The Mischievous Mrs. Maxfield (60 page)

“I know, but that was before I knew you were going to throw the word back at my face so much,” he shot back.

As the two of them glared at each other, I felt Anna’s hand squeeze my arm under the table. 

We glanced at each other and knew exactly what the other was thinking.

If sparks could fly, these two would be combusting right now.

I hid a smile because neither Jake nor Tessa seemed to have any clue at the sight they presented.

They were challenging each other with a look but their heads were drawn toward each other that they practically touched. There was a rosy flush on Tessa’s cheeks and a glint of emotions in her usually serene eyes. Jake kept glancing at her parted lips and seemed unaware that he was still holding the hand she touched his forehead with earlier, pressing it against his chest. Tessa didn’t seem interested in pulling it back and out of his grasp, and Jake didn’t look like it occurred to him to let it go.

Huh. Who would’ve guessed. Jake and Tessa. Huh.

It was hard to hide my excitement. Anna’s own eyes twinkled as she watched her sister but we both said nothing because if either of them realized that they were actually flirting instead of sparring, they might spring apart and run into opposite directions. 

“If you really lack that much self-control, then yes, I agree it’s best that you don’t come to the party,” Tessa was saying, tilting her chin up daringly. “I would hate to have to spend all evening rescuing you.”

“I can take care of myself just fine,” Jake replied, picking up the gauntlet. “And my self-control is in perfect working condition. If I have to endure this party with you, I will, just to prove my point.”

Tessa arched a brow at him. “So you’re going to attend a party and not hook up with any girls there? You’re going to be completely immune?”

“Once again, I’m not a salivating dog, you know?” he said irritably. “I can go to a party, have fun and not end up in bed with a woman.”

“I say,” Anna interjected slyly. “Put your money where your mouth is, Jake.”

“Unless he’s all bluff,” Tessa said, tossing her hair back airily. 

“If I win, I get a favor from you that I can ask for anytime,” he told Tessa with a smirk. “If you win, what would you like?”

“The same,” she answered with a smile. “It doesn’t hurt to have a powerful and influential man on your books. This is going to be so easy.”

He rolled his eyes then turned to me and Anna, his expression determined. “I’m going. I’m driving too. Other than to disprove Tessa’s esteemed summation of my character and easily win this bet, someone needs to look after you three to make sure you don’t run into any trouble.”

“Trouble?” I asked with an innocent glance at Anna. “Who, us? We’re absolute angels.”

Anna grinned. “Oh, yeah. Completely cherubic.”

Tessa smirked. “Well, not for very long if he’s coming with us. Keep the company of the devil and you’ll be tempted to sin.”

Jake glowered at her. “So I’m not a total saint like you are, Tessa Marie Maxfield, but I’m not a total villain either.”

“We’ll see,” she said noncommittally, giving him a small, smug smile.

“Party tonight, then?” Anna prompted, her eyes lit up happily. “We can hit it up around eight or eight-thirty.”

“I’ll come pick you up at seven-thirty then,” Jake said as he took out his cellphone and started typing on it. “I’ll round everyone up.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we’re all going to be at my apartment,” Anna said, and both Tessa and I turned to her and asked, “We are?”

She nodded eagerly. “Yup. We still have to shop for outfits for tonight but we can do each other’s hair and make up.”

I groaned, glancing up to heaven for some intervention. “More shopping? I’m sure we can find something to wear from all the purchases we’ve already made. We've bought enough clothes to start a boutique of our own.”

“We didn’t buy anything appropriate for tonight’s party though,” Anna argued.

I raised a brow. “Nothing appropriate? I doubt that there’s a strict dress code for the party. It’s going to be a bunch of college kids, getting drunk, getting laid and getting marred for life by the experience. I could be wearing palm leaves and no one would probably be sober enough to notice.”

"I would be," Jake said emphatically, running a hand down his face. "So no one is wearing any palm leaves. God help me if I have to fend off the entire male population in the party for the three of you."

"Don't sound so put out about it," Tessa said. "I bet more girls would worship at your feet if they know you're so strong and brave that you defeated every man in the party. Females evolved with the same ancient instinct to mate with the strongest warrior or hunter to ensure the quality of their offsprings and their survival."

