by Jolie Day
He met her eyes over JR’s shoulder and she saw that flash again. It was so quick that she felt as if she might have been imagining it, but he continued to hold her gaze until she broke it, looking back up at the line of JR’s stubbled jaw. Unlike Joel, he’d obviously seen no reason to give himself a clean shave before the night began.
“So, Miss James,” JR began, quite suddenly.
“Avery, please,” she corrected gently, pulling away to look him in the eye, even as they continued to dance. She no longer felt like she was floating, but there was still a fog surrounding them, like they were in a completely separate world from the rest of the room.
“Avery.” He smiled at the name on his tongue. The way it fell off his lips sent a shiver down her spine. “Where are you from, originally?”
“Illinois,” she informed him.
“Chicago?”
“Greenfield.” JR nodded like he knew exactly where that was, but Avery knew that he didn’t. That was why she had left. “Where are you from?”
“Originally? Spain. I was born in a small town near Madrid, but my parents moved us to the U.S. when I was four. I grew up in Miami.”
“So what led you to New York City?” Avery asked. JR spun her out a little and she laughed. “That’s not part of the waltz, is it?”
“I’m not sure,” he replied. “But it’s fun, eh?” He tugged her back against his chest and Avery felt his hand fall a little lower on her waist. They continued to dance and he took a breath before answering her question. “When I started thinking about university, I wondered what I might do, career-wise, you know? I liked machines and I was good with my hands.” As if to prove a point, Avery felt his fingers clench at her waist and she held back a gasp at the pressure. JR smirked. “But I’ve never been good at school,” he continued. “I didn’t like staying still for too long. I liked to move, to be active.” He shrugged. “New York City seemed like the perfect compromise.”
“How so?” Avery asked, looking up to meet his beautiful brown gaze.
“Nothing is ever still here,” JR said. “You can have a moment of perfect stillness, all on your own, but at any given moment there’s something happening just ten feet away from where you stand. Something big. I loved that. So I packed my bags and I came up to New York. I didn’t even come for school, though my parents thought that I’d gotten a scholarship to NYU.” He shook his head. “Biggest mistake of my life was lying to them about that.” A shadow came over his face, but it was gone before Avery could ask him to expand. Instead, he gave her a wide, charming grin. “How about you?” he asked. “What brings you to New York?”
Avery shrugged. “I’ve been out of college a year and I always wanted to see the city. I saved up for a full year to come here.”
“For work?”
“I hoped so,” she admitted. “Otherwise, it would just have been a month-long vacation; a temporary escape.”
“Lucky, then, that Mr. Harper would give you a job, yes?”
“Luck had very little to do with it,” Avery replied. “I worked hard for my position. I earned it. Mr. Harper just gave me the opportunity.”
“I can see that,” JR said, pausing quite suddenly. Avery stumbled slightly, only to be caught in his tightened embrace, keeping her steady as one of his hands cupped her jaw, meeting her eyes with his. “There’s a brilliance in those eyes of yours,” he said, his voice soft, breath caressing her cheek. “So much knowledge in one so young.” He voice was filled with reverence. “So much beauty…” Avery could feel his lips inch closer, the tips of his nose brushing hers as her eyes closed, automatically. His breath washed over hers and she inhaled sharply…
But then he was pulling away as a sudden cleared throat interrupted them. Avery’s eyes popped open as she felt JR’s hand leave the small of her back and she turned her head in the direction he was now facing, finding Joel standing before them. The line of his shoulders was straight, his chin raised as he shared a look with JR. His smile was wide, but she could tell that it wasn’t genuine; it didn’t quite meet his eyes.
“Mind if I cut in?” It was posed as a question, but Avery knew that JR had no real say in the matter.
He must have known it, as well. “Of course, friend,” he said, turning back to Avery. He took her hand and raised it to his lips. Heat bloomed where the skin brushed and Avery felt her lips curve in a tiny grin. “It was a pleasure, Miss James,” JR said, smiling openly back at her. “Until next time.” He let go of her hand and turned to Joel. “Mr. Harper.”
