Tomorrow Will Be Too Late (31 page)

‘You’d better watch your girlfriend, darling
.
’
A
n amused v
oice interrupted his pleasant thoughts, Victoria appearing at his side.
She nodded toward Kate, her eyebrows raised in a sarcastic expression
of horror. ‘She seems
starved. If she keeps going at that rate, she might need an entirely new wardrobe.’

‘I don’t think it will be an issue, Vic.
Thanks for your concern.’ H
e felt compelled to tell her she’d benefit from a decent meal herself, her al
ready petite frame looking positively
haggard.

‘Funny
,
though,’ she continued, stubbornly holding on to their conversation. ‘I’d always
thought
you cared about
how
your women looked, Justin. Or is
n’t
that
a part of your new
bachelor outlook?’

‘I did
,
and I do
.
’
H
e caught Lucas’
s
horrified gaze and bit back a smile. Victoria had lost the ability to hurt him a long time ago,
when he lost
his naïve belief they would be able to make it as a couple. ‘I think Kate looks perfect the way she is, but as I said earlier, thank you for your concern. How is Jacques?’
Changing
the topic seemed like a better option, her darkened expression telling him he
had
hit a raw nerve.

‘He went back to France
.
’
She
shrugged dismissively, her eyes stormy. ‘We
’
re still friends, but he
’
s out of my life for good. I always knew we weren’t meant for each other, Justin. Not like you and me
.
’

Whoa, he was getting into dangerous territory, he thought as he saw her smile change from
one of
regret to a slow, sensual promise that couldn’t be misunderstood.

‘Remember how we used to be, before we got all silly and threw away our life toget
her?’ S
he was closer now, the fragrance of her heavy, sweet perfume cloyingly intense. He recognized it vaguely, the dark, musky undertones at odds with
the
simple floral scents he was already getting used to.

‘Don’t tell me you forgot it all, Justin?’
A
red tipped, perfectly manicured hand came to rest on his forearm, the gesture
barely a touch. Green eyes looked up into his imploringly as she asked
,
‘We used to be happy together, remember?’

‘I do, of course
.’ H
e stepped back and watched her hand slide off his skin and fall to her side, almost tragic in its lifelessness. ‘
But
I also remember you cheating on me, Vic. Not to mention the huge mountains of reasons you gave for leaving me.’

‘I was wrong, I admit that.’ She nodded, something in her face telling him she was ready to strike. The green in her eyes darkened as she shook her head and challenged him, knowing where it would hurt the most.
‘At least I don’t have some spring
-
autumn romance with an aging doctor
who
’
s
married and has grandkids, Justin. I’d think that counts for something, right?’

‘What are you talking about?’ H
e stared at her dumbfounded, his head empty. ‘
If this is
your attempt to make yourself look better
, it isn’t working.’

‘I don’t need to do any of that
.’ S
he smiled again, her face pure malice. ‘
But
you should ask your girlfriend why she
would
spend so much time with her family doctor? Why would they drive off together and have dinner? Or do you think it’s the usual patient
-
doctor relationship, Justin? Something tells me Kate is smart enough to have a back
-
up plan if your relationship doesn’t work out
the
way she had planned
. I mean
,
sure, you’re a much better catch
,
but a doctor sugar daddy isn’t something to complain about
,
either.’

She shook her head in a regretful gesture, her eyes compassionate
.
‘I know, you don’t want to hear it from me, but you need to see things for what they are. I was surprised myself to see how involved she is with this man. I mean
,
three visits in one week? Looking like she’d won the biggest lottery ever after some time alone with the man? Call me stupid, but it’s not the way I am with my doctor, Justin.’

‘You spied on Kate?’ H
e was incredulous, a hot wave of anger and disbelief rushing through his veins and making it difficult to remain calm. ‘
Why
on earth would you do that? I thought you’d be done with those techniques when you took me to the cleaners two years ago.’

‘It worked pretty well back then
.
’
S
he didn’t hesitate to admit it, her face serene as if they were talking about weather and not their love life. ‘I didn’t plan on watching Kate that much.
She stopped being a part of my life when we parted ways two years ago, with little desire on my part to stay in touch. She proved to be very useful
,
as you maybe remember, and for that I am eternally grateful, but going our separate ways seemed the only viable option.’

He had never hit a woman in his life, but right now the urge to grab Vic by her skinny shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattled was almost too overpowering to be resisted. His hands balled into fists, his nails digging painfully into the softer flesh of his palms and providing enough distraction to stay in control.