Jake took a deep breath and gave her a pointed look before turning to me and Anna. "What's going on with your sister? Her head is full of humping and mating today."

Tessa smacked him on the arm. "This sister was taking some anthropology classes this spring, if you don't remember."

"And hey, at least she's only thinking about humping and mating," I piped up brightly. "Better than her actually doing it for the name of experimental science, don't you think?"

"Unlike someone who doesn't think but just does," Tessa grumbled loudly enough that Jake still heard it anyway.

He groaned and got up from his seat. "That's it. I'm going to go now before I make a fine portrayal of the barbaric man to further Tessa's studies. I'll see you ladies at seven-thirty."

"But you said you were getting lunch," I said, giving him a puzzled look. "So far, all you've had was half a dill pickle."

"I can't eat with all this humping and mating in my head now," he said gruffly, much to our amusement.

"He's probably sporting his own dill pickle now," Tessa murmured, her cheeks swollen and rosy from holding in her laughter. 

Jake gave the three of us a black look as we struggled for breath between laughs, our shoulders shaking. 

"This is what I get for stepping out of the office and availing myself of some platonic female company for lunch," he muttered, raking a hand through his hair. 

Tessa giggled. "Platonic might not be what your dill pickle is looking for when it's... pickling."

I bent over my knees, clutching my stomach as I laughed harder.

Tessa was outrageous and relentless. Jake didn't stand a chance.

“Go, Jake,” I said in between gasps. “If you stay any longer, we can’t guarantee your sanity.”

He exhaled in loud exaggeration. “I’m going to go now to recover from this torment. I’ll pick you all up at Anna’s place seven-thirty, okay?”

“See ya, Jake!” Anna beamed and waved goodbye at him.

He turned to Tessa and narrowed his eyes before pointing at her. “You, young lady. I’ll deal with you later.”

Tessa made a little silly shake of her head. “Oooh, I’m all aflutter.”

Jake just rolled his eyes at her and grabbed her smoothie, neatly dodging her hands as she tried to take it back. 

He slurped down about a third of her drink before planting it back on the table in front of her with a decisive thud, never breaking his gaze from her once.

“Later, Tessa,” he said softly.

Without a backward glance, he strolled off in his typical careless saunter.

“Well,” Anna finally remarked when Jake was out of earshot. “That was something.”

“That wasn’t something,” Tessa murmured, sipping from the same straw Jake’s lips just touched. “Just Jake Hastings for you.”

I smiled. “I’m unclear on whether you hate or adore him.”

“It alternates,” she replied, sitting back in her chair. She’d lost that often-serious look on her face that reminded me much of how Brandon used to look when I first met him. I had a feeling that Jake had more power on Tessa than anyone thought possible. “He can be sweet sometimes but it doesn’t take long to remember that he’s that way because of his vast experience charming his way between women’s thighs.”

Anna gave her sister a dry look. “You’re really obsessed with all this mating and humping stuff.”

Tessa grinned. “Maybe it’s my hormones.”

“Your hormones seem particularly choosy,” I said lightly. “They only seem to go on overdrive around Jake. I don’t remember you dishing it out that good around anyone else.”

Tessa’s brows furrowed thoughtfully. “Maybe I’m allergic to him. That instead of the normal female reaction to him, which is to swoon and become putty in his hands, I do the exact opposite.”

Or maybe you’re not as immune as you think. You think you’re just sparring but you’re actually fighting an infuriating but intoxicating attraction with him. Been there, done that. Next, please!

“Jake’s a good guy even if he’s a little friendly with women,” Anna said as she sipped the last of her espresso. “I think he’s just waiting for the right girl to rein him in.”

I wanted to tell Tessa that Jake had an incredible capacity for love. But I didn’t want to ruin whatever they may have going between them by admitting that he’d once confessed his infatuation with me, if you could even call it that. 

I knew Jake cared about me a great deal but in hindsight, his initial affection for me was probably borne more out of my uniqueness from the other women he often got involved with. At the most, he probably just had a huge crush on me before we became really good friends. 

