At the rap on her door, she looked up. Javier entered her office, a smug smile pasted on his lips. Which couldn’t be good. She’d seen that look on his face before and quickly pressed the switch hook on her phone. She replaced the receiver and cleared her throat. “Javier.”
“So who’s the new man? Charlie tells me you two are getting hot and heavy.”
She stiffened. Charlie has a big mouth. “I don’t know what he’s talking about,” she said, instantly curious as to the impact it would have, professionally speaking.
He chuckled. “Oh, c’mon Syd. You don’t have to hide from me.”
Don’t I? Pressing forearms to her desk, she fired silent bullets of doubt his way. Wasn’t he the one continually giving her the third degree, grilling her about any man who looked at her twice?
Javier pushed out his palms. “Hey, I’m not the bad guy here. I’m just interested in the lives of my employees, okay?”
At one time she would have believed that to be true. Javier cared about her, her personal problems included. He tried to help repair the hole in relations with her parents. He convinced her to get back into the sport of volleyball. He once did a lot of nice things that were entirely about her, no subterfuge involved. But now?
No. She did not believe it. This was simply prurient jealousy. “Nothing to see here, Javier.”
“But if there is something going on, you know you can confide in me.”
Not on your life. Not as long as that harlot has you wrapped around her finger. Agitation stirred in her gut. Sydney smiled thinly and said, “Thank you, Javier. I’ll keep it in mind.”
Lingering, he drew a forefinger along the edge of her desk with a glance toward the bookcase behind her. Settling on nothing in particular, he perused the books, her wall calendar, a scribble of multi-colored dry erase markings. It was odd behavior for him. Usually the man came in, said what he had to say and moved on. “Whatever happened to us?”
Startled by the change in tone, she thought, “we broke up” was the obvious reply.
“We had a good thing, you and me.” He pulled out one of the chairs before her desk and dropped to a seat. Combing his fingers through a non-existent beard, he asked, “Do you ever miss it?”
There was a time she missed it. She had missed him very much, torn between her desire to be with him and her inability to put up with his roving eye. But with every month, the longing had dimmed. She had healed the hurt and put their relationship behind her. Could she honestly say she missed him?
She may miss what she thought they had, but it was neither here nor there. “Sure,” she said softly. “But you’ve moved on. We both have.”
The hard gleam in his eye unsettled her. Javier held her in his gaze, a gaze that slowly chilled. It felt like a persecution. “Can I give you some friendly advice?”
“Of course.”
“I’d be careful mixing business with pleasure.”
Prickles raced across her back and down the length of her arms. This coming from the man who sleeps with his employees? Are you kidding me? But Sydney knew from experience, this conversation required caution. “In what regard, Javier?”
“Well, you know...” He tugged at the knee of his suit pants revealing a patterned dress sock, orange pineapples against thin beige silk. Hesitating, he appeared to be considering her question more fully. “I guess what I’m trying to say...” He angled his perfectly coiffed head of black hair away from her and finished with, “is that you don’t want people to get the wrong impression.”
Alarms went off inside her head, but she remained motionless. Was Javier here to make good on Morgan’s threat? “And what impression would that be?”
“JL Conventions has a reputation in this city. We are professionals, the gold standard. We don’t want the Special Olympics organization thinking that we blur the line between our professional and personal associations.”
“How does my talking to one of the parents blur the lines?”
“Talking?” He snickered, as though he knew better and waved her objection off like an afterthought. “I’m suggesting that you be aware of appearances. Understand how your actions can come across to others. You don’t want to invite undo speculation. Misperception can bite, you know.”
Pressing her palms hard against her desk top, the tremble of her hand unnerved her. Why was he being so aggressive with her, pushing his way into her private business? This was a bit extreme, even for him. “I’m fully aware, Javier. As always.”
