Sleeping With the Enemy (14 page)

He was actually glad his mother
hadn’t been in the office when he’d called earlier. Instead of meeting her for dinner, he’d left a message inviting her to the cocktail party on Saturday night. At least he’d made the effort. Now he’d let the traffic die down and then head back to the vineyard, where he could lure Bridgett into the tasting room beside the wine cellar. If all went as planned, he’d be tasting more than the wine in
a matter of hours.

His cell phone buzzed on his desk. Jay glanced at the screen to see a photo of Blake Callahan rock climbing down the side of a jagged cliff on some island somewhere. Blake was a bit of an adrenaline junkie—a trait Jay had always shared with his friend until Blake had begun taking on extreme sports that involved a lot more risk. Jay suspected
there was some deep-seated reason
behind his friend’s death wish, but so far Blake had been avoiding his probing.

“Mac.” His friend called Jay by the nickname he had dubbed him back during their days as college roommates. “You’re slipping. You’re always bragging about keeping your private life private. First I read about a bunch of cheerleaders suing your ass. Then, every feminist group in the country has you on its most wanted
list. There are whispers that the commissioner is considering sanctions. But imagine my surprise when I clicked on my computer this morning.” Jay could hear the pounding of Blake’s sneakered feet on the treadmill. “So how was it playing the comforting port in the storm for your sexy lawyer? I’ve seen her at a few fund-raising events in Boston. She’s fire and ice all in one designer package.
So I gotta know, which one is the real Bridgett Janik?”

“None of your damn business,” Jay growled into the phone. No way was he discussing his relationship with Bridgett. Not even with his best friend.

“Whoa,” Blake said with a laugh. “Your answer just told me everything I need to know. Don’t tell me the guy who vowed during a two-day bender in Las Vegas that he’d never fall in love has
finally succumbed?”

That two-day bender had happened a few months after his return from Italy. Not only had he just been cut out of his stepfather’s will, leaving his plans of developing his winery uncertain, but the one person who could have made his life’s little detour more bearable had betrayed him and broken his heart. “Who said anything about being in love?” What he and Bridgett had
was intense chemistry. Jay sure as hell wasn’t going to make the mistake of allowing it to become anything more. Not this time.

“You better not be lying to me, Mac. You and I have been on
People
’s Fifty Hottest Bachelors list for nearly a decade. It’s actually become a badge of honor. Don’t you dare leave me hanging there alone. Every time I turn around, someone is getting married. I’m running
out of excuses to avoid all the freaking weddings I’m constantly invited to.”

The Callahan family was part of old Chicago money, making Blake the city’s proverbial crown prince. The fact that he remained unmarried and ran one of the biggest advertising agencies in the country made him irresistible to society hostesses. They considered him to be the town’s biggest catch.

“You love having
women throw themselves at you, Blake. Don’t lie.”

Blake had obviously picked up his pace on the treadmill because his voice was more winded now. “Not when I have no idea whether they’re throwing themselves at me or my money.”

“Have you looked in a mirror lately? They’re all after your money, asshole.”

“Screw you,” Blake huffed as he ran faster. “Speaking of which, why have you been
hounding me all day when according to bloggers, you’re entertaining your lawyer lover, who chased you out to your winery?”

“Blogger, not bloggers,” Jay said. “And her information is not factually correct.”

“So you’re not screwing Bridgett Janik? I’m disappointed in you, man. I wouldn’t mind getting to know her up close and personal.”

Jay shot out of his chair and began pacing the room
to calm the surge of anger toward his best friend. “Like hell you will,” he snapped. No one was getting to know Bridgett “up close and personal” ever again. She was Jay’s now.

Blake laughed heartily. “Damn, Mac, you’re so easy. And from the sounds of it, you’ve got it bad for this woman. I never thought I’d see the day. I’d like to meet her.” Jay bristled at the thought of Bridgett meeting
the man who’d been named Chicago’s Sexiest Bachelor three times in the past five years. “If she hasn’t dumped you by then, bring her with you when the Blaze come to play the Bears next month,” Blake teased. “You know my mom would love to show her around.”

