Forbidden Attraction (Forbidden Trilogy) (11 page)

“I hate to say it, but my brother is a major playboy. He doesn’t do long term, but he is always honest with the women up front.”

Hmm. So it would appear he might have had an arrangement with Vanessa too at one point. I wonder what the extent of their relationship is now. I don’t bother digging further. Bailey would definitely know something is up.

We arrive at the Penthouses at Palazzao and Bailey convinces me to come up with her. “You can’t sit in the car and wait. Besides I’m going to park in the garage ... Vanessa doesn’t bite.”

“I just don’t know her. I didn’t want to intrude.” My excuse is lame, but it beats the truth that I envy the fact that she has had Grayson. “Since you insist, I’ll come up.”

The building lends a Mediterranean feel with burnt orange hues that pop against its scenic background. The wrought iron gates ensure privacy while adding to the overall architecture. I’m in awe as we travel through the resort type grounds. We arrive at Vanessa’s unit and knock. The door opens and we are met with a half naked Vanessa wearing only a T-shirt and panties. She welcomes us in, but looks surprised to see us.

“I wasn’t expecting you until a little later, but let me get that contact info for the realtor,” she tells Bailey. “Aileen can also help you if you decide to buy rather than lease. I found a nice two bedroom plus den condo a few miles from here called The Carlyle Residences. I’ll be closing on it in a couple of weeks.”

Vanessa heads in the direction I’m guessing is her bedroom. I’m so busy taking in the gorgeous hardwood floors and contemporary furnishings of this place that I miss the masculine presence when he arrives into the room.

“Oh hey Grayson ... you remember my friend Shiv.” I’m afraid to turn around and even more afraid to see his reaction to me being here. This is why he never responded to my text. He’s back with Vanessa. I face him anyway only to find him with a fake smile. We both say hello at the same time—both determined to maintain the façade of unfamiliarity. “This is Grayson’s penthouse. Vanessa is staying here with him while she waits for her condo to be ready,” she continues.

That piece of information would have come in handy before I agreed to get out of the car, ugh. Grayson is standing there in black silk pajamas and nothing else. His defined chest and abs taunt me, daring me not to look. His bare feet are even sexy. I swallow the lump in my throat and manage to look away.

I feel like have been sucker punched. So this is why he has a fuck pad. He’s living with a woman already. We need to keep our worlds separate my ass. I keep this stupid fake smile on my face all while wanting to get as far away from here as I can. Bailey mentions changing into some clothes she keeps at her brother’s place and disappears from the room. You can cut the tension with a knife. I walk slowly to the huge windows to take in the view, praying that Grayson can’t see my defeated look.

“I got your text,” he says from across the room.

“There was never a doubt that you did.” I sense him walking toward me so I turn to face him. “I got your message.”

“How so? I didn’t reply.”

“All the same, the message was loud and clear. Our arrangement is null and void, especially since you’re back with Vanessa,” I say while trying to appear unfazed.

“I’m not back with Vanessa.”

“You’re living together,” I reply in a whispered hiss. He must think I’m a fool.

Who am I kidding? I feel like a fool. I’m so over this.

“Look, Shiv, I was planning to contact you today. I needed time to ... ” He’s cut off by Vanessa’s sudden reappearance in the room.

“Where did Bailey run off to?”

“She decided to shower and change here. She’ll be out soon,” Grayson responds.

“Oh, okay. Have you eaten, Shiv?”

“No. Bailey mentioned grabbing lunch though.”

“Nonsense. Come. Join me for brunch on the balcony. This way you guys can wait to eat later after condo hunting,” she insists. “Care for a mimosa?”

“Okay, sure.” Grayson reluctantly excuses himself after trying in vain to secretly get my attention. Vanessa and I head to the balcony after grabbing brunch from the kitchen. We indulge in bagels with lox and drink mimosas. Bailey joins us shortly while we’re spending time getting to know each other. Maybe Vanessa really is a nice girl. I may have prejudged her unfairly because of her connection with Grayson, but she had been a little snobby at the pool party.

“Well, I guess we should get going,” Bailey says while grabbing a plain bagel half. “I ate breakfast this morning with Jordan while you slept in, but these bagels look too tempting to pass up.”

I drink the remains of my mimosa and thank Vanessa for her hospitality. I head toward the door with Bailey, refusing to look in Grayson’s direction as he maneuvers around his kitchen. I can feel his eyes boring into me. I should have known he’d be a player. Professor by day and elusive billionaire playboy by night, I’m glad I dodged that head-trip. I’ve been through enough drama.

In route to Bailey’s car, she phones the realtor and they discuss what listings she’s going to visit first. After countless hours and visits to at least six properties, she ultimately decides to purchase one of the two bedroom condos where Vanessa resides. Wearing heels for this little adventure was not my brightest idea, although Bailey seemed to have no trouble.

WE HEAD BACK to my place to get ready to go out. I love karaoke although I’m not a spectacular singer. I can hold a tune, but that’s it. I love the music and watching as others express themselves through lyrics. I change out of the god-forsaken heels and into my Chuck Taylors, jeans, and “You Got Served” tee. This is more my speed. I’m ready to sing my heart out. Bailey steps out of my bathroom and I chuckle. She’s all dolled up in a skin tight dress and pumps. She and Jordan are two of a kind.

