Fooling Around (5 page)

Her parents had always been practical and hardworking. They’d always wanted the best for her. It wasn’t necessarily a betrayal of them to take advantage of this bizarre, lucrative offer she’d been given.

Even knowing the little she knew about Eric, she knew the three months wouldn’t be easy. She’d work hard. But she’d be rewarded. And then maybe, maybe, she could be closer to the Julie she imagined in her daydreams, the one in the pretty apartment who did all the things she wanted to do, instead of just fantasizing about them.

She kept mulling it over as she lay under the covers.

They’d managed to get everything ready for the funeral this evening at five. Then there would be a lot of small details to take care of.

Then nothing.

Julie tried to make herself get up, but she couldn’t seem to manage it. She pulled the covers up higher and rolled over.

She thought about her options now—in a world without her parents there for her to take care of. They’d needed her for so long, and she’d needed to feel needed that way.

Now no one really needed her. Marie might pretend to, but mostly she just wanted Julie around to make her life easier.

Eric Vincent wanted her around for the same reason.

But at least Eric was offering her something in return, and there was an end point that wasn’t too far away.

It was probably crazy, irrational, maybe even dangerous, but Julie was starting to think that it might be worth it.

Mostly, she wanted to wake up in the morning and have some reason to get up.

Right now, she wasn’t sure that she did.

She lay in bed at seven o’clock on a Thursday morning, completely alone in her parents’ house, and she made her decision.

When Eric called her tomorrow morning, she was going to say yes.

It might be the biggest mistake of her life, but at the moment she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Four days later, Julie stared up at a high-rise in downtown Charlotte, reminding herself that this was where she was going to be living for the next three months. The building had just been built last year and was one of the tallest in the city.

Eric owned a luxury penthouse on the top floor. She couldn’t even imagine how much money he’d spent on it, but evidently the million dollars he was paying her was peanuts to him, so he could obviously afford a place as ridiculously expensive as this penthouse must be.

The cab driver and doorman helped her with her luggage, and soon she was riding up a private elevator to the forty-fifth floor, feeling nervous for no good reason.

It was like she was in a movie or in one of her daydreams, where wild, exciting things happened to her that were completely disconnected from her real life.

She missed her mom. She suddenly wished she were sitting in the recliner next to her mother’s bed, both of them watching one of the old black-and-white romantic comedies her mom had loved.

Instead she squared her shoulders as the elevator doors slid open to an elegant, marble-floored hall and a woman she vaguely recognized from the lobby of the hospital.

“Ms. Nelson?” the woman asked, without a glimmer of a smile. She looked to be about ten years older than Julie, with dark brown hair with lovely auburn highlights, even features, subtle makeup, and small wire-framed glasses.

Julie nodded. “Please call me Julie.”

“I’m Kristin Rutherford, Mr. Vincent’s personal assistant. I handle both his personal affairs and act as his administrative assistant.”

Reaching out a hand, Julie smiled and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Kristin’s handshake was cursory, the kind that made it seem like the other person wanted to stop touching you as soon as possible. This perception was confirmed when Kristin said coolly, “I’m to show you to your room.”

Well, that was clear enough. Kristin wanted nothing to do with her. She was just going through the motions because Eric had obviously instructed her to.

As she followed the other woman into the stunning penthouse—soaring ceilings, vast city views, a kind of ultramodern simplicity with a lot of cool colors and extravagant materials—Julie decided that Kristin’s chilly reception wasn’t unusual or unexpected.

It must be really annoying to have your boss hire someone else to do a job that you obviously weren’t capable of doing to his satisfaction. There had evidently also been a succession of private nurses, all of whom had been fired.

It was entirely possible that Julie wouldn’t last at this job more than a week before she got on his nerves and was dismissed.

If she could make it three months, however, she could live comfortably for the rest of her life, as long as she didn’t waste the money on extravagances.

Maybe she could move to the coast, get a little cottage near the beach. That was a fantasy she’d had for a long time. She tried to imagine herself doing something like that but couldn’t really see it happening.

She’d gotten her first job as a shelver at the local library when she was sixteen years old. Ever since then, she’d been working hard to earn a little extra money so she could help pay off debts and indulge occasionally in pretty lingerie. Windfalls just didn’t happen to her.

The penthouse had two stories, with a glossy black floating staircase leading up to the second floor. One half of the first floor was an open space, made up of kitchen, dining, and living areas. Kristin led her through the great room without speaking and toward a hallway that went back to several more rooms.

