The Merger (18 page)

Before she could knock or ring the bell, Spencer pulled open the large front door. “I saw you on the camera. It looked like maybe you were going to turn around and get back in the elevator.”

“I was thinking about it.”

He took her hand and pulled her into the apartment.

The sight stunned her enough that she didn’t pull her arm from his grip. Then again, she didn’t feel inclined to do so.

“This is stunning,” she said taking in the marble floors and the Art Deco covered walls.

“My dad designed it.”

“The interior?”

“The whole building actually, but specifically this apartment. He’d built it for himself before he met my mother.”

She turned to him. “You come from a lot of talented people don’t you?”

He shrugged. “My family is very supportive when you have a passion. My father’s is much like mine. He enjoys the build and the design.”

“What is your brother’s passion?”

Spencer smiled. “Have you ever heard of the
Diamond Gift
?”

“It’s a non-profit. I saw a sign for it in the building when I was in the elevator last Friday. When I came looking for you. When Tiffany…”

“Got it.”

“Anyway, I know it said something about supporting women and children.”

He nodded. “That’s right. They help those who need help finding work and housing to remove them from domestic violence, mostly.”

“Your brother started the organization?”

He shook his head. “No. Avery’s mother. She saw a need and she filled it. It started with giving a woman in need the diamond earrings right out of her ears.”

Julie placed her hand on her chest to ease her heart. “That’s precious.”

“And that’s how things get done. Tyler and his wife work in the organization and put together the gala that brings in most of the funds for the year.”

“That’s why they called Avery?”

“She has a lot of
clout
to get big names to give big money.”

“But she’s into wine?”

Spencer shrugged. “For now. I’m not happy that she jetted off to France. I’m sure her parents aren’t either.”

“Why?”

“Her mother and grandfather have had a strained relationship for years. Family politics I guess.” He took her hand. “C’mon. Let me show you the rest of the place.”

Spencer led her to
the enormous
kitchen and she stopped. “This is the size of my apartment.”

“It’s too big for one person,” he said.

“Looks like you do just fine. And it smells great in here. What are you making?”

“Nothing fancy. Rigatoni. Baked chicken. Tossed salad.”

Julie walked over to the pot on the stove. “You made your own sauce.”

“Not hard really. My grandmother taught me.”

She lifted the lid and breathed in deep. “Your grandmother is Italian?”

“German, but still a marvelous Italian cook. Can I get you some wine?”

“Yes, thank you.”

He poured her a glass of wine from a bottle that breathed on the counter and handed it to her.

She sipped. “Very nice.”

“Tester bottle from Avery’s vineyard,” he said with a bite to his words.

“You don’t like this new adventure.”

“Not comfortable with it. What does she know about business in France?”

“You learn, right?”

He shrugged and picked up a glass that sat on the counter and sipped. “I worry about her. I always have. We’re all a team. Ed, Chris, and Clara are a lot older, but still, the six of us are a team.”

“I think that’s nice.” And her heart ached for just a taste of what it was to have a
team.
She noticed the balcony just beyond the living room. “Can I go check out your view?”

“Yeah, come on. It’s the best time of the day. When the sun is sinking low and the lights on Broadway begin to twinkle.”

He took her hand again and walked her through the apartment. She wondered where all of his personal effects were. There were no pictures on tables or shoes lying around. In fact, it was more like a hotel room. Was he so neat and tidy? Was this just because she’d come to visit? Or, was he just living in the space and not
living
at all?

The warm evening air wrapped around her as they walked outside. She could hear the traffic on the streets. It was... interesting, she thought. She’d much prefer the sound of a lawnmower, children’s laughter, or the sound of birds in the trees.

“Did you grow up in the city?” she asked and sipped her wine.

“No. Sprawling Tennessee land my mother would say. Long dirt road where Tyler and I rode bikes, ATVs, and learned to drive.” He smiled and that dimple formed in his cheek. “My grandmother has a stream that goes through her property. On it is an enormous boulder where you could sit for hours, sun
yourself
, and just forget everything.” He closed his eyes. “You can hear the horses in the barn and the trees as they blow in the breeze.”

He opened his eyes and looked at her. “I get caught up in it.”

“I would too.” She moved toward him. “Why do you live here?”

Spencer shrugged. “I’m a young exec. Aren’t I supposed to? At least until I’m married and have kids?”

The very thought of it made her chest tighten. Steven had never wanted that. “You want that?”

“Always have. You?”

Now she shrugged. “I’m not too good at the marriage thing.” But, yes, she had always wanted that.

“That is a
two-way
street. You might be just fine at it.”

She’d give him that. It was hard to have a marriage when the partner wasn’t interested.

Spencer reached his hand to her hair which she’d let down when she’d left the office. He pulled his fingers through it and then rested his palm on her cheek.

“You’re beautiful, Julie.”

Her breath caught. “You think so?”

“Oh, yes. I think that even when you’re dressed as the hard ass lawyer it’s sexy.”

“My husband—ex-husband,” she corrected, “never said those words to me.”

“His loss.” He moved in closer to her. “I want to be with you, Julie. I need you to know that. And I won’t cross any lines until you say it’s okay. Marriage and relationships are for real in my world.”

She gazed up into his dark eyes and got lost there. “I got hurt, Spencer. I don’t want to be hurt again.”

“Are you ready to be in another relationship?” He moved in closer. “I’ll wait.”

