Flirting in Traffic (16 page)

“You’re a physician,” Finn repeated flatly.

Esa nodded, not caring for the toneless quality of his voice. This was not going as well as she’d hoped.

“Your offices are in Orland Park,” he said, as though he were trying to get everything straight. “And yet I specifically remember you telling me some story about driving north in traffic that first night because you wanted to start a south suburban version of
Metro Sexy
.”

Esa grimaced. “Well, I had to say
something
—”

“And that something was a lie,” he clarified slowly.

“Well, yes, but—”

“What part of it was true then?” His eyes raked over the mussed bed before he stood.

“Finn, don’t ask that. Of course all the important stuff was…you know. Genuine.” She watched him in rising panic as he studied her, almost feeling him flying away from her, distancing himself even though he hadn’t moved, technically speaking. God, here he was bruised and shaken from the likes of Julia Weatherell and she pelted something like this at him. Esa suddenly felt as if she’d rattled his Self-Confidence Richter Scale like King Kong.

“I-I thought it was what you wanted.”

His nostrils flared slightly as he broke their stare. “Why would I want to be lied to?”

“You’re taking this all wrong. Let me explain—”

“Actually, I don’t have time for it right now, Esa. I need to get to work.”

Esa just stared in open-mouthed incredulity as he walked out of the room. A few seconds later she heard the front door open and shut with what sounded to her ringing ears like a grim click of finality.

They stood out on the driveway of their parents’ home. Both the dark blue Lexus and the red Ferrari gleamed brightly in the bright autumn sunlight. David Ormond finished winding the hose that they’d used to wash both cars and stood.

“I’m going inside to catch the end of the Illinois game,” Esa’s father said.

“Thanks for the help, Dad,” Esa called as he waved and walked toward the house.

“Go Illini!” Rachel cheered in her best macho voice.

Esa and Rachel often went out to their parents’ suburban house to wash their cars since they both had indoor parking spots in the city. Even though the day was chilly they’d decided to wash their cars before they returned them back to their original owners. Unfortunately they hadn’t been able to talk much while they did it since their father was there helping.

“Well? What do you think? I’m betting you don’t want to let go of my little pretty,” Rachel teased.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Esa mumbled distractedly as she grabbed her car keys. She’d been completely out of it all day. Her mind kept replaying the incident with Finn until she thought she’d scream if she pictured the way he’d looked at her one more time, as if she were a slightly revolting stranger who had suddenly appeared in his bed out of nowhere.

He just needed some time to process it. He had a right to be a bit dazed after learning she’d lied to him, after all.

What if he never wanted to talk to her again?

Esa found herself staring at the shiny cherry red Ferrari. It was all that stupid car’s fault.

“It was a nightmare driving that thing, you know,” she told Rachel sourly. “That car is like giving a double dose of Viagra to every horn-dog in the city.”

Rachel chuckled. “Horn-dog? Is
that
what you’d call Finn Madigan?”

Esa did a double take and grabbed her sister’s elbow. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk,” she said sternly.

“Uh oh. Am I in trouble, teacher?”

Esa studied her little sister through narrowed eyelids. At the moment she looked almost exactly like she had when she was fifteen years old, when she’d made it her life’s mission to tease and torment every waking moment of Esa’s anguished teenage years. Her dark red hair was pulled into a high, bouncy ponytail. She wore faded jeans and white Keds tennis shoes. Her pretty face looked fresh-scrubbed as a dewy peach in the bright sunlight. Few would have guessed that the young woman who walked next to Esa with the mischievous glint in her big brown eyes had single-handedly launched and ran the most popular magazine in the city of Chicago.

“Carla spilled that you plotted with her for this whole
flirting in traffic
scheme, even getting me to drive that pimpette machine of yours to further your cause.”