“Antonio,” Joel replied, shortly. JR grinned at them both as he swaggered away.
Avery watched his back for a moment before turning to Joel, whose eyes were focused solely on her. She felt as if she were under a microscope, his entire body flaring up as he reached for her hand. “May I have this dance?” Joel asked, softly.
For a moment, Avery considered saying no. She knew Joel enough to know that, while his pride would no doubt be hurt by it, he wouldn’t force her to dance. But there was something in his eyes, still, and she wanted desperately to figure out what it was. Also, in truth, she did have the desire to be wrapped in his embrace. She wondered if it would be like it was with JR; if she would feel as if she was floating…
Finally, she slipped her fingers into his, but she painted on a displeased frown as he pulled her in, situating one wide, thick-fingered hand on her back as he held her against his chest and they started to sway to the music.
“That was very rude,” Avery said, after a long moment. “Interrupting like that.”
“I’m sorry if I’d rather one of my employees not end up on Page Six,” Joel replied, softly. “Especially when she’s supposed to be my date for the evening.”
“Page Six?” Avery asked.
“Photographers everywhere,” Joel reminded her. “One of them had his camera trained on you before I stepped in. You’re welcome.”
“Oh,” Avery said, feeling heat bloom in her cheeks; embarrassment once again spread over her. “Thank you.” She swallowed thickly as she felt the flex of his fingers on her waist. “You still could have been nicer to JR.”
“I was as polite to Antonio as is warranted,” Joel retorted. “You should be more cautious of him; the man’s a snake.”
“JR?” Avery scoffed, pulling back to look at Joel’s face. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?” His face was like stone. “You’re not.” She shook her head. “Look, I know he’s charming, but he couldn’t possibly be that bad.”
“Oh, really?” Joel chuckled. “Has he brought up Madrid yet?”
Avery’s eyes widened. “Y-yes,” she said. “That’s…he said he was born in Spain, near Madrid.”
“Has he invited you there yet? On holiday?” He scoffed the word out with a roll of his eyes.
Avery furrowed her brow. “What if he did?” she asked. “What’s so wrong with Madrid?”
“Nothing’s wrong with Madrid,” Joel said. “But you’d never make it there.”
“Why not?”
“Because no relationship of Antonio Juarez-Ramos has ever lasted longer than a breath mint.” He took a deep breath. “He promises trips to Spain, France and Italy…all to get your hopes up, to make you feel special. Then, after he’s had his way with you, he’ll toss you away, call you crazy.”
Avery’s eyes widened at that revelation. “You sound like you’re speaking from personal experience.”
“I’ve seen him do it,” Joel admitted. “Several times.” He looked away. “I’ve done it, myself, a couple times.”
“What?” Avery hissed, pulling away. Joel’s grip remained firm on her back, keeping her from moving too far.
“It was in college,” he informed her. “I was young and stupid and I trusted JR, implicitly, when he said there was no harm done. We were just having a little fun.”
“What changed your mind?” Avery asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked up at him, disapproval etched in her face.
“How?” Avery asked. “How can I trust that? I barely know you, Mr. Harper.”
“You know me well enough,” he retorted. “I would never do something like that now. Not to you.” He paused, his eyes searching hers, before glancing away. “Not to any woman.”
They continued to dance in silence for a while as Avery absorbed what he’d just said. The admittance of wrong-doing in his past was the first real piece of Joel’s past that she’d gotten that wasn’t about his mother or the company he’d inherited from her sickness. Still, she didn’t know if trust was something she was ready to give him, implicitly.
“Ask me,” Joel said, making her jump slightly in his arms.
“Hmm?” Avery asked, looking back up at him. “Ask you what?”
“Anything,” he said. “One thing. I’ll answer honestly.”
“How will I know that you’re telling the truth?”
