As he watched Ness chatting with a couple near the fireplace, he was startled to realize six weeks had passed since the night they met. The cast had finally come off her leg and tonight she looked particularly elegant in a black dress that made the most of her curves without being blatant. He knew how pleased she was to be able to wear decent shoes again. He hoped the sparkle in here eyes was as much for him as for her little victory.
They’d been spending a lot of time together, more than he’d anticipated in the beginning. It occurred to him that they’d done a lot more than dinner and sex over the past few weeks. Once that first frantic explosion of chemistry had settled down to a manageable level, they discovered how much they really had in common. They flew to Houston for a football game. Went to an art festival on the Riverwalk. An oyster bake at a friend’s house. Even movies at his place or hers with hot dogs and buttered popcorn. He found himself relaxing with her as he hadn’t with any other woman in a very long time.
She seemed a lot more at ease in his company as he did with her. Although the chip on her shoulder was still there, it had shrunk from the size of Texas to maybe Rhode Island. The sharp edges were smoother and it no longer took mind-blowing sex to relax her. But there was still a fine tension running through their relationship. He kept watching her, waiting to see when and if the mask would fall away and she’d start making subtle demands. Demands that included large expenditures of cash on his part. So he didn’t completely trust her yet. She seemed almost too good to be true.
He had a feeling the situation was mutual. He often caught her studying him with a strange look on her face. And he still remembered that morning she’d snapped at him because she thought he was sneaking out. He could guess she’d had a bad experience on the same scale as his—maybe more than one if her attitude was any indication—but they had yet to address the issue—or issues—still hanging around.
Tonight, he told himself. It was increasingly obvious to him that this relationship was going somewhere, although he wasn’t yet sure where, and they needed to unload their baggage. And he needed to make sure they were both headed in the same direction. He was pretty sure by this time that his bank account was not his main attraction for her. She not only made a damn good living on her own but she hadn’t developed the little annoying “gimme” habits that seemed to come out in other women after a few dates.
Just looking at her gave him a funny feeling, a sense of possession that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. He wanted to be very sure of where they stood with each other before he gave in to it.
The couple she was talking with moved on and he noticed Tyler slide in next to her. Kiss her on the cheek. Tyler the charmer. But Josh wasn’t worried. The brothers didn’t poach on each other’s territory. He’d introduced her to both Alex and Tyler the day he decided for some strange reason to give her a tour of his offices. He saw at once the approval in their eyes and he’d been busy deflecting their questions ever since. Mostly because he still didn’t have any answers.
Asking her to come to this shindig with him tonight had been spur of the moment but he wondered if it wasn’t an indication of the direction in which they were already moving.
He sipped at his drink again then moved away to speak with one of the Waverly executives.
“He never brings women to these parties.”
Ness blinked and stared at Tyler. “Excuse me?”
“I said, it’s unusual for Josh to bring a woman with him to one of these business events.” He grinned at her. “He doesn’t like to be distracted when he’s working the crowd.”
Ness raised an eyebrow. “He’s never brought a date to one before?”
“Nope. Usually keeps them in the closet.”
She laughed. “I don’t think so. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of him with women—a lot of women—at a zillion functions.”
“Uh huh. But not one of these.” He studied her face, as if trying to read something beneath her skin. “He’s gun-shy.”
She fiddled with her empty wine goblet. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re a smart lady.” His eyes were still fixed on her. “I’m sure you can figure it out.”
Ness tensed. “You’re smiling at me but I don’t think there’s much humor behind it. What am I missing here? Have I done something wrong?”
Tyler’s posture was still relaxed and casual although his attitude was anything but. “We all look out for each other, Vanessa, so I’m going to ask you. What are you after with Josh?”
She felt her temper flaring and worked hard to force it back. “Don’t you think that’s between Josh and me?”
What was going on here? What kind of stick did Tyler have up his ass? And why?
The charming smile disappeared. “Just looking out for my brother. You can understand that, right?”
“I think I understand you’re sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
“Yeah? Later tonight ask him about Jiliane. Then tell me if you’re still pissed off.” He pulled out the smile again and eased himself away from her. “Remember. Jiliane. And pay careful attention, Vanessa. To everything he says.”
Ness was staring after him when she felt an arm encircle her shoulders, flinched then realized it was Josh.
“My brother giving you trouble?” he asked.
She pasted her smile firmly in place and looked up at him. “No. Not at all. He’s very…charming.”
Josh snorted. “Yeah, charming. That’s Tyler. But under that charm he can be a pain in the ass.”
“Everything’s fine,” she assured him. But her eyes searched his faced as if seeking the answer to some unasked question.
“What? Ness, what is it?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m fine. Go entertain your clients.”
“Actually I think it’s time we get out of here. My brothers have everything under control.” He took her elbow and steered her toward the front hall. “People will be leaving shortly, anyway. Alex is very good about getting them out the door on time.”
