Touch of Love (14 page)

She thought about it as she took the
elevator to the parking level of her office building. Her small red car was waiting patiently, squeezed between two large SUVs. She slid into the driver’s seat, still on autopilot. She knew what she was about to do as her hands started the car, then gently backed it from the spot. She wasn’t proud of herself, either. But she had to know. The thought kept repeating in her head as she merged into evening traffic. Adam worked on the twelfth floor, where his office was surprisingly modest for his position. But the floor-to-ceiling windows offered a spectacular view of the vast expanse of the blue lake. She planned to stop by the lobby downstairs and come up with a plausible excuse to ask for him. They would know if he was still working. The harder part of the plan had to do with convincing him her visit was nothing more than a friendly drop-by. She cursed her inexperience, almost wishing Jess were there with her. Her friend would have the whole plan figured out in seconds.

A quick stop at the local bakery helped out. Adam loved their freshly prepared sandwiches
. Surely he wouldn’t mind if she brought a peace offering. She glanced at the box in the passenger seat. Its heavenly scent of smoked ham and bacon was filling the car. She would tell him she was on her way home when she remembered him, still slaving away.

To her relief
, the parking lot across the street from his building was mostly empty. She parked in a cramped spot with a meter. In her rush to get out, she dropped her purse, spilling coins all over the mat in a rain of silver. She swore softly and bent to pick them up, annoyed with her klutziness. Dumping her bag twice in one hour was definitely too much, even for her.

Finally
, she picked up the last coin, making sure to close her purse properly this time.
No more accidents for today.
She sat back up, ready to climb out and pay.

By accident more than anything else, she spotted him.
Her gaze went absentmindedly across the street to the large dark wall of windows reflecting the red-gold sunset, not expecting to see anything in particular. Her mind was already racing forward to what she would say in the lobby. The massive entrance door swung open, and Adam stepped out. His tall broad-shouldered silhouette was impossible to mistake for someone else’s.

He wasn’t alone.

The
woman he was talking to was glamorous and pretty enough to make Elly want to slide lower in her seat, hiding from their view. Tall and slim, she wore an impossible linen creation that would look idiotic on anyone but the models strutting down the runway. Correction: this stranger pulled it off just as well as a model, with her long, slim legs and waist that was probably possible to span with two hands. Her short dark hair was cut into a blunt bob, and her long earrings glittered in the sunlight as she vigorously shook her head, chatting animatedly with Adam.

Elly
watched them stop in front of a waiting cab. Something the woman said transformed Adam’s somber face into a playful expression. They both burst out laughing, and she rested one long-fingered, elegant hand on his shoulder, a second too long to be purely friendly.

Suddenly
, Adam looked up as if aware of her gaze, and she panicked, her heart beating in fast staccato.
He knows my car,
she thought desperately, hoping he wouldn’t notice it. She was horrified that he might catch her staring at him like some kind of a jealous girlfriend, spying on him and this gorgeous stranger. Even worse, he could walk across the street and confront her. She wondered frantically if anything she could say would avoid her coming across like a total idiot. Suddenly, the smell of the food that was meant to give some merit to her harebrained plan made her nauseous.

She had a lucky escape. The woman at
Adam’s arm said something again, and his eyes returned to her lovely face, without noticing Elly at all. The woman grabbed his hand, the familiarity of the gesture telling Elly that it wasn’t the first time, either. There was a certain air of camaraderie about them, and the way the woman pulled Adam toward the waiting cab made Elly catch her lower lip between her teeth and bite it, until she drew blood. He wasn’t resisting much. Feeling wretched, Elly couldn’t avert her eyes from his smiling face. He climbed into the cab after the other woman, disappearing from view. Then the car pulled away from the curb and disappeared into traffic.

She sat frozen, unable to tell how long she had been like that, still staring at the façade of his building. Could have been minutes or hours,
but the golden glory of the early summer sunset was finally fading into stripes of mauve, celadon, and vanilla. It had gotten colder, too, as the lengthening shadows greedily claimed the city. A sudden knock on her window snapped her out from her state of immobility, and she jumped up, her heart in her throat.

The parking lot guard
stood at her door, his round dark face folded into a worried expression. ‘Is everything all right, Miss?’ His thick Caribbean accent made her think of palms, sunshine, and the ocean—a place far away from the city and buildings that had secrets of handsome men and their mistresses.

‘
Yeah, sorry.’ She managed to smile. ‘I just realized I forgot something, so I won’t be leaving my car here, after all.’

