Much More Than a Mistress

by Michelle Celmer

  “We could watch a movie.”

  “Or we could play a game.”

  “A board game?”

  He grinned. “I was thinking more of a role playing game. Like, you’re the teenage babysitter, and I’m your boyfriend, and you snuck me in.”

  She stifled a smile. “Why would I do something like that? I could get in a lot of trouble. If we got caught, they would tell my parents, and I would get grounded.”

  He grinned. “Because you find me completely charming and totally irresistible.” He leaned close and nibbled her neck. “Besides, the element of danger is what makes it so exciting.”

  “Maybe I’m not that kind of girl.”

  “Maybe…” he said, lying back against the blanket and pulling her down beside him “…we could just make out.”

  It was tough to turn down an offer like that, especially when he was giving her that devilish grin. And God knows she did love kissing him.

  “Just for a little while,” she said, “and only kissing.”

  “Scout’s honor,” he said, but either he wasn’t a very loyal scout or he wasn’t a scout at all, because he had a serious case of wandering hands. At least initially, he didn’t try to reach beneath her clothes, and because it felt so nice she didn’t stop him. And when he slipped his hand under her sweater she figured it was above the waist, so it was okay. But when he undid the button on her jeans she put her hand over his.

  “Jordan, we really shouldn’t be doing this here.”

  “Trust me,” he murmured against her lips, and when he slid the zipper down she let him. He eased his hand inside, touching her on top of her panties. In no time he had her breathing hard and arching against his hand.

  “Not such a good girl anymore, are we?” he said with a wicked smile. Then he slipped his fingers past the delicate fabric. She moaned and clawed her fingers though his hair, kissing him hard as pleasure rippled through her. When it got to be too much, she grabbed his wrist to stop him. “Enough.”

  “Uh-uh. I want to do that again,” he said, but she wanted to make him feel good too. She got up on her knees and pushed him down on to his back, then she unfastened his jeans.

  He grinned and said, “Maybe I’m not that kind of boy.”

  Apparently he was though, because when she freed his erection from his boxers he didn’t try to stop her, and when she leaned over and took him in her mouth he moaned and sank his fingers through her hair. He pushed his jeans down his hips to give her better access and within minutes she could feel him tensing. He had a special sensitive spot just below the family jewels, and when she touched him there he lost it.

  “I think I like this game,” he said, grinning up at her.

  Her too, but it was time they act like responsible babysitters and behaved themselves.

  Nathan and his fiancée weren’t due back for several hours, so they straightened themselves up, laid down together on the couch and switched on the television. But apparently there had been some sort of change of plans because less than half an hour later the door opened and Nathan and Ana walked in.

  Jane sat at her desk Monday morning, one eye on her computer screen, the other on the phone. She wasn’t sure why she was so worried, since technically she hadn’t done anything wrong. Nathan knew that the investigation would necessitate her getting close to Jordan. Hell, hadn’t he been the one to call her into his office and give her advice on how to keep Jordan interested? Well, he was, so she shouldn’t feel guilty for doing exactly what Nathan had told her to. Right?

  The problem was, when she and Jordan were putting on their coats that night, and Jordan’s back was turned, Nathan had given her this look. She couldn’t help feeling that in his eyes, she had done something immoral. Which technically she had, but as far as she could tell, he didn’t know that she’d slept with Jordan. Unless Jordan had confided in him, not realizing that this information would be enough to get her fired on the spot. But Jordan didn’t seem the type to kiss and tell.

  The fact that Jordan had left for the refinery at least a half an hour ago, and Nathan hadn’t summoned her to his office was a good sign, right?

  Someone walked into the office and she looked up from her screen to find the Mr. Everette in question looming over her, looking none too happy.

  Oh hell.

  “Is he here?”

  She shook her head, hoping he came to talk to his brother and not her. “He’ll be at the refinery most of the day.”

  “In his office,” Nathan said, jerking his head in that direction. “Now.”

  Oh, this was not good. She got up and walked into Jordan’s office and Nathan followed her in, closing the door behind them.

  “This has got to end,” he said. “You need to get the information you came here for and get out before this thing you have going with my brother goes any further.”

  Okay, so he clearly knew something was going on, and he believed that if it wasn’t sexual, it would be soon.

  “I know how that probably looked the other night, but as I told you before, the investigation would necessitate a certain level of intima—”

  “He’s falling in love with you.”

  She blinked. “What? No, he’s not…that’s ridiculous. Jordan doesn’t do love. He doesn’t even get tied down.”

  “Apparently he does now.”

  She shook her head. “No, that’s not possible. You’ve got it all wrong. It probably just looks—”

  “Jane, he told me.”

  No way. “He actually told you that he’s in love with me?”

  “He told me that he’s been seeing a woman, and that he’s falling in love with her, and he was going to have her come over while he babysat. So unless there was some other woman with you guys at my place, he had to be talking about you.”

  Suddenly her heart was beating so fast she could hardly breathe. Could it be possible that Jordan really did love her?

  “You’re sleeping with him,” Nathan said.

