Blind Attraction Page 5

  Maybe Taylor was right; she could use a bit of polish. It’s just that she had more or less shied away from that whole lifestyle all her life. Just seeing the difference between her family and those of her classmates was enough to realize that money didn’t always buy happiness. Sure, it bought luxury – lots and lots of luxury – but not necessarily happiness. Victoria wanted a marriage like her parents shared, one that overcame hardships and still thrived; a marriage of friendship, love and devotion.

  There was no point in begging for trouble; she didn’t know what the future held – if they would even make it past their second date. At least she would be able to get a better idea of who James was by how he interacted with his friends. He was very courteous to the employees at the café, which boded well. Victoria was pretty sure that it wasn’t an act; it’s hard to fake innate kindness.

  *****

  “I’m bringing someone to the party on Saturday,” James told Tony, his best friend and one of his business partners, as they sat in James’s office Wednesday afternoon. James’s jacket was off and his shirt sleeves were rolled up after some intense negotiations towards the purchase of a new business that was starting to flounder. It was a brilliant plan, just not well-executed and Tony hoped to go in and make it float. James was grateful his friends encouraged him in areas outside of the design department while he was… recovering.

  “Really?” Tony raised an eyebrow, clearly interested in this bit of news. “When did you have time to meet someone?”

  “Yesterday morning,” James couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Victoria. Crossing his hands across his flat stomach, he leaned back in his chair and grinned. “She’s great; I think you and Phil are going to really like her.”

  “Is she like Teresa?” Tony halfheartedly asked.

  James chuckled, “She’s nothing like Teresa; she’s… sweet. Without knowing me, she helped me find the laundromat to drop off my shirts.”

  “What the hell were you doing taking your laundry to the cleaners yourself?” Tony asked, obviously flabbergasted. “I thought you had an assistant for that purpose.”

  “Cate was busy and I had a suit that had to be cleaned,” James explained, not telling him about seeing Victoria months before. That would have sounded kind of creepy and a bit stalker-ish.

  Tony wasn’t buying it, “You have a ton of suits; what was so special about this one?”

  James raised his eyebrows briefly but didn’t answer. Instead, he smiled, “Last night I took her to Indulgence and we shared a Chocolate Orgasm.”

  “You mean you ate it and she watched you,” Tony sneered, knowing the type of girl James usually dated.

  “No,” he broadly grinned. “She fed me and I fed her.”

  “She trusted you to do that?” Tony sounded impressed. “I like her already. Wait a moment, she actually ate dessert in front of you?”

  “She savored the dessert,” James said, emphasizing the word savored. “The sounds that she made…. I swear, I would take her to Indulgence every night to experience those little mewls of pleasure.”

  “I’m sure there are more enjoyable ways to experience her pleasure,” Tony replied. “Ones that are mutually pleasing and less likely to end in sixty-four inch waists. Is this girl, ah, chunky?”

  James slowly shook his head no, momentarily thinking. “She didn’t feel chunky when I had my arm around her waist; she felt… nice. Perfect.”

  “Other than the ability to eat high calorie desserts and feeling nice, what else can you tell me about this girl?” Tony asked, happy to see his friend putting himself back out there. “What’s her name?”

  “Victoria; she owns a little boutique just a couple blocks from Indulgence,” James said, the smile appearing as a natural by-product of saying her name out loud, of talking about her. “She smells like summer breezes and warm female and she tastes like sin.”

  “You’re laying it on a bit thick, Jimmy,” Tony chuckled. Seeing the silly grin on James’s face prevented him from saying anything negative; he’d never seen his friend so enamored of someone. “Aren’t you worried that she’s… unattractive?”

  “Not really,” James shrugged; he had his reasons for knowing she wasn’t unattractive. Unless his nearly perfect photographic memory wasn’t as sharp as he believed it to be, Victoria was stunning, tall and slender with pale blond hair. “There’s this… spark between us; I don’t know, man.” James smiled, trying to explain that zing he felt around her, the strength of it when they kissed. With a casual smile, he added, “Of course, I’m hoping she’s not hideous.”

