Her Tender Tyrant (10 page)

“Marcus, I don’t think…” Juliette stopped when she looked up and found that Marcus was not the person behind the massive desk in the office. Instead, she was staring at a beautiful, sophisticated brunette with cold calculating eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Juliette said, looking around, confused for a long moment.

The woman stood up and came around the desk. “No, I should be the one apologizing. I’m Linda, Marcus’ assistant and you must be the reason he isn’t in Paris where he should be,” she said with an almost quiet reprimand. Linda extended her hand in greeting, but Juliette wasn’t quite sure if the woman was going to shake her hand or claw some skin away.

“Um…I…” Juliette wasn’t sure what to say. “Why should he be in Paris?” she asked finally, feeling supremely awkward in her jeans and sweatshirt while standing in front of this woman who took sophistication to an art form. Her pencil skirt fit her perfectly and the silk blouse fluttered around her arms and neckline. The silk blouse alone probably cost more than a thousand dollars, Juliette suspected. But then again, how would she know anyway? Juliette’s wardrobe budget ran to the bargain and off-season stores. Even if she could afford clothes like that, Juliette knew that she wouldn’t have the confidence to pull it off with such perfection.

Good grief, the woman even smelled amazing! Juliette, on the other hand, smelled like horse manure!

But manners forced her to take Linda’s hand in greeting.

Linda laughed as she sat back down in the enormous leather chair. “Because he just bought a multi-billion dollar company from a French firm and he should be there overseeing the acquisition and final negotiations.” Linda leaned back and crossed her arms under her breasts, tilting her head slightly so that the shining wave of her hair cascaded artfully over one shoulder. “Have you seen him lately?”

Juliette didn’t point out the obvious, that she’d come in here thinking that he was in the office. “No. Not recently.” She still felt awkward but smiled, thinking of her thesis. This woman knew how to put the power objects into play. A sophisticated outfit and meticulous grooming certainly put the power into Linda’s hands. “I’ll just get out of your way.”

Linda smiled back before standing up and walking around to the other side of the desk again. “I’m just here organizing that man.” She laughed and picked up several stacks. “You know how he is about being organized. He can’t stand it when he can’t find something immediately. Which is why he keeps me around. If he needs something, I’m there for him.”

Juliette stiffened with those words, feeling like they were a rude wakeup call. The woman had just verbally slapped Juliette across the face. She could either retort and put the woman down or retreat. And since Juliette hated cat fights, retreat was the only option.

“I’m sure you are very efficient,” she said, backing up.

Linda eyed Juliette’s sweatshirt and worn jeans that were about a size too large, almost hanging on her hips. “When you’re finished with him, would you mind sending him back to where he belongs? He really has been slacking off lately.” Linda’s eyes moved up and down Juliette’s jeans and sweatshirt as if saying, “I don’t really understand why.”

“I’ll relay your message if I see him.” With that, Juliette turned around and walked out, feeling about two inches tall.

Outside in the hallway, she leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes as she thought about the past few days. Yes, Linda was a wakeup call. A harsh one, at that. Marcus had been acting strangely ever since last night. Maybe he was trying to figure out how to get out of the relationship? And he was just being too nice to simply rip the band aid off?

But was Marcus ever nice?

Yes, she thought, thinking back to the previous night’s interlude. He’d been very nice, tender and sweet last night. Which was why this was so hard. She’d forgotten that Marcus was a player. He was not the marrying kind while her heart had gotten involved on that very first night. Probably before then, she thought and wiped the back of her hand over her cheek angrily. Yes, she wasn’t the kind of woman to sleep with a man without being emotionally entrenched in the relationship. She’d just forgotten all of the relationships Marcus had gone through, and will continue to go through. Once he got her out of his hair, that is.

Oh goodness, she thought, thinking of his strange looks this morning. She’d thought that he was trying to end it then but she’d come up with the appropriate mind games to convince herself that it wasn’t quite over. That he wanted her to finish up and stay here with him.

Juliette sighed and rubbed a hand over her neck. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered.

A moment later, Linda appeared in the doorway. “Did you say something?” she asked.

Juliette jumped and almost dropped the papers she’d been working on. “No,” she said, clutching her papers closer to her chest. “I was just going over something in my head. Something that has been nagging at me for a while. But your presence actually helped me remember that.”

Linda stepped out, a hand on her hip as she looked down her nose at Juliette. “You know, I’ve seen a lot of women come and go in his life and he’s a very fickle man.”

Juliette hated Linda’s words, hated that this cool, sophisticated woman knew the man she loved better than she did. “I’m sure you both work very well together.”

Linda lifted her hand, shifting the emerald on her ring finger slightly. “Oh, we do more than work well together,” she replied, laughing softly. Her brown eyes lit with a strange light. “I don’t mind if he has his little flirtations,” she said, moving closer to Juliette, close enough that she was literally towering over her. “Lord knows I’m going to have my flings as well. I mean, two people can’t be completely monogamous to each other for life, right?”

Juliette disagreed, but she suspected that Linda wasn’t really waiting for a response.

Linda’s eyes scoured Juliette’s features, a grimace on her lovely face when she was finished. “Of course, you know that. You study people. You know all about the way someone’s mind works, right?” She watched, realizing that she’d scored a direct hit. “Yes, I know all about you. Marcus told me about your thesis paper and how he’d increased your grant money so that you could get it right.”

Yep, another direct hit, she thought, almost gasping for breath as the malicious woman went in for the kill. “Anything associated with Marcus’ companies needs to meet a certain standard, so you can understand why he authorized a bigger grant.” She waited a moment for those words to sink in. “Do you think this second shot is going to make the grade?” she asked.