“We’ll see.” While Jay had no intention of letting Bridgett slip out of his life again, he certainly didn’t want to spook her with a weekend
in Claire Callahan’s clutches. “As
interesting as this conversation is, that’s not why I left you a message to call me. I have a problem that I might need your help with.”

“If it involves the cheerleaders, I’m all in.”

“It might involve finding Delaney.”

Blake was silent on the other end of the line and Jay could no longer hear his feet pounding on the treadmill. “I thought we agreed
we were never going to talk about her again?” his friend finally asked.

This was going to be the tricky part. Once upon a time, Delaney Silverberg had been their third roommate—Blake’s lover for over two years. Brilliant and vivacious, she was ambitious as well. The trio had planned to open a winery together, with Jay handling the production component while Delaney, an industrial engineer
and software wiz, handled the logistics. As heir to the Callahan Agency, Blake would, naturally, handle all their promotions. The plan, hatched over multiple deep-dish pizzas and beer, had almost become a reality.
Almost.

“Unfortunately, it might be unavoidable,” Jay said.

He heard the beep of the treadmill being stopped before Blake released an explosive sigh. “That woman is toxic, Jay.
She destroys everything in her path. Hell, she very nearly destroyed our friendship. I don’t want that to happen, and that means keeping her off-limits as a subject of discussion.”

Jay squeezed at the back of his neck again. Blake was right—this was an old wound that didn’t need to be reopened. But he was sitting on a ticking time bomb and all roads pointed to Delaney.

What had sounded
feasible over pizza and beer had proved to be nearly impossible for the very reason that most start-ups never get off the ground: lack of money. Jay had hoped to convince his stepfather to invest in the winery, but when Lloyd Davis died, the trustees overseeing his fortune had emphatically denied the request. Blake landed safely in the boardroom of his father’s agency. Jay was offered a job with
an investment banking firm in New York, where he would be
near Charlie. Delaney would have survived unscathed, too, had her marriage to Blake gone ahead as planned.

“Don’t tell me she’s in debt again and you’re going to bail her out?” Blake asked, his tone harsh.

The problem was, Delaney had a serious gambling addiction, one that had come with dire consequences when two thugs destroyed
her car in front of their house one night. Blake had immediately washed his hands of his fiancée, but Jay saw Delaney’s dilemma as an opportunity. The woman had a brilliant mind for software development. Instead of taking the job with the investment firm, Jay took the money he’d planned to use for his vineyard and started his dot-com venture. In exchange for paying off Delaney’s debts, Jay used her
intellect to create his empire.

“The last dollar she ever got from me was a paycheck and that was ten years ago,” Jay said.

Delaney’s habits were hard to break, and when Jay had caught her trying to sell proprietary information to the Chinese, it had been the last straw. He’d fired her, threatening that if she tried it again, he’d report her to the Feds. In the ensuing years, she’d kept
a low profile, presumably hiding from those whom she owed money to. Jay hadn’t concerned himself with her whereabouts. Until now.

“Heath told me you’d been hit with a rash of sexual harassment suits lately?” Jay asked Blake.

“My brother-in-law talks too damn much.” Blake’s anger about their topic was evident in his voice. “Sure. We’ve had a few at the firm, but all of them were unfounded.”

“Were they all directed at you?”

“Hey, screw you, man. I’m not a serial sexual harasser!”

“But someone is making you out to be one.” Jay’s question was more of a statement, and Blake was silent on the other end of the phone.

“What are you saying, Jay?”

“I’ve had the same thing happening here. I didn’t give it any thought. It was just too coincidental,” Jay explained. “But the
lawyer representing the cheerleaders claims to have
information on all my cases. The leak didn’t come from here. I’ve checked very carefully. Which leads me to believe that she’s getting the details from the source.”

