Irresistible You

by Celeste O. Norfleet

  It had started off easily enough. But even then she felt there was going to be trouble. That’s why she left when she woke up and he was already gone.

  “If I live to be a hundred, I will never understand men,” Juliet ranted absently as she sat watching her father smile then kiss and hug his new bride.

  Randolph rolled his eyes to the ballroom’s ceiling. “Are we back to that again?” Randolph whispered after hearing more of Juliet’s rants. She’d been going on and on since the two of them had flown down for the wedding. “If you didn’t want to come to the wedding you should have said so.”

  “He asked for a simple favor. I did a simple favor. No attachments, that’s what he said, that was the deal.” She sipped from her champagne flute.

  “And,” Randolph prompted.

  “And what?” she said.

  “And who was the he and what was the favor?”

  “Never mind,” Juliet said.

  “No way,” Randolph said as he poured more champagne into her glass. “You’re not gonna begin a statement like that and just say never mind.”

  “J.T. Evans.”

  “Of course,” Randolph said nodding and remembering their meeting on the patio the night before. “I should have guessed. He looked like he was going to knock me down when I escorted you out last night. So what happened between you two?”

  Juliet told Randolph the whole story beginning with their first meeting in New York and ending with the afternoon that J.T. came by to drop off the check, including J.T.’s notion of their relationship. “Don’t give me that over protective big brother stuff. It was your idea not to let people know we’re related.”

  “What were you thinking?” he began angrily.

  “Don’t you start,” Juliet said. Patricia has already blasted my ears about New York and this whole thing.”

  “Good, you deserved it. You realize, of course, that I have to get involved at this point.”

  “Don’t you dare, this has nothing to do with you. Your getting involved will only make things worse.”

  “How much worse can they possibly be? What exactly were you thinking when you agreed to this.”

  “It was a simple deal.”

  “Obviously it didn’t work out like you planned.”

  “Obviously,” she said miserably.

  “So what are you going to do now that you’re in love with him?”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “Only to the trained eye,” he paused and smiled. “And, of course, everyone else on the planet,” he added. “Is he in love with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t get it. Go live happily ever after.”

  “It’s not that simple and you know it. I told him that I needed time. Then he saw you and me together last night. He doesn’t know that we’re related,” she said.

  “And you didn’t clear up the misconception.”

  “No.”

  “Why not,” he said.

  “You of all people should know the answer to that.” Juliet looked over to their father as he proudly danced with his new bride on the dance floor. “It would never last.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I have a pretty good idea.”

  “Juliet, you’re not meant to be alone. You can’t live your life hiding under a rock because of your mother and Wyatt’s marriage. Falling in love is rare. When it happens, treasure it for as long as you can. Don’t be afraid that the other shoe is going to drop. Not every man is like Wyatt. Do you want him back?”

  “It’s too late for that.” Even if I told him the truth he’d know that I let him believe the worst.”

  Randolph thought for a moment. “What about that matchmaker you were trying to fool.”

  “Mamma Lou?”

  “Yes. Why don’t you talk to her, maybe she can help?”

  “I have no idea how to contact her. All I know is that she lives someplace off the coast of Virginia called Crescent Island.”

  Randolph reached into his suit pocket and pulled out his phone. “Let me make a few calls.” Ten minutes later, he had the exact address for Louise Gates on Crescent Island.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The planning of the Arts Center took all afternoon leaving Lena and Taylor to continue late into the evening. By six o’clock, they had discussed the site, the construction schedule and had narrowed down a workable timetable with a prospective launch date. Planning the new programs took more work.

  With the major decisions taken care of the two women relaxed and enjoyed the early evening dinner that Taylor ordered and had delivered to the office. They sat on the small comfortable conference table in Taylor’s office and continued their discussion over salads, chilled pasta with steamed vegetables and iced tea.

  After refilling hers and Lena’s tea, Taylor sat the carafe down and opened the last container of food—two slices of cheesecake. Full from the meal both women decided to pass on the dessert.

  Their conversation centered on Taylor’s art gallery and works in progress, Lena’s ballet school’s mid-summer recital in New York, and then finally the Arts Commission, the Washington DC Cultural Center and the Capitol Ballet Company. After the brief conversation Taylor confessed to the real reason she needed to speak to Lena.

  “Lena, there’s actually another reason I asked you to stop by this evening,” Taylor said as she gathered the empty plates. Lena helped. They each grabbed empty containers and walked them over to the trash can.

  “Really,” Lena said as she sat back down and picked up her iced tea. “What is it?”

  Taylor walked over to her desk, shuffled through a pile of papers, then pulled a folded newspaper article out and handed it over to Lena. Lena took the paper, grabbed her reading glasses from the table next to her then glanced at the grainy black and white photo and caption at the top of the page. It was a picture of Juliet and Randolph standing smiling side-by-side at a political benefit.

  “I was more than a little surprised to see Juliet and Senator Kingsley pictured together again. I presumed that their relationship had ended a while ago.”

