The Best of Friends (10 page)

“She needs her own life. She’ll never get that if she’s constantly at your beck and call.”

“And my needs don’t matter?” Elizabeth asked tartly. “Of course not. Everyone is more important than me, right? I depend on her. I can trust her with all sorts of details. Who would take her place? Who would help me? I don’t want to have to train someone else. You’d think she’d be more grateful, but she isn’t. No good deed goes unpunished. We should never have taken her in. I knew I’d regret being so generous.”

“Did you?” Blaine asked. “You’ll replace her with no problem. Hire an assistant. Someone to work full time. You were always saying that Jayne’s work made it difficult for you. You’ll have to train the new person, but you’re good at that. It will be better with someone with regular hours.”

“Maybe,” she murmured, thinking that there was more to Jayne than just what she did to help. There was being able to talk about her. Every now and then Elizabeth liked to remind people how generous she and Blaine had been, taking in Rebecca’s poor friend, raising her like their own child. It played well. Now the entire effort had been wasted.

No matter how many times David tried to forget what Jayne had said about Élan’s jewelry, he couldn’t. “Does the world really need another hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar necklace?” echoed in his mind. It was worse than getting a bad song stuck, because he couldn’t get rid of the memory by humming “It’s a Small World,” which he’d already tried. Twice.

Which was why he found himself driving to the nearest completely normal mall, parking, and walking inside. If she wanted to have a conversation about jewelry for the masses, then he was going to become an expert.

He walked to the closest directory and noted the names and locations of the jewelry stores. He planned to visit them all.

He’d spent the previous evening online, looking at jewelry on QVC and other Web sites. The Tacori pieces were beautiful and looked well made. The price point was unbelievable.

He took the escalator upstairs and headed for the first jewelry store. As he walked he studied the women around him, looking at their jewelry, trying to see what their watches were like. A couple in their twenties, hands linked, bodies touching, hovered by a counter.

“But it’s so expensive,” she whispered as David walked past.

“I love you. I’m going to marry you. I want you to have the best engagement ring there is.”

David stepped into the store and saw the salesclerk putting away a collection of solitaires. The stones were around a quarter of a carat. He circled the counters, stopping to look at a collection of pearls, then hovering over a tray of chains.

“May I help you?” asked a middle-aged woman. “Are you buying a gift?”

“Yes,” he said with a smile. “Maybe you can help me.”

Nine

“I’M GOING TO START charging admission,” Jayne said, pretending annoyance as she opened her front door and let in David. “Or the going rate for therapy. Your family is here constantly.”

Which wasn’t exactly true. It was mostly him and Rebecca. Elizabeth was the type to summon rather than visit, and Blaine didn’t get involved in anything emotional or messy.

“Is this a bad time?” David asked, stepping into her condo. “I need to talk to you.”

He looked stressed, with his golden blond hair mussed and stubble darkening his jaw. It was a new level of sexy that made her knees go a little weak. Not a good thing—she couldn’t risk falling and breaking something else.

“I’m delightfully available,” she told him, then noticed the shopping bags in his hand. “You’ve been to the mall? There’s a surprise.”

“Tell me about it.” He looked around her living room, then walked toward the small table in the kitchen. “You have to see what I have. I went to all the stores and bought samples. Have you seen this stuff?”

He started pulling out smaller bags and boxes and emptying them onto her table. There were rings and necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Mostly gold, a few silver pieces. Diamonds glittered, chains tangled, and a couple of charms slid to the floor.

It was like looking at the contents of a pirate’s chest, Jayne thought, unable to believe how much he’d purchased.

“You’re going to return all this, aren’t you?” she asked, picking up a tennis bracelet. “There has to be thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry here.”

David dismissed the question with a shake of his head. “Look at this.” He picked up a slim gold chain and wrapped it around his finger. It immediately bent and crimped. “There’s no quality. You can’t tell me people want something this cheap. It’ll break in a few weeks.”

He reached for a diamond ring. After pulling a loupe out of his jacket, he handed both to her. “Look at it. Disgusting.”

She looked through the loupe, and even her untrained eye saw the flaws. A few cracks that looked like feathers, dark spots. “They’re not perfect,” she said.

“There’s an understatement. These are worse,” he said, tossing a tennis bracelet toward her. He picked up a pair of earrings that were dangling circles. The circles were uneven and not completely attached to the stud. “And these are just plain badly made.” He shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why would anyone buy this stuff ? Sure, these earrings only cost a hundred and twenty dollars, but they won’t last or be wearable. I understand what you meant about making jewelry for everyone else. If this is all they have to choose from, then there’s a big problem.”

He looked angry and confused, and it was so completely adorable, she just wanted to grab hold of him and never let go. Which would only lead to trouble.

“I have those earrings,” she said, mostly to distract herself.

David held them up and flushed. “No way. You don’t. Tell me you don’t actually own these.” He swore. “I’m sorry.”

