Power of Three

by Jenna Castille

  Janice snickered as she braced Lisa and kept her friend from falling over. “But I keep feeling like there’s something missing, something important. And I can’t put my finger on what it is.”

  “You sure it’s not just you being commitment shy? You know, psyching yourself out?” Lisa gave up her precarious position by rolling back to sit cross-legged, putting down her glass and facing Janice. “‘Cause if it is, you’re making Eric pay for someone else’s crime. Plus you’re letting he-who-shall-not-be-named run your life. You’re handing him more power than the bastard’s worth. All that should do is piss you off.”

  “I don’t think it’s that. It could be.” Janice groaned and poured Lisa and herself a refill from the almost empty pitcher on the coffee table. “Hell, I just don’t know anymore. All I know is I don’t want to lose Eric.”

  Propping her head in her palm, Lisa gave Janice a goofy grin. “Well my advice is the same as what you told me when I first met the boys. Enjoy him for now. If it’s meant to be, it will be. No need to rush it. Don’t worry about it until he pops the question. Then talk it out with him.”

  Her inebriated friend had a point but it wasn’t that easy to accept. Especially since it was almost exactly what she’d told Lisa almost a year ago. She hated having her own words shoved back at her. It was freaking annoying. “I know. I just wish I could understand what I’m missing. I’m good with feelings. I always know what other people feel, I just do. But my own emotions are a stinking, tangled mess. I mean, what’s up with that?”

  Lisa gave her a strange look, opening and closing her mouth. Janice expected her to lay on the words of wisdom. Instead she shook her head. “It’ll come.”

  Wow, insightful—not. Great enlightenment must not be found at the bottom of a margarita or three.

  “I guess. Maybe this trip will be a good thing after all. Maybe I just need some time alone with him to get a handle on the situation. Then I’ll realize that I’m making a big deal about nothing.”

  Right, she thought. Even I don’t believe that.

  Leaning forward, Lisa braced herself with a hand on each of Janice’s shoulders, giving her a not so gentle shake. She stared in her eyes. “Just remember, you need the moral support, I’m just a phone call away. Least I can do after your putting up with me during my debacle.”

  Janice snorted, pushing her away. Geez, who’d she think she was talking to? “Some debacle. ’Oh help, I’m falling for two men who both want to share me. I think they might actually want to marry me and make a somewhat honest woman of me.’ Forgive me if I don’t think your problem rates as high.”

  “Hell, at least I could tell I was falling for them.”

  “Yeah, right. You were less sure about total commitment than I’ll ever be. So bite me,” Janice growled, pushing her friend away.

  Lisa grinned as she fell back on her elbows. “No way. God only knows where you’ve been. I don’t wanna bring back some exotic cooties. Gotta keep the guys’ safety in mind.”

  The pillow Janice threw bounced off her giggling friend’s head. “Remind me why I invited you here.”

  “Ya needed someone to bitch to and drink with, preferably someone with an easy-to-find designated driver.” As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Lisa squinted at her watch and sighed. “And that would be him.”

  “Tim or Julian?”

  “Tim.” Lisa groaned as she got to her feet and stretched, swaying ever so slightly. “He just got off work.”

  “Ooh.” Janice started clapping her hands and bouncing. “Does that mean he’s all sweaty and scantily clad?”

  “Sweaty, probably.” Lisa gave her an apologetic smile and patted her shoulder. “But he does get dressed when he leaves the club. Ya can’t drive around in a g-string. Even in Vegas that’s frowned on.”

  “Damn, no free eye-candy,” Janice pouted.

  Lisa patted her head and clicked her tongue. “Sorry, sweetie. If you wanna see it you gotta pay like everyone else. Julian and I are the only ones who get freebies.”

  “Greedy bitch,” Janice whined. But she barely kept the laughter from her voice.

  “You know it. Now stop moping, go pack your bags and enjoy your trip. Be thankful your work’s paying and knock boots often.”

  Janice gave a mock salute as her friend slipped her shoes on and wobbled to the door. “Aye, aye, captain.”

