After the Party

by Jackie Braun

  “Elliot and my Aunt Isabella raised me after my father died, so Owen and I grew up together. Owen resented my intrusion both in his life and his household.”

  “How old were you at the time?”

  “I was ten. Owen eight.”

  “That’s a hard age,” she murmured, thinking of her own adolescence and how she’d felt when Camilla married her father and Bernadette moved in. “No child likes to have to share the affection of a parent with someone else.”

  “I didn’t ask for Elliot’s affection, much less to become the favorite.” Chase shook his head and sighed. “The older Owen and I got, the more competitive he became, and the more my uncle drew comparisons between the two of us.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “Yeah. It wasn’t fair to Owen. Even as a kid, I saw that.”

  “Did you ever try to talk to Elliot? Explain how you felt and how Owen must have felt?”

  “I did. So did my aunt. Owen and I were in high school by then. Elliot was proud of me for taking first place at the science fair. Owen earned second in his grade. We went out to eat after the awards presentation. Elliot made a big deal over my win. Owen, meanwhile, sulked through the meal. I told my uncle afterward that I thought Owen was being short-changed, by Elliot and even the awards committee.

  “He made this really cool voice-activated light. In a lot of ways, he’s like Elliot. Very curious and creative. Meanwhile, I did this rather boring report on allelopathy.”

  “Allelo-huh?”

  “Some plants, like sweet potatoes, release chemicals that inhibit the growth of other plants near them.”

  “Okaaaay.”

  “Your eyes glazed over, but the judges loved it,” Chase said wryly. “Anyway, I told Elliot that Owen’s project showed a lot more ingenuity than mine, and that I thought the only reason he didn’t get first place was because they probably thought he’d had help from Elliot. Unfortunately, that only made things worse.”

  “How so?”

  “Owen somehow got wind of my remarks and he confronted me later that night. He basically told me he would earn his father’s approval on his own. He didn’t appreciate my interference. We got into a fight.”

  “A fight fight?”

  “If you mean fistfight, yes.” He rubbed his jaw, as if remembering a blow. “I was only defending myself, but he wound up with a black eye.”

  “What did Elliot say?”

  “He was in his own little world much of the time. I doubt he noticed.” Chase sighed. “My aunt tried to comfort Owen, but that just ticked him off more.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Ella said softly.

  Chase shrugged. “Maybe not, but I wish things could have been different between us. After college, I left New York. Elliot had a position for me here, but I chose to work at the Trumbull offices in California.”

  Ella’s heart squeezed. Chase had put an entire country between himself and Owen. Not just Owen, but the only family he had.

  “You didn’t want to stand in Owen’s way. That’s admirable.”

  “Yet here I am.”

  “You must have had a good reason for coming back.”

  “Elliot asked me to. Eighteen months ago. My aunt was gone and... That was when his problems with forgetfulness started becoming really noticeable. So, I put my life in California on hold, leased this penthouse,” he added with a wave of his arms.

  An alarm bell sounded in Ella’s head. He’d said that his life in California was on hold, which implied that eventually he would return to it.

  He was saying, “I felt I had to return. Just after the economy tanked, the company started to founder. It was family-owned then.” He shook his head. His expression was not only grim, but guilty when he told her, “It was my bright idea to take it public several years back. Believe me, if I could do it over again...”

  Ella shoved her own concerns aside. “It may have been your idea, Chase, but you had to have your uncle’s support in order to do it. And you couldn’t have predicted the economy’s utter collapse.”

  He studied her. Just about the time she became uncomfortable, he surprised her by saying, “Thank you, Ella.”

  “For what?”

  “For trying to make me feel better.”

  “Is it working?”

  Half of his mouth rose. “Maybe a little.”

  “You’re welcome then.” She smiled

  His gaze cut to her lips and she swore the temperature in the room shot up a dozen degrees.

  “Dining room,” he said with a decisive nod and turned quickly on his heel.

  His stride was long and purposeful as he maneuvered through a living room whose furnishings were clean-lined and contemporary in style. Along the way, he ditched his suit coat, which he tossed over the back of the sofa. His dress shirt fit snug over his shoulders and tapered at the waist before disappearing into dark trousers. Mmm. Nice rear view.

  “What do you think?” he asked as they arrived at their destination.

  What did she think? Now there was a loaded question given the inappropriate images that were popping around in her head like heated kernels of corn. She paced to the other side of the room and concentrated on the decor.

  “Nice table.” Large. Flat. Handy.

  “I can put in another leaf,” he said.

  “I don’t know that you’ll need to. It’s expansive even without it.” She ran her hand over the edge of the dark wood, as her body hummed with need. It could easily accommodate them.

  “What about the sideboard?” He motioned behind her.

  She turned and gave it the once-over. The piece sported the same dark stain and clean lines as the table, but it was topped in white marble streaked with gray veins, making it a much harder and colder surface than the table. Still...

  “It’s a good height.” In fact, if Ella were to sit on its edge, Chase’s mouth would be level with... She closed her eyes briefly. “Perfect.”