“His office is straight back,” Kristin said. She gestured toward the closed doors on the hallway—two on one side and one on the other. “These are guest rooms. Because he can’t get upstairs easily, he’s been sleeping in this one.”

Julie looked at the single closed door on one side. It must be the largest of the guest rooms.

“I have my own place on a lower floor,” Kristin added. “The other full-time member of his staff is Tim, who handles the driving, security, and other things that come up. Today is his day off, but you’ll meet him tomorrow. He has his own unit downstairs too. Since you’re only here temporarily, you’ll just be staying in a guest room.”

“That’s fine,” Julie said. “It wouldn’t make sense for me to have my own place, since I won’t be here long.” She tried to sound friendly and accommodating, but she obviously didn’t succeed.

“This is your room,” Kristin said, opening one of the doors on the other side of the hall.

It was probably the simplest of the guest rooms in this place, but it was still twice the size of Julie’s room in her parents’ house. It had a huge window, a French door that led out to the terrace, and a king-size bed with headboard upholstered in cream-colored leather. The room was lovely, with a kind of Zen quality in its simplicity and calming green and gray color scheme.

“It’s beautiful,” Julie murmured. “Thank you.”

She put the tote she’d been holding down on a low dresser and asked, “Should I…should I speak to Mr. Vincent?” She wasn’t sure how she should address him, but Kristin had called him “Mr. Vincent,” so Julie figured she better be safe.

“He’s on a conference call. You aren’t to disturb him when he’s working.”

Julie blinked. “Okay. I guess I can get unpacked, then.” Her voice lifted at the end, making the words a question. She felt more nervous and uncomfortable than ever.

What the hell was she even doing here?

“That would be fine.”

Without another word, Kristin left her alone in the room, and Julie sank onto a strangely shaped chair near the window.

She quickly texted her sister to let her know she was here. Julie didn’t feel inclined to chat with her sister at all hours of the day, but she wanted to make sure someone else knew exactly where she was.

She’d done some research in the last few days. Eric Vincent was a legitimate businessman. He had a reputation for dating a lot of gorgeous women, but there had never been any rumors or complaints about his not treating them right. Obviously, there wasn’t much chance he would be interested in her sexually, but she didn’t want to put herself in a dangerous situation, and it didn’t hurt to be safe.

When her sister had texted back a reply of
k,
Julie stared out the window.

Doing this—agreeing to Eric’s strange proposal—was probably the biggest risk she’d ever taken in her life. She wasn’t a risk taker. She liked to play it safe. Growing up, she’d always been a good girl, and nothing really had changed as she’d become an adult. She focused on school, on work, on taking care of her parents, on being a good friend and a good person. This crazy situation should have happened to someone else.

It hadn’t, though. It had happened to her. And she just had to get through three months for it to pay off in a big way.

It was only ten in the morning, but she felt so exhausted she could barely move. Still, she forced herself to get up and start unpacking. She’d brought all of the clothes she possessed that were appropriate for the range of weather in late April through early July. She didn’t have very much, since she hadn’t gone out socially in the last few years and she didn’t like to splurge on clothes she would have no chance to wear—except for her secret lingerie.

There was plenty of room in the dresser drawers and closet for all of her stuff, and she tucked her suitcases neatly at the back of the closet when she was done.

There. She was unpacked. Ready for the next three months in this ridiculously luxurious penthouse.

She had no idea what she was supposed to do now.

She went to the mirror to brush her hair and make sure she looked okay. She was wearing a long cotton skirt with a light twinset in medium blue that brought out the color of her eyes. Nothing she wore had cost very much, and it suddenly struck her as a little dowdy-looking.

She hated feeling that way—uncomfortable in her own skin—so she pushed away the feeling. She wasn’t here to be pretty or glamorous. She was here to do a job and get her money.

She walked away from the mirror and glanced out into the hall. No one in sight.

She didn’t want to interrupt an important conference call, but she also didn’t want to hang out in her room, as if she were taking it easy as soon as she’d gotten here. She stewed on her options for a few minutes before the door at the end of the hall swung open.

A loud, rough voice boomed, “And where the hell is Julie? I thought she was supposed to be here an hour ago.”

That answered her question clearly enough. She walked down the hall toward the office, approaching as Eric made an appearance in his wheelchair.

“I’m here,” she said quietly.

He glowered at her. “Where have you been?”

The obvious answer would be that Kristin had said not to bother him, but she didn’t like to tattle and she also didn’t want to alienate Kristin on her first morning here. So instead she said, “I was unpacking.”

