Silk Scarves and Seduction (9 page)

Marc jerked his tie loose and cursed under his breath. What a fucking waste of time. If he had to go to one more meeting—hell, was there a doctor alive who didn’t know how much they were being bled by insurance companies?

It didn’t help that you had the problem with parents taking kids to the emergency room for a runny nose, a cold, a cough. It didn’t help that a parent stopped giving their kid an antibiotic five days into the treatment, instead of finishing it out and making sure the infection was gone.

All of that was driving medical costs too damned high, and to top it off, he was spending too much money on these damn things.

He was tired of it, frustrated, and tense.

Lynn Howard had sat next to him, running her thigh up and down his the entire time, smiling at him suggestively until he had finally had enough and just cut out early, shoving out of his seat and leaving, his meal untouched, ignoring the comments from colleagues as he headed for the smoldering garage where he had parked his car.

If he hurried, he could get to his office and close the door, catch a quick thirty-minute nap before they started patients.

He was burning the midnight oil with Blush, but damned if he’d stop before he had branded himself on her.

Fearing to quit this early in the game, he was going out there every damn night that he could, and he’d keep at it, for as long as he had to.

Once he hit the exit ramp, he scrubbed his face with one hand, wondering if he could convince her to come to his house tonight. He could catch a nap while he waited. Heaven knew he needed one…and he could see if she was taking any of this even half as seriously as he was.

Hell, they hadn’t even had a single date.

“How can you be talking serious?” he muttered as he went in through the employee entrance, walking up the hall.

Maybe they should go see a movie, or a play, catch dinner this weekend. And then he could start talking serious.

The sound of voices echoed quietly down the hall and he stilled.

“It’s sex, Tessa. Okay? Believe it or not, I like sex and it’s been a damned long time since I’ve had it. He’s good at it, too. Aren’t I entitled to enjoy it?”

Blush. His heart started to ache.

Tessa laughed and said, “Don’t tell me that, Valery. I’ve seen you looking at him.”

“Have you looked at him? He’s fucking gorgeous. Who in the hell wouldn’t want to fuck him?”

“Are you listening to yourself?” Tessa demanded. “Can you hear yourself? Damn it, pay attention to who you’re talking to. This is me. I know you better than that.”

Silence, and then Blush’s soft sigh. “Look, Tessa. Not everybody can be lucky enough to have what you have.”

“You’re too scared to try,” Tessa said softly.

Marc stepped forward. His heart felt too fucking broken to care what Blush’s response was to Tessa’s challenge would be. Shit. So she hadn’t had a good fuck in a while. That’s what this was about. “So, you needed to get laid, Blush?” he asked coldly, tucking his hands into his pockets.

Soft female gasps, and two pairs of eyes flew his way. Blush’s cheeks burned bright crimson and then she paled, her mouth opening and closing, soundlessly. Her eyes were dark, almost black in her lovely face. Looking at her was like a dagger in his heart. Turning his eyes to Tessa, he swallowed, tried to think of something to say. There was simply nothing.

He had gambled.

He had lost.

“Marc—”

“Don’t,” he said quietly, his voice low and husky, but full of rage, all the same.

Lifting his head, he let her see all the pain and anger he was feeling before he whispered again, “Don’t, Blush. Just don’t.”

Then he turned around and walked away.

She had never felt so shaken in her entire life.

“Well, I can say you royally fucked that up,” Tessa said with mock cheerfulness. She looked torn between sympathy and anger, her eyes glittering as she listened to the door slam down the hall.

“I’m going to go talk to him,” Valery said, her voice soft, her chest tight.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, not just yet.” Tessa moved to the waiting room door and closed it, turning to lean her back against it. “Marc’s been in love with you since high school. Do you know that?”

Valery said harshly, “Don’t do that. Don’t say that.”

“Why the hell not? It’s true.”

“How in the hell do you know?” Valery demanded, her eyes stinging with tears. It can’t be true. Damn it, it can’t. But something about the way he had looked at her…

Tessa smiled, a sad little smile. “Know who I’m married to, don’t you? You know Caleb is one of Marc’s best friends. Caleb doesn’t say much, but he sure as hell knows how to listen.” Tessa sighed, turning around and pushing her hands through her hair. She stared at the wall, her arms folded around her. “I had my suspicions for a while, but you never wanted to talk about it. And look at my track record. Until Caleb, I had messed up every relationship I’d ever been in. And Caleb came to me. He made the move. I’m terrible at giving advice on things. But Caleb knew. Marc’s so far gone over you, it’s not even funny. I said something about it at my wedding, and that’s when Caleb told me, but he said you two had to find each other for yourselves. Once he told me, it was so easy to see. And for a while, it was funny, watching you two around each other, but now it’s just—hell. I don’t know what it is.”

Then Tessa turned around and her cold blue eyes stared into Valery’s. “But that was just plain cruel. Blush, what in the hell is your problem? What are you so damned scared of?”

None of Tessa’s words connected. Her legs collapsed under her and she just fell onto the chair under her. “He’s not in love with me,” she murmured. “He can’t be.”

“Why not?” Tessa asked, lifting her chin.

Because if he was, I just ruined everything.

Aloud, she said, “Why do you think that? Where did you get such a fucked-up idea?”