“Yes, I know you are Sydney. But sometimes we can’t always remain objective. It’s possible we can miss the little things that seem fine to us.” He paused. “But are inappropriate to others.” Her ears singed as he added, “This assignment is a big opportunity for you. Huge.” His accent thickened and she detected a streak of nerves running through it. “I’d hate to see you do anything to jeopardize it.”
“You know I would never do anything to jeopardize my career—or JL Conventions for that matter.”
“Not knowingly,” he countered. “But sometimes you get a little headstrong, you know that.” A distinct intimacy moved into the black of his eyes, lifted the corner of his mouth into a near smile. “I know you, Syd. So bent on getting to the next show, you sometimes miss the obvious.”
Irritation flared. “What are you talking about?
“Remember GenCo?”
The name iced her blood.
“You claimed you never saw him coming.”
“I didn’t.”
Javier raised a brow. “Exactly my point.”
Sydney bit back a sudden infusion of adrenaline. Ed Mahoney was a predator. He preyed on young green innocents. Knowing his company was a big client for JL Conventions; he made overt sexual advances and then cried foul when she called him on it. From what her coworkers said at the time, it wasn’t his first attack. He did the same to a girl the year before. Javier hated the man. Hated him not because he made an advance, but because he thought Sydney had enjoyed the attention. She didn’t. She was merely trying to be polite, helpful, and to facilitate the client’s requests. How was she supposed to know the man had ulterior motives?
Javier knew. The previous girl complained and quit the company. He knew full well she had been blind-sided by the man. But staring at him now, Sydney understood this was not Javier’s rational side speaking and tearing open old wounds would only complicate matters and prove wholly unproductive. “It’s not the same situation. At all,” she underscored. Jealousy or no jealousy, she would not let Javier smear Clay Rutledge or distort her relationship with him.
“I hope not. For your sake. Thus far, the Special Olympics team has been pleased with your performance—as I knew they would be. Just to be on the safe side, perhaps it would behoove you to put some distance between you and your friend.” He smiled, but it was pathetically fake. “At least until the events are over.”
Anger welled. You’d like nothing better, wouldn’t you?
Morgan tapped on the door of Sydney’s office.
Sydney riled at her presence. The woman had a habit of showing up a bit too often for coincidence.
“Ready for lunch?” she cooed.
Javier turned. “Sure thing.” When he turned back to her, completely unashamed of his hypocrisy, Sydney couldn’t stem the tide of resentment as it flooded in. Bastard. He was telling her about inappropriate relationships when these two rarely missed a meal together? Let alone bother to concern themselves with appearances...
He softened his tone and rose. “You know I only want what’s best for you. Think about what I said, okay?”
Bitterness curdled her thoughts as Morgan slid a possessive hand through Javier’s arm and tugged him toward the door. Maybe you should do the same.
Javier clung to Sydney, insistent. “Will you?”
“I’ll think about it,” Sydney fumed under her breath.
“Good. And don’t forget, we have a meeting tomorrow morning with the convention center.”
“I remember,”
she replied, but watching them leave, outrage exploded. Who the hell did he think he was coming in here and threatening her like that? And make no mistake—that’s what it was; a threat. A warning. Sydney stormed over to the door and slammed it shut with a force of rage that shocked her. Damn him! Stomping back to her desk, she couldn’t believe him. The man was sleeping with one of his staff—and it wasn’t the first time. Hell, for all she knew, it could be a habit of his! But to use his personal relationship with her as a weapon against her? I know you, Syd. You know I only want what’s best for you. What a crock of bull.
He was a coward. A jealous, hypocritical coward. Javier only wanted what was best for him and if she hadn’t been so young and stupid, she would never have taken up with him in the first place. She seized hold of the back of her chair. But he’d been so charming and attentive, so helpful in the beginning of her career that she hadn’t even thought to look past the façade. Never once did she consider he may have ulterior motives. Like Mahoney. And what were those motives? Sex. Control. Power.