  Chapter Four

  A cool breeze off the bay whipped through Janice’s short golden curls, flashing the layer of light blue hidden beneath. The handle of her carry-on creaked as she gripped it and took a breath, the salty taste of the sea lingering on her tongue. San Francisco. And I’ll probably leave my heart here, she thought to herself as she fought not to look over her shoulder at her traveling companion as he paid the taxi driver.

  Eric Malcolm walked up beside her and gave a soft whistle. Startled, she glanced over to see him staring at the hotel, his hazel eyes narrowed in intense concentration. “Nice. I see why the big guys are interested enough to pop for another group to come down and give this a try.” A smile gave his professional demeanor a hint of boyish charm. “Very posh. Just the type of place to get Jones all giddy with dollar signs.”

  Janice gazed at the building in question. Located a few blocks from Chinatown on one side and almost the same distance from the Japantown mall on the other, the combination hotel and spa was impressive. Simply named Zen, it looked like a piece of the ancient orient sliced out of time and set down in the midst of the hustle and bustle of downtown San Francisco without a single ginkgo leaf falling out of place. Ornate and relatively small for the area, only twelve stories with six rooms per floor, its brochure promised an intimate, if expensive, experience.

  Closing her eyes, Janice reached out with her extra sense to feel out the place. Soothing warmth pulsed around the hotel like a living thing. It reminded her of a child’s perfect summer day, nothing but peace stretched out before her. Absolute calm wrapped around her. She reeled in the energy, letting it feed her soul before opening her eyes to the real world again.

  “RM&J may want to package this but could anyone else pull it off?” Janice asked, letting that aura of tranquility run over and through her. The appeal ran deep, leaving the entire area with a sense of order and serenity. “A place like this takes more than skill. It takes dedication and a certain amount of love.”

  “Ours is not to wonder why.” Eric flipped one stray sandy-blond lock that had escaped from his usual short ponytail out of his eyes before throwing his briefcase over one broad shoulder and reaching down for his other bag. “Ours is just to get Saitou to sign on the dotted line.”

  Janice nodded but held on to her doubts. There was no way someone who put as much thought and work and just plain heart into a place like this would be interested in franchising it, not if he didn’t need the money. And from the research she’d done, Saitou certainly didn’t need the money. Thank God she wasn’t in Eric’s shoes. At least she wouldn’t be getting any flack from the bosses when this deal fell through. She was just the mild-mannered personal assistant. Eric was the golden child with a reputation for delivering the goods to protect.

  Just concentrate on the job. She stepped down the stone path and entered the building into an atrium containing a miniature Japanese tea garden filled with cherry trees, twisted pines, koi ponds, rock gardens and little decorative benches. The trickling sound of water soothed travel-frazzled nerves. The entire building radiated a tranquility that she’d never felt before and that would be way too easy to get used to. Even the check-in desk that lined the back wall was disguised as a quiet pagoda.

  A young Japanese woman with jet-black hair artfully arranged, wearing a blue kimono-styled dress, scurried forward with two men following close at her heels.

  “Ohayo gozaimasa. Good morning and welcome to Zen. Please, allow these men to take your bags.” She gave a low bow. A flick of her hand sent the men scrambling for their luggage. “I am Ishi Yoshida. I will be your personal hostess during your stay. Are y
ou Mr. Malcolm and Ms. Thompson from RM&J?”

  “Yes,” Eric said, sounding as surprised by the warm welcome as Janice felt.

  White teeth gleamed as she shot a friendly smile. “Very good. Mr. Saitou said to expect your arrival and that you should be treated as our most honored guests. We have two rooms reserved for you on the top floor. If you would please follow me.”

  After signing in, Janice and Eric followed Ishi to a small glass elevator shaped much like an ornamental birdcage. Their card-keys activated their trip directly to the eleventh floor. Ishi led them to the farthest set of rooms and gestured Eric toward the first door.

