Whatever He Wants (29 page)

 
     
She’d loved herself so little, and she’d
looked for that love in a man who was way more damaged then she was. There were
times when Noelle couldn’t help but think about James, but then she’d immerse
herself in her work. Thank goodness she had something to distract her with or
else she’d go crazy.

 
     
“So what are you ladies gossiping about?”
Paul walked into the shop with a large box in his arms followed by Donna, one
of the assistants they’d recently hired.

 
     
Simone pulled away from Noelle. “I think I
need to get back to the boutique. I told Melissa I’d only be gone for a half
hour. I’ll see you later Noelle. Bye Paul.”

 
     
Noelle had never seen her cousin move so
fast. She was running, and from the determined gleam in Paul’s eyes as he
watched her leave, he’d be in pursuit soon enough.

 
     
Noelle focused on the box to ease the
awkwardness. “Are those the fliers you’re carrying?”

 
     
“Huh?” he broke out of his trance.

 
     
“The box?
Are the
fliers inside?”

 
     
“Oh yeah,” Paul said, still a bit
distracted.

 
     
“Donna, could you take the box in the back
and I’ll join you shortly to start working on the fondant.”

 
     
“Sure boss,” Donna complied cheerfully,
taking the box of fliers from Paul.

 
     
When Noelle and Paul were alone, she
grabbed his hand and directed him toward one of the tables by the window at the
front of the bakery. “Okay, when are you going to ask Simone out on a date?”

 
     
“Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to
ask her out when she runs away whenever I get close? You saw how fast she
hightailed
it out of here like I had cooties or something. I
haven’t felt this rejected since I pissed my pants in the first grade.” He
threaded his fingers through his blond hair.

 
     
“I’ll just think of a way to get the two
of you alone. Simone’s a little gun shy when it comes to dating.” That wasn’t
exactly true. Simone had a lot of guy friends, none of them who she viewed as
serious but Noelle didn’t have the heart to tell Paul.

 
     
“She doesn’t seem so shy to me. Maybe I’m
the problem. Is it because I’m white?”

 
     
“She doesn’t care about that.”

 
     
“Do you think she may be interested in
someone else?”

 
     
“She hasn’t mentioned it. To my
recollection, Simone hasn’t dated since she started the boutique.”

 
     
“I can’t see why. Simone is gorgeous.”

 
     
“I think she just wants to focus on her
boutique right now. And seeing as how we just opened our own bakery, you can
hardly blame her for that. Give her some time okay? I’m sure she’ll come around
eventually.”

 
     
“I wish I was as sure about this as you.”

 
     
“Paul, I wouldn’t encourage you to pursue
her if I didn’t believe she likes you too. I’m not the most perceptive person
in the world, but I saw that look she gave you when I first introduced the two
of you. Be patient, Simone is worth waiting for.”

 
     
“And how about you?”

 
     
“What about me?”

 
     
“When do you think you’ll dip your toes in
the dating pool again?”

 
     
“Right now my number one priority is the
bakery. I have so many orders lined up I’ll be lucky to fit in a nap.”

 
     
“Don’t use the business as an excuse.”

 
     
“I’m not, it just that
Ja
—”

 
     
“Go ahead and say his name. You can’t heal
until you’re willing to talk about it.”

 
     
Noelle sighed. “You’re right, but I just
don’t trust myself to choose someone who won’t totally walk all over me. I feel
like such an idiot for putting up with him for so long.”

 
     
“You thought you were in love with him.
It’s understandable.”

 
     
“I was in love and probably still am. When
I allow myself to think about him it kills me a little to know he’s probably
moved someone else into the penthouse and hasn’t given me another thought.”

 
     
“I’m not so sure about that, Noelle. When
I worked out my two months’ notice, he didn’t mention the penthouse once, so
I’m pretty sure he didn’t replace you right away if he did at all. And I’m not
so certain he didn’t feel something for you.”

 
     
“You don’t have to say that to make me
feel better.”

 
     
“I’m not. I believe you’ve known me long
enough to realize I’m honest, brutally sometimes. James may not be my favorite
person right now but I can say the man works like a demon. Those times when he
couldn’t come around to see you, he wanted me to check in on you. On several
occasions he asked me how you were doing. He never did that with any of the
other women. If I didn’t know better I would say he actually cared.”

 
     
She snorted bitterly. “He had a funny way
of showing it. He’s engaged to another woman. I was stupid for thinking I
actually had a connection with him. It was just sex.”

 
     
“Unfortunately, most people in his income
bracket don’t marry for love.”

 
     
“That really doesn’t make me feel any
better. I’m just surprised he considered me worthy enough to share his bed in
the first place.”

 
     
“Stop selling yourself short. Remember we
agreed you wouldn’t do that anymore. You’re beautiful, smart and talented. You
have a lot going for you. Without you there’d be no shop.”

 
     
“You’re giving me way too much credit. If
you weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have known where to begin.”

 
     
“You can’t have a business if there’s
nothing to sell and you make a damn fine product.”

