A Beauty Uncovered

by Andrea Laurence

  “Very nice. Sounds like you two have really hit it off. Tell me more about him.”

  “He’s an investment banker, but he’s not stuffy. Thirty-four. He’s divorced, but no kids. He’s got a really nice place in town. And there’s a dragon tattoo on his shoulder that was so damn sexy I almost climaxed the first time I saw it.”

  Sam and Amanda giggled over her exploits as they ate their lunch. She was glad that her friend had found someone. It had been a long time since Amanda had dated a guy with much promise.

  “What are you doing Friday?” Amanda asked.

  “I have no idea. Why?”

  “Maybe we could all go out. Like a double date. It would be fun. I want to introduce you to Matt, and I’m dying to meet your guy. You haven’t even told me his name. What’s up with that?”

  Sam let Amanda talk, but the moment the first words fell from her lips, she knew the answer. She tried not to feel disappointed about it, but double dating was out of the question. So was going out to a nice dinner at the hot new restaurant in town. Or seeing a movie on opening weekend. Or going to her friend Kelly’s annual New Year’s Eve party. Sam never had a date for that party, and when it finally looked like she might not be single for New Year’s, she knew her date would decline the invitation.

  Would Brody even be willing to meet her dad and her brothers? She didn’t know. The thoughts had brought down her spirits faster than finding out Brody had committed a crime. Being in love with him on a private island was easy. Loving Brody in Boston, surrounded by six-hundred thousand other people, was another matter.

  How exactly did she imagine their relationship to work in the real world? She had no idea.

  “Sam?”

  She looked up from her sandwich and tried to remember what Amanda had asked her. She opted to ignore the question about Brody’s name. “I think he’s busy Friday. Maybe another time,” she said, knowing full well there wouldn’t be another time.

  “Okay,” Amanda said, looking a touch disappointed. “Let me know when he’s available.”

  “Sure.” Sam took a deep breath, relieved that Amanda hadn’t pressed the issue. She didn’t want to lie to her friend, but it wasn’t like there were a hundred Brodys working at ESS. She tried to focus the rest of their conversation on Amanda’s romance, which was easy to do. She was all too excited to fill the time talking about Matt.

  When they were finished, she ordered Brody’s food and headed back to the office. Despite the cold, she took her time walking down the sidewalk to her building. She couldn’t make herself move any faster even as the icy sleet pelted her face. The lightness in her heart from the past few days had deflated, and all it took was the suggestion of a double date jabbing it like a sharp pin.

  Brody had been an enigma to her. A puzzle she wanted to put together. The more she learned, the more she was determined to learn. Ever the meddler, she not only wanted to know Brody but to help him. He didn’t seem very happy locked away in his tower. She had done her best to help where that was concerned. But now what? Had she thought her love would change him? Give him the courage to step into the light?

  As she stood dripping onto the rug in the lobby, she realized she simply hadn’t thought that far ahead. When Sam had held Brody’s lunch hostage and forced him from his office, she had never expected things to go this far. She never dreamed she would kiss him, much less sleep with him or go away on a romantic vacation. And she certainly never imagined she would fall in love with him.

  But now that she had…what was she going to do? If Brody wouldn’t live his life in public, was she willing to live her life in the shadows with him?

  Sam watched the numbers climb on the elevator as it spirited her up to the top floor. By the time the doors opened, she knew she had her answer. Yes, she would. If—and that was a very emphatic if—he was happy. And she really didn’t think he was happy hiding from the world. Even with her in his life. So now what?

  At her desk, Sam slipped out of her coat and hung it on the rack. She didn’t even bother to knock on Brody’s door. Instead, she slid his lunch through the silver drawer she’d ignored since nearly her first day on the job. Slamming it shut, she slumped into her chair and started reading her new email.

  When Brody’s door opened and his head peeked around the heavy wood, she immediately felt guilty. His eyes were wary as he watched her from a distance. Apparently thrusting his lunch at him through the drawer after all this time had set off alarm bells in his mind. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes,” she said, pasting a smile on her face that she hoped looked authentic.

  He didn’t seem convinced but came out from behind the door. He was looking very handsome today in a gray pinstripe suit and smoky blue tie. Sam still didn’t understand why he dressed so nicely when no one would ever see him. She preferred him in jeans and barefoot.

  “Lunch go all right?”

  “Yes,” she repeated, then shook her head. She might as well be honest about how she was feeling. “No, not really. My friend Amanda asked if you and I wanted to double date with her and her new guy on Friday.”

  His brows shot up. “Your friend knows about me?”

  Was that enough to cost her five million? She hoped not. “Not much. Not your name or who you are. She just knows that I’ve been seeing someone at work. And that I’ve been very happy.”

  “You don’t look happy,” he noted.

  “At the moment I’m not.”

  “Why?”

  Sam sighed. “Because you were too distracted by what I might’ve told Amanda to hear the rest of the sentence. She wants us to go out with her, but we can’t. And we can’t go out to dinner or a play. Or go Christmas shopping together. Ever. Because you don’t go out in public.”

