Blind Attraction Read online

  Victoria chuckled softly. “Thanks. And Taylor?”

  “Yeah, Vi?”

  “I’m glad you’re my sister in truth. I love you.”

  Taylor beamed. Twisting around, she wrapped her arms around Victoria in a warm, sisterly hug. “I love you, too.”

  Chapter 14

  Later that afternoon, after Catherine had finished up the last of her file on Victoria, she went to visit her boss. James was slouching in his chair, staring out at the world beyond the glass windows; though Catherine doubted he saw anything. Setting the thick folder down on the corner of his desk, Catherine took a seat herself and murmured, “She really does love you.”

  “I know,” he said absently, not turning around to face his assistant. He had been aware of a niggling at the base of his neck the moment he had entered the building but he ignored it, unwilling to examine it too closely. He deliberately avoided looking around, afraid of what he would see; afraid he wouldn’t be attracted to her if he saw her.

  But then Catherine had called out her name and he looked. The jolt of awareness that flashed through his body – his soul – was devastating and he didn’t know how to deal with it. As anger, hurt, confusion whipped through him, he walked away and spent the next couple of hours replaying that brief glimpse of her in his head. He could still see her as she stood in the café, as she stared at him from across the atrium, a look of regret and hurt on her expressive face, as if he was supposed to recognize her when he had never seen her before.

  How was he supposed to know what she looked like?

  Trying to regain his sanity that was lost the moment Victoria opened her mouth and asked, ‘Can I help you, sir?’ he murmured, “But I wouldn’t recognize her in a crowd; all I know is that she tastes like sweetness and feels like heaven.”

  “Isn’t that enough?”

  “God knows it should be,” James said self-derisively, unable to explain the hesitation, the uncertainty, that plagued him from the moment his eyes met Victoria’s from across the room and he finally had a face to go with the woman he loved. She was nothing like he had imagined; she was unbearably sweet and she looked like a young girl playing dress up in the fancy dress she wore. The emotional impact had been overwhelming.

  “She was going to come up here,” Catherine continued, twisting the knife in his chest. “Even though you didn’t recognize her. If she hadn’t had to leave she would have braved your censure and laid herself out at your mercy.”

  “You’re laying it on a bit thick, Cate,” he grumbled, the image of Victoria laid out before him playing havoc with his brain and whatever small measure of control he had found. “She was a fool if she believed I would know her on sight.”

  “Here,” Catherine said, pushing a file towards James.

  Spinning around in his chair, he looked at the manila envelope. He briefly glanced at his assistant before his eyes returned to the folder, his heart thumping painfully in his chest, his palms sweating. “What is it?”

  “Look,” she said, impatiently tapping her finger on the center of the file.

  He opened the folder and violet-blue eyes stared back at him from a face that wasn’t as arresting as her friend’s but it was pretty in its own way. However, her smile was simply… breathtaking. Long, thick eye lashes framed eyes that were almost too big for her face, and would have been overpowering if not for the fullness of her lush mouth. She had a wholesomeness about her that reached into James and tugged at his guts; she was unlike any woman he had ever been attracted to and he didn’t know what it was he was feeling.

  Tracing the line of her jaw with his fingers, James swallowed, knowing the answer before he even asked. “This is her?”

  At Catherine’s silent nod, he murmured, “She’s… pretty.”

  “Yes, she is,” Catherine agreed.

  “She’s not my usual type,” James continued to protest, his hands caressing the picture, his eyes devouring her image. Having held her in his arms – having made love to her – he knew how perfectly her body fit his. She gave him her virginity. God, her smile lit up the room, and her eyes; they were extraordinary. “She’s not at all polished and I don’t think she even cares.”

  “That’s a good thing,” Catherine encouraged, carefully watching him stare at the picture.

  James lifted his head and met Catherine’s sympathetic gaze, “How will she fit into our world? It can be cruel to those who are so damn sweet.”