Tessa smiled one of the rare catty smiles that ever graced her face and then she replied, “I’m sure you noticed something of an anomaly on him, a piercing? For a man who is pretty damned good about practicing what he preaches and all. He doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink more than a beer here and there. Eats better than anybody I’ve ever met in my life. He’s the poster boy for healthy living.”

“What in the hell does that have to do with anything?” Valery demanded, reaching up and grabbing handfuls of her hair.

“Caleb told Marc years ago that you and him were meant to be together and he should ask you out. He was too chicken, according to Caleb. Marc said you’d end up married to some artistic freak or the like before you were even twenty years old and if he was wrong, he’d get his nipple pierced. Well, Caleb came home on leave the summer you turned twenty and held him to it. Then he asked him when he was going to ask you out. Marc was going to, but you were in Ireland, then when you came home you started dating somebody, an artist. He moped for months.”

Valery licked her lips. “That doesn’t mean he is in love with me.”

“All right. But him telling Caleb that you were the only woman he’d ever love does,” Tessa snapped, starting to pace the room, her long legs scissoring back and forth, shooting her an incredulous look. “Damn it. My wedding. You caught the bouquet. Marc caught the garter. He was standing there turning it around and around in his hands, staring at you like he could just eat you up in three greedy bites, and you were oblivious. And again, Caleb asked him when he was going to do something. Marc said,
‘I’ve been here, waiting for her to notice me for years.
’ And I quote, ‘The woman I’ve loved my whole damn life doesn’t even realize I exist. It’s useless.’ Damn it, Blush, I never realized you were a fool.”

Valery blinked. She felt bruised. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“For crying out loud, why didn’t you ever look?”

Valery stood up, taking a deep breath. Then she walked out the front door.

Behind her, Tessa gaped, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “Well, why don’t you just kick me next time?” she muttered, reaching up and rubbing her hand across her chest.

Valery stood in front of her mirror, smoothing the lotion into her skin, forcing her mind to blank. She had to, because if she thought about anything, she’d shatter.

She ached, hurt all over.

She had been so terribly wrong.

And she’d acted like some high school kid.

The refrain from a movie she’d seen years before kept echoing in her head.

Loser. Loser. Loser.

How appropriate.

She was a damned loser. She’d lost everything.

Damn it. What in the hell was wrong with her?

Was she that afraid of taking a risk?

She scowled at herself.

Yes. She was.

She stared at her hands, at the pale lavender lotion that slicked them. It was a better quality than its predecessor had been, thicker, softer, and left her skin feeling silkier. It smelled every bit as good as the original had.

Valery could still remember the shocked pleasure that had run through her when she’d opened the elegant silver box and pulled out the simple purple glass bottles of lotion that first time.

And the card…

Does this seduce you the way you’ve always seduced me?

It hadn’t been handwritten. The computer-generated calligraphy was always the same.

But suddenly, Valery knew exactly who it was from.

Closing her eyes, she stood there as the knowledge flooded her and tears started to build behind her closed lids. Her throat felt tight and her chest ached.

Damn it, I am not going to cry.

So she had totally fucked up.

Crying about it wasn’t going to solve it.

Doing something, on the other hand, while it may prove useless in the end, at least she was doing something.

Slathering the rest of the lotion on her body in a hurry, she strode naked out of the bathroom, and prayed she hadn’t totally ruined it.

“Damn it, I was so mean to her,” Tessa pouted, pacing the floor, her full lower lip poking out, her eyes dark and angry.

Caleb was sprawled on the bed, watching her patiently. “Darlin’, this is something Valery and Marc are going to have to work out themselves. And it’s long overdue, if you ask me. Just try not to worry about it.” His eyes dropped to her lip and he wondered if she’d think he was trying to change the subject if he got up and bit it.

“Damn it, I should have told her how he felt about her a long time ago. I’ve known—”

Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “Now, I told you a secret,” he said, straightening his legal pad, a mess of books open in front of him. “I wasn’t supposed to go sharing Marc’s secrets and you don’t need to go interfering. If they are supposed to be together, they’ll do it on their own. They’ll work it out on their own.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “I know they need to work it out on their own. But I didn’t have to kick at her. She looked like a whipped puppy,” Tessa wailed, moving to the chaise lounge under the window and flopping down on it dejectedly. She stared out the window over the backyard, her eyes moving over the line of rose bushes that Caleb had planted the past spring without even seeing the lovely buds. All she could see was the pain in Blush’s eyes.

“Tessa—”

“Don’t,” she said flatly, her eyes cutting to him. “You have this odd fixation in your mind that I can do no wrong and—”

He laughed. “No, I don’t. Just because I think you’re a damn angel…” his voice trailed off and he laughed again. Then he sobered.

“Strawberry, I do not think you are perfect. But I know Blush almost as well as I know you. We all grew up together, remember? And maybe, just maybe, sweet little Tessa being mean was the kick in the ass stubborn Blush Taylor needed.”

He climbed off the bed and went over to stand behind her, rubbing her shoulders. “Listen to me,” he murmured, lowering his head. “Yes, you could have told her. I could have. But Marc’s always known how he felt. Blush has always tried to hide from it. Hell, up until this past year, she’s still been mean as a snake to him. He’s tolerated it, because he adores her. But what good would it have done to tell her, if she wasn’t ready to admit to herself how she felt about him?”

Tessa slid a look over her shoulder at him. “How did you get to be so smart?”