Serendipity (Inevitable) (27 page)

God knew he’d done a bang-up job of pretty much ignoring her these last few weeks. If he’d treated her professionally and somewhat coldly before the make-out session in her office, he was positively non-communicative and icy now. She hadn’t been assigned to any new projects that Nathan was also involved with. Instead, Travis and Olivia, one of the other designers, were working with Nathan on two new accounts, while Julia had been assigned to a project with Eric as well as working on several design-only accounts. That left only the Gregson hotel project, and Nathan had been leaving Jake to deal with most of the contact with Julia on that one.

She was certainly getting his message loud and clear. It was to be strictly business between them from now on, and as little business as possible. Julia was well aware that Nathan avoided her, even taking the long way around so he wouldn’t have to walk past her office. Last week she’d happened to be in the same elevator with him, and aside from a curtly nodded “Hello” he hadn’t looked at her or said another word.

And while she understood his need to keep contact with her to a bare minimum, it hurt like hell to have him treat her like a stranger. ‘For God’s sake,’ she thought ‘he had his tongue down my throat and his hand inside my panties and he acts like he can’t stand to be within ten feet of me.’ She couldn’t help but feel cheap and used, shuddering as she recalled how quickly she’d come against his talented fingers, how desperately she’d clung to him, and how eagerly she’d kissed him. Both times that she’d been with him – in New York and in her office – she’d been wrecked physically and emotionally after he’d left. And yet, stupidly, Julia feared that she would continue to be drawn to Nathan, to succumb to the pull she felt towards him, and to let him have his way with her whenever he chose.

No man had ever had this sort of affect on her. Certainly not Sam, her first love. He’d been kind and caring and sweet. They had grown up together, been each other’s first, and even when things had ended between them during college they’d been able to remain good friends.

Initially with Lucas she’d been dazzled by him. He had been older, of course, and his suave sophistication had swept her off her feet. But then she’d found out the truth about him, the secrets he’d been keeping, and she’d broken things off immediately. Lucas had kept pursuing her, but his lies had shattered her faith in him, and she’d steadfastly refused to see him again. He’d finally gotten the hint and left her alone.

In some ways, the situation with Nathan was all too similar to her failed relationship with Lucas, except that this time she was too weak and too attracted to forget about him. The fact that he belonged to another woman troubled her, of course. She didn’t condone cheating – had certainly learned a hard lesson about that with Lucas – but feared that she just couldn’t turn off her feelings for Nathan. When she’d been with him in New York, she hadn’t known about his fiancée until it was too late. She had already spent the most incredible night of her life with him and fallen hard. And try as she might, she was discovering that love wasn’t something you could just stop feeling, or that you could turn off such a strong physical attraction like a light switch.

The sensible solution, of course, would be to find another job so that she didn’t have to worry about seeing him every day. But it wasn’t easy to find a job in her field, and certainly not one with such a prestigious firm. There was always Ian Gregson’s standing offer to work for his company, and lately she’d begun to give it some serious consideration. Though the old “out of sight, out of mind” adage certainly hadn’t applied in the months between last September and meeting Nathan again in January. It didn’t give her great confidence that it would work this time, either.

She stopped at the corner, waiting for the traffic light to change, and looked straight ahead despite the very interested gaze of the tall, dark-haired man to her right. ‘Maybe I should have worn a coat after all” she thought tiredly. It was a very pleasant spring day, and since the client’s office she’d just walked from was only three blocks away, she had left her jacket back at her desk. Julia supposed it was her dress that was attracting what seemed like more attention than usual today. It was one of her favorites – something Aunt Maddy had received during last fall’s New York Fashion Week – but the weather hadn’t been right for it until today.

It was Narciso Rodriguez, who she thought knew how to dress curvy women better than almost anyone. This creation was of a deep coral shade, another pencil-skirted dress with a square neckline and cap sleeves. She’d teamed it with taupe peep-toe Louboutins and a Tory Burch clutch in the same shade. Julia knew the coral was a good color for her, setting off her golden brown hair and creamy skin, but was now a bit self-conscious of all the male stares she was getting as a result.