  Tony chuckled, “Well then, I’m looking forward to meeting her and after I’ll let you know what she looks like – and see if she told you the truth.”

  James winced with slight embarrassment, “I never asked.”

  “What?” Tony turned his head slightly, as if he was hard-of-hearing and didn’t quite catch what his friend just admitted.

  “I don’t want to know,” James asserted. He didn’t want to hear someone else’s description of her; it would sully his memory somehow. Besides, he had an image of her in his head and that was enough. For now. In time, a few days, a few months, he’d see her with his own eyes. “I’d rather see how things develop without looks added into the equation.”

  “Ah, I see,” Tony nodded in understanding. “In case she turns out to be, let’s say less-than-beautiful, you don’t want to know.”

  “Something like that,” James smirked, letting Tony come to his own conclusions. “She doesn’t seem to know who I am, that I’m one of the founders of this business.”

  “Are you sure?” Tony asked. “Or is this some sort of test to find out if she’s worthy of the grand Templeton name?”

  “You know how it is, Tony,” James played on their common problems. “Girls find out you have some money in the bank and it becomes a mind-game of whether they’re with you for you or for the money.”

  “Hey, we’ve had some gorgeous women dripping off our arms,” Tony reminded him. “For that kind of beauty, it doesn’t really matter why they’re with me.”

  “It gets old after a while,” James sighed. “Even before losing my sight I was growing weary with the whole dating thing.”

  “Yeah, it must be hard having sex with beautiful girls all of the freaking time; however did you manage it?” Tony asked facetiously, rolling his eyes.

  James shook his head and sighed. “You know that my parents aren’t getting any younger and, I don’t know, I’ve been contemplating settling down some, maybe have a couple of kids; you know.”

  “Actually, no, I don’t,” Tony disagreed. “We’re only thirty.”

  “Yeah, well, being in a coma for a few days kind of puts things in perspective,” James said softly, swallowing against the emotion that surged up at the flash of memory.

  “So you’re going to go out and marry the first girl that you’ve dated since you lost your sight?” Tony scoffed.

  “I didn’t say I was going to get married any time soon; it’s just something I’m thinking about,” James countered. “I mean, at this stage in my life, it might be nice to be a part of something bigger than just me.”

  “Um, hello, you already are,” Tony pointed out. “It’s called TRK Design*Nation and we’re pretty damn huge.”

  “I mean something on the more intimate level,” James clarified. “I want to fall asleep with a warm body in my arms and wake up with her still there; and before you tell me that I can do that with any number of willing beauties, I want to be able to discuss things with her over breakfast.”

  “And you think this Victoria person might fit the bill?” Tony sounded skeptical.

  “I don’t know, maybe,” James answered as honestly as possible. How could he suitably describe that zing that kept him awake last night imagining Victoria, how she felt, how she tasted. She had filled his dreams with sweetness and sensuality. “We’ve only gone out one time.”

  “And you have no idea what she looks like,” Tony adde
d. “Interesting.”

  Chapter 4

  Victoria parked her car in the parking lot of Templeton Conservatory, as per James’s instructions, her stomach trying to break free of its prison, her hands trembling ever-so-slightly. Taking a few quick breaths to try and steady her rebelling nerves, she turned the car off and hopped out, hoping she wasn’t making a huge mistake. What if James miraculous got his eyesight back and took one look at her and recoiled in horror?

  Pressing her hand against her stomach, she tried to drown out the doubts and fears with positive thoughts. Unfortunately, positive thoughts were in short supply.

  A man, probably James’s age, was holding the door open, eyeing her speculatively. His blond hair was neatly trimmed and he filled out his suit very well. He was attractive; just not as attractive as James. Of course, Victoria was partial to men with dark hair and amazing green eyes. As she approached, his grin grew, and she saw that he had brilliant blue eyes that sparkled somewhat mischievously. She offered a tentative smile, “Thank you for holding the door.”

