Now and for the duration of her contract with Lux Hotels, she would stick to the rules. She would be the job once again and she would find a way to stop loving Justin.
Justin hung up the phone. “I have a meeting I forgot.”
Shana nodded. “Sure. And I have the roofing contractors in…” she looked at her watch so as to infuse the lie with sincerity, “…fifteen minutes.”
“Guess we better get a move on,” Justin said playfully slapping her behind as she rolled off the bed.
“Absolutely,” she said, picking up her clothes and putting them on.
“Call me when you finish your meeting,” he said.
“Why?” Shana had bit the word off too fast and she realized that her emotions were volatile enough to betray her.
Tucking his shirt into his pants, he replied, “Because I want your report.”
“Right.”
Justin walked over to her and pulled her to him in one confident move. “I had a good time today. Did you?”
“Uh huh,” she smiled. Keep up the acting, Shana. You can do this.
“Good.” His voice was jaunty and light as he released her. He grabbed his suit jacket and put it on. “I’ve got to rush. You take your time. Bathroom is in there. I’ll talk to you later.” He kissed her on the forehead and gave her a quick peck on the mouth and dashed out of the penthouse.
Shana waited till the door was completely shut before she burst into tears.
CHAPTER SEVEN
In the past two weeks, Shana had avoided seeing Justin both professionally and personally. Scouring Manhattan design centers, discount fabric stores and mill outlet stores for fabrics for both the Toronto and New York hotels gave Shana a valid excuse to be away from her office for five days straight. For five days she had blessedly kept clear of Justin and contacted him only through her Blackberry or the telephone. Once she had selected the fabrics, there was the matter of choosing the bedding, towels and pillows for the New York hotel and the mattresses for Toronto. This process had added three more days. The selection of the wall sconces and new overhead light fixtures for New York added another two days. Shana figured that if she were lucky she might manage another three weeks away from her office.
“I wonder if I could talk Justin into letting me fly to North Carolina for the furniture selections. That would get me out of town completely. I could go on to Atlanta for the tile, marble and granite selections,” Shana thought to herself as she rounded the corner and walked up to the café where she was meeting Cate for lunch.
Cate was wearing a pretty lime green strapless sundress and espadrilles. Her hair was pulled back in a clip at her nape, which allowed the enormous diamond and gold loop earrings she wore to swing freely as she twisted her head around to greet Shana.
“Hey, stranger,” Cate said standing to quick hug Shana.
“How was Cabo?”
“His name was Miguel and he was fabulous,” Cate said rolling her eyes and fanning herself with her hand. “How’s your summer going?”
“I’m very pleased. I ordered several Chelsea Additions fabrics. But the Cowton and Tout checks and florals for Toronto are out of this world. They were featured in Architectural Digest…”
“That’s not what I meant,” Cate blurted. “I’ve been gone two weeks and you look different.”
Shana would have cratered under Cate’s blistering gaze, but she’d learned a great deal about acting in the past few weeks. She’d learned to hold her cool in the face of discovery. “How so?”
“Don’t evade. What’s up with Justin?”
Shana shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing. And frankly, I have you to thank for it. I’m following your advice about how to get him out of my system. I have now sexually binged on him. Now I’m purging.”
Cate eyed her friend suspiciously. “Really?”
Shana’s Blackberry vibrated in her slack’s pocket. She ignored it. “I’ve successfully avoided Justin for over two weeks.”
“I thought you were in love with him.”
Shana’s exhale was filled with defeat. “I was. Am. But I have to get over him.”
Cate leaned closer and placed her hand over Shana’s. “Is there someone else?”
“I’m sure of it. She called his suite right after…” Shana stopped herself knowing she’d said too much.
Cate’s eyes flew wide open. “You were in his suite? In bed? Hmm. Impatient. I like that in a guy.”
“I wanted it as much as he did,” Shana admitted. “I’m shameless when it comes to Justin.”
Cate’s smile was empathetic. “I don’t think so. Believe me, I wrote the book on shameless with men. But you’re a strong woman, Shana. Two weeks can seem like a lifetime when you’re in love. I don’t know if I could have done as well as you.”
Shana’s cell phone vibrated again.
Cate looked down at Shana’s waist. “Is that him?”
“Yes.”
“You can do that? Just put him off? I mean, he being your boss and all.”
Shana retrieved the Blackberry from her pocket and checked the text message. She frowned when she read the demand. “He’s pissed.”
Cate threw Shana a sarcastic look. “Imagine.”
“You’re going to have to see him sooner or later. You can’t hide forever.”
“I know,” Shana nodded. “I have that all figured out. I’ve been doing visualizations and mantras to fortify myself against him when I see him,” Shana replied confidently. “You’re right. I’m a strong woman. I can stand up to anything. Even Justin.”
Cate sat back giving Shana a reassured gaze. “My hero.”
*********
Justin was pacing and he never paced. Raking his fingers through his hair should have dispelled some of his frustration at not being able to get in touch with Shana, but these days, nothing seemed to work. Seventeen days of text messages, broken promises to meet with him and Shana’s messengers delivering fabric samples and tile chips for his approval told him all he wanted to know.