  A smile slowly curled her lips, “She held her own at the company party, James; and it is only cruel to those who give a damn about what other people think. Victoria is her own person.”

  “I miss her,” he admitted hoarsely.

  “I think you need to call her.” Catherine leaned forward and pointed to the seven digit number that belonged to Victoria.

  James nodded absently, his eyes moving over the image of Victoria. “Maybe.”

  “Well,” Catherine said as she stood up. Motioning towards the folder, she said, “I guess I’ll leave this with you. After all is said and done she checks out and if you’re willing to give her a chance, I think she could be the one for you.”

  James looked at his assistant; she was terrifyingly good at her job but he wasn’t sure how he felt about her using her powers to dig into Victoria’s life.

  He’d give Victoria a call; hearing her voice sounded like a good thing, even if he was so conflicted. Why had he been so certain that his partner – his soul mate for lack of a better term – was a tall, elegant socialite?

  But then along came Victoria, who managed to be everything he never knew he wanted. If he hadn’t lost his vision, he probably never would have given her a second look. Well, he might have looked but it wouldn’t have led to anything, even if there was that zing. He had always dated statuesque, fair-haired, golden-skinned beauties; short pixies never even appeared on his radar. Before Victoria.

  He hadn’t even been aware of her height, which went to show how willing he was to ignore anything that might tarnish the image he had. There were so many clues had he been willing to analyze them: the thickness of her hair, the feel of her in his arms when they lay naked side-by-side, the shape of her face. He had been all-so-eager to sleep with her that he dismissed anything that didn’t match up to the image he had in his head.

  His eyes kept returning to her picture, drawn to her even while resisting her pull. She wasn’t what he was expecting; she was supposed to be his perfect social mate, not a little wood nymph with violet eyes and a sensuous body. He loved her but he didn’t know how to get over the feeling of… betrayal.

  Scrubbing his fingers through his hair, he groaned in pain; she had betrayed him but it wasn’t her fault. She was generous to a fault and she was better than he deserved.

  He would call her. Soon.

  James attempted to return his attention to his work but his thoughts were in chaos. His gaze kept returning to the folder on his desk and the picture of Victoria smiling back at him. Maybe if he just stared long enough he would be able to forgive her for making him fall in love with the wrong woman. How could he admit that he had spent nearly half of his life in foolish pursuits of the perfect woman when the perfect woman for him would never have been a blip on his radar had he never lost his sight?

  He was a fool.

  *****

  Sitting in his darkened room Saturday evening, a half-finished bottle of brandy on the nightstand, James punched in Victoria’s phone number. He'd had a few days to contemplate everything that had happened over the past few days, weeks, but he was no closer to any answers than he had been last week when he had kissed the blond instead of Victoria. For the first time in his life he did the cowardly thing, avoiding her calls, knowing that if he talked to her, if he heard her voice, he wouldn't be able to think at all.

  His thumb hovered over the send button but he hesitated, embarrassingly nervous about talking to her. When he couldn’t see, he imagined Victoria as her friend, but now he knew the truth and it almost felt like he was cheatin
g on his memory; which made no sense because Victoria was his memory. Just, not Victoria.

  He had desperately enjoyed spending time with her, talking with her; he loved kissing her, making love with her. Did he fall in love with the image he had of her or did he fall in love with her? He had to know. No, that wasn't why he was going to finally call. The truth was that he simply missed her.

  He was going to do it; he was going to call Victoria. Tossing back the glass of the brandy, he hit ‘send.’ His stomach clenched and threatened to rebel as the phone rang in his ear.

  “Hello?” her low, velvety voice answered. His body responded as if she were standing in front of him, naked and wet, but the image was of two Victoria’s and he realized that he was going to need more brandy. Maybe the false image would disappear and only the true Victoria would remain.

  “Victoria,” he breathed, pulling the stopper out of the crystal decanter. With a shaking hand, he filled his glass, hoping to make the sound of her voice less seductive. It was already hard enough to try and get through this conversation without her bewitching voice muddling his head even further.