  Brody’s face went neutral and stony. If there was a hint of emotion in his eyes over her being upset, he hid it away. “I’m sorry that upsets you. You know that I—”

  “I know,” she interrupted. “You’re the Great and Powerful Oz. The man behind the curtain that no one ever sees. Except me. And it doesn’t matter that I see a man who is beautiful both inside and out. That I see a man who is caring and funny. The world will forever be deprived of him.”

  Brody pursed his lips but didn’t respond to the compliments or the complaints. With a sigh, he shook his head and turned back to the subject he was more comfortable with—work. “I have a virtual meeting with the marketing director at one-thirty. Hold my calls until after the meeting is over.”

  Sam nodded and he went back into his office. She was so frustrated with him, she wanted to shake his shoulders and scream. Not because he was afraid of people’s reactions in public. Not because he wasn’t willing to do it for her. But because he continued to hide himself away despite how unhappy it made him. That’s what really made her crazy.

  Those damn scars were a prison all their own. The security measures were a backup plan in case someone was brave enough to try to get close. If Sam could get close enough to Brody’s father, she would throttle him with her bare hands for what he had done.

  There had to be a way to make Brody more comfortable in his own skin. He’d mentioned how he’d traveled as a teenager to see a specialist about reconstructing his face. That was fifteen years ago. Certainly there had been enough medical advances in the past few years to make a difference. It’s not like he needed insurance approval for treatment. He had enough money to do what needed to be done.

  She opened an internet window and started searching for skin reconstruction treatments. She scanned through one article after another, site after site. After a few dead ends, she found a fairly promising site for a plastic surgeon in New York City. He was using cutting edge laser technology and other methods. The before and after pictures in his photo gallery were stunning. The results weren’t flawless, but they were far better than she had ever imagined. It made h
er wonder if Brody even knew these kinds of advances had been made in reconstruction technology.

  She glanced briefly at the doctor’s phone number on the computer screen and a shot of panic rushed through her. Her cell phone. Sam dashed over to her purse and searched through it, but it wasn’t there. She checked the pockets of her jacket, but they were empty. She’d left it at the deli. Hopefully it was still there and someone hadn’t stolen it.

  Sam pressed the intercom button. “I have to run back to the deli. I left my cell phone.” She didn’t wait for his reply, leaping out of her chair and rushing down to the lobby.

  * * *

  Brody had spent the past hour sitting in his office and feeling like crap. He hadn’t said anything to Sam, but he could see the pain and disappointment in her face when they spoke about her friend. She wanted him to be like any other man. To do things most couples did. But that wasn’t a possibility. She knew that from the beginning. And yet, she’d hoped for more.

  So did he.

  He reached out to grab the gift-wrapped box he’d left sitting on the edge of his desk. It was a gold necklace with a sun pendant. The rays of the sun were multiple hues of yellow, white and rose-colored gold. The center was a yellow diamond. Sam was his personal sunshine, and the necklace was the perfect way to thank her for it. He’d ordered it before they left for the trip and Peggy had left it in his home office when he returned.

  He’d wanted to give it to Sam several times today, but the timing hadn’t been right. He didn’t want to give it to her when she was upset. But maybe now was a good time. He could leave it on her desk while she was across the street.

  Brody rounded her desk and left the box just to the side of her keyboard. His hand brushed the mouse as he moved away and the screensaver turned off, revealing her web browser.

  He felt sick to his stomach when he saw the pictures on her screen. Instead of email or briefing charts, it was page after page of burn reconstruction photos. He clicked back through her search history at a variety of sites, all focused on the latest methods of “fixing” him.

  Brody felt the anger of betrayal begin to swirl in his gut. He didn’t know why he was so surprised to find this. She was Daddy’s Little Fixer, right? She fixed everything else, why wouldn’t she want to fix Brody? She’d only played to his ego that night at dinner when she told him she didn’t see anything about him that needed fixing.

  He was a fool. Stupid for believing that she might be the one woman who would love him just the way he was. Frustrated, he grabbed the pink rose from the vase and crushed the petals in his hand. A thorn stabbed him, muddying his skin with a smear of blood, but he didn’t care. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as the truth.

  A moment later, Sam came through the door with her cell phone in her hand. She stopped in her tracks the moment Brody looked up from her screen. He wasn’t sure if it was the expression on his face or her own guilty conscience, but her eyes widened with fear.

  “Beautiful inside and out, you said. What a load of crap.” Brody threw the rose against the wall where it left a wet, bloodstained smear on the wallpaper.

  Sam jumped at the violent slam of the flower on the wall, but she didn’t move. Or defend herself. How could she? They both knew she was guilty.

  “I really thought you were the one. The one woman who could see past my scars and love me anyway. One who would want me for more than my money. I must’ve been blinded by your beauty. It was hard to see the truth when you were naked and seducing me.”

  “Hold on right there,” she said, sudden anger flushing her cheeks red. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Brody looked down at the screen and read aloud. “‘Doctor Jensen’s groundbreaking treatments can provide patients with significant improvements to their cosmetic appearance and functional activities of everyday life.’ Is that what you want, Sam? You want to fix me so I’ll go to your parties and your dinners?”