“Jesus, Jay, you think that Delaney has something to do with this?”

“I don’t know. It could be just coincidence. I haven’t heard from her in years, but she’s the only link
between the two of us. I think whoever’s behind our recent spurt of sexual harassment suits might be that blogger, too. You know, the
Girlfriends’ Guide to the NFL
.”

Blake blew out a whistle. “What makes you think that?”

“Last year, Brody Janik’s wife, Shay, pulled together a spreadsheet about who the blogger had been targeting. I had Linc add to it with the more recent data. It’s very
telling. The majority of her targets are on my team or are players repped by the sports public relations department of the Callahan Agency. The very same firm that you head up.”

Jay’s statement was met with more silence before Blake answered. “How sure are you?”

“I e-mailed you the spreadsheet. Check it out yourself.”

Blake swore viciously. “You never should have bailed her out in
the first place.”

It had been a brash risk to do so, Jay admitted to himself. But at the time he had been desperate to succeed at something. To show his stepfather that Jay would have been worth an investment—even a small one. What he’d gotten in return from Delaney had been invaluable. Sure, he’d turned the tables and used her but Jay believed in survival of the fittest. Blake wouldn’t understand
the necessity to prove himself because his father believed in him, supported him, and made room at his company for him.

“Regardless of what I should or should not have done, Blake, I’ll take care of it now. She’s done hurting those people I care about.”

“Bridgett Janik must really be something else if you’re willing to go to all this trouble to protect her reputation,” Blake said.

Jay’s friend didn’t know the extent of the damage to
Bridgett’s reputation Delaney could do if she put two and two together. He’d told both his friends about his summer affair, the baby, and how it had all ended, but fortunately, he hadn’t ever mentioned any names. Given Delaney’s monstrous brain, Jay didn’t want to take any chances. He had to cut her off before things went any further.

“I’m
protecting your sorry ass, too,” Jay said. “And don’t bother saying ‘I told you so.’ I know exactly how you feel on the subject.”

Blake tsked. “I was going to ask if you needed any help but since you’re in Avenger mode, I’ll just leave you to it. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“I’m just going to present her with a very good reason to cease and desist.”

“Yeah, but she has a bit
of a fearless streak. Desperation makes her take risks. Just be careful.”

“I’ll be sure to call if I need backup,” Jay said.

Blake chuckled. “That’s your problem. You’ve been flying solo for so long, you don’t even think about depending upon someone else. But I’m here if you need me. Just don’t put me in the same room with the woman, because I would probably kill her.”

Jay’s phone
vibrated with an incoming text message. “I’ll call you after I’ve spoken with her,” he told Blake. “I’ll see you next month when my team comes to put a whupping on your team.”

Blake laughed and then hung up, and Jay skimmed the screen to view the text, hoping it was from Donovan with some more news about the case. A small part of him wished that he was wrong and he didn’t have to confront
Delaney. Unfortunately, the text was from Linc. Jay unleashed a string of obscenities when he read it:

Your mother has arrived at the vineyard.

Jay’s mother hugged her daughter tightly as she eyed Bridgett over Charlie’s shoulder. “I had no idea you were back in the States, sweetheart.”

Charlie scoffed at her mother. “Right. Jay called you, I know.”

“Actually, I wouldn’t have known Jay was in town had it not been for some gossip blogger,” the woman said.

“Oh come on,” Charlie said so sharply it made Bridgett
cringe. “You don’t read anything unless it’s a journal or a textbook.”

The woman’s only reaction to her daughter’s harsh accusation was a slight downturn in the corners of her mouth. “Actually, the only way to know if my children are alive is by Twitter and tabloid-stalking them.”

A touch of guilt flashed in Charlie’s eyes before she hid it behind her usual veil of disdain. “What are you
doing here, Mother?”

