Читать книгу Defying Desire - A.C. Arthur - Страница 9

“Whatever you said to her it couldn’t have been nice because the next day when I mentioned your name she almost bit my head off.” Camille Davis sat in a high-backed chair near the book shelf in the den of the Donovan estate.

Trent had been back at his childhood home for less than an hour and was already being chewed out by his brother’s fiancée. He liked Camille. She’d had a rough childhood and a witch of a stepmother. Her Hollywood producer father had died and through her grief she’d managed to grow up, attend college and build her own fashion empire.

Now she was engaged to Adam, his younger brother. Trent never thought Adam would get married. Then again, none of his brothers were supposed to get married. But ever since Linc had copped out and proposed to Jade, the Triple Threat Brothers had been in trouble.

It was up to Trent to stick to his guns. He didn’t trust women, that was number one. And there were more than a few that had proven his nontrust theory—Adam’s ex Kim, who had teamed up with Camille’s stepmother to break them up, undoubtedly came to mind.

No, Trent liked the company of women on a temporary basis. Anything beyond that was out of the question. Besides, he lived a dangerous life. One that worried his family constantly. Trent wasn’t about to put a wife and kids through that same ordeal.

“Hey, she’s the one who called me ranting and raving about rudeness and uninvited calls. I barely got a word in before she hung up on me,” he said defending his three-month old conversation with Tia St. Claire. It didn’t help that each time he saw a magazine cover or a CK Davis ad, it was Tia’s face that was smiling back at him.

“You were probably your normal arrogant self,” Camille quipped, then shook her head. “I should have never given you her number.”

“Whose?” Adam said coming to stand next to Camille.

Trent frowned as he watched his brother’s hand find Camille’s shoulder. Camille looked up at him and smiled. Their gazes locked as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks. This was just the type of sappy crap he didn’t have time for.

“Tia St. Claire,” Camille answered.

“You’re still after her? It’s been months since the show. If you haven’t hooked up with her yet it might be time to let it go.”

Linc came up from behind Trent clapping him on his shoulder before he could respond to Adam’s remark. “What’s the matter? You losing your touch, bro?”

Trent gave them both a scowl. “Hell no, I’m not losing my touch. I called her a couple of times and when she called back she was a royal—”

“Don’t you dare call her out of her name,” Camille admonished.

She was small and a little on the shy side, but man, she could reprimand him with a tongue-lashing as swift as his mother. That was only one of the things Trent liked about her.

“She was not a nice lady,” he corrected and looked to Camille with a smirk for her approval. She smiled in return.

“I haven’t talked to her since then,” he finished.

“That’s probably because it sounds like she doesn’t want to have anything to do with you,” Linc’s wife, Jade, smirked, happily munching on a bowl of grapes as she sat, feet propped up, on the chaise lounge.

Trent didn’t like the direction this conversation was taking. His brothers accusing him of losing his touch and his sisters-in-law claiming a victory for womankind. “Look, nothing happened between us which was probably for the best. It’s over.”

“Well, she’s still pissed,” Camille said.

Trent shrugged. “That’s her problem.” He went to the bar to fix himself a drink.

“It doesn’t matter. Trent’s been all the way to the East Coast breaking hearts. He can’t possibly have time to worry about the ones he left here.” Linc chuckled as he sat next to his wife, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

“Oh my, tell me it’s not so.” Camille sighed. “You were supposed to be working in Connecticut, not screwing.”

At her last words everyone in the room looked in her direction. Camille Davis did not talk like that. Adam must really be rubbing off on her.

“I wasn’t ‘screwing’ as you put it. I was helping a friend with a case.”

“Right. Sam’s case?” Adam said. “I remember him from last year when he came to visit you. Mom told me that’s where you went.”

“Sam’s sister was the one Trent got with,” Linc offered happily.

Trent tossed him a heated glare. “Her name was Lynn.”

“And did you sleep with this Lynn?” Jade asked.

Jade was a pretty woman and now that she was pregnant her beauty had magnified. Her hazel eyes beamed while auburn curls hung just past her shoulders. And she made his brother Linc happier than Trent had ever seen him.

“I don’t have to tell you people all the details of my sex life. Just know that Lynn and I are both adults. Whatever went down with us was absolutely consensual.”

“He screwed her,” Adam said looking across the room at Trent with a huge grin.

“You guys really need to get a life,” Trent said before downing his drink.

Camille had asked Tia to meet her in her office after they’d gone over the proofs of last week’s pictures, and as badly as Tia had wanted to beg off, she now found herself front and center with Camille, standing near one of the curtainless windows.

Tia now searched for a good enough reason to turn her boss and new friend down. For as much as she liked Camille, liked working for her, as well as spending time with her, she did not want to go to a party at the house she and Adam Donovan shared.

No Donovan party, anywhere.

