The Other Woman: A Steamy Contemporary Romance (The Bidden Series Book 6)

by Crystal Cierlak

  She waited as he cleared his throat, her eyes moving from the handwritten message her secretary had jotted down to the closed office door. It would be the worst possible moment for James to come barging in if he were in the office and not out galivanting around Beverly Hills looking at mansions to buy. Not that he ever did. Not usually. But it would still be the worst possible time.

  “So I’ve been offered this amazing opportunity at work. A pretty nice promotion; more pay, better benefits, P.T.O,” he added with a laugh.

  “That sounds great.”

  “It is, thank you.”

  “What does that have to do with me?” She didn’t believe in beating around the bush. Say what you need to say when it’s the right time to say it.

  “The promotion is in Los Angeles, which means I would be moving there within the next couple months. I figure that would give me enough time to figure out how-“

  “How to avoid James?” she interrupted. As she said her business partner’s name she cast a glance at the single wall they shared between their two offices. James was on the other side with no clue that she was talking to the man he disliked the most in the world.

  “Not avoid. Befriend. For Frankie’s sake.”

  Oh. That wasn’t what she was expecting at all.

  “To be perfectly honest with you, Joe, I don’t see how that can happen. Especially not while he and Celine are in the middle of a divorce that really should be over and done with by now.”

  “I didn’t know she was married. Kind of like how James didn’t know she was my girlfriend when they slept together the night of that party you threw back in college.”

  Audra didn’t mention the fact that James didn’t know he was sleeping with Celine in the first place. Years ago James let it slip after too many drinks that he thought he was sleeping with Celine and Audra’s aunt, Caroline. At least until after the first roll in the sheets together. Audra made James vow that night to never again divulge the details of his sex life to her, especially if he insisted on sleeping with women in her family. But that was all beside the point.

  “That’s fair,” she admitted after a long moment of silence. “But James isn’t thinking about what’s fair right now. He almost lost his daughter along with his wife and his marriage. Maybe there’s hope for civility one day in the future, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”

  “That’s why I’m calling you. Well, that and you’re Frankie’s aunt. Makes you family to me.”

  She would have fought against it if she could have, but her heart warmed at the honesty in his tone, the sentiment of his words. That precious little girl she would do anything for was a bridge between Audra and Joe. At the very least she owed him the respect of taking him seriously.

  “You want my help warming James to the idea of you two living in the same city together.”

  “That. And the fact that I have every intention of getting to know my daughter. I would just prefer it if her dad didn’t think about knocking my lights out when the time comes we are all in the same room together.”

  On instinct, her insides fought against his assertion – my daughter – but she quickly recovered. It wasn’t Joe’s fault that Celine cheated on James. Or that he was Frankie’s biological father. If anything she should be focused instead on the fact that from everything she was hearing from him, Joe Gallo was stepping up to the role of father. He may be the only mature adult among them. Excluding herself, of course.

  “I’m not sure what help I can be, but I’ll try. If I can. No guarantees where James is concerned.”

  “Thank you, Audra. I really do appreciate that. Even if this promotion doesn’t happen I still plan on getting to know Frankie and finding some common ground with James. She really is a special girl, my daughter.”

  You have no idea, is what she wanted to say. But he would find out soon enough. It usually only took Frankie a few minutes to impress the pants off of anyone she met. Not many girls her age were as smart or advanced as she was. Not many kids of any age were as smart or clever.

  “She is. I’ll do what I can to help, Joe. For Frankie’s sake. And good luck with the promotion. Let me know how that turns out?”

  “Thanks, I will. And thanks for calling me back.”

  “Hey Joe?” she cut in before either one of them could get a chance to disconnect the call. “Have you shared any of this with my sister yet?”

  “I have.”

  Audra didn’t know exactly what she was waiting for him to say; a clue that he knew Celine was pregnant, perhaps? An indication of what their current relationship status was?

  But he didn’t speak of any of that, and before the silence grew too long and awkward between them, Audra wished Joe luck again and ended the call.

  She sat there in the silence of her office for a good five minutes, replaying the conversation with Joe over again in her mind, wondering how exactly Joe moving to Los Angeles fit into the complex puzzle that was her sister’s love life. She couldn’t help but wonder if Joe moving to Los Angeles would have any impact on the divorce, positive or otherwise. Maybe Joe was the man for her sister all along. It certainly wasn’t James, who was better off with almost anybody else.

  Ruminating on her sister’s love life had taken up enough of her time already. Casting her conversation with Joe aside, Audra returned to her work, and by extension, her own life.

  It was well past the close of business when Audra shut the lid of her laptop and slid the computer into her open bag. The hallway outside her office was mostly dark but as she turned to lock her door she was startled to find a strip of illumination peeking out from under James’ closed office door. She hadn’t even seen him since earlier that afternoon and had no idea he was in the office.

  After securing her door, she crossed to his office and gave a brisk knock. At the sound of a muffled invitation to come in, she opened the door and found him at his desk.

  “Hey,” he said, glancing up in her direction. Even from across the room she could see the stress lines in his face and the way the top half of his face was scrunched in thought.

