by Robyn Grady
Before Nick could respond, Jasmine entered with a tray. She set it down on Nick’s desk and lifted the coffeepot. Adam leaned in closer than he had to, Nick noticed, and held up a cup, smiling into her face. “How long have you worked for my brother, Jasmine? Must be nearly five years.”
Jasmine blushed to the roots of her severely pulled back auburn hair. “Yes, I—ah—think so. Nick?” She raised her eyes to him.
Nick nodded, mildly surprised by her discomfort. He’d known English-born Jasmine for years. Her composure was legendary. “Have I told you, Jasmine, that my younger brother is nothing but a flirt and not to be taken seriously?”
He noticed the slight tremble in her hand as she poured the coffee, and how resolutely she kept her eyes on the task at hand and nowhere near Adam’s face. Could his calm, efficient, very proper personal assistant have a thing for Adam?
Adam raised the full cup and saluted her. “Why don’t you give all this up and come work for me? London’s where it’s at.”
Jasmine kept her eyes averted and poured Nick’s coffee, apologizing when she slopped a little in the saucer.
“Thanks,” Nick said drily as she finished and left the room.
He glanced at his brother and warned, “Don’t even think about it. She is much too good for you.”
Adam turned his palms up innocently, then glanced toward the door. “You work too hard if you haven’t noticed how very lovely she is, in a quiet sort of way.”
“I don’t want you messing with her,” Nick told him shortly. “Good staff are hard to find, and you’re leaving soon.” His brother’s trail of broken hearts stretched a million miles.
Adam shook his head, amused. “You’re too good, Nicky. You wouldn’t dream of tupping your personal assistant, just as you wouldn’t dream of going after Jordan Lake and risking Dad’s wrath. Mom was right, you need to live a little.”
That was a low and quite unnecessary dig. His brother referred to the letter Melanie Thorne had left with her lawyer to give to Nick at the will reading. “You’re a good son, Nick, strong, ambitious and loyal.” Christ, he sounded like a golden retriever! “But it’s time you learned to live. Want something you shouldn’t. Take something you have no right to. Fight the good fight and have some fun.”
He didn’t know what the hell his mother was on about, but she was right in that he always did the expected thing.
After Adam had gone, Nick got up and opened his office safe. Inside were three jewelry boxes, his bequest from his mother, gifts from his father over the years. There was a blue diamond cluster ring, a necklace with a centerpiece of a four carat blue diamond and a pair of blue diamond earrings.
Nick had the relevant documents from the IGI, the world’s largest gem certification and appraisal institute. He knew the worth of the stones. He also knew that his mother would expect him to present these priceless gifts to his bride one day. And Nick always did what was expected of him, didn’t he?
He glanced at the newspaper on his desk. She wouldn’t expect him to give blue diamonds to Jordan Lake, he was sure of that. Neither would his brother, and his father would probably disown him if he found out.
Nick closed the ring box and returned it to the safe, wondering what Jordan herself would think if her Friday lover gave her diamonds. He lost himself for a long moment, imagining the incredulity in her blue eyes.
He closed the necklace box, berating himself for even considering changing the dynamic of a relation-ship—a good relationship—based on sex.
His hand reached toward the box containing the earrings, and at that point, he fully intended closing it and replacing it in the safe with the others. But something made him pause and lift the box toward the light above. Would she wear them? She might if she recognized that the jewel’s electric blue were very similar to her own eyes, especially when she was helpless with lust—like earlier in the stairwell.
He closed the box and put it in his pocket. Nick was going to do something irresponsible for once. Not for her or for anyone else. Just for himself.
Three
Later that day, as the first mad rush of desire ebbed away, Nick rolled out of bed and picked up his suit jacket from the floor. “I have something for you.”
Jordan lay in the middle of the big bed with the sheet pulled up around her middle, a sharp contrast between the pristine white sheet and her lightly-tanned body. The slight flush on her skin was fading, her breathing more steady than a minute ago. She lifted her chin, watching him curiously.