  “James; I didn’t expect to hear from you,” she sounded surprised. “It’s been nearly a week and you haven’t returned any of my phone calls; I’d just about given up.”

  He winced. Taking a sip from his glass, he said, “We have unfinished business.”

  “I don’t think so,” she contradicted. “I understand.”

  “I don’t think you do,” he said, clenching his jaw. Taking a larger gulp of brandy, he closed his eyes as the liquid burned past his esophagus. “You aren’t what I expected; for one, you’re short….”

  “Being short is not a crime,” she interrupted.

  “Vi….” He clenched his teeth together, trying to put his thoughts into coherent words, to make her understand his actions the past week. “You were supposed to be beautiful; when we made love I was picturing her in my head but you’re not her, are you?”

  “Please stop talking,” she whispered.

  He could hear the pain in her voice and he knew that his words weren’t coming out the way he had wanted. He took another swallow of the brandy, needing her to understand that he wanted to start over. “But I need to explain.”

  “You don’t have to explain, James,” she said, rushing through her words as if she feared never getting through them. “I understand; you’re attracted to Taylor and you’d like to see where things go with her.”

  “Did I say that?” He was pretty sure he hadn’t said that. He took another drink but his glass was empty. His hands shook even more as he poured another glass full.

  “You didn’t have to say anything.” She took a deep breath but her words faltered. “I saw how you… reacted when you saw her and then again when you saw me.”

  “My… reaction?” he asked in disbelief. His brain was fuddled… was that even a word? Befuddled was a word; fuddled had to be as well. He shook his head to clear it; Victoria required his complete attention, especially when half of his brain was sloshing about in a brandy haze. “What reaction?”

  “The way you kissed her and the way you turned away when you saw me.” Victoria explained slowly, as if he were an idiot. She took a deep, deep breath and then rushed through the next word, “I think you should take Taylor out and see how things work out between the two of you.”

  James sputtered, not sure how to respond to such a crazy statement. “Are you insane?”

  “I’m perfectly sane,” she sighed. “It’s just that you didn’t see me. You saw Taylor and it’s obvious that you want her otherwise you would have returned any one of my calls before now.”

  “Did you expect me to simply be okay with everything?” he asked, increasingly frustrated with the conversation. This phone thing wasn’t working and he realized that calling her was a bad idea. If they were face to face he could grab her and kiss her to shut her up. Then she could see that he… that he… what? Maybe having too much to drink wasn’t the brightest move he ever made.

  “Um, I’m not sure what you mean,” Victoria hesitated. “I mean, obviously it’s been difficult because you couldn’t see and when you met me you thought I looked like someone else.”

  “You never told me what you looked like,” he huffed, knowing the conversation was spiraling out of control but unable to stop it. The brandy was having a deleterious effect on his seduction skills; at least the skills involving words and, what are those things called? Oh, right – sentences.

  “I did tell you and you saw me with your hands; you saw all of me!” she shot back. Her words trailed off into silence as she sighed heavily. “Fine, you’re right; I didn’t use words but can you blame me?”

  “Yes,” he said firmly, before hearing what she said. Bewildered, he asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Under normal circumstances you wouldn’t have been attracted to me; you wouldn’t have even noticed me,” Victoria explained, tumbling over a few of her words. “You didn’t even look at me when I showed up the other day.”

  “Is that what you were trying to prove by spying on me?” he asked, angry and hurt and a lot drunk. “Was it some kind of damn test? Since I couldn’t pick you out of the crowd I failed? Is that it?”

  “It wasn’t like that,” Victoria said, her words lacking conviction. “It was just a stupid fantasy you would recognize me if I stood right in front of you and I know that now. If things had been different I would have gone up….”

  “Do you mean if I recognized you?” he hissed. “Did you have sex with me because you figured a blind man would be grateful? Was I a pity fuck to you? Because I couldn’t see?”