“You can unpack later. I need someone to help me in the office who isn’t going to drive me crazy.”

Even grumpy and incapacitated as he was, he was still ridiculously good-looking. He had medium brown hair, strong features with a square jaw, and eyes of a lovely warm brown. His injury did nothing to hide the size and strength of his body. He wore a T-shirt and track pants with one leg cut to accommodate the cast.

Julie idly wondered if she’d be responsible for helping him change clothes.

“I’m happy to help,” she murmured. She was starting back toward the office when he stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“Not yet. I have to go to the damned bathroom first. It’s the biggest pain in the ass.”

She was tempted to chuckle at his aggrieved tone and his choice of words, but she managed to suppress the instinct. “Okay. I still don’t know my way around this place.”

“There’s a bathroom right here,” Eric said, gesturing toward the first door past the office.

Julie opened the door and saw a pair of crutches propped just inside. She sighed with relief, since they seemed to indicate that Eric could basically get himself to the toilet on his own.

She was willing to do what she needed to earn the money, but she wasn’t too keen on bathroom duties—especially for some strange man.

Since she figured a man like him would prefer to not feel too dependent, she grabbed one of the crutches and positioned it so he could use it for support as he raised himself up. He was grumbling and cursing under his breath as he balanced himself on the crutches, but he seemed to be mostly stable, so she ducked out of the bathroom and closed the door.

If he needed help, he could ask her, but she’d learned from taking care of her father that it worked better if she acted like he could do it himself. Her mother had been different. Her mother would seldom ask for help, so Julie had had to predict when it was needed and when it wasn’t.

She’d evidently chosen the right strategy. Eric didn’t call through the door for help, and eventually she heard the toilet flush.

When he swung the door open, he looked winded and strained, his face paler than it should have been and a slight sheen of perspiration on his skin. In his condition, even the effort of using the crutches and getting to the bathroom was a real ordeal. She didn’t need to ask him if he was all right. He obviously wasn’t comfortable, but that was the way it was. She just positioned the wheelchair where it would be convenient for him to lower himself back in.

His leg really was in the way. The cast went the entire length of it. She would have hated to wear something like that for so long. She might have felt a flicker of sympathy had he not been peering at her like she was some curious specimen.

“You’re not going to ask me how I’m doing?” he demanded in a gruff voice.

She raised her eyebrows, pretty sure he was asking the question just to see how she’d react, just to get a rise out of her. “Why would I? You’re obviously fine,” she murmured as she got out of the way so he could steer his chair back down the hall to the office.

He narrowed his eyes but just made a wordless sound in his throat.

Kristin was in the office when they returned. She appeared to be sorting through a pile of papers on the desk. The office was as expansive and elegant in a minimalist way as the rest of the condo, with another wall of windows, floating bookshelves, and a few pieces of low furniture.

“This is paperwork that has piled up in the last couple of weeks, since I broke the damned leg. I need to get through it this morning.” Eric gestured toward the stuff Kristin was organizing.

Julie just nodded, thinking it seemed like a project more appropriate for Kristin to help him with, since she was his real assistant. But maybe she was getting on his nerves. Her expression definitely looked disapproving.

Eric was about to say something more when his phone rang and Kristin reached to pick it up. After hearing the greeting on the other end, she lowered the phone and said, “Mike Hart.”

“Damn it,” Eric muttered. “I’ve got to take this.” Focusing on Kristin, he added, “Can you go find out what happened to the package?”

Julie moved out of the way as he rolled over to grab his phone, and Kristin left the office entirely. So Julie was just standing near the desk with nothing to do as Eric had a curt conversation with the guy on the phone, who was evidently not performing up to Eric’s standards.

Looking around, Julie decided it was no wonder Eric was in such a bad mood. Despite the beautiful design of the office, it looked cluttered and messy, with pills and medical supplies on various surfaces, several cushions tossed around that had apparently been tried and discarded, and four different half-drunk glasses of various beverages on the desk.

Figuring she might as well do something while she waited, she collected all the pill bottles and lined them up on a lovely Chinese cart that she could push out of the way until he needed them. Then she checked the temperature of the drinks and, since they were all lukewarm, she carried them into the kitchen and got him a cold bottle of water. She didn’t know what to do with the cushions, so she gathered them up and hid them behind a low sofa, so at least they wouldn’t be littered around. She straightened up the desk surface and lowered the blinds halfway so the sun wouldn’t be right in their eyes.