‘I decided to keep an eye on her after
Marcy
mentioned to me your sudden romance, Justin. She wasn’t very happy with you bringing her here, as you can imagine.
She told me that apparently you bragged to Lucas how you
had
met this wonderful girl and fell for her
,
head over heels
,
in
a
span of days.’

She laughed, the sound bitter and hollow.
‘I thought to myself that it wasn’t like you at all. You’re not that type of man, if you know what I mean. So I did a bit of a background check on our sweet Katie and was surprised to find out how much time she spent with dear Dr. Merkle. Which made me think of two possibilities, Justin. One was
,
you knew about her side romance
,
and your relationship
wasn’t
much
more than
a sham to keep Marcy at bay, for which I can’t really blame you, darling
.
’
S
he rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with irony as she
continued. ‘
She
can be too much, we both know that. Or…’
A
short
,
dramatic pause
ensued
before she spoke again, her soft, purring voice hypnotizing. ‘
Or
,
you really care for her and have no clue what’s she is up to.
How
she plays you, Justin. I still have no idea what could bring the two of you together, but I
’
m pretty sure Kate doesn’t
care
about you one bit, either way.’

‘And you do?’ H
e spat it out bitingly, aware of a few pairs of eyes
turning
their way. He needed to leave, to grab one of those drinks Lucas was so famous for mixing, his
bartending
past in his university years legendary. Anything but this slow,
toxic I
.
V
.
drip poisoning his system and making it hard to even breathe.

‘More than she does, for sure
.
’ Victoria nodded, her green eyes narrowing into slits. ‘I
’
m honest, at least. We could be great together, Justin. You and I can have all those people eating
out of
our hands again, if we want to. You liked being on the top,
didn’t
you? Walking into the room and knowing people care
d
about what you
had
to say and actually listen
ed
?’

‘Maybe I
’ve
changed
.
’ H
e had to say something, the conversation escaping in a direction he wasn’t willing to take.
‘Or maybe it was your dream, Vic, not mine. Maybe you
’
ve never really known me
well
enough to be able to tell the difference between what made you happy and what mattered to me
.
’

He couldn’t take it any longer. Making an enormous effort, he managed to smile politely as he excused himself and left her standing alone, his head held high as he walked across the patio to the bar. He felt like yelling at her at the top of his lungs, throwing into her face all the bitterness and resentment he had felt for
the
petite, green
-
eyed vixen
with a
heart made of ice. But
,
of course
,
he couldn’t do it. Not
here
,
with people laughin
g and chatting all around them. He
watched the bartender mixing the drink, forcing himself to take a few deep
,
steadying breaths before he let his eyes go
to Kate,
engaged
in conversation with two other women. She looked up as if he
had
called her name, a smile spreading over her features and sending his heart into overdrive.

He needed to talk to her
, t
o find out what was really going on, even if the truth wouldn’t be to his liking. He was done with lies.

‘I love this place. We’ve been invited for the last two years
,
and each time we come
,
I fall in love with it all over again.’ The petite redhead in an emerald green dress chatted animatedly, her freckled face glowing with pleasure.

Obviously she was expected to answer, preferably agreeing with her, Kate thought guiltily as she tri
ed very hard to appear involved. It was almost impossible, her eyes going unobtrusively to Justin, deep in a conversation with Victoria at
the
other end of the patio.

She tried very hard to ignore them, realizing that acting like a jealous girlfriend would score her few brownie points with Justin. She had no right to be jealous, she told herself firmly, trying very hard to ignore the painful tightening in her chest as she let her gaze drift to the couple. Why was he talking to her so much
,
anyway? She’d think he wasn’t interested in rekindling a romance that
had
left him with
a
much lighter bank account and smeared reputation. Well, maybe time really did heal all kind
s
of wounds, she thought acidly as she watched Vic look up to him, her green eyes visibly pleading. She could sense the intensity of their conversation, even
t
here
,
from
across the room.
That
was more than a friendly
chitchat
between ex
-
lovers, no doubt.

But wasn’t
that
exactly what Vic
had
told her she’d do? Her presence here had one purpose only.

‘Yeah, it’s beautiful
,
’
she
answered weakly, realizing that her new friends waited for her response, the silence stretching into an
uncomfortably
long pause in their conversation. ‘
Though
I haven’t seen too much yet.’

‘Wait for the morning
;
the views are spectacular
,
’ the tall brunette piped in, her dark eyes excited. ‘
The
infinity pool is to die for
,
as is the lower garden leading to the deck and the boats. I remember Justin enjoying a swim there with…’
She stopped herself
,
horrified, her guilty gaze going to Kate’s face in remorse. ‘
Shoot
, sorry
.
’