Blind Attraction (15 page)

“Ahem,” Catherine
said, amusement and impatience apparent. “Isn’t there a place and time for this kind of thing – and not in my car?”

Victoria
pulled back, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, feeling the heat of a thousand blushes spread across her skin. James casually sat back in his seat, not-so-discreetly adjusting his pants. He casually crooned, “It was just a good-night kiss, Cate; surely you wouldn’t begrudge your boss a good-night kiss.”

“If it looks like it’s leading to a good-morning kiss I am,” Catherine grinned, opening her car door. “Since I have duties and obligations that require me to be elsewhere, I will walk
Victoria to her door; Jimmy, you stay put.”

“Until tomorrow,
Victoria,” he said with an impish smile, taking her hand and kissing the back of it with courtly flourish.

“Good night, James,”
Victoria smiled, climbing out of the car. Turning to Catherine, she said, “It’s not really necessary for you to walk me home; I am a big girl, you know.”

“I do,” Catherine nodded, though she didn’t stay behind. Instead, she looped her arm through
Victoria’s and started walking towards the store. “However, I just wanted to take a moment to tell you something.”

“Why does that scare me?”
Victoria asked with a wry grin.

“Because it should,” Catherine said unapologetically. Calmly, as if she was discussing the weather, she warned, “If you hurt Jimmy I have the where-with-all to take you down.”

Victoria made a choking sound, not sure how to respond, knowing that Catherine could back up her threat. Stopping outside of the shop, Catherine looked at Victoria with a huge grin, giving no indication that she was threatening the younger woman at all. “Of course, I have a good feeling about you; I think you and Jimmy have something special.”

At this
Victoria smiled in spite of herself and admitted, “I think so, too.”

“Just so we’re clear,” Catherine winked at her, turning around and getting ready to walk back to her car.

“Um, Catherine?” Victoria called out, not quite meeting her eyes.

“Yeah?”
Catherine paused and looked over her shoulder at Victoria.

“I’m not going to hurt him.”

Victoria didn’t sleep well the previous night; images of James kept her dreams steamy and unbearably delicious. But it was the invasion of his assistant, her memories from high school, her mother and the vague shape of her father that kept the dreams from being truly interesting. How odd, that she should feel such a connection to James after such a short time together. Other than their first date and last night at the park, she hadn’t even spent much time alone with him yet she felt as if she knew him and their chemistry was off-the-charts. But it wasn’t chemistry alone that made her desire him; it was James himself, with his humor and intelligence and strength.

A wave of anxiety whispered through her at the thought of finally making love. Guilt mixed with relief at the thought of making love to a blind man: he wouldn’t be able to see her body’s imperfections. Granted, she wasn’t ashamed of her body by any stretch of the imagination, she just wasn’t Taylor. She didn’t mind not being tall since she was well-proportioned. She wasn’t as willowy thin as Taylor but she was slender and had decent curves. And her stomach was flattish marred only by her appendectomy scar, but it was
a battle scar and she wore it with pride.

She probably didn’t have to worry about sex hurting too much; she was a very active girl and her hymen had probably been eliminated years before. If it wasn’t broken through horseback riding or tae kwon do or a million other things then the exam she had to go through in order to get on birth control pills probably did the trick. She still had the pack of pills; it had sat unopened in her bathroom medicine cabinet, a testament to the fact that she hadn’t loved Alex enough to even start taking the damn things.

During her restless night she also remembered that while she was in the hospital recovering, Taylor lost her virginity to, interestingly enough, Terrance Parker. At the time Victoria had felt betrayed because Terrance had asked her out the week before she had the surgery. By the time she left the hospital, he was dating Taylor and though that didn’t stop him from flirting outrageously with Victoria, it did put a damper on her crush on him. Things were never the same, even after Taylor broke up with him. It was just too weird going out with a guy who slept with your best friend. Not to mention what happened in Daytona.

It was strange that she hadn’t remembered that Terrance had asked her out before sleeping with Taylor. Most of the boys who had ever shown an interest in her had eventually gone out with Taylor. Of course, the logical explanation was that they only showed an interest in her to gain Taylor’s attention. And it seemed to work; all the boys garnered Taylor’s attention – for a little while, at least. How in the world did she end up thinking about high school and Taylor and Daytona? The way her mind worked frequently baffled her.

Odd, too, was that Terrance was acquaint anted with James, though she supposed they all traveled in the same circles. Victoria briefly wondered if Terrance had known James all those years ago but realized that James was six years older; a lifetime when one was in high school. Plus, James was in the even more exalted circles, having attended Mises.

As she walked down the hall to James’s office,
Victoria had to admit that she was impressed. His offices were on the top floor of one of the tall, modern office buildings and the layout was so open and warm, definitely not like traditional offices. There were meeting rooms and a few VIP offices along one wall, but for the most part, it was barrier-free. Everybody seemed relaxed, even as they went on about their business. Light streamed in through the large, picture windows; windows that offered glorious views of the city. She could feel the creative energy pulsating through the room.

“Good morning, Vi,” Catherine called out. Looking to the left,
Victoria saw James’s assistant leaning against the wall next to her door, her arms crossed beneath her breasts. Pushing off the wall, the woman joined Victoria. “I see you managed to get away for lunch; I hope Marnie is able to handle the work.”