“But first…” Nick grabbed the edge of the sheet and tugged it away, leaving her naked.
She maneuvered herself into a sitting position and crossed her long legs at the ankles, but made no effort to clutch at the sheet or cover herself. He liked that she was totally without guile or vanity in this room. It occurred to him that he also felt comfortable standing, walking around in front of her naked. Had he ever felt this level of ease with a casual girlfriend before?
Unable to recall, he offered her the jewelry box.
Jordan hesitated before taking it, her eyes on his face. “A birthday gift?” Her voice was low and puzzled.
Nick perched on the edge of the bed. “If you like.”
She dragged her eyes off his face and opened the box. Her mouth moved in surprise, a soundless question. She tilted the box this way and that and finally spoke, still looking at the earrings. “Nick, a man gives me diamonds. What am I supposed to think about that?”
He shrugged. “Don’t think about it at all.”
She looked up at him, a crease of perplexity between her eyes that he’d never seen before. He silently cursed himself for confusing her. What was he thinking, messing with the natural order of things? “Don’t read anything into it,” he said a little roughly. “I believe I thought more of my own pleasure than yours.”
The little frown deepened, as if she couldn’t make sense of it.
Damn Adam and his crazy notions. Nick exhaled loudly and leaned toward her. He picked up one of the precious, glinting jewels, brushed her hair behind her ears and went about fitting it. “They matched your eyes. I wanted to see you naked, wearing only these. That’s it.”
That wasn’t it. Hadn’t he done it because he was sick of being labeled the good son, the one who never rocked the boat?
Her face cleared, as if she’d solved a riddle. “They’re a gift for your mistress.”
Nick’s lip curled in distaste. He hated that word. “I don’t think of you as my mistress. Neither of us is married. We’re free to indulge ourselves.”
She gazed at him solemnly. Nick picked up the other earring, pried the butterfly clip off and indicated that she turn her head.
She obeyed. “What do you think of me as then?”
“If we have to put a label on it, I’d call you my luxury,” he said as he pushed the other earring through the piercing in her lobe. He secured the post and drew back, looking at her face.
“Your luxury.” She nodded and her smile was without reproach. “I’ll save them just for this room. They’ll be our secret.”
Nick sat back, admiring his handiwork, thinking she did indeed look spellbindingly luxurious. Her golden hair, a mass of loose curls today, cascaded over her shoulders like the caps of a choppy sea captured and molded in gold.Yesterday, in court she’d worn it straight and smooth.
And then her words hit him, or more, her tone. Had he imagined a slightly sarcastic edge to her voice?
Nick dropped his hands to his bare knees. “I’m not ashamed.” Not of her. Maybe of himself for confusing her. “Hell, Jordan! They’re yours. Do what you want with them. Sell them, if it pleases you.”
Hurt showed in the little press of her lips and the way she suddenly looked away from him. “I don’t need any more money from a Thorne,” she said quietly.
Nick had made a real pig’s ear of this. An off-the-cuff gesture and he’d ended up bringing the past into this room. He should have remembered that whatever this madness was between them, the p
ast would always be a barrier.
Thirty years ago, Nick’s father was driving the two couples home from a night out when a tragic accident nearly claimed the life of Syrius Lake’s pregnant wife. The injuries she had suffered put her in a wheelchair for life and killed her unborn son, but five years later she endured a difficult pregnancy and gave birth to Jordan. Lake never forgave Randall Thorne and when his financial situation worsened because of high medical costs, he demanded assistance. Randall signed over a huge valuable block of real estate in Wellington’s CBD, with the understanding that when Syrius was able, he would repay the loan. But on the day of Jordan’s birth, the bitter ex-friend transferred the property to his daughter’s name.
Prevailed upon by guilt and his own wife, Randall Thorne let it ride, but it rankled. Both men went on to become business icons in New Zealand’s capital city and the bad blood simmered away, helped along by repeated sniping from both camps.
