“I never told her about my mother, Nathan,” Jack declared, never taking his eyes off Melinda’s dress. “I didn’t want her to know about my family.”
Melinda’s anger quickly resurfaced. “You worthless bastard! You lied to me!”
“I take it you two know each other,” Carl commented with a smirk.
“I didn’t lie, Maddie. I just kept the truth from you.”
“For three years!” she shouted.
“Melinda, keep your voice down,” Nathan advised.
Carl frowned at Nathan. “I thought you said she worked for you. So how does she know Jimmy?”
“Carl, don’t call him that. You know I hate that name,” Denise chided as she took in the guests staring curiously at their small group. “James, perhaps you and Melinda should go into the house and discuss this.”
“Mother, stop calling me James.” He reached for Melinda’s elbow. “Let’s go inside, Maddie.”
“I thought her name was Melinda?” Carl questioned,
“Get your hands off me,” Melinda clamored as she pulled away from Jack.
Nathan stepped up to her and seized her arm. “Don’t do this, not here. Go with him and let me talk to Denise.”
A wave of realization hit her. They still had a job to do, and despite the crushing blow of Jack’s deception, Melinda needed to give Nathan the opportunity to win Denise’s support. Concentrating on the dark brick below her feet, she checked her anger and then nodded.
Nathan released her arm just as Denise came alongside him.
“Let’s you and me have a chat about Market Street,” Denise insisted, urging Nathan away from Melinda.
After they strolled away, Melinda spun around on her high heels and started for the house.
“Maddie, wait!” Jack held her arm, stopping her.
“You live in that dump on Burgundy when you could have been living here?” She pointed to the magnificent home. “Why, Jack?”
He let her go. “Because people have expected me to act a certain way my entire life. All I’ve ever heard was how I was going to grow up and take over my family’s fortune. After I returned home from college, my mother pushed me to take an active role in running the family’s assets, but I wanted to live my own life. We had a falling out and I moved into her building on Burgundy.”
“Her building?” Melinda took a moment, and after a few deep breaths, said, “Since I’ve known you, you’ve been telling me to just be myself, when all the while you were pretending to be someone else. Who in the hell are you? Is your name even Jack Deron?”
“Legally, it’s James Richard Becnel. My father’s name was Deron, but my stepfather adopted me when I was a kid and changed my name to Becnel. But I prefer Jack Deron.”
Her eyebrows went up in astonishment. “You prefer? You piece of shit!” She stormed away. “I can’t believe this. You’re a total stranger to me, Jack, or James, or whatever in the hell your name is,” she vented over her shoulder
He caught up to her and pulled her into his arms. “I’m not a stranger, Maddie, I’m Jack. Your best friend Jack. The man you’ve spent almost every day with for the past three years.” His eyes pleaded with her to understand. “I didn’t want to tell you the truth because I didn’t want you to think I was some poor little rich kid, living off my mother’s allowance and pretending to be someone I wasn’t.”
She wrenched herself free of his embrace. “I’ve been pouring my heart out to you, telling you all of my dreams, sharing every disappointment, and all the while you weren’t even you. Do you know how that makes me feel?”
“Yes, I know how it makes you feel. The same way I felt when I saw you walk into this party wearing that dress and staring into that conman’s eyes like he was … everything to you.” He stopped and ran his hand through his hair while smashing his lips together. “You know how I feel about you, Maddie. You’ve always known. Who I am doesn’t change anything between us.”
A sickening wave of revulsion coursed through her. “It changes everything. You can’t live with a lie, James Becnel. You are who you are. If you can’t believe in that, then how in the hell am I supposed to?” She was about to turn away when a thought occurred to her. “You may think Nathan is a conman, but he has been more honest with me than you’ve ever been.”
The cruelty of his laughter stunned her. In all their years together, she had never heard such a menacing sound escape Jack’s lips. “You really believe that, Maddie?”