Shana was doing more than avoiding him. She had written him off.
She was telling him loud and clear that she didn’t want a personal relationship with him. Right now, Justin knew only one thing. He needed her. It was bad enough that Trent reminded him constantly about the Will, but what really bothered Justin was that after having sex with Shana in his own bed, strangely, he couldn’t look at his bed without thinking of her. Clearly, there was something haywire in his libido. One woman wasn’t that much different from the next or the last. He’d lived life long enough and full enough to know that there wasn’t a woman on earth who wasn’t thinking of his fat bank account when she smiled at him.
He sensed, though he didn’t know, that Shana was different. For some inexplicable reason, he’d revealed more of himself and his past to Shana than any one ever. At first he thought this was because she was his employee. She was paid to be a sounding board of a type, wasn’t she? Maybe she kissed him back like she did, because she didn’t want to lose her job.
The thing that puzzled him the most was that he and she sincerely loved the hotels. He was born to them. She adopted them like children. Even in her supposed absence, her text messages and her attention to detail about the fabrics and furnishings she chose were underscored with meticulous attention and, dare he think it, caring. As much as she confounded him, he found that he admired her tenacious and obviously, energetic sense of duty.
Shana had put the hotels first. Even more than he had.
Today’s planning meeting with the head of the construction company, the architect for the speakeasy, the accountants and the publicist Justin had hired, was a perfect excuse for Justin and Shana to come face to face. In anticipation of seeing her, he’d worn his black Ermenegildo Zegna single-breasted suit with a spread collar white Oxford cloth shirt and a Zegna black and gray paisley silk tie. He told himself that if he looked good, maybe it would influence Shana in some way to take him up on a dinner invitation.
Jus
tin honestly hadn’t the slightest idea why he was acting like an insecure high schooler when it came to Shana. The only cause for his nervousness had to be due to the fact that he needed to propose marriage to her and soon.
“But how can I pop the question if I never see her?” he grumbled to himself.
Just then one of the kitchen staff entered the conference room with a tea cart filled with delicate pastries and tea sandwiches displayed on a three tiered gold server, a silver coffee urn, bottles of cold water and a pitcher of mint iced tea.
“Looks terrific. Just put it over there near the window,” Justin said checking his Audemars Piquet Royal Oak watch.
He no more than looked up when the accountant, Bill Sanders, and Harry Ingleston, the construction general entered the room. Justin shook their hands and suggested they grab a cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea. Within minutes everyone attending the meeting had arrived. Shana walked in behind Sue Eggleston, the new publicist.
Justin greeted Sue politely but from the instant he saw Shana dressed in a white summer suit with black trim, belt and shoes, he felt his knees turn to liquid. He didn’t know how it was possible, but she had grown even more beautiful in the weeks they’d been apart. She had a light suntan, which was accentuated by the white suit fabric. She’d worn her shining blonde hair loose around her shoulders. Her makeup was minimal with only a bit of mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss but she glowed as if she’d been lit from within.
She looked at him with a confident smile and shook his hand. “Hello, Mr. Yates.”
She stunned him. He thought he’d answered her but suddenly his tongue had gone thick in his mouth and his brain somehow had shut down its neurotransmitters. As he gazed at her, all he could think about was their first meeting in the steam room and the Shana he saw before him now was naked. He’d call off the meeting. He’d order everyone to leave. Then he’d be alone with her where he’d make love to her right on the conference table.
Or maybe he’d remember that he was Justin Yates and the CEO of the Lux Hotel Chain.
He cleared his throat. “Shana. Good to see you,” he said calmly and succinctly as if the formation of the words had been effortless and not the gargantuan feat he’d just performed.
He motioned for Shana to sit next to him at the table. She smiled sweetly, tipped her head and walked to the opposite end of the table. “I’ll need some room to spread out my design boards and photos,” she said.
Justin refused to admit that she was still trying to avoid him. He chose, for the sake of his own sanity, to believe her. She just needed some room.
The meeting lasted over two hours, but as everyone departed from the conference room, they all agreed they were on the same page.
Shana was talking with Sue Eggleston about the media blitz they wanted to conduct to promote the opening of the speakeasy when Justin walked up and took Shana’s elbow. “Can I speak with you after you and Sue finish?”
Shana had hoped to use Sue to deflect just this kind of request from Justin. “Actually, we were going to my office to continue our discussion,” Shana said.
In a bubbly voice, Sue offered, “It can wait, Shana. I’ll give you a call tomorrow after I talk to Fox television. I’ll let you know what they say about coverage.” Sue shook Shana’s hand and then Justin’s. “Nice to see you again, Justin. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with all the changes. It’s like magic.”
“It’s all due to Shana,” Justin said proudly. “I can assure you of that.”
“Thank you,” Shana said feeling a blush of humility rise to her cheeks.
Sue left the conference room and Shana was alone with Justin. They faced each other awkwardly, neither of them speaking, their eyes locked on each other searching for answers to unposed, unconsidered questions.
Justin barreled forward. “I believe in cutting to the chase. You’ve been avoiding me.”
Shana opened her mouth to allow her lie to escape and then snapped it shut. “Actually, I was doing what I was hired to do.”