He wanted sex and then he wanted to use it against her. Now that he’s getting it from Morgan, he’s content to make her miserable. Never once did he wish her well as she moved on. Not once. Because he cares, she mocked. Sydney pounded the desktop and Charlie’s loathsome image came to mind. And it was none of his business to tell Javier about Clay! What she did and with whom was her business and nobody else’s. Why would he do it? Didn’t he care about his friend? Was this about her? Was this to spite her for turning him down cold every time he made a pass at her, but saying yes to his friend?
If so, his ego was sinking to new lows, even for him. Sydney spied the phone. Well if Charlie thought he could offer her up to Morgan and Javier on a silver platter he had another thought coming. This would not stand. In an instant of decision, heedless of her previously discarded call, she whipped around the edge of her desk and headed to Charlie’s office, however doubtful it was that she’d find him there. The man evaded work like a well-camouflaged lizard evaded predators. But she’d damn well try. He was going to get an earful and it was going to sting.
As expected, Charlie was not on the premises. With a quick spin back by her office, she hastily resumed her phone calls, then headed out to the university. Someone had to work around here. But she would not stop by the pool. She didn’t want to see Clay when she felt this way, when she was so full of anger. It would only ruin their time together and invite questions—questions she didn’t want to answer. After all, it was his friend causing the problem. Along with her ex-lover.
# # #
By six o’clock Sydney was exhausted and mired in traffic on Dixie Highway. Field and track needed more water, family center needed more info packets and the soccer crowd wanted more shade tents. But it was All American’s slow response to the basketball crews and their request for extra paper that floored her. This was a major event. Why they would miss the opportunity to impress a client was beyond her. Javier paid attention to details like supply and demand and would drop All American faster than a hot tamale if they didn’t produce, because it was a poor reflection on him.
Javier. She fumed inwardly. He was “reflecting” on a lot of things these days. Sydney’s cell phone rang and she snatched it from the center console. In the midst of lane-changing she clipped, “Hello?”
“Hey, Sydney. I hear you’re looking for me.”
Charlie. “As a matter-of-fact I am.”
“What’s up?”
“For starters, you can lose the jovial tone. This isn’t a pleasure call. What the heck do you think you’re doing telling Javier I had dinner with Clay?”
“You guys had dinner?”
Irritated by the low whistle on the other end of the phone line followed by a soft chuckle, she snapped, “Don’t play coy with me. I’m sure Clay told you and you told Javier and I’m telling you to butt out. It’s none of your business.”
His humor remained strong as he argued, “Hey, I didn’t do anything of the kind and your friend Clay didn’t either.”
“He’s your friend.”
“Sounds like he’s yours now, too.”
She could hear the slimy grin in his voice and seethed. “Well if you didn’t tell him, how did he know?”
“Maybe he has spies?”
“Not funny.” She pressed the gas pedal as the light overhead turned yellow.
“Hey, all I told Javier was the answer to his question—the guy you were talking to at the pool was a friend of mine. Apparently something he learned from you.”
Sydney’s mind darted back to the scene at the pool. Had she introduced Clay as a friend of Charlie’s? It seemed obvious she would have made the connection...
“The only details I gave were the fact that he was in town for the Special Olympics. No more and no less. So whatever you’re talking about isn’t my fault. Javier came to me. He asked and I answered.”
Charlie continued to ramble as she absorbed his revelation. But for Javier to go to Charlie and probe? He’d never taken his curiosity that far. That she knew of, anyway. Wait a minute—
“What did you say?” Sydney asked.
“I told you. I told him the truth. Clay has the hots for you.”
Perfect. And probably worded just as perfectly.
“So what’s next for you two lovebirds?”
She yanked the phone from her ear and pressed end. None of your business. None of anyone’s damn business. Sydney drove the rest of the way home battling thoughts of Javier, Morgan, Charlie and Clay. Charlie was a slimeball, but Javier? He never took it this far before.