Or if you’re wrong and Jake just accepted his lot when it came to you, the least you can do is not get in the way of him finding someone else to love and to love him. In fact, he can probably use a nudge or two in that direction.

I smiled inwardly as I watched the now-pensive Tessa.

I didn’t like outright manipulation but I wasn’t above a little matchmaking—especially if it would bring two people I especially cared about together.

“So, let’s get started on the eighteenth leg of our shopping trip,” I announced cheerfully. “I haven’t bankrupted your brother yet. I’ll have to practice until I get the hang of this.”

Anna giggled and I felt a rush of relief that the desolation in her eyes earlier had been replaced by an excited gleam. 

With a mission in hand, she won’t be at least mopping around about Jason. 

“I’m in,” she put in, straightening up and beckoning a waiter over. “What do you say, Tess?”

The younger sister smiled, almost mischievously. “I say, let’s get me a killer dress.”

***

I’ve never really had girlfriends before—Aimee had been much older than me and had a daughter so we never spent hours doing each other’s hair and make up to go to a party.

The last two hours of hair-curling and hair-straightening and sculpting cheekbones would normally make me go a little crazy but it was fun and oddly relaxing.

Anna was our resident beauty and fashion expert.

She’d donned on an electric blue bandage dress (yes, the kind that looked like it was made of extra-wide garters sewn together to fit you like a second skin) which brought out the blue of her eyes. She paired it with sky-high, neon-pink stilettos. Her fine brown hair was sleek and straight, her make up mostly neutral except for her loud pink lipstick.

I, on the other hand, wore a pair of short, black faux-leather shorts, an ivory-colored, sleeveless, beaded lace top and a pair of black leather ankle boots. I let the natural waves of my hair hang down my back, polishing the look with a beaded white ribbon headband. My make up was mostly neutral too except for the smoky eyeshadow.

Tessa was the revelation.

Normally, she dressed in neutral colors and elegant yet extremely basic designs—nothing that demanded attention.

A fierce determination had propelled her toward daring choices when we were out shopping but when Anna found her a dress and proclaimed that it made Tessa look “like a total innocent promising to be irresistible”, she almost backed out.

It was a lovely but daunting dress for the shy-types—it was a form-fitting, white off-shoulder number that hid and forgave nothing. 

It showed off her elegant shoulders and neck, every curve and flat plane of her figure, and her long, toned legs since the dress ended only an inch or two past her bum.

Anna had brushed Tessa’s brown hair up into a loose top-knot, letting a few tendrils frame her face softly. 

Her make up was almost ethereal—a muted pearly shimmer on her lids and along the brow bone, a rosy flush on her cheeks, and lips that looked plump and bitten.

Accessorized with small, opal teardrop earrings, a hand-beaded square clutch, and sleek, white ankle-strap heels, she looked alluring in a dreamy sort of way.

When the buzzer rang, Anna hurried down from her loft bedroom to press the building access button by her door, leaving me and Tessa standing in front of the full-length mirror.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Tessa suddenly said, turning to me with an anxious expression. “I don’t even know why I’m doing this. I’m supposed to just attend this stupid party. I don’t need to dress like I’m drop-dead gorgeous.”

I smiled and brushed down a little bit of her baby hair over her ear. “But you are drop-dead gorgeous.”

She raised a brow at me. “Don’t lie to me, Charlotte. If anyone’s drop-dead gorgeous, that would be Anna. She was born drop-dead gorgeous. Trust me, I heard it mentioned enough in my entire lifetime.”

My heart tightened for Tessa. It didn’t occur to me before, really, but with how close she was in age to Anna, she probably lived in her sister’s shadow for most of their lives.

Anna couldn’t help it, really—she was drop-dead gorgeous and confident about it. I’ve never seen her demean her sister’s appearance though. In fact, all throughout high school, everyone took care not to cross Tessa if they didn’t want Anna’s wrath to come down on them. 

But in protecting someone too much sometimes, you clip their wings before they can even discover they can fly. So they never get out of their cage.

Tessa probably attributed the admiration and respect she got to her sister’s protection, never once considering that she gained them solely by her own merit. It was a tragic way of life but one she was hopefully, still young enough to change.