So technically, Jordan was rich on Thorne money, but Nick didn’t care about that. It wasn’t her fault or his. It just was.
He put his index finger under her chin and turned her face to look at him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to hurt you…”
Her smile, when it came, was more rueful than hurt. “You haven’t.” She lifted her hands and touched her new adornments. “I’ll wear them with pride.”
Nick’s instincts were right on the nail about how perfectly the blue diamonds matched her eye color. They gazed at each other, gratitude and regret gradually giving way to an acute awareness of where they were, what they were to each other. The urgency escalated, the air between them smoldered with its hot breath.
They moved toward each other in a rush, their hands reaching greedily. She was fine, they were fine, nothing had changed. He’d done the right thing, giving her blue diamonds that twinkled and trembled with desire and anticipation when he pushed her down on the bed, ravaging her mouth. That warmed with sultry promise as he drew her arms up over her head and moved into position. That exploded with blue sparks when he filled her, an inexorable upward motion into infinite pleasure…and crackled with the fury of reaching for, overtaking, plunging into blissful release.
He’d done the right thing giving her the earrings and who cared if was for her or for him? They’d both enjoy them.
But somehow, he left the hotel feeling he’d missed an opportunity of some kind, or they both had. If Jordan Lake was his luxury, could he pay the price?
Jordan was late for her own birthday party. She rushed up the stairs of the up-market club, apologizing loudly, knowing her parents expected her half an hour ago.
She needn’t have worried. Everything was under control and most of the guests hadn’t arrived yet. The champagne was chilled and delicious, the lighting perfect, security on the door. Of the expected one hundred and fifty guests, twenty or so would be friends of hers, the rest would be her parents’ friends, business colleagues, local celebrities in the arts, politics and sports and a smattering of reporters and photographers. Jordan would pose with all the usual suspects, regulars of the It crowd. And then she would go home alone, as she had for most of the last year. Even her father would yawn at her lifestyle these days—except for her Friday afternoons.
She bent to kiss her mother, knowing this was the last real kiss she’d get all night. As she drew back, her mother’s hands firmed on her cheeks for a few seconds, holding her. Elanor Lake frowned at the earrings. “They’re lovely, darling. Where did you get them?”
She hadn’t been able to resist wearing them no matter how often she told herself to lock them away. But, oh, they were so beautiful, and Nick hadn’t said not to wear them. He hadn’t even stipulated that she wasn’t to tell who gave them to her.
Vanity won. The earrings were perfect with the pale yellow dress she wore, lending it a hint of boldness.
Jordan straightened and flicked her hand in the air. “Just one of my many admirers.”
Her mother gave her a measured look. “Which admirer is giving you blue diamonds?”
Her father snorted. “Anything less than diamonds, then he isn’t worth his salt, princess,” he declared.
One by one, the beautiful people arrived and she laughed and kissed air so many times, her lips were bruised. But often, she touched the earrings and her thoughts turned to the confusing man who’d given them to her.
The extravagant gift had blown her away. Up to now, Nick was the only man she’d met who’d been completely straight about what he wanted from her—her body. There were no expectations past that, on either side. Their weekly meetings in the luxury Presidential Suite were all about an extraordinary attraction and nothing else.
She couldn’t put her finger on when things had started to feel different, but it was recent. He’d changed. Suddenly he was asking questions, taking risks, talking to her. He’d watched her today as if trying to divine her thoughts. Hurt her a little by admitting he’d thought more of his own pleasure in giving her the gift. Then again, that admission spoke volumes for a man who was so spare with words: he saw something beautiful; he thought of her.
But it hurt her more when he reminded her of the origins of her trust fund, and the reason they could never have more than they had right now.
Her oldest friend, Julie, dragged her onto the dance floor and she happily acquiesced. But her mind strayed often to Nick. Jordan looked around at the glitzy lights and gay smiles, wondering if he’d like this sort of place? Would her friends like him, and vice versa? Was he a dancer? When it came down to it, she knew so little about him, just that they fit together perfectly in the bedroom.