‘
That’s fine.’ He either bought her lame excuse or decided to be gracious and play along. She could feel the evening breeze, cool against the wet skin of her cheeks, now that her window was rolled down. She hadn’t even been aware she was crying, but she couldn’t imagine the parking attendant didn’t notice. Still, he smiled again, his face friendly. ‘Just drive carefully, okay?’

S
he managed to get home in less than half an hour. Her relief at being able to lock the door and kick off her shoes lasted just about a minute before the nagging thoughts returned, attacking her like a pack of vicious wild dogs.

Adam
had lied to her. He wasn’t planning on spending the evening in the office. He was going somewhere with that woman, probably someplace fun, judging by their expressions. There was no way she was his work colleague.
Neither her clothes nor her attitude were businesslike. His new flame? His real lover? The reason he never attempted to persuade me to be more than just friends? Why would he go to all the trouble of lying?

It shouldn’t have mattered. Their relationship was nothing but convenience
. The time they’d spent together gave her no right to question his choices. She hated it, though.

S
he peeled off her clothes, then stepped into the shower. Thousands of tiny, ice-cold needles hit her skin, and she gasped as her flesh protested such brutal treatment. The water heated slowly, reluctantly, as if it also conspired against her. She stood there passively, her face raised to the water and hair plastered to her back. Her teeth chattered, and she felt goose bumps form on her skin, too stunned by the turn of events to even bother stepping out to wait until the shower reached a more acceptable temperature. It felt good to be cold and miserable, she thought as steam slowly gathered in the shower. The physical discomfort distracted her enough to stop the numb, aching pain that had started deep inside her the moment she saw Adam taking the other woman’s arm.

O
nly when the water had heated enough to scald her skin did she wake up from her thoughts, finally turning off the shower and blotting the moisture from her reddened, now-hot skin with a white, fluffy towel. Her old robe felt good against her flesh, the silk caressing her hypersensitive skin.

The knock on the door was totally unexpected
, and for one insane moment, she hoped it was Adam. She rushed to the door, imagining him standing there, having decided to send the lovely stranger home and come to see Elly instead.

‘Just a moment,’ she yelled, tightening the sash of her robe just before she checked her peephole. Prancing around half
-naked with Adam at her place just wouldn’t do.

But i
t wasn’t Adam. Her heart plummeted as the elation was replaced with disappointment. Brad stood there, his sheepish smile making her angry already. Still, she could hardly leave him out there.

‘What is it?’
She swung open the door, and he walked in eagerly, as if he were worried she would change her mind. ‘Why are you here?’ He hadn’t visited her since she’d kicked him out and he’d efficiently moved out before her return from the weekend with Jake. The two instances they’d spoken on the phone had left her more and more confused about why she had fallen for him in the first place. Once he realized she wasn’t going to take him back, the velvet gloves came off, and the threats of lawsuits mixed with desperate appeals to Elly’s parents.

‘
You never return any of my phone calls,’ he said, not wasting any time, his accusing tone raising her hackles. He had picked a bad moment to be vindictive, walking into the living room with a few purposeful steps.

‘
That should give you a clue I don’t want to see you, I think.’ She shrugged, regretting not having dressed properly. She didn’t like the way his eyes traveled to the curves of her breasts and hips, outlined underneath the clingy fabric of her robe. ‘Seriously, Brad, what were you thinking?’

‘I did a lot of thinking, sweetheart
.’ His handsome face folded into a patient smile, his blue eyes sparkling brilliantly. ‘You really thought I was a total idiot, didn’t you? That you could make me feel bad about what happened and kick me out of here as if we never happened? You left me and my family to do all the awkward explaining about why you canceled our wedding. And I had to weather the storm from pretty much everyone.’

‘
It seemed appropriate, given that you cheated on me, not the other way around.’ She shrugged again, not sure where his tirade was going. Nowhere good, that much was sure.

‘You see, I
’m not so sure anymore.’ He followed her around, the shrinking distance making her uncontrollably aware of the fact that they were alone and that he was much bigger and stronger. He had never been violent before, but there was a gleam in his eyes that she couldn’t recall ever seeing before.

‘I did some interesting reading, sweetie,’ he continued, his voice velvety smooth. ‘
Imagine my surprise when I found pictures of you and your new lover all over the press? Actually, Lucy found them. I’m usually not interested in such gutter news.’