“You’ll just have to trust me.” Avery turned to look Joel in the eye, finding only openness there in the blue depths. She bit her lip and took a deep breath, wracking her brain for a moment, before opening her mouth.
“If I asked you to take me to Madrid,” she asked, “would you?” It was completely unprofessional, she knew, and she half-feared that he would dismiss her right then and there for that reason, alone, leaving her in the middle of the dance floor, alone. The other half feared that he would say yes. She had no idea what she feared most.
Joel was silent for a long time and Avery could feel her heart beating in her ears as she waited, with bated breath, for him to say something—anything. Finally, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly and opened his mouth. “I’d take you anywhere you wanted me to, Avery,” he said. “Anywhere in the world.” He paused, one corner of his lips curving upward in a lopsided grin. “Anywhere except Madrid. Antonio spends far too much time there for my liking.”
Before she could stop herself, Avery snorted out a laugh and buried her nose in the lapel of Joel’s suit jacket. Joel’s hand let go of her hand and for a moment her heart seized in her chest as she feared he might move away from her, but then his hand joined the other one on the base of her spine, pressing her close to him. Avery sighed as she relaxed into the circle of his arms. Joel’s embrace felt infinitely better than JR’s had. There was something comforting about the solid wall of his chest beneath her ear, the heat of his breath against her ear, and the stretch of his fingers as they attempted to span the entirety of her bare back.
Wrapping her own arms around his neck, interlocking her fingers at his nape, Avery took a deep breath as she felt herself sink against him, for just a moment longer.
The moment was broken when the music suddenly sped up and the DJ proclaimed, “Now for a few party favorites! If you haven’t had your moment on the dance floor, come on down for the Cha Cha Slide!”
Avery and Joel separated and she immediately felt the loss as his warmth was replaced by cool air. Her cheeks were hot as she avoided his eyes, looking instead at the floor, where her toes peeked out at her from the silver heels. Joel cleared his throat and she glanced up to see him smiling down at her, that boyish sparkle back in his eyes, the dimples in his cheeks deep as ever. He held out his hand.
“Thank you for the dance, Mis—Avery.” Her blush deepened, but she placed her hand in his, her heart stuttering as his fingers tightened around hers, before he raised it to his lips. He pressed a kiss to the tips of her fingers and she felt an involuntary smile bloom on her lips. “Until next time.” It was a promise, sincere on his lips, and Avery felt the anticipation of “next time” spread over her completely as he let go of her hand and moved away, smiling handsomely at her, before he turned and made his way off the dance floor.
Chapter Thirteen
If you’d asked Avery where she expected to be six months ago, she probably would have said something along the lines of, “Somewhere on a farm, pregnant with my first child.” That was the kind of hope she’d had in her future. Well, okay, maybe it didn’t look that bleak—she at least expected to have a job somewhere other than Greenfield; maybe at an Apple Store, where she could be close to technology and learn how it was made—but she would never, not in a million years, have pictured herself where she currently was.
And that was talking to Ken Naoki, CEO of a major Japanese technology company, which specialized in gaming systems and had recently moved on to developing a brand of computers that would support their video games (none of which really interested Avery, as she didn’t know much about video games, but the man himself was somewhat of a legend in their inner circle). He was telling her all about his new designs and the soon-to-be-released video games that would be compatible with the system, and she was half-listening as she sipped a martini, keeping her spine straight as she nodded at the right times, though her eyes were still scanning the floor, looking for a certain someone she had lost sight of a while ago.
A few other men had gathered around her and Ken, asking him questions that she wouldn’t have even thought of and their discussion got more and more heated as time went on. It soon became apparent that her input was no longer necessary, but Avery stood there, anyway, watching the men bicker and banter with amusement sparkling in her eyes.
After a few moments, the buzz died down and her gaze made another sweep through the room, finally pausing on Joel Harper’s familiar blue-gray eyes. He was talking and laughing with a few white-haired businessmen and women, clinking glasses with the portly man next to him. The man clapped a hand on Joel’s back, his face going red with the force of his laughter. Joel rolled his eyes and his gaze met Avery’s in the process. His grin widened, and his dimples appeared as he lifted his glass subtly in her direction, before taking a long sip as he turned back to his companions.