Was it Morgan? Was she driving his actions against her?
Morgan had always rubbed her the wrong way but nowadays the woman seemed hell-bent on getting her out. And Javier? What changed? She recalled the early days of her employment and the way he smoothed the path for her. He took her under his personal direction, gave her choice assignments, coached her as though he were grooming her for success—even promised as much several times. You’re a natural in this business. You don’t miss a thing and the clients love you. You’re going places, Sydney.
Going places was right—straight into his arms and into his bed. She heaved a sigh as she thought about their affair. At one time it had been passionate. All-consuming, all she wanted. Sydney remembered a time when she couldn’t think past Javier Lopez and her job at JL Conventions. The two were inseparable and she wanted for nothing more. She slowed for her turn off, the green sign above nothing but a visual imprint of memory. Admittedly, it was good in the beginning. Definitely good. She was head over heels for Javier and thought he felt the same. But looking back, she chalked most of it up to her age. She was young, he was experienced. Her job meant everything to her and he was more than willing to assist her fast-track to success.
But in her heart of hearts, she knew there was more to it. She stopped for the light. Javier was the first man who catered to her needs as a woman. He constantly praised her talents, took note of her looks, her attire, encouraged her to resume the game of volleyball and get back into tournaments. And he did so in subtle ways. Not with sexual innuendos, but instead he focused on the things that mattered to her. He spoke of her drive and ambition in sexy terms. He commented on her powerful body, the strength of mind she exuded during competition.
These were the things that mattered to her, and he had claimed they mattered to him. But now, she regretted the day she ever slept with the man. She was nothing more than a lover in his portfolio, a pawn in his company, a woman who depended on him for her paycheck. She heaved a sigh. Dependence didn’t suit her. She no longer liked the idea that Javier held any sway over her career. He could make or break her future with an assignment or lack thereof. But she wanted to be in charge of her future, make her own decisions and she certainly didn’t want anyone hovering about her, dictating who she could or could not see. That was her business. And Clay Rutledge?
She wanted to see him again. But with Javier breathing down her throat, Mor
gan clawing at her back, did she dare?
Chapter Fourteen
Clay’s pulse pumped at the sight of her. Wearing sneakers, shorts and a pale pink Polo, she blended in with the surrounding fans, except for the fact she stood a good foot over those in her immediate vicinity. None were nearly as attractive, either. Long muscular legs, broad shoulders, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, Sydney looked fit and sporty and every inch the top-level athlete he knew her to be. Engrossed in the current competition, she was a beautiful sight to behold.
A sight he missed. Why she hadn’t stopped by yesterday, he didn’t know, but he was glad to have her here now. He liked watching her, even better when he thought of how her lips tasted, how her response had mirrored his own. Amused by her present enthusiasm, he walked toward her and a smile crept onto his lips. For someone who was relatively unenthused about the events in general, she sure was cheering someone on for the win—a someone she most surely didn’t know.
But it was a desire he understood. You couldn’t watch these kids without feeling their excitement and not just the win but the competition as a whole. They were unlike other athletes, the ones who brooded when they lost, acted with hostility toward their opponents, dead set on crushing any and all rivals. These kids were encouraging. Yes they were in it to win it, but they saved room for camaraderie. They treated competitors with kindness and respect—even when they wanted to beat them. Seeing Sydney shout for them was a testimonial to their charm.
Clay continued until only a few people separated him and Sydney and stopped. Partly obscured by the group of volunteers, labeled as such by their bright orange T-shirts, he decided to wait until the race ended. At the sound of the horn, she leapt up as though her team won. He chuckled. Who knows? Maybe it did!
Though he didn’t care who won at the moment. He was only glad to see her. When Sydney turned, he stepped clear of the group and called out, “Sydney!” She turned, a mix of surprise and confusion in her eyes. When it registered it was him, embarrassment slithered into her gaze. He closed the space to feet and asked, “Your team win?”
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