But unlike any woman he’d ever been with, he remembered her. He remembered her smile and her walk and even her sweet scent. He even remembered how she felt in his arms. Many nights he thought about how she felt. His dick was stiffening now just thinking about how she felt.
“Is this it?” she asked Jillian as she pulled out what appeared to be a typed report.
“That’s it.” Jillian took it from Grace and handed it to Tommy.
“About my plan,” Jillian began but Tommy, rifling through the pages, shook his head.
“Is this the same report you faxed over here?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“That’s a no,” he said.
“But why, Tommy? It addresses all of your concerns.”
“It addresses none of my concerns and you know it. And they will be addressed, Jillian.”
Grace looked at Tommy. He seemed so different sitting there, behind his massive desk in his massive office in his massive office building. That night she was with him he was so tender and gentle with her. Now he was anything but. Which made her wonder if he even remembered that night the way she remembered it.
“I’m addressing what I can, Tommy,” Jillian went on. “But the idea of cameras all over the office is just going too far.”
Grace stared at him. So he was the security expert who wanted to place cameras all over Trammel? He was the guy Pen and Jared was begging her to stop?
“I understand your concerns,” Jillian continued, “but I just can’t bring myself to spy on my employees. I don’t think the camera idea is workable.”
Tommy looked at her. “I didn’t ask you to place cameras anywhere. That was your idea. And I agree, it’s a terrible idea.”
Jillian’s idea, Grace thought. Cameras were Jillian’s idea? When it was Jillian who was running around Trammel acting as if cameras were being forced on her, not the other way around.
Tommy went on. “But so far hidden cameras are the only idea you’ve come up with, and that is not acceptable, Jilly. Too many complaints have been leveled against your sales and marketing departments and I want to know exactly how those departments are being managed. Trammel more and more is becoming known as an ethically-challenged company and that reputation has got to end before it picks up any more steam. There’s no two ways about this. Changes have got to be made.”
Grace looked at Jillian. She felt as if she was witnessing a clash of the titans.
“I understand your concerns, Tommy. I have those same concerns. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about this.”
“Then fine. Where’s your plan? Why haven’t you presented a plan of action yet? I told you to have a POA on my desk eight weeks ago. Then last week. Now you’re sitting in here and I still have nothing from you. Don’t make me take matters into my own hands, Jilly, because you aren’t going to like what I come up with. Up until now I’ve allowed you to run your company the way you saw fit. I’ve stayed completely out of it. But you’re running it in the ground and I can’t continue that, not after what my auditors reported back to me, not as long as I’m associated with Trammel. I have too much capital tied up in that venture. I’m not going to sit back and let that company go to seed under my watch. I’ll take drastic measures if I have to. Do we understand each other, Jillian?”
“In other words,” Jillian said carefully, “you’ll try to squeeze me out?”
His desk intercom buzzed. Tommy stared her in the eyes. “I’ll do what I have to do,” he said, and then pressed the button. “Yes, Anne?”
“Your Tokyo guests have arrived, sir.”
“Escort them to the board room.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tommy stood up, which prompted Jillian and Grace to stand up, too. He tossed the report back toward Jillian.
“I want that POA by close of business today,” he said as he buttoned his suit coat. “If I don’t have it, then I will institute plan B. And you will not like plan B.” Tommy looked at Grace. His heart squeezed when her big eyes returned his gaze. “Miss McKinsey,” he said with a nod, and then left.
Grace breathed again. She could hardly believe it. What did she just witness? And how, she wondered, could he be so apathetic? It was as if, in his mind, their night together never happened.
Then she realized who she was dealing with. Mister Open Relationship. He probably bedded so many females that he couldn’t keep up from one to the next. And it had, after all, been two months ago. She exhaled and looked at Jillian. At least, she thought, she wasn’t the only one reeling.
Jillian gathered up her report and her briefcase. “What an ass,” she said as she did.
“What do you mean you can’t go?” Jamie asked Grace as he stood in front of her desk. He had driven over, from his art gallery three blocks over, to take her to lunch.
“I can’t get away,” Grace replied, flustered. Her desk was loaded with paperwork. “I called your cell phone. It’s turned off.”
“That’s because I don’t want nobody bothering me on my lunch break, honey. I know how to handle my business. That’s why I don’t understand what you mean you can’t go. This is your time of the work day.”
“I know, but Jilly’s got me reviewing this plan of action she has to present by close-of-business today, and it is not ready for prime time or no other time right now.”
“But you have to eat,” Jamie said, unwrapping the shawl around his neck. “Bump Jillian. Let’s get something to eat.”
“I can’t,” Grace said firmly. “For real.”
Jamie plopped down in the chair in front of Grace’s desk. “Sometimes you’re absolutely no fun at all, do you know that?”
“Look at all of this work, J, and I’m not even half finished.”
“Jillian should be handling this.”
“She is handling it. All of the managers are handling it. It’s just a lot still needs to be done.” Then she hesitated as Tommy flashed across her mind.
