Dazzle her: Laws of Seduction Book 3 (12 page)

“I have plenty to do, so I can stick around until you get here. Could you go to dinner afterwards? There is something I want to talk to you about.”

Curious about what that could be, I ask, “Can you give me a hint?”

“I’d really rather wait and talk to you about it in person.”

“I am supposed to get together with some people from work, but you make it sound important.”

“It is. I am sorry to make it sound so mysterious, but I’ll tell you all about it tonight.”

“I can probably make it by seven.”

“Great. See you then.”

The day flies by. We received a response from the employee who we are suing on Rothschild’s behalf, and we want to turn around the counteroffer before the long weekend. I wrap up my work at six. Noticing an e-mail from Becca with the location for tonight’s get-together, I shoot her a quick e-mail letting her know that I will have to pass.

I also want to check in with James before I leave. He is still in his office. His door is open, and I give a brief knock before walking in. He flashes me a dazzling smile, showing his brilliant white teeth and his dimple. “Hey, babe.”

I melt a little at the husky sound of his voice. “Hey.”

“Do you want to grab some dinner? I’ll be ready to go in a few minutes.”

“Actually, I have other plans tonight.”

James raises his eyebrows at me questioningly. “I’m going to have dinner with a friend.”

“Sam?”

“No.”

“Nick?”

“Noooo,” I trail off. James looks at me expectantly. “Davis, and before you get all huffy about it, he wants to talk to me about something so I agreed to have dinner with him.”

“He wants to plead his case. He wants you back.”

“James, there is nothing romantic between Davis and me. We may have started out dating, but that has turned into a solid friendship and nothing more. Believe me. Besides, Davis is seeing someone new now. She is a model, and her name is Daphne.”

“Lainey, this is two nights this week. What if I said that I didn’t want you seeing him?”

I give him a stern look of disapproval and hold his stare until he backs down. “I take it you wouldn’t look kindly on that kind of ultimatum?”

I shake my head back and forth. I walk over and rub my hand along his cheek. “Thank you for being such an understanding boyfriend.” I bend down and give him a peck on the lips. It is difficult to contain my laughter at the petulant look on his face. He must have been an adorable four-year-old.

“Fine, but I want you at my place afterwards.”

“Okay, I can do that, but it will be late. I need to pack for the Hamptons.”

“Alright. I can be flexible. I’ll come to your place − just text me when you get home.”

“Are you sure? Sam might be there, and I haven’t lived down the last time you slept over.”

A devilish light appears in James’s eyes. “I am definitely coming over then.”

I rear back, giving him a look of mock outrage. “You like shocking people? Why, James McAllister, I had no idea you were such an exhibitionist.”

I laugh at James’s self-satisfied smirk just as Dennis walks into the office. When he sees me, he flushes a deep red. I glance back at James, who is still looking at me. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

As I leave, I unintentionally hear Dennis’s next comment. “I can’t believe you get to tap that.” Unfortunately, I am unable to catch James’s response. Maybe I will ask him later.

Davis seems pre-occupied when he greets me at the door of his studio. I don’t take as much time as I would have liked looking through the photos, which far surpass my expectations. I know James will love them. Davis takes me to an Indian place around the corner. After the waiter has taken our order, I demand to know what is so important that Davis had to tell me in person. Davis fidgets with the condiments on the table, and I reach over and place my hand on top of his. “Davis, what has you tied up in knots? You are a nervous wreck.”

He raises his eyes to meet mine. “Nick told me about the weird photos at Tobin’s show.”

“Is that what this is about?” I ask with confusion.

“Yes, after hearing about it from Nick, I decided to go and have a look for myself.”

“And?”

“Frankly, I found the whole exhibit disturbing, but the most disturbing thing by far was the photos of the abused women. Nick said one of the photos resembled you, and he was right.”

“I remember. It wasn’t one of those things you forget.”

“I am sorry you had to see it. It couldn’t have been pleasant.”

“I admit it was pretty ghastly.”

“Lainey, there is something else about those photos.” I look at Davis, expectantly waiting for him to continue. He takes a few moments to collect himself, as if searching for the right words. “The other three models in that series also looked familiar to me.”

I am not sure I understand his meaning. “You mean the models looked like girls you know?”

Davis nods his head. “Each one of those models is a dead ringer for a girl I have dated. In fact, every girl that I have dated more than once or twice is in that series.”

The waiter arrives with our food, and I sit back and try to process what Davis has just told me. The aroma of Indian spices wafts around us, but I have lost my appetite. “Do you think that Tobin is intentionally looking for models that look like your girlfriends?”

“I have tried to come up with some other reasonable explanation, but I come back to that conclusion over and over again.”

“But we were never really together.”

“He doesn’t know that.”

“Did he invite the others to his exhibition?”

“No, I am fairly certain you were the only one to receive that honor.”

I recall how insistent Tobin had been that I attend his gallery opening, and a wave of revulsion runs through me. “What are you going to do about it? Have you spoken to him about it?”

“No, I haven’t asked him about it yet. I’m not sure that would be a good idea. I don’t want to provoke him in some way.”

Alarmed, I ask, “Provoke him to do what?”

“I don’t know, but he is obviously unhinged. This is not the behavior of a sane person.”

“Great. Now, I have a psychotic trust fund baby slash hobby photographer taking pictures that are supposed to be me as a beat-up crack whore.”

“He hasn’t actually done anything except take some disturbing photos using models who uncannily resemble my exes.”

A nervous giggle escapes me. “Yea, clearly nothing to be worried about.”

