Blind Attraction (24 page)

“And then there was your scholarship to
Wesmore Lakes,” Taylor continued, on a roll.

“That’s because you and I were friends and your father wanted us to continue being classmates,”
Victoria managed, her heart raging in her chest. Why did it feel like her skin was too sensitive, that the lightest touch would cause her to blister?

“Oh, please; a man does not shell out that kind of money on a whim,” Taylor scoffed, refusing to let
Victoria bury her head in the sand any longer. “He did it because daddy has always loved you; he just wasn’t allowed to interfere directly in your life.”

Victoria
heard the words, she knew they were true, but she couldn’t believe them. If she did, then that changed… everything. Scrambling to her feet, catching herself on the back of the chair before she tumbled over, she panicked, “I’ve got to change.”

“
Victoria!” Taylor cried, jumping to her feet as well. “I tell you that we’re sisters and all you can say is ‘I’ve got to change?’”

Victoria
’s world had been turned upside down and inside out. First James and now… this. Reaching the back of the store, she paused, “Taylor?”

Taylor jumped, startled, before catching up to her friend… her sister.
“Coming.”

As soon as she was changed into her work clothes, a nice pair of black slack and a thin, blue sweater,
Victoria joined Taylor in her living room. Sitting down in the chair across from Taylor, all of the emotional turmoil taking its toll, she eyed her friend. Her sister. “How long have you known?”

Taylor looked down at her fingers as they twisted the tassels of one of
Victoria’s decorative throw pillows. They were going to be torn to threads by the end of the conversation but Victoria didn’t mind; she never liked those particular pillows anyway. “Taylor? How long?”

Suddenly looking up at her with pleading eyes, Taylor grabbed
Victoria’s hands, “Vi, you have to understand that I have always thought of you as a sister, always. I mean, when I was eight, father told me that a new student was going to be joining our class and it was up to me to make sure she settled in; that it was our responsibility to help those who have so little.”

At
Victoria’s raised eyebrow, Taylor rushed on, “I would have been friends with you anyway. But, to answer your question, I’ve known since you were in the hospital.”

Victoria
frowned, “When we were sixteen?”

“Yes,” Taylor nodded. Chewing on her lower lip, once again avoiding
Victoria’s eyes, she explained. “Father and I were spending the holidays in France and as soon as I got the call that you were in the hospital, that it was serious, he got this strange expression on his face. Without a word, he made all of the arrangements to return home immediately. The entire flight was filled with tension and I remembered thinking that it was so odd that he was so affected by my friend’s illness.

“He would pace back and forth
and then collapse into his seat when he exhausted himself.” Taylor smiled sadly, “I laughed at his anguish and I said, ‘My God, it’s like you’re her father or something.’ A flush spread across his cheek bones and he looked away and in that moment I knew; I
knew.
‘You
are
her father,’ I said; it all made so much sense.”

Taylor laughed at the memory, but it wasn’t a joyful laugh. “He threatened to storm the hospital and demand to see you, to expose your mother.” At
Victoria’s horrified expression, Taylor shook her head, “I doubt he would have actually done it; he was just terrified of losing you before he even had a chance to get to know you. Afterwards he felt so guilty for what he had almost done that he has kept his distance ever since.”

Victoria
nodded; that explained why her mother confessed, probably figuring it was best if Victoria heard from her mother instead of a stranger. Her father. But something didn’t make sense…. “If you knew, why didn’t you tell me?”

The blush staining Taylor’s cheeks deepened and she was quiet for a long time. Straightening her shoulders, she faced
Victoria fully. “I was stunned and when he cancelled our vacation to return to your side I thought he loved you more, after all, you are his daughter.”

“Taylor,”
Victoria reached out and tried to offer comfort but Taylor brushed her hand off.

“I wanted to take something away from you the way I thought you took something away from me,” Taylor
admitted quietly, holding up her hand to halt anything Victoria might have said. “So I slept with the boy you had a crush on, knowing that he wanted you instead of me.”

Victoria
’s mouth dropped open as warring emotions flooded her, confusion, anger, sympathy, sorrow. Softly, she asked, “Why did you sleep with Alex, then?”

“Because you got to choose your life,” Taylor murmured, her eyes glistening.

“Oh, Taylor,” Victoria sighed, moving over to the couch and hugging her friend.

“Let me make it up to you,” Taylor said suddenly, lifting her face and looking at
Victoria with large, brown eyes. Even crying she was beautiful, with glistening eyes and smooth, golden skin. No red blotchiness for Taylor.

“It isn’t necessary,”
Victoria murmured, pressing her cheek against Taylor’s temple and staring off into space. Her thoughts wandered and briefly she remembered meeting Mr. Moore, or rather, she remembered seeing him from across the room at one of the school plays. At the time, she thought he truly
was
one of the most extraordinarily beautiful men she had ever seen, but he seemed isolated, apart from the world around him. Almost like an angel fallen from heaven biding his time on earth until he could return home.

“I know
! I could give Terrance a call.” Taylor’s smile was wobbly but it was there. Sniffing delicately, she brushed her fingers under her eyes. “We could all go out.”

“I don’t think so,”
Victoria dissented.