She risked touching his arm, ignoring the heat as her fingers brushed against his skin. “Don’t be. I’m kidding. They are really terrible.” She sat down at the table and picked up an engagement ring with a tiny stone she had a feeling was seriously flawed. “I know this isn’t the same as what someone could buy at the Worden boutique, but isn’t there a middle ground? Nice pieces, reasonably priced? I refuse to believe the only choices are spending a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or getting this.”

He sat across from her. “What do women want?”

She laughed. “A question for the ages.”

He grinned. “Fair enough. What do women want from their jewelry? I’ve spent the past twelve years finding perfect gemstones, but someone else makes the jewelry. I can look at reports that tell me what sells, but that’s just data. What makes you buy or not buy something?”

“A lot of it is about price,” she admitted. “A good sale helps. Jewelry is difficult, because we don’t want all of it to be expensive. There are fashion pieces that are fun because we can buy new ones every season. Wait here.”

She walked to her bedroom and grabbed her jewelry box. For a second, she hesitated. There wasn’t anything in there to impress David, but that wasn’t the point. She was helping him. In a way, it was kind of sweet that he’d been so affected by her freak-out at the Worden offices.

She returned to the table and sat down.

“We’ll ignore the pieces Rebecca gave me,” she said, setting a couple of pairs of earrings and a necklace aside. “They would never be in my price range.”

He grabbed an earring that swirled and curved. The thick gold twisted, catching the light. They were substantial, beautiful, and very wearable.

“If we made these in sterling,” he murmured, rubbing them. “No stones. We usually get our casting work done in Italy, but if I found a cheaper supplier…” He shook his head. “Okay, show me what you’ve got.”

“Obligatory gold chain,” she said, setting that in front of him. “I have no idea why I bought it, because I never wear it. It’s too skinny to stand out, and I wouldn’t know what kind of pendant to buy. Earrings are easiest. These are gold. I have one bangle.”

She reached for the fashion jewelry. There were colored-bead necklaces, a couple of faux-pearl necklaces, different dangling earrings in various colors.

“Changing out a wardrobe every season is impossible,” she said. “But a new pair of earrings or a chunky necklace makes me feel like I’m keeping up without spending a fortune. Most regular women don’t want to spend a fortune. We want fun and easy. Pieces that go with nearly everything in our wardrobe.” She showed him a sterling necklace with fake diamonds. “I love this one. If you hate it, I don’t want to know.”

He picked it up and studied it. “So you want choices and classic pieces with a sense of style.”

“Maybe. Everyone is different.”

He grinned. “So asking you for the definitive woman’s opinion isn’t going to work?”

As always, she found herself wanting to get lost in his dark blue eyes. He was so damned good looking. Some quirk of fate gave godlike status to a few and left the rest of the world wandering around wondering what life was like for greater mortals. A quirk with a sense of humor.

“I couldn’t stand the pressure,” she said, hoping she wasn’t drooling.

“We work with an ad agency. I could ask them about a focus group.”

“You’re serious about pursuing this?”

“Sure.”

“Then don’t go to an ad agency. I have friends I can invite over. Katie and a few others, if you want. They can bring their favorites and what didn’t work, and you can ask all the questions you want.” Assuming he was interested in her friends’ opinions, she thought, wondering if she’d just made a mistake. Maybe an ad agency would be better.

“That would be great. I could bring some inventory and get their opinions.”

“Okay, then. I’ll call them and get some dates.” Her friends and David in the same room. It would be interesting. Scary, but interesting. “Now, what about everything you bought? You’re not keeping it all.”

He shrugged. “I might. It gives me a place to start.”

“You’re seriously thinking about selling jewelry that doesn’t cost more than a house?”

“Why not? It makes good business sense to expand. Some companies worry about tarnishing the brand name with inexpensive products, but that won’t hurt us. We’re already the best. Everyone knows that. We’ll have to run the numbers. There’s a financial break-even point, and we need to stay on the side of profit. One of the reasons I’m back is to start taking over the business. I’m not interested in more of the same. To grow the market, we have to expand it. You had a good idea. Did I thank you for it?”

“No.”

He stood and then pulled her to her feet. Still holding on to that hand, he tugged her close, then cupped her face, and stared into her eyes.

“Thank you,” he murmured, right before he kissed her.

His mouth was warm and tender, yet firm against her own. Even as she absorbed the sensation of his lips on hers, his fingers lightly stroking her cheeks and the heat of his body engulfing hers, the rational side of her brain told her that this time she couldn’t blame the kiss on his slipping. He’d been pretty damned deliberate about the whole thing.

She raised her arms, then dropped them, not sure what she was supposed to be doing. This wasn’t a
real
boy-girl kind of kiss. She wasn’t going to react. Except it was very difficult not to lean in when he kept his lips against hers, moving slightly, sending those tingles racing through her body.

