Secrets, Lies & Lullabies

by Heidi Betts

  He saw just the back of her head over one of the main stairwell’s newel posts as he rounded the corner. Then, as he drew closer, she heard his approach, turned and took a step in his direction.

  His heart lurched, slamming against his rib cage hard enough to bruise, and he faltered slightly, nearly tripping over his own two feet.

  This was why he’d had to walk away at the boutique on Sunday. He’d waited while she’d changed into two different gowns, then stepped out of the dressing room looking like a supermodel hitting the end of a Paris runway…or an angel dropped straight from Heaven.

  His heart had thudded then, too, threatening to burst right out of his chest, and other parts of his body had jumped to attention. Whether it was a white spaghetti strap sheath or long-sleeved red number, she’d made everything she put on look like a million bucks.

  He’d had to feign indifference and use phone calls as an excuse to escape before he’d done something phenomenally stupid, like giving the saleslady a hundred dollars to take off and lock the door behind her so he could push Jessica into the changing room and make love to her right up against the wall. He’d broken into a cold sweat just thinking about it.

  And that was before she’d landed on the dress, added accessories and done her hair and makeup to match. She was so beautiful, she literally took his breath away. His lungs burned from a lack of oxygen, but he couldn’t have cared less.

  The dress she’d chosen was a sapphire-blue that leaned toward turquoise and made the hazel of her eyes positively pop. It would have clashed horribly with the rebellious near-navy blue stripe that used to be in her hair. Her now all-blond tresses were swept up from her nape, held in place by invisible pins to leave her shoulders and the column of her long neck bare.

  The gown was classically understated. A strapless, slightly curved bodice hugging the swell of her breasts…a wide swath of sparkling rhinestones circling the high waist…and yards of flowing blue fabric falling to the floor, with a sexy slit running all the way up to reveal a mouthwatering expanse of long, sleek leg when she moved.

  Though she’d balked, Alex had finally convinced her to go into town for a quick mani-pedi. The pampering had done her good, and he’d been sure to spin the suggestion as part of the payback for her lies and thievery. And now her freshly painted toes peeked out of the strappy, diamond-studded heels that poked out from beneath the hem of the gown.

  Alex didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, drooling like a dog over a particularly juicy steak, but it must have been a while because Jessica’s eyes narrowed in concern and she glanced down the line of her own body, checking for flaws. Of which there were absolutely none.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, returning her gaze to his. “Don’t you like the dress? I told you I shouldn’t be the one to choose. It’s your fundraiser, you should have—”

  He cut her off midrant. “The dress is fine. More than fine,” he said, grateful his voice came out only a shade rusty and choked.

  Her chest rose as she inhaled a relieved breath, drawing his attention to all that lovely pale skin and the shadow of her cleavage. He couldn’t decide if he was delighted or annoyed that he now got to decorate it with some of the shining jewels from Bajoran Designs’ most recent unveiling.

  He knew they would look amazing on her, even if she outshone them just a bit. But on the downside, draping her neck with shimmering diamonds would drag everyone else’s eye to something he preferred to keep to himself.

  “Do you have the jewelry you want me to wear?” she asked, seeming to read his mind.

  He held out the large leather case, embossed in gold with the Bajoran Designs logo. Flipping open the lid, he let her see what lay on the blanket of black velvet inside.

  “Oh,” she breathed, reaching out red-tipped fingers to touch the necklace’s center gem. “They’re beautiful.”

  And yet they paled in comparison to the woman standing in front of him.

  Tossing the coat he’d gotten for her over the banister, he set the jewelry box on the flat top of the newel. “Here, let me put them on you.”

  He started with the bracelet, slipping it on her wrist, and then the oversize dinner ring on the middle finger of her opposite hand. Her ears, normally glittering with multiple studs and tiny hoops, were completely bare, leaving room for his earrings and his earrings alone. Since he didn’t want to hurt her, poking around trying to get the fish hooks into the proper holes, he handed the three-inch dangle earrings to her and let her insert them on her own.

  “Spin around,” he told her, reaching for the pièce de résistance.

  Lifting the necklace up and over her head, he waited for her to arrange it in just the right spot before fastening the latch at the back of her neck. He let his fingers linger on her smooth skin, lightly stroking the tendons that ran from nape to shoulders, down to the delicate jut of her collarbones and then back up to cup her shoulders, stroking all the way down the length of her arms.

  Circling one wrist, he lightly tugged her around to face him once again. The diamonds at her throat and ears twinkled in the light of the giant chandelier far overhead. But his gaze wasn’t locked on the priceless set of jewels that were supposed to be the focal point of tonight’s event. Instead, he was struck mute by the brilliant facets of Jessica herself.

  Her fingers fluttered up to touch the netted V-shape of the necklace crossing her chest. Even without seeing them ahead of time, she’d chosen the most ideal gown possible to display the jewelry he’d intended to have her wear.

  “Would you be offended if I said this set is much prettier than most of the pieces in the Princess Line?” she asked.

