Chapter 5
James was so distracted the next morning that he ended up forgetting his phone at home.
His phone contained everything—his schedule, his contacts, his notes about projects he was working on—and he was absolutely useless without it since he could never keep details in his head. So after getting to his office, he had to turn around and drive back home.
He’d gotten more sleep last night than he had the two nights before, but most of that sleep had been with Rose in his arms.
He’d known what he was doing the previous evening when Rose had dozed off and unconsciously leaned over toward him.
He’d put his arm around her on purpose, knowing he shouldn’t and also knowing that he wanted to hold her like that.
She’d been asleep, so he’d told himself it didn’t matter.
He could enjoy it for a little while and then get up and go to bed.
He hadn’t gotten up. He’d fallen asleep too. He’d half-woken a couple of times, aware that her body was pressed against his fully and that his own body really liked it, but she’d been gone when he woke up this morning for real, his back stiff and his groin hard.
He’d taken a long shower and reminded himself that these were feelings he couldn’t indulge again.
Things were already getting messy in his life—sliding into a kind of chaos he remembered from after Melissa had died—and he wasn’t going to straighten them out again if he let himself lust after their nanny.
But he was tired and frustrated and generally cranky as he parked in the driveway and let himself in through the kitchen door.
He froze when the first thing he saw was a wide expanse of Rose’s breasts.
She was leaning over, evidently trying to hook the leash onto Topsy, who was spinning around like crazy. She wore only a short thin bathrobe, which was hanging down to reveal most of her chest.
James stared fixedly at the full heavy curve of her breasts and the glimpse of a rosy nipple he could see, his body immediately tightening with interest at the sight.
Rose jumped up when she saw him, making a breathless sound and taking a couple of steps backward. “Oh, Mr. Harwood!”
He knew he was expected to speak, and he tried to make himself do so, but his mouth was bone dry and his growing erection in his pants began to pulse.
By standing up, she had hidden most of her breasts, but the robe was still hanging loose, and he could see more of her fair skin than was good for him.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, a flush starting to stain her cheeks. “I wouldn’t have come down like this if I’d known you were coming back. Topsy really needed to go. She was doing her spins.”
He managed to clear his throat, finally finding his voice. “It’s fine. I forgot my phone. I’m—I’m sorry to interrupt.”
That last part was pretty stupid, but it was the best he could do given the circumstances.
Rose had dropped her eyelashes delectably and was closing her robe more with her left hand. She still held Topsy’s leash in her right. “Well,” she said. “I better take her out.”
“Yes. You better. I mean, I’ll just run and get my phone.”
He wasn’t sure he could move immediately, so he was relieved when Rose walked past him with Topsy and took the dog outside.
James took a few shaky breaths and tried to pull himself together.
This was ridiculous. He was never afflicted with lust like this. He could hardly ask Rose to stop looking so sexy in his presence. He was the one who needed to get his responses under control.
He finally managed to move, and he hurried down the hall to his office, which was the last place he’d used the phone.
Once he’d grabbed it, he made a quick stop in the bathroom.
He could hardly go back to work with an erection.
James stayed at work later than usual. There were a lot of things he needed to get done, but he was also relieved at the excuse to avoid Rose for a little longer.
He felt guilty about his responses to her lately, and he was afraid it would complicate what had been a very good working relationship between them for more than two years.
He just needed a little time and distance, and then he would be fine.
He told his assistant to go home at six, but he stayed on, clearing out e-mail and working through the pile of paperwork on his desk. He would have to get home early enough to spend some time with the girls, but that still gave him another hour to delay.
At close to seven, the office building was mostly empty, so he was surprised to hear a tap on his office door. He stared at the door blankly for a minute, trying to figure out if he’d actually heard the knock or imagined it.
Then the door pushed open, and Genevieve walked in.
His eyes went wide, and he stood up immediately, feeling a wave of defensiveness and confusion. “What are you doing here?”
She gave him a sultry smile. She wore heels and a belted coat, and her hair was pinned up with a clip. “Is that any way to greet me?”
His confusion was now paired with annoyance. “What are you doing here?” he asked again, a little more gravel in his voice.
“I wanted to say I was sorry.” She smiled again, this time looking apologetic, although James didn’t really believe it was genuine.
He stayed behind his desk. “Sorry for what?”
“For pouting the way I did. I was just upset. You know I don’t normally act that way.”
In fact, he knew very well that she always acted that way. She had a whole routine she used to get her way, and pouting was one of her strategies. He’d never put the pieces together this way before, but he could see it all now. She’d always been that way.
Whatever she was doing here was part of a strategy too.
“Okay,” he said. “You’re sorry. I accept the apology, but it doesn’t change anything.”
She came over closer to the desk he was still standing behind. “I think it changes a lot.”
He shook his head. “What exactly does it change?”
“I don’t think you really wanted to break up with me, and I’m telling you that you don’t have to.”
He almost groaned in frustration. This was not what he wanted to be dealing with at the moment.
He wanted to go home and see his girls. And maybe brood about Rose a little more.
“I think I made myself perfectly clear two nights ago. It wasn’t working, and it’s time for us to just call it quits.
I’m sorry if it hurts you or if this isn’t what you want, but I don’t know how else I can say this. I just don’t want to marry you.”