“She is, thank you for asking,”
Victoria smiled, shifting the weight of the picnic basket to her other arm. With a warmer smile, she said, “Good morning.”

As they continued to walk towards James’s office on the far side of the floor, Catherine said, “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Uh oh,” Victoria grinned to hide her unease. “That can only mean trouble.”

“Not at all,” Catherine said, waving away
Victoria’s concern with the swish of her hand. “I just found out something that was… interesting.”

“Trouble,”
Victoria repeated, her curiosity piqued. When Catherine didn’t continue, Victoria grinned, “Well? Don’t leave me in suspense.”

Catherine stopped walking, tilted her head to the side and studied
Victoria with her discerning eye. Narrowing her eyes a bit, she asked, “Did you know that you have been the only student to ever attend Wesmore Lakes on an S. Moore Scholarship?”

“I did,”
Victoria murmured, not sure if there was any point to the question, deciding that if Catherine was asking, there most likely was a reason. “I was very fortunate.”

“Are you sure that’s the reason?” Catherine asked evasively.

“Pretty sure,” Victoria responded. With a shrug, she added, “I know that ‘S. Moore’ is probably Taylor’s biological father so it is possible that she asked him to pay the tuition so we could continue to go to school together. Of course, when I asked her, she denied knowing anything, but I think that was to spare my pride.”

“So you’ve given it some thought,” Catherine stated rather than asked.

“Of course,” Victoria said emphatically. “A middle-class girl doesn’t go to such a prestigious school for no reason; and if Taylor’s dad wanted to take care of tuition for me, I wasn’t going to stop him. Wesmore Lakes is a very good school.”

The corners of Catherine’s lips tilted up and in that moment she reminded
Victoria of a cat; sleek and a little bit dangerous. Victoria’s eyes narrowed as she studied Catherine, “Why? Do you know something that I don’t?”

“Probably,” Catherine said, her Cheshire grin unsettling
Victoria. Letting her smile widen, Catherine enthused, “Now, have a great lunch with Jimmy but remember that there isn’t much privacy in the office.” Leaning forward, she whispered, “We can hear pretty much everything that goes on in there if one’s not careful.”

“Warning noted,”
Victoria said wryly. “I’ll save the screams for when we’re alone.”

Catherine laughed, “I really do like you,
Vi.”

“You, too,”
Victoria grinned, adding, “Though I have to admit that you terrify me a little bit.”

That statement only made Catherine laugh harder.
Victoria could still hear her when she opened the door to James’s office after the secretary told her to just head right in, that she was expected. “Knock, knock.”

James stopped speaking into the microphone and raised his head at the sound of
Victoria’s honeyed voice. With a smile, he came to his feet, “Victoria.”

He was so devastatingly handsome, standing there with the sun shining on his black hair, giving it an almost-blue sheen. Wearing a dark suit, he looked the consummate, successful professional. Walking over to his desk, she set the basket down before stepping into his embrace.
“Hey, you.”

Bending his head, he kissed her softly and his lips lingered against hers. His dark world just seemed brighter with her in it.
“Hey, yourself.”

“I brought lunch,”
Victoria offered even as the heated musk of James’s body filled her senses and the hard planes of his chest pressed against her. Sliding her arms around his waist, she told him what she packed, “Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chocolate pudding snacks for dessert.”

James laughed, wrapping his arms around her and tightening his hold on her. “I wouldn’t mind if we just stayed right like this.”

“But then you’d miss my world-famous sandwiches,” Victoria teased, not minding staying right like that either. Even Catherine’s warning didn’t really bother her; how much noise can two people make while kissing? Hardly any at all. So instead of trying to dissuade him from continuing, she pressed her lips to his, tightening her hold on him to steady her wobbly legs.

“You taste so good,” he murmured in a gruff voice, kissing the corners of her lips. Turning them, he placed
Victoria between his body and the wall and then he stepped between her legs, feeling the heat of her feminine center against his groin, which had been semi-hard all day in anticipation of her arrival. Her sweet, floral musk filled his nostrils; her soft, feminine body molded to his. “I want to make love to you, Victoria.”

“I know,” she breathed, lost in desire as he trailed kisse
s along her jaw. Lifting her leg, she wrapped it around his hip, bringing her feminine core right against his hot erection. “I do, too.”

A low groan emitted from his throat as she gave words to her longing. Finding her
lips with his, he plundered the depths of her mouth ruthlessly as he rubbed his erection against her belly. There were too many clothes between them and she was driving him mad with desire. In the back of his mind he was aware that they were standing in his office, that someone could come barging in at any time, so he kept his hands clasped on her slender waist. But then she went and pulled the tail of his shirt out of his pants and slid her hands beneath.

The feel of her warm, slender hands on his bare skin nearly brought him to his knees. His grip tightened, digging into her flesh, in an effort to keep his hands from tearing off their clothes and thrusting into her wet heat. Instead, he concentrated on her kisses, the soft sounds she made when he kissed the curve of her shoulder; the feel of her silken hair brushing against his lips as he kissed her neck; her delicate scent. He wanted to see her completely naked with her
pale blond hair loose around her slender shoulders; he wanted to see her violet, passion-glazed eyes looking at him as he entered her, as he brought her to orgasm again and again and again.