Natalie watched from her side mirror as the rear passenger door opened on the Range Rover and James stepped out, the indeterminate look on his face half obscured by a pair of Wayfarers. Stress radiated off him as he reached his hand into the car to help Frankie climb down out of it. Celine followed suit on the other side - a swaddled baby held close to her chest - and cast her eyes in the Bugatti’s direction. She called out something to James but Natalie couldn’t hear a word of it, or his response to her. Their belongings were unloaded from the SUV with the help of the driver, with James ushering him, Celine and the kids into the enormous home.
Several uneventful minutes passed before the driver of the Range Rover exited from the front door to return to the vehicle. He paid no attention to Natalie or the Bugatti as he rounded the cul-de-sac of the driveway and headed out the way he had come in. After another three minutes passed Natalie opened her door and stepped out of the high profile vehicle, taking in the fresh scent of the ocean as she leaned against the car, waiting. An afterthought had her wishing she had changed out of the silk crepe shift dress and high wedge sandals, even if they were complemented by the gorgeous weather. She kept her eyes cast toward the Santa Ynez mountains in the East, rather than on the gargantuan estate and its second floor terrace off the master suite behind her to the West.
Only a few short months ago, James was talking proposals and plans for their future in the very spot she was now standing. At the time she thought it looked like something out of a fantasy, that real people did not live in places like Villa Montecito. I guess I was wrong, she chuckled to herself. She knew James Fitzgerald lived in a completely different world the first night she met him, and Villa Montecito was just further evidence of that fact.
She heard the sound of the front door opening again, and someone’s footsteps along the gravel headed in her direction. Judging by the speed and intent of each footstep, she guessed James had finally come out to acknowledge her presence. He stopped just within the boundaries of her peripheral vision, and when she looked up his blue-green eyes were staring intently at her, his typical intensity on full display.
“Hello, James,” she greeted.
“Natalie.”
You and I have a problem, James. The words were on the tip of her tongue, ready to be spoken. Yet even in spite of her feelings towards him, in that moment she did not want to be unkind. It had been months since they saw each other, and one of the last things he said to her before they made love for the very last time, was that if their relationship were to be altered beyond repair he wanted one final happy memory of her. Then it all changed.
“This is a beautiful car,” she said as she caressed her hand across the gloss finish of the roof. “I would say thank you, but you and I both know it is not a gift.”
His lips tightened into a straight line as he crossed his arms over his chest. “A deal is a deal.”
‘If when the time comes it turns out that you’re right - that I’ll somehow love you less or not at all once I’ve found out what awful thing or things you’ve done - I’ll buy you a Bugatti.’
“Yes, well, there are less cruel ways to tell someone you no longer love them.”
“I don’t know, Harlow, you set the bar pretty high. Should I have slept with someone you despise instead?”
Natalie cursed through her breath and shook her head. She was determined not to give in to a fight like a petty teenager. “I am not here to fight with you, James. You made your point with the Bugatti and now you are going to take it back.”
“No,” he said flatly, defiance resounding in the simple word as though it were a command.
“Yes, you are!” She took a small step toward him and slid her sunglasses back into her hair. “I will take the car to Fitson and leave the keys and paperwork with your father if I have to, but you will take this car back.”
“The car is yours, Natalie. You don't want it? Sell it.”
“Sell a million dollar car?” Any other time she might have laughed at the ridiculous notion. But James was not joking, and she would not have found it funny even if he were joking.
“Why not? My money paid off your student loans and then helped legitimize your agency with Joe Gallo. Sell the car and buy yourself a nice house.”
Natalie’s hand cracked across James’ cheek before she even realized her feet were closing the space between them. A split-second later pain radiated from her palm through her forearm like a match to gasoline. She could still feel the small bristles of hair from the one-day growth on his face that felt like sandpaper against her fingertips. James’ eyes watered and widened with incredulous rage. The right side of his face was already pink with the rush of blood from where her hand made hard contact. His chest heaved as he stared her down, but she doubted the red he saw even compared to the crimson staining her vision.
“Maybe I will sell it. Then I can be like you and buy a big house to hide away in and pretend my life is exactly how I want it to be. But first I think I will drive the car to Audra’s house and let her fuck me in it while you sit here in your castle pretending that you are pleased with the way you have conducted yourself.”
“You-“ he began with a step toward her, but was swiftly cut off.
“You have made your declaration, James: You no longer love me. As far as I am concerned you and I are done. You could have behaved like an adult, but instead you chose to hurt me in the deepest, most disrespectful way you could think of. And now that I have seen your true colors I am glad to be rid of you.”
Natalie turned on her heel to stalk back to the car, nearly making it to the driver-side door before James grabbed her elbow and returned her to face him.
“Natalie-“
“No!” she said, leaning as far away as her body would allow from within the confines of his harsh embrace. “I never should have gone back to the penthouse with you after you found me in the garden.”
The ridge of his brows cut so deeply into his eyes it darkened the rest of his face. “What?!”