‘Good for you
.’ She silently cursed the paparazzi as his lips stretched into a predatory smile, confident and cocky.

‘It suddenly occurred to me that I wasn’t the only one with the appetite for adventure
.’ He stood in front of the window, one powerful shoulder propped against the frame. If she didn’t know any better, she would have believed he’d just dropped by for a casual visit.

‘
While I suffered for my indiscretion, you’d already replaced me with a new man, Elly.’ He grinned, pleased with his own deduction. ‘Probably even before our… problems.’

‘That’s a convenient way to look at it
.’ She sighed, her patience starting to wear thin. If he’d come for her guilty confession, he was in for a total disappointment. ‘I never cheated on you, Brad.’ She said it again, loud and clear, because it would be the last time. ‘Never. I trusted you and believed in you, all the way up until I caught you with your pants down. Don’t try twisting the truth. It won’t work.’

‘
We’ll see about that.’ His smile gone, Brad watched her with hostility that sent a frisson of dread through her. She had to get rid of him, she thought desperately, once more regretting letting him in in the first place.

‘I see you’re in nice company now
.’ He continued, each word more sinister than the last. ‘This new boyfriend of yours, that was an excellent move. Old money, right?’ He laughed again, his eyes narrowing into slits. ‘Looks very much into you, too. Keeping him happy is important to you, Elly?’

‘
What do you want?’ she hissed incredulously, resisting the urge to scratch his arrogant face, or even worse push him backward until he flew through the window. He would survive, given they were on the ground level, but at least she would bruise his ego.

‘I was just wondering if he
would mind some snapshots of us together appearing in the press?’ She must have looked poleaxed, because he snickered, the sound explosive in the silence. ‘What? You thought I got rid of everything? Not like we made a sex tape or anything like that, but I managed to snap some pics while you were asleep. My trophy pics, I called them. Never thought of showing them to anyone, either.’ He waited for her to say something, and when she didn’t, he continued in a light, pleasant voice that was at odds with what it was conveying. ‘But after Lucy found your lovely photos, we started to think… How much would it be worth for you to make sure they stayed safely in my drawer? You wouldn’t want to annoy this great catch of yours, would you?’

‘Get out, now!’
She was done with being civil. This… excuse for a man had the guts to come in and blackmail her? He had another thing coming.

‘
As you wish,’ he said.

S
he should have sensed that her victory was too easy. Yet she was so relieved to have him leave that she didn’t even stop to think. Otherwise, she would have remembered that Brad never gave up easily, making sure even the smallest quarrel ended on his terms.

‘
You realize that’s not the end of it, don’t you?’ he asked, peeling himself from his spot at the window and coming to stand in front of her, intimidating her with his proximity. ‘You should really think about it before you get all high and mighty, sweetheart.’ He lifted his hand, then rested his fingers under her chin before she had time to step back. ‘I am just wondering, though, all this time…’ His voice fell to a soft purr that made her skin crawl with a premonition that she was in way over her head. ‘I’m very curious. How did you manage to reel in a guy like him?’

S
he tried to free herself from his grip as his other hand came to pull her to him, the heat of his body penetrating the thin fabric of her robe. ‘He is quite a catch, darling. Experienced with ladies, too…’ Strong fingers, like talons, sank deeper into her flesh, making it impossible for her to step back. ‘So my question is, what kind of new tricks did you learn to keep him in your bed? You weren’t a sex goddess, if you get my meaning.’

Clap!
The sound of her palm making contact with his skin took them both by surprise. She watched with sick fascination as his skin paled around the bright-red mark of her fingers etched into his cheek. The stinging pain in her palm was proof of her strength.

‘You little bitch
.’ He grabbed a handful of her long hair and pulled her head back until her eyes watered with pain.

She
whimpered, suddenly afraid. Knowing she hadn’t handled it right, she watched his face come closer, iron resolve in his eyes.

‘
Wait, Brad, please,’ she croaked, hoping against hope he would understand. They had been together, making plans for their future, for God’s sake! That had to count for something. He couldn’t just turn into this hate-filled, vengeful monster.

‘
Is that what he likes?’ His breath washed over her hot face, his lips only inches from hers. ‘Rough sex? Is that what you do to keep him in your bed, sweetheart? You never told me you were into games like these.’

He
wouldn’t… he couldn’t…
she thought feverishly as his other hand pulled on her robe, rough and demanding. She struggled but was immobilized, the pain in her scalp burning with each move.