“What?” Jamie asked, noticing her contemplation.
Grace looked at her good friend. “I saw Tommy this morning.”
Jamie’s mouth flew open. “Shut up!” he said. “Really? What, was he in the building and decided to stop by your office?”
“No, no. Jillian made me go with her to his office this morning.”
“Wow,” Jamie said. He knew how disappointed Grace was the days following her birthday when lover boy didn’t bother to phone her. She understood that there was no agreement to stay in touch, but still. Grace had been hopeful.
“So how did it go?” he asked Grace.
“How did what go?”
“Your meeting with Tommy Gabrini. How did it go?”
Grace hunched her shoulders. “It went fine.”
“Come on, Grace. Tell mama all about it.”
Grace smiled. “There’s nothing to tell, Jamie, all right?”
“So you didn’t sleep with him?”
Grace looked at him. “Sleep with him? I told you I saw him in a meeting, and the meeting wasn’t in his bedroom. Geez, Jay-Jay.”
“But did he say anything?”
“He spoke.”
“And that was it?”
“That was it.”
“Damn.”
“Yup. So I kept it professional too.”
“But it still hurt a little?”
“Of course not,” Grace said firmly. “He didn’t promise me anything, and he delivered on that promise.”
“And you’re better for it too,” Jamie said firmly. “He’s a womanizer, at least that’s what Nayla claims. I don’t know, but that’s what she’s claiming. Why would you want a guy like that anyway?”
Grace was asking herself that very question. “What about your date last night? Did you get lucky, or is this conversation only about my business?”
Jamie smiled. “Yes, I got lucky, and yes, this particular conversation is only about your business, honey. You had hopes, though, for Tommy, didn’t you?”
Grace stopped
working and leaned back. “I guess I did,” she admitted. “I shouldn’t have, but seeing him again today made me realize how disappointed I was in him.”
“Because he didn’t phone you again?”
“Right. He never promised to phone me, and it’s my fault that I’m disappointed, but it is what it is.”
“I tried to warn you.”
“I know.”
“But he didn’t say anything to you at that meeting? About y’all I mean?
“No, nothing. I kind of saw a different side of him actually.”
“And what side was that? He was hitting on Jillian?”
“No! The man has some taste.”
Jamie laughed.
Grace continued. “But he just. . . I don’t know. Like I said, he barely acknowledged me.”
“B that’s how guys are. Take it from me, okay? They give you their undivided attention until they get your sex. Then they don’t know your name. Forget him. Great looking guys like him are too much trouble, anyway. Remember Cam? Hello? But anyway, check this out.” Jamie leaned over the desk and handed Grace his cell phone. The picture of a handsome young black male was shown.
“Who’s this?”
“He’s a cutie, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but who is he?”
“Teron,” Jamie said. “And he has a brother, girl, a straight brother, who looks just as good.”
“So, what about them?”
“We, as in me and you, are having a double date with them tonight, eight o clock, at Moors.”
This was news to Grace. “We are?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Why, Jamie? Because they’re cute?”
“Because they’re cute and because they’re looking for long-term relationships, not just sleepovers.”
“Yeah, right,” Grace said with some bitterness. “That’s what every guy claims until he gets into your panties.”
“I’ll bet Tommy Gabrini didn’t claim that when he got into yours,” Jamie declared, “so don’t even trick that. Because from what I’ve heard about that man, he never has to claim anything and you ladies still let him in. So just say you’re come tonight. Please.”
Grace hesitated. Maybe she did need to go on with her life. “What time did you say?” she asked.
Jamie smiled. “They’re gonna meet us at Moors tonight at eight. And I’ll drive.”
“You’ll drive? Twice in one day? Let me alert the media!”
“Just be ready,” Jamie said, standing to his feet. “You made me come all this way to pick you up for a lunch you can’t have, don’t make me make a blank trip tonight. I’ll get you at eight.”
“Eight? I thought you said we were meeting up with them at eight?”
“They can wait for us. It’ll show we’re not desperate and that we’re worth the wait.”
Grace shook her head. She hated games and Jamie knew it. Then her phone buzzed.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Gabrini on line one.”
This stunned Grace. She looked at Jamie. Jamie motioned for her to accept the call. “Okay, thanks,” Grace said into the intercom.
“Put it on Speaker,” Jamie said, pressing the Speaker button to the on position and sitting back down.
Grace pressed the Speaker button back off and picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey. How are you?”
Grace decided to be cautious. “Fine. You?”
“I’m okay. I apologize for leaving so abruptly this morning, but I had to meet with a group of Japanese businessmen. They want me to invest in their company. The meeting just wrapped up.”
“Are you going to invest?”
“No way. They don’t have their shit together yet. Now I’m late for another meeting, but I wanted to phone and let you know how pleased I was to see you this morning.”
Grace didn’t respond. He didn’t seem pleased to her.