  “Hey. When did you get back? I thought you were out buying a house?” she asked as she casually strode into the room.

  He leaned back in his seat and rubbed a finger against his brow. His suit jacket was draped over the back of his chair, and the tie around his neck was hanging like a noose. “Trying to catch up before my date tonight.”

  “Yeah, you look like you’re really looking forward to it,” she teased him. In fact, he looked quite rumpled thanks to the creases in his once crisp shirt. She set her bags down near the office entrance and stalked across the room to a panel set flush against the wall. With the pressure of her palm, the secret door opened into a narrow closet. Three suits were hung with delicate care next to a built-in cabinet, where she pulled out a fresh shirt and a rolled-up tie.

  She set the items on a corner of his desk not already occupied with paperwork and met his gaze. If she didn’t know any better, she might think that the bristled look on his face was because of her.

  “What’s going on with you?” she asked after taking a seat in a chair opposite his desk.

  “Nothing.”

  She gave him a pointed look. “Come on, Fitzgerald. Tell me if it’s none of my business, but don’t lie to me.”

  “Fine,” he said through a heavy breath as he carelessly tossed the pen he held onto the desk. “Your sister is refusing to sign the divorce papers, and I suspect it has something to do with her finding out about Nat-,” he closed his eyes as he tripped over her name, “the new woman in my life,” he finished. Audra bristled at the implication of his words, and the unspoken accusation in them.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and asked, “How would I know about any new woman in your life, James? You and I don’t have that kind of relationship. All I know is what you’ve told me so far, which is thankfully very little.”

  “So it’s just a complete coincidence that the Candidate I bid on is now
the point of contact on our account with Brighton New Media? And that you delivered the flowers I ordered for her straight to her office? Come on, Robertson,” he said, borrowing her own words while calling her out on her bluff.

  “You mean the same girl you just spent the weekend in Vegas with?” she countered.

  The corners of James’ mouth tightened as he held back whatever words were on the tip of his tongue. It took him a moment to compose himself enough to say, “Just answer two questions for me, Audra. Did you tell Celine about Natalie? And why did you deliver the flowers this morning?”

  Audra checked her jealousy over Natalie against her loyalty to James. She had never imagined anyone could come between them, that the foundation of their strong relationship could be rocked by mere matters of the heart. She still couldn’t imagine it. Not even Celine could break their bond. In fact, when it came to loyalty in the first place her heart resided firmly on James’ side. He was her family, her friend, and partner. In many ways – ways she could likely never find the words to speak aloud – she cared more for James than she did her own sister.

  “Yes, I mentioned to Celine that there was the possibility of someone else in your life.” She flinched at how quickly anger warped James’ face, how easily her words were like a brisk wind that stoked a fire ready to combust within him. “I mentioned it,” she said loudly as James got up from his desk to pace back and forth behind his chair. “When you asked me to speak to Celine about backing off with all of her demands in the divorce settlement, I told her that you had the chance to start fresh, to be with someone who wouldn’t lie and manipulate you. I never mentioned Natalie by name, nor did I bring up the fact that Natalie was a Candidate.”

  His blue-green eyes stared her down as he walked a quick path behind his desk, back and forth like a caged lion.

  It would have been easy to take offense to the fact that he didn’t immediately believe her, or to the fact that he had to question her loyalty in the first place. But she held back and considered the very reasons she gave her sister for James moving on in the first place. He didn’t deserve any more lies or manipulations, and as far as she was concerned no woman was worth betraying him for. So she bit back the lick of anger that curled within her when he cast an intense glance in her direction and maintained her cool composure.

  “And I delivered the flowers to Natalie for the same reason,” she continued when he didn’t say anything but kept his pace. “You paid an obscene amount of money to spend the night with her, and then five months later you’re arranging clandestine meetings at our hotel in Vegas. Of course, I’m going to look into her, James. You didn’t listen to me when I warned you against getting involved with my sister, so yes, I am involving myself in order to protect you. Not to mention everything we’ve built together.”

  There was no point in mentioning the fact that she was interested in Natalie for her own reasons. Not that any of those reasons mattered anymore, all things considered.

  James stopped pacing long enough to lean his arms against the back of his chair, but the stress in his face remained.

  “She knows about Natalie,” he said between gritted teeth. “If you didn’t tell her, then who did?”

  Audra scoffed. “Are you sure it wasn’t you who said something?”

  “Me?” he asked incredulously as his head whipped up to look at her.

  “I know you slept with her the last time you were in New York,” she said casually. Then added when she saw his eyes narrowing with an as yet unspoken question, “You and I may not talk about your personal life, James, but that has never stopped my sister from oversharing. Frankly, you shouldn’t be giving her mixed signals like that. Don’t sleep with the woman you’re trying to divorce.”

  “Great,” he muttered in defeat as he resumed his place in the chair.

  “And don’t underestimate Celine either. She may be a liar and a manipulator, but she’s not dumb. She knows you’re going to move on eventually. Don’t give her any leverage to dick you around, Fitzgerald.”

