Many Shades of Gray (30 page)

She’d talked to Tommy several times, ignoring his anger at her for marrying Simon, for not spending the time he thought she should for the bookstores. But she wasn’t apologizing to anyone. She was doing exactly what she wanted to do, spending time with her new husband.

Janice was thinking of this when she went to her office to check for faxes. She was surprised to find Simon sitting at her desk with her day planner spread out before him.

“What are you doing?” she said as she came up to him and kissed the back of his neck.

“Just helping you out.”

“How?”

“I decided to help you out with your schedule.”

Janice pulled back and stared at her husband. She glanced at the black marker in his hand that he was using to cross out her appointments. “Did it occur to you to check with me before doing this?”

“I didn’t think you’d mind,” Simon said, looking up, slowly sensing that he’d made a wrong move. He smiled. “Are we about to have our first fight as husband and wife?”

Simon swiveled to face his wife, his look telling her that fighting was not on his mind. He had an erection. It seemed he’d had one constantly since the day they were married.

“Did I get any faxes?” Janice asked as she moved toward the empty fax machine.

She was annoyed. He could easily see this and while she didn’t necessarily want to fight, Simon realized that for the first time in their short marriage, his arousal had not sent her into a fit of need. Simon scratched his chin. That wouldn’t do at all.

“Who were you expecting a fax from?” he asked quietly.

“My editor.”

“None from her. You did get one from Tommy.” He watched her as her muscles tensed and she turned to face him.

“Do you mind if I see it?” Janice marched back toward him and now she was a bit more than annoyed.

Simon reached for the paper and handed it to her. “It’s just his thoughts on what he wants you to do for the next couple of months.”

Janice walked closer and peered down at her day planner. “Were you planning out my life?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw and he knew the answer to his earlier question. Yes, they were indeed about to have their first fight as husband and wife. Still, if he handled it just right, maybe he could savage something. Maybe he could still make love to her on her desk as he’d intended.

“You’ve been giving me Tommy’s schedules for months now to see if there were conflicts with my plans for us. I don’t see what the problem is now.”

“The problem is that before I gave it to you. That’s the difference. I asked for your input. This time you took it upon yourself to decide for me. You can’t do that.”

“My mistake,” Simon said. “I thought I could. I thought that as your husband I had that right.” He watched as Janice ran her hand around her neck. He squinted at her. “What are you doing?”

“Checking for the collar.”

“Is that supposed to be funny?” he asked.

“Do I sound amused?”

Simon turned away, feeling the hard-on leave. He glanced at the desk. Okay, he thought, we won’t be making love on it in the foreseeable future. Decision time: He could do what she wanted, acknowledge that he should have waited until she consulted him, or he could do what he’d wanted to do for months. He decided to do what he wanted to do.

“I don’t want you working with Tommy Strong anymore.”

There, he’d said it. He took a deep breath and let it out. He watched as her brown eyes filled with fire. He’d almost forgotten that look. Their truce was about to come to a bloody end. He was aware of that but he wasn’t backing down.

“What are you talking about?” Janice said between clenched teeth

“I was speaking English and I know very well that you understood me. I think I’ve put up with this nonsense long enough. As your husband I’m telling you that I’m sick of Tommy Strong manipulating your life. He thinks he has the right to tell you and me what and when we can do something.”

“And you want to take over that role, is that it?” Janice said, hands on her hips. “Listen, Tommy doesn’t pull my strings and neither do you. I make my choices on what I can and can’t do. I’ve been asking for your input.”

“And I’m giving you my input. I don’t want you working with him anymore. He hasn’t even made a pretense of being civil to me since we got married. He’s gotten more demanding of your time.”

“So what? In the four months we’ve been home I’ve barely done any of the things he’s wanted.” Janice sighed. “Simon, where is this coming from? What have I done to make you feel this way? I know the answer to that,” she continued. “Nothing. I’ve done absolutely nothing.”

She was right; she’d done nothing. But Harold had called him just an hour before and told him that Tommy was stepping up his campaign to discredit him.

“You haven’t done anything,” he sighed.

“Then why are you acting like this?”

“Tell me, as a husband how am I supposed to act? Should I want you spending time with a man you’ve been intimate with?” he shrugged. “A man that you loved?”

“But he’s not the man I love now, Simon, you are.”

Simon licked his lips, then bit down. Something inside him told him to let it go but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to. Every time he saw Tommy Strong’s name it reminded him of his mistake in bringing the man into their lives. He wanted to eradicate that mistake.

“I don’t want you working with him.”

“What about the bookstores?”

“I don’t care.” He saw her eyes narrow. “And neither did you,” he added, “until Tommy told you that you should.”

Janice readjusted her stance. “I was wrong about that. I should have been taking more of an interest all along.”

Janice tapped her fingers on the side of her hip, breathing fast. This was crazy. She didn’t want to fight with Simon. She’d tried telling him that there was no reason for him to feel insecure. She snatched her planner from the desk, ripping the page in the process.

“You have no right to touch my things. I don’t come into your office and fiddle with your schedule.”

“I don’t have an ex blocking out all of my time.”

“Neither do I.”

“Then you won’t mind that I made sure of that.”

“I do mind.”

“Why?”

Janice felt as though she were talking to a child, a pouty, adorable, sexy child, but a child. She sighed.

“Don’t do that.”

“What else can I do? You are making me crazy for no reason. We went to bed last night with no problems between us. I come down now and find you acting like a madman. What happened?”

He pointed toward the fax.

