She couldn't breathe.Jared was somehow at Sabine's. And he was angry. At her. Why else would he act as if they were just acquaintances? Was he upset because she'd left? Because of the note? Surely that wasn't it. He had to understand why she'd left, why she hadn't said goodbye. But she looked at his face, and he was glowering and raking one hand through his dark hair.Maybe he didn't understand why she'd left after all.Sabine looked up from her pattern books and sketches, winged brows raised in concern."I'll just put some more coffee on," Felicity muttered, then spun out of the conference room.She took refuge in the small part of the gallery just off the hallway where several paintings hung and a nice couch offered a place for her to collapse. Which she did, immediately sinking into its pillowy depths. Leaning forward, she braced her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. A tiny tremor worked its way through her.She hadn't expected to see him so soon after las
She swallowed hard. "II'm sorry about the note." She shored up her confidence, knowing she had to own up to the fact that she had run this morning. "I had to leave because I was running late to get here. There wasn't time for""For goodbye?" He cut her off, and the way he whispered the word, she heard the hurt in his voice, the wounded acceptance of what they'd shared coming to an end. He shrugged, as though trying to rid himself of a great weight that rested there."Yes." It felt like she was sinking into the floor. She'd just left him without an explanation, yet it felt as though they were talking about something deeper, a more permanent issue that lay between them. It was scary as hell to think about."It's just one little word, Felicity." His tone was still soft, hurt, and it shocked her. Her leaving really had upset him.It was supposed to be this way, this goodbyebut suddenly the idea was unbearable."I'm sorry," she replied, her voice shaking. "We both know that this thin
Wednesdays were shit.Jared had never thought otherwise, but now more than ever, he hated Wednesdays. The brief but explosive beginning to his weekend had rocked his world to the core, and yet the thing that had spun his world on its axis had pushed him away.She had pushed him away.And losing a chance to be with a woman like Felicity, it made him fucking hate today. Fucking Wednesdays.He walked into his office at Pimms & Associates and dropped his leather briefcase into one of the two black armchairs facing his large desk. Then he stripped off his gray m¨¦lange virgin wool suit jacket and flung it over the back of one chair before he studied the surface of his desk.It was a battlefield littered with paper bodies. Contracts, sales agreements, licenses, and everything else related to his work was all here, a ready distraction. But for the first time his heart wasn't in it. He'd spent the rest of Sunday in a foul mood. Alone. Tanner and Layla had tiptoed around him after he'd all
Felicity snuggled into her couch, an Egyptian history book propped on her slightly bent legs. She held a highlighter between her index and middle finger, flicking it back and forth as she perused the chapter on the upper and lower kingdoms. Survey of Egyptian History was one of the most interesting classes she was taking this semester. Lust, power struggles, betrayals, rising and falling empiresit was a history major's dream.She uncapped her highlighter and marked a passage that explained how the Nile flowed from south to north. Flipping to the next page in her textbook, she found a picture of Elizabeth Taylor from the classic movie Cleopatra. She was lying on a thin purple couch, one hand raised in a seductive come hither gesture. The queen of Egypt certainly had confidence in spades. Felicity envied her for that.Felicity shut her eyes. It wasn't Elizabeth Taylor on the couch, but her. Eyes darkened by kohl, almost catlike in her steady gaze, she gestured for Marc Antony to come t
Jared read through the purchase and sale agreement for the fifth time that evening. There were still a few clauses he needed to tinker with a bit before he sent it off to the seller's counsel. It was crucial that he covered the due diligence and inspection periods and other areas of the contract that would protect Thad's company. Every good real estate lawyer knew that when you represented the buyer, you had to stay on top of the seller and their counsel, and hold their feet to the fire on the contract they signed in order to make sure everything was done.More times than he could count, Jared had seen ill-drafted purchase agreements dissolve into litigation when sellers abandoned their duties after they'd been paid by the buyers and no longer considered themselves responsible for the property, even though the deal hadn't been fully closed.The entire afternoon, Jared had worked undisturbed on the agreement. He saved the document on his computer and then shut it down. He spun in his
Club Amazon was packed with writhing bodies. Electronic dance music boomed loudly enough that it reverberated inside Felicity's own body. The heady scent of expensive perfumes and the flashing strobe lights were overwhelming. Silver chandeliers hung from the ceiling, with beads glinting from the flashing lights, and surrounding the dance floor were areas with satin couches and bartenders offering drinks in crystal glasses. Everywhere around her was decadence and luxury.Felicity swallowed hard and took an instinctive step back into Jared's body. His arms wrapped around her from behind as she turned, pressing against him. Startled at her own actions, she tried to recover her control and put distance between them again, but he didn't release her right away. She had to tug herself from his embrace."You okay?" His voice reached her ears, even through the shouting of the crowds. She knew that no matter how loud it got, she'd always be able to pick out the sound of his voice in a crowd, a
"Sowho is she?" Shana asked as Jared continued to pace in the small suite. He didn't want to go outside and see Thad putting his hands on Felicity. It would be too much. He'd lose it."What?" He was barely paying attention to anything around him."The girl. The one you brought here." Shana's accusatory tone was laced with hurt. That, and nothing else, got his attention. He stopped pacing. His feet were rooted to the expensive white carpet. He was hurting Shana, his ex-girlfriend, his friend. This was not who he was. He didn't hurt people."Shana, she'sFelicity," he said. There weren't words to describe what she was, and as a lawyer if he was at a loss for words, it meant something.Shana smoothed her red satin dress and looked away as she eased into one of the chairs by the door. For a long moment, her gaze was distant, seeing things he could not. A rueful smile finally played with the corners of her mouth."You're with her?""NoyesI don't know." He flung himself into the chai
Jared reached over and caught her by the waist. "Easy," he murmured softly in her ear.She didn't seem to hear him. "No hospitals. I'm fine. Really. I just need to eat something and rest in a quiet place. I'm sorry, I just hate hospitals," she added.The medical team exchanged looks, but when Thad coughed politely, they looked his way. "I'm sure she'll be fine. I promise we'll watch over her the rest of the night, and if we think she needs medical help, we'll bring her in to the hospital immediately."Jared could see that the two medical personnel were reluctant to agree, but all it took was a glance at Felicity's terrified face and they didn't press her to go with them.They packed up their gear and let Thad escort them out. When Jared was alone with her, he came around to the front of the couch and pulled her down to sit beside him. He wrapped his right arm around her body and cupped her face with his other hand."Are you really okay? You scared the shit out me, princess."A we