Finished

by Claire Kent

  She fluffed her dark hair, which was cut in a shoulder-length bob, and added lip gloss before she concluded she looked as good as she was going to tonight.

  “I definitely approve of the cut of that dress.”

  She glanced back to see Drayton—irresistibly sophisticated in all black—leaning against the door frame to her room. “I thought you’d like it.” She twirled in front of the mirror, once more checking out the very low back to her dress that revealed a wide expanse of her fair skin. “I hate going to these stupid, pretentious parties my boss likes to throw, but it is nice to be able to dress up occasionally.”

  She noticed Drayton had something in his hand, and as he approached she saw it clearly. He turned her around gently and reached around to place the necklace at her throat. “Weren’t you wondering about that present I promised you?” he murmured, the texture in his voice making her shiver.

  Her heart lurched painfully as she saw the diamond solitaire on the platinum, wide-linked chain. She stared at it in the mirror blankly for several seconds before she could finally get her voice to work. “Drayton.”

  He hooked the chain with skillful precision and gently moved aside her hair so he could press a few kisses on the side of her neck. “Do you like it?”

  “I do. But it’s too much. You didn’t have to—”

  “I wanted to, and it’s not likely to cripple my finances.” He slanted her an ironic smile, one she couldn’t help but respond to.

  Turning around, she pulled him down into a kiss. “Thank you, Drayton.”

  He’d explained that an unexpected job had come up, making him unavailable a few days ago, when she’d been trying to reach him when she’d had car trouble. It happened. She wasn’t going to hold a grudge about it, and things between the three of them had been fine for the last few days.

  She’d realized now that the even keel wasn’t really enough, but it was a place to start. There was potential for more between them. She knew it. She cared for both of these men—a lot—and she thought they cared for her.

  Maybe they could transition their relationship into something deeper.

  Drayton returned the kiss with immediate passion, sliding one hand up her thigh, under her dress, until he could squeeze one of her bottom cheeks. Julia unconsciously lifted her leg and tried to wrap it around his as the kiss became even deeper.

  “What did he give you?” a voice asked from the doorway.

  They broke off the kiss abruptly and, flushed and panting, turned to look at Mike. He was dressed in khakis and a white t-shirt, with bare feet and rumpled brown hair. He had an odd expression on his face—one she couldn’t immediately recognize.

  Pulling away from Drayton, she walked over to Mike to show him the necklace. “Isn’t it gorgeous?” she asked, hoping Mike wasn’t feeling left out. Despite their best attempts to accommodate each other’s needs, it wasn’t always easy to manage the complexity of a relationship like theirs.

  “It looks gorgeous on you,” Mike said softly, his brown eyes drifting between the diamond and her face.

  “What are your plans for the evening?” Drayton asked, stepping over to drape an arm around Julia.

  “Watch the game. I might order a pizza. You all have a good time.”

  They followed him out into the living room, where he sat down on the couch and picked up the remote. Drayton went to get Julia’s jacket out of the coat closet, but she stood and watched Mike for a moment.

  He looked perfectly natural and relaxed—not annoyed or reproachful at all. But for some reason, sitting on the couch by himself, he seemed almost…lonely.

  His eyebrows lifted in a silent question when he caught her staring at him. Without speaking, she walked over and slid herself into his lap. She twined her arms around his neck and gave him a slow, deep kiss.

  His arms went around her immediately, and they tightened as the kiss continued. When Julia finally pulled her mouth away, she asked, “Are you sad you have to stay home by yourself?”

  “Hell, no. I’d rather watch the game. And Drayton does better at those fancy parties anyway.”

  That wasn’t entirely true. Mike was different, but he could be every bit as charming as Drayton.

  “Ready to go?” Drayton asked, holding her jacket and looking slightly impatient.

  Reluctantly, Mike released her, and she went to join Drayton, who helped her into her jacket. Mike still watched them, but he was smiling, and she was satisfied that he didn’t look as lonely as he had before.