  Jane bit her lip. She could deny it, but hadn’t she lied enough? And when he learned the truth, wouldn’t it just make things worse?

  He sighed and shook his head. “Look, I know how persuasive my brother can be, but seriously, I thought you would have the professional ethics, not to mention the good sense, to know when to draw the line.”

  He was right. There was no excusing her behavior. But in her own defense, never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that Jordan would fall for her. And the fact that she was falling for him too was beside the point, because the minute he found out that she’d been lying to him all this time, that would be the end of it. She knew that for a fact because if the tables were turned, she didn’t think she could ever forgive that kind of deception. “I take full responsibility for my actions,” she said.

  “I could have you fired for this,” he said.

  Yes, he could, and she would deserve it. But she was so close to wrapping up this investigation. “I have access to his home office. To his files and his computer. I just need a little more time.”

  “Find what you need and end this thing.”

  “I will.” Phew, that was a close one.

  He pulled the door open and started to leave. “Nathan, wait.”

  Hand on the knob, he turned back to her.

  “For what it’s worth, I really care about Jordan. I could love him.” Could? Hell, who was she kidding? She already did.

  “But?”

  “But I know that once he learns the truth…” She shrugged, not even sure why she was telling Nathan this. “It’s going to be over. He would never be able to trust me again.”

  “For good reason,” Nathan said, twisting the knife a little deeper. But she deserved it.

  Nathan left and Jane tried to concentrate on work, but her mind kept wandering. Nathan was right. She needed to get this investigation wrapped up. The twenty minutes she’d spent in his home office after he’d gone to sleep Saturday night, and while he was in the shower Sunday morning, hadn’t been close t
o adequate. There were just too many papers to go through, and she needed more time to copy the files off his hard drive, even though she was convinced she wouldn’t find anything. She knew Jordan hadn’t done anything wrong.

  Her cell phone rang and though she half expected it to be Jordan, it was her sister, Mary.

  “We need to talk,” she said. “Are you busy tonight?”

  “Actually, I am.” She was meeting Jordan at his place after work for another “picnic” in bed.

  “This really can’t wait,” she said, sounding almost desperate. And Mary didn’t do desperate.

  “We could meet for a drink at twelve-thirty,” Jane said.

  “That’ll work.”

  They agreed on a place, and when Jane arrived her sister was already there, nursing an apple martini.

  She stood and hugged Jane when she reached the table, which in itself was sort of weird, but when she said, “Oh my gosh, you look fantastic!” Jane knew something was up.

  She took off her coat and sat down. “Okay, what do you want?”

  Mary feigned an innocent look. “What do you mean?”

  “The only time you’re nice to me is when you want something from me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  Jane glared at her.

  “Okay, maybe it is a little true.”

  The waiter stopped by the table and Jane ordered a Manhattan. When he was gone she pulled Mary’s business card from her purse where she’d stuffed it Friday night. “You can have this back.”

  Mary actually blushed as she took it. “I take it you guys aren’t just friends.”

  “It doesn’t matter. It was a rotten thing to do.”

  She stuck the card in her purse. “You’re right. I just thought…” she shrugged. “I don’t know what I thought. But his name sounded really familiar, so I looked him up on Google.”

  Uh oh.

  “COO of an oil company, huh? The guy is a billionaire. How’d you swing that one?”

  She folded her arms. “Because clearly a man like him would never go for a dog like me.”

  Mary blinked. “That isn’t what I meant. I’ve always thought you were pretty, you just never seemed to try very hard to look…nicer.”

  Years of resentment suddenly welled up and threatened to choke her. “Maybe because every time I tried, I was shut down. Everyone made me believe I was destined to be Plain Jane forever.”

  Mary looked genuinely confused. “When did anyone ever do that?”

  “It was constant. Like when I tried your makeup and you laughed at me.”

  “Of course I laughed at you. You looked like a cheap hooker.”

  “Did you ever think to show me the right way to do it?”

  “Why? So you could be smarter and prettier than me?”

  Jane drew back in her chair, feeling as if she’d been slapped. “What?”

  “You don’t like the way you’ve been treated, Jane? Well, boo hoo. Do you have any clue how hard I’ve had to work to keep up with you? How many times I had to listen to Mom and Dad bragging about your vast accomplishments to people. And ‘Mary, oh, she’s the pretty one,’ like I was some idiot they kept around because they felt sorry for me.”

  Jane had no idea her sister felt that way. Mary always seemed so confident in the fact that she was better than everyone else.

  The waiter deposited Jane’s drink and the bill at the table. She took a sip then told her sister, “You aren’t an idiot. Idiots are not accepted into law school.”

  “No, but do you think I like knowing that you’re always going to be a better lawyer than me, even though you’ve never applied yourself?”

  “Never applied myself?” Was she kidding? “I was never given the chance. I got stuck in the back doing everyone else’s grunt work.”

  “Oh, poor Jane. I am so sick of that self-righteous bull. When did you show even an ounce of motivation to do more? Do you think the rest of us built a client base by just sitting back and letting cases fall in our laps? We’ve all worked damned hard building our careers. What makes you think you deserve special treatment? A higher GPA? Well, I hate to break it to you, baby sister, but that’s not the way it works in the real world.”

