It's A Shame (10 page)

I bent down to pick up the clothing that had been discarded on the floor in our haste to get each other naked
, and smiled at the fluttering feeling in my stomach, as my memory of last night surfaced; the smoldering elevator sex, the vigorous bedroom sex, the savory kitchen sex. 

Each day and night I spent with Cole I fell deeper and deeper in love with him. 
The thought of his body, his smile, his lips…got me beyond excited. He was mesmerizing. When he was near me I was as good as useless. I was constantly marveling at his physical perfection, astonished someone so beautiful could also have a personality to match his looks, not to mention a heart of gold. I was the luckiest woman on the planet. Sometimes I questioned his attraction to me. It’s not that I didn’t think I was appealing, but I did come with an inordinate amount of baggage, which left me wondering why he chose the difficult path when he could have
any
woman he desired.

It w
asn’t money, that was obvious. He was far wealthier than I’d ever be. I remained puzzled but thankful to whatever lucky star had shone on me and aligned our courses together.

I
shoved the clothing into the hamper with the other items to be taken to the dry cleaners. Then walked back into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. After adding a fair amount of cream and sugar, I walked across the room taking a seat at the dining table. Glancing over I saw a small cream-colored piece of material on the floor. I got up and slowly walked over and bent down to pick it up, smiling when I saw what was left of the thong Cole had ripped from my body in his haste to get what it barely covered.

Chapter
8

I saw C
ole off and walked to the bathroom, pulling my robe off I draped it over the vanity chair. I turned on the water in the tub and poured a few capfuls of my moisturizing bath oil under the flowing water, swirling it around with my hand.

The temperature was perfect.
I took the brush from the vanity drawer and tried pulling it through my matted hair, trying to get the tangles out.
Sex was damaging to hair…
I laughed inwardly to myself. My hair troubles forgotten as I lowered myself into the deep tub, feeling the hot water and oils coat my skin inch by inch.

I
was just finishing my relaxing bath and about to get out when I heard the doorbell. I jumped out of the tub and grabbed my phone looking at the time. Without a second thought, I threw my bathrobe over my dripping body, and wrapped a towel around my head as I ran to the door, expletives rapidly forming on the tip of my tongue.

“I’m coming… I’m coming…I thought we were leaving…” I opened the door fully expecting to see Michelle standing there.  We had plans for lunch today at 21 Club, albeit not for another hour.
However, when I opened the door I found myself staring into the face of an exceptionally beautiful woman, who was most definitely
not
my best friend.

Immediately, an alarm
went off in my head. I did not know this woman, but I
knew
I’d seen her before.  I quickly scanned through my somewhat fuzzy brain trying to put a name to the face, when I realized I must have looked a total mess. 

“I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else…” I offered an apology as I stood there staring at her like an idiot. 

Her penetrating gaze slowly took in my appearance from head to toe. I was a little taken back to see a slow triumphant smile curve her lips. She leaned her body slightly to the side as her eyes looked over my shoulder, trying to see inside the apartment.  I stepped out into the hall and pulled the door closed behind me.

“Can I help you?”  I asked
, a little put out by her aggressive manner. 

Her satisfied grin rubbed me the wrong way
and for some unknown reason I wanted to smack her.

“Yes, would you be able to tell me if Cole is in?”  She asked
. Her beauty momentarily marred by the arrogant self-assured look that flitted across her features. Her informal use of Cole’s name made me a bit wary.

“Actually, he isn’t.  May I ask who you are?”  I peered up the hall to the elevator bank, “Moreover, how is it you were able to
get up here?”

She seemed to sense the uneasiness in my tone and pulled her shoulders back, straightening her posture.  She lifted her eyes and looked directly
at me.

“Oh, of course.” She
continued to stare at me, her eyes overly intense. “I’m Lauren Buckley,” she answered as she extended her hand. The sound of her voice was almost nauseatingly musical. “You’ll have to forgive your doorman, I told him I was a good friend of Cole’s and wanted to surprise him.”

I extended my hand to her out of habit as the realization of who she
just said she was hit me like a brick. I felt a tightening in my stomach and immediately withdrew my hand.

“Well
...” I took a deep breath, trying to regain my equilibrium.

She smiled
gleefully. The pained look on my face apparently making her giddy. It angered me that I had let my guard down, and my physical uneasiness didn’t get by her scrutinizing gaze.

“Uh
umm.” I cleared my throat, the sound breaking the silence. “Miss Buckley, you seem to have me at a disadvantage as I was not expecting company and hadn’t finished dressing,” I said trying to reclaim my composure. “And rest assured, I will be speaking with security. They should have called me to announce your arrival.”

“They did.  Several times, but there was no answer…” she trailed off.

Not wanting an argument, I tried to steady my rapidly beating heart, which was near impossible considering the beauty of the stunning woman standing in front of me, impeccably dressed in a costly custom tailored suit. Who just happened to have been engaged to marry the man I am in love with. My chest constricted.

She shifted her
weight to the other foot, maintaining her dominating presence.  Her long silky, almost black, hair cascaded over her shoulders and halfway down her back.  She had stunning almond-shaped eyes, that were an intense gold-color, framed by thick dark lashes eyes.  The pictures I saw of her on the Internet most definitely did not do her justice. She was even more beautiful than I remembered her being. It was easy to see what attracted Cole to this woman.  She was gorgeous, and I had the same physical response now as I did when I first saw her beauty on my monitor; my green monster gut punched me, and a rush of pent up air escaped my lungs in a whoosh.