It was too close to all the things that rubbed her the wrong way. All the little memories of the life she almost had were just too much to bear. It wasn’t Camille’s fault she’d found a great man to love her. And it wasn’t Jade’s fault that she and Linc had found each other after all those years, had gotten married and were now expecting twins. Just like it wasn’t her fault that Jake and Jessica had died.

Blame was a useless emotion. She’d learned that well after the accident. But grief, it stayed with you no matter what. Weighing like a rope of bricks wrapped securely around her neck. And no matter how many assignments she took to keep her mind off it, grief held her down at every opportunity.

“It’s a big night for both of us, Tia. I need you to be there,” Camille continued pleading her case.

Dana, Camille’s best friend and business partner, was sitting at her desk, trying not to gloat over all the orders that had come in, but offered her two cents readily. “In the last three months you’ve become the face of CK Davis Designs. We’re opening our very first store so it’s only logical—and expected—that you would be there.”

“Ganging up on me is not going to work,” Tia hissed.

“You’re right,” Dana agreed. “Oh, did I mention that if you don’t show you’re fired?”

Camille grinned. “Yep. It’s part of your contract.”

“That’s a lie,” Tia quipped. “Look, there’s a really a good reason why I don’t want to go.”

“You don’t want to run into Trent Donovan. We already know you despise him. Besides, he probably won’t even be there,” Dana said.

“I do not despise him,” Tia argued.

“At any rate, Dana’s right, he probably won’t be there.”

Probably? “I thought you said a while back he was out of town?” Tia said before she could stop herself.

Dana smiled sweetly. “Keeping tabs on him, are we?”

“No. Of course not. My reasons for not coming to the party don’t have anything to do with Trent. It’s something personal.”

Camille touched Tia’s hand. “Okay. I can respect that. But I’d really like you to be there. Just for a little while. Then you can go back to your lonely little apartment.”

Tia hated when Camille referred to her home as a lonely little apartment. The fact that her assessment wasn’t far off the mark could be the reason. With the money she was making she could afford to buy herself a house. But that said permanency, it said planting roots and family…and all the things she’d had and lost.

“All right, I’ll come. But I’m not staying long.”

“Great!” Camille got up from her seat hugging Tia enthusiastically.

Tia could do nothing but hug her back. Besides she didn’t get hugs often and this one felt genuine, like there was someone finally there for her.

Shaking her head she dismissed that notion. She didn’t have close friends because she didn’t want the connection. The more people in her life that she loved, the harder it would be if she lost them. Her only family, her parents, were still alive and living in Phoenix. That was enough anticipated heartache for her to carry.

Still, she couldn’t help but like Camille. Just like she couldn’t help but see the way Camille always looked at her, as if they shared a deep, dark secret. But that was impossible. Camille had no way of knowing what had happened to her two years ago and Tia had no intention of ever telling her.

“Do me a favor,” Camille said finally releasing her. “Wear the black sheath. I have a great choker to go with it. Don’t worry about driving, I’ll send a car for you so you can get to the house a little early. I want the necklace on you before the paparazzi arrives.”

“Sure. Why not? I have nothing else to do,” she said dismally then mustered up a smile when Camille gave her another sympathetic look.

Before Camille could say another word Tia bent down, scooped up her purse and headed for the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Tia was out the door and on the elevator before she released the breath she held. Slipups like that would only make things worse. She wasn’t depressed and she didn’t need anybody’s pity, despite what her mother thought. She was coping with her loss in her own way and it was working just fine.

“What is up with her?” Dana asked when Tia had closed the door behind her.

Camille continued to stare at the spot where Tia St. Claire had stood. She was a beautiful woman, tall, thin and oozing sex appeal. All attributes most women would die for, yet she wore them more like a burden then a badge.

Tia was a fantastic model, whether runway or in print. She enhanced CK Davis Design’s couture line and added a simple flair to the casual, ready-to-wear line. She was easy to work with and a pleasure to be around. But, Camille thought with a pang in her chest, Tia was the saddest person she’d ever met.

“I don’t know. But I’ve got a feeling it’s only a matter of time before it comes out.”

“You think she’s hiding something?”

“I know she is.”

Dana sat back in her chair and finally turned to Camille.

“Do you think it’s something that will hurt the company? Because if so we should probably cut our losses now.”

Leave it to Dana to be concerned with business first. That’s why they were partners, Dana dealt with all the unsavory stuff while Camille worked her personable magic as frequently as possible.

Where Tia was concerned, Camille was almost positive Dana’s way of thinking wasn’t necessary.

She shook her head negatively. “Whatever it is, it’s hurting her more than it could possibly hurt anyone else. Just leave her to me. I’ll take care of it.”

“Suit yourself,” Dana quipped. “But if it starts to go bad, I’m axing her. We’ve worked too hard to have a model’s baggage bring us down.”

“Tia will be fine. I’ve got a sinking feeling we’re going to end up helping her much more than she’s helping us.”