  Jane didn’t know what to say. Maybe she could have been more aggressive. Maybe, because school had come so easy to her, she expected the same in her career? And now that she thought about it, was it any different at Edwin Associates? If the undercover position hadn’t literally fallen into her lap, would she have spent years feeling unappreciated, and passed over when it was no one’s fault but her own? “I guess I’ve just always felt that you guys were trying to hold me back.”

  “The only one holding you back is you. Not that I’m complaining. It worked out great for me. All your hard work made me look good.”

  “And now that I’m gone?”

  Mary leaned forward, imploring her, “Please come back.”

  The sudden plea surprised her. She’d been taunted and badgered about leaving the practice, she’d been made to feel she was an outcast, but never once had anyone asked her to come back.

  “Mom and Dad are too proud to say so, but they miss you, and they need you there. We all do.”

  She scoffed. “I seriously doubt that.”

  Mary shook her head. “See, there you go underestimating yourself again.”

  She was right.

  “If this was some sort of protest against the family, hasn’t it gone on long enough?”

  “It wasn’t like that. I just wanted to try something…different. I felt underappreciated.”

  “They appreciate you. Believe me. Even if they don’t know how to express it. And they’re driving me crazy!”

  “Better you than me.”

  “You should come back. Unless you’re really happy in your new job,” Mary said. “Which, by the way, I know for a fact is not at Anderson Tech. I have a friend from college who works there.”

  Damn. If she had known that, she would have picked a different company. “You didn’t tell anyone?”

  She shrugged. “I figured if you were going to lie, you had a pretty good reason.”

  “I would have told Mom and Dad the truth, but I knew they would be upset, and it wouldn’t be worth the hassle. They would just tell me I’m wasting my law degree.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Something they definitely wouldn’t approve of.”

  Mary gasped and said in a hushed voice, “Are you a stripper?”

  Jane laughed. “Of course not! Why would even you think that?”

  “Well, there’s your new look and you definitely have the body for it.”

  “Are you forgetting that I’m slightly lacking in the breast department?”

  “You’re proportional. Besides, a lot of men go for that look.”

  “Well, I’m not a stripper. It’s nothing that racy.”

  Mary leaned in closer. “So what is it?”

  She wondered if she could trust her sister with the truth. “You have to swear not to tell anyone. Not Mom and Dad, or the boys. And especially not Jordan.”

  She looked puzzled. “He doesn’t know where you work?”

  “You have to promise.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell a soul, I promise.”

  She told Mary about Edwin Associates, and that she was on her first undercover assignment.

  “Not racy! Oh my God, are you kidding? That is so cool.” She laughed and shook her head. “I am, like, so completely impressed right now. It must be so exciting.”

  Exciting? Maybe it should have been, but in reality the lying made her stomach knot and the sneaking around gave her anxiety. Yes, it was only her first assignment, but she was beginning to believe that she just didn’t possess the killer instinct.

  If she was being totally honest with herself, the only thing she really enjoyed about the job was spending time with Jordan.

  “Mary, I hate it.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I was going crazy co
oped up in that dinky little cubicle they put me in. I wanted to be out in the field, where the excitement is, but the truth is, I’m not any good at it.”

  “I find that really hard to believe. You excel at everything you do. You always have.”

  “I fell in love with the man I’m supposed to be investigating.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Oh my God, are you investigating Jordan Everette?”

  “Shh! Keep your voice down.”

  Mary slapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry!”

  Jane leaned in closer and said quietly, “I’ve been working as a temp secretary in his office.”

  “And things got hot and steamy? Sounds like a porno movie.”

  Jane laughed and kicked her under the table. “We’ve never done anything at work. And it wasn’t like I went after him. He pursued me.”

  “I’m not surprised. Clearly the man has it bad for you. The way he was looking at you the other night…wow. I can’t even remember the last time a man looked at me that way. I always knew you could do better than Drake the snake.”

  “Drake the what?”

  “Drake the snake. That’s what the family has been calling him since he left you for Megan.”

  “He did me a favor.”

  “Obviously, because now you’re in love with a man who’s rich and powerful and gorgeous, who seems to worship the ground you walk on.”

  “And who is going to hate my guts when he learns who I really am.”

  “Hmm, that could be a problem. Not to mention that you’re still investigating him, right? For all you know he may be guilty.”

  She shook her head. “No, if you knew him, you would know he isn’t capable of hurting anyone.”

  “Because after a week you know him that well? Sounds like maybe you’re not being objective.”

  Mary was right. Without a shred of proof she already had him exonerated. “As I said, I suck at this.”

  “So quit.”

  “I can’t.”

  “If you don’t like it, why not?”

  Because the minute she did, it was going to be over for her and Jordan. He would learn the truth. “I’m just not ready to give up yet.”

  “What you mean is, you’re not ready to give him up.”

  Exactly. The longer she dragged this out, the longer she could be with Jordan.