  “Mr. Saitou’s rooms are located on the twelfth floor. Only a private elevator will access that. So your rooms are on the highest floor available to patrons. You will have more privacy here for your business. Mr. Saitou arranged for each of you to have your own suite, with a meeting room located between. He will join you there at five tomorrow evening to discuss your offer. Until then, he says you are free to make use of any of our amenities. Simply call the operator and ask for Ishi. I will make whatever arrangements you wish.” Ishi bowed to Eric.

  Both Eric and Janice thanked her. Janice found it hard to resist bowing back but wasn’t sure if that would be appropriate.

  When Eric’s door clicked shut, Ishi led Janice to her rooms.

  Janice’s breath caught in her throat as the door opened and Ishi quietly excused herself. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. She’d been in a lot of fancy, high-priced hotels since becoming a personal assistant for RM&J but nothing compared to this. Again Janice felt like she’d stepped back to a simpler time. Paper screens separated the area into distinct rooms. The warm color embraced the senses but was punctuated by a few silk fans and ornate woodwork. Uncluttered cabinetry and deep cushions completed the ambience.

  Janice couldn’t resist slipping off her shoes and walking over to the window that took up one entire wall. With the hotel one of the lowest buildings in the area, the view from her window should’ve been horrible. But instead she looked out onto an open courtyard set up identically to the inner atrium. The only difference was the use of native plants.

  This place was too perfect—way too perfect to be duplicated or prepackaged. Franchising would be a nightmare if not entirely impossible. She had no idea what the bigwigs had planned but no way would it work. Still, at least she could enjoy the week in San Fran on the company tab. Las Vegas had reached 109 degrees before they left. The cool ocean air presented a welcome relief from the arid desert sun.

  Before she settled in completely, the shrill jangle of the phone broke the peaceful solitude.

  But she wasn’t upset. Instead she smiled. Eric was checking up on her. He might be complete business when they were working but he could still play the sweetheart angle when they weren’t. “Yes?”

  “Janice,” his warm voice rumbled over the line, “do you mind if I come over? I have something I want to talk to you about.”

  She lay down on the bed and stretched out, twisting the phone cord between her fingers. Damn, even the ceiling had what looked like hand-carved crown-molding. The wood looked like it might be teak. “You want to talk? Really?” she teased, knowing exactly what he was angling for.

  “Yes really.” His voice dripped mock pain. “I want to talk to you. Friend to friend.”

  Janice smirked. It’d been nine months since they first worked together on one of RM&J’s projects here in San Francisco, six months since she’d let him seduce her. She knew him better than he thought she did. “That way you can fill me in on the negotiations so far.” She snickered. “Right, I’m buying that one.”

  “We can do other things too, if you must. I won’t resist your wicked wiles,” he teased back. “But I really do want to talk something over with you first.”

  Janice’s stomach tightened. Shit, she hoped he wasn’t going to push the C word. It wasn’t that she wanted to see other people or anything. Eric was more than enough for her. Getting involved with a superior, even one she didn’t report to directly, had been risky. And yet she genuinely liked Eric. Maybe more. She just didn’t know if she was ready for that more part and he kept hinting about the whole “official” thing. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to make any kind of decision.

  A nervous laugh echoed over the line. “It’s just a talk, Janice. We have talked before. Don’t tell me you’ve been using me for sex all this time.”

  “Not all this time.” She forced her worries back. Cross or burn that bridge when you have a bridge to cross or burn. “Just recently.”

  “Very funny. Now can I come over or what?”

  “Sure.” Stupid, stupid, stupid. If this bites you in the ass, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.

  Chapter Five

  The waves of anxiety surrounding Eric when she opened her door almost knocked her from her feet. He might look cool and confident but he was struggling to camouflage his emotions. Damn, he did need a friend to talk to. Why hadn’t she noticed before? She usually knew the moment someone around her was upset. She started to reach out and pull him into a comforting embrace. Maybe she could use her way with emotions and draw some of that worry off him. But that wouldn’t be fair. He had a right to his feelings. But she could still offer him reassurance.

  She took his hand and guided him into the room. “Okay, spill. What’s wrong?”

  “Who said anything was wrong?” he asked but he focused slightly to the right of her gaze. Even without being sensitive to his emotional state, she recognized this tell.

