Serendipity (Inevitable) (15 page)

But then, as the whiskey began to have its desired effect, he started to calm down and think more rationally. He couldn’t call Gerard and ask him such a question without betraying his past with Julia, and he wasn’t naïve enough to believe that Gerard wouldn’t immediately turn around and share this information with Travis. And God knew his business partner already suspected something fishy was going on. Travis was a nosy bastard, always probing and prodding, and loved to gossip more than a little old lady. And given the animosity that existed between Travis and Cameron, there was no way in hell he could risk the knowledge that he and Julia had had a passionate fling getting out. Travis would find some way – discreet or not – to plant doubts in Cameron’s mind and then all hell would break loose.

‘Fuck it all,” he muttered, plopping down onto his desk chair and slumping against the high, padded back. ‘What a goddamned fucking mess. How in hell am I going to be able to work with her every day, especially when she looks like that?’

Julia was ten times more beautiful that his recollections of her, and seeing her in the flesh again had made him excruciatingly aware of how much he still wanted her. Four months apart had done absolutely nothing to dim the stunning physical attraction they shared – it had flared to instant and burning recognition the moment he’d met her eyes again.

He tortured himself by wondering if she already had a new boyfriend out here in California, and how many men she’d been with in the months since he’d met her in New York. He saw red as he recalled the almost haughty manner in which she’d coolly informed him that she could have pretty much any guy who caught her fancy, and didn’t have to waste her time on someone like him. What made matters so much worse was the fact that she was absolutely right. Julia could conceivably date a different guy every night of the week for a month, and have her pick of who she liked best. Or simply start over again with a fresh batch.

He’d probably just made a huge ass of himself, therefore, by insinuating that she was still pining over him and laying down rules about keeping things professional between them. Hell, she’d probably been so pissed off at the way he’d treated her in New York that she had forgotten about him before his plane left the ground. And then she’d likely hit up one of the many bars or clubs in Manhattan and found some attractive guy who wasn’t already engaged – a guy who’d probably worshipped her and treated her like the goddess she was.

No, he thought angrily. It wouldn’t be Julia he was going to have to worry about to keep things professional between them.
He
was the one who was going to have to make a superhuman effort to keep his fucking hands off of her, and somehow remember that he was engaged to another woman. The way he looked at it, he sure as fuck had his work cut out for him.

Chapter Eight

February

After a month on the job at Atwood Headley, Julia had quickly learned the telephone extensions of the key personnel in the office. Thus, she recognized the incoming call as being from Robyn, Nathan’s super-efficient assistant.

“Good morning, Robyn. How are you today?” she said as pleasantly as possible. The older woman had been exceedingly kind to Julia since day one.

“Just great, hon. Listen, the boss asked me to tell you that the Gregson meeting has been moved up by fifteen minutes, so be ready to leave here around nine-thirty. Is that okay?”

A quick glance at the clock on her computer shoved it to be just after eight-thirty. “Yes, that’s fine. I’ll meet Nathan by the elevators then.”

“Perfect. Talk to you later.”

Julia sighed as she hung up the phone. Over the past few weeks, anytime Nathan needed to communicate with her it had either been through Robyn or via email. Any face to face meetings they’d had – primarily about the Napa hotel project – had also been attended by at least one other person, usually that idiot Jake Harriman who spent most of the meeting staring at her tits. Nathan had certainly fulfilled his part of their bargain – acting like the perfect gentleman, always professional, always distant. Julia had a hard time reconciling his current behavior with the seductive, flirtatious, and passionate man she’d met in New York. No doubt, she thought unhappily, he was only sharing that particular side of his personality with his fiancée.

Being around Nathan on an almost daily basis had been far more difficult – and heartbreaking – than Julia could have imagined. She’d always been a sucker for a man who could wear a suit really well, and Nathan wore his collection of tailored designer suits – Armani, Prada, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana – far better than most. He had a good eye for color – no doubt he had something of an artistic side given his chosen profession – and always paired his suits with perfectly coordinated shirts and ties. Her particular favorite was his black pinstriped D&G, especially when he teamed it with a crisp white shirt and dark red tie. She loved the way the beautifully cut jacket emphasized the breadth of his shoulders and back, and how the trousers fell just so from his slim hips.