“I came to speak with your brother, but now I can visit with both my children at the same time. It’s been nearly a year since we’ve all been together.” She glanced over at Bridgett.
“Charlotte, where are your manners? You haven’t introduced me to your friend.”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “If you’re reading the gossip blogs, then you know who she is. Dr. Melanie Davis,
this is Bridgett Janik, Jay’s
lawyer
.” Charlie formed little air quotes with her fingers when she said the last word.

Melanie Davis’s gaze was shrewd when it landed on Bridgett. “Of course she is.” Jay’s mother extended her hand. “I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you, Bridgett.”

Bridgett swallowed roughly as she tried not to flinch under the older woman’s gaze. So he’d told his mother.
Somehow the thought surprised her. The cold way in which he’d abandoned her and their baby didn’t mesh with a man who would tell his mother about what was, to him, essentially a summer fling.

Bridgett took her hand, refusing to cower under the woman’s gaze. She had nothing to apologize for. It was this woman’s son who had perpetrated the wrongdoing.

Charlie stared at them both quizzically.
“
Long time?
I thought you guys just started dating?”

Jay’s mother arched an eyebrow but fortunately kept her thoughts to herself.

“We’re not dating.” Technically that was the truth. “My firm is representing his team in a class action lawsuit.” Again, technically true.

His sister laughed. “You really do have a courtroom face, Bridgett.”

Melanie didn’t say a word. She just continued
to level a hard glare at Bridgett.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Bridgett said as she gathered her dress and shopping bag. “I’m just going to put these things away and check in with work. I’ll give you two some privacy to catch up.”

Charlie shot her a desperate look. “Why don’t I ask Josie to get us some tapas and a cool drink by the pool? After all, my mother came all this way to see
you
.”

Bridgett detected a little pain behind Charlie’s smart aleck attitude. She also saw the panic in Jay’s sister’s eyes.
From the looks of it, Melanie Davis was unaware of her daughter’s condition. Still, none of this was Bridgett’s problem. She’d agreed to one weekend; that was all. The less she became involved with Jay’s family, the easier it would be to walk away.

“I’m sorry, but I really
need to respond to some e-mails before it gets too late on the East Coast.” Her statement wasn’t actually a lie. Gwen had been texting her the past twenty minutes and Bridgett really did want to find out how things went when Skip was presented with the separation papers today. “It was very nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Charlie huffed in annoyance as Bridgett dashed up the stairs. She was glad
that she’d asked Josie for another room earlier in the day. Especially if Jay’s mother was staying for any length of time. Jay would, no doubt, be furious. But Bridgett needed some space to process the past twenty-four hours—heck, the past forty-eight hours—without his sexy presence intimidating her and clouding her normally good judgment.

Gwen answered on the second ring. “He didn’t even
deny it,” she cried. “The bastard even seemed to be relieved to have gotten caught with his pants down around his ankles.”

Bridgett sighed. Sadly, that was the reaction she pretty much expected out of Skip. “I know it’s painful, but it would have been worse if he tried to fight you on this, believe me.”

“He’s already gone.” Gwen gulped into the phone. “He didn’t even stick around long
enough to break it to the kids with me.”

“I’m sorry, honey,” Bridgett said. And she truly was. Skip was a jerk of epic proportions who didn’t deserve to have children. “That had to be difficult.”

Her sister sniffed. “Mom and Dad were here with me. They were lovely. Ashley and Mark brought the boys over and Dad just took the kids to Friendly’s for ice cream. Apparently, everything will
be much better after a cone sundae.”

Bridgett smiled to herself. Despite the fact that he was a dentist, Bridgett’s father’s go-to sympathy ploy always centered around ice cream. “I wish it were that easy for grown-
ups, but the kids will be fine, Gwen. You’re a good mom. That’s not going to change.”

“Well, I’m going to be a working mom now. Dad says he has a need for an assistant in his
office and I’m going to take him up on that temporarily. At least until I can get my teaching certificate.”

Gwen had majored in education, but she’d never pursued that career path. “That’s wonderful. I’m so glad you’ve got a plan.”

