I opened my mouth to answer him when Jeremy waltzed in. “Hey, you two. Hope I’m not interrupting. I have someone I’d like you two to meet. Though, Jenkins is an old friend from what I’ve just learned.”
Adam and I shared a look. Something dark and worrisome unfurled in my gut. I could hear Lena talking to someone in the hallway. Then more laughter. Suddenly a woman entered the room and I almost blacked out.
My hands went cold. My face grew hot. I felt clammy all over.
What the absolute fuck was she doing here?
“Adam, I’d like to introduce you to our number one client, Tiffany Hardwell. You can thank Ms. Hardwell for that down payment on your new holiday home,” Jeremy introduced with his trademark grin.
Adam got to his feet and held his hand out for the gorgeous older woman to shake. I hadn’t looked at her face yet. I was still in a state of frozen shock behind my desk.
“It is so nice to meet you finally, Ms. Hardwell. I had no idea you were coming into town today otherwise the firm would have taken you for lunch,” Adam was saying. Lena, Jeremy, and Adam were all smiling, making small talk, having no idea they were speaking to the woman who could blow my whole life apart.
What the hell was I going to do?
I tried to swallow but my throat was bone dry.
“Hi, Robbie.”
Her voice hadn’t changed. If anything, it had gotten sexier. This was a woman who wielded everything in her arsenal with fatal accuracy. My body reacted to that voice as if by rote. She had conditioned it to.
I realized I hadn’t responded, nor had I looked up at her yet. I also realized the other people in the room, my partners, and friends, were looking at me with concern, not understanding what was wrong with me.
To them, I may be boring, but I wasn’t rude.
Slowly I got to my feet, my eyes carefully making their way to her face. Our eyes met and I felt instantly cold from the inside out. Any momentary desire I had felt was gone as fast as it had appeared. This wasn’t a woman I wanted in any way, shape, or form.
She had aged, but well. She was still one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen, and she knew it. She tossed her long hair back behind her shoulders and pushed her ample breasts out. She expected me to take her in. She longed for it. She’d never get anything from me again.
“Hi, Tiffany,” I said, my voice cool and unwelcoming.
Jeremy cleared his throat and came to my rescue for once. “Ms. Hardwell here came by to sign the closing paperwork on the Carmichael place. She’s moving in this weekend, is that right?” he asked her.
Tiffany nodded, not taking her eyes off me. “That’s right. Though I closed on my place in the city last week. I decided to come on down to Southport and get to know the place.” She finally turned back to Jeremy and the others, her smile oozing in charm. “And I must say I love it. I think I’m going to be very happy here.”
My hands curled into fists, the nails biting into flesh.
“Ms. Hardwell was just telling us that she knew you from law school, Rob. Says you worked for her for a while. You never mentioned that’s how you knew her,” Lena said.
Tiffany put a hand on her arm. “Oh sweetheart, please call me Tiffany. Ms. Hardwell makes me feel positively ancient.” She laughed and at one time I would have practically come in pants at the sound. Now I just wanted her to get the hell out of my office.
But Tiffany would take her time. She was used to things happening on her terms. This was a woman who got what she wanted. In all things.
Which most likely explained why she was here.
Because I was the one thing she hadn’t been able to control.
**
“Robbie, what are you doing here?” Tiffany opened the door wearing a see-through robe, her tits on full display. Who had she been expecting?
“I need to talk to you.” I braced myself against the doorframe. I had walked across town. My hair was plastered to my forehead from the rain, my clothes were drenched, but I didn’t care.
Because I was pissed off.
Tiffany, as if sensing my mood, opened the door, letting me in. “Can I get you something to drink? A beer? Some wine—?”
“Why did you go to my mother’s house?” I demanded, cutting her off.
Tiffany opened up the small cocktail refrigerator beneath her bar and pulled out a small bottle of vodka and poured some into a glass. “Is that why you’re here? Come on now, it’s nothing to be so upset about.”
“I told you I wanted out and you decide to go visit my god damned mother, Tiffany! That’s a huge fucking deal” I was shouting, I couldn’t help it. “She was asking me questions I sure as hell couldn’t answer. So, I’ll ask you again, why the hell did you go see her?” I was shaking with fury. I wasn’t sure I could hold it together. I had been working for Tiffany for the last year. Over that time, I had been able to buy my mom a new house and pay Sam’s residential fees. But I had also had to lose a part of my soul in the process.