“Oh, my God! Look-it!” Julie pointed through the throng to a tall, handsome man leaning on the bar, looking their way. “Isn’t that…?”
Jordan looked over and her heart did a weird slide. “John West,” she said in dismay.
Jordan’s first heartbreak. She’d been in her first year at high school, he in his last. His interest in her caused a ripple of excitement through all her friends; someone of his stature expressing interest in a first year was unheard of.
Alas, the romance floundered quickly.
“Let’s see if we can pick who he’s here with,” her friend said.
Jordan wondered if it was the same girlfriend he’d dumped her for two days after he’d first crooked his brow at her, commanding her to parade around the school quadrant with him like his queen.
She shrugged and turned away. Although it was a minor blip on her heartstrings that she hadn’t thought of in years, the one thing that stuck was the crushing realization that despite her money and social standing, she wasn’t smart enough, pretty enough, interesting enough to hold his attention, not even for a week! Her father’s shameless indulgence reminded her that the world saw her as a bubble-headed trophy with only her wealth to offer. She knew better. She was different now, more than that.
Nick Thorne was the real deal—respected, smart, ambitious and successful. Whatever he called it, she was his mistress. She’d live up to his expectations in that regard, but she’d do her best to protect her heart.
On Monday, the court clerk announced the lunch break to sighs of relief. The morning had dragged. Nick looked forward to getting back to his office, if only for a break from the steel thread of sexual tension that came with sitting ten feet away from the object of his desire, and the knowledge that it would be four torturous days before he could have her again.
Suddenly the wiry figure of Syrius Lake bounded across the aisle. His face was an interesting shade of plum. He sidestepped Randall’s counsel and stood defiantly in front of the complainant’s bench.
“Randall Thorne,” he rumbled, his deep voice belying his rather slight frame. “Keep your pup away from my daughter.”
Nick’s heart stopped and he involuntarily flicked a glance at Jordan. She had jumped to her feet, and stood with one leg in front of the other, ready for flight, the line of her body taut with tension. Her eyes were huge but they were on her father, not him.
“Nick’s got too much sense…” Randall began.
“Not him.” Syrius pointed a long, bony finger at Adam, still seated in the row behind.
Adam! Nick turned his head slowly, and in those few seconds, everything inside him went cold, and his throat closed as if gripped by a vise.
His brother raised his brows in studied nonchalance and shrugged. “I hooked up with a couple of lovelies at a bar, tagged along to a party. How was I supposed to know it was Jordan’s birthday bash?”
Through the ice-cold rage bathing his belly, Nick barely noted that Adam directed his explanation—and a quizzical look—at him, rather than Syrius.
All around people had stopped, enthralled by the drama. And then his father gave the crowd what they wanted.
“If he’s a pup,” he suggested, “perhaps she’s a bitch in heat.”
Nick tore his eyes off his brother’s and glanced at Jordan’s white, shocked face. He gripped his father’s arm firmly. “You’ll apologize for that.”
“The hell I will!” Randall blustered.
The two Lake women reached Syrius. Elanor spoke in urgent whispers while Jordan grasped the sleeve of her father’s suit, tugging at it ineffectually.
Randall lifted his arm in a half hearted attempt to remove it from Nick’s grip.
Nick only gripped harder. “Now, Dad.”
Accepting defeat, Randall launched a scathing glance at his enemy, cleared his throat and nodded vaguely in Jordan’s direction. “I beg your pardon, Jordan.” Turning back to Syrius, he raised his chin, “When I’ve finished mopping the floor with you here, Lake, I’m going to start all over again. I wouldn’t let your lawyer take a holiday anytime soon if I were you.”
“Bring it on, Thorne,” Syrius snarled. He shot one last look of loathing that encompassed all three Thornes, then he stomped off with his counsel in tow, making no effort to assist Jordan with her mother’s wheelchair.