Kiss Me (14 page)

When he stepped onto the porch, he hesitated and questioned what he was about to do. Maybe he should play it cool, make up some bullshit excuse as to why she shouldn’t come to the party, then leave. Now wasn’t the time to demand explanations. More than ever, he was determined to make partner. While what he’d discovered about Jenna might have screwed up his personal life plan, he still had his career goals. Hell if he’d let her screw that up for him, too.

*

Jenna smoothed the tailored, sleeveless dress she’d chosen for tonight’s party as the door bell rang. Luke wouldn’t be by for at least another half hour, and she figured her neighbor, Lucinda, was probably worried over another lost cat. Normally she didn’t mind helping Lucinda look for her annoying critters, but she’d spent the past week searching for the perfect dress to wear this evening. Having it covered in cat hair and dirt was not an option.

Tonight could possibly make or break Luke’s upcoming promotion, and she wanted to not only make the best impression possible, but offer him support. He’d had a rough week, and had spent more time worrying about how the inside information he’d discovered might affect Wendy’s career, than whether or not he’d make partner.

As she headed for the front door, pride swelled within her heart. Luke was a good man, who was willing to put others before himself, even if it meant he’d come out on the losing end. She hoped that wouldn’t be the outcome. Luke deserved the promotion. Until a few weeks ago, she hadn’t realized how dedicated he was to his career.

He’s just as dedicated to you, too.

She grinned. That he was, and the feeling was entirely mutual. During these last two weeks, he’d taught her that she could overcome her fear of commitment, taught her to love, not only him, but herself.

While hoping Lucinda had stopped by to borrow a cup of sugar, rather than ask for help searching for one of her cats, she opened the door, then drew in a deep breath. She’d expected to find her elderly neighbor standing on her porch, wearing a moo moo dress, her white hair pulled back in a frazzled bun, and Coke-bottle glasses resting on her nose, not Luke. Especially not looking delicious enough she’d be willing to sacrifice her new dress for another quickie against the kitchen countertop.

“Hi, you’re early,” she said, and let her gaze travel from his polished shoes to his tailored suit coat. “Or did I mess up the time.”

“I…no,” he said, and shoved a hand through his hair. “I was on my way home from the office and had to stop by.”

Immediately concerned by the tension lining his jaw and his rigid posture, she latched onto his suit coat. “What happened? Oh, God, don’t tell me this has something to do with your promotion.”

He removed her hands from his coat, then stepped into the foyer. “No, it’s just…I was talking with a few other people at the office today and from what I understand, this is going to be a total bore. Corporate BS, ass kissing…I don’t want to subject you to that. So I think it would be best if you didn’t come.”

Wow, she hadn’t seen this one coming. Last night, he’d described the people she’d meet at the party. He’d given her names, physical descriptions, what their positions were within the firm, and how they may or may not play a role in his promotion. Even this morning, as he kissed her goodbye, he’d told her how much he was looking forward to this evening. Now he didn’t want her to go?

She might not be an accountant, but something didn’t add up. Taking a step closer, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “What happened today? Did you tell Gwen about Wendy?”

He looked to the floor. “Not yet. Like I said, I just think you’ll be bored.”

“That’s not the impression you gave me last night.”

“I told you, some of the people at the office were talking and —”

“Yes, I heard you the first time, but I’m having a hard time believing you. What’s really going on?”

“Jenna,” he said, and kept his eyes on the floor. “We need to talk, but I don’t want to do it now. I’ll only be a few hours, so I’ll stop by after the party, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay. I bought a dress for tonight, spent the past hour getting ready, and now you’re not only telling me you don’t want me to go with you, but giving me this ‘we need to talk’ crap. I think you owe me an explanation.”

When he finally met her gaze, she drew in a quick breath. The loving tenderness was gone, replaced with ugly disapproval. She’d seen that same look from him before. Stomach churning, her memory spiraled back to the night she’d tried to seduce him. The night she’d worn those dangerously high heels, risqué clothes that bordered on downright slutty, too much make-up, and had pumped up the volume in her hair to the point of being ridiculous. He’d been disappointed in her that night, because he’d wanted more than just sex from her. He’d wanted her to express her feelings instead. She’d done that and more. She had fallen hopelessly in love with him.

Her face grew hot under his unwavering and disconcerting glare. What could she have done wrong since this morning? Or was there something he wasn’t telling her. Maybe his mood had nothing to do with her at all.

As an idea occurred to her, she touched his chest. “Does this have to do with an office romance you don’t want me to know about? If it does —”

His bark of laughter cut her short. He stepped away and threw his hands in the air.

She folded her arms across her chest. “Do you want to let me in on the punch line?”

“I’m not doing this right now,” he said, and started for the door.

Dropping her arms, she blocked him. “What the hell is going on? From the moment you asked me to date you, you’ve droned on and on about how you want nothing but honesty between us. Based on your emotional state and body language —”

“Stop.” He glared at her, while his face hardened and a vein throbbed at his temple. “Please don’t pull your psychobabble BS on me now. I’m not in the mood.”

Stunned that he’d make a cutting remark regarding her profession, and hurt by the way he was treating her, she jerked her head and stared at him. “Obviously,” she muttered, and pushed aside her disappointment in him, along with the dull ache seeping into her chest. “And I’ll try not to take too much offense at the psychobabble comment, because I realize you’re current state of distress has made you highly irrational.”

He set his mouth in a grim line and crossed his arms over his chest. With the way he stood, he appeared belligerent and closed off, and she had this sudden fear that he was distancing himself from her. She had no idea why, or what she could have done to bring on this abrupt change in him, but the dull ache in her chest moved lower and knotted her stomach. For whatever reason, she was losing him.

“Irrational?” he mocked. “Here’s irrational for you. Mitch Cassidy.”

