Mile High (Up in the Air #2)(66)
“I take it you like me all dolled up like this. Are you going to try to have those two follow me around to achieve the affect more often?” I asked him, only half-teasing. There was no telling what the crazy man would do.
He ran his tongue over his teeth, a gesture that always drove me wild. “To tell you the truth, I like you best bare of makeup and everything else. I’ve never met a woman who looked more beautiful without a thing on. But I have to admit that I love the idea of shoving you in the face of the press when you look so polished and lovely, and when they’ve printed so many unflattering things about you. It will make them all look like fools, after some of the nonsense that’s been posted.”
I gave a little shrug. I really couldn’t let the things being said about me get to me, or I’d never leave my house again. I thought that it was a little naive for James to think that he could change anyone’s mind after the things that had been said about him. I certainly wouldn’t be holding my breath.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Jackie reappeared as we were almost to the elevator, handing me a tiny navy patent-leather clutch. It was cute, but I hated having something on me that would take up the use of my hand for the entire night, so I declined. She looked baffled by the refusal, looking at the clutch in her hand as though it had done something to warrant the rejection.
I looked at James. “Do I need to take anything?”
He considered. “Only what you would consider essential. If you don’t have anything you want to bring, then you certainly don’t have to.”
“But it completes the ensemble!” Jackie said.
I just looked at her. If she was paying attention, she could have seen in my eyes that I just didn’t care that much about ‘completing the ensemble’. She finally got the idea, moving out of our way, though the look she gave me was less than friendly.
“Will you be attending tonight?” James asked her as he led me into the elevator by a hand on the small of my back.
She shrugged. “I may come to hound the red carpet press about who I dressed tonight. Free publicity and all that.”
James just nodded, pushing the button.
Jackie hurried into the car. She seemed to have just realized that she was leaving, too. She pushed the button for the fifteenth floor. She saw my look.
“I live in this building, as well,” she explained.
Well, that was handy, I thought.
She got off on her floor with a dismissive little wave.
“What do you think of Jackie?” James asked as soon as the door closed.
I gave him my little shrug that drove him crazy. I was going for nonchalant, but I ruined it with a dumb question. “Have you slept with her?”
He didn’t get offended, as most men probably would. He never seemed to mind my inquiries about his past affairs. He didn’t like my questions, but he seemed ever willing to give me answers. I appreciated his candor, even if I didn’t always like his answers.
“I have not. We have always been strictly platonic, and we’ve been friends since high school. So what did you think of her?”
I grimaced a little, but not so he could see it. “I’m trying hard to reserve judgement, at the moment. She told me you’ve been friends for a long time, but she seems to be nurturing a vague dislike for me. The feeling is very much mutual, so far.”
His hand gripped my hip almost painfully. “Why? What did she say to you?”
I shot him a look. “She thinks I’m after your money, I guess. It’s what you can expect everyone to bethinking and saying. I’ll have to get used to that kind of nonsense, I suppose.”
He used the tight grip on my hip to push my other side into his rigid stomach. He spoke very close to my ear, as though we weren’t alone in the elevator. “You don’t have to put up with that. We can fire her. You can fire anyone who doesn’t suit you, for any reason.”
I placed a hand on his chest, right on his heart, where my name was branded. I looked up into his beloved eyes. “That’s not necessary. You’ve obviously been able to maintain a good working relationship with her over the years. Maybe just don’t have her shop for me anymore. I don’t want anything else, anyways. It’s all too much, James.”
“I will have a word with her, Bianca. If she disrespects you again, I’m firing her. She will get a clear warning, but only one.”
I rubbed that sweet little spot on his chest. “People will be thinking that, James. We need to be prepared for it. It’s a conversation that I will undoubtedly be having again and again. There’s no way for me to prove to the world that I don’t want a damned cent from you.”
We arrived at the lobby floor, and he hugged me into his side, a hand going to the hoop at my collar to hook in that familiar finger as we made our way through the swank lobby and to the waiting town car. In the scant space from the building’s doorway to the car, three flashbulbs snapped at us just getting into the car. James ushered me in without a word, crowding in behind me. I scooted across the seat to give him room, but he just followed me, plastering me to his side as the door closed behind him.
He kissed the skin just behind my ear as he spoke. “And yet, it’s all yours, love. Every damned cent. I want to lay the world at your feet. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. You know that, right?”
I rubbed my hands over him comfortingly, hearing a strange vulnerability in his voice. I stroked his knee, and found my favorite spot on his heart, running my hand over it again and again. “I don’t need any of that, James. I’ve grown to need you. I love your honesty, and your tenderness, and your dominance.”