Page 2 of False Evidence
That was one thing Alexandra had lacked—her own platform. She’d earned her PhD a year after their breakup. Now she was teaching at a university, but her own research had stalled. She had applied for a research fellowship in theoretical physics at CERN but couldn’t imagine leaving JT when he so clearly needed her.
Which was ridiculous. Her life and goals were just as important as his.
JT’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he studied her. “You look beautiful.”
His tone said he meant it, and she felt that old rush only he triggered. “Thank you. Worth the wait?”
He placed a hand around her waist and pulled her to him. He lightly brushed his lips over hers—careful not to muss her lipstick—and said, “Always.”
She wanted this moment to continue. For them to throw caution to the wind and have a quickie right here and now. She could fix her hair and makeup and then she’d have a dirty secret all night as she watched him work the party.
She tugged at his lapels and pulled him to her. “We still have time, you know. Why don’t I take off the dress but leave on the necklace and heels, and you can fuck me right here?”
“You like that, don’t you? Getting fucked while wearing nothing but a thirty-thousand-dollar necklace.”
She’d had no idea the necklace cost that much. It was outrageous to spend that much on jewelry. Later, she’d talk to him about selling it and donating the money to charity, but for tonight, she’d wear the precious gems that were perfectly displayed just above the dip of her cleavage.
“What I like is the wayyoulook at me as you fuck me when I’m wearing nothing but your jewels.” She needed to see that look. To feel like she mattered to him as much as he mattered to her. “Please, JT. I want you. Now.”
He shook his head. “After the party. I promise.”
“I’m going to hold you to it. I need you, JT.”
His face flashed with emotion. Pain. Regret. Did he know how distant he’d been over the last several months?
“I’ll do better, Lex.”
Yes. He knew. And his words gave her a surge of hope. Maybe they could find their way back to each other. If she had JT, she could be content without a baby. What she couldn’t tolerate was having neither.
Again, her thoughts flitted to her missing period. No. She couldn’t be pregnant. Her birth control was up to date. It was just stress.
“What’s wrong?” JT asked.
She shrugged. She wouldn’t tell him before she took a pregnancy test. No point in freaking him out unnecessarily. “Nothing. Let’s get the party over with so we can come home and make love.”
He gave her his killer smile that always melted her panties. “The things I’m going to do to you later tonight.”
Hope shone bright. Lord, how she wanted JT back. Given that she hadn’t found a way to fall out of love with him, gettinghimto love her again was her only option.
The party was being held in a DC hotel ballroom, a different venue from the first T&D holiday party Alexandra had attended nine years ago. That party—the night she met JT—had been held at the Menanichoch tribal casino.
She scanned the ballroom, searching for her roommate, Kendall, who worked for T&D’s Bethesda office. She spotted Kendall in the back corner chatting with her boyfriend, Brent Forbes.
Brent was not Alexandra’s favorite person. She’d been upset when the two reconciled again last year. Not that she could throw stones given her equally inconsistent relationship with JT. Still, Brent had earned her dislike, and she decided to put off greeting the roommate she hadn’t seen in several weeks because she preferred JT’s estate to their apartment now that Brent was back in the picture.
Her mood improved when Erica and Lee arrived. Erica had quit her job at Talon & Drake just months after everything went down with Joe, but she was still friends with her old boss, Janice. Erica, Janice, and Alexandra gathered at the edge of the room while JT and Lee worked the party filled with senior engineers and branch managers from all over the world.
Erica talked about her job as an underwater archaeologist for the US Navy, gesturing broadly as she told a tale about a navy airplane that was being raised from Lake Superior.
Janice frowned and reached for Erica’s waving hand. “Did something happen to your ring?” She glanced toward Lee. “Is everything okay between you two?”
Erica sighed and mumbled, “I knew I should have worn it.”
“What’s wrong?” Alexandra said. She’d been so focused on her troubles with JT, she hadn’t noticed that cracks had been forming in Erica and Lee’s relationship.
“We’re fine. I love him like crazy and he loves me. It’s just that—he wants kids, and I don’t know if I can be a good mom. It terrifies the hell out of me. I don’t want to trap him in a marriage without kids. It feels selfish.”
Alexandra sucked in a deep breath. She’d never shared with anyone—and was fairly certain JT hadn’t either—why she’d called off the wedding.