Rachel smiled in a friendly fashion, completely unscathed by the fury in her sister’s tone. “I’d love to take all the credit but in all fairness I can’t. I wanted you to loosen up a little, have some fun, that’s all. Both Carla and I have been worried that you were going to pre-purchase your cemetery plot any day now. But you far surpassed my expectations, Esa. Who’d a thought you’d actually snag yourself a man as gorgeous as Finn Madigan?

“His
brother
though,” Rachel paused and made a sound of disgust, “I feel terrible that Carla got hooked up with such a loser. A few more dating nightmares like hers and
Metro Sexy’s
reputation is going straight down the drain.”

Esa refrained from sarcastically expressing the great loss to the world
that
would be. All of the fury and confusion about what had occurred with Finn this morning found a focused outlet on her sister.

“For your information, Carla is crazy about Jess. It’s
my
situation that’s a nightmare, and
Metro Sexy’s
got nothing to do with that. No, that’s all
your
fault! You never could keep your nose out of my life. Just like that time you called Blake Merrill when I was in the tenth grade and told him I was crying my eyes out in my bed because he’d broken up with me.”

“I was pissed off at that jerk. I wanted him to know what an idiot he was for dumping my sister,” Rachel defended.

Esa stopped in front of Mr. and Mrs. Burbage’s brick colonial and turned to face her sister. “I was mortified. The last thing I wanted was for Blake to know how I really felt about him when he’d broken up with me!”

“And then he asked out that sleazy Marianne Jordan, remember?”

“Rachel, that’s not the point!” Esa shouted so loud that Mr. Burbage pushed back the curtains and looked outside. Rachel waved in a friendly fashion before she grabbed Esa’s elbow and forced her to start walking.

“And why in the world didn’t you tell me about Finn’s calling you?” Esa asked, her voice shaking with anger. She was at least mollified to see that Rachel looked a bit guilty.

“Oh, that. Well, I was confused at first—I mean, who was this guy calling me and saying he was concerned about me leaving and was everything all right, and would I please give him a call? I didn’t recognize his name and I haven’t gone on any benders for at least a month, so I knew I couldn’t have just blacked it out,” Rachel added with a gamine grin that faded when Esa gave her an exasperated look.

“Right. So the next thing I know he’s calling and mentioning not only your name, but Julia Weatherell’s. Well,
that
got my interest.”

“What did he say, precisely?” Esa asked, her footsteps slowing.

“He said he felt bad about Julia just walking into the bedroom like that.” Rachel paused and gave her sister an openly curious look.

“Go on,” Esa grated out.

Rachel sighed, obviously recognizing she wasn’t going to get anything juicy out of her dried-up older sister.

“He said that he and Julia used to be engaged and that apparently she felt she had the right to enter his condominium any time she pleased. ‘Which she doesn’t’—that’s what he said, rather firmly, I should add.”

“Really?” Esa asked slowly, unable to disguise her obvious interest in the news.

Rachel nodded, ponytail bobbing.

“He also said that he wished you’d stop running out on him. He sounded downright pissed about it.”

Esa colored hotly and picked up the pace.

“What did he mean by that? Why do you keep running out on him?” Rachel queried as she jogged to keep up with Esa like she was a reporter hot on the trail of the story of a lifetime.

“What would you have done if you were in bed with a guy who you knew for one night and his ex-fiancée walked in on you?”

“So you
did
go to bed with Finn?” Rachel asked, triumph gleaming in her liquid brown eyes. She flinched back when Esa swung around wildly.

“Is that all you care about? Is sex all
anybody
cares about?”

“Well, it’s a good place to start, isn’t it?” Rachel asked simply.

Esa’s breath popped out of her lungs. For once she couldn’t argue with her little sister’s logic. Sex and desire was as good a place as any to start something.

At least it was if the desire was based on honesty—

“I know you must like Finn, Esa.” Rachel interrupted her thoughts. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have blown a gasket when I said I’d gone to the party last night to find out if Finn would tell me more details about Julia’s extracurricular activities.”