He helped her find her jacket in the study right off the hall.
“Don’t you have to say goodbye or anything?”
“Taking care of it right now. Don’t move.”
He was back in seconds, hustling her out the door and into his car, which was parked at the end of the curved driveway. He said nothing during the drive to her condo nor did he break his silence while they rode up in the elevator. Ness had an uneasy feelings and she couldn’t figure out why. Except it might have something to do with what Tyler had said.
At last they were in her condo. Josh tossed his jacket on an armchair and his tie followed.
“I’m going to change into something comfortable,” she told him. “Why don’t you fix us each a drink. Then you can tell me what’s got you so pissed off and if I did something to make you that way.”
She marched to her bedroom without so much as a glance over her shoulder. Stripping off her dress and shoes she pulled on a comfortable pair of sweats and padded barefoot back to the living room. Two drinks sat on the coffee table. Josh was standing by the floor to ceiling window, hands in his pockets, looking out at the view of the city.
“Shall I bring you your drink?” she asked.
“No. I’ll get it in a minute.”
Ness picked up her own and took a fortifying swallow. She had a bad feeling about this whole thing. In six weeks she’d managed to almost convince herself that Josh McCann was different from all the other assholes she’d dated, but maybe she’d made a huge error in judgment. If so, she wanted to get it in the open and over with and shove him out the door.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on here?” she asked. “I don’t like playing games.”
Still without turning to look at her, he said, “Tyler told you to ask me about Jiliane, didn’t he.”
“He said to ask you about her,” she answered in a quiet voice.
Josh’s sigh was like a lead weight in the room.
“Just so you know, I figured on telling you about her tonight, anyway.” He turned to face her. “I thought we could both lay our cards on the table.”
She tensed. “What are you talking about?”
He walked over to the coffee table, lifted his drink and took a swallow of it. “You’ve got your own secrets, Ness. Something that keeps that chip on your shoulder. I feel like I’ve pretty much whittled it down to a manageable size but I want to know what put it there to begin with.” He cupped her chin with his free hand. “We’re going somewhere with this and I want to know what the detours are. Or might be.”
Her stomach twisted itself into a knot. How did you tell someone you seemed to attract assholes and you worried that he was one, too?
“Let’s sit down.” His voice was soft although it still had an edge to it. “Come on.” He took her hand and guided her to the couch, sitting down next to her. He knocked back the rest of his drink, set the glass down and raked his fingers through his hair.
“Is this something I’m going to hate?” she asked, not sure she wanted to hear what he had to say.
“It’s more on me than you. But it might help you to understand me.”
Ness forced herself to sit calmly. “Okay. I’m waiting.”
Josh rubbed his face. “When Alex, Tyler and I started McMann Brothers we were really scrambling. We had an idea what we wanted to do with the company but we needed a lot of small jobs to accumulate the capital. Then we got our first ‘big’ job.”
“Armando’s strip center.”
He nodded. “I’ll drive you by there to look at it one of these days. The concept is a little unusual and like I told you at dinner that night, he wanted some specific things. But once it was up other developers saw it and started calling us. Suddenly it was like winning the lottery. We could actually pick and choose our clients.”
“That must have been exciting for you.”
“It was. It’s a damn good thing Alex is such a good business manager. He kept everything under control.” He rose, went to the bar to fix himself another drink and took a healthy swallow.
Ness wondered if he was going to get drunk before he finished the story.
“So things were going well?”
He nodded. “We were rolling in it by then. The media was doing stories on us. Suddenly we were on everyone’s A-list. If we hadn’t been working our asses off to keep up with the jobs we could have ended up with big egos and a failing business.”
“Is that when you met Jiliane?” She took a sip of her own drink.
“She was—is—an interior designer for commercial buildings. We hired her to do a multistory office building.”
This time the pause was so long Ness wondered if he was even going to continue. When he did the pain in his voice was obvious.
“We had great chemistry, and I thought a lot in common. When she finished her first project for us she asked to do another. Pretty soon she asked about an exclusive and then things escalated.”
“Escalated how?”
“Oh, you know. Bankroll her to expand her business. Move in together in a bigger, more expensive house. Take her shopping. That kind of shit. After a while it got so she only wanted to go out if it was expensive and she could be seen.” He walked over to the window again. “It came to a head over the house, I think. Huge fight. She accused me of being stingy. I told her she’d turned into a gold digger. After that it blew up beyond repair.”
“But you loved her,” Ness commented in a soft voice.
“I did. Or thought I did.” He turned back to face her. “After that it seemed no matter who I dated or how I met them they were all after the same thing. Whatever I could spend on them.”
He took another swallow of his drink. “Since then it’s just seemed better not to get…emotionally involved. I just don’t trust women, Ness. I can’t seem to get around that fact.”