“It’ll be fun,” Taylor enthused. “Just like old times.”

Victoria had to laugh at that; old times included Victoria being the third wheel on Taylor and Terrance’s dates when they were together and then the buffer when they weren’t. “Maybe some other time; I still need to figure out what to do about James.”

“Give him some time
; he has a lot to adjust to with his eyesight coming back so abruptly and then discovering the woman he loves looks nothing at all like he imagined,” Taylor murmured, resting her head on Victoria’s shoulder once more. “If he can’t see what a wonderful person you are then he isn’t worth it.”

Victoria
chuckled softly. “Thanks. And Taylor?”

“Yeah,
Vi?”

“I’m glad you’re my sister in truth. I love you.”

Taylor beamed. Twisting around, she wrapped her arms around Victoria in a warm, sisterly hug. “I love you, too.”

Later that afternoon, after Catherine had finished up the last of her file on
Victoria, she went to visit her boss. James was slouching in his chair, staring out at the world beyond the glass windows; though Catherine doubted he saw anything. Setting the thick folder down on the corner of his desk, Catherine took a seat herself and murmured, “She really does love you.”

“I know,” he said absently, not turning around to face his assistant. He had been aware of a niggling at the base of his neck the moment he had entered the building but he ignored it, unwilling to examine it too closely.
He deliberately avoided looking around, afraid of what he would see; afraid he wouldn’t be attracted to her if he saw her.

But then Catherine had called out her name and he looked.
The jolt of awareness that flashed through his body – his soul – was devastating and he didn’t know how to deal with it. As anger, hurt, confusion whipped through him, he walked away and spent the next couple of hours replaying that brief glimpse of her in his head. He could still see her as she stood in the café, as she stared at him from across the atrium, a look of regret and hurt on her expressive face, as if he was supposed to recognize her when he had never seen her before.

How was he supposed to know what she looked like?

Trying to regain his sanity that was lost the moment Victoria opened her mouth and asked, ‘Can I help you, sir?’ he murmured, “But I wouldn’t recognize her in a crowd; all I know is that she tastes like sweetness and feels like heaven.”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“God knows it should be,” James said self-derisively, unable to explain the hesitation, the uncertainty, that plagued him from the moment his eyes met Victoria’s from across the room and he finally had a face to go with the woman he loved. She was nothing like he had imagined; she was unbearably sweet and she looked like a young girl playing dress up in the fancy dress she wore. The emotional impact had been overwhelming.

“She was going to come up here,
” Catherine continued, twisting the knife in his chest. “Even though you didn’t recognize her. If she hadn’t had to leave she would have braved your censure and laid herself out at your mercy.”

“You’re laying it on a bit thick, Cate,” he grumbled, the image of Victoria laid out before him playing havoc with his brain and whatever small measure of control he had found. “
She was a fool if she believed I would know her on sight.”

“Here,” Catherine said, pushing a file towards James.

Spinning around in his chair, he looked at the manila envelope. He briefly glanced at his assistant before his eyes returned to the folder, his heart thumping painfully in his chest, his palms sweating. “What is it?”

“Look,” she said,
impatiently tapping her finger on the center of the file.

He opened the folder and
violet-blue eyes stared back at him from a face that wasn’t as arresting as her friend’s but it was pretty in its own way. However, her smile was simply… breathtaking. Long, thick eye lashes framed eyes that were almost too big for her face, and would have been overpowering if not for the fullness of her lush mouth. She had a wholesomeness about her that reached into James and tugged at his guts; she was unlike any woman he had ever been attracted to and he didn’t know what it was he was feeling.

Tracing the line of her jaw with his fingers, James swallowed,
knowing the answer before he even asked. “This is her?”

At Catherine’s silent nod, he murmured, “She’s… pretty.”

“Yes, she is,” Catherine agreed.

“She’s not my usual type,” James continued to protest, his hands caressing the picture, his eyes devouring her image. Having held her in his arms – having made love to her – he knew how perfectly her body fit his
. She gave him her virginity. God, her smile lit up the room, and her eyes; they were extraordinary. “She’s not at all polished and I don’t think she even cares.”

“
That’s a good thing,” Catherine encouraged, carefully watching him stare at the picture.

James lifted his head and met Catherine’s sympathetic gaze, “How will she fit into our world? It can be cruel to those who are so damn
sweet.”

A smile slowly curled her lips, “She held her own at the company party, James; and it is only cruel to those who give a damn about what other people think. Victoria is her own person.”

“I miss her,” he admitted hoarsely.

“I think you need to call her.”
Catherine leaned forward and pointed to the seven digit number that belonged to Victoria.

James nodded absently, his eyes moving over the image of
Victoria. “Maybe.”

“Well,” Catherine said as she stood up. Motioning towards the folder, she said, “I guess I’ll leave this with you. After all is said and done she checks out and if you’re willing to give her a chance, I think she
could be the one for you.”

James looked at his assistant; she was terrifyingly good at her job but he wasn’t sure how he felt about her using her powers
to dig into Victoria’s life.

He’d give
Victoria a call; hearing her voice sounded like a good thing, even if he was so conflicted. Why had he been so certain that his partner – his soul mate for lack of a better term – was a tall, elegant socialite?