“Nathan is at least a grown-up. He doesn’t run away from his responsibilities. You need to ask yourself why you’re so afraid of facing what you are, because until you do, you will never be anything but a pathetic, immature little boy, pretending to be a man. Good-bye, Jack.” She headed for the darkness beneath the raised house.
As Melinda left the happy music and bright lights of the party behind her, the pain in her chest became an intolerable heaviness. Not since Josh had abandoned her had she known such an unbearable heartache. All the comfort and companionship she had treasured with Jack came crashing down around her. Melinda held on to one of the thick piers beneath the mansion as she shook with utter desolation. Losing her best friend had just shattered her world into a million unsalvageable pieces.
* * *
“What happened?” Nathan approached her spot next to the bar, his stately features marred with worry.
Melinda swallowed the lump in her throat and stared into what was left of her double vodka on the rocks. “Nothing happened. What happened with Denise?”
“Perhaps you should tell me? Tell me what she’s feeling, right now.”
Fed up with the constant mention of her gift, Melinda smacked her glass on the bar. “I can’t.”
He picked up her drink and sniffed the contents. “That’s not soda water.”
“Don’t worry, Nathan, I’m not drunk. I won’t embarrass you in front of Denise.”
He set the glass on the bar. “I don’t give a damn if you embarrass me, Melinda. Just tell me what I can do to help you.”
Unsure of how to react, Melinda observed the happy faces of the guests mingling on the patio. “Your concern is your deal, Nathan, not me.”
He took her hand and pulled her to him. “I’m not Jack, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not going to shit all over you, Melinda, so don’t push me away because of what he did. I care for you.”
Gazing into his eyes, she struggled to keep every ounce of emotion hidden from him. “My being here tonight was to help you get the Market Street deal, so don’t pretend to be interested in my problems. I’ve had enough of people pretending with me.”
He let her go and retrieved his cell phone from his tuxedo jacket. After sending a quick text, he slipped the phone back into his pocket and clasped her hand.
“Come on, Bob’s meeting us out front.”
“What about your deal with Denise?”
He led her across the patio to the back of the house. “Jack being Denise’s son pretty much threw a big-ass monkey wrench into the deal. He’s probably bad-mouthed me to his mother and blown any chance I had of winning her over.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Melinda argued.
Nathan stopped and faced her. “Yes, he would. He would do anything to get you back, including screwing me over.”
She shirked off his hand. “Jack’s not like that. He wouldn’t—”
“Melinda, how can you defend him after what he just did to you? Do you honestly believe someone like that wouldn’t stab me in the back?”
His words stung her already shredded heart. She knew Nathan was right; Jack was not worth defending. Then why did she still feel compelled to stand by him? Perhaps letting go of him meant letting go of the life she had left behind. But what exactly had she left behind? Melinda had spent so much of the past three years struggling that somewhere along the way she had became a ghost, haunting her life and not living it. The realization lifted that ever-present weight from her shoulders. It was time to stop being the innocent girl a
nd start acting like the woman she yearned to be.
Nathan’s stern expression softened. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, you’re right. For years, I’ve been defending men who have done nothing but hurt me. I’ve only dated men I knew I could never care for, thinking I would be safe. Maybe if I’d gotten over Josh sooner, I would never have ended up here with Jack.” She clenched her fists, her determination flourishing. “I won’t make that same mistake again. I won’t hold on to someone who hurt me when someone who cares for me is within reach.”
Nathan smiled, appearing pleased with her admission. “How does Chinese food sound? We’ll pick up some take-out, head back to your place, and then you can give me that private concert you promised.”
That familiar tingle returned to her belly as his arm curled around her back. When they stepped beneath the shadows of the raised house, Melinda’s unhappy memories faded away as a barrage of new thoughts hit her. Visions of lying naked in Nathan’s arms and giggling while the morning sunlight rose in her bedroom windows danced in her mind. As the tingle in her belly ignited into a burning flame, Melinda forgot about the bitterness she had just experienced and concentrated on the road ahead.
