Serendipity (Inevitable) (25 page)

Nathan was furious when he arrived at the office early the next morning, his mood not helped by the fact that he’d had precious little sleep. By the time he’d dropped a falling down drunk Cameron at her condo and driven back to his place, it had already been close to midnight. And then sleep had not come easy to him after the tumultuous events of the evening.

He couldn’t say who he was more pissed off at right now. The candidates included Travis and Anton for whatever little scheme they’d cooked up to antagonize Cameron; at Cameron herself for drinking so much and very nearly making a scene; or at that sly old bastard Jackson West for daring to flirt with Julia all night and then having the nerve to actually touch her. West was more than twice Julia’s age, had been married and divorced three times, and was a notorious womanizer. The fact that he had engaged Julia in a discussion about doing some design work annoyed Nathan greatly, for the last thing he wanted was to give the horny old bastard multiple opportunities to associate with her.

But he was perhaps the angriest at himself for not having spoken up last night when Julia had returned to the dinner table clearly upset about something. He knew that Cameron was somehow involved, for his fiancée had arrived back at the table a few minutes earlier, looking very smug and satisfied. She had quite obviously said something to rattle Julia, but he had been too afraid of riling Cameron up in public to confront her about it.

It certainly wasn’t like Cameron to get so completely wasted. Oh, he’d seen her drink quite a bit before and even get plastered, but last night her drunkenness had turned ugly. She’d puked on the sidewalk just outside her building, staining her dress and shoes, and had immediately gotten sick again once inside her condo. He’d helped her get cleaned up, and made sure she took some Advil before leaving, rather appalled that she had wanted him to stay the night. The mere thought of sleeping in the same bed with her after her actions had made his skin crawl. She was sure to be pissed off at him this morning, especially when coupled with the vicious hangover she must have.

Recalling Travis’ comment about having an early client meeting, Nathan made sure he was waiting for Julia inside her office by 7:30am. He needed to talk to her privately for a few minutes and get her side of the story. Cameron had been in no shape last night to discuss what had happened, and Nathan hadn’t been in the mood for the argument that was sure to occur when they did eventually talk it out. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that Cameron was extremely jealous of Julia, and he wasn’t the least bit anxious to discuss her with his fiancée. Cameron was a highly perceptive person, and if she prodded and pushed hard enough he was very much afraid that she’d uncover his attraction to Julia and what had happened between them in New York.

While waiting for Julia in her cozy, tidy office, he studied the grouping of framed photographs artistically arranged on her credenza. One was of an attractive older couple that he knew to be her parents. The woman bore a great resemblance to Julia, and he recognized the dark haired man as his idol, Robert McKinnon. He was still in disbelief that Julia was his daughter, and that he hadn’t associated the two before now.

There was a photo of Julia’s mother and another, more sophisticated woman who looked just like her, and Nathan assumed this was the aunt who supplied so much of Julia’s scintillating wardrobe. Twins evidently ran in the family.

And there were three different photos – the frames hinged together – of Julia and her own twin. One had been taken when they were both young girls – already beauties – with three Australian Shepherd dogs snuggled between them. He smiled at this one, for the girls obviously loved their dogs, judging by the way they cuddled them close. He’d grown up with dogs, too, mostly Labradors, and missed having a pet of his own. Then he grimaced as he thought of the tiny, yappy dog owned by Cameron’s mother. He was a nasty, temperamental little thing that Mrs. Tolliver insisted on dressing in ridiculous articles of dog clothing and bejeweled collars.

The second photo was of both girls in cap and gown at their high school graduation. The final photo looked more recent, and had been taken at Christmastime, evidenced by the decorated tree in the background. Two identical pair of green eyes gazed at the camera, though it was easy to tell the girls apart. Julia was dressed up in a silky blouse, wool skirt and high heeled boots, while her twin wore a bulky sweater, jeans and sneakers.

He checked his watch – now reading 7:40am – and frowned, wondering if he’d understood Travis correctly, or if their meeting was even here at the office. He had just decided to swing by his partner’s office when he heard the clicking of high heels in the hallway outside. Julia froze in the doorway of her office as she stared at him in surprise.