“And I was hoping,” he continued, “that you could have dinner with me tonight. At my place.”
Grace was frankly surprised by the offer. “At your place?” she asked. “At your restaurant?”
“At my house. I want to cook you dinner.”
It sounded lovely. But why was he bothering? He was cold toward her this morning, but now he was hot again? He was off with her for two months, but now he was on again? Grace couldn’t deal with those kinds of ups and downs. She wasn’t going down any dead end roads with him.
“Can’t tonight,” she said.
There was a pause on his end of the line. “Why not?” he asked her, clearly not pleased anymore.
“I have a date actually,” Grace decided to be blunt.
“You have a date?”
“That’s right.”
“A date?”
Grace hesitated. He sounded surprised. “Yes. A date.”
“Who?”
“Some hunky guy Jamie knows. We’re meeting over at Moors. It’s really a blind date.” Then Grace couldn’t help herself. She smiled. “I thought I’d try those open relationships you spoke so highly of.”
She looked at Jamie. Jamie was grinning and nodding his head. “Exactly what he deserves,” he mouthed to Grace.
“I thought I’d give it a try,” she said additionally to Tommy.
There was another pause on Tommy’s end of the line. A long pause. And then a big exhale. “I’d better get going. I just mainly wanted to say how good it was to see you again, and I’m glad to know that you’re doing okay.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you’re doing well, too.”
“Goodbye, Grace.”
“Bye, Tommy,” she said, and he immediately hung up.
Grace stared at her phone, and then hung up too. She hated that she had gone there, but what could she do? He wasn’t interested in any relationship with her, unless she was willing to be one of many, and she wasn’t having that.
“Don’t look so down, girl,” Jamie said, tossing his shawl around his neck. “You didn’t cave and you kept your self-respect. That’s what they call a victory for you.”
“A victory?” Grace asked.
“That’s right,” Jamie affirmed. “A victory.”
But why did her victory, Grace wondered, feel so hollow?
CHAPTER TEN
Tommy stood in front of his fireplace holding a fresh glass of wine and staring at the burning embers. Like his mood, the fire was slowly losing steam. And like that fire, he was distracted, too. He couldn’t stop thinking about Grace.
Thought I’d try those open relationships you spoke so highly of, she’d said. And she said it after mentioning that she was going on a date with some hunky guy she didn’t even know. When she said she was going on a date tonight, Tommy felt as if he’d been hit in the gut. And then for her to joke about maybe having casual sex with the guy disturbed him no end. It was still bothering him. The idea of another man touching her, of even seeing her naked body, made him feel uneasy. And the longer he stood there, and thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
But why, he wondered. He hadn’t seen her in two months. She probably had had many dates since theirs. Just because she wasn’t actively on the dating scene when he met her, didn’t mean after their coupling she would automatically get back on that shelf. Especially a woman like Grace, who had so much to offer any man smart enough to take her.
But why was he so concerned? All it took was one meeting and he was consumed with her again? He even phoned and asked her out. He had no intention of doing anything like that when he returned from Europe. But the more he thought about it, and remembered those beautiful eyes of hers, he urgently needed to see her again. So he called her up. And she turned him down cold.
He deserved her rejection. There was no doubt about that. He should have even expected it.
But what he didn’t expect was the pain it caused.
His cell phone began to ring. For a hot second he hoped it was Grace. He grabbed it and looked at the caller ID. He exhaled and answered.
“Hello there,”
he said into the phone. It was Kara, one of his female friends.
“When did you get back?” she asked him.
“Couple days ago.”
“And didn’t bother to phone me?”
“I thought you were still in L.A..”
“I was. I just got back myself. I got home, got unpacked, and decided to give you a call. Why don’t you come over?”
Tommy stared at the fire. Kara used to be one of his favorites. But if he was going to sleep with anyone, he would rather it be Grace. “Not tonight, babe,” he said.
“Oh, Tommy! Come on over! Don’t you miss me? You know you’ll enjoy yourself.”
“I’m sure I will, but not tonight.”
There was a pause. She knew when Tommy was in one of his moods. “Maybe another time then,” she said.
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Party pooper. But anyway. Talk to you later.”
“Okay, Kara, take care of yourself.”
“You too,” she said and hung up.
Tommy shut his phone and then began, once again, thinking about Grace. That smile. That grin-like laugh. Those eyes. And he became angry with himself. Why was he standing here obsessing over some woman who probably had another man in her arms right now, when he could be fucking a beautiful woman like Kara who wasn’t interested in any strings whatsoever?
“Ah, to hell with it!” he said aloud, tossed his remaining wine into the fire, and headed for his front door.
“So what do you think?” Jamie asked after Grace had excused herself and went to the restroom. Teron and his brother Ray both nodded their heads.
“She’s hot,” Teron said.
“I don’t know, bro,” Ray said. “She seem a little snooty to me.” Then he smiled. “Nothing I can’t handle, though,” he said with a grin, and Teron laughed, too.
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