There were times she’d wished she were a turtle, and could crawl into a shell. Now was definitely that time. Mitch Cassidy had been her last boyfriend and the only man, other than Luke, that she’d considered committing to. When she’d caught him in bed with another woman, she’d been devastated. She’d thought they had something good going, something special until he’d proved otherwise. Mitch was a creep. A fact she’d learned too little too late.

Fighting for control of her emotions, she masked her shock with a smile. “Mitch Cassidy? Wow, there’s a blast from the past.”

“So you
do
know him.”

“Sure, we dated for about a month when I was in grad school. Why?”

“Why? Because he’s been working at Dryscal & Myers for the past six months and will be at Peter’s tonight.”

Her skin crawled with unease. When she’d broken things off with Mitch, he’d lied, made her out as a slut to anyone who’d listen. She supposed he’d done this as a way to build his ego and make himself appear the battered party in their relationship.

Although he would have nothing to gain from slandering her reputation now, she wouldn’t put it past him. A chill ran through her that had nothing to do with the AC. “Does Mitch know we’re involved?”

He nodded. “Darci sent me an email attached with a photo of us. Mitch happened to walk into my office right after I’d opened it and told me he used to date you. Only he said you went by J.C., not Jenna.”

Oh no, not now, not again. She had worked so hard to revamp her image, and by the time she’d entered grad school, she’d lost the wild reputation she’d gained during high school and her early years of college. Only Mitch had tarnished that polished reputation with his lies. Luke couldn’t possibly believe him, could he? Perspiration moistened her upper lip and forehead. “What else did he say?”

He sidestepped her and headed for the front door. “I’m not going there.”

She marched after him. “The hell you’re not. I want to know what he’s told you.”

Swiveling, he gripped her upper arms. “It’s not only what he’s told me, but what he’s told everyone else in the office. Since Mitch came to the firm, he’s been going on and on about his experiences with
J.C.
”

Icy fingers of dread fissured through her. He
did
believe the lies. How could he? After all they’d shared. After all of the plans they’d made for the future. Sadness and disappointment at the loss of what could have been enveloped her. She wanted to cry, or lash out at him, anything to release the anger and misery shredding her heart. But she reeled in the pain and shoved it in the farthest recesses of her mind. She’d been through worse. She’d survive this.

“I see.”

He shoved away from her, then ran a hand though his hair again. “Do you? Do you have any idea how sick it made me when I realized you and J.C. were the same person? Hell, Jenna, you’ve been the talk of the office for six frickin’ months.” Leaning against the foyer wall, he rested his head on the plaster. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“About Mitch? Why would I? I’ve never asked you to give me the names of every woman you’ve dated. It’s in the past, where it belongs.”

Shaking his head he shoved off the wall and approached her. The anger and frustration in his eyes made her take a step back until the opposite wall stopped her progress. “At least
I
was honest about my past.”

Her stomach churned and bile rose to her throat. She swallowed hard and looked away, hating him for putting her through another emotional battle, and hating herself for not being totally honest from the start. “I tried to tell you there were other men —”

“You’re right, you did. At the time, I didn’t care. I’d figured a woman like you, a class act who didn’t seem to have a promiscuous bone in her body, was probably worried over a handful of guys, not the whole frickin’ football team.”

Gasping at the ludicrous insult, she slammed her fists against his chest. The tears she’d been holding back now soaked her cheeks as she shoved him. “Get away from me. I can’t believe you’d believe such a load of crap.”

He pinned her against the wall. “At first I didn’t.”

“Then why would you —”

“I heard what you’d said to Casey.”

She froze. “W-what are you talking about?”

“Thursday, before we went to lunch, I overheard you talking to Casey in the hallway.”

Panicking, trying to remember exactly what she’d said to Casey, she sputtered, “Th…that was a private conversation. You had no right to —”

“I know, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to see you in action, watch the way you dealt with the kids you counseled.” He released a deep sigh. “Damn it, Jenna, I was so proud of you. You’d reached out to that girl and made a difference. At the time, though, I’d assumed you were making up your past — your parents’ divorce, living in a trailer park, the sex — for her benefit. But now that I know you and J.C. are one in the same…Is your dad really dead?”

She swiped the tears from her face and hardened her jaw. “To me he is.”

The anger in his eyes flickered, then softened to pity. “When were you going to tell me?
Were
you even going to? I mean, hell, Jenna, I don’t know what to believe. You? Mitch?”

“What I told Casey was the truth,” she admitted. “As for Mitch? He’s a lying bastard.”

Disbelief clouded his eyes.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she shifted her eyes to the ceiling. For some sick reason, she had to know what sort of lies Mitch had fabricated. “What did he say about me?”

Slamming his hand on the wall, he pushed away from her. “I told you, I’m not going there.”

Her temper ignited. “Now that you know my past isn’t as pristine as you would have preferred, I think you owe it to me. Now tell me. What did Mitch say?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “You were into all kinds of crazy sex toys, got off on doing it in public places, and you liked…threesomes.”

She wanted to hit him again, but stood still. There were no tears, only outrage and shock. Outrage that Mitch would have gone as far as he did with his lies, nearly two years after they’d dated. Shock that Luke would even believe the nonsense Mitch had regurgitated from his vile mouth. Sure, what Luke had overheard between she and Casey didn’t help, but if he’d talked to her about all of this, she could have explained. But he’d already passed judgment. Added it all up and had his bottom line.

“You’re not going to deny it? Any of it?”

While anger simmered through her veins, she raised her gaze to his. She didn’t know who she was more pissed off at, Luke, or herself. Over the last two weeks, she’d had plenty of opportunities to tell him about her past. Rectify the wrongs, like lying about her father’s death, and make him understand her reluctance to admit the whole truth.