 
     
Noelle was truly humbled by Paul’s praise.
He had come to mean so much to her over the past several months. She cherished
the friendship they’d formed. “Thank you, Paul. I just want you to know, your
friendship means the world to me. But I have to ask, why me? What made you give
up your job for me?”

 
     
“You reminded me of Alyssa. I’ve been more
of a father to her than a big brother since we were kids, and I guess my
protective streak came out. But don’t look at my resignation from my former job
as me making a sacrifice. I see it more as me moving on to the next chapter of
my life. I wouldn’t have stayed in that position indefinitely. My goal was
always to start a business for myself and be my own boss. And now with your
help I have that opportunity, so I’m just as grateful for you as you are for
me. We’re going to make both our dreams come true. Noelle, you’re one of the
sweetest, kindest women I’ve ever met and once you recognize how great you are,
you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

 
     
Tears welled in her eyes. Her cousin had
basically told her the same thing over and over again. Noelle didn’t want to
just believe it this time; she wanted to act on it. She vowed to herself then
and there, even if she had to go through years of therapy, she’d always walk
with her head held high.

 
     
James wished he was somewhere else, but he
promised Eleanor he’d escort her to this event thrown by one of her friends.
Besides, he would have been a total cad to deny her anything with all she’d
dealt with in the past month.  Her father having suffered a massive heart
attack followed by a stroke had miraculously survived, but not without severe
trauma to his body. The stroke had left George Harrington paralyzed.

 
     
According to the doctors it could still
take weeks before they knew for sure what the complete damage was, and what needed
to be done to get him to some semblance of a normal life. Best case scenario,
George would regain some of his motor skills and get some of his independence
back. At worst, he’d need around-the-clock care for the remainder of his life.

 
     
Eleanor had been devastated by that news.
Maryanne, on the other hand, seemed more interested in moving the wedding plans
forward. Eleanor and James decided to postpone the wedding until they knew for
sure what was going on with George’s condition much, to Maryanne’s annoyance.
It seemed heartless how Maryanne couldn’t bring herself to worry over her
husband’s condition beyond playing up the drama among her country club friends.
Eleanor had confided in James her disgust of Maryanne’s behavior.

 
     
James did his best to help Eleanor out in
any way he could but things were changing between them. Eleanor spent most of
her time at the hospital. She didn’t call as often and barely spoke of the
wedding. Her obvious withdrawal might have bothered him if he weren’t changing
too.

 
     
Lately he’d wondered if marriage to
Eleanor was what he really wanted. He’d fought hard to make it to where he was
today, but James wondered if he’d been chasing the wrong dream all along.

 
     
It was painful to realize he’d become the
very person he used to despise. He had plenty of material wealth and
possessions but each night when he finally turned off his laptop, he’d go to
bed alone, whether it was in his mansion or one of the several hotels he owned.
And most of those nights he’d think of Noelle. He missed her. But he was too
ashamed to track her down and give her the apology she deserved. He’d been
callous and mean to her for reasons he couldn’t explain at the time. And now
that he did, it was too late.

 
     
 
“James, we don’t have to stay long if you don’t
want to. I still have to go by the hospital to see Daddy before I go home
tonight anyway.” Eleanor placed her hand on his arm as she brought him out of
his deep thoughts.

 
     
It took James a moment to remember where
he was before he could respond. “I’m sorry, Eleanor. No. We can stay as long as
you’d like. No rush.”

 
     
 
“Are you sure? You seem a bit…distracted
tonight. But then again, you’ve been that way a lot lately. Is everything
alright?”

 
     
“Yes. I was just thinking I’ll have the
most beautiful date on my arm tonight.”

 
     
She smiled. “You’re a charmer, James
Rothschild, but I know a lie when I hear it. I’ll forgive you though since
you’ve stroked my ego.”

 
     
He relaxed a little under her teasing.
James appreciated her sense of humor among the other good qualities she
possessed. For a second he was tempted to tell her what he’d been thinking, but
Eleanor was already going through so much. He couldn’t pile on by voicing his
doubts about their impending nuptials.

 
     
Eleanor had told him this event was in
honor of her friend Susan Fontaine’s art gallery re-opening. James wasn’t a
huge art connoisseur but he appreciated good work when he spotted it. He owned
several valuable pieces and figured he’d add to his collection if something
caught his eye if nothing else came of the night.

 
     
When they walked inside the gallery, the
party was in full swing. There were silver and black decorations everywhere.
Waiters in tuxedoes walked around with hors d’oeuvres on silver platters, and
patrons chattered with gaiety while discussing the artwork surrounding them as
they moved from piece to piece.

 
     
James was already bored.

 
     
“I wonder why everyone is circling that
statue. Isn’t that Rodin’s
The Thinker
?”

 
     
James followed the direction of where she
pointed. “Yes, that’s what it looks like but I’m surprised to see it here.
Maybe the artist did one of those modern
modifications,
otherwise I don’t see why it’s drawing such a big crowd.”