  “You must be Victoria,” he said in response.

  “I am,” she admitted, slightly taken aback that he knew who she was. And a little excited; if he knew who she was than James must have talked about her. Unless this was a bouncer and he was told to not let her pass, in which case….

  “It’s good to meet you,” the man said, leaning against the door and holding out his hand. “I’m Philip Knowles; James told me to keep an eye out for you.”

  Taking his hand, she smiled with relief, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Um, how did you recognize me?”

  His smile widened, “I know everyone else who is expected to come.”

  “Really?” It must be a small company if the employees knew each other so well; the type of place she wouldn’t mind working if she didn’t have her store.

  “Plus, you’re gorgeous,” he grinned, winking at her. “The only kind of woman James would date.”

  Victoria wasn’t sure whether he was teasing or if he was serious; gorgeous seemed a little excessive. “You do realize that he can’t see me, right?”

  “Come on in and let me introduce you to everyone,” he chuckled, holding out his arm for her to take. Victoria got the impression that he was having a bit of fun at her expense. Was this just some huge hoax?

  Tentatively, she looped her hand through the crook of his elbow, following him into the lavish, indoor gardens. She felt as if she was walking into the rain forest, with the lush, green foliage. Even the temperature and humidity had subtly increased and she thought that having an indoor party in a faux-rainforest was brilliant. The flowers were huge and colorful and she wanted to stare at everything but figured that would make her appear gauche so she tried to discreetly take everything in. She was pretty sure her eyes were as big as they had ever been.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Phil asked, interrupting her observations. He laughed softly when she jumped and looked up at him with huge, violet eyes. “Jimmy was the one who decided that this was going to be the venue for our company parties, that’s why he gets paid the big bucks. He has a real talent for seeing the big picture; for creative thinking and innovation.”

  “This place is amazing!” Victoria exclaimed, her eyes brightening as she smiled. “The place where I worked in high school had a few appetizers in the break room – and they made us punch out before we could join the party. Of course, immediately after we had our allotted ham slice and cup of juice, we had to check back in and get right back to work. This is so much better.”

  As he led her through the labyrinth to the part of the Conservatory where the main party was taking place, they chatted politely. When they entered a partial clearing she came to a complete stop. Frowning, he looked down at her and saw the sheer amazement on her face, making her practically glow. For the first time in his life, he was jealous of James. “Well?”

  Victoria was stunned speechless; before her was the most beautiful man-made waterfall, designed to look like pure fantasy. The water sparkled as it danced and gurgled over the rocks; green leafs embraced the fixture and birds – actual birds – were flying through the air. It was like something out of a dream; it was magical. “Wow.”

  Phil chuckled, “Jimmy will be pleased to hear that you find his work so breathtaking.”

  “James designed this?” Victoria asked, seeing Phil nod in confirmation. “That is… wow; it’s amazing. He must hate not being able to see his work.”

  “He has a photographic memory,” Phil said wryly. Once more they were walking through the forest. “It was awful being in the same class as him; I would study my ass off while he was drawing in his book and he always scored better than me.”

  “Wow,” Victoria sighed, awfully impressed and feeling a bit out of place. “Where did you go to school?”

  “Mises Prep Academy,” he said, rattling off the name of a very expensive, very elite private school in England. The only reason she even knew about it was because one of her friends in high school had tried to get in but he hadn’t been smart enough and he hadn’t had enough of the right connections to finagle his way in. The people who went to the exclusive all boys’ school became leaders of nations.

  “You know, my friend is really much better suited for this kind of thing,” Victoria muttered, feeling wholly and completely out of place. “Maybe I should just introduce the two of them and bow out gracefully before anything gets damaged.”