He felt bad for the words since he didn’t actually like to hurt people, but it was as if they didn’t even penetrate to Genevieve’s brain. She didn’t stop smiling and giving him her sexy eyes. “I think you do—you just need a little refresher.”
“I don’t need a refresher. I just need—”
He didn’t have a chance to finish the sentence because Genevieve unbelted and then dropped her coat to the floor.
She was completely naked beneath it.
She’d always had an attractive body, and he didn’t mind that her breasts were almost certainly surgically enhanced.
Men didn’t tend to be too picky about that kind of thing.
But he was so tired of her and frustrated by her behavior that his body didn’t even react to the sight of her naked body in front of him.
“This kind of refresher,” she murmured.
“Genevieve,” he said, blowing out a breath, “put your coat back on.”
“You don’t want me to.”
“Yes, I do. I’m not going to have sex with you. I’m not going to stay engaged to you.” He walked around the desk and picked up her coat, handing it to her. “I didn’t want to be mean, but you’re not giving me any other choice. It’s over between us, and I don’t want to see you again.”
She stared at him, disbelieving. He wondered if she really couldn’t understand that she couldn’t manipulate everyone the way she normally did.
She’d manipulated him plenty of times before. He could see it now. He’d been clueless enough to fall for it. But the blinders were off now, and he wasn’t going to be led around again.
Since Genevieve wasn’t moving, he wrapped the coat around her and then urged her to the door of his office with a hand on her back. “If you don’t leave, I’m going to call security,” he said, finality in his tone.
“You can’t do this to me,” she whispered, still clearly shocked.
“I can, and I am. Please leave.” He closed the office door to shut her out.
He smothered a groan and ran a hand through his hair, feeling like he needed to shake off what had just happened. He waited about ten minutes to make sure that Genevieve had cleared out of the building, and then he headed down to his car and drove home.
“What do you mean they’ve broken the engagement?” Deanna asked, her voice sounding confused over the phone line.
Rose stretched out on her bed, making herself comfortable for the talk with her sister. “I mean they broke up. James—Mr. Harwood finally got a clue, and he broke it off with her.”
“When did this happen?”
“Two nights ago. After that big scene at the house—Kelly told you about it, didn’t she?—I guess he did some thinking and realized she wasn’t a good choice for him. She never did like Jill and Julie, and I think he’d finally begun to see that. Anyway, they broke up.”
Deanna’s voice was a little raspy. “Are you sure it was two nights ago? Not last night?”
“No, not last night. Last night we had pizza and he told the girls.” Rose didn’t add that after the girls had gone to bed, she’d fallen asleep with James on the couch.
“But… but…” Deanna trailed off.
“What’s wrong with you?” Rose demanded, recognizing something strange in her sister’s response. “Why is it so strange about him not wanting to marry that woman?”
“It’s not strange. I’m glad if he realized she wasn’t for him. But Mitchell and I were at a party last night, and she was there. She came late—at about nine thirty—and she was telling everyone about the wedding plans.”
Rose took a moment to process the words. “What?”
“She was telling everyone about the wedding plans—about how she and James were getting married in June, how they were going on a honeymoon to the Caribbean, about how happy the girls’ grandparents were about the match. She was showing off her engagement ring big time.”
“What?” Rose repeated, the room blurry before her eyes. “They were already broken up then. Why was she talking about all of that?”
“I don’t know, but she sure didn’t seem to think they were broken up. Maybe you should say something to James.”
“What am I supposed to say? That his ex-fiancée is off her rocker? Do you think something is wrong with her?”
“I don’t know. Could it be some sort of strategy? Is she planning something to get him back?”
“But how would that even work?”
“I don’t know. But she was going on about this sob story of how he was crushed when his first wife died and he finally opened up to her, but she was afraid he would start to feel guilty about moving on. Maybe she was trying to get a lot of people on her side.”
“But that wouldn’t work with James! Does she think he’ll let himself get bullied into a marriage he doesn’t want?” Rose had sat up straight, so upset and outraged over this piece of news.
“Who knows what she’s thinking?” Deanna paused. “You seem to be pretty upset about something that doesn’t really have to do with you.”
Rose fought a wave of self-consciousness. “Well, if he got married, it would affect me, you know.”
“Of course, but I thought you said they weren’t getting married.”
“They’re not. They’re not!”
“Anything you want to tell me about why you’re so upset about this?”
Rose knew exactly what her sister was asking, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit the truth out loud, not even to her sister.
She shouldn’t be feeling this way, and admitting it would make it more real.
“Of course not. He’s my boss.”
“Even so…”
“Even nothing. I just don’t want someone like Genevieve to cause problems for him. I guess I’ll mention what you said just to make sure he knows what she’s doing. I can’t imagine what she thinks will happen though.”
“I don’t know, but she’s smart.” Deanna sounded serious now. “If you want my guess, she has some sort of a plan, so he should watch out for her.”
Rose felt nervous jitters at the idea. She didn’t know what kind of trouble Genevieve could cause for James, but there might be something.
Rose hated the idea. The woman needed to just leave him alone. He wasn’t hers anymore.
Of course he wasn’t Rose’s either, but he felt like hers, and she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him.