Juliette couldn’t move for a long moment. But when Linda opened her mouth, prepared for yet another cut to the bone, Juliette refused to be a victim at the hands of this vicious woman. She refused to simply stand here and take it.

“Excuse me, Linda. You obviously have a lot to do to catch up with for your job. I’ll get out of your way.”

With that, she hurried out of the hallway and through the kitchen. She was almost running when she reached the kitchen door and sprinted to the stables. It was pretty amazing that it had taken only two weeks before she was now turning to the horses for comfort, but here she was, wishing she could just crawl into one of the stalls and hide away.

She thought she heard Marcus’ voice, but she didn’t slow down to figure it out. She had to put as much distance between herself and the evil woman.

Juliette didn’t stop until she was up in the hay loft and she could hide. And when she was behind some bales of hay, she let her back slide down to the wooden floor, allowing the pain of reality to settle into her heartbroken soul.

But even as the tears streamed down her cheeks, she knew she wouldn’t have done anything differently. She loved Marcus yes. He was a wanderer, not a man to commit. But she’d also known that going in to the relationship. She’d had her eyes wide open. She shouldn’t be surprised by this moment coming, but it still hurt. She’d hoped that things could be different, that he would feel differently about her.

How stupid, she said to herself as her head fell back against the hard wooden wall. And how many other women had hoped for the exact same outcome? She’d been deluding herself so it was only fair that she deal with this kind of hurt.

“Have you seen Juliette?”

Juliette heard Marcus’ deep voice down below and froze. She didn’t want him to find her like this, she thought, frantically wiping her cheeks. She wished she had some ice so she could cool down her cheeks and eyes that were probably red, giving away instantly the fact that she’d been crying. Unfortunately, just hearing his voice made the tears fall even faster. Oh, what a fool she’d been!

“I saw her head in here but she must have left again,” Dennis said in his usual grumbly voice.

Juliette could imagine the consternation in Marcus’ handsome face but she didn’t step out from behind the hay stacks or even make her presence known. She felt a little foolish, almost like when she was in middle school and her crush had asked another girl to the dance. But in this situation, with grown up consequences and grown up feelings, she still reverted to what was safe and known. Hiding worked for her. At least for this moment in time.

One of the cats padded silently out from behind a bale of hay, sniffing delicately at Juliette. She reached down and scratched the feline behind her ears, smiling slightly as the cat arched into her hand, purring at the unexpected affection.

She’d have to face Marcus sooner or later, she realized, but later worked really well for her right now.

She continued to scratch the kitty while listening tensely to the voices down below. “I’ll tell her you’re looking for her,” Dennis grumbled to Marcus. “Who is the new arrival?”

“My assistant, Linda, arrived.” Both men seemed to grunt an understanding without any additional explanation. Which really peeved Juliette further. Had both men known what was going on? Had she been the only one who hadn’t seen? Or was she the only one who had stuck her head in the ground, refusing to see?

Oh, what did it matter? Marcus was moving on, back to his faithful, or actually, faithless, Linda. Linda understood him much better. She could have him if that’s the way he wanted to live his life. The two of them seemed to have an understanding. They could both have their affairs but come back to each other for mutually beneficial marriage benefits. How disgusting!

She couldn’t live like that. Juliette knew herself well enough to understand that she wanted fidelity in a marriage. She wanted to know that, when her husband said he was going to work, he was genuinely going to work and not to visit his mistress or some cheap woman he met on a sidewalk.

Okay, that wasn’t fair. She knew that Marcus wasn’t that promiscuous. She was just stabbing at anything now to try and make herself feel better.

But now it was time to move on. She needed to get her life back on track, finish her thesis, get it approved and then find a job. Preferably a job far away from Marcus, although that would be pretty tough. The man’s business empire seemed to sprawl everywhere!

So she’d take a job as a high school counselor in the middle of nowhere. She could do that. Her main job requirements were to help people. She didn’t really care who she helped.

Maybe her first patient should be herself, she thought miserably.

When there were no more sounds in the stable and Juliette felt as if she could face the world once again, she stood up and climbed down from the loft, still clutching those silly papers. She’d wanted Marcus to read this particular excerpt, get his feedback on the idea but now, all she wanted to do was get out of the house and back to her own tiny apartment where she could start the healing process.

“Where have you been?” Marcus asked as soon as she stepped into the kitchen.

Juliette jerked and looked up, startled to find him standing there by the stove. And oh goodness, he looked scrumptious. He was wearing a soft looking blue sweater that stretched across his shoulders, making them look even more broad and amazing than normal. And jeans! Goodness, she really loved the way he looked in jeans. The man should wear them every day of his life, she thought. Of course, then all the other ladies in any meeting would be thinking about his butt. And his long legs. And they wouldn’t be concentrating on the meeting agenda any longer.

She almost laughed out loud at the idea of being in a meeting with Marcus, the tough as nails, mean and down to business Marcus, while all the other women in the group had their tongues hanging out the side of their mouths, drooling over their boss in jeans.

“Are you okay?” Marcus asked, moving around the counter and coming directly towards her.

Juliette looked up, holding out her hand to stop him. “Yes. I’m fine,” she lied. “Everything is fine. I’m fine. Really fine. Just had a fine afternoon and…” She stopped when she realized that she was about to start crying again.

He watched her carefully. “You don’t look fine. You look like you’ve been crying.” He ignored her outstretched hand and came closer, stopping only when he was close enough to put a hand on her cheek. “You’re not okay, Juliette. What happened? What’s wrong?”

That gentle, deep voice, so filled with concern lulled her back into their previous relationship. The one that she’d thought might evolve into something warmer, longer lasting. She leaned her head into his hand, deepening the touch and closing her eyes to savor the feel of his warm palm on her cheek. Goodness, he knew how to touch a woman in all the right ways. Right now, the right way was to simply show his concern.