“Fine,” I said to her. “But drop-dead gorgeous isn’t the only kind of beautiful around. Anna can have full claim to that title. Looking at you right now, I’d say you’re the exquisite kind of beautiful.”

Tessa laughed wryly although I could see her eyes glow. “Exquisite, really? I guess with all the pretty wrapping paper, I could be, even though I’m really just plain, mousy Tessa underneath it all.”

I grasped her by the elbows and gave her the most serious, sisterly look I could manage. “People called me all sorts of things most of my life. If it were up to them, I’d be a cross-breed of something like a parasitic, social-climbing, foul-mouthed guttersnipe. They can say whatever they want to say but I get to choose who I become. You just sometimes have to speak up a little bit more loudly than the crowd so your voice stands out in the cacophony of labels they’re busy tossing at you.”

Tessa looked at me for a moment, blinking slowly as if she were caught off guard by my words and had to catch up. Interesting that I remembered those words from her own father.

I smiled. “If you tell yourself you’re exquisite, you’ll be exquisite, and people will just have to go with that, whether they like it or not.”

Tears glistened in Tessa's eyes as she blinked and opened her mouth to say something but Anna cut her off with a loud, "Jake's here! And he brought us flowers!"

"We'll be down in a sec!" I yelled back, grabbing my studded black clutch. "You ready, Tess?"

The girl took a deep breath, glanced at herself one more time in the mirror, and squared her shoulders. "Yes, I'm ready."

I led the way down the stairs, spotting Jake talking with Anna who was already hugging a small colorful bouquet of roses.

Since I only had low-heeled ankle boots on, I practically ran down the stairs to greet Jake with a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

"You're adorable, as usual," he said with a smile as he handed me a bouquet of tiger lilies.

"And you look like the heartbreaker you're going to try not to be tonight," I teased him, gesturing at his simple dark jeans and deep blue v-neck shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His damp hair gleamed golden in the light, his green eyes bright and sharp, his jaw still sporting a rugged, day-old stubble.

"I'll win, I'm telling you," he said, looking around. "Where's Tessa?"

I glanced over my shoulder and saw that she wasn't behind me. I looked up, along with Jake and Anna, and found her standing at the top of the stairs, gripping the railing and looking down nervously at us.

She was a sight for sore eyes and broken hearts.

I watched Jake as his eyes swept up her form, from her toes all the way to the bun on her head, and I could see the not-so-subtle change in his breathing.

s green eyes flared with an intense emotion as he swallowed hard and cleared his throat.

Come on, tell her what you're thinking right now—well, except the part that you want to devour her as if she were a feast laid out exclusively for you. 

"Hey, Tess," Jake said, sounding unsure. "Um, what are you still doing up there?"

I groaned inwardly. Jake had mastered the perfect, no-fail formula in charming women but he seemed to have momentarily blanked out. 

Great. These two are going to need more than a couple of nudges. We might need a tow truck to drop them right where they need to be to figure this out.

"I'm trying to decide how to best come down the stairs without breaking an ankle," she answered in a small but firm voice. Then she lifted her foot sideways to show us her shoe (although I seriously doubt that was what Jake had his eyes on). "This pair is a bit slippery on the bottom, you see? Maybe I should just take them off and put them back on when I'm down there."

"No, wait!"

Anna and I jumped to the side when Jake practically took off at a run toward the stairs. We glanced at each other, sharing a secret smile, before turning our attention back to the two.

Jake slowed down as he got to the top of the stairs, as if he just realized he’d run up all the way to Tessa.

He shifted his feet and remembered the bouquet he was still holding.

"I got you some tulips because I know you like them," he said, handing her bouquet of the orange, yellow and hot pink flowers. "I thought they were beautiful but I'm an idiot because I didn't really know what the word meant—until the second I saw you."

A telling blush bloomed on Tessa's cheeks as she lifted the flowers to her nose, avoiding Jake's fierce gaze.

Anna grabbed my arm excitedly and I suppressed a grin. 