“For your magazine,” Esa added with a frown.

“Yes, for
Metro Sexy
,” Rachel agreed with a stubborn tilt to her chin. “I am a journalist you know, and despite your high and mighty attitude, Julia Weatherell bedding down with other guys when she’s leading around Gavin Graves Jr. like she’s got a hook through his nose is big news. He’s one of the most eligible bachelors in the city, you know. Carla filled me in on all the details about her and Finn this morning when we met for breakfast at The Mighty Nice Café
.”

Esa scowled, although she wasn’t really angry at Carla for breeching her confidence. It must have been obvious to Carla that Rachel was already in on the secret about Julia due to Finn’s mistaken phone call.

“Julia didn’t sleep with Finn. At least not recently. And under no circumstances
whatsoever
are you to bring up that incident in Finn’s condo in your gossip column,” Esa repeated what she’d whispered so heatedly last night.

“I told you I wouldn’t. Let’s turn back. The further we go the longer I’ll have to put up with you lecturing me.”

They walked silently for a half minute while Esa’s emotions frothed and boiled. She didn’t know why she was so furious at Rachel. Her sister’s behavior in this case wasn’t that different than it had been dozens of times in the past. She knew Rachel loved her with a fierce loyalty. Even if she did occasionally make Esa’s life a living hell, Esa loved her just as much in return.

“I hope you don’t sabotage the whole thing.”

Esa glanced over at Rachel in surprise. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Simple. Ever since you first started dating boys you were convinced that the really cute, nice ones didn’t like you. Even when they clearly were leching after you, you were always sure that at any moment they were going to fall for a slut or a skinny cheerleader.”

“That’s because they usually did.”

“Maybe a few of them did,” Rachel conceded. “There’s always going to be some rotten apples in the bunch. Doesn’t mean you should stop eating fruit altogether.”

“Profound analogy, Kitten,” she muttered drolly.

Esa suddenly felt exhausted when they turned up her parents’ driveway. Her fingers found her car keys in her jacket pocket. A heavy weight seemed to press down on her as she stared at her sedate sedan. A dependable car, luxurious yet conservative. A doctor’s car. The vehicle of a practical, reasonable woman.

“Are you sure you don’t want to trade again for awhile?” Rachel asked from beside her.

Esa swallowed the ache of longing in her throat. She hated to admit that she’d loved driving that fast little car. It seemed so juvenile of her, so out of character. And when she thought of the gift that Finn had given her, of flying swift and unhindered into the city last night with him by her side, she was
so
tempted to take her sister up on her offer.

Just like she was wild with a hunger to find out if this thing she had with Finn could be more than just a sexy fling.

“Absolutely not,” Esa said with a brisk fortitude she was far from feeling. She paused in the process of walking toward her car and glanced over her shoulder. “But thanks for asking, anyway.”

Rachel gave her a warm smile. “If you like Finn, don’t give up. The thing about a chance is that you’ve got to take it, Esa. Otherwise it’ll just become a regret.”

“There are no guarantees that it won’t end up being a regret if I do take a chance,” Esa said doubtfully, secretly thinking that maybe she’d already blown that chance.

“It’s not a sure thing, that’s true,” Rachel replied. “But just like
Metro Sexy
always reminds its readers, regret
is
guaranteed if you don’t try.”

As Esa drove down Lake Shore Drive ten minutes later—the experience notably less thrilling in her bulky, dependable car—she thought about what Rachel had said in regard to taking chances and regrets. She had to admit that Rachel’s advice sounded pretty darn sound, even if it did come from the mouth of a gossip columnist.

Finn frowned when he came home later and saw his neatly made bed. What had he expected, that Esa would still be there, warm and soft and naked? After the way he’d walked out on her earlier following her disturbing revelation?

Not bloody likely, he thought grimly as he tossed his keys onto the dresser.

He’d been restless and unsettled for the better part of the morning. What kind of a game was she playing, lying so blatantly about herself? he wondered for the thousandth time that day.