Chapter 12
White take-out cartons were scattered on Melinda’s breakfast bar while the empty plates from their meal still sat on her coffee table, along with a half-empty bottle of Syrah wine. In jeans and a T-shirt, Melinda was nursing a glass of wine with her feet curled up under her on the beige sofa. Having shed his tuxedo jacket and rolled up his sleeves, Nathan sat next to her, holding his wineglass.
“Yvette wasn’t the easiest person to love, but after we graduated college, I asked her to marry me. I guess I went into the whole marriage thing thinking once you make the commitment, everything works out.” He settled his eyes on his wineglass. “But that wasn’t the case with us. After a few years, Yvette came to me and wanted a divorce. There was someone else.”
Melinda noticed the hint of sadness in his expression. “I’m sorry, Nathan.”
“Since the divorce, Yvette has had a steady line of boyfriends who are very young and very interested in finding a wealthy woman to take care of them. Every time one of these guys skips out on her, I hear about it. In the beginning I used to care, but not anymore.” He drained the last dregs of red wine from his glass.
“Seems we both have had a pretty disappointing past where relationships are concerned.”
He set his empty wineglass on the coffee table and reached for the nearby bottle of Syrah. “What about Jack?” Nathan added more wine to her glass. “I find it hard to believe you two never got together.”
“He always wanted to, but I never did. I just couldn’t.”
Refilling her wineglass, he queried, “Why do you think that is?” He put the bottle back down on the coffee table.
“I was looking for men who wouldn’t break my heart like Josh did. Guys like Mike. I knew I wouldn’t care one way or the other if they left me.”
Nathan lifted his wineglass from the table. “So you think Jack might have become another Josh.”
Melinda listened to how the inflection in his voice changed when he spoke of Jack. There was an inkling of fury emanating from the depths of his being, and the edges of his mouth turned downward in a threatening scowl.
“You never liked Jack, did you?”
He tipped his head to the side in a half-nod. “I never liked the way he was possessive of you. I also think he’s a coward. If he wanted you, he should have done everything in his power to make you his.”
“But I didn’t want him.”
“If he wanted you, Melinda, really wanted you, he would have made you want him.”
She was entranced with the way his tapered fingers curled around the wineglass, how his muscular forearms flexed beneath his rolled up shirt sleeves, and the hint of his cologne lingering in the air. Intoxicated by him, she angled closer.
“How does a man make a woman want him?”
Nathan put his wineglass down. “He could buy her presents or ply her with expensive dinners, or jet her away to some exotic island.” He traced the outline of her delicately curved jaw with his hypnotic eyes. “Or he could use the old tried and true method of being her knight in shining armor and rescuing her from a terrible dragon.”
Melinda giggled, feeling the effects of the wine. “With my luck, the dragon would win.”
For several seconds, they searched for something to say. Melinda swore Nathan could hear her rapid breathing and longing sighs. Then a fuzzy image of what she thought was her naked body in the arms of a man drifted across her mind.
“Are you reading my thoughts?” he demanded.
Melinda ran her hand along the side of her head. “They’re fuzzy.” She held up her wineglass. “The alcohol does that.”
Nathan took the wineglass from her hand. “No more of this for you.” He put the glass out of reach on the coffee table. “What about my concert?”
“I haven’t forgotten.” She stood from the sofa. “I keep the keyboard in the sitting room next to my bedroom.”
Nathan rose from the sofa. “Lead on.”
Once she flipped on the light in her bedroom, Melinda became painfully aware of the iron canopy bed in the center of the room. Suddenly, her planned seduction seemed like a bad idea. Wracked with self-doubt, she trudged to her keyboard in the sitting area next to the windows that looked down on the bricked courtyard below.
“When did you start playing music?” Nathan took a seat in one of the wingback chairs across from her keyboard.
“My mother taught me how to play when I was three. She loved music, but never got a chance to pursue it.” After switching on the keyboard, Melinda had a seat on the bench and waited for it to hum to life. “Do you have any requests?”
