Blind Attraction (27 page)

Victoria
’s brow furrowed as she looked at Taylor, wondering what her sister was planning. Did Taylor know James was going to choose her, was that why she invited Terrance along? Why did she have to keep hoping that it would work out between them when he kept choosing Taylor over her? Nothing made sense; even that
zing
was betraying her, telling her everything was going to work out when all of the evidence pointed the other way.

Smiling, hoping it didn’t appear too
strained, Victoria forced herself to converse pleasantly with Terrance, “Wow, it’s been a while since I saw you; what have you been up to?”

“But, didn’t I see you at the party a couple of weeks ago?” Terrance asked
Victoria, noticing the heightened color along her cheekbones. With a grin, he sat back in his chair, “That was you! I wasn’t sure since you were totally making out with….”

He stopped
abruptly, his eyes flying to James, who looked like he was ready to commit murder. “Sorry, man. It was just surprising to see Vi so… yeah, never mind.”

*****

James just about grabbed his knife and stuck it in Mr. Sunshine’s forehead; how dare he take Victoria in his arms; how dare…. Why didn’t Victoria know that Mr. Sunshine was going to be there? He glanced at Victoria and saw how pale her already pale complexion had become, making her ripe mouth look even darker, fuller. Her violet eyes glistened and she was… magnificent. What was pretty in the pictures was glorious in real life; Victoria was his everything. His breath caught in his throat at the realization.

Mr. Sunshine's words penetrated the
image of Victoria fogging his brain and James narrowed his eyes at Terrance; he was going to strangle the puppy. Facing Victoria, he wasn’t sure what he thought anymore. Even though she greeted Mr. Sunshine with a smile, she didn’t look too thrilled with the idea that he was her date. Yet, her blush from being reminded of how she behaved a few weeks ago was adorable. It was obvious to James that Victoria was uncomfortable and though she was doing a really good job trying to hide it, she was miserable. How was he able to read her expressions so easily when this was the first time he actually got to sit down and look at her? He just wanted to talk with her alone, without an audience.

“What has made you blush so furiously,
Vi,” Taylor laughed, nudging Victoria’s shoulder and practically toppling the petite beauty over. “I don’t think I’ve seen your face this red since the time Tommy Knowles flipped your skirt up in tenth grade and everyone saw the cartoons on your underwear.”

Terrance burst out laughing.
“I remember that! The guys thought it was so cool that she wore boys’ underwear and shortly after that all of the girls were buying boys’ character underwear.”

“Who was that character?” Taylor wondered out loud.

“The Dark Knight!” Terrance cried out, slapping his hand down on the table, rattling the glasses, and laughing in earnest. “Damn, that was hot; do you still wear boys’ underwear?”

James closely watched Victoria as she
pressed her lips together in a tight, straight line and color spread upwards from her neck onto her fair cheeks. She peeked at him from beneath lowered lashes and his breath stilled in his chest. How could he not love her?

And who could blame him? She was a
magical enchantress who wore character underwear in high school and made a blind man see. But what happened to the bold and vivacious Victoria he had come to know? Who was this pretty girl, sitting quietly as her friends told embarrassing stories about her? Victoria’s face was nearly purple in mortification and he wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he didn’t know if he should.

“Wow, as fascinating as this conversation
isn’t,” James interrupted, trying to save her in the only way he knew how. “Maybe we could discuss something a little less embarrassing?”

Luckily, the waitress
brought the order and James considered and discarded a million ways to engage Victoria in conversation. Frustrated with his inability to voice an apology that was worthy of her, he watched as she took her fork and dug into the rich, chocolate concoction.

Wrapping her lips around the morsel on her f
ork, her eyes closed in ecstasy and his throat went dry. He was finally seeing what his blindness had denied him only a few short weeks ago. Taking another mouthful, she savored the luscious chocolate-ness. Her tongue slowly licked the small bits of chocolate from her lips and he nearly moaned out loud at the pure eroticism that was Victoria.

She opened her eyes and he found himself drowning in violet oceans.
Grabbing a napkin, she covered her mouth and drew it down her face. Lowering the linen, she swallowed and softly asked, “Is there anything else?”

“Yes,” James
said, his voice dark and raspy. He was tired of having a conversation and not hearing Victoria’s voice. He was tired of not touching her but that was easily remedied. Reaching across the small table, he brushed his thumb across her lower lip, lingering on its smooth fullness for a moment longer than necessary. He looked up and once more lost himself in violet eyes. One word whispered through his mind:
mine
.

Victoria
blinked slowly and the rest of the room simply disappeared. His heart galloped in his chest and it was difficult to breathe and he saw all of the love she felt for him in her beautiful eyes. Tentatively, she touched the pad of his thumb with the tip of her tongue and he just about hauled her to her feet and carried her out the door, caveman style.

“James,” Taylor murmured, breaching the
sensuous web of desire that had started to be woven. “We need to leave if we plan on making it to the movie on time.”

James cleared his throat and
tried to remember how to put words together in a coherent sentence to let everyone know that he only wanted Victoria. He felt a body pressed against his arm and warm breath against his ear but it wasn’t Victoria. Dumbly, still trying to get his brain to work, he nodded, “Right, okay.”