She was still wearing her coat, of black and white checkered wool with large black buttons, and those sexy black Louboutin stilettos. Her face was as flawlessly made up as usual but she looked pale and tired.

“What are you doing here so early?” she asked quietly as she hung up her coat and set her purse and laptop case down. Beneath the coat she was simply but elegantly attired in a white button-down blouse cuffed at the elbows, and a black pleated skirt, this one a little fuller than her typical pencil style.

“I wanted to talk to you before your client meeting,” he explained.

She looked puzzled for a moment, and then shook her head. “Actually, there’s no meeting. Travis must have made that one up on the spur of the moment so we could leave a little early.” She stood behind her desk, arms crossed over her middle as she looked at him. “What did you want to talk about?”

Nathan shut the office door and locked it. “I want you to tell me what the hell happened last night after you came back to the table. You looked like you’d just seen a ghost, while Cameron looked like the cat that swallowed the canary. Did she say something to you?”

Julia didn’t answer him for long seconds, and refused to meet his eyes, her head turned slightly away from him. “You haven’t already asked her these questions?”

He gave a short, mirthless laugh. “Kind of hard to carry on a conversation with someone when they’re upchucking in the gutter. Let’s just say she wasn’t in the mood for talking last night, and neither was I.”

She maintained her stubborn silence for a bit longer before stating quietly, “I think you should talk to her. I don’t imagine she’d appreciate knowing you were in my office right now.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he burst out. “Did she warn you away or something? Exactly what did she say to you last night?”

Julia looked up at him, and he was alarmed to see the shimmer of tears in her eyes. “Not a whole lot that made sense. But she did accuse me of sleeping with you, or at least wanting to sleep with you.”

He closed his eyes, fearing that something like this had been bound to happen sooner than later. “What did you tell her, Julia?” he asked harshly.

She stared at him angrily. “What do you think I told her? Not the truth, for God’s sake! I told you before, Nathan – I won’t betray you. She won’t hear about what happened in New York from me.” She turned away, as though she couldn’t bear to keep looking at him. “All I told her was that you were my boss and that I didn’t poach on men who were already taken.”

“What else did she say?” he persisted. “You seemed way too upset, and she looked far too pleased with herself from the little you’ve told me.”

Julia gave a careless little shrug. “Does it really matter, Nathan? I mean, all you care about is whether or not I’ve kept your secret and I did. I have. So let’s just forget about last night and get to work, okay?”

He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around firmly to face him. “No. Not until you tell me the rest, because I know there’s more. And believe it or not, I care about more than just keeping secrets. I care about your feelings too, Julia. So, please, tell me what really happened.”

She shut her eyes, stubbornly refusing to look at him, and took a deep breath before murmuring in a barely audible voice, “She warned me to stay away from you, that
she
was your fiancée, and that if she saw me looking at you again I’d be sorry.”

Nathan cursed softly when he noticed a single tear tracking slowly down her cheek, and he wiped it away with his thumb without giving it a thought. She tried turning her head away again, but he held her still, gripping her chin between thumb and forefinger. “What else? I can tell you’re leaving something out.”

She shook her head, but more tears fell from her eyes, and she brushed them away impatiently. “No, there’s nothing else.”

“Then why are you crying?” he pressed. “Tell me all of it, Julia.” He wiped away a tear that had trailed down to the corner of her mouth, only to recoil when she whimpered in pain.

“Ow,” she cried, trying to dislodge his hand on her chin, but he only gripped it tighter.

“What’s the matter?” he asked urgently. “Did I hurt you? Let me see.” Gently, he probed the side of her mouth, noticing for the first time how swollen it was beneath a thick coat of dark berry lip gloss. “Jesus, what happened here? It looks like someone hit you.”

And then, realization washed over him and he groaned, pulling her into his arms.

“It was Cameron, wasn’t it?”

Julia didn’t reply to the question that was really more a statement of fact, but did give a tiny nod against his chest. She rested her palms lightly on his shoulders as he held her gently, his hand stoking her hair.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I would never have let her touch you if I’d been there. She was drunk and pissed off and jealous. That’s no excuse for slapping you, but I’ve never known her to become violent before. Let me take a look at it.”