Her spine stiffened as she recalled Nathan’s comments about her outfits, how he’d sounded almost angry about the way she dressed. She’d even tried dressing more demurely for a few days, in lower heels and less form-fitting attire. But after a few sarcastic comments from Travis, like “Are you in mourning or something”, “Forget to pick up the dry cleaning?”, and “My grandmother has shoes like that”, Julia had defiantly decided to wear what she damned well pleased from now on. In fact, she’d even gone to extra lengths to wear the most figure flattering and alluring things in her vast wardrobe. Whether Nathan noticed or not, she’d at least had the satisfaction of knowing she looked awesome.

The light changed and she stumbled very slightly stepping off the curb. The dark haired stranger on her right immediately slid a hand to her elbow to steady her.

She glanced up at him with a brief smile. “Thank you. I’m fine now.”

But as they walked across the street, tall, dark and handsome kept his hand on her arm. The smile her gave her was purely carnal, and she couldn’t help the little frisson of awareness that shimmered up her spine. He was certainly one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen.

“My pleasure,” he said in a deep voice. “In fact, why don’t you let me buy you a drink? You know, to steady your nerves.”

Julia laughed, but gently disengaged her arm from his grasp. “My nerves are fine, thanks. As for the drink, it’s a bit early in the day for that, don’t you think?”

The stranger shrugged as they reached the other side of the street. “It’s lunchtime. Barely. Or we could get coffee. It doesn’t matter to me.”

She smiled, shaking her head. “I don’t think so, thanks. I need to get back to work, I’m afraid. Have a nice day.”

“Wait.” He grasped her elbow again as she began to walk away. “Can I give you my card at least? In case you want to take a rain check on that drink?”

Julia hesitated. She normally blew off overly aggressive men like him, but her battered ego did feel in need of some bolstering right now. She took the proffered card. “Thanks again. I really have to go now.”

She felt his dark eyes on her ass as she walked into the building, and suddenly felt in better spirits than she had for weeks. Maybe she was being an imbecile to keep pining after a man who was already taken but who kept sending her mixed signals in spite of that fact. There were a lot of attractive, eligible,
available
men out there for the taking, and maybe it was well past time for her to start trying some on for size. Like the hottie who’d just passed her the card still folded in her palm.

There was an older couple waiting for the elevator when she approached, and she returned the friendly smile both of them gave her. The man – who she surmised to be in his early sixties – looked strangely familiar but she didn’t think they had ever met before. The woman, who was probably a few years younger, looked incredibly well kept for a woman of her years. Both were well dressed and looked fit and trim.

As they stepped inside the elevator, the woman looked at her admiringly. “That is such a beautiful dress, dear. What a perfect color for you. But you’re such a pretty little thing I’m guessing you look good in anything.”

Julia warmed to the woman instantly. “Thank you so much. What a lovely thing to say.”

The man grinned. “You’ll have to forgive my wife. She’s nearly always talking to strangers but she doesn’t mean to be so forward.”

His wife gave him a playful swat on the arm. “Stop that, Michael,” she scolded. “This young lady is going to think I’m crazy or something.”

“Or something,” teased Michael, before clutching his arm as his wife socked him again, harder this time.

Julia smiled at their obvious affection for each other, finding it similar to the easy, close relationship her own parents shared.

“I see we’re headed to the same floor,” she commented politely. “Are you clients of the firm or just visiting someone?”

“Oh, we’re here to visit our son, dear,” replied the woman eagerly. “Do you work here, too?”

Julia nodded as the elevator stopped and the three of them exited. “Yes. I’ve been employed as an interior designer here since January.”

The woman looked delighted at the news. “So you work for Travis, then? I’ve always said that boy had excellent taste. What’s your name, dear?”

Julia extended her hand, heedless of the small card that fluttered to the floor. “I’m Julia McKinnon.”

“Alexis Atwood,” replied the woman with the short, stylish dark blonde bob. “And this is my husband Michael. I’m sure you must know our son – Nathan.”

Julia was startled at this revelation but managed to compose herself enough to shake hands with both of Nathan’s parents. No wonder Michael had looked familiar – he bore a striking resemblance to his son, though his thick hair was almost completely gray, and his eyes an even lighter shade of blue.