“The night we met. I should have refused the envelope with your money in it and found someone to drive me home. You told me you would ruin me, but you never once said you would try to break me. Now let me go!”
The minute his grip lessened enough she slipped out of it and crawled into the Bugatti, taking off in the direction of the exit before she could so much as put her seatbelt on. Once she reached the gate at the end of the long entryway she clicked the belt into place and looked back at the house in the rear-view mirror, knowing in her gut it would be the last time she ever stepped foot on Villa Montecito, or near James Fitzgerald.
CHAPTER TEN
“He did what?!”
Natalie nodded as she poured a second helping of wine into Audra’s glass before topping off her own. “All afternoon I have been trying to picture him actually calling this Thomas Bowles guy and buying a Bugatti like he was ordering takeout. Honestly, rich people are so ridiculous.” Natalie smiled over the rim of her glass after taking a sip. “Present company excluded.”
“So what else happened? Did he agree to take the car back?”
“No. In fact he told me to sell it and use the money to buy a house. Because of course his money is responsible for everything else in my life,” Natalie added with a measure of disdain. She was still reeling from that particular insult. She slipped the brown leather wedges off her feet and pushed herself further back into the plush couch, willing the chilled white wine to ease her into relaxation. Next to her Audra was staring contemplatively into the low flames crackling in the fireplace. The orange-yellow light cast an ambient glow around the room, complemented by a few lit candles on end tables at either side of the couch.
“If I hadn’t experienced this version of him only recently I might have a hard time believing we are talking about James. I have never known him to be so… so-”
Natalie found the word that Audra seemed to be missing. “Broken?”
Audra shook her head at the thought. “That is not an ex
cuse to purposely hurt you.”
“Or you,” Natalie reminded. She stretched her legs out across the expanse of the couch in Audra’s direction, smiling when Audra smoothed a hand across one foot and then the other.
“James and I were long overdue for a fight. It is when he stops fighting with you that you should be the most concerned. After Celine told him about the affair with Joe, James would not even look in her direction, and he refused to speak to her except through a lawyer. In his own way, lashing out at you is a good thing.”
“Oh, I could forgive him if they were just words, but there is a million dollar supercar parked in your driveway right now that is evidence of his ‘lashing out’. Besides, I said some things back.”
“You?” Audra cast a dubious look in Natalie’s direction, a look only amplified by the light and shadow that played across the delicate features of her face from the glow of the fire. “My sweet, gorgeous Natalie?”
“He basically told me that everything I have is because of his money, from my student loans to the success of my business. I was angry. Slapping him only fueled-“
“You slapped him! Oh my God!” Audra’s wide eyes ran up and down Natalie’s body, as though to find evidence of a lie, or perhaps part of James’ face stuck to her somewhere. “You actually slapped him?”
“Yes! And it hurt like hell! My palm is still stinging.” Instinctively she ran her right palm against the cool fabric of her shift dress. “He was so smug, Audra. The arrogance is usually part of his charm but today it was just so over the top. I wanted to say something to hurt him as much as he hurt me, so I told him…” She sighed in place of finishing her sentence. Audra’s brow lifted, encouraging Natalie to continue. “I told him I was going to drive straight here and let you fuck me in that car. I was going to add on something about taking pictures and sending them to him, but that just seemed equally over the top.”
“Not to mention that would hurt me, too,” Audra said, her voice suddenly so low Natalie almost didn’t hear her. The hand on Natalie’s feet had come to a still along her left ankle, where it rested.
“Audra, I would never do that to you. They were just words.” She leaned forward and placed her hand on Audra’s knee, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Audra nodded. “I know. And it is not like he knows you and I have never… been together.” Half her mouth curled into a sad smile, and her hand continued sweeping lazily across Natalie’s leg. “Is James the reason why we haven’t?”
Natalie’s heart both opened and fell at the same time. The night had taken a sudden and unexpected turn. She suspected the conversation would come up sooner or later, but just kept pushing it further back into the recesses of her mind. It was difficult enough trying to plan dates around Audra’s busy work schedule, and more often than not their nights out ended with conversation over a glass of wine and some kissing, never going much further. The fact that they had not made love yet was not evidence of her unwillingness or hesitation to do so in the first place.
“No. I am the reason. I do not want to rush through all the milestones of our relationship like I have with others in the past. Even if I am eager to get into your pants,” she added with a cheeky smile.
The firelight reflected off the gold flecks of Audra’s brown eyes as she looked at Natalie, several unspoken thoughts working their way through her pretty mind.
“I would return the sentiment, but-“ Audra’s eyes roamed down Natalie’s body again, stopping at the hem of her dress where it bunched up at her thighs, before she said, “you aren’t wearing any pants.”
All at once the firelight and wine kindled something inside Natalie. She set her glass of wine down on the coffee table next to her, then reached for Audra’s glass to join it. She climbed over to Audra, straddling her thighs with her legs pressed into the couch cushion beneath them.
“What happened to not rushing?” Audra whispered. Natalie leaned in until there was little distance between them, and brushed her lips against Audra’s.
