Blind Attraction (12 page)

Taylor’s sigh of relief was almost palpable. “Just don’t do anything until I get back; I don’t want to see you get burned.”

“Of course,” Victoria allowed, knowing her best friend only wanted to protect her. “You’re only going to be gone for – how many days?”

“Six.”

“Six days,” Victoria shrugged down into her bed. “What can happen in six days?”

Taylor chuckled, “I guess you’re right; you need more than a week to decide you’re going to sleep with someone.”

Victoria grinned in spite of her tired brain fighting to go back to sleep. “True; what are you going to be doing for six days when you don’t ski?”

“Chandler and I have six days with nothing but mountains and a private villa,” Taylor laughed. “What do you think we’ll be doing?”

“Great,” Victoria laughed. Abruptly, she straightened as realization hit her. “Oh, crap; you’ll be back for Sunday’s grand opening, right?”

“Of course, sweetie; I promised to help out,” Taylor said reassuringly. “We’ll be getting back Saturday night,
with plenty of time to spare.”

“Whew,”
Victoria sighed, relaxing once more. “Well, all I have to say is ‘have fun.’”

“I will,” Taylor said, finally – finally –hanging up the phone.

Of course, it was twenty past six and Victoria’s body was humming with life, her brain wide awake. Despite laying there for a few more minutes, Victoria knew it was useless; she wasn’t going to be getting any more sleep. With a muffled curse, she flung the comforter off her body and flung her legs over the edge of the bed. Maybe she would take a fifteen minute catnap when Marnie showed up at one. Or maybe she would have a couple of cups of coffee and pray that by the time James showed up the caffeine would have replaced her blood supply thereby giving her endless energy.

Shuffling through the tiny apartment to her kitchen, she started the coffee maker, filling it all the way up. Why did Taylor find it necessary to call her so darn early in the morning? It’s not like her news couldn’t have waited a few hours. Of course, Taylor was one of those freaky morning people who hardly needed any sleep at all and still managed to look absolutely incredible. It hardly seemed fair that Taylor never suffered dark circles under her eyes.

With a half-smile, Victoria shook her head; with her fair skin, when she was tired everyone knew she was tired. Perhaps it was a good thing that James couldn’t see; if he were to suddenly get his eyesight back before their date tonight, he’d take one look at her and wonder what the hell he got himself into. Sure, he’d probably go through with the date but he would find some excuse not to pursue the relationship any further.

Of course, it was a moot point because he couldn’t see. She just hoped she would be given fair warning when his eyesight did return so she would be able to present the best
Victoria possible. Adding the connection they already shared, maybe he wouldn’t be too disappointed that she didn’t look more like, well, Taylor.

*****

The bell over the door chimed, letting Victoria know that there was a customer out front. Walking out from the back room, she smiled when she saw James standing there looking so devastatingly handsome in a pair of blue jeans and a button-down shirt. The top buttons were left open, exposing the strong column of his throat; he was so incredibly sexy.

Marnie
was already approaching him, a brilliant smile on her pretty face. Coming to a stop in front of him, she asked in a flirty manner, “Can I help you, sir?”

“Is
Victoria in?” he asked, his voice making Victoria’s insides melt. Taking off his sunglasses, he smiled at Marnie, even though his eyes were staring at Victoria. It was vaguely disconcerting knowing that he couldn’t see her even as he looked right at her.

“I’m right here,”
Victoria smiled, shaking off the bewildering feeling and walking over to where James and Marnie stood. Taking James’s hand in hers, she gave it a firm squeeze, adding, “You’re early.”

“I know,”
he grinned, turning his head to face her, his eyes looking right into hers making her breath catch in her throat. “Catherine had a few errands to run this evening.”

“I see,”
Victoria nodded, turning her head and seeing the confusion marring Marnie’s brow. With her eyes, she motioned towards the white cane in James’s hand. When Marnie turned her attention away from the handsome face and saw what Victoria was motioning towards her mouth opened in an ‘
O
’ of understanding.

“Is it possible for you to close a little early?” he asked, the hope and eagerness apparent in his voice.

“It’s fine,” Marnie smiled, giving Victoria the thumbs up sign. “I don’t mind finishing up here; you two go and have fun.”

“Thank you,”
Victoria grinned, reaching out and squeezing Marnie’s hand while still holding onto James’s. “Just give me a moment to grab my purse and we can leave.”

“Great,” he murmured
, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze.

She hesitated in letting go even though she would only be away from his side for thirty seconds. It had been nearly eighteen hours since she left the party last night and she was going through withdrawal.
When she had placed her hand in his her body had sung with elation at once again being so close to him. But their time was limited so she forced her fingers to loosen their grip and she stepped away from him, watching him as she walked backwards. She ignored Marnie’s amused snort.

Victoria
hurried as much as she could in her four and a half inch heels, eager to return to James’s side. Her entire body came alive next to him; even her lingering fatigue at having been awakened at six in the morning seemed to disappear. With a smile, she grabbed her purse from the backroom, where she left it so she wouldn’t have to waste the extra time running upstairs to retrieve it.

Stepping back into the main area, she had to pause as she caught James smile at something
Marnie said. He was so devastating to every single one of her nerves and seeing his smile made her breath catch and her heart trip over itself. She was torn between enjoying their time together, knowing they belonged together, and fearing the day he was going to get his eyesight back when he realized she looked nothing like the women he usually dated.