Julia reluctantly let him examine her swollen lip more closely, and he frowned when he noticed the still open cut. “Did she scratch you with her nails or something? I wouldn’t have thought her strong enough to draw blood.”

“No, it was her ring. Her, um, engagement ring. It’s so big that it split my lip when she slapped me.”

He felt anger surging through him. “You should have hit her back.”

She covered her face with her hands, and he felt her trembling in his arms. “I was scared,” she confessed faintly. “It brought back bad memories. From that time in my old office.”

She didn’t elaborate, but he knew exactly what she meant. She’d been flashing back to the night that fucker had tried to rape her, when he’d hit her and bruised her. Nathan was furious at himself that he hadn’t been there to protect her, either in New York or last night.

He caressed her cheek tenderly, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. “It’s okay, baby. Everything’s okay. That bastard can’t hurt you anymore, and I’ll make sure Cameron leaves you alone from now on, too.”

She nodded, but kept her eyes downcast, the tears still streaming down her cheeks. Overwhelmed with the need to protect her, to comfort her, he threaded his hands into her thick, silky hair and tilted her head back. His lips touched her cheek, whisper soft, soothing her, trying to dry the tracks of her tears. As he continued to press soothing kisses along her cheeks and eyelids, she grew calmer and her sobs began to subside. She lifted huge eyes the color of wet moss to his, her lips parted as her breath started to slow down, and he groaned at the tempting, delectable picture she presented. Then, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, he bent his head, claiming her full, lush mouth in a searing kiss. She made a little “mmm” sound deep in her throat that went straight to his groin, and he yanked her against him, his arms wrapped around her back, practically lifting her off the floor.

Julia wound her arms about his neck, kissing him back with an almost desperate ardor, her hands in his hair. His tongue sought entrance to her mouth, and she welcomed it, meeting it with her own. His hands slid from her back to the sweet curves of her ass, holding her still as he rubbed the hard ridge of his erection against the cleft of her thighs. She moaned beneath his kisses, her hands sliding inside his suit jacket to clutch handfuls of his crisp pearl gray shirt.

Gasping for breath, he reluctantly broke the kiss, only to move his lips to the side of her neck. He shuddered with arousal as she licked his chin, the corner of his mouth, his lips. Christ, it had been so long since that night he’d fucked her into oblivion, since he’d held her and kissed her this way. She had haunted his dreams for months, aroused him just from being in the same room, and he’d wanted her more than he could even try to put into words. He was already so hard that his erection pressed painfully against his trousers, afraid that he would lose it at the slightest touch of her hand.

“You smell so good,” she whispered, nuzzling her nose against his cheek. “I want to lick you all over, eat you up.”

Nathan growled, spinning her around and shoving her up against the wall. Julia gasped as he simultaneously cupped her full, lush breast with one hand and lifted one of her legs to wrap around his hip with the other. He ran his hand up under her full skirt, hissing when he found the frilly garter attached to her silky stockings.

“Fuck, you’re wearing those goddamn stockings again,” he groaned. “Do you just wear all these cockteasing things to torture me? Let me see.”

He pulled her skirt higher until he could see the sexy black garter clipped to the sheer hosiery, then followed the length of her leg down to those shoes that had given him so many hard-ons.

“You’re so fucking sexy,” he hissed. “Every time I see you, every goddamn day, all I can think about is ripping whatever you’re teasing me with that day off this delicious body, touching these beautiful tits, these fabulous legs, your gorgeous little ass.”

Julia was panting as he ran his hands over her body, squeezing her breasts, pinching her nipples, cupping her ass cheeks, sliding up and down the length of her leg. “I want you, too,” she breathed. “So much. I want to throw myself in your arms every time I’m near you. I miss you so much, Nathan.”

“Sweet Julia,” he groaned. “I can’t get you out of my mind. And it drives me crazy to have to watch other men look at you, to listen when they talk about how hot you are. When that dirty old man touched you last night I wanted to punch him in the face. I can’t stand the thought of anyone else putting their hands on you. Especially here.”