  “Why were you surprised? They’re just as close as they’ve ever been.”

  Taylor’s concern about Juliet’s and Randolph’s renewed relationship weighted heavily. “That’s unfortunate.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I was under that impression Juliet was seeing someone else.”

  “Really, and who might that be?”

  Taylor smiled half-heartedly. “It doesn’t matter now. Not since she and the senator are back together.”

  “Taylor, Juliet and Randolph are very close. They practically grew up together.”

  “I understand. She’s a wonderful person. I hope the two of them will be very happy together,” Taylor said but her troubled expression showed the pain she felt inside for her son. She knew J.T. had seen the photo and she knew he must have been hurting. It was the only explanation for his sour mood all day. She saw him around noon and he barely said a word, just briefly waved and kept going. When she saw him later and asked to speak with him he brushed her off citing an important conference call. He hadn’t moved from his office all day.

  Apparently there had been a spark, at least on his part. Now he looked like a man who had just been sucker punched.

  Lena, seeing her friend’s needless distress, sighed heavily then decided to enlighten her. “Taylor, may I tell you something in the strictest of confidence?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “They’re related,” Lena Said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “They’re brother and sister.”

  “Juliet and Senator Kingsley are brother and sister?” Taylor repeated.

  “Yes, to be more specific, they’re half brother and sister. Wyatt, my ex-husband is their father. As a matter of fact the two of them are in Florida attending Wyatt’s eighth wedding as we speak.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Oh, very few people know. B
oth Wyatt and Randolph wanted it kept quiet in order to protect the family. As you well know, politics can be extremely ugly at times.”

  “Why doesn’t the senator have the last name Bridges? Isn’t it the family name?”

  “Yes, but Rita Kingsley, Randolph’s mother and Wyatt’s first wife, took her maiden name back after their divorce. Neither actually knew that Rita was pregnant until well after the papers were signed and filed.”

  “Oh my goodness,” Taylor said stunned by the extensive and tangled Bridge’s family tree.

  “Wyatt didn’t actually meet his son until Randolph was nearly three-years-old. By then Wyatt was married to Juliet’s mother and she was expecting.”

  “Are they the only two siblings?”

  “Yes.”

  “I can’t tell you how delighted I am to hear this. When I first saw the photo of the two of them together I didn’t know what to think,” Taylor said. Lena looked at her questioning. “I have to tell you I was more than a bit concerned when I saw it, since I was under the impression that Juliet and my son were seeing each other.”

  “Your son?”

  “Yes, J.T.,” Taylor said.

  “That explains it.”

  “Explains what?”

  “I just recently met J.T. at a closed rehearsal at the Cultural Center.”

  “I’m not surprised. The two of them have been practically inseparable of late.”

  Taylor went on to relay the meeting at her house when J.T. and Juliet arrived late. She added other occasions when they were all together and she had personally witnessed the apparent intimacy and closeness of their relationship.

  Lena smiled but kept silent. So that’s what Juliet had been hiding when they spoke earlier in her dressing room. She was having an affair with J.T. Evans, a patron and one of the worst possible things she could do particularly at this point in her career.

  The dance company considers fraternization with patrons questionable unethical. It’s one of their strictest rules. It’s written in every dancer’s contract. They frowned upon relationships with patrons because that can affect funding from donors.

  “How long have J.T. and Juliet been together?” Lean asked.

  “As I understand it, only a few months. Apparently they met during that blackout last year. Whatever happened left a lasting impression because as soon as he came back into town they started the relationship up again.”

  “Interesting, I only recently became aware that they knew each other, I can’t say that I’m completely surprised.”

  “Actually, I had every intention of introducing the two of them myself. I thought they’d be the perfect couple, but I guess fate beat me to it,” Taylor said.

  “You mean matchmaking,” Lena asked. Taylor nodded. “Taylor Evans, you’ve been around Louise Gates too long.”

  “Guilty.”

  “And you’re positive that they’re together?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “Is it serious?”

  “I don’t know. I’d hoped so.”

  “It’s just that Juliet never mentioned anything to me when I spoke to her earlier. As a matter of fact, she completely avoided talking about him. And when I met J.T. earlier he was just as evasive.”

  “Really, that’s odd,” Taylor said knowing how close and genuine Lena and Juliet appeared to be. “I would have thought you would be the first to know. But I didn’t find out myself until last week when Juliet and J.T. came to the house for dinner.”

  Lena paused for a moment to consider her options. Talking to Juliet was imperative. She just hoped that it wasn’t too late and that Juliet had some idea of what she was doing.

  “Well, I’d better go I have an early flight in the morning.” Lena stood to leave. She gathered her folders into her briefcase but her mind was still on Juliet. She needed to speak with her as soon as possible. What could she be thinking? Her entire career could be ended by a brief meaningless fling if indeed that’s all it was.

  Taylor and Lena said their goodbyes and Lena left.

