Toxic (30 page)

“She wants to buy her condo.”

He nodded. Again he already knew.

“I can’t let her do that. My mother did what she did for a reason. But we’re going to ask her to take over the payments.”

“Phoebe, you have to do what’s best for the company.”

“That is what’s best.”

He kissed the top of my forehead. “If you change your mind, or things change, I’ll make sure she has the money.”

I knew he would. I snuggled closer to him and stayed tucked in his strong arms until we reached the Meatpacking District and our destination.

Life had never felt sweeter.

From outside the building was very nondescript. I’d never been and neither had Jeremy, so when we walked in, we were both pleasantly surprised by the relaxed elegance and tranquil setting. The walls and columns were a charcoal color and the booths and chairs were a light shade of beige. Single large lightbulbs hung over each table and sheer white panels covered the windows.

Jeremy approached the hostess and she immediately led us to a round booth in a quiet corner where Jamie and Lindsay were already seated. They both stood as we approached with smiles on their faces.

I knew they knew.

Lindsay looked like a knockout in a sequin-embellished metallic mini dress. She paired the elegant ensemble with gold ballet shoes to tone it down and the result was killer.

“Hi,” she squealed as she hugged me. “How are you?”

“Much better than the last time you saw me.” I smiled at her.

Jamie tugged me out of her hold and hugged me. We’d talked during the week but hadn’t seen each other since Saturday night. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

My grin was so wide, I thought it might split my face open. I already knew Jamie was aware, since Jeremy had arranged the Tiffany’s visit and he must have told Lindsay as well.

“No decent champagne here. Can you believe it?”

I looked at the table. “How about we save that for another night anyway but I’ll have whatever Lindsay is drinking with the apple in it.”

“It’s a siso apple and congratulations.” She hugged me again.

“Shiso, baby,” Jamie corrected.

“Thank you,” I said to Lindsay, ignoring Jamie.

Lindsay rolled her eyes. “Sh—i—so,” she exaggerated with a small laugh.

Jeremy kissed Lindsay and shook Jamie’s hand. Then both men waited for Lindsay and me to slide in the booth. We looked at each other.

“Cavemen,” Lindsay mouthed to me.

We both started to laugh.

Jamie furrowed his brows.

“Inside joke,” I said.

“Can I take your drink order?” the waitress asked.

“She’ll have a shiso apple martini and I’ll have whatever he’s drinking.”

Jamie raised his glass. “Macallan eighteen years.”

“Perfect.” Jeremy grinned.

“And a carafe of the Koshino Omachi Sake,” Jamie added.

“Yum,” I said, not meaning to have said that out loud.

Jeremy raised a brow and settled a hand on my leg.

Tingles spread up my thigh and down to my toes as he traced heart shapes over my thigh.

Jamie and Lindsay asked twenty questions about the wedding, of which we knew nothing yet, and we drank our drinks and two more carafes of sake before we were ready to order.

“So Lindsay got the cover,” Jamie said.

“For what?” I asked.

“She was in St. Bart’s Monday and Tuesday shooting the 2016
VS
swim issue.”

“Are you kidding? And you’re on the cover?”

She nodded. “I just found out.”

“The pics are all over and I’m still not sure how I feel about my wife’s ass being on Instagram.”

“James,” she soothed. “We’ve talked about this. When I’m wearing a thong, you can’t see my entire behind, so technically, everyone isn’t seeing my ass.”

I almost spit my drink out.

“I don’t know. Jeremy, what do you think?” Jamie took his phone out and passed it to him.

Jeremy pushed it back toward him. “I think I’m in a whole heap of shit if I even look at that picture.”

“Pussy,” Jamie mumbled.

“Whatever, dude, but looking at a naked picture of your wife is the kind of trouble I know better than to even get close to.”

My hand went to his thigh—the word trouble elicited a flood of desire.

“I’m not naked,” Lindsay insisted and handed Jamie’s phone to me. I needed to take my mind off the trouble sitting next to me so I looked at the picture.

It wasn’t that bad.

The problem wasn’t the photo. It was the sheer amount of people who had seen it. I clicked over to his Twitter account and laughed. I already knew what I’d find there.

“Jamie, she isn’t naked. But you might want to tell Danny to stop tweeting the pic.”