  He gave a low chuckle. Leave it to Jessica to speak her mind, even when she thought she was in the doghouse.

  “It better be. We really had to scramble to make up for that loss. We needed something to release in its place that would make just as much of a splash. Or so we hoped.”

  She tugged one corner of her lower lip, glossy with red lipstick, between her teeth. “Are you trying to make me feel worse about that than I already do?”

  “Actually, no. I wouldn’t give up this moment, seeing you in this dress wearing these particular pieces, for anything in the world.”

  She blinked at him, eyes round with disbelief. He was a little surprised that the words had come from his own mouth, but he wasn’t sorry. After all, it was the absolute truth.

  Another absolute truth was that if he’d had a choice in the matter, he’d say to hell with the Sparkling Diamonds fundraiser, scoop Jessica into his arms and carry her upstairs to his bed where she belonged. Or where he wanted her, at any rate. Almost more than his next breath.

  His hand tightened on her wrist and he had to make a concerted effort to lighten his grip before he hurt her. Or followed through on his baser instincts.

  “We should go,” he murmured reluctantly. Lifting his free hand, he brushed the back of his knuckles along her cheek to her ear, pretending to straighten an earring.

  She gave a small nod, but didn’t look any more eager to move than he was.

  “Here,” he said, reaching for the ladies’ camel hair coat. He was glad now that he’d chosen to order one in black. It went beautifully with her gown, but would have gone with a dress of any other color, as well.

  He held it for her and she turned to slip her arms into the sleeves. Pulling the front closed, she lightly knotted the belt at her waist then took his elbow when he offered.

  Crossing the polished parquet floor and stepping outside to climb into the waiting limousine, Alex let himself imagine, just for a moment, that this was real. That Jessica was his and that going out with her for a night on the town was the most normal thing in the world.

  As would be coming home late, crawling into the same bed together and making love until dawn.

  Fourteen

  Two hours into the fundraiser, Jessica was ready to go home. Not because it wasn’t enjoyable, but simply because she’d forgotten how exhaustin
g events like this could be.

  Once the thousand-dollar-a-plate dinner had been served and consumed, it was all about mingling. Rubbing elbows, making polite conversation, promoting your company and raising money for the cause du jour.

  To his credit, Alex was a pro at it. There must have been close to two hundred people in attendance, but he acted as though each person he talked to was the only person in the room. He was charming and handsome, and positively oozed self-confidence.

  Everyone they met was treated to the same suave greeting, which included introductions, questions about the other person’s family and/or business, and then idle chitchat until Alex found an opening to bring up both a reference to Bajoran Designs and a request for a healthy donation. Jessica didn’t know who was in charge of collecting checks, but she would be willing to bet his or her head was spinning in delight by now.

  She was also relieved that even though Alex was introducing her by her real name, and she was sure most of the guests recognized her for exactly who she was, nobody seemed to be giving her curious looks or talking behind their hands about a Taylor returning to the fold on the arm of a Bajoran.

  That wasn’t to say the grapevine wouldn’t be ripe with fresh rumors by morning, but at least no one was making an issue of it this evening.

  Breaking away from the latest group of smiling faces, Alex put a hand at the small of her back and led her on their continued circuit of the room.

  In addition to key Bajoran Designs executives and board members wearing the latest pieces of jewelry to show off, there were blown-up full-color signboards on easels arranged throughout the large ballroom featuring other Bajoran designs. It was an enticing display. Jessica had noticed more than one woman already decked out in her weight’s worth of gold and jewels admiring what Jessica suspected would be her—or more likely, her husband’s—next acquisition.

  And for some reason she was inordinately pleased. She loved the jewelry business, loved the sparkle of priceless gems and the intricacies of the designs themselves. Hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed it, actually. And even though she and her family were no longer involved in it the way they’d once been, she still wanted Alex’s company to be successful.

  Alex slowed his step when he noticed her studying one of the extraneous designs more closely than the others photographed on a background of bright pink satin.

  “Do you like it?” he asked softly.

  “Of course. Your company does very nice work.”

  “Very nice?” he replied.

  When she tipped her head in his direction, she saw that one dark brow was notched higher than the other.

  “Shouldn’t you be swooning and dreaming of the day you can wear that necklace around your own neck?”

  She gave a low chuckle. She was already wearing a lovely necklace from Bajoran Designs worth probably twice as much as the one in the oversize photo. Not that either of them would be very practical in her day-to-day life unless she sold them for things like food and diapers.

  To Alex she said, “You forget that I used to be around jewelry like this all the time. After a while it loses a bit of its allure.”

  He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Shh. Don’t let anyone hear you say that or we’ll lose customers.”

  She laughed again. “Sorry,” she returned in an equally low, equally conspiratorial voice.

  “So why were you studying this one so intently?”

  Shrugging a bare shoulder, she turned back to it. “There are just a few things I would have done differently, that’s all.”

  It took a second for Alex to reply. Then he asked, “Like what?”