As much as I would like to poke fun at Jake and remind him that he once claimed to have a whole thesaurus for the word beautiful, I didn't want anything to spoil this moment between the two of them. Besides, he may have never really understood what beautiful meant until he found the perfect definition in Tessa. Corny, I know, but come on!

“Thanks,” Tessa murmured before finally lifting her face to Jake. She bit her lip. “Um, could you maybe hold the flowers while I take off my shoes and come down the stairs?”

“No. Hold on to your flowers,” he said before leaning down to scoop her up in his arms, eliciting a gasp from Tessa. “I’ll carry you.”

“I’m about to melt in a puddle,” Anna whispered to me. Hell, she could’ve yelled it at my ear and I doubted that either Jake or Tessa would’ve noticed.

“Let’s pretend we’re not noticing this too much,” I murmured to her. “They might bolt in different directions if they realize they’re attracted to each other.”

Anna nodded in agreement before we both straightened and smiled at the two as they arrived at the bottom of the stairs.

Jake let Tessa down slowly and even when she was firmly on her feet, he still had a hand on the small of her back. 

“We better get going,” Anna prompted, grabbing her keys by the floating shelf next to the door. “I want to get there before it becomes too much of a crush.”

Anna and I led the group down the hall and into the elevator.

Despite our gnawing curiosity, we resisted the urge to crane our necks around to look at Jake and Tessa who had fallen uncharacteristically silent behind us.

When we got to Jake’s car, Anna and I practically lunged into the backseat, giving Tessa no choice but to sit up front next to Jake.

It wasn’t a long drive to Battery Wharf. It was a very upscale area adjacent to Boston’s North End, just along the iconic Waterfront. The sky was still had some light even in this late summer evening, but it blushing with the beginnings of dusk.

As we made our way up to the fourth floor unit, I started to feel the nervous knot in my stomach. 

If Stacey invited a lot of her same friends from high school to this party, I was almost certain I wasn’t going to have a good time.

For one, I never got invited to any party she or any of her friends threw. 

I had barely been just on the edges of the social strata in Worthington Prep. I didn’t really care about it before because they had nothing to do with me, but being married to Brandon, I was extended family to his sisters who were very much part of this world.

The last time I saw most of these other people was when I left Worthington Prep two years ago. I held my head up high, braving the catcalls and extra-loud whispers about how I always acted as if I was better than everyone else when they considered me lower than the dirt that was stuck on the ground they walked on.

“Charlotte,” Tessa’s voice came from behind me unexpectedly. “Remember, we decide who we become. If you were no pushover years ago, you’re still not one now.”

I glanced back at her with a smile just as the elevator slowed to a stop. “I remember. Thanks, Tess.”

Anna looped her arm through mine and pulled me out to the hallway. “My sister’s right. Besides, who the hell would mock you now? You’re married to my brother.”

“You have no idea how many girls tried to worm their way into our good side for a chance to get invited to things my brother was attending,” Tessa added with a roll of her eyes. “Most of them wanted to marry him but all of them wanted to sleep with him.”

“But you, a) caught his heart, b) married him, c) get to enjoy your wifely privileges with him. If they’ll hate you for anything, it’s because you ran away with the grand prize.”

“Ah, yes,” Jake said with a sigh. “Charlotte caught such a prime husband, even those who turned their noses up at her back in high school are now going to kiss her feet.”

I made a face. “Er, no. I happen to like these boots. I’d like to keep them drool-free.”

The four of us laughed but the knot in my stomach only loosened a little.

It was shallow but it was a true, sad thing about life. 

A lot of people never leave high school. They become adults and continue in life thinking the world still so small, that it only revolved around them, that things such as popularity and social status were still what made the earth turn.

I could face them down like I used to but it wasn’t just me anymore.

There was my husband and his family, which was mine now too. I didn’t want them to be within striking distance of anyone who would dare come at me with claws unsheathed. 

Take it easy, Charlotte. There are two sides to this. Too much defense can become unnecessary offense. 

“Don’t worry, Jake,” Tessa said, patting his arm reassuringly. “You’ll have more girls to charm now. You and Brandon were always a tight race. Since he’s not available anymore, they’re going to come after you.”