  “At least when you were blind you could see; what the hell, James?” She laughed mockingly, “I had sex with you because I loved you, you asshole.”

  James snorted in his drunken righteousness, letting the poison that was festering in his soul spew forth. “And I had sex with you believing that I was having sex with a sophisticated goddess, not an impish tree nymph.” A painful gasp filled his ear and he immediately regretted the words but he couldn't take them back.

  “Oh, James,” she sighed mournfully. “Take your sophisticated goddess out and find out for yourself if you’re a match. Maybe afterwards your eyes will be open and you will be able to see once more. If you are truly happy with her then this tree nymph will wish you all of the happiness in the world; Taylor is really a wonderful person; you're going to love her.”

  “Fine!” he hollered, a moment before he realized she was breaking up with him. Standing, he clutched the phone to his ear. What the hell just happened? The room was spinning and nothing made sense any more. Why was she going on about tree nymphs? Grabbing his temples, he closed his eyes. “Whoa, wait a minute, that’s not what I want.”

  Victoria laughed gravely. “I’m such an idiot, James, because in spite of you hating me, I still love you.”

  “I don’t hate you,” he whispered, but she wasn’t listening. The world around him spun madly out of control and in the center of the chaos stood Victoria with a serene smile on her beautiful face. “I lo… I love….”

  “Whatever,” she managed before hanging up.

  “Victoria, wait!” he called out as he heard the phone slam down in his ear. Holding his cell phone away from him, he looked at it, wondering what the hell just happened and why the damn room was spinning. Hitting redial, he put the phone back against his ear, chanting, “Pick up the damn phone, Vi.”

  He heard the click and started to speak when he heard another click; she had hung up on him. He tried a few more times until the last time when all he got was a busy signal. Perturbed, he tried to figure out what to do. He had never been in love before and he was definitely out of his league. Damn it, he loved the infuriating creature known as Victoria; he had never felt more alive than when he was arguing with her, except for, perhaps, when he was simply holding her in his arms as they talked about nothing at all.

  The more he thought about it, the more he knew i
t was true. He wanted Victoria, with her warmth and charm and her sensual nature. He would rather fight with her than make love to any other woman he knew; of course, then he would like to make love to her. She was his match and he wasn’t going to let a misunderstanding get in the way of them being together.

  He’d find out the best way to win Victoria over and then he’d make love to her with all of the lights on so he could burn her real image into his brain. Then he’d marry her. Satisfied with his plan, he was going to go to the bathroom and then go to bed. He was exhausted.

  His fantasy was interrupted when the phone rang. Not recognizing the number, he answered, his voice slurring with too much brandy, “James Templeton.”

  “Hello,” the stranger’s voice was familiar: pleasant, a little sultry, but nothing like Victoria’s.

  “Who is this?” he asked, his body relaxing, his eyes already closing. He might not make it out of the chair. No; he had to hit the bathroom….

  “Taylor Danner,” she purred, lowering her voice. “I just talked to Vi and she told me that you and I are to go out. How does this Friday sound?”

  Did his brain just leak out of his ear? He could have sworn his brain just leaked out of his ear. Was Victoria that anxious to pawn him off on her friend? This was going to present a slight hiccup in his plans; if Victoria was so eager to be done with him then maybe he misinterpreted her declaration of love. No; he knew her. She loved him. Maybe if he weren’t drunker than a skunk he would be able to politely decline this girl’s offer and let her know that his heart belonged to another. Unfortunately, there was a synapse misfiring between his pickled brain and his tongue. “Uh….”

  “We’ll have dinner and then maybe a movie afterwards,” Taylor gushed, not letting him take a breath. “Or whatever; it doesn’t matter to me.”

  “Um,” obviously the brandy wasn’t wearing off as quickly as he had hoped. Plus, it just wasn’t his night to participate in a conversation; was there a conspiracy? There must be a conspiracy.