When he dropped his hands, she prepared for him to pull back. She wasn’t going to whimper or beg. She would be a total adult and—

Both his arms came around her and drew her against him. Suddenly, they were touching from shoulder to knee, and her hands were on his shoulders—lightly, so she didn’t bang him with her cast. Involuntarily, before she could even stop herself, she tilted her head, as if this was a real, honest-to-God kiss. Then his mouth was moving against hers. She felt the light stroke of his tongue against her bottom lip. Her lips parted because that’s what was supposed to happen next.

Then they were kissing like in the movies, and she felt herself slipping into passion. David was solid and safe in a world that was melting from the inside out. She hung on because she was afraid of falling, although she was careful not to clunk him on the head with her cast. He slid one hand to her hips, then down to her butt. Instinctively she arched against him, shifting her belly closer. She brushed against something hard and thick.

It was him.

Pleasure filled her. Not just liquid need, but satisfaction. No mercy kiss ended with an erection. He wanted her. David Worden wanted
her
.

Later she would tell herself it was just a guy thing. Pavlovian and meaningless. But for this moment in time, it was magic.

She gave in to the kiss, losing herself in the tingles and desire surging through her. When he finally stepped back, they were both breathing hard.

“Nice,” he said.

She smiled. “I’d say the same, but the last time I said you were nice, you got all hysterical on me. You were practically shrieking.”

The corners of his mouth turned up. “You’ve got attitude.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Want dinner?”

What she wanted was sex, but apparently that wasn’t going to be offered. He was sensible, as well as nice. Who knew?

“Dinner sounds good,” she said.

Time in his company, she thought happily. She would take as much as was available, enjoying every moment, until she left for good.

Jonathan pushed in deeper. “Are you close, baby?” His eyes were wide and slightly glazed, his mouth open.

Rebecca could feel his hot breath on her face. She squeezed hard, hoping to force him over the edge and get finished already.

“I’m there now,” she breathed, forcing herself to pant slightly, then moaned. She squeezed again, pulsing in what she hoped was a good imitation of an orgasm.

Apparently it worked. Jonathan thrust one more time, then collapsed on top of her. She endured the dead weight for about ten seconds, then pressed on his shoulders. He rolled off her.

“God, that was great,” he said, stretching out next to her, then reaching for her hand. “You’re amazing.”

It was all she could do not to snort. Amazing? At faking it, maybe.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like sex—she did. And Jonathan, while not the best in the world, was perfectly adequate. The problem was her. Or, more precisely, Nigel. Ever since he’d walked away, choosing Ariel over her, she hadn’t been interested in anything close to intimacy. Something else Nigel had to answer for.

She had a feeling that if she closed her eyes and pretended she was with him, she could get over the top. But thinking about him while doing it with someone else seemed too much like letting Nigel win.

Jonathan released her hand, but before she could get out of bed, he pulled her close and began stroking her arm like she was a cat.

“Where do you want to go out to dinner?” he asked. “Somewhere around here? Or we could go to your place and order in.”

“I’m not that hungry,” she said, forcing a smile. “You’ve exhausted me. I think I’m going to go home and make it an early night.”

He smiled at her, then bent down and sucked on her nipple. “I could change your mind.”

Not in a million years, she thought grimly. “You could,” she said instead. “But I am really tired.”

“Sure.” He stared into her eyes. “We should go away. Fiji’s great this time of year. Or Hong Kong. You’d love the shopping. I could buy you a new wardrobe.” He touched her throat. “Diamonds that sparkle like your eyes.”

Gag and double gag, she thought, sitting up. “While I appreciate the offer, travel isn’t on my agenda right now.” She angled away from him, ignoring the fact that he was hard again. “Jonathan, you know this is just for fun, right? You and I? There’s no relationship.”

His face registered shock, which he covered, but not quickly enough. “Sex and fun,” he said, the erection fading.

Her instinct was to run as hard and fast as she could, but she wasn’t ready to be done with him. Being with Jonathan made her mother crazy, and where was the bad in that? Unless he got to be too much of a pain in her ass, in which case it was over.

“I was involved before,” she said, thinking how strange it was that the truth was now her friend. “It ended badly, and I’m still dealing. This isn’t about you.”

He managed a smile. “I went through a divorce. I know about breakups.”

“Including the fact that they take time to get over.” She bent over and kissed him, putting as much passion into her thrusting tongue as possible. Then she nipped his lower lip and ran her hand over his penis. “I just need a little time.”

He got hard again. “Sure. I’ll be here. Waiting.”

A needy man. That was attractive. She stood and collected her clothes. He got up and pulled on his monogrammed robe, then followed her into the bathroom.

“If you need more than time, I’m here for you,” he said.

“Thanks.”

She dressed quickly and let herself out. Once she was in twilight, she inhaled deeply and wondered if Jonathan had been a mistake. Life always exacted a price. Dealing with him might become more trouble than annoying Elizabeth was worth. Which meant she would have to get the most out of ending things.