  “I’m not sure what time we’ll be back,” she said. “But maybe we can have some fun later on. After all the kissing, I’m getting kind of horny.”

  “I’m sure I’ll still be up,” Mike said, as Drayton gave a teasing growl of appreciation at her suggestion.

  Julia glanced at her reflection in the hallway mirror before she left and grumbled about her lip gloss having disappeared. As she reapplied it, she stared at the diamond again—pear-shaped and sparkling exquisitely against her skin. Both Drayton and Mike had given her jewelry in the past, but this might be the most expensive gift she’d ever received.

  She loved it.

  But she was almost positive it wasn’t what Drayton had hidden from her when she’d caught him in his room the other day.

  ***

  “Drayton,” Julia began, trying to readjust his arm so he wasn’t touching her ass. “You don’t get to grope me in front of my boss.”

  Drayton laughed—low and sensual—and slid his other hand down her side in a very suggestive way.

  Julia felt her cheeks growing hot, even as she tried to compose a natural expression. The CEO of her company owned a huge house in an exclusive neighborhood to the north of the city. He liked to entertain, so she’d been to cocktail parties there several times over the last couple of years.

  This evening, she and Drayton had made a circuit through the huge great room and out onto the patio, where more of her coworkers were mingling. They’d ended up next to the pool. It was a brisk night, but there was a fire in the fire pit, and the fresh air felt good after the overcrowded house.

  The sun had set, but the patio and landscaped yard were brightly illuminated. So she really hoped no one saw how Drayton was touching her at the moment.

  “Drayton,” she tried again, when she felt one of his hands on her right breast, “I mean it.” She pushed his hand away and was relieved when this time it stayed down.

  Turning to meet his eyes, ignited with a familiar, taunting heat, she said, “I’m serious, Drayton. I work with these people, and you’re embarrassing me.”

  He made no other moves, except to take both of her hands in his. “Are you sure you don’t find it exciting? I seem to recall you enjoying that time when Mike and I made you come—and come again—in the dressing room of a certain department store.”

  Julia flushed even hotter at the thought, but she didn’t let the tantalizing memory distract her from her point. “That was different. Those were strangers. Not here, Drayton. I mean it.”

  He just smiled, but she could tell he’d understood she wasn’t just playing coy. So she relaxed a little and was able to conjure an appropriate smile.

  “We probably should go ming—” She broke off her comment when she glanced over at Drayton again.

  He obviously wasn’t listening. In fact, he didn’t appear to be conscious of her at all. He was oddly stiff and staring in the direction of one of the V.P.’s who’d just arrived.

  Actually, Drayton was staring at the man’s date—a beautiful woman she’d never seen before.

  “Do you know her?” Julia asked, a little sharply. It was silly, but she couldn’t help the tiny twinge of jealousy at Drayton’s absorption with the exotic-looking woman with stunningly long, black hair and a highly inappropriate red dress.

  “Hmm?”

  Julia actually had to poke him. “Do you know her?”

  Drayton blinked a few times and shook his head. “Oh, no. I thought she looked familiar. But no.”

>   She studied him suspiciously, but he smiled at her in his whimsical way and appeared to forget the woman even existed.

  Julia let down her guard—laughing inwardly at her petty reaction—and was feeling at ease again when her host came over to speak to them.

  “I’m Bruce Becker,” her boss said as he approached, extending a hand to Drayton. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

  Drayton introduced himself smoothly and gave the man a glib, intelligent compliment on the landscaping.

  Bruce preened and talked for a while about the work he’d recently had done on his yard. Julia just listened, feeling ridiculously proud of having as an escort a man as charming and desirable as Drayton. She could see other women looking at him—some with admiration and some with jealousy. While she tried to suppress the feeling, she couldn’t help but enjoy being the object of such jealousy.

  She’d never considered herself particularly special before. Until Drayton and Mike had come along.