“It’s so nice to meet both of you,” she told them sincerely. “So you’re here for a visit?”

Alexis nodded. “Yes, we’re out from Michigan for a week to see Nathan. And our middle son is going to be in town for a few days as well. Did you know Nathan’s brother Jared was a professional baseball player?”

Julia shook her head, not even knowing until now that Nathan had siblings or that he was from Michigan. They hadn’t exactly spent a lot of time exchanging family histories. “I wasn’t aware, no. You must be very proud of him.”

“Yes, absolutely,” agreed Michael. “Jared is an outfielder for the Colorado Rockies. The team will be here to play the Giants starting tomorrow. This way we get to visit our two oldest sons at the same time.”

“Our youngest – Greg – is attending law school in Michigan. The only one to follow in his father’s footsteps,” lamented Alexis.

So Nathan’s father was a lawyer. Judging from the way both he and Alexis were dressed – not to mention his Omega watch and her stunning gold jewelry – he must be quite successful. Julia was pleasantly surprised at how friendly and down to earth they both seemed, not at all like some of the very wealthy clients she dealt with.

“Well, you have three very successful sons, then,” commented Julia.

Alexis beamed. “Yes, and a darling grandson, too. Jared and his wife Brooke have an eight month old. Alas, no girls yet. Hopefully one of my sons will present me with a granddaughter someday.”

“Well, with Nathan and Cameron getting married next year, hopefully more grandchildren will follow soon,” added Michael.

Julia’s smile froze on her face at the mention of Nathan’s wedding. And she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not, but the beaming smile on Alexis’ face seemed to fade rapidly.

“One can hope,” replied Alexis quietly. “But I’m not counting on my oldest son giving me grandchildren anytime soon.”

Julia regarded Nathan’s mother curiously, sensing – or perhaps hoping – that Alexis wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of having Cameron as her new daughter-in-law. But then Alexis quickly changed the subject and quizzed Julia about her own family and background. She was delighted to learn that Julia had a twin, and over the moon when she heard that Aunt Madelyn was the head buyer at Bergdorf Goodman.

“Well, I can see where you get your fashion sense from, dear,” she gushed. “I love clothes, too.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Yes, I can certainly vouch for that. As each of my sons has moved out, Alexis has taken over their bedroom closets. She could open her own department store.”

Alexis gave him another playful swat. “I can’t help it,” she confessed. “My shopping addiction is a holdover from my modeling days. Oh, nothing major, mostly catalogues and local stuff. And it was a very long time ago, of course.”

Julia noted Alexis’s tall, slender figure, perfect makeup and hair, and smiled. “You still have the look, you know. I can totally imagine you strutting the catwalk.”

Alexis was absurdly thrilled at the compliment, giggling like a girl, and giving Julia an affectionate little hug. “You are the sweetest little thing besides being beautiful. How lucky your mother is to have not one but two girls like you.”

At the sound of heels clicking on the foyer’s tile floor, Julia glanced up to see Nathan heading straight towards them. After the initial look of surprise on his face at seeing her in his mother’s embrace, it was swiftly replaced by an expression Julia couldn’t quite place – annoyance, irritation, maybe even a bit of panic. Whatever it was, he wasn’t pleased.

Julia gently disengaged herself from Alexis’s arms as Nathan strode into the foyer. Alexis smiled at her son and gave him a hug.

“Hello, darling. Your father and I were just having the most delightful conversation with Julia. I suppose we lost track of time,” she apologized.

“I was wondering where you were,” Nathan told her. “I should have guessed you’d be busy making a new friend.” He turned and gave his father a quick hug. “Dad isn’t doing a very good job at keeping you under control.”

Michael chuckled. “Like I’ve ever been able to do that, son! You know how your mother gets at times.”

Nathan looked at Julia expectantly. “I hope my parents haven’t been making pests of themselves. They were supposed to have met me in my office ten minutes ago.”

Julia shook her head. “Not at all. And I’m sure they didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”

“It’s my fault,” exclaimed Alexis. “I was just so taken with this pretty little thing that I kept hounding her for more details about herself. I hope you don’t think me a nosy old lady, Julia.”