When
Victoria didn’t protest, he realized he had a lot more groveling to do before he could hope for her forgiveness. He abruptly stood up, tossing some money down on the table, and eager to begin his campaign to win Victoria’s forgiveness. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

“Thank you,”
Victoria murmured as her eyes avoided his altogether. She wasn’t even able to look at him and he knew that he had his work cut out for him. In a hurry to get started he rushed out the door, barely aware of the beautiful creature chasing after him.

“You really do love her, don’t you?” Taylor asked gently
, as soon as they left the café.

“Yes, damn it,” he admitted
without hesitation. "Of course I do."

“You must know she loves you,” Taylor said with quiet intensity.
“You simply must.”

“Why?” he asked
, not sure what he was questioning.

Taylor laughed, “I don’t know why she loves you but she believes in all that true love crap and I want to see her get her happy ending.”

He smiled slightly before he turned to her, almost surprised to see her still standing there. “Do you mind if I cancel the rest of our date?”

“I’d mind if you didn’t,” she smiled as she
stood up on her tiptoes and placed a friendly kiss on his cheek. She looked at him with a glorious smile, “Good luck, James Templeton. Oh, one more thing?”

“What is it?” he asked, in a rush to return to
Victoria, to hold her, kiss her; to beg her to forgive him and then beg her to marry him. He needed to pick up some flowers and chocolates or something. Where could he find flowers this late at night? There had to be one of those twenty-four hour stores around here, they usually had flowers.

She smiled serenely, “If you hurt her, I will
kill you; I will do it nice and slow and savor every moment.”

“You and her father,” James grumbled, a brilliant smile curving his lips. Bending his head, he brushed his lips against the smooth curve of her cheek, “Thank you, Taylor.”

Victoria locked the door behind her as she entered her apartment. Dropping her keys, not caring that they fell to the floor, she drifted through the tiny space to the bedroom. One question replayed itself over and over in her head, how could he choose Taylor?

The thought of him jabbed the gaping wound in her soul and she bled all over. How could she have been so wrong about him? Even while insisting he take Taylor out,
Victoria firmly believed he was going to come to his senses and choose her, not Taylor. Victoria’s heart physically ached with such hurt and disappointment. How could he turn his back on the magic they had?

S
he kicked off her stupid heels; she wasn’t going to wear the torture devices any longer. Pulling the clip from her hair, she let the honey blond tresses cascade over her shoulders, her thoughts in an uproar. She should have found a way to get rid of the fear that kept her silent and said something. She should have grabbed him by the lapels of his expensive suit and kissed him, given him a tactile reminder of what they shared.

God, she was pathetic. It was just that the moment she walked in and saw him with Taylor all of the fears and doubts that she thought she had buried came rushing to the surface and short wired her brain. Knowing that Taylor was also her sister made it even worse and she wasn’t even sure why.

Peeling off the dress, she tossed it into the laundry hamper and pulled on a pair of silky boxer shorts and a cotton tank top. Irrational images began to play in her head, of James touching Taylor; of James kissing Taylor; of James screwing Taylor. She heard a gulping sob and realized she was weeping. Again. Her eyes were already red and puffy and her nose was sore from too many tissues. She was going to stock up on tissues with lotion.

That was a good idea for her store and the new broken-hearted section.

Walking into the bathroom, she washed off the carefully applied make up that hid the dark circles from her troubled sleep over the past couple of nights. Looking at her reflection she almost didn’t recognize herself. Large, bruised violet eyes stared back at her. Her nose was red, her lips were pale, her skin was pasty; she looked vaguely like death not quite thawed out. No wonder why James chose Taylor over her….

The knock at the door interrupted her mental ramblings. Maybe Taylor threw James out on his ass and
she was coming over to commiserate. Sliding her feet into her fluffy slippers, she shuffled to the door, wiping at her eyes with the backs of her hands to catch any rogue tears. Forcing a smile to her bloodless lips, she cracked the door open.

And forgot how to breathe.

“James,” she whispered though no sound came out. She had to be dreaming; he couldn’t be standing here looking so delectable and… smiling. Why was he smiling? Why wasn’t he looking as miserable as she felt
and no doubt looked? Why was he outside of her apartment with a grin on his face and flowers in his hand?

“You look like hell,” he commented, his green eyes searching her face.

Okay, whatever she expected him to say, that definitely was not it. “Um, thanks?”

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said as a follow-up
, making Victoria’s heart skip a beat. He reached out and touched her temple and then ran his fingers along her jaw, his eyes moving over her face and consuming her whole.

“You’re here,” she said, her brain finally catching up. “Why are you here? You left.”

“Vi, you never asked me to stay,” he said softly,

T
he sound of his voice was a balm to her bleeding heart; the look in his eyes was ambrosia for her soul. Her lashes lowered over her beautiful eyes as a blush stole across her cheeks, giving her pale skin some color. Forcing her eyes to meet his, she murmured, “I thought….”

He smiled that devastating smile and his green eyes lit up as he simply looked at her.
“God, you are exquisite, even with red, runny eyes and a red nose, and….” He frowned slightly, “You’re really short.”

Victoria
looked down at her body then back up at him and realized that he was towering over her without her heels on. Had she never taken them off in his presence? Her mind raced through their relatively short time together and the only time she remembered being without heels was in bed. “I am.”