  “I doubt that would work,” Phil informed her. “Jimmy hasn’t stopped talking about you for three days.”

  “Really?” Victoria was unable to prevent the squeak from raising the pitch of her voice or the grin that ridiculously spread across her face.

  “Really,” Phil chuckled. Coming to a room that had fewer plants and more tables of food, he pointed across the way and murmured, “He’s over there waiting for you.”

  Turning her head, Victoria instantly spotted James across the room looking resplendent in tan slacks and a dress shirt that was opened at his throat. His face was turned towards her and if she didn’t know better, she would have sworn that he was looking right at her. Her heart skipped a beat in her chest, making her accept the fact that her imagination was not working overtime in an effort to make her think the zing was fake. Right now, zings were flying through her body just looking at him; some were even pooling low in her belly making her horny and a little uncomfortable.

  *****

  As Tony was talking, James could have sworn he smelled the subtle fragrance of Victoria. Turning his head slightly, he tried to figure out if he could discover where the smell was coming from, if he was just imagining it. Suddenly, Tony became very quiet and the air became charged. Frustrated with his inability to see, James asked, “What is it?”

  Tony whistled, “Phil just walked in with this stunning creature…. Wait a moment, she just spotted you and seems to have forgotten who she came with; she’s walking this way. That’s just not right, man; Phil’s gonna be pissed….”

  *****

  “James,” Victoria smiled, oblivious of anyone other than the man she was now standing in front of. She automatically reached for him, taking his hand in hers to let him know where she was.

  “Victoria,” James smiled, bringing her hand up to his lips and pressing a kiss to her knuckles, making her breath hitch in her throat. “I’m glad you made it. You smell wonderful.”

  Smiling slightly, she lowered her head and looked up at him through her lashes, “You smell wonderful, too; you also look very handsome.”

  Tony cleared his throat, drawing their attention to him, “Well? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

  “Victoria, the annoying man to the right of me is my business partner and friend, Tony Reynolds,” James said, not-so-subtly pulling Victoria closer, staking his claim. “Tony, this is Victoria Davis; my date, not Phil’s.”

  Victoria heard the possessiveness in James’s voice and was exhilarated. As he pulled her closer and closer, his fingers entwi
ning with hers, she felt the warmth from his body flow along her entire side until she was pressed up against him. If she were to die at that moment, she would have died happy. She held out her hand for Tony, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  With an almost suggestive smile, he took her hand and brought it up to his lips, placing a kiss on her fingers. Looking at her beneath hooded eyes, he murmured, “The pleasure is all mine, Victoria. May I say that you are breath-taking?”

  She bit her lips to prevent the smile from forming. Stifling her giggle at his outrageous behavior, she dropped her hand back to her side, “Thank you, Mr. Reynolds.”

  Looking up at James, she saw the tightening of his facial muscles, the possessive undertones in his expression as he glared in Tony’s direction. With her heels, her lips were even with his jaw so she pressed a tender kiss against the bone. Softly, almost as if the conversation had been solely between her and James, she added, “You have interesting friends.”

  The corners of James’s sensuous lips tilted upwards as he turned his face towards her, until their mouths were a breath apart. “That’s one way of putting it. If I weren’t blind I’m sure they’d be even more impertinent.”

  She smiled even as a tremor of unease slid through her belly. Squeezing his arm, she asked, “Has there been any progress in your vision?”

  He grinned, “No, but I’m hopeful.”

  “Well,” Tony said, clearing his throat. “It’s obvious that I’m no longer wanted here. Is there anything I can get you, Jimmy? Victoria?”

  “I’m good,” James said. Victoria simply shook her head no and watched as Tony walked away, his brow slightly furrowed. Turning towards Victoria, James took her other hand in his, “I’m so glad you came.”

  Victoria smiled, “I am, too. Mr. Knowles told me that you designed the gardens.”

  “Not all of the gardens,” he corrected. “Just the waterfalls area; did you like it?”