  Her bottom lip quivered as she fought to hold back tears. “Yes, but that’s not why I was—”

  “You’re fired.”

  “What? Brody, please. It’s not what you think.”

  “I think it is, Sam. I would’ve given you everything. I would’ve treated you like a cherished treasure for your entire life. All you had to do was accept me. I thought you had.”

  “I do accept you! You just don’t accept yourself!” Sam slammed her phone down onto her desk. “You are a miserable hermit. You have spent your whole life hiding from the world because you’re too afraid to face your fears. I looked on those web pages because I was hoping that one of those doctors might be able to help you. Not because I thought you needed fixing, but because you do.”

  Sam’s words were like a slap in the face. He nearly flinched from the sting of it. “You’re calling me a coward? After everything I’ve faced in my life you have the nerve to tell me I’m hiding away because I’m scared? There’s nothing any person on the street could do to me, Sam, that would be more horrible than what has already been done.”

  “Then why don’t you come outside with me and prove it.” Sam marched over to the office door and held it open for him. “Go down into your own damn lobby and say hello to your front desk security for the first time.”

  How dare she challenge him? Who the hell did she think she was? If he wanted to go to the lobby he would. He didn’t want to. And he certainly wasn’t going to do it only to prove something to her. She didn’t know anything about him. She was his secretary and a temporary one at that. His hands curled into tight fists at his sides.

  Finally, he turned away from her. He grabbed her coat, phone and purse and followed her to the door. He threw both of them through the doorway into the elevator lobby, following it with the gift box he’d put on her desk. He didn’t want it around to remind him of her. Her purse opened and the contents scattered across the marble floor. “I said you’re fired, Miss Davis.”

  When Sam turned away from him to lunge for her things, he snatched her ID card off of her shirt collar. The door shut as she bent down to scoop up her purse, and she realized too late that now she was trapped. Without her ID, she couldn’t come through the door or go down the elevator.

  Her face flushed a flaming red as she clutched her coat and purse to her chest. She pounded on the glass with her fist. “You can’t just leave me in here!”

  Her words were muffled, but he could still hear the angry edge of desperation in her voice. “I won’t,” he said confidently. “I’ll have the head of security come escort you out of the building momentarily.”

  “And is he going to make your copies? Or bring you your lunch? Or pick up your dry cleaning? Agnes won’t be back for another week. You’re helpless without an assistant.”

  “I’d rather have no assistant than have you in this office another minute.”

  Sam flinched but stood her ground. With a sad shake of her head, she said, “Good luck finding another woman like me.”

  He nearly snorted with contempt. “Secretaries aren’t that hard to come by.”

  She narrowed her dark eyes at him. “I meant in your bed, Brody. It took over thirty years to get a woman into it. Let me know how long the next one takes!”

  * * *

  That was a low blow and she knew it. She could tell the moment the words crossed her lips and Brody’s expression crumbled from angry to just plain hurt. A part of her was glad. She was hurt, too. It was only fair that he feel the same. But then he regrouped and she dreaded what might come next.

  “It shouldn’t be difficult,” he said, his lips curling into an angry sneer. “You aren’t the only woman in this town willing to sleep her way to the top. Of course, you must not be very good in bed. Every boss you sleep with fires you.”

  Brody had gutted her with words. Sam could only stumble back against the wall to brace herself from the impact of his insult. He had
reduced their love affair to something sleazy that she’d engineered to further her ambitions and called her a lousy lay in one breath.

  There was nothing she could say to that. She closed her eyes and prayed she could keep the tears back a few more seconds. When she opened her eyes, he had turned away. She caught only a second’s glimpse of him before he stormed into his office and slammed the door.

  The moment he was gone, her bravado crumbled. She slumped back against the wall and slid to the floor. The tears poured out of her almost faster than her body could manufacture them. She could only hold her things to her chest and sob into them.

  How had this happened? Why wouldn’t he listen to her when she tried to explain herself? She’d sat patiently waiting for him to explain about Tommy’s death. She deserved equal consideration for a far lesser crime.

  Yes, she wanted Brody to see the doctor in New York. But not for the reasons he claimed. His self-esteem was so low he couldn’t even fathom that she would want him the way he was. At the slightest evidence to the contrary, his fears were realized and he pushed her away. Why couldn’t he understand that the person who wanted him fixed the most was him?

  This morning, she’d been saddened thinking she might never be able to introduce the man she loved to her friends and family. Now, she was heartbroken and none of that mattered because she’d lost the man she loved for good.

  Sam looked around, feeling lost. That was when she noticed the box on the floor. It wasn’t hers, but he’d tossed it out with her things. She reached for it and opened the box. She gasped when she saw the golden sun necklace inside. It was stunning with a center stone so perfectly cut, it shimmered even in the dim florescent lighting of the lobby.

  He’d bought it for her, she realized sadly. What could’ve been a beautiful moment between them was ruined. She grasped the chain and clutched it against her chest with fresh tears falling.