  Taylor packed her briefcase and gathered the papers Trey needed for their proposals. She placed them on her assistant’s desk so that they could be faxed out in the morning. She grabbed the dessert container to take home to Jace then took one last look back as she turned off the office lights and closed the door.

  Taylor walked past the elevators and headed to Jace’s office in the executive suite. As she headed down the hall she noticed that J.T.’s lights were still on in his office. Not at all unusual, he often worked late nights. But she also knew that tonight, in particular, he might need to talk.

  She knocked softly then, receiving no answer, turned the knob and entered. She looked around the office finally finding J.T. standing at the window looking out.

  “J.T.?” she called out.

  He stood with his back to her still staring out into the evening sky. She walked up behind him. “J.T.,” he didn’t move and didn’t respond. “J.T.,” she called out again and tapped his arm. He turned, surprised to see her standing just a few inches away. She jumped back.

  “I’m sorry,” he said and leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I didn’t hear you come in.” He looked troubled.

  “I’m fine. It looked like you were deep in thought.”

  “I guess I was. Did you need something?”

  “No, you’ve been really quiet all day. Is there anything wrong?” Taylor asked as she followed him back to his desk. He sat down heavily as she remained standing.

  J.T. frowned. He hadn’t realized that his behavior was that obvious. “No, just business matters,” he said.

  “Anything I or your father can help you with?”

  “No, not this time,” he said.

  “I just had a meeting with Lena.” Taylor said and placed the container of cheesecake and a fork on the desk in front of him.

  “Oh,” he said as he peeked into the food container. Cheesecake was his favorite. He picked up the fork, stuck it in the creamy dessert and scooped up a mouthful. But instead of eating it he lowered the fork resting it on the side of the container and pushed it away.

  Taylor watched her son carefully. He’d been brooding all afternoon and she knew the reason why—the photo in the paper. Apparently Juliet never told him that Randolph was her half-brother. “How’s Juliet?” she asked.

  “Fine, I guess,” he replied too quickly. He was supposed to be doing damage control. He knew that his mother and father had seen the newspaper photo of Juliet and Randolph. He was just thankful that Mamma Lou was already back on Crescent Island or he’d have to explain it to her as well. And the last thing he needed was to have her back on the matchmaking trail. Not now, not after Juliet, not ever.

  What was she thinking having her photo taken with Randolph so soon after their deal had been completed? She must have known that his parents might see it. And now here he was trying to salvage what was left of a very good plan gone wrong.

  “I suppose you saw the photo of Juliet with Senator Kingsley in the paper this morning,” he began, deciding to just jump right in and get the conversation over with.

  “Yes I saw it.”

  “And you’re wondering why she’s with him?”

  “As a matter of fact Lena and I were just talking about that…”

  “Actually there’s an excellent explanation for it,” he said having no idea what he was going to say.

  Taylor exhaled a huge sigh of relief. She didn’t want to break Lena’s confidence but she had no intention of seeing her son distraught over a simple case of mistaken identity. But now since he apparently already knew she was thrilled. “Yes, I know, Lena already told me.” She walked over to the orchid on his desk and felt for dryness. Satisfied she continued to the windowsill and checked the Jade, bonsai and rubber plants. All were well water and doing fine. Apparently that little talk she had with housekeeping had worked wonders.

  “Really,” J.T. said absently only half listening.

 
“Oh yes, Lena told me everything including that fact that the two of them left for Florida together late last night. Can you imagine? Not even members of his staff know.”

  J.T. sat staring at his mother as the words, Florida and together continued to ring I his ears. They went to Florida together late last night.

  J.T. watched absently as Taylor continued to admire the little touches she’d recently added to his office. She rearranged the silk angora throw she tossed over the back of his new sofa, adjusted the three paintings she had hung and turned on the two lamps she had delivered and placed on his new end tables in his new corner seating area.

  “J.T., I have never told you how to run your life,” she began.

  “I know.”

  “And I’m not gonna start now.”

  “But…” he prompted and waited for her to continue.

  “But, Juliet is a wonderful woman and I know you.”

  “Meaning?” he asked already knowing the answer.

  “Your father has always enjoyed a loving family and a very successful and rewarding career. There’s no reason in the world that you can’t also.”

  “You’re referring to my relationship with Juliet, I assume.”

  “Yes.”

  “And where exactly do you see this relationship going?”

  “Give it a chance J.T., hold onto her,” she said.

  “Mom, I’m not the one who let go,” he said. She looked at him questioning. “There’s something I need to tell you about my relationship with Juliet.”

  “No, not again, please don’t tell me you’ve let her go, because you don’t have the time and work is more important to you. Honestly J.T., look at you. How long do you intend to be alone? This happens every time. At this rate you’ll never get married.” She cross her arms over she chest and huffed.

  “Are you done?”

  “Yes,” she said disgustedly.

  “First of all, I have every intention of getting married someday, just not right now. I know you want the best for me and I love you for that. But some things are just out of my control.”