  She worried her bottom lip for a moment, not sure she should say anything. Then with a sigh, she decided she probably couldn’t get into any more trouble with him than she already was.

  “The metalwork is a bit heavy-handed,” she said, pointing to the spots she was talking about. “These stones don’t need that thick a setting. If the gold were a bit thinner, more of the emeralds would show and the whole thing would have more sparkle to it.”

  One beat passed, then two.

  “What else?” he asked.

  “I might have gone with more slope to the design.” She ran her finger over the outline of the piece to illustrate her point. “This is very boxy, whereas more curvature would lay better against a woman’s chest and be more appealing to the eye.”

  This time, more than a couple of beats passed in silence. She’d counted well past ten and begun to sweat before she twisted slightly to face him.

  His expression was inscrutable. The only thing she could tell was that his eyes had gone dark and he was studying her as though he expected her to burst into flames at any moment. And she just might, if her embarrassment grew much hotter.

  She opened her mouth to apologize, backpedal as much as possible, but he cut her off.

  “How do you know so much about this stuff?”

  Caught off guard, she rolled her eyes and said the first thing that popped into her head. “Hello? Jessica Taylor, Taylor Fine Jewels. I told you, I grew up around all of this. Before my family and your family went their separate ways, I was in line to start designing for the company on an official basis. But even before then, my father let me offer suggestions on existing design specs.”

  She turned toward the crowd, watching until she spotted just the right example. “See that woman standing over there in the too-short red dress?”

  Alex followed her line of sight. “I don’t think it’s too short.”

  With a snort, Jessica murmured to herself, “Of course you don’t.” He probably didn’t think the dress was too tight for the woman’s build, either, considering how much of her breasts were popping out.

  Then to him she said, “The earrings and necklace she’s wearing are mine. Marquise-cut diamonds in a white gold setting, with a lone ruby as the main focal point. My father made me work with one of the company’s design teams, but only to be sure everything was done correctly. Otherwise, he told them to give me free reign.”

  Jessica could feel that she was smiling from ear to ear, but she couldn’t help it. Perfecting and designing those pieces, working at her family’s company and having her father show so much faith in her had been one of the happiest times of her life. She’d so been looking forward to doing that every day. Not just on a whim or trial basis, but as a career.

  For the first time, she realized she shouldn’t have given up on that dream so easily. She’d been so busy starting a new life that she’d lost sight of those goals. Even if it had been in another city, for another company, she should have found a way to continue designing.

  Once again the stretch of silence from Alex brought her head around. His sharp blue gaze made her pulse skitter and sent a shiver rippling under her skin.

  “The only other time I’ve ever seen you smile like that is when you’re playing with Henry,” he told her, his tone so low and intense, her chest grew too tight for her lungs to draw in a breath. “Why didn’t I know about any of this before?”

  Jessica blinked, her fingers curling into the palm of one hand and around the rhinestone-studded satin clutch in the other. He was moving too fast for her, jumping from business to personal, personal to business, too quickly for her to keep up. Not with the conversation, but with the feelings he was stirring inside of her and with what she thought he might be conveying with his suddenly severe expression.

  Was the heat of his gaze banked passion or tightly controlled anger? She couldn’t tell for sure, but from the arousal coiling low in her belly, she found herself hoping it was the former. As dangerous as that thought was.

  Licking her dry lips and swallowing until she thought she could manage clear and normal speech, she said, “I guess my father never told anyone. Maybe he was waiting to see how I performed and whether my pieces actually sold before taking steps to hire me into the company officially.”

  Reaching out, he brushed a tendril of hair away from her face, letting the
backs of his fingers skim her cheek. Sparks of electricity went off in her bloodstream at the contact, raising goose bumps over every inch of her flesh.

  “We didn’t manufacture very many of that design,” he said softly, the words barely penetrating her hormone-addled brain. “But they sold very, very well.”

  She blinked, pleasure flooding her at his admission.

  “I even remember commenting that we needed to put out more pieces like that on a larger scale, but I never thought to ask for more from the actual designer. I simply assumed they were the result of a design team’s efforts.”

  “If you’re saying all of this just to be nice or to butter me up for something, please don’t tell me the truth yet,” she murmured, letting her eyes slide closed on the riot of sensations washing through her. “Let me savor this feeling just a while longer.”

  Eyes still closed, she smelled Alex moving closer a second before she felt his warm breath fan her face. His aftershave was an intoxicating mix of spicy citrus and sandalwood that she remembered intimately from their single night together. Now, as she had then, she inhaled deeply, wanting to absorb his scent and carry it with her from that moment on.

  His mouth pressed against hers. Soft, but firm. Passionate, but not at all inappropriate given their current location and how large an audience they might be attracting.

  He pulled away long before she was ready, leaving her cold and lonely. Her eyes fluttered open and she almost moaned with disappointment.

  Still standing close enough to draw undue attention, he whispered quietly, “I meant every word. Although I do have a question for you that you might think I was buttering you up for.”

  His thumbs stroked the pulse points at her wrists, which she was sure were pounding harder than a jackhammer.