“Actually, it was Adam’s idea.”

“Adam?”

“The lawyer you sent.”

“Oh, right.” Bridgett made a mental note to check the divorce lawyer’s relationship
status when she got back to the office. The last thing she needed was her sister falling for the first male who paid attention to her—especially one who was getting paid to do so.

She spoke briefly to her mother, who assured her that Gwen was holding up well. When Sybil Janik began to ask pointed questions about Jay, Bridgett quickly ended the call, using the same excuse she’d given to Jay’s
sister and mother: work. After an hour on the phone with Dan, she learned that none of the cheerleaders were unhappy working for the Blaze. So far he’d interviewed fifty current and former Sparks, and none indicated a desire to join in on the class action suit.

“I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything else.” There was a hint of bitterness in Dan’s voice. “I may not be traveling with the team,
but I’m pulling my weight here.”

“Don’t believe everything you read, Dan,” Bridgett cautioned him.

Dan gave a little huff. “Sure. Like I said, I’ll let you know if something else comes up.”

Bridgett hung up and fielded a few terse e-mails from Stuart. By the time she’d finished, her head was throbbing and her stomach was rumbling. But the thought of confronting Jay’s mother and sister
made her queasy. Maybe she could talk Josie into letting her fix a cup of tea and a sandwich in the
kitchen. She’d made it halfway across the room when the door swung open. A very weary-looking Jay stood at the threshold, still dressed in his Calvin Klein suit, his tie loose and his collar unbuttoned.

He pushed into the room, a look of dissatisfaction on his face. “Did you get lost?”

Bridgett stood her ground. “No. It’s a big house. I didn’t see any reason we needed to share when this room will do just fine for me.”

“Would you like me to demonstrate the most pressing reason why we need to share my bed?”

She kept her eyes away from his sexy mouth. “That won’t be necessary.”

Jay loosened his tie even further before he dropped down on the bed, laying his head on the
pillow and crossing his shiny wingtips at the ankles.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Bridgett said sarcastically. “I’m headed to the kitchen for a snack.”

He closed his eyes and his face relaxed. “You don’t want to go down there. My mother and sister are going at it.”

“And you’re hiding up here?”

Jay cracked an eyelid. “That’s definitely the pot calling the kettle black.”

“Shouldn’t
you be down there refereeing?”

“Hell, no. If I show up, they’ll have someone to blame for everything.”

Bridgett sat on the edge of the bed. “Your mother doesn’t know about your sister’s baby.”

His sigh sounded beleaguered to her ears. “No. For some reason Charlie feels compelled to keep it a secret even from our mother. Some sort of estrogen power struggle, I suppose.”

“But your
mother knows about
our
baby?” Bridgett asked. Her stomach knotted up even though she suspected she knew what his answer would be.

Both his eyelids snapped open. “What did she say?”

“She didn’t have to say anything.”

Jay swore as he pulled himself to his feet. “Don’t worry
about my mother, Bridgett. She keeps to herself much of the time.”

“Yet she came here today because she wanted
to meet me. Or rip my heart out. She’s not easy to read, your mother.”

“She isn’t very maternal. I doubt she’d go all mama bear on you.”

“Yet you told her about us. About me. She recognized my name from the blog.”

Jay pulled the tie from around his neck and shoved it in the pocket of his suit jacket. “She’s the only one I told, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Bridgett knew that
was a lie, but she was tired of rehashing old wounds. She was tired, period. Tired and hungry. “I’m going to find something to eat.”

“I’ve already arranged for dinner. A private dinner for just the two of us.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Your mother said she hasn’t seen the two of you together for nearly a year. I’m perfectly capable of feeding myself. Go be with your family.” She was angry
now. Angry at all the emotions pulling at her when she was around Jay. Bridgett just wanted some time alone to think. The little snippets she’d picked up from his sister and mother today were confusing and contradictory to the image of Jay she’d held in her mind all these years. Had his heart been broken? It wasn’t possible. Not when he hadn’t cared enough to come back to Italy and help her sort out
a future.