He scowled and started peeling off his clothes. What he needed was a good long run beside the lake followed by a workout at his gym. The exercise would help him clear his thoughts and give him the space he needed so he could stand back and examine the situation with Esa more clearly.

Maybe he should ask out another woman tonight. Or perhaps he’d take Caleb up on his offer and meet him at a sports bar this evening to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game. His fixation on Esa wasn’t healthy, Finn decided as he took the underground pedestrian tunnel beneath Lake Shore Drive a short while later. He’d just come out of a bad breakup. He hardly knew her.

Plus, she was a god-damned liar.

Given all those strikes against her it was a no-brainer. He should forget about Esa Ormond.

Wasn’t it a common enough occurrence for a guy to become seriously infatuated after being burned in a relationship? Finn thought as he ran next to a brilliant cerulean blue Lake Michigan. He’d seen it happen to friends in the past. The excitement, the challenge and the hot and heavy sex helped to shore up a wounded self-esteem.

A slender, attractive blonde woman jogging in the opposite direction from him gave him an appreciative once-over. He returned her blatantly obvious grin of invitation. He’d gone another half mile before he realized that he’d just passed up the perfect opportunity to ask out another woman, and all because he’d been too preoccupied in enumerating the reasons he shouldn’t think about Esa anymore.

Damn.

After he’d returned from his health club and showered he’d eyed his cell phone on the bedside table. He’d probably be able to reach her now that he understood that she wasn’t Kitten Ormond but
Dr
.
Esa
Ormond.

A complete stranger.

He rolled his eyes and cursed under his breath as he reached for his phone. It pissed him off to know that all of his head-clearing and rationalizations hadn’t helped one iota. He still wanted her. He cursed his overactive libido but he couldn’t stop thinking about how fantastic it had been making love to her last night, how sweet to hold her afterward while she slept—that small, satisfied smile still shadowing her lips.

I should let you have the driver’s seat more often. At least when we’re not in a car.

He rapidly reached for his phone. Since when had he become so fricking desperate? He thought with a scowl. His hasty fingers paused on the keypad when he heard someone knock at his front door.

He hit the disconnect button on his phone.

Julia stood in the hallway looking pale and tense. She wore a pair of tight black pants that hugged her trim thighs and an ivory cashmere sweater. Her dark, sleek hair hung long and loose, making a striking contrast against the ivory wool. Her fitted pants were tucked into a pair of supple leather boots.

It struck Finn that while he still appreciated Julia’s elegance and beauty—there were few men who wouldn’t—he was no longer compelled by it like he used to be. He certainly no longer experienced the intense lust that used to flood him at the sight of her. He realized for the first time that the emotion he associated most with her was a sense of nostalgia for what could have been more than for what
was
, grief for the loss of a fantasy as insubstantial as smoke.

“What is it?” he asked, referring to her anxious face and rigid posture.

He saw her throat convulse as she swallowed. “We need to talk. It’s important.”

Finn just nodded once and closed the door after her. She didn’t speak until she’d entered the living room and turned to him. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her so tense during the length of their relationship.

“One of my friends overheard Kitten Ormond talking at The Mighty Nice Café this morning. She
knows
about us, Finn. If she goes public with it in that rag
Metro Sexy
Gavin Graves will drop me.”

Finn’s brow crinkled in confusion at the near panic that laced her tone. “I don’t understand. You have a friend who overheard
what
? There’s nothing to tell about
us
.”

Julia’s face paled even further.

“Do you think I don’t know that?” she hissed. “Do you have to throw it in my face that you rejected me? Kitten Ormond is the city’s biggest gossip. She’d do anything to ruin me. Do you think she cares about the truth? She
knows
about me coming here! She knows that I wanted to…” Julia hesitated briefly before her chin went up defiantly. “I suppose you told Esa about the time before, how I suggested that we continue to sleep together?”