Each time they met, her fingers itched to run themselves through all that thick, dark brown hair. She longed to see those beautiful light blue eyes twinkle at her, his sinfully full mouth to smile at her just once –
really
smile, not just one of those brief, polite acknowledgments that one might bestow on a total stranger. He never once asked her a personal questions, how her weekend had been, or complemented her on her appearance.

And yet, he did all those things and more to nearly everyone else in the office, male and female. She’d seen him give Becca, the receptionist, a wide grin and compliment her bright red sweater. Just two days ago he’d asked Jake the Jerk – and his sidekick Brent the Bonehead – about their weekends and had listened as each described in excruciating detail what they’d done. He’d even teased Courtney about her latest hair color – this one a bright electric blue. But with Julia herself, it seemed he was doing an exemplary job of acting like she didn’t exist beyond her sketches and designs for the Napa hotel.

He had, in fact, been a bit harsh with his critiques and she’d had to re-do a number of the designs several times. She had agreed with a few of his suggestions, but on most of the others she’d really felt like he was nitpicking and intentionally making things challenging for her. But she was determined to succeed here and had made every change he’d requested without complaint or argument.

She was working harder and putting in more hours than she had at Manhattan Interiors, but also felt more artistically fulfilled and satisfied with her work. There was more variety, more challenges, and more demands but she found those things had also lit a spark in her creative side, and in her opinion she was producing some of her best work right now.

Julia was actually grateful for the long hours she’d been working, a welcome diversion to her continuing infatuation with Nathan. In the six weeks or so since she’d moved to San Francisco, her day to day life had fallen into a busy but satisfying routine. She rose early enough to make it to a 6:00am Ashtanga yoga class at a studio close to her flat. She was at her desk beginning her work day by eight-thirty, and often worked past six in the evening. She cooked dinner for herself most nights – and occasionally for Angela when she could persuade her upstairs neighbor and girlhood friend to actually eat something. Weekends thus far had been spent doing household chores, laundry, shopping, more yoga, and dragging Angela to an occasional movie or dinner out.

One thing she did
not
do was go trolling in clubs or bars as she’d bragged to Nathan about. That had never been her scene and the only one-night stand she’d had in her life had been Nathan. And while San Francisco was proving to be little different from New York in terms of how many men stared at her or tried to hit on her, Julia was in absolutely no rush to have a steady man in her life. She tried to tell herself it was just because she had been so busy – settling into her new flat, getting to know her way around the city, and of course the many demands of her new job. But deep down she knew it was because she was too attracted to Nathan to want to settle for someone else, even though the attraction certainly seemed one-sided at this point.

Pride had demanded that Julia look her absolute best every single day at work, and she went out of her way to always wear stunning clothes and shoes, make sure her makeup was flawless and her hair perfect. She didn’t consciously think about flaunting herself in Nathan’s face, as though to remind him of everything he was missing, but knew that was likely the real motivation. She spent hours every weekend getting her outfits ready for the upcoming work week, making sure shoes and bags and jewelry were all perfectly coordinated with her dresses and skirts. But for all that Nathan commented or appeared to even notice, she might as well be wearing baggy jeans and shapeless sweatshirts every day.

The worst times, though, had been when she’d tearfully imagined him with his fiancée, making love to her as passionately and skillfully as he had done to Julia back in New York. Julia assumed that Nathan’s fiancée was a beautiful, sexy woman since someone as mindblowingly handsome as he was could easily have his pick of any female he wanted. She recalled how obsessed he had been with her boobs, and guessed that his fiancée must have an equally impressive rack. Julia wondered if the woman was blonde or brunette, tall or petite, what she did for a living, and if Nathan took as much pleasure in her body as he appeared to have done with Julia’s. Tears came to her eyes once again as she realized how much she missed him, longed for him, and how it made her physically ache just to be near him and know she could only look and not touch ever again. Angrily, she forced herself out of her melancholy and returned her focus to her work.