  “Yeah? What will you use it for?”

  She felt heat flood into her cheeks, as well as other parts of her anatomy, and fought the urge to fan herself as she stammered, “W-well, um, let’s see...”

  “Appetizers?” he suggested.

  “Sure. Appetizers.” She nodded.

  “Or maybe it would be good for cocktails. I can put out bottles of liquor and mixers and my guests can serve themselves prior to the meal. What do you think?”

  She was expected to think? Eyes glued to the marble top, she managed to say, “That would be another excellent use.”

  “But you have something else in mind. I can tell.”

  “I, um...” Her gaze cut back to Chase then, taking in broody eyes, lean cheeks and a mouth that, as far as she was concerned, should be registered as a lethal weapon. Despite the unruly cowlick, his sandy hair was impossibly neat. His shoulders were broad, and accented in a white dress shirt whose crisp cotton was divided down the middle by a length of navy-and-red-striped silk.

  “I...I...”

  “Go on. Be honest, Ella.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she murmured and a husky laugh rumbled out.

  “Tell me.”

  She waited a beat, almost hoping the words in her head weren’t the ones that would slip from her tongue. No such luck, she realized, but without too much regret, when she heard herself tell him, “I’d like you to lose your tie.”

  Chase’s mouth fell open momentarily before he managed a response. “What did you just say?”

  They had already established that Ella was unconventional and perhaps even a bit of a kook. So, what the hell?

  “The tie. I want you to take it off.” She shrugged. “You told me I could be honest.”

  “I meant about my dining room.”

  “But that’s
not why you brought me here.”

  He shook his head as if to clear it. “What are you talking about?”

  “You.” She winked. “And me.” This time she bobbed her eyebrows.

  He made a series of incoherent sounds that served as his reply. She doubted someone as cool and collected as Chase Trumbull was ever quite so inarticulate with other people.

  Score one for me.

  “In your office earlier today, before you got all pissy with me.” She sent him a grin. “Which I forgive you for, by the way—”

  “You—”

  “Forgive you. Yes.”

  She wasn’t sure why she was pushing Chase, or, for that matter, why she was pursuing him in such a bold fashion. It wasn’t like her to be this assertive when it came to men. As a result, from high school on, Ella had found herself in a long-term relationship with Bradley, the perfect match in everyone’s opinion except her own. Since their breakup, she hadn’t dated much. She’d been too busy trying to cobble together a new life for herself, and trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to help her father find his footing, both financially and emotionally.

  But the men she had gone out with had been totally wrong for her. Or married, in the case of the jerk who’d neglected to mention he had a knitting-needle-wielding wife.

  Chase probably was all wrong for her, too. As Ella had told Sandra, the two of them had nothing in common except a party and a boatload of sexual chemistry.

  That wasn’t quite true, she amended. They both had lost a parent. And they both had grown up in a household with another quasi-sibling, who’d made their life difficult.

  Her reasonable self told her turned-on self to stop, given what he’d just said about California and his life there. A life to which he apparently would return. But she didn’t care. Right now, she wanted to feel the burn. The fallout...she’d deal with that another time.

  “Ella, I’m very attracted to you, but I brought you here for business. I don’t...I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

  She called him out on that. “Really? When we were back in your office, are you saying that I imagined your mouth on my b—”

  “No! But I’m not like Owen. That sort of...behavior doesn’t belong in the workplace.”

  “It’s not an ideal setting. Too many disruptions. Not enough practical flat surfaces,” she finished, feeling emboldened when a glance down revealed that Chase’s body was in agreement with her.

  “Yes.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, that’s not the point I am trying to make.”

  If they were talking about points, Ella decided she’d scored another one, because his gaze had now drifted from her eyes to her mouth. It settled there briefly before heading to the V where her jacket came together. Was he remembering the moment when he’d peeled it back? She certainly was.

  “We’re not in your workplace now,” she told him.

  His gaze snapped back to hers. “Technically, we’re in yours.” He cleared his throat. “What are your thoughts on workplace fraternization?”

  Ella smiled. “I’m all for it, as long as both parties are in agreement. So?”

  His hand moved to his tie. He loosened the knot and pulled it away from his collar.

  “Is that your answer?”

  He smiled. Full-on. Her heart skipped several beats only to make up the difference a moment later when he added, “Your turn. The jacket. Take it off.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to? You did a pretty good job undressing me in your office.”

  His eyes lit up at the mention of that. “I’d rather watch you do it this time.”

  “All right.” She did as he commanded, moving with excruciating slowness. Afterward, Ella reached for him. “Now, let me tell you what I have in mind for your sideboard.”

  EIGHT

  Sex complicated things. Chase had never been in a relationship with a woman when it hadn’t. So he was a little surprised that after a few hours of indulging in the mind-blowing variety with Ella, she hopped up from the bed—they’d eventually made it out of the dining room—and announced that she had to be going.

  No clinging. No covert glances. No asking when he would call or even if. The only question she posed was, “Any idea where I left my panties?”

