completely baffled by this statement, I
 
cannot wait to be home where I can call Jett.

“So you and Davis?” James presses.

I narrow my eyes at him. We are back to that are we? “How about this,” I bargain. “I will tell you about Davis if you tell me about Elizabeth.”

James raises his eyebrows in genuine surprise. “Elizabeth? Elizabeth Duffy?” he clarifies.

“Yes, Elizabeth Duffy. You know, your date for tonight.”

“Elizabeth isn’t my date. I am here alone tonight.” 

Well, I guess that is something. “Let me clarify then. I am referring to all
 
the inter-office flirting, and every time I turn around, you are together.”

James seems taken aback. “Are you jealous? Of Elizabeth?”

To cover up my embarrassment, I say the first thing that pops into my head. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander?”

James cocks an eyebrow at me. “You’re kind of a nerd, did you know that? A gorgeous, hot and sexy one, but all the same a nerd.”

Is he flirting with me? I scrunch my nose up at him, and James smiles warmly at me, his dimple peeking out. I melt. Okay, he is definitely flirting with me. Maybe it is not the smartest thing to be in a dark, well at least relatively dark, and enclosed space with James McAllister, I think dreamily.

Sounds from the corridor
 
penetrate our little bubble. I raise alarmed eyes to James, who just shrugs. “I think someone is looking for you.”

I widen my eyes in outrage. Ya think? “What are we going to do?”

“There isn’t much we can do,” he says smiling smugly. “It’s hard to escape from a boat, so I imagine he will just keep looking until he finds you.” I narrow my eyes at him.

At that moment there is a knock at the door. I turn and look at the door in horror before turning back to James. I hiss, “You stay here.” He raises his hands as if in surrender, but I know better. He is enjoying every moment of this. I wave my hands, frantically indicating that he is to stand behind the door. I am just going to have to brazen this out I think. I unlock the door and open it just enough for me to squeeze out before closing it again. The corridor is
 
narrow. Davis, who is standing in front of the door, has no time or room to back up a step, so I am pressed right up against him.

“Lainey, where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.” He gives the door behind me a puzzled look.

“I got held up talking to people. You know how it is,” I say lamely, taking his arm and pulling him back down the corridor.

Luckily, Davis does not question me further. I heave an inward sigh of relief as we head back up to the deck. We arrive back on deck to a spectacular view of the Statue of Liberty on our right and the Manhattan skyline on our left. Inside my bag my phone pings. Pulling out my bag, I see that I have a text message from James.

You never answered my question. 

I look around to see if he has followed us up to the deck. I see him, but he seems engrossed in conversation with one of the senior partners. I deliberate what to answer back, and then decide that silence is best. Let him stew.

We have been moored off the southern tip of Manhattan in front of the Statue of Liberty for at least an hour when the cruise ship starts back up the East River.

CHAPTER 4

I wake up Saturday morning – or rather afternoon – feeling sluggish and headachy. I hadn’t drunk that much the night before, so I attribute my lethargy to dehydration and the crazy ups and downs from the week. Looking into the refrigerator, I see that shopping is on the agenda for the day. I drink the last of the orange juice, swallowing an ibuprofen along with it.

Under a pelting stream of hot water, I replay my conversation with Davis from the night before. Surprisingly, he had not been all that shocked when I explained that I was struggling with feelings for someone else. He had suspected that there was
 
more going on with the guy from the club than I was letting on. I wasn’t sure how well he had seen James there, and if he had recognized him on the cruise last night. Either way he hadn’t said anything, and I hadn’t either. He assured me that I shouldn’t feel bad, since we weren’t seeing each other exclusively. All in all, I reflect, it hadn’t gone that badly.