“There has to be more. Simon, tell me what’s going on with the two of you.”

“Can’t I just tell you that as your husband I don’t want you working with him? Can’t you just respect that?”

Janice looked down at her planner, to the places where Simon had scribbled over and crossed out. “I’m willing to compromise,” she offered. “We can go over this together and decide which dates I can keep and which I can’t.”

“I’m not asking for a compromise,” Simon said, getting up from the desk and moving toward her. “I’m asking that as my wife you just do as I ask.”

“Why?”

“I just want you to do it, no questions.”

“Take a good look, Simon. It’s me. I don’t take orders. You knew how I was before you married me. I’m trying, I really am.”

And he knew that she was. Just as he knew he was making no sense in what he was saying to her. He’d fought with the woman too many years to think she would just take this order from him lying down. Still, the knowledge that she would rebel didn’t prevent him from saying his next words.

“What about your book? Shouldn’t you be working on that?”

“I have time.”

He studied her, biting his lips to keep silent.

“I’m going to the bookstore,” Janice announced as though Simon hadn’t said a word. “There is a meeting there today.”

“Are you ignoring my request?”

“Your request sounds more like an order. Tell me why you’re acting so crazy and maybe I won’t go.”

“If you can’t do as I ask, because I ask, then go.” Simon hoped that she wouldn’t take him up on it. Just once he wished she wouldn’t fight him.

Janice stared at her husband, wondering again what had gotten into him. A huge part of her wanted to show him that marriage had not made him her boss but she’d seen the quick flash of hurt in his eyes. She didn’t want to hurt him, not anymore.

“I’ll let this rest for today,” she conceded. “But this isn’t the end of it and I’m not going to stop helping out the bookstores. Tommy is in charge of that project. There will be times I will have to work with him. I gave my word.”

She saw something else in his eyes. “We’ll work on my schedule together, Simon, you and I, not just you.” She shifted her weight. “I love you,” she said and turned and left the room.

Simon watched his wife leave the room and go up the stairs. He’d wanted her to acquiesce to his wishes, and she had, sort of, but he’d noticed a sadness when she said she loved him.

This had to end.

And he had to end it.

Each step was heavy as he went up the stairs. Simon ignored the fact that his wife was staring at him in confusion. He went to her, gathered her in his arms and breathed in her scent mixed with the herbal fragrance of her shampoo. “I have to go out,” he said as he kissed her softly. “I have to take care of some things.”

He pulled back, saw the worry in her eyes and kissed her. “Don’t worry, baby.” He kissed her eyelids, then her lips. “When I return I promise I’ll be in a better mood.”

“You’ll give me a reason for all of this?”

“I’m not sure but since this is our first fight,” he stopped at the smirk on her face, “our first fight as husband and wife, I’ll be contrite, and I’ll be in the mood for some serious making up.”

“We could do that now.”

Simon smiled as he felt the instant erection. But for the first time since he’d laid eyes on Janice, making love to her was not uppermost in his mind.

“I have to go into the office for a couple of hours and take care of some things.” He kissed her again. “And I have to do a little shopping.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Sure I do. Now tell me which do you want, diamonds or sapphires?”

“Both,” Janice teased.

“Then both you shall have.” He looked down at his watch. “It’s almost nine. I’ll be back by three. Are you going to work on your book while I’m gone?”

“Probably.”

“Probably?”

“I got my editor to give me an extension. I have six months.”

“That’s not a good habit to get into. You told me that, remember?”

“I know, but in the last few months my life has been a bit crazy. I haven’t been able to focus on writing more than a few hours a day. Don’t worry,” she added as Simon’s eyes narrowed. “I was planning on pulling back a little on my time with the bookstores.”

“Good,” Simon said as he kissed her and turned and left.

* * *

“Do it,” Simon barked into the phone as he snapped his finger in the direction of his secretary. “One of your editors gave her a six month extension. I want you to make sure that’s rescinded.”

“Why?” the voice on the other end of the phone asked, a bit surprised.

“Because I just might feel the need to step in and run the company myself.” Simon waited while he heard the man trying to adjust his breathing.

“How long do you want her to have?” the voice asked.

“She needs to have it in your office in one month.”

“Can she do it?”

“We’ll see, won’t we?”

Simon noticed his secretary staring at him oddly. The man usually minded his own business. Simon frowned at the man, but still he continued watching him. “What?” he bellowed. “Spit it out.”

“Excuse me.”

“I’m not talking to you,” Simon said shortly into the phone. “My secretary is staring at me like I’ve suddenly grown horns.” Simon sighed and blinked. And then he knew why. He was behaving as though he had horns. The man was wondering why he was attempting to sabotage his wife.

“My wife has been distracted with other projects and can’t refocus. She told me so this morning. She also told me about the extension. I believe that is the reason she can’t get her book done. I’m doing this to help her,” he explained. He saw his secretary’s look of concern change to one of understanding.

He signaled the man to leave his office and continued with his call. “I don’t think I have to mention how important it is that my wife doesn’t know I’m behind the scenes pulling the strings. Just have a talk with her editor and stress that the manuscript must be turned in in one month.”

With that Simon hung up the phone and took a look around his massive office. Wall to wall bookshelves were filled with books from all of the authors whose lives he controlled in one way or another, whether or not they knew it. Then he glanced at the mahogany bookcase that was reserved for his wife. Only her books, her covers and her pictures went into that. If he were a little bit more eccentric he would say it was a shrine. But since he didn’t like the term when used on himself, he preferred to think that it was his way of displaying the talents of the woman he loved.