  Like he was supposed to remember something like that? Hell, Chase figured he was doing pretty well to recall his own name in the afterglow of some of the best sex he’d ever had. Still, he swung his legs over the side of the mattress and stood, pulling on a pair of clean boxers before he followed her out of the room. He was game to help Ella look for her panties, especially if it meant he got to watch her walk around the penthouse wearing nothing but her black cami and a satisfied smile.

  They came across her jacket slung across a chair in the dining room where she’d peeled it off at his command. Her pants were in a heap on the floor next to the sideboard, along with her sexy heels, his wingtips and most of his clothing. As for her panties, however, even a thorough search failed to turn them up.

  Not that he was complaining.

  “The waist will be big, but you can borrow a pair of my boxers,” he offered, growing hard just thinking about the way Ella’s curves would fill out the checkered cotton.

  “Thanks, but I’ll pass.” She glanced at her watch and grimaced. “I won’t have enough time to stop at my apartment. I guess I’ll have to go commando.”

  She stepped into the pants and began pulling them up. Odd, but Chase found watching her dress almost as much of a turn-on as watching her disrobe. She put on shoes next, her movements deft and decisive even as he was having second thoughts about letting her leave. He had to get back to the office. He’d been away too long already. But...

  “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” he asked, managing to sound casual despite his mounting curiosity.

  “I’m meeting my father to look at an apartment, and then we’re going to have an early dinner.” She smiled then, mismatched eyes lighting up with pride. “My treat, now that I’m gainfully employed.”

  “Are you moving?” Chase asked.

  God, he hoped so. He really didn’t like her neighborhood or her apartment building, even if he was pretty sure that he’d solved the brick-as-doorstop issue with the downstairs neighbors.

  “No. My father is. He’s been staying at a friend’s condo on Long Island since...” The corners of her mouth turned down briefly. “Anyway, his friend wants to lease it out now, so Dad needs to find a new place.”

  Left unsaid was that her father couldn’t afford the condo’s rent.

  “So, where’s he looking?”

  “Brooklyn. There’s a decent-size walkup that his real estate agent says comes partially furnished. It’s close to a grocery store and public transit. I’m not familiar with the neighborhood, but the place sounds pretty nice.”

  The place sounded like a huge step down from Oscar’s previous address, although probably not as far down as her studio in Lower Manhattan was, but Chase didn’t say so. Instead, he asked, “What time do you think you’ll be home tonight?”

  Ella had been tying the belt on her jacket. She stopped, glanced up. “Why?”

  Why indeed. It was none of his business, even if they just had engaged in amazing sex.

  Chase shrugged. “No reason. I was just wondering.”

  “If you’re worried about the invitations to your dinner party, I’m planning to address and hand-deliver them first thing in the morning.”

  His dinner party and, more importantly, his uncle’s wake. Those were what Chase should be concerned about right now, not whether Ella got home safely. Or what she would be wearing when she finally went to bed that night.

  “Excellent. And the menu?”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow after I speak with the manager at The Colton.”

  As he
walked her back through the penthouse to the elevator, awkwardness settled in. Chase prided himself on always knowing what to say, whether to a woman with whom he’d just made love or a business rival eager to thwart Trumbull’s bottom line. But he was tongue-tied now and felt oddly conspicuous.

  At the elevator, he blurted out, “Thanks.”

  Ella eyed him, her expression puzzled, and no wonder. Thanks? It wasn’t exactly what a woman expected to hear as she left a guy’s place after brain-scrambling sex.

  “Um, for coming.” His double-entendre of a clarification made things worse.

  Chase went to tuck his hands into his pockets, only to realize he wasn’t wearing pants. He settled them on his waist instead, just above the logoed band of his boxers. He was searching for a way to restore his cool and salvage the situation when her mouth curved with a satisfied grin.

  “That was entirely my pleasure.”

  She leaned in and gave him a kiss before boarding the elevator. “I’ll be in touch tomorrow,” she promised.

  After the doors closed, Chase found himself smiling, too. Damned if he wasn’t looking forward to her call.

  Which made his conscience prick when he found the list of seasoned party planners he’d compiled for his uncle and dialed the number of the one at the top. As much as he wanted Ella to succeed at her new venture, he couldn’t take any chances. His uncle had hired her and was determined to keep her on, but that didn’t mean Chase couldn’t pay for the advice of a real professional and surreptitiously feed it to Ella as needed.

  * * *

  Ella unscrewed the lid on a jar of peanut butter and scooped out a spoonful, which she drizzled with chocolate syrup before putting it in her mouth.

  The treat was high in calories, but relatively low in cost. When she’d no longer been able to afford her favorite imported Belgium chocolates, she’d come up with this and other creative ways to indulge her sweet tooth. She gave the spoon a final lick before placing it in the sink next to her coffee cup and cereal bowl. Even something simple could be satisfying.

  What was going on with Chase was a case in point. It was sex, pure and simple. Okay, with a side of work thrown in. But it wasn’t a relationship. As long as she kept that in mind, everything would be fine. And fun.