31. Jane
31
JANE
I carefully line my lips with my favorite deep red lip liner, then top it off with a cherry red lipstick. This combination never fails me, and it perfectly matches my dress for tonight.
I’m back in Boston for the evening for the company’s anniversary party. Part of me felt like a fraud coming to the event when I don’t think I’ll be staying with them much longer, but I’m still waiting for Arun to formally offer me a full-time position. While I’ve been doing a full workload for him over the past months, he’s yet to extend any sort of contract with me.
So alas, I flew out here to show my face tonight just in case. I’m dreading the party. All the small talk, the schmoozing, the women the men will bring that aren’t their wives…
But at least I get to see Hallie again. Her parents are in town visiting, so I didn’t get a chance to see her when I arrived last night. We’re planning to meet outside and go up to the party together. It’s at a hotel downtown on the rooftop. I expect nothing but the best for tonight. Chester doesn’t like to spare expenses when it comes to spoiling himself and his buddies.
After the final touchups on my makeup, I grab my phone and sit on the edge of the bed. I find Nikolai’s name, and he answers on the first ring.
“Were you sitting by the phone waiting for my call?”
His voice sends a wave of peace over my nerves as he says, “Yes. I was compelling you to call and would you look at that. The universe listened.”
I chuckle and fiddle with the straps of my robe. “I don’t think that’s how that works, but alright.”
“Ye of little faith, LJ,” he says. “I miss you.”
His words warm my heart. “I’ve only been gone for a day.”
“I know. And that’s plenty of time to miss you.”
“I miss you, too,” I admit. “I wish you were here.”
Nikolai had to stay back to work on his album. He’s heading into the final few weeks until he needs to turn over a demo to the label.
“I wish I could be, too. I’m sorry, if I didn’t have to work?—”
“You don’t need to apologize, I get it.” We are dedicated to our jobs, and I fully understand the obligations and pressure he’s under. “It’s just too bad that you won’t get to see my dress for tonight.”
“Oh?” He perks up. “Well, you’re more than capable of sending a picture, aren’t you?”
I eye the dress hanging across the room. I steamed it earlier and the red, silky material shimmers as it sways slightly with the air conditioning blowing through the room.
“I could just switch you to video chat,” I say coyly. “You could watch me get dressed from all the way on the other side of the country and know that you can look but can’t touch.”
He groans, and I picture him shifting on the couch in his studio, bathed in dim lighting, trying to focus on the task at hand. “You know the studio doesn’t get good enough reception here. I don’t want to see a pixelated version of you. I want to see the HD version.”
I hide my disappointment. “I know, I was just teasing.”
“You better send me something though now that you got me going again.”
“Don’t you need a break?” I laugh. In the couple of days since our night with Reid, we’ve been nonstop going at each other. We have time to make up for and we’ve been making the most of it anywhere and everywhere around the house.
Well, except for his bedroom. For some reason, Nikolai has yet to take me in his bed.
“From you? Never.”
I smile at that. “Me too.” I clear my throat and shift the conversation. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something the other night, and I want you to be completely honest with me and know that I won’t judge you.”
I hear Nikolai sit up. “Yeah, what is it?”
“When we were with Reid…he, you know, he touched you, too.”
Nikolai starts to interject, but I cut him off.
“I’m not upset about that. At all. Trust me, it was…hot.” Seeing him squirm beneath the both of us is forever going to be ingrained in my memory. “But I’ve just been wondering and thinking about what Reid said and I’m curious if the two of you have ever been together…without a woman in between you.”
“No,” he answers simply and all traces of worry are gone from his tone. “We like sharing, and yeah, I’ll admit that I liked when he would touch me, too. But it’s never gone past that. And before you ask, he never let me touch him like that. I tried once and he about took my hand off.”
My chest shakes with laughter at the image. “I can’t see him liking that.”
“No, he didn’t.” Nikolai chuckles. “Does that bother you?”
“What?”
“The fact that he used to do that to me.”