  She was wondering what Mike was doing at home and wishing he could be here too when Drayton slid an arm around her waist. “I think she’s pretty spectacular myself.”

  Julia blinked. She hadn’t heard what Bruce had said to prompt the comment, but she assumed it must have been some sort of compliment of her.

  “And maybe one day I’ll catch up on my sleep.” The tone of his voice and the way his hand spanned her ribs so possessively made the implications of Drayton’s words quite clear.

  She stiffened and felt her cheeks burning, while Bruce laughed appropriately and wandered off.

  When he was out of earshot, she jerked away from Drayton’s arm. “Damn it, Drayton, I told you not to do that!”

  He drew his eyebrows together with a look of innocence that was absolutely absurd on the face of someone as knowing and experienced as him. “You told me not to grope you.”

  She was shaking with her anger and was hard pressed to keep her voice low enough to avoid being heard. “You knew exactly what I meant about acting sexy in front of my boss. And you did it anyway—intentionally.”

  “Why are you so uptight, Julia? It was a joke. Male bonding. He didn’t think a thing about it. I promise he likes me.”

  “I don’t care if he likes you. I want him to respect me as a professional. Not think about my sex life. I told you—”

  “If you want a whipped lapdog as a date, next time you can take Mike.” Drayton never lost his temper, but she could tell from the bite of his tone that he was annoyed.

  Her rage surged forward at his insult of Mike, and she whirled around and walked away so she wouldn’t attempt to strangle him in front of the gathered guests.

  He didn’t try to follow her, and she wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or disappointed. She went to the bathroom to cool down and then chatted with some friends and got another glass of white wine.

  She was feeling more herself—and ready to accept an apology—when she went in search of Drayton again.

  She had some trouble finding him. She searched the patio, and then the great room, and then the kitchen, and then the den adjoining the entryway. Guests were scattered everywhere, but she saw no sign of Drayton.

  Finally, she asked around and someone mentioned seeing him heading toward the library.

  Stewing again at the evils of charming, over-indulged sex-gods, Julia went back to the library and home office to investigate. Guests hadn’t spilled over to the back hallway, so she couldn’t imagine what Drayton was doing in this wing of the house.

  Surely he hadn’t gone off alone to pout. That wasn’t like him at all.

  As she approached the half-opened door, she heard soft voices. So she slowed down and walked carefully so her heels wouldn’t clip on the hardwood floor.

  “There was no underlying agenda. My date is a vice-president in the company. He brought me to the party. It’s perfectly harmless.”

  Julia felt her hands and feet grow cold at the sound of the lilting, female voice. And she knew exactly whom she would see even before she got close enough to peek through the cracked door.

  The gorgeous woman with the sleek, black hair falling down to her waist and the kind of long legs Julia had always dreamed of having.

  “You must have known there was a chance I would be here too,” Drayton said. “You know Julia works for this company. And you came anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if you arranged your ‘date’ on purpose.”

  He was angry. Julia could tell from the cool hauteur of his tone and expression.

  “Believe it or not, I don’t arrange my life around you.”

  “I’m not the fool you take me for. I’m here with Julia tonight. We’d arranged to meet later tonight.”

  Julia’s heart had clenched up painfully when she saw who Drayton was talking to, and now it felt frozen in her chest. Her vision blurred a little, and she felt kind of dizzy.

  “I know. I was looking forward to getting together later, and that has nothing to do with my being here now. Your Julia is a lovely girl, but she seemed a little pissed at you. Perhaps she and I should have a little chat.”

  Julia had never seen Drayton lose control—or even lose the upper-hand in a conversation. But he was losing it now. His fists were clenched at his side while the woman remained relaxed, almost insouciant. “Is that a threat?” he gritted out. “What possible purpose could you have in making it?”

  She shrugged. “Just for fun, of course. I’ve never seen you this riled up before. Has this girl actually gotten to you? Or is it that delicious hunk of a man you also share your bed with?”

  “I’ll ask you one more time. Why are you here?”