  Finally, he let out an exasperated breath and with it seemed to go the stress, the anger he was holding against her.

  “I am just sick and tired of this back and forth with her, Audra. Every time I speak to my lawyer I get an invoice for it. I hardly ever get to see Frankie anymore. When the fuck is it going to end?”

  “I don’t know, but it will,” she said, hoping he could hear the soothing patience of her voice and retain even a fraction of it. “And you’ll have Frankie back in your life before you know it. Celine may be a bitch but she’s not-” She was about to say cruel, but she didn’t believe that was true, either. Celine not only hid the affair from James but let him believe he was the biological father of the child that resulted from that affair. If that wasn’t cruelty, Audra didn’t know what was.

  “She’ll use my own daughter against me if she has to.”

  Audra shook her head. “No, she won’t.” Of that she was sure. Her sister was many things but she had her limits. “Even if she tries to, you have the one thing she doesn’t.”

  James lifted an eyebrow.

  “Me,” she said. “I won’t let her hurt you like that ever again.” She meant it. Her attraction for the beautiful Natalie Harlow aside, Audra was one hundred percent Team James. If she was ever forced to choose between James and her own flesh and blood, she knew exactly who she would pick.

  James’ face softened, and just as the atmosphere of the room was starting to shift again Audra said, “Put Celine out of your mind and enjoy your date tonight, Fitzgerald.” With that, she stood and went for her discarded belongings by the door. She gave him a quick smile and a wordless nod as she left the office, feeling assured with every footstep that she had done the right thing.

  She kept the secret of Celine’s pregnancy to herself, though a more selfish person might have used it to her advantage. Celine would have done it. But Audra cared too deeply for James Fitzgerald to hurt him like that. Which was why she decided to also keep from him that Joe Gallo was not only likely moving to L.A., but intended to get to know his daughter better. It was better for him that he didn’t know.

  At the end of the day, that was what mattered most.

  FOR THE LAST TIME

  F ew things are more powerful than the possession of knowledge. Calculated as Audra Robertson’s unannounced visit to Natalie Harlow was, it wasn’t her intention to set off a bomb, and she was more than a little relieved to learn that not too much damage was done in the fallout. That is, none except to herself.

  In the weeks that followed, Audra observed as Natalie and James made attempts to outwardly hide their burgeoning relationship. James would often come to work smiling as though the sun had risen that morning specifically for him, and was constantly altering his schedule so that he was never out of town for longer than an overnight visit.

  Natalie, for her part, made every attempt possible to appear as though absolutely nothing was going on with James in her life. And there were times Audra almost believed it. Natalie was focused, absolutely concentrated on her work, and Audra often suspected it was in response to a fear that perhaps Natalie felt she had not earned her promotion to junior vice president but had been given it because of her ties to James.

  But there were changes she could not hide, subtle ones that she maybe did not consciously notice. Her appearance changed from clunky skirts and sweaters that did her no favors to tailored trousers and dresses that complimented her figure. Each time she came to Fitson's offices for a meeting it was as if someone had opened a window and let in a breeze of fresh air. Or maybe that was just how Audra felt every time Natalie visited their offices for one of their frequent meetings.

  In the afternoons James would leave for lunch and come back hours later, his clothes slightly disheveled and the cockiest shit-eating grin on his face. He hardly talked about her, whether to uphold their illusion of not actually being together or because he knew that talking about relationships just was not a part of their - James
and Audra’s - relationship, but when he did it was with that same sunshiney smile. In his own way, James was constantly reminding Audra that she was inadvertently responsible for their relationship progressing to the next level.

  He never once smiled like that when he was married to Celine.

  One afternoon when James returned from lunch with his suit slightly off, it was not a smile he wore on his face, but a furrowed brow and a scowl.

  “What’s going on with you?” Audra asked after setting a folder down on his desk. He had been distracted to the point of ignoring her as she read through an expense report that required their immediate attention.

  “Nothing,” he dismissed her almost immediately. Audra took a seat opposite his desk and pointedly stared at him, waiting for him to explain what had happened between his lunchtime sex break with Natalie and returning to the office. Finally, he sighed and slumped back into his seat. “Celine is on a plane to LAX as we speak. She claims she has business to discuss with me.”

  Audra scoffed at the absurdity of her sister having any concept of business, or work for that matter. “Is she bringing Frankie?”

  “No,” he sighed again, disappointment evident in his very countenance. “Not this time.”

  Audra’s cell vibrated from within my jacket pocket, and when she retrieved it she was mildly disappointed to see Celine’s name on the display. She tapped a button to send the call to voicemail. She’d been avoiding her sister’s calls for days now, only Celine didn’t seem to be catching the hint.

  “Get your head back into work, Fitzgerald. Unless you want to spend the rest of the day worrying about your ex-wife?” She nodded as he rolled his eyes in response. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. So back to real business.”

  It wasn’t until very late that evening when Celine stopped trying to call and showed up on Audra’s doorstep instead.

  “Hello Audra,” Celine crooned. Audra had half a mind to shut the door right in her sister’s face.