She wanted this. She might have been
married,
but she wasn’t cherished or loved. Everything in her gut told her that Spencer would cherish and love her.

“I’m scared,” she admitted.

“I am too. I’ve spent the past five months convincing myself that I don’t like you at all. But I think that whole time I was fighting it.”

Julie tucked her lips between her teeth and gazed up at him. “If we continue with this I’m going to quit. You need to know that. I won’t be the boss’s fling. And I’m not just looking for some rebound because I was hurt.”

“It won’t be a fling.”

To this point in her life that had to be one of the most romantic things anyone had ever said to her. “I know. But I won’t be someone who feeds the
gossip
. I’ve done that already and I didn’t even know it. Only I was
the blind
one having it done behind my back.”

He brought his face closer and lingered with his lips a breath from hers. “We can talk about that later. Right
now,
I want to kiss you under that big Tennessee moon that’s trying to peek through the cloud over the city lights.”

She let her eyes look up and then back into his. “I’ll bet the moonlight at the site is fantastic.”

“It is. We’ll go park out there one night and
stargaze
. For
now,
I just want to kiss you.”

Julie took a deep breath and closed her eyes letting him move in closer and press that kiss to her mouth and take away her doubts.

She hadn’t come to Nashville looking to fall in love with Spencer Benson, but it looked like that was where she was headed.

Rigatoni and chicken had never tasted so good, Julie thought. Spencer was celebrating, he told her. The potential purchase of more land had him making plans behind those dark eyes, which had gazed at her all night.

After an evening of intimate
kisses,
it would have been easier for Julie to have fallen into his bed and awaken with him. There had been a few moments when his words drew her in and his kisses nearly sealed the deal. But they had mutually fought against it.

That would have started the rumor mill—if it hadn’t already started.

The fact that Julie was staring at her ceiling, in her own bed, in her own apartment, meant that they
were being
responsible.

After all, it had only been a week since she’d attacked him with a kiss in that elevator.

She smiled in the dark thinking of it. It had taken her by surprise, she could only assume he was equally as surprised by her actions.

Closing her eyes, she gave into the fantasy of what might come if she let it. And as she dreamed she found comfort in Spencer’s arms.

The next morning her alarm startled her and she was more than a little sad to find
she, in fact,
wasn’t wrapped in his arms.

With Avery out of the house, mornings were quiet. She wasn’t sure she enjoyed that nearly as much as being woken by loud music.

She showered, picked out a more conservative outfit to work on site in, and she left her hair down in natural waves. It certainly made her look more feminine and less hard. She wasn’t a lawyer right now. She didn’t have to look so hard.

Today there wasn’t a need for her to go into the Riverside Building, so she headed to the Hart Estates office, stopping to get Tiffany and herself a coffee.

When she walked through the door, Tiffany was on the phone. She shot her a look and then continued writing notes.

“I seriously don’t want to be the one to tell him that,” she said writing. “You know I don’t like you on those smaller planes. Maybe you should fly commercial like you originally planned.” She nodded. “I know. Call me when you get there.” Tiffany rubbed between her eyebrows. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later. Goodbye.”

She hung up the phone and lifted her eyes to Julie.

“I brought you a coffee.
I’m thinking
I should have brought you something stronger,” she said handing Tiffany the coffee.

“Spence is on his way to Oregon.”

Julie felt it—the pang of sadness in her chest. “What’s wrong? I thought he was going next week.”

“Three of our delivery trucks are missing. I have to tell Chuck that we have delays. Benson, Benson, and Hart doesn’t go over budget or have delays. They live by that.”

Julie sat down in front of Tiffany’s desk. “How do you lose three trucks?”

“I have no idea,” she snapped out. “Someone is screwing with him.”

“Libby,” she said under her breath.

“Libby?”

“Grayson. Granddaughter of the founder. Mistress to my ex-husband.”

Tiffany inched over her the desk resting on her arms. “Your ex-husband is screwing the
founder’s
granddaughter? And now you’re here? You do understand this doesn’t look good.” She sat back. “Especially since you’re moving in on Spence.”

The tone in Tiffany’s voice struck a nerve—she assumed it was meant to. “I’m not doing anything underhanded. I came here to get away from my ex-husband and to start new. I knew the company. I’m familiar with the industry. I took a chance.”

“And now Spencer has a thing for you.”

Julie narrowed her eyes. “Are you jealous? You said you’d back off if we were an item.” Her words came out as sharply as she’d felt Tiffany’s words.

Tiffany stood and Julie followed. “I said I’d back off, but if you’re the one screwing him over I’ll kick your ass.”

“I’m not that kind of person.”

“I don’t know that. Spencer doesn’t know that. All he knows is you’re one bitch of a lawyer.”

Julie inched in. “Then I did my job right,” she said through gritted teeth.

She picked up her coffee and marched out of the office. She didn’t need to be accused of anything. Julie Jacobson made her own way. Her relationship or interest in Spencer Benson was nothing more than physical attraction. Sexual appetite. Desire. Need. Compassion. Romance. Damnit!

She pulled open the door, walked to her desk, and set down her coffee and bag. She was falling in love with
the man
and there was no reason for
her to
. She came looking to start over and she really hadn’t thought it would include the man who detested her, but it did.

Who was Tiffany to tell her she was screwing Spencer over? Fine.

She’d quit.