“No.” It doesn’t change anything or how I view either of them. I was nervous that after we all came down from the high of that night, the next morning, one of us would wake up with regrets. But things haven’t been awkward between me and Nikolai, and he and Reid have been back to talking as usual. “I was merely curious.” And I know that I’m the only one who gets a piece of Nikolai anymore, so I have no reason to be jealous of Reid.
Well, there is Kerra still in the mix…
“Are you ready for your performance with Kerra Monday night?”
Nikolai groans and immediately shuts me down. “I don’t want to talk about her or work right now. Can we instead talk about what kind of underwear you’re going to be wearing under this dress of yours? I’d be much more interested in that.”
I drop it and indulge him in great detail about every aspect of my outfit for the evening, including a few pictures of myself along the way as I get dressed.
We chat for about an hour until I have to leave. Goodbyes are reluctantly exchanged, but I’ll see him tomorrow when I fly back to LA. I quickly pack up my small purse, grab a room key, and I’m out the door. Chester arranged a car service for everyone tonight. Likely because he didn’t want the headache of anyone potentially getting a DUI after the open bar at the party.
The drive to the hotel where the party is taking place is short but littered with traffic.
Me: I’m sorry I’m on my way I promise!!
Hallie: Did you forget what the traffic is like here in just a few months?
Me: LA has traffic too I just got distracted at the hotel
Hallie: If that distraction is your hot rockstar roommate then you’re forgiven
Hallie: But I’m tired of standing down here on the street in these heels so I’ll meet you upstairs. Text me when you get here
Me: Will do
By the time I arrive, I’m only thirty minutes after the official start time. That’s not too bad and I’m sure no one will even notice me slipping in a little late when I haven’t even been in the office in months.
The driver pulls up into the valet lane and makes a move to get out of the car to open my door, but I stop him. “I got it, thank you.”
I fluff out my loose curls and reach for the handle when my door is ripped open. A hand appears through the door and I poke my head out to thank the valet when I’m met with the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever known.
“What are you doing here?” My red lips part in surprise as Nikolai’s hand folds over my own and helps me step out of the car. My feet are unsteady beneath me as he leans in, his cologne overwhelming me, and presses a gentle kiss to my cheek.
He’s dressed in a black suit that is perfectly tailored to the slope of his shoulders and the long lines of his legs. The white shirt beneath it is crisp and the top few buttons are undone, showing off his summer-tanned skin.
He flashes me a dazzling smile as he says, “I wasn’t going to let you get dressed up without me.”
“But you—the studio?—”
“It’ll be there when I get back,” he says, pulling me into his side and guiding us inside the lobby of the hotel. It’s empty, likely due to the party.
It clicks then that he just kissed me outside, in public, where anyone could see.
“You can’t be here,” I rush out. “What if someone just saw us together?”
He holds his hands out in front of him. “Relax,” he says calmly. “I’ve kept a low profile since I arrived. No one knows I’m here.”
“An entire party upstairs is about to.”
“Do you remember what you told me about this party?” He raises his brow.
I stare at him, willing my brain to focus when all I want to do is continue to check him out. His hair is effortlessly styled and the longer strands curl around his ears. The silver watch he always wears glints under the lights and even his shoes are shiny.
“Focus, Jane,” he says, trying to stifle a laugh.
“Right.” I shake my head slightly. Yes, I wanted him to be here tonight with me, but not if it means he’s going to blow the cover on his relationship with Kerra?—
“Oh…”
Nikolai snaps his fingers. “There it is.”
Everyone at the firm and their guests signed NDAs for tonight's party. We always have for the holiday parties, anniversaries, banquets, you name it. Because our celebrity clientele is often invited, our discretion is of the utmost importance in making them feel comfortable and ensuring they keep their business with Chester and his partners. So when a celebrity shows up with a woman that isn’t his wife…well, we look the other direction.
The same goes for many of the men in the firm. Some bring their wives but oftentimes, I’m introduced to three new girlfriends of someone over the course of a year and then get a Christmas card signed by his wife.
“No one will be able to talk about you being here,” I say, everything clicking. “As long as we’re upstairs in that party, no one can say anything about what they see.”
Nikolai smiles knowingly. “Now that we have that out of the way”—he extends his arm to me—“shall we?”