Blind Attraction (7 page)

“I like him,”
Victoria grinned enthusiastically, giving away far more than she realized. “And if he was looking for an ‘easy lay’ he is definitely looking in the wrong place. Besides, he makes me forget my name with a kiss.”

“I’ll give you the kiss,” Taylor consented. “But what if he is a poor philosopher; you don’t want to be broke for the rest of your life, do you?”

“That’s why I opened my own store,” Victoria reminded her with a brilliant grin. “Hopefully it will be a huge success and by the time I’m fifty I’ll be fabulously wealthy and be able to spend the rest of my life in comfortable leisure.”

“And you
’d have wasted the best years of your life being a drudge,” Taylor shuddered. “No, I think it is better to marry well; what you do after that is irrelevant.”

Victoria
laughed at the whole conversation, ignoring the doubts that tried to sneak into her mind. Otherwise she would be spending the next seventy-two hours talking herself out of any kind of relationship with James and to be completely honest, she really didn’t want to do that. There was something to be said for that
zing
.

Walking home with him
the previous night had been really lovely, despite the large wet spot on her thighs. He held onto her, trusting her to lead him, and the immense sense of joy that that had given her lasted until well into the morning. Plus, she admired his strength and determination; she figured he was a force to be reckoned with in all walks of life, whether blind or fully-sighted.

She wondered what it would be like to be looked upon with those ama
zing green eyes of his, if he would gaze at her with love. The idea sent a little quiver of delight to her belly. Despite her worries, she was looking forward to the day when he would be able to see her. What would he think of her? Would it matter that she didn’t look like Taylor?

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 de
sserts 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 me
eting 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 girl
s 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 added.
“Interesting.”

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?”