He grabbed my phone. “That son of a bitch.”

“Are you ready to order?” The waitress came just at the right time. A change of topic was in order.

“How about I order for the table?” Jamie suggested.

Lindsay and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Jeremy shrugged. “I’m easy.”

That response made it too difficult to resist a little tease. I leaned over and cupped my hand around his ear and purred, “You are.”

He snatched my wrist as I brought it back to my side. “Watch it,” he growled.

Shivers ran up my spine.

Jamie cleared his throat. “Anything you don’t like, man?” he directed toward Jeremy.

Jeremy glanced at the menu. “Not crazy about duck, but everything else is fair game.”

“Cool,” he said and rattled off enough food to feed eight.

When the truffles arrived, I knew it was time. “So Jamie and Lindsay, I have some bad news.”

Jamie stabbed a ravioli with his fork and put it on Lindsay’s plate and then passed the dish to me. “I don’t like the way that sounds.”

I could feel Jeremy’s eyes on me. I hadn’t told him yet either. “Hunter and I went back over the time line for the club openings and he feels it’s way too tight to aim for New Year’s Eve, so we’ve targeted Valentine’s Day.”

Jamie and Lindsay exchanged glances.

“Are you sure?” Jeremy asked me.

I nodded. “With no money secured yet and the holidays coming, it’s just too tight.”

“Well, hearts and flowers day it is,” Jamie announced.

Surprised, I had to ask, “Are you sure you want to wait that long?”

“Yes, we want to have it at your club,” Lindsay answered.

Jamie nodded. “But we don’t have to discuss the details tonight. In fact I think you and Lindsay can handle that part of it.”

“Sure,” I said. “Let’s wait until the time line is a little more solid first though.”

“So, if that’s set,” Jamie concluded, “we have an announcement.”

I stared at him. What else could he possibly announce? A baby came to mind but they hadn’t known each other long enough for Lindsay to even know she was pregnant. “What?” I asked, feeling anxious.

“We’ve decided to have Christmas in the Hamptons and I’d love for the two of you, and Poppy of course, to join us.”

I looked toward Jeremy. We hadn’t discussed the holidays at all.

“No traffic, no restaurant lines, no party circuits, a hot tub, plenty of food, drinks, snowmobiles, and—”

Jeremy put a hand up. “Hey, man, you don’t have to ask me twice.” He looked toward me. “What do you think?”

I was actually excited. I hadn’t been back to the Hamptons since the summer with Jeremy and loved the idea of going back with my fiancé. I looked toward Jamie. “We’d love to.”

Jamie slammed his palm on the table. “Fuck yes. Christmas through New Year’s in the Hamptons. It’s going to be epic.”

Shocked, I almost choked on my drink. “I can’t go for a whole week.”

“What are you talking about? Of course you can.”

“Jamie, you know I have a lot going on.”

“Phoebs, if anyone needs time off, it’s you.”

Jeremy squeezed my hand. “It’s up to you, but I’ll help you with what I can and we can come back and forth if you need to.”

I squeezed his hand back and nodded. I had a lump in my throat. I appreciated his support—more than he knew.

Dinner arrived with more food than the four of us could possibly eat and by the time dessert was placed on the table, I seriously doubted if I would be able to eat for the next week.

“Carrot cake soufflé and chocolate pudding,” the waitress said as she placed one of each in front of the four of us.

“Are those crystallized violets?” Lindsay asked with wide eyes.

Jamie had already prepared a perfectly portioned spoonful of pudding, cream, and the sugared violets and held it in front of Lindsay’s mouth.

Her lips parted slowly, a little too slowly and I felt like I should turn away. Instead, I squeezed my eyes shut to avoid seeing anything I didn’t want burned in my mind.

Jamie was like my brother, after all.

And I wasn’t used to this type of behavior from him.

“Oh my God, so good,” Lindsay mumbled.

I opened my eyes to see Jeremy watching me.

He licked his lips. “Which are you going to try first?”

Completely turned on, I leaned into him. “I’m too full.”

He put a fork into the carrot cake soufflé and I watched him. His eyes locked on mine and he lifted the cakelike substance to my mouth. “Practice for the wedding,” he whispered.