  Janice shook her head but ushered him further into the room, casting a wistful look at the large, plush bed. So much for her night of red-hot monkey sex. “I don’t know. I think maybe I’m saying it. Face it, Eric, you’re not exactly a closed-book kinda guy. More the heart-on-his-sleeve type. Which begs the question, how do you do so well in business without a decent poker face?”

  “You’re the only one who reads me so well.” Eric pulled his hand free, still scanning the room as though he were completely absorbed by the surroundings. The calming aura of the decor couldn’t possibly be causing his hidden agitation. And it certainly did nothing to calm him. But Janice kept quiet, allowing him time. He obviously didn’t want her to know how disturbed he felt. Finally he cleared his throat. “Okay. I did it.”

  Vague much? she thought as she sat in one of the low cherry wood chairs by the table near the window and waited for him to do the same. She watched him closely, trying to get a handle on what exactly he was feeling beyond the apprehension. Excitement and fear. Anxiety warred with a strange sense of hope. Overall he seemed almost shell-shocked. Not good, that was not good at all for a normally level-headed individual. “Did what exactly?” she asked after he carefully arranged himself in the chair.

  He licked his lips, one of her personal favorite things to do for him, and then leaned forward. “You know I haven’t been happy lately working for the company.”

  Shrugging, she shot him a playful, let’s-keep-it-light grin. “Yes. Like I said, not much of a poker face on you.”

  That brought an answering curve to his lips. But the slight smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I decided to take the plunge and try my hand at things up here. I gave my notice. After this deal, I’m on my own.”

  Practically a punch to the gut. Janice leaned back and absorbed the news. He had mentioned wanting to strike out on his own, many times actually. But she didn’t know how she felt about losing him in the office. And what was that about trying it here? Maybe she’d misunderstood. “Wow. Wasn’t expecting that. Where are you planning to go exactly?”

  “Actually, I’ve been thinking about relocating to San Francisco.” As Janice leaned further back, he rushed on, “I got an offer to come in as a partner in a small northern California bed and breakfast chain running out of the city. I’m considering it. I’d be buying in as a full partner and be working mainly with the publicity side of things.”

  Janice stared at him for a moment, s
tunned. Leaving. He was leaving the city, the state? After putting her through all this emotional relationship turmoil he decided to leave? “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered as her neat little world rocked on its foundations.

  Eric scooted forward on his chair and took her cold hands in his. “Actually, I was hoping you’d say you’d come with me.”

  She gasped as her insides turned to glass. She felt like the tiniest wrong move would cause her to shatter into a million miniscule shards. “And do what exactly, bring you coffee? Wear micro-minis and call you ‘sir’?” She tried to joke, though she felt anything but humorous. He wasn’t asking what she thought he was asking, was he?

  “I wasn’t thinking about hiring you as a secretary. I know you’ve worked hard to get to the level you’re at with the company. Leaving would be a major risk, especially without someone making it worth your while.” Looking into his eyes, Janice felt the truth in his words. “I was thinking about training you more on the PR side of things. In time, you’d have a chance to move up the ranks.”

  Okay, good. Don’t panic. He’s serious but this isn’t the marriage conversation. She didn’t need her extra sensitivity to emotions to know that he meant what he offered. His sincerity filled the room. But her cynical side raised its ugly head, forcing her hands out of his. “Why? Am I really that good in bed?” Damn, why’d she have to ask that?

  But Eric only leaned back and laughed, eyes sparkling. “Sweetheart, you’re stellar in bed. Freaking fantastic in bed. But that’s got nothing to do with work. I thought I made that clear months ago. Your instinct with people is dead-on. That’s why I always ask for you to come with me on these acquisition trips. I hate to see you wasting that talent at RM&J just because you lack a degree. Human resources will never give you a fair shake. You should realize that by now. I’d be taking advantage of their shortsightedness.”

  It wasn’t easy but she squashed the flicker of hope and pride that built in her heart at his words. She folded her fingers together, keeping both hands in her lap. “So I should just quit my job, pull up stakes and move to another state on the possibility of advancement?”