Bound Temptations: Stories of Temptation and Submission (4 page)

He clenched his jaw shut,
determined not to say anything, not to do this here.

"Cole." Mara's eyes
narrowed.

He went to brush past
her.

She shot out an arm, her
nails digging into his wrist like claws. He paused, staring down at
her. Somewhere inside, he ached, because he could remember a time
when he'd loved her. A lot. But that was before she'd changed. When
had all of this happened? And had she changed so drastically, or
was it him?

"We'll talk about this
later, Mara," he said quietly.

"No. We'll talk about it
now."

He glanced around, spied the
back door he'd seen the first time they'd visited the store. It was
marked "private," but everybody was too focused on Rocki to even
notice them. Fine. Mara wanted to have it out tonight, they'd have
it out tonight.

With his hand at the small
of her back, he guided her toward the door. It led them to a
private dressing area, a long narrow hall with a series of doors,
all done in ivory and gold. Feminine and soft, Like Rocki, he
mused.

Shutting the door, he leaned
back against it. "We should talk about this at home," he said
again.

"You're being a
bastard...we'll talk about it here."

"You're being a bitch," he
pointed out. "I paid a grand to get us into a party we weren't even
invited to..."

"Well, they don't care. They
just asked for the donation," she replied. Smoothing a hand back
over her hair, she gave him an aggravated glance. "It's not like
you need the money, darling."

"No, I don't. But you never
asked if I wanted to come. You told me to. And now that you're
here, all you can do is insult the owner. Mara...I don't even know
you anymore. And what little I do know?" He paused, reaching for
the words. He didn't want to hurt her.

Mara crossed her arms over
her chest, one blonde brow lifted impatiently. "Yes?"

"I don't like."

She stilled. Finally,
something flickered in her pale blue eyes. But it was gone almost
as fast as it had appeared. "That's just silly, Cole. You know me.
I'm the same woman I was when you proposed—the same woman I was the
night you told me you loved me and wanted to spend the rest of your
life with me."

"No, you're not. You used to
smile. And laugh. Now you only smile if you're mocking somebody. Or
being cruel." He looked away as he pushed off the door. "And that's
not who I want to spend my life with."

Taking a deep breath, he
said softly, "This engagement is off, Mara. I'll pick up my stuff
and move out of the condo next week. I'll sign it over to you—you
can have it. And I'll honor my agreement on the store. But that's
it. We're done."

"Cole, wait."

He opened the door as he
looked back at her.

"You can't do this," she
said, her voice shaking. "Not to me. Not here."

"I didn't want to do it
here. But I can do it...and I am. I'm not going to spend my life
with someone who is obviously so unhappy. Life's too short, Mara.
Get out there and enjoy it—stop worrying so much about getting
ahead and just live."

Chapter Three

"Getting close to time,"
Lacey mused.

"I know." Rocki gave her
friend an amused glance and nodded toward the clock on the wall. "I
can read a clock, you know."

"Bitch." It was delivered in
a friendly tone, along with an elbow in the side. Hard.

"Hey!" Rocki slammed a hand
against the wall to keep from toppling over and glared at Lacey.
"You're the bitch. Bitch. Would stop trying to send me careening to
the floor?"

"Can't help it...it was just
so funny the one time you did go down..." Lacey wagged her
eyebrows. That was one night she'd never let Rocki live down—hadn't
mattered that both of them had been drunk. "So...you going to let
some hot guy bid on you this year?"

"Oh, puh-leeze." She sighed
and sipped from the one glass of champagne she'd allow herself for
now. She'd have more later. After this was all over. Champagne. Or
something stronger. Probably something stronger, so she didn't have
to think about that damn card. And the call she'd have to make
soon, because she knew the cards weren't going to stop.

"You going to tell me what's
up with you?"

With a smile, Rocki lied
between her teeth. "Nothing." She'd have to come clean with Lacey.
Especially if another one of those cards showed. Lacey's brother,
Clayton, was one of the friends she figured she'd call—he'd been
one of Brant's closer friends. He would take it seriously, too. But
until another one showed, she wasn't going to worry about it. If
another one came...then, fine. She'd deal. And she'd deal
appropriately. But not now—she had to get through tonight
first.

"You know, if I didn't know
you, I could believe you," Lacey said on a sigh. "But I do know
you. And I know you're lying."

"Sucks, doesn't
it?"

"Bitch," Lacey muttered.
Then she groaned. "Speaking of bitches...here's the Wicked Witch of
High Street coming now. And she looks like she's up to no
good."

Yeah, Rocki had to agree.
The glint of Mara O'Keily's eyes was all the warning Rocki needed.
As she sipped from her champagne glass, she glanced at her friend
Lacey. Behind the glass, she whispered, "If you disappear, I'm
going to deck you. And keep your trap shut, too."

Lacey grimaced. "That woman
is a viper."

"I know."

Five seconds later, Mara was
there, smiling a hard, brittle smile. The look in her eyes was
bright, almost too bright. And disconnected. "Oh, there you are,
Rocki...I've been looking for you. Although in that get-up, you're
rather hard to miss."

"Well, I like to make a
statement." Rocki smiled. She studied Mara's dress and said, "I
suppose I could try something like that, but I doubt it would work
on me."

"Your boobs would runneth
over, no doubt," Lacey said, grinning. "That sort of thing works
best on the boobless and hipless. Oh, no offense, Ms.
O'Keily."

Mara's smile went colder,
sharper. "Oh, none taken." She glanced around. "So, I heard your
designer Lush is supposed to be here tonight. Has she made her
appearance yet?"

"She has," Lacey said.
"She's been around most of the night."