“I don’t think I am. Besides, any second you might disappear and fly off to another state-“
Audra kissed Natalie to silence her, her hands coming to rest on Natalie’s back to preserve their closeness. In response, Natalie wrapped her arms around Audra’s neck and breathed her scent in deeply between kisses, taking her into her senses.
Audra pulled away, their arms still around each other, and looked deeply into Natalie’s silvery blue eyes.
“You know I am more than happy to wait if-“
“No ‘if’, Audra,” Natalie interrupted.
“What about James?”
“What about him? He is living in that giant house in the hills with the woman who - even by your own admission - he could never forgive. He has moved on. So have I.”
Audra scoffed. “Do not sell yourself short, Red. Yours is not the kind of love that can be easily forgotten.”
In one swift move Natalie grabbed one of Audra’s hands and cupped it against the opening of her parted legs. “Do you feel that?” She arched her hips and moved slowly across the small expanse of Audra’s open palm, knowing the instant Audra’s eyes fluttered that she could feel the evidence of Natalie’s arousal. “That is you, not him.”
Audra’s lips crashed against Natalie’s as a finger parted her lace panties and gently entered her. Natalie moaned into Audra’s mouth at the sensation. She rocked her hips slowly to create a rhythm against Audra, more moans lost between their lips and tongues. Audra’s thumb joined the rhythm of her finger against Natalie’s clit, sparking a feeling inside Natalie that only bloomed from the inside out. She was closer than she thought, and it only took a few expert thrusts of Audra’s palm and fingers to push Natalie over the edge into delirium.
She let her voice sing her release, not caring for silence or reservation as she moved against Audra’s palm and came. She wanted to bombard Audra with her eagerness to make love, to cast away any doubt that Natalie did not want this as much as Audra did. She craved wild abandon, to be loud and clumsy and messy without a single care.
Before her lungs were replenished and the blush left her cheeks, Natalie kissed Audra’s ear and whispered, “Take me to bed.”
Abandoning their wine glasses, Audra led Natalie upstairs through the elegantly decorated Country French style home into the master suite. Natalie wasted no time in tugging Audra’s cashmere sweater up and over her head, exposing the black lace bra that was barely containing her voluptuous breasts. She kissed the pillowy top of one as her fingers undid Audra’s trousers, then moved to the other as the pants slinked to the hardwood floor beneath their feet. Audra’s fingers pulled at Natalie’s crepe shift dress, scrunching it up between her fingers before pulling it up and over her head and discarding it without a second care.
Audra speared her left hand through Natalie’s locks of red hair while her right hand caressed Natalie’s side, from the underwire of her bra to the band of her panties. They kissed deeply, the occasional moan lost between them, and stepped through the room until the back of Natalie’s legs met the end of the bed. Natalie opened her eyes and kept them locked on Audra’s as she reached behind her back to unhook her own bra, then slung her thumbs through the sides of her panties and pulled them off until they were nothing but scraps of fabric at her feet.
“There was a time I imagined you like this with me. But I never thought-“
Natalie pressed her thumb to Audra’s lips, effectively silencing her. “You will never have to imagine it again. Everything you ever fantasized about doing to or with me, I want you to do tonight. I want you to make me yours, Audra,” Natalie whispered.
Audra puckered her lips against Natalie’s thumb and kissed softly. “Then I have to tell you something first,” she began as Natalie’s thumb retreated, “before all the blood escapes my brain and I am no longer thinking rationally.”
Natalie flushed with heat across her cheeks, in her breasts, and between her legs. “Tell me.”
“I love you, Natalie. And
right now I do not care if you feel the same way about me or not. In fact, do not tell me either way. But while I have the clarity of mind to say this, you should know that anything I do that makes you mine begins and ends with me loving you.”
Natalie took Audra’s bottom lip in between hers and suckled it gently, the kiss her way of saying she heard everything that was said.
James was elbow-deep in a moving box when he heard the melodious tone of the doorbell ringing throughout the home.
“I will get it!” he called out, unsure if Celine could even hear him from wherever she was in the house. He stalked through the living room into the grand foyer, and opened the entryway to find his expected company on the other side. “Quinn, thank you for coming,” he said as he held the door wide enough for her to step through. That she had made the long drive from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara gave him a certain degree of hope.
“Let’s talk out by the pool.”
Quinn followed James without uttering a single word. They crossed a set of French doors into an expansive garden courtyard that stretched out to a large sparkling pool. Two portable heaters flanked a set of couches and chairs sectioned off from the rest of the area, warming them against the chill of the evening. James extended her hand to offer her one side of the couch before taking a seat on the other.
He opened his mouth to speak but quickly fell silent when he saw the look on her face. She may have been going for impassive, but there was clearly an anger that could not be quelled so easily. And he knew it was directed at him.
“She told you?” he asked finally, dropping any pretense he had planned to put on. There was no point in that, not with Quinn Potter.
“No, I had a front-row seat to both events.”
Unbidden Love (Book Five of the Bidden Series) Page 9
