The Elliotts: Secret Affairs. Susan Crosby
designing an entire clothing line. After more than an hour she set aside her pad and wandered to the living-room window. People walked along the sidewalk, going to or coming home from dinner, probably. Singles moved along in haste. Couples strolled.
When was the last time she’d been on a date? Gone out to dinner with someone other than Summer or a girlfriend? Sometime during the past year she’d given up trying to irritate her grandfather by dating men he wouldn’t approve of. She’d been asked out during that time, but had made excuses not to go.
Looking back, she realized she’d stopped dating when John and Summer had started getting serious, and Scarlet had begun falling in love with John. She’d spent a lot of time at home, sewing. Summer had been worried about her, had often invited her to come along with her and John. Scarlet had made so many excuses she’d run out of creative ideas.
The irony, of course, was that her grandfather would approve of John—if he hadn’t once been engaged to Summer. Patrick wouldn’t tolerate scandal. He’d even forced Aunt Finny at age fifteen to give up her baby born out of wedlock, in order to save public face. Scarlet figured Fin was fighting so hard to win Patrick’s corporate game because she’d harbored so much resentment for him these twenty-plus years since having her baby taken away.
Scarlet didn’t want to become like Fin. She wanted to make peace with Patrick. But there was no way she could make peace by pursuing John for anything beyond this month of stolen nights. People would talk too much, especially this soon after the breakup.
She wished she were brave enough to end the relationship now, but she wasn’t. Only a couple more weeks, then the choice would be taken from her.
The phone rang, slicing into her thoughts, for which she was grateful.
“What do you think about using Une Nuit as a locale for a shoot?” John asked without saying hello. “Models seated at a table, looking at a menu, the name of the restaurant right there for the world to see.”
“I think it could be considered a conflict of interest, since my cousin Bryan owns the place. Is he a client of yours now?”
“Brand-new.”
“I thought Bryan liked to fly low under the radar. And last I heard he had reservations booked until the twelfth of never.”
“I can’t tell you what his plans are.”
“Can’t or don’t know?”
“Take your pick.”
She smiled. She liked a man who could keep confidences. “So, you’re spending the evening working?”
“It was that or stand in a cold shower all night.”
She burrowed into the sofa cushions, tucking the phone closer. “Were you serious in your note about having something to teach me?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
How in the world had Summer given up this man? Scarlet wondered for the thousandth time. He was quick-witted, funny, smart and sexy. What more could a woman want?
“Want to reschedule tonight’s plan for Friday?” he asked.
“Can’t. I have a meet and greet at Michael Thor’s new studio,” Scarlet said.
“It can’t last all night.”
“I promised Jessie I’d take her by Une Nuit afterward. I’m really sorry.”
A beat passed. “So, that leaves us back at our Saturday night Woo U date,” he said.
“Good thing you asked early,” she said pertly, glad when he laughed. “John?”
“What?”
“I’ve been thinking.” She waited for him to come back with some clever insult, but there was only silence. Maybe he heard the tension in her voice. “I’m not sure we should be doing more than just the Woo U stuff.”
“Meaning?”
“We were lucky my grandparents didn’t catch us tonight. Maybe that’s a sign we shouldn’t spend all that much time together.”
“You believe in signs? Omens? Fate?” he asked.
“When it’s convenient … or logical.”
“Before we make such a big decision, why don’t we sleep on it? We’ll talk about it on Saturday. After the date ends.”
Because she wanted to avoid the discussion herself, she said, “Works for me. Good night, John.”
“Sweet dreams, Scarlet.”
The way he said the words turned her to mush. She knew he had to be disappointed in her decision, yet he’d said his own good-night with tenderness in his voice, not impatience or irritation. Personally, she would’ve been irritated if he’d come to the same determination that she had.
She liked that she kept learning something new about him.
After a minute she glanced at the clock. She could change her mind right now—grab a cab and surprise him. He was at home and alone. He would satisfy her deprived needs ….
Instead she took a warm bath and went to bed, in search of those elusive sweet dreams.
John printed the results of his evening at the computer, stacked the papers and put them in his briefcase. He started to pour himself a Glenfiddich, hesitated then went ahead and splashed some in a glass. The smooth, pricey scotch could’ve easily reminded him of the day Summer broke their engagement, but instead he chose to associate it with his first night with Scarlet.
He carried the glass with him to look out his window. It had started to rain sometime in the past hour. He turned off all the lights and stood, sipping and watching and remembering. The way she’d watched him undress. Her red bra and thong. The incredible sounds she made, flattering and arousing. Then the way she rushed away, leaving her coat behind. He’d sat on his bed, holding it to his nose, breathing in her scent for a long time after she was gone.
He hadn’t expected to ever see her again, at least not like that. He’d been wrong.
And somehow he’d gotten himself into a position where they would spend hours together on Saturday without hope of ending up in bed. Maybe never sleep together again.
He really wondered whether he’d fried a whole lot of brain cells since he’d first slept with her. He knew he was infatuated, because she was rarely out of his mind. Even now he’d gone hard just thinking about her, a condition he hadn’t experienced with this much uncontrolled regularity since he was a teenager.
It couldn’t be more than lust. He refused to have his heart broken by another Elliott woman. Or even have his life turned upside down.
But he wanted her ….
To hell with it. He set his empty glass on the bar, grabbed his coat and keys and went out the door. He could sneak out of her house long before anyone was up to see him, convince her not to give up the sexual relationship.
But when the elevator doors opened he stared at the empty car until the doors closed. He returned to his apartment. His huge, quiet apartment. And went to bed alone.
Seven
Une Nuit buzzed no matter what night of the week, but this was Friday, and the crowd was different on Friday. Younger, even hipper, if that was possible. A visual sea of beautiful people dressed in New York’s color of choice—black—enjoying the daring French/Asian fusion cuisine that was always being written up in the media, thus keeping the very trendy restaurant the place tobe.
With Jessie in tow, Scarlet wove through the bar crowd at the front of the restaurant, looking for her cousin Bryan. While he might join them at dinner briefly, he generally wandered around the rest of the time, a hands-on owner.
She’d almost reached the maître d’s podium when she came across