He eased back in his chair. “Just play whatever comes to mind.”
What came to mind was a slow melody that started out as almost a dirge, but then the tempo built to the rhythm of a steady heartbeat. Melinda let the music roll in and out of her, but it was Nathan’s presence she felt more than the music. When she played the final note, she raised her eyes from the keyboard to see Nathan leaning forward in his chair, intently observing her.
“That was beautiful,” he told her as he stood from the chair. “What’s it called?”
Melinda shrugged as she lightly ran her fingertips along the white keys. “It doesn’t have a name. It’s something I wrote a while back.”
He came around to the side of the keyboard. “You’re very talented.” He let his finger sweep over a few of the keys. “Show me how to play.”
Melinda shimmied to the side of the bench and nodded to the empty spot beside her. Nathan took a seat and followed her lead when she placed her hands on the keys.
“Put your hands like so.” She showed him how to spread his fingers across the keys. “You always find middle C before you begin.”
“Like this?” He fumbled over the keys.
Melinda slid closer to him. She splayed her hands over his, spreading out his fingers in the proper placement. As her face settled inches from his shoulder, she could smell the musky aroma of his skin and hear her hair rustling against his white tuxedo shirt.
Melinda lifted his hand and pressed it down on the keys, creating a chord. “Like that,” she whispered. When she turned to him, he was staring at her with the most peculiar grin on his face. “What?”
“Do you know the things I would like to do to you, Melinda Harris?”
She tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear. “I have an idea. You’ve been sending me images for days.”
“But I want so much more from you than sex.”
More than sex? She tilted her head, unsure of what he was implying. “What else do you want?”
His lips lingered in front of her. “I want you, your submission, your permission to do anything I desire to you … for the pursuit of pleasure.”
“And if I say yes, what will you
do to me, Nathan?”
He only smiled, offering no reply.
The glimmer of desire in his eyes emboldened her. Her stomach fluttering with butterflies, she gently pressed her lips to his. Melinda could taste the earthiness of the wine still on his mouth, but there was no reaction from him. He seemed uninterested in her advances. She pulled away and searched his brown orbs for the slightest bit of encouragement.
“Say you want me to make you mine,” he murmured.
“I want you to make me yours, Nathan.”
“That’s what I needed to hear,” he breathlessly returned.
His kiss was initially soft and gentle, but then something changed. Nathan parted his lips, demanding more of her.
Melinda could feel his need building as he wrapped her in his arms, pulling her close. The intensity of his kiss quickly escalated, and the longing Melinda detected from him soon blotted out all thoughts from her mind. His lips tempted her, encouraged her to let go, and eventually overwhelmed her.
He lifted her from the bench and carried her to the bed, plying her neck with kisses along the way. When he placed her on the yellow bedspread, he hovered over her.
“Are you sure about this? When I make someone mine, I never let go.”
She raised her mouth to him. “I’m counting on it.”
“I want to see you.” He eased over to his side and motioned to the floor next to the bed. “Take off your clothes.”
Unsure of what to do, she sat up. With a montage of stripper movies running in her head, Melinda stood from the bed and pulled at her T-shirt, all the while trying to be sexy. Her hands were trembling when she touched the zipper on her jeans, and then something made her raise her head.
Nathan was on the bed. His fervent gaze should have sent her into a panic, but instead it calmed her. Hell, it did more than calm her. It turned Melinda on.
Keeping her focus on him, she began to enjoy taking off her clothes. Teasingly, she pushed her jeans and underwear down over her hips. When she had kicked her clothes away, she spun around and reached behind her back. After she unclasped her bra, she held it out to the side. With a coquettish glance over her shoulder, she dropped the lingerie to the floor. Slowly, she faced him, and with her heart hammering like a frightened deer, she let her hands fall to her sides.
Dark Perception: The Corde Noire Series Page 12