Avery continued to watch him. In a room filled with hundreds of people, Joel stood out somehow. It wasn’t just his size or his youth—though that was, undoubtedly, a big part of it—but rather his presence. He could fill a room with his charm all on its own. He was intimidating, really, but in a way that couldn’t be explained in any fathomable way—not that Avery could think of, anyway. Just watching him now, she could find no words to accurately explain Joel Harper or what he did to her.
“What do you think, Miss James?”
Avery jumped at the sound of her name and turned to blink up at Mr. Naoki, clueless as to what they were talking about. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I must have spaced out. What are we talking about?”
Ken gave her a knowing smile and opened his mouth to answer, when suddenly there was a collective gasp all around the room and his mouth shut as he looked around, frowning as he followed the gaze of dozens of others. Avery followed his gaze, as well, and her eyes fell on a regal-looking older woman with short white hair, draped in an oddly familiar red dress.
“Who’s that?” she whispered to the man standing nearest to her, whose mouth was gaping open, his eyes glued to the woman.
“Elizabeth,” he breathed.
“Elizabeth? Elizabeth who?”
“Harper,” the man breathed, his eyes still locked.
Avery’s face mirrored his then as she, too, gaped at Mrs. Elizabeth Harper as the older, statuesque woman sauntered into the banquet hall, wearing a dress that she had tried on just a few weeks prior. For a woman of a certain age, the dress didn’t look nearly as inappropriate on her as one might think it would.
Mrs. Harper was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful women that Avery had ever seen. She had grace and poise and confidence; all of which shrouded her as she made her way towards her children. Kara and Joel had met in the middle and had begun walking towards her. Elizabeth opened her arms for them, giving them a wide, toothy grin.
“My darlings!” she exclaimed. Avery’s eyes flitted between the three of them; saw the worry etched in Kara’s eyes and the confusion in Joel’s. Elizabeth just conti
nued to smile as they approached, reaching out to pull them both in.
Kara was the first to embrace her, whispering into her ear. The room was so quiet that Avery could almost make out what she was saying. Almost. But not quite. In response, Elizabeth simply laughed, though she gave her daughter no real answers. Instead, she turned to her son, standing several inches shorter, even in the risqué heels she’d chosen to complete the ensemble.
“My baby boy!” she exclaimed, pulling him in by the lapels and tugging him downward so that she could place big, smacking kisses on each of his flushed cheeks. Joel let her, for a moment, before he, too, pulled away to look her in the eyes. His were furrowed.
“What are you doing here, Mother?” Avery could hear his whisper from across the room, loud and clear, as if he were speaking right into her ear. It was as if even the sound of breathing had stopped. “You should be at home, in bed; resting.”
Elizabeth Harper scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Joel,” she huffed. “I’m old; not an invalid.” She spoke at full volume, looking all around to flag down a waiter. “Gin and tonic, please?” she requested of a young man a few feet away. The man was paralyzed for an instant, looking between the two Harpers, before he nodded and scurried off to, presumably, procure her drink.
“Mother, you’re ill,” Kara said, placing her hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder.
“I feel just fine,” Elizabeth brushed off, glancing over Kara’s cheek and beaming at a familiar face. “Is that Franklin Beckett? Oh, I haven’t seen him in years!” She started toward the wide-eyed, white-faced man (who looked as if he’d just seen a ghost), but Joel grabbed for her hand as he saw the open back of her dress.
“Mother! Where did you get this thing?” he hissed, removing his own coat and attempting to place it over her shoulders.
Elizabeth shrugged the coat off, turning to glare at her son. “A good friend gave it to me, if you must know!” she exclaimed, her voice rising in both volume and urgency. “Now, get your hands off of me! I’m not a child! You’re the child! I’m your mother!”