Rocki wanted to kick Lacey.
Damn it. Mara's gaze zeroed in on Lacey and she arched a blonde
brow. "Oh? Perhaps you can introduce me?"

"Hmmm. I could, but Lush is
going to be on the stage in a few minutes," Lacey said, making a
face of mock disappointment. "You'll just have to try and catch her
after. I never stay past the auction, I'm afraid."

"I see." Mara looked at
Rocki. "Are you going to be in the auction...oh, wait, you're
married. Where is your husband, Mrs. Monroe? I bet he's quite a
catch."

Lacey went rigid next to
her. Rocki reached out and rested a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Lacey...calm down," she said softly, glancing away from the woman
in front of her. Lacey was all but vibrating with the urge to do
something violent. "Mara doesn't exactly know me, after all. She
doesn't know about Brant."

"I guess that means she also
hasn't taken three minutes to read anything about the benefit she's
attending, huh?" Lacey said, her voice harsh and cold.

Just then the music changed,
going to a low, rhythmic Celtic ballad.

As harp music filled the
air, the lights went low and on the far wall of the restaurant, a
reel of images started to play. As Brant's smiling face appeared,
Rocki looked at Mara. "The benefit is in my husband's memory, Mara.
He died five years ago."

For reasons he couldn't
quite explain, Cole hadn't left after the little explosion with
Mara. Part of it was because of the way she'd looked—that
expression never boded well. So he hung around and watched,
waiting.

Another reason he hadn't
left was that he wanted to see Rocki again.

Yeah, he had an unnatural,
unhealthy obsession with a beautiful, married woman. But he'd just
ended an unhealthy relationship with a beautiful woman. Obviously
he had a handle on when to end unhealthy relationships, right? Even
one-sided ones.

Sighing, he stared out at
the crowd, his gaze automatically seeking out Rocki. She was
impossible to miss. She was tall, probably close to five ten. And
with that hat and the heels she wore tonight, she stood out like a
goddess.

A married one.

Turning away, he looked for
something to occupy his mind and absently grabbed one of the
rose-colored flyers that had been handed out at the door in
exchange for his "generous donation." There was a picture on it, he
noticed absently.

A guy. Black hair, a wide,
easy grin.

Below the
guy's picture, it read:
Jacob Brant
Monroe
.

Monroe...

In loving
memory
.

What the...?

Music started to play. Sad
and poignant, filling the air like a liquid sob. Lifting his head,
he found himself seeking out Rocki with his eyes, yet again. And he
found himself watching, entranced, as she made her way to the small
stage that had been set up near the back of the
restaurant.

With pictures of her
deceased husband flashing on the wall just over her shoulder, Rocki
smiled out over the crowd. "It's hard to believe just how fast time
can pass." She glanced over and everybody watched as the images
flickered to a halt.

A wedding day.

Her wedding day.

Her voice was husky as she
murmured, "We would have been coming up on our tenth anniversary
this year."

The images sped back
up.

"Brant was a good husband. A
good man." She smiled and even from where he stood, Cole could see
the tears glinting in her eyes. "And he was a good cop."

The images slowed down once
more, pausing on one of the man in uniform. "Brant was a man who
loved life. He loved me. He loved his job and he loved his badge."
She smiled and it was all that much more beautiful because it
wobbled around the edges. "We weren't one of those marriages you
hear about—and a lot of those aren't always the normal. You hear
about the typical cop married to his job, the wife just getting the
scraps and leftovers. That wasn't our marriage. We were happy and I
know if he hadn't been shot in the line of duty, we'd still be
married...still be happy. Brant was my heart."

The images started back up.
Images of him with a boy, walking around a mall. Playing baseball.
Fishing. Talking to kids at a school. "Brant touched a lot of
lives. Some of you are here because of that. Some of you are here
because you know how those men and women touch lives. Some of you
are here because you, like me, lost somebody. You know how hard it
is. You know the pain, you know the grief. And you know how
important it is to know you're not alone—my friends pulled me
through those early, awful days."

She paused and looked down.
When she looked back up, she wasn't smiling. "You'll never know how
grateful I am to you for that. Words can't express it. But my way
of expressing my gratitude is through this...by honoring the memory
of Brant, and the other men and women like him who have fallen. The
Survivor's Fund is a charity that helps the families of officers
who've died or been injured in the line of duty. They provide a
network for grief counseling, for financial support, so many needed
things. Tonight's benefit is for that very worthy charity. I thank
all of you for being willing to help out."

She nodded and then stepped
away from the stage.

As she disappeared through a
small door, Cole found himself staring after her, his heart
breaking over the pain he'd heard in her voice.

Don't grieve for too long,
Lush…

She could still hear his
voice.

"How long is too long,
Brant?" she whispered, resting one hand on her belly and staring
into nothingness while she waited for the ache in her chest to
fade. Although it wasn't just that she was grieving for him,
specifically. She missed him. She was lonely. Nobody else had ever
filled that empty ache in her heart.

Usually, she was okay. But
on nights like tonight, that ache was more acute.

One of the chairpersons for
the charity was out there speaking, wrapping things up. In a few
more minutes, it would be time for her to go back out there and
start the auction.

Then, later, she'd go home.
Alone. She didn't want to still be alone.

She was so tired of being
alone...

The door opened with a soft
screech that had her jumping, clapping a hand over her mouth to
muffle her shriek. Her heart raced and for a long, long moment, she
forgot to breathe. It wasn't until black dots danced in front of
her eyes that she made herself suck in a desperate breath. She
swayed a little and a pair of hands came around her waist,
steadying her.