Finding that oddly perfect, I opened my mouth and let him slide the soufflé into it. Electricity crackled between us. Our chemistry was off the charts. Even more so than normal. I was glad the evening was almost over—I really wanted to be alone with him.

“So when’s the big day going to be?” Lindsay asked.

“Oh, we haven’t thought that far ahead,” I said.

At the same time Jeremy said, “Soon.”

I blinked at him.

“I told you I didn’t want to wait.”

“I know, but—”

“No buts, I want you to be my wife and I was thinking next weekend.”

“Next weekend? Are you serious?”

“In the park, something small before it’s too cold and all the leaves are gone.”

“That’s a great idea,” Jamie said. “But I might need two weeks to get the permit.”

“Try for next Saturday,” Jeremy strongly encouraged.

Jamie raised a brow, but then smirked. “Yes, sir.”

I was in shock and didn’t even laugh, although it was funny.

“The terrace or the mall itself?” Jeremy asked me as his eyes practically twinkled.

How did you know my favorite places?

And, honestly, either sounded magical but things were moving too fast. “Jeremy, we can’t,” I said, still a little shocked.

The twinkle in his eyes was gone. “We can talk about it later.”

“Well, let me know,” Jamie interceded.

Everyone was quiet when Lindsay turned to look at Jeremy. “Not to change the topic, but my friends and I just recently joined Jet Set. Personally, I can’t wait to see the fleet of white cars. Ever since I did a photo shoot on top of one, I’ve been dying to ride in a Lamborghini.”

“Baby, you’ve been in my car. It’s just as nice,” Jamie said to Lindsay.

She kissed him and said, “I love your car, but there’s something about a Lamborghini.”

“I bet Jeremy could hook you up,” I said.

He smiled. “Anytime.”

Lindsay shot up from the table. “How about now?”

I looked at Jeremy in silent apology.

He shrugged. “Sure, we could head over to the garage. I’m not sure what cars are out though, I’m just warning you.”

“Are you okay to drive?” I asked him, a little concerned and trying to give him an out.

He nodded. “I haven’t had that much and after all this food, I’m fine. I can take her for a spin around the block.”

“Can I, James, can I?” she pleaded with Jamie.

Jamie looked toward Jeremy. “You cool with it?”

Jeremy nodded.

Jamie looked back at Lindsay. “Yeah, sure, why not?”

She was up and on his lap with her hands around his neck before I could blink.

I couldn’t help but notice how Lindsay asked Jamie’s permission for almost everything she did and although I knew he had a controlling personality, it was interesting to see the dynamics of his new relationship at work. Lindsay knew Jamie had a need for control and she chose to submit to it.

I wondered if I should give that a try but quickly thought better of it.

I liked things the way they were.

After the bill was paid, we walked to the garage. It wasn’t far, but it was cold.

Jeremy wrapped his arm around me as we walked. “What are your reservations about getting married?”

I looked up at him. “I don’t have any. I just didn’t realize you meant so soon.”

“We can wait if you want; I just didn’t see the need for a long engagement.”

It struck me then that he was trying to make sure everything with us was different from what I’d had with Dawson.

But he didn’t have to worry about that.

It already was different.

“I love you and I want more than anything to be your wife,” I reassured him. “It’s just we haven’t even figured out where we want to live yet; getting married seems like we’re skipping a few steps.”

We crossed the street. “Let me take care of where we’ll live. I’ll take care of the wedding too. All you have to do is say yes.”

I stepped up onto the sidewalk—my thought from a moment ago coming back to mind. Some things I could give up control of. And I trusted him to work those details out. Without further hesitation, I pulled him by his jacket so he’d stop, and then I kissed him. “Yes.”

“Yes, to Saturday in the park?”

I looked at him. Into the blue eyes of the man I knew would make me happy for the rest of my life. “Yes.”

“Yes?” he parroted back.

“Yes!”

He picked me up and twirled me around.

“Saturday’s on, I take it,” Jamie asked and I knew the real estate mogul extraordinaire would walk through fire to help us out.

Jeremy and I both nodded as our lips locked.

When Jeremy finally set me down, I felt giddy. He grabbed my hand as he started walking and turned backward to talk to me. “Come on, the faster I do this, the faster I can get you home.”

Fairy tales might not be real, but as I watched the way he moved, I knew then that my James Dean was my very own Prince Charming.