“Bridgett,” he said calmly, making her resent his constant steady composure when she felt like her emotions had been caught up in a cyclone. “My mother and sister need this time alone together. I have no idea how to help their relationship except to provide a neutral territory for them to work things out.”

This was the Jay she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. The kind
and considerate man who put his family first. Except he hadn’t put her first when she needed him the most. Tears burned the backs of her eyes. She didn’t want to give him her heart again, but she suddenly realized that he might not have ever given it back to her that first time.

Jay walked across the room toward her.

“Don’t,” she said. “I don’t like you. And I don’t want to like you.”

He wrapped his arms around her and she, stupid woman that she was, let him. “I told you, this isn’t about liking one another, much less loving one another,” he murmured against the top of her head. “But I will always treat you with the respect you deserve, Bridgett, in public and in private. We can make this work.” His hand slid up and down her back, and Bridgett suddenly couldn’t fight it
anymore. She pushed her hands beneath his suit jacket and wrapped them around his broad back. They stood there, embracing each other for a few moments, both content to absorb the silence and the warmth of each other’s bodies until Bridgett’s stomach rumbled loudly.

“That would be the dinner bell,” he joked as he stepped back and took her hand. “I promised you a tour of the vineyard. Tonight
we start with dinner in the wine cellar.”

•   •   •

Jay breathed a sigh of relief when Bridgett allowed him to guide her out of the guest room, down the stairs, and out across the lawn to the winery. Twilight had just settled over the vineyard, and Jay was grateful that his mother and sister had seemingly established some sort of peace accord that would allow them to coexist in one place
for the weekend. To say that he’d been surprised that his mother would waylay him at his home was an understatement. He hadn’t considered she’d remember anything about Bridgett; he barely remembered the conversation he’d had with his mother himself. Everything about those weeks had been so raw and painful that Jay had blocked the time period out of his memory. It seemed he was destined to relive
those days again, though.

He opened the iron gate and gestured for her to precede him through. “There won’t be as many spiders as there were in the DiSantis wine cellar,” he teased in hopes of lightening the mood.

Bridgett’s eyes went wide. “There better not be any spiders.”

“I’ll protect you,” he said, closing the gate behind them. The lights were operated by motion detectors, and
each step they took illuminated the stone path in front of them. He directed her to the worn steps leading a half flight down into the cool, stone cellar. Josie had lit the candles in the sconces on the two walls beside the round table, giving the room a soft glow. The table was set for two with food stored in covered dishes on the row of hot plates on the counter.

Jay watched as Bridgett
slowly circled the room, taking in the curved stone ceiling, the leather sofa, and the racks of wine. She walked over to the wall to peer more closely at a painting he’d bought in Wyoming. It featured a peaceful scene of buffalo grazing in front of Grand Teton Mountain. With a slight smile and a shake of her head, she fingered the flat-screen TV mounted to the other wall.

“Wow, all you need
is a smoking jacket and this would be the perfect man cave,” she said.

“The humidor is in the corner—help yourself,” Jay replied as he uncorked a bottle of cabernet sauvignon and poured them both a glass.

“I can’t stand those things when Grandpa Gus smokes them. I doubt I’d enjoy smoking one myself.” She took the glass from him and sipped the wine. “It’s delicious. Amazing, in fact. This
whole place is amazing, Jay. I don’t know how you can stand to live in Baltimore for even part of the year.”

He took a sip of his own wine so as not to tell her that he hated being at the vineyard by himself. The winery had been a part of his dream—a dream he’d retooled that long-ago summer to include Bridgett—and he was proud that he’d accomplished it, but he felt empty enjoying the vineyard
on his own. Jay didn’t dare tell Bridgett that, though. He wouldn’t give her that much power over his heart again. Instead he redirected her attention. “Let’s have some of Josie’s amazing beef Wellington.”