“I see.” A sick feeling washed through her. Was this what had been on his mind all night? Was he about to end this…whatever it was between them?
He came back to the couch and sat down beside her, almost but not quite touching.
“No, I’m not sure you do. With you I kept waiting for the other shoe to fall and it never did.” He stared at her. “Why not?”
“You mean why aren’t I one of your usual money-grubbing females?” She snorted. “I’m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted.”
A muscle twitched in his cheek. “I didn’t exactly mean—“
She held up a hand. “No. Let me say this. I’m sorry women can’t see the value of you beyond your checkbook, but you’re probably fishing in the wrong pool. I make a damn good living as a top executive in a high-profile company and I don’t need any man to buy me things. And if you recall, my original idea was a dinner to thank you for rescuing me from my own stupidity and then we’d be done.”
“Ness,” he began again.
“No, let me finish.” She rubbed her palm against her thigh. “I resent being lumped in with those other airheads, especially since I’ve done nothing to earn it. I thought we had something building between us. These last six weeks have been…well…really great. Nice. I never dreamed you had such a low opinion of me.”
“I think I’ve said this all wrong.” He reached for her hand but she pulled it away.
“Let’s say you did okay up to the point you asked me why I wasn’t chasing after your bank account. But it’s okay, because I’ve been trying to get around a low opinion of you, too.”
“Me?” He looked stunned. “Why? What did I ever do to you?”
“Nothing. Yet.” She cleared her throat. “But same goes here. You’ve been paying for other people’s sins just like I have.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Was that why you were so bitchy that morning you thought I was trying to ‘sneak out’, as you called it?”
She nodded. “It seemed the higher up I went in the corporate world the more the men I met were assholes. They wanted no strings. No attachment. Just a few fun dates, a few rolls in the hay then on to the next person.” She made a rude noise. “And not always too politely, either.”
“So you’ve had guys sneak off in the middle of the night before?”
“And not think they owed me an explanation.” She smoother her hand over her sweatpants. “I guess I’m not the warm and cuddly type to them.” She looked down at her hands. “It’s hard for me to say this, but I’ve even been dumped in public before. And having a man tell you he thought you knew the rules doesn’t help, either. I guess you’ve been attracting the wrong women the way I’ve been attracting the wrong men. Both things result in low expectations of the opposite sex.”
“That still sucks.” He finished his second drink.
“Are you planning to get drunk and pass out on me?” She was only half-joking.
He looked at the empty glass, set it down and shook his head. “No. Sorry.” He flashed a quick grin at her. “Maybe those other guys weren’t as attracted to your smartass mouth as I am.”
“Yeah, well. Try climbing the corporate ladder as a woman and sometimes a smartass mouth is the least of what you develop.”
Silence dropped between them. Ness forced herself to wait for Josh to break it.
“Well.” He blew out a breath. “So we both have…issues. But now that they’re out in the open, maybe we can build trust between us. Because I’d really like to take this further. What about you?”
Did she? Was she willing to take the risk? See if what they had was real?
If she did and she got hurt, she’d be no worse off than she was except her heart would be a little more shattered. But sometimes you had to take a leap of faith. If Josh was willing to, couldn’t she do the same thing?
“Okay. Yes. I do, too.”
She could actually see the tension ease from his body.
“I promise you won’t regret it.”
“Same here.”
He reached for her and this time she didn’t pull away.
Chapt
er Seven
“Someone’s in a hurry to get out of here,” Carolyn called as Vanessa gathered her briefcase and purse.
“Josh is taking the redeye back and I’m meeting him for breakfast.” She smiled. “He’s only been gone two days but it seems like a week.”
“But you’ve talked to him, right?”
Ness’ smile faltered a little. Josh did call twice although both calls had been brief. And rushed. She had to keep reminding herself she’d learned meetings on architectural design were intense and often went on for hours, as details were hashed out with the client.
“We’ll have plenty of time to talk when I get home,” he promised. “I’m trying to wrap up these meetings in the shortest time possible.”
She had no reason not to take him at his word. The past weeks after the night they’d gotten everything out in the open had been wonderful. Little by little their relationship deepened until she actually began to believe it had turned into something real. But her old feelings of resentment and insecurity were clawing their way up from the corner she’d shoved them into, keeping her always on edge.
“Don’t forget the executive staff meeting tomorrow at nine,” Carolyn reminded her.
“Taking the marketing plan home with me to review one more time,” Vanessa told her, hurrying toward the elevator. “And I’ll be in early enough for you to make any changes I find. Trust me. I don’t want to butt heads with Prater over anything.”
“See you then.”
Ness had promised herself she’d get to bed early and get up in time to make herself look good for Josh. He’d be coming straight from the airport, certainly tired. The fact that he chose to make time to see her even before going home made her want to look extra special for him.
Erected (Erector Set, Book One) Page 9