An hour later, Tamara was sitting on the edge of her desk, wearing jeans and a nice sweater when Mike and Joe walked in.
“Hey guys,” she said, jumping off her desk to hug them. “It’s good to be back.”
Joe looked down at her, his dark eyes seeing everything. “You’re not okay, are you?”
Tamara laughed. “Don’t you need to get to work?”
His gaze didn’t waver. “You’re in trouble. Mike told me that you need some help. So spill it, Princess. We’re here for you.”
“Thank you Joe,” she said with heartfelt sincerity. “I need to figure out how to get out of the engagement. Any ideas?”
Joe and Mike looked at each other, then at Tamara.
Mike was the first to speak. “I guess the first thing we need to understand is why you don’t want to marry the man. I mean, he’s super rich, hot as hell,” he said, then glanced at Joe who only rolled his eyes, obviously not threatened by the ruler of his boyfriend’s country, “And I’m guessing he was in Greece with you over the past few days. What’s wrong with this scenario?”
When he put it like that, she wasn’t sure either. But she went to her fallback position. “Well, first of all, my life is here in London. I like my apartment, I love working with you, and I have friends here.”
“You can make friends back in Tular. That’s not a good enough reason, honey.”
She didn’t think so either, but was hoping they might. “What about the fact that I don’t want to marry the man?”
“Why?” Joe demanded, crossing his big arms over his equally big chest. “Are you just being stubborn?”
Mike chuckled, then leaned his head against Joe’s shoulder affectionately.
“Why do you think I’m just being stubborn?”
Both men looked at her as if to say, “You’re always stubborn.”
“Okay, so maybe I’m too stubborn. But think of all the times that my stubbornness has saved us. Remember that townhouse down in the warehouse district? I didn’t like it and you loved it. I finally convinced you to take a second look and, the moment we pulled up outside, the water line burst.”
“Okay, one instance. Tell me another time when your stubbornness got us out of trouble.”
Tamara thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up. “How about that time you wanted to get a puppy but I said no, that you’re not a morning person. Puppies need to go out early every morning.” She grinned triumphantly at the memory. “That very night, we went out for drinks and you met Joe. Happily ever after.”
Mike glanced over at Joe who only lifted a dark eyebrow in response. Mike nodded, but turned back to Tamara. “I think that’s more about logic than stubbornness.”
She tilted her head. “Seriously? You’re not giving me that point? You two are so madly in love, it’s a bit annoying at times.”
Joe chuckled, then bumped Mike with his shoulder. Mike looked back at his boyfriend and the tender look that passed between the two men caused Tamara’s heart to hurt. She’d marry Jurid in a heartbeat if he ever looked at her like that.
And that was pretty much the point. They might have become lovers the other night, but that didn’t mean that they should get married. In fact, looking at Joe and Mike right now, only reinforced her desire to wait and find a man who loved her before she got married. Life was too short to marry a man just because…well, good sex was definitely not a reason to marry anyone. Maybe it was a good reason to start an affair, she thought sarcastically.
Yeah, she could really get behind the idea of an affair with Jurid. Just thinking about the idea made her mind turn to mush and her body burn with anticipation.
“What in the world just went through your mind?” Mike demanded, grinning curiously.
“Nothing,” she told him. “Joe has to get to work and we have that showing.” She turned and grinned at both men. “Hey, any chance you guys want to go out dancing tonight?”
Mike looked at her warily. “Does this have anything to do with your engagement and your early morning request for my help?”
She thought about her plan, then smiled engagingly. “Well, if neither of you have a better idea, then yes, I was thinking about redoubling my efforts to appear to the world as if I were unfit to be his bride. A few more pictures in the tabloids with me dancing alongside some other men might do the trick.”
Joe chuckled. “We’ll have to go to the straight night clubs then. No one is going to believe you’re unfit if you’re dancing with guys that aren’t interested in you, Tam.”
She nodded. “Agreed. Meet up at eight for drinks and dinner? My treat?”
Mike and Joe shared a glance. Joe shrugged, silently telling Mike that the decision was his. Mike turned back to Tamara. “Sure. We’re in,” and Joe kissed Mike and headed to his job.
The rest of the day was uneventful. She and Mike met with the realtor to view the condo, but there wasn’t anything special about the place. There were other inquiries that came through about the other rentals, a few maintenance problems, and several contract issues. But nothing that the staff couldn’t handle.
Which was why Tamara was home early enough that night to start worrying about the night’s events. “Okay, what to wear!” she muttered as she went to her closet. “I need something fabulous,” she told the empty room. “And I need a dog. No use talking out loud when there isn’t anyone here to mutter to,” she grumbled. “Maybe a cat?” She pulled out a slinky black dress that ended high up on her thighs. “A cat would be better than talking to the silence.” She thought about that for a moment. “Maybe not. A cat doesn’t really reply back much.”
She sighed and tossed the black dress onto the bed and grabbed a pair of four inch heels. “These are painful to walk in after an hour, but I’ll take a cab.” She sighed and walked into the bathroom to shower and glam up a bit. “And I don’t plan on being out very late anyway.”
An hour later, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She’d put on a bit more eye makeup, giving herself the sexy, smoky look. Her hair was down around her shoulders and she’d taken the time to curl the ends, so her hair had a bit more volume than usual.
“Okay, time to put on the heels,” she muttered slipping her feet into the torture devices. Standing up, she nodded approvingly at the way the heels made her legs look more muscular. “Yep, this will work,” she muttered with a nod.
She transferred her wallet, lipstick and keys into a small clutch, made sure to lock her apartment door, then headed downstairs just in time to slip into the cab as it pulled up to the curb.
What she didn’t realize was that another car was pulling up to the curb at the same time. Jurid watched with increasing anger as Tamara’s legs showed a bit more skin than he’d prefer for his fiancée to show. All of his progressive thoughts were obliterated as he watched her long, beautiful legs step into the taxi. He wanted to walk over to the cab and pull her out, tucking her into the armored SUV so that he could drive away with her, take her back to his house and make love to her for the rest of the night.
That outfit was positively indecent!