It was chilly outside today with a cold wind blowing, so she’d dressed warmly in a light gray James Perse dress with elbow-length sleeves. The soft fabric was shirred from waist to hem, emphasizing her curves without being too clingy. Because the cross-front bodice revealed just a bit too much cleavage, she’d wrapped a gray and black print scarf around her neck to fill in the gap. She wore her favorite shoes – black Christian Louboutin pumps with sky-high heels – and carried a black Gucci tote bag. She’d curled her hair into long, loose waves, and taken extra care with her makeup to achieve the smoky gray eyes and pale pink lips that she knew were her best colors.

She was standing in front of the elevators and just starting to shrug into her Azzedine Alaia gray wool princess coat when she felt a hand on her shoulder, helping her into the coat, and heard a voice that said, “Here, let me.”

Her answering smile froze on her face when she saw that it was Jake helping her with the coat, and not Nathan, who was just walking into the elevator lobby, an impassive expression on his handsome face.

“Thank you,” she told Jake neutrally.

As usual, he was grinning from ear to ear, and she quickly buttoned the coat up so he couldn’t stare at her breasts again. “Oh, my pleasure, Julia. You look beautiful today, once again. You’re wearing my favorite shoes, you know.”

Julia gave him a small smile in return, making a mental note to shelve the black Louboutins for a few weeks. But it likely wouldn’t do much good with Jake, for he seemed to think she looked gorgeous no matter what she wore. Unlike Nathan, who never said one word about her appearance.

“Ready to go?” was all he said in a brisk voice. “Do you have everything you’ll need?”

Julia indicated the large black case she was carrying. “Everything’s in here, yes.”

He pressed the elevator button that would take them straight to the garage level. “We’ll drive. It’s freezing out today and I doubt you could walk fast enough in those shoes anyway.”

There was a tight, almost disapproving set to his mouth when he said that, and Julia now felt a bit foolish with her choice of footwear. She hadn’t assumed they would be walking to the Gregson corporate offices since they were more than a mile from here. Not that it would have done her much good to wear different shoes, anyway, since pretty much every pair she owned had at least a four-inch heel.

“Do you want to take my car, Nate?” offered Jake. “I don’t think the three of us are going to fit in your Beamer unless Julia sits in my lap. Which is just fine with me, by the way.”

Julia rolled her eyes at his latest innuendo and ignored his eager smile. God, she was really going to have to put the kybosh on his constant flirty behavior soon. Jake was harmless enough, and she certainly didn’t feel threatened by him like she had that creep Philip, but he was still annoying as hell.

Nathan remained expressionless as he checked a text on his phone while the elevator continued its descent. “Not a problem. I drove the Lexus today, so plenty of room for all of us.”

“Aw, too bad,” replied Jake as he playfully slipped an arm around Julia’s waist. “I was looking forward to sharing my seat.”

She firmly removed his hand from her waist and took great pleasure in hearing him yelp when she bent his little finger back. “Keep your hands to yourself. And your adolescent comments, too.”

While Jake nursed his sore hand – and undoubtedly bruised ego – Julia stole a quick glance at Nathan and swore she saw the ghost of a smile playing about his lips. But then the elevator doors opened on the garage level, and the three of them walked the short distance to where a dark blue luxury SUV was parked.

“Jake can ride shotgun,” she declared, not wanting to be that close in proximity to Nathan. Even from here she could smell the scent of his light cologne, feel the warmth of his skin. She was so attracted to him that she almost ached with the wanting, especially since she was forbidden from touching him the way she longed to do. Keeping her distance was a wise move.

Nathan held the back door open for her as she slid her case and purse inside. Julia eyed the high step up into the car dubiously, wishing her dress wasn’t quite so formfitting, but then shrugged and hoisted herself up into the car. Predictably, her dress had ridden up in the process and she automatically began to pull the hem down, catching Nathan’s gaze in the process. His eyes dropped to where the dress had crept up, revealing a glimpse of a lacy silver gray garter clipped to the top of her sheer, pale gray stockings. His jaw slackened momentarily before he tore his gaze away and abruptly shut the door. Julia couldn’t help but feel a small sense of satisfaction to know that he’d noticed her lingerie, and she hoped rather naughtily that he’d keep thinking about it all during their meeting.