He peered at her with eyes so blue they could cut glass. She felt his gaze to the tailbone of her soul. She hadn’t wanted to attend this meeting. She’d thought of a dozen ways to get out of it, but when the final moment came, she had to admit that she wanted to see him. She’d been without a Justin fix for nearly three weeks and despite the drying out, she was still addicted.
She wished to heaven that something would have changed to make her immune, but instead, he looked a thousand times more handsome than she remembered. All through the meeting, she listened to his mesmerizing voice and the way he joked with everyone and graciously allowed them all to have equal time to present their ideas. He did not chastise anyone for some of the shortfalls they were seeing. He diplomatically pointed out the necessity for more stringent adherence to construction deadlines and suggested that they all stay in closer contact with him or Shana so that problems could be solved expeditiously.
Though the hotel business and construction was new to him, his manner was that of a seasoned veteran. In her years of experience, she’d never worked for a more knowledgeable boss.
He folded his arms in front of him. “Well, then, I want to thank you for doing a commendable job. I don’t think anyone could do what you’ve done any better.”
“Thank you,” she replied. “I was just thinking the same of you. You were hurled into this brave new world with no guidance whatsoever and so far, we are basically moving forward according to plan. Each time there has been a problem or setback, you’ve handled it.”
He flashed her a blazing smile that nearly knocked her over. “Coming from you, that’s high praise.”
“You’ve earned all the accolades you’re receiving, Mr. Yates.”
The scowl that filled Justin’s face looked like raging storm clouds. “So, it’s not Justin, anymore?”
“We’re talking business here,” she said taking a step back from him as if the tempest of his anger could reach out and strike her.
Justin grabbed her arm. “I don’t want it to be like this,” he growled.
Shana recoiled. “It has to be.”
“Why?”
“Because it does,” she shot, but for the life of her she couldn’t formulate a concrete argument. The thought crossed her mind that the reason further protests did not come to mind, might just be the fact that she would give her eye teeth to be held in his arms and feel his lips on hers just one more time.
Justin shoved his face close to hers until they were nearly nose to nose. “Let me get this straight. I make love to you and I’m thinking that we have something pretty darn good going on and you go off to a meeting and I don’t see you in the office or out of it for nearly three weeks? You don’t see something a bit…odd about that? Then you tell me that you’re doing your job. As if you were doing my bidding or something like that. And I’m supposed to accept this explanation?”
“Uh,” Shana licked her lips. She didn’t have a comeback. God help her she didn’t want to talk to him. She didn’t want to argue with him. She just wanted to kiss him…for about a week and a half. She didn’t care if she died of suffocation. It would be a wondrous way to die.
His eyes bored into her, demanding a reply. Insisting on the truth.
She couldn’t tell him the truth. She had hoped that with the distance she’d put between them, she would have discovered that she was only infatuated with Justin. But as he stood looming over her, steam rising from the top of his head and looking as if he would bite her head off, she only wanted to hug him. She was overcome with the idea that if Justin ever received the kind of love she had to give, he would be changed man. But that was idiotic. That was the kind of thinking that was the bane of most women. It was the Beauty and the Beast syndrome. My love will change him. No one could change anyone else. People changed themselves for themselves. Shana’s overly romantic heart and the fact that she was in love with Justin was most assuredly going to be her downfall.
“I’m not buying this. It�
�s not the job that you were running to, Shana. You were running away from me.”
Pressing her hands against his muscular chest, she could feel his heartbeat. It would be so easy to give in to him and lose herself in an affair. But sooner or later, it would end. There would be someone else and she would be left heartbroken all over again. “You’re wrong.”
“Am I?”
“I thought we were having fun,” she said.
“Funny. So did I. So, why stop?” he asked with a wicked grin as he pulled her closer.
Shana pushed against his chest and stepped back from him. “Because, Justin, I can’t. I have to be honest with you. I’m not that kind of person. I thought I could be. I wanted to be. I wanted to be what you wanted. A fun fling. I’m just not that kind of girl.”
He stared at her for a long moment and said nothing as her words sank in.
She started to walk away from him.
“Come back here!” he shouted. He lurched to her side and grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around.
His mouth ravaged her lips. His tongue plundered her interior as if by doing so he would learn all the mystical answers to life itself. His was the unquenchable thirst. He could barely breathe and his heart hammered in his chest with so much force he thought his ribs would break. He crushed her to his chest in a vain attempt to pull her so close to him that somehow they would meld together and then she would have no hope of escape. He had no reason why his body revolted so powerfully against his better judgment. He only knew that at this moment he wanted Shana and nothing was going to stop him.
Sinking his fingers into her silken hair, he simultaneously pushed her toward the conference table. He would take her here. Somehow he would show her that she needed him as much as he needed her. He would make her want him again.
Slicking his tongue down her throat he found her pulse point and there he found the affirmation he sought. Her heart was beating as rapidly as his. Her breath spiraled out of her throat in short raspy hitches. It was the sound she made before she climaxed. Justin realized that he’d barely touched her and she was ready for him. She could protest all she wanted, but her body was the barometer of the truth.
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