As I ride the subway home, the thought crosses my mind that Tobin may have had something to do with setting the fire in my office. They had footage of a woman who had set the fire, but what if Tobin had asked the mystery woman to do it for him. I should have asked Davis if anything strange had happened to his other exes. His cousin had been at the gala dinner too. Maybe they were working together, and she had put the threatening note in my bag. Selene also had an obvious crush on Davis.

As soon as I am off the subway, I call Davis and tell him to ask his exes about anything strange that may have happened to them recently. I also tell him that I am going to call the police detective who was looking into a threatening note I had received and tell him about Tobin’s freaky photography. I decide the call to Cheney could wait until morning. I also wanted to talk it over with James first. The thought of James has me hurrying to reach my apartment. When I am almost there, I give him a call to let him know that I am home.

Sam hangs out with me while I pack my bag for the Hamptons. When I tell her about Tobin’s grotesque photography and the link to Davis’s ex-girlfriends, I could almost laugh at her look of stupefaction. “I’ll give you one thing, Lainey. Your life sure is exciting.”

“Unfortunately, not in a good way.”

When the outdoor buzzer rings, Sam goes to let James in while I rush to finish packing. The doorbell rings a few moments later, and Sam lets in James, who has a grin on his face. I smile back at him. “Did you miss me?”

“Did I ever!” says James. Walking over to me, he bends me back into an exuberant, Hollywood-style kiss.

“Well,” I say with surprise, “that was unexpected.” James pulls me back up, and I have a suspicion. “Have you been drinking?”

James gives me a studied look of innocence. “Dennis and I may have gone out for a few drinks after you left.”

“Did this have something to do with the fact that I was having dinner with Davis?”

“Absolutely not. I am perfectly comfortable with you seeing men that you have dated in the past.”

This was so clearly untrue that I have to laugh. “How many drinks did you say you had?”

“I didn’t, and if you are implying that I am drunk, I am not,” James says, overemphasizing his consonants.

I try to wipe the smile off my face. “Of course not. Let’s get you to bed.”

James gives me a leering smile and wink. “Now you’re talking.”

Deciding that the conversation about Tobin can wait until morning, I say goodnight to a smirking Sam and lead James into the bedroom.

CHAPTER 15

A persistent buzzing sound intrudes upon my sleep. I hover for a few more precious moments between sleep and wakefulness, but the incessant buzzing refuses to go away. I sit up and glance around. James is sleeping peacefully beside me. The buzzing sound is the door buzzer. Someone is pressing the buzzer over and over again. Squinting at the clock, I see that it’’s not yet seven in the morning. Sliding from beneath the covers, I pick James’s dress shirt up off the floor before hurrying to the intercom located in the kitchen. “Who is it?”” I rasp into the receiver.

I am greeted by a hearty “Surprise!”

It takes me a few seconds to place the voice. “Jett? What are you doing here?”

“I decided to take some vacation time and fly back a week early to surprise you. Are you going to let me come up?”

“Oh yea, of course.” I press the button to open the outside door. I unbolt the door to the apartment before hurrying into the bathroom to answer a call of nature. When I come out, Jett is already standing there looking around.

He opens his arms and I rush into them for a long hug. “Hey, kid.”

The feel of his arms around me makes me realize just how much I have missed my big brother. “Hey.” My voice wobbles a little, and Jett pushes me back to look down at me. His eyes wander to my face and then to the man’s shirt I am standing in. Heat rushes to my face at the thought of what he must be thinking. This does not have to be awkward, I tell myself.

I try to lighten the oppressive atmosphere. “You realize that it is seven in the morning, right?”

“Jetlag,” he says, as if that one word explains everything. “I thought I’d catch you before work.”

I think of James sleeping in my bed. Jett was probably going to catch more than he bargained for. Maybe I could get him out of here with the promise of breakfast. It might put me a little behind at work, but it would be worth it to keep him from finding James in my bed.

“You’ve got company, I see.” Jett nods his chin at my attire.

My blush deepens. Struggling for a way out of this situation that will leave my dignity intact, I hear a sleep-roughened voice behind me. “That would be me.” James steps into my line of vision, and I note that he is at least wearing his dress pants. His decadent chest is bare though. Of course, there is nothing he could have done about that since I am wearing his shirt. Jett has yet to say a word, and I turn to look at him.

“You are shacking up with this piece of trash even though I warned you to stay away from him?” he asks, fury blazing from his eyes.

“Jett,” I attempt to calm him, “Please don’t talk like that. James and I are in a relationship. You are going to have to get over this unreasonable dislike you have for him.”

“Unreasonable? He killed my girlfriend. I don’t want the same thing happening to my sister.”

“That is ridiculous. James would never hurt me.”

James steps closer to me and lays his arm over my shoulders. “Listen to her, Jett. I love your sister. I would never let anything happen to her.”

I stiffen at his words. He is declaring his love for me for the first time now of all times? On the one hand, I’m very happy, but on the other, I wish he would have chosen a better moment. My brother looks so furious that I am afraid his head will start spinning.

Sam pokes her head out of her room. “Isn’t it a little early to be having a party?”

“We didn’t mean to wake you. Sorry.”

“That’s alright. It’s time for me to get up anyway.” She looks at Jett. “I thought you lived in Taiwan?”

“I’m on vacation.” Jett barks out.

After taking in everyone’s tense expressions, Sam makes a hasty retreat. “I’m going to go and get ready for work.””

I make a quick decision. “I need to get ready for work too.” I turn to look at Jett. “We are planning on leaving for the Hamptons after work, but if you have time, I would love to meet for lunch.”

Jett gives James a disgruntled look before looking back at me. “I’ll pick you up at your office at noon.” Without another word, he turns and leaves.