She
continued staring at me silently, and under her probing eyes, I subconsciously pulled the belt of my robe tighter.

“I don’t have the
pleasure
of knowing your name…” she broke the silence, her voice smooth, her gaze unwavering.

“Grace.  Grace Preston
,” I answered, my voice shook and for a moment I could see she was a bit taken back…did she know who I was?

It was clear I was uncomfortable.
I was unable to focus. My mind ran off in ten different directions.  Did Cole know she was in town?  If he did why wouldn’t he mention it to me?  Why was she here? 
Why was she HERE?

“Well, Grace…” she hesitated for a moment, then continued
, “would you be so kind to let Cole know I called on him, and make sure you tell him it’s urgent I speak with him as soon as possible.” She lowered her eyes, her defiance gone, “I’m in New York for a few days, and I’m staying at the Waldorf.”

Her honey-
coated voice was beginning to really irritate me. That, coupled with her casual use of my name, aggravated me enough to light a spark in me. Bathrobe or not, I would not let this woman feel she had the upper hand. Cole was my man and I’d be damned if I’ll let her anywhere near him.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a business card with her contact information on it. 

“If you would just make sure that he gets this,” she said dismissively as she handed me the card. “I tried him at the Asbury and they told me he intermittently stayed here.”

Her implication that I was merely a woman he slept with on occasion infuriated me
.

“I will be sure to give him your m
essage, as well as your card,” I told her as I lifted the card in my hand.

Cutting her short, I stepped back, edging the door open with my
backside. 

“If that’s all, I need to get ready for a lunch appointment.” 

I glared at her, my anger barely contained while her air of self-confidence never faltered, and I have to say, it pissed me off to no end. 

“Yes.  It was
, um,
a pleasure
meeting you,” she smiled. Her overly sweet voice had a hint of haughtiness. I wanted to rake her beautiful face with my nails until the fake smile peeled off.  She backed away, and with one last critical glance at me turned and walked towards the elevator. 

Bitch!

I closed the door
and leaned against it as I tried to steady my racing heart. I was surprised to find that I was shaking…must be the adrenaline. Did she still love him?  He told me she was out of his life forever, that she meant nothing to him.  That he never loved her, but here she is in New York. 

She followed him all the way to New York
. Why?

I pa
ced the length of my apartment, my whole body trembling. I kept dialing Cole’s cell and immediately hanging up. I needed to speak with him but I knew he had a series of important meetings and appointments until six tonight, and he had enough on his plate. So I did what any self-respecting woman caught off guard by her boyfriends ex-fiancée would do, I called my over-protective, feisty best friend…I mean, who better to see things from my perspective. 

“Guess who just paid me a visit?”
I threw at her before she could finish saying hello.

I was dressed and waiting when Michelle rang my bell.  I
tentatively opened the door, not at all in the mood for another surprise visitor.  She took one look at me and frowned.

“So tell me w
hat happened?”

I felt the tears flood my eyes but refused to let them fall. She squinted as she searched my face for a clue
on how to react.

“Lauren Buckley is what happened.” 

“The ex-fiancée? You’re kidding me.” I watched as anger replaced concern on her face.  “Holy shit. That’s fucked in more ways that
I
can think of. Did you call Cole and tell him?”

“No
. He told me he would be in and out of meetings all day. I didn’t want to call him to have him worry when he already has so much to worry about as it is. I’ll talk to him when he gets in.”  I grabbed my purse and grabbed her elbow.  “Lets get the hell out of here, I need a drink.”

“Holy shit.”  She trailed off.

“You said that already.” I pulled her along.

“Yeah…but holy shit again!” She shook her head in disbelief.

We rode the elevator in silence to the lobby.  When the door opened, I strode purposefully up to the large console where the building security team sat facing a multitude of monitors, displaying varying degrees of camera angles throughout the building.

“Miss Preston
, Miss Maloney.”  Gretchen, the head of security for the building looked up as we approached.  “Looks beautiful out there, enjoy your day Ladies,” she smiled and slowly turned away. Gretchen Laurents is an extremely pretty blonde, who was over the top smart and, more than tough enough to run the security department for five of New York’s most desirable luxury apartment complexes.

“
Gretchen…Who was working the door this morning?”  I asked her. She immediately looked up at us, her eyes searching.

“That woul
d be Pat, is everything okay?” I could tell the concern in her voice was genuine.

“Well…
I had an unannounced visitor this morning.  I opened my door thinking it was Michelle.”  I turned my head to look at Michelle and she nodded.

“I’m sorry Miss Preston, that is totally unacceptable.  Please wait
here one moment.”  She stood up and walked into the office behind the console. 

I looked again at Michelle who was rolling her eyes. 
A few minutes later Gretchen returned to where we stood, clipboard in hand.

“Miss Preston, I know that there is
no excuse for it…EVER.  Pat is new, an employee in training. He’s not been updated on your...um...situation with the murders and all. We felt it better to…well, with Tony still out on leave…”

“How is he? 
I keep meaning to ask again,” I cut her off smiling weakly.