“Hold on a second,” Finn said sharply. He was bewildered by the turn of events but he understood this particular accusation loud and clear. Finn was very private about his life. He didn’t kiss and tell about anyone he became involved with, let alone the woman he’d planned to marry. “I told Esa no such thing. I wouldn’t run off at the mouth about something like that.”

Julia only looked partially mollified. “Well, Esa has undoubtedly drawn her own conclusions given what she saw. The Ormond sisters have been jealous of me for years. They’d love to see my name smeared all over the gossip columns. When Gavin hears about it he’s going to be
furious.
My reputation is going to be ruined. You’ve got to promise me that you’ll try to stop it. I’m not the only one whose name is going to be dragged through the mud, you know.”

Finn stared incredulously. Surely Esa wouldn’t put the private details of his life out there for public consumption.

Would she?

How the hell do I know what Esa would do?
He thought with a cold blast of reality. Until this morning he hadn’t even known what she did for a living. He was just a casual fling, after all.

It might be Julia’s story but it was
his
as well. Esa had no right to it, nor did her gossipmongering little sister.

“Finn?” Julia shrilly interrupted his thoughts. “Did you know she was planning on doing this?”

“Of course not,” he replied.

“I should have known something like this would happen ever since I walked in here and saw you with Esa.” She shook her head and growled through clenched teeth in sheer frustration. “God, I hate the Ormond sisters. Since when did you acquire such abysmal taste in women?”

The fury that swept through him at Julia’s attack on Esa gave Finn the biggest shock of a day already filled with surprises. He’d never seen Julia behave this way, not even when she was outraged with him for taking over his father’s business. It was like she’d just removed a mask and shown him what she really looked like.

And the sight wasn’t a pretty one.

“Look, I don’t know anything about this and I’d appreciate it if you stopped jumping all over me. From what I know about Esa she’d never consider doing what you’re alleging.”

“You’re a
fool
if you believe that. She would expose me in a heartbeat. You don’t know anything about it. She would love to ruin my chances with Gavin. She and that viper sister of hers would laugh until they cried, and then one of them would likely try to scoop up Gavin on the rebound.”

“You told me that you were miserable with him, that he couldn’t begin to please you in bed. Why are you so worried about it?” Finn asked, referring to the night she’d accosted him in his lobby.

“Well, that may very well be but that doesn’t mean I want the world to know it. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you cornered me in my lobby and begged me to fuck you.”

“How dare you! I’ll have you know that—”

“Stop,” Finn said, interrupting her tirade. He couldn’t really grasp everything that Julia had been saying but he knew one thing. This conversation was
over.
As far as he was concerned Julia’s behavior this afternoon had created a big, fat period on the end of the chapter that had been their relationship.

When he told her so she stared at him in disbelieving rage for a few seconds.

“You never did have what it takes,” she accused, her gimlet green eyes flashing with disdain. “I should have known from the beginning you would fold just when you got to the finish line of making a big name for yourself.”

Finn shook his head slowly. How could he have possibly been so mistaken about a woman? He said the first thing that came to his head. “
God
I’m lucky. What if I hadn’t seen this side of you until after I’d married you?”

She started as if he’d slapped her but Finn was beyond caring about her feelings, beyond caring about her one way or another. She’d been right about one thing. He
did
have abysmal taste in woman.

“It’s time for you to leave.”

She threw him a vitriolic look before she turned and left, slamming the door behind her as she went.

“Good riddance,” Finn muttered under his breath. He sat down heavily on his couch, both his brain and blood running a mile a minute.

He got up abruptly after a while and stared at the darkening lake. The sun died a brilliant, fiery death in the west, casting bright orange reflections on the glass surfaces of the eastern high-rises. By the time it had completely set Finn’s anger at Julia had largely calmed.

It wasn’t her fault that he had crap taste in women, after all.

He picked up his cell phone and dialed directory assistance.