“How do I look?” Bailey twirls in a circle, letting me take in the full effect.

“Are we going somewhere else besides the karaoke bar?” I joke.

She frowns at my assessment. “I just want to look my best. You never know, my future man might be there.”

“In that case, you look hot. He won’t know what hit him.” This earns me a grin. “Come on, let’s hit the road before your future man gets away.”

On the driver over, I get a text from Liam.

Liam: Hey. R u busy?

Me: Why?

Liam: We need to talk

Me: I’ll pass

Liam: Please it’s important

Me: Well right now I am heading to the karaoke bar with Bailey

Liam: Which one?

Me: Palm Tree LA in K-Town

Liam: K

What does he mean, okay? Does that mean he going to meet up with us?

My phone rings and I quickly answer it without looking at the caller I.D. “What Liam?”

“Sorry, try again,” the sexy voice rasps on the other end. It’s Grayson. I can’t give away his identity so I reply simply with, “Hey.”

“Bad time? Expecting a call from Liam?”

He’s trying to sound as though he’s asking out of mere curiosity—I know the technique well, but I know that it’s anything but. “No and no. He was just texting me. I’m heading to the karaoke bar with Bailey.”

She glances at me at the mention of her name and mouths “Who is it?” I pretend I don’t see her and work to get him off the phone.

“Hmm. We need to talk,” he says. Seems to be the theme of the night.

“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow.” I haven’t made up my mind if I actually will, but he doesn’t have to know that. If he notices my urgency to get him off the line, he doesn’t say anything.

“I look forward to hearing from you. Have a good time.” Why is he even bothering to call now? Does he think that I’m just supposed to overlook that Vanessa is not only living with him, but she was parading around his place in her underwear? He has a lot of explaining to do—that’s if I decide to call him back.

Bailey takes the hint and doesn’t question me again about who was on the phone. We make it to the karaoke bar. This is the first time I’ve been here with Bailey, but she’s been here countless times before with other people. We found out we had this place in common. It’s thirty dollars per hour for the food and karaoke package, so the plan is to have a few drinks first, until we meet a few people to join our karaoke party.

THE DRINKS WILL help loosen up any nerves we have about making complete asses of ourselves. Over the next hour, we meet a group of six who’d been biding their time to rent the room. We make our way to the back and start looking through the songbook. There are a variety of popular songs including a Korean section. I finally choose what I always start the night with—Madonna’s
Like a Virgin
. Toward the end of the song, I glance at the door and in walks Liam. He’s smiling from ear to ear. So I guess I have the answer to my earlier question. I finish my song to clapping and whistles, Liam being the loudest. As Bailey takes the stage to sing her rendition of Poe’s
Angry Johnny
, Liam pulls me away from the group to talk.

“How have you been?” He slides his hands in his back jean pockets. I’m momentarily distracted. The movement pulls his T-shirt taunt against his chest and abs. I can’t help but compare his body to Grayson’s. He is sexy as hell, but the professor wins hands down. That man gives a whole other classification for sexy—just sinfully delicious.

“I’ve been fine. Not quite as well as you apparently, but fine,” I say finally.“About that. I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

“Oh really ... which part? The cheating on me or the rubbing your little girlfriend in my face every chance you got?”

“Heather isn’t my girlfriend and I’m sorry for all of it,” he sighs. “I panicked.”

“What do you mean panicked?”

“This is our last year. After we graduate, the expectation will be that we get married.” He chances a glance in my direction. “I got cold feet. I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.”

Is this really his justification for putting me through hell? “Who said anything about marriage? I have never pressured you. Hell, I’ve never brought it up.”

“I know you haven’t. It just seems like the next logical step. I guess what I’m trying to say is I made a terrible mistake and I see that now. Flaunting Heather in front of you was my attempt to piss you off, hoping it would help you get over me faster.”

“Well you have succeeded on both counts.” I watch him flinch at my jab.

“When I saw that guy carry you out of that frat party, I got a wake-up call. I had a chance to see what it was like for you to be with someone else and it stung like a mother … ”

“Liam, what hurt the most was to disrespect me in the manner you did. Even if you have moved on, our time together should count for something. What you did was flat-out purposeful and hurtful ... like I was more of an enemy to you.”

He flinches again at my correlation of being his enemy. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’ll spend forever making it up to you if you let me. I want you back, Siobhan.”

I’m in shock. I expected him to try and make amends, but not this. We’ve been through so much together and he was once the love of my life, but I can’t go there again. I can see now that I can live alone. I can be happy as me, not needing him to determine how I feel about myself. And, judging by other male attention I’ve been receiving, why should I settle? “I can’t. I appreciate you telling me the truth and I forgive you, but you still cheated on me.” God this is hard. I don’t even bother telling him about the conversation I witnessed between Melissa and Heather—how he mocked our sex life. It no longer matters. “I can be your friend, but I could never trust that you would be faithful to me. That is a deal-breaker for me. I told you I wouldn’t be like her. I won’t be like my mother. She let numerous men cheat and verbally abuse her in hopes that they would stay after my father left. You knew how this affected me and you still cheated.”