He
didn’t seem to be superficial since he had never grilled her about her looks but Victoria couldn’t help but wonder what an incredible guy like him was doing with an ordinary girl like her. Maybe she was Lois Lane to his Superman. That would be okay; Superman loved Lois. But Lois was pretty awesome; maybe she was Clark and he was Lo…. No; he was definitely Superman. She was going to have to work on that particular analogy since the only character that made that one word was Jimmy, which was too funny since his friends called James Jimmy.

She
was probably just worrying for no reason. There was definitely a connection between the two of them, that
zing
just couldn’t be faked. She was pretty sure James felt it, too. Taking a breath, putting her doubts some place where they wouldn’t bother her, she closed the distance between them. “I’m back.”

“Excellent,” James smiled,
reaching out for her, as if knowing she would take his hand. Her fingers tangled with his and his smile grew even more brilliant.

Wrapping her other hand around their entwined hands
, she faced Marnie, “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’m fine,”
Marnie said, shooing them out of the store. “Go.”

Giving
Marnie a one-armed hug, Victoria whispered, “Thanks.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you,
Marnie,” James said, holding out his hand in Marnie’s general direction. His smile was beautiful and Victoria knew that she could bask in it all day; it was warmer than the sun.

“Likewise,”
Marnie murmured, taking the offered hand and shaking it. As she looked at Victoria, she nodded her head in approval, a wide, encouraging smile brightening her face. “Now, go before I have to throw the two of you out.”

“We’re going,”
Victoria relented, leading James out the door, still dazed from the warm beauty of his smile. As soon as they stepped outside, Victoria paused, “Where are we going?”

“The park,” he grinned,
nodding his head towards the street where Catherine was waiting with the car.

“Jimmy,
Victoria!” Catherine called out, sounding exasperated. Looking at her watch, she frowned and began tapping her foot in her desire to get moving. “Hurry up.”

“If it’s too much of an inconvenience we can take my car,”
Victoria said, seeing the stress lines along Catherine’s mouth, the anxious expression as she kept checking her watch.

“No,” Catherine
grumbled good naturedly. Sliding behind the wheel, she ordered, “Just climb in so we can get going.”

Victoria
looked up at James and saw the frustration on his face, though he slid into the back of the SUV without any protests. Victoria climbed into the seat next to him, preferring to remain by his side in the back, even if she got sick, than riding anywhere else. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a huge picnic basket, a plaid blanket and a bottle of champagne. Turning back, she asked, “Which park are we going to?”

The corners of James’s succulent mouth tilted upwards, “It’s a surprise.”

“Mm-hmm,” Victoria murmured absently, still distracted by that smile – just like every other time; how did he do that? For just that smile, she would walk over burning coals. That probably wasn’t such a good thing; their relationship – if it could be called that – was still too new to be letting flights of fancy dictate her behavior. Though highly improbable, James could turn out to be a serial killer or a homicidal maniac. The thought made her chuckle softly; James was so not evil; he was Superman, the epitome of good.

“What is it?” he asked in a low, soft voice.

“It’s nothing,” she began, still grinning. “I was just trying to imagine you as a sociopath and I failed miserably.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“It is,” she agreed, squeezing his hand affectionately. Actually, she was looking forward to spending time with him in a one-on-one situation. She was going to get to know James the man; see if there was something more to go with that
zing
that kept her awake into the wee hours of the morning. Of course, she had glimpses of him at the party last night; his friends and employees all adored him, he was incredibly brilliant, and so far he had been everything that a gentleman ought to be.

James’s thumb caressed the fleshy mound of skin between her thumb and forefinger, bringing her thoughts back to the present. She looked at him, loving the fact that she could drink
in the sight of him and not worry about getting caught. Although, truth be told, she would probably still stare at him; she was so incredibly drawn to him.

First of all there was his smile, the crevice in his right cheek when he did so, the warmth in his unseeing, beautiful green eyes. He just seemed to love life, as evidenced by the laugh lines that cri
nkled the corners of his eyes, that bracketed his glorious mouth. Then there was his jaw, sculpted and so masculine, whether freshly shaven or slightly whiskered with a day’s growth of beard. In fact, that blue-black hue of day-old beard gave him a sensuousness bordering on the obscene. He was simply too gorgeous.

S
he had gone to school with some good looking men so it wasn’t just his looks that held her in thrall. It was him, simply James, that made her heart dance in her chest, her blood sing in her veins. True, he was wealthy but that didn’t really matter to her. In fact, his fortune might have been a turn-off had she known about it before falling in love with him. Right, like in all of the three seconds between seeing him for the first time and talking to him she had time to learn his net worth.

“You’re thinking too much,” James murmured, bending his head until his lips brushed against her ear.

“Probably,” she agreed, letting her eyes drift shut, just enjoying his close proximity. He really should come with a warning label; too sexy by half and dangerous to women with pulses. “Like I’ve said before, this all seems so surreal.”

“In a good way, I hope,” he said, his breath sending tingles along the sensitive skin of her neck.

“Very much so,” she answered a bit breathlessly. “My arm is completely black and blue from the number of pinches I’ve given myself.”

He chuckled, “I
hope you’re teasing; I’d hate to think of you suffering any pain on my behalf.”

“
I am,” she laughed softly. “I only pinched myself once, and that had been an accident while trying to get something off a high shelf for a customer. I’m definitely awake.”

He brought her hand up to his mouth, kissing it as he smiled, “I hope it didn’t leave any permanent damage.”

“Nothing too serious,” she told him. “Although the customer was privy to some choice words and I almost dropped the damned thing.”

“Did she buy the treacherous item?” he asked, softly kissing each finger.

Victoria frowned, getting sidetracked by the warmth of his mouth as he played havoc on her body with the mere brush of his lips. “Actually, no; she decided that it wasn’t quite big enough.”