  “It’s exactly as I told you. My date brought me here. Believe it or not, it wasn’t to admire your delectable ass.” The woman let out a rippling laugh. “Now you want to clobber me, but it’s really yourself you’re angry with. You’re going to have to tell her—tell them both—someday, you know.”

  “That day is not today.”

  “You’re a fool. And you’re only making it harder on yourself. You know you’re going to have to give it up. This person you’re pretending to be isn’t you.”

  “You don’t know me as well as you believe.”

  “I know you better than you know yourself. I always have. I’ll remind you of that fact later this evening.”

  “There will be no later this evening.” Drayton was as cold as she’d ever heard him—both his tone and his expression as he reached into an inner pocket of his jacket. “Here’s what you asked for.”

  Julia sucked in a breath as she saw him handing the woman a diamond necklace.

  That was the necklace she’d seen him with the other day—the one he’d hidden from her. Not the one he’d given her this evening.

  The woman took the necklace, eyeing it with something that looked almost like lust. “Very nice. But you know very well I’m not through with you yet.”

  Julia couldn’t take anymore. She kept hearing the words—and all of the underlying implications—but she coiled her shock and betrayal into a tight little ball so she wouldn’t have to feel them. She pushed into the room, making sure the door banged as it swung.

  “There you are, Drayton,” she said with a painfully fake smile pasted on her face. “I was looking for you.”

  Both Drayton and the woman had whirled around in surprise, and Julia caught a look of startled dismay on Drayton’s face before he masked it.

  The woman, on the other hand, looked maliciously gleeful, once she’d processed Julia’s presence and slid the necklace discreetly behind her back.

  “Julia,” Drayton managed to force out.

  Her eyes cut to him but she barely saw him. With that same fake smile, she said, “Come on, Drayton. It’s time to go.”

  ***

  “Julia,” Drayton said, as she stormed into their apartment and threw her purse and jacket on a chair. “You need to talk to me so I can explain.”

  “Explain?” Her voice cracked on the one word, so she swallowed hard,
twisting her face in an effort to keep her composure. “Why should I listen to your explanation, when you’re just going to lie to me again?”

  “I haven’t lied,” Drayton said, while she stomped around the living room, picking up dishes and strewn mail in an effort to concentrate on anything but the infuriating man who wouldn’t stop talking. “She and I aren’t having an affair. I’m not fucking her. There’s nothing going on between us.”

  The fact that he was telling her this—and still sounding so horribly convincing—broke the tight ball of Julia’s emotions. She turned abruptly on her heel and faced the fireplace so he wouldn’t see how her face contorted as she controlled herself.

  She could feel him approach her from behind, but she wasn’t prepared when she felt his warm hand on her bare shoulder. “Julia,” he began, his voice softer now.

  “What happened?” Mike asked, coming into the room. He’d been in his bedroom, but he was still dressed in the t-shirt and khakis. His confused face and rumpled appearance—complete with a five o’clock shadow—hurt Julia strangely. She took a ragged breath.

  “What did you do to her?” Mike asked, his voice almost menacing.

  “I didn’t do anything to her.” Drayton appeared annoyed and impatient as he was besieged on both sides. “Stop trying to intimidate me with your bulk. Julia overheard a private conversation and got the wrong idea.”

  She made an outraged noise. “The wrong idea? I’m not an idiot, you know. You said—you lied to me about knowing her. Then you were mad at her for coming to the party because I would be there. You’d arranged to get together with her after the party, and she told you I would find out eventually.”

  She took a step toward him as she processed the bitter reality completely. “And you gave her that necklace. I saw enough of it the other day, before you hid it from me. It wasn’t this one.” She struggled clumsily with the platinum chain around her neck, trying futilely to unhook it. “You lied to me. I saw that necklace in your room—the same one she was wearing tonight.”

  She made a choked sound, as she struggled with the delicate clasp. She had to get the diamond off. It felt tainted.