Grounded (Up in the Air #3)(5)

Jolene sauntered over to us, a lush smile on her lips. She was beyond scantily clad, wearing only the tiniest bike shorts I'd ever seen and a sports bra that was so minuscule I didn't imagine for a second that it could actually do its job. I couldn't guess what she was dressed for. I'd almost have thought working out except that she was wearing sexy black sandals and her hair was down, hanging in curling ringlets around her shoulders and back.

Johnny whistled appreciatively as she approached. He stood directly at my right but I didn't spare him a glance. "Hottest fucking chick I've ever seen," he muttered, not quite keeping it under his breath. Okay, I was not a Johnny fan; it was official.



       
         
       
        

Jolene tried to move close to me, but Blake got in her way before she was within three feet of me. She pouted a little, but it was obviously an affectation. "Bianca! How are you?"

I had always considered myself a controlled person. Things rarely came out of my mouth unless I meant for them to. I knew right away that this would be one of those rare times when my brain would not be doing the talking. "What are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that?" I asked her coldly.

She gave me a look that made me stiffen. It was pointed and knowing. She was up to trouble. "I just got finished working out. This place has a great gym. And I'm dressed like this because James loves to see my skin. He says I have the sexiest stomach on the planet." As she spoke, she ran a manicured hand from her throat to the low waist of those obscene shorts. She did have a lovely stomach, all well-toned hollows and dusky skin, her waist ridiculously tiny, especially compared to the oversized breasts that nearly spilled from her top. She exuded sex, and I hated her.

My breath caught at her implication. Was she saying that she was here to see James? That he was still seeing her? Was she flat-out lying, or telling some twisted version of the truth? Either way, I was sick to death of her, and I'd only met her twice …

"Are you saying that you're here to see James? That he invited you here? Just speak plainly, because I have absolutely no patience for these games," I told her in my blankest, coldest voice. That voice was an old defense mechanism for me.

She pursed her lips, running her tongue over her teeth. I wanted to smack her. I was shocked by the urge, but even my shock didn't seem to make my sudden rage abate.

"None of your business," she said petulantly, crossing her arms, which pushed her fake, ample breasts even higher. That bra was so useless that I could make out just the barest hint of the top of her nipples as she pushed them up.

I couldn't believe that James had spent so much time with this woman, even with her over the top sex appeal. To my mind, he was the epitome of class, with his charm and his manners and his impossible beauty, whereas she seemed to relish her own trashiness.

"It is certainly her business," a voice that made me want to melt spoke from behind me. A big, warm hand pressed into the nape of my neck, gently brushing aside my long hair to settle there possessively. I didn't look at James. I was too angry and upset and just plain hungry for the sight of him.

"Why are you still here, Jolene?" he asked coldly. "I told you to leave this morning, when you tried to barge, uninvited, into my office. Do I need to have you escorted from the property?"

A raw expression passed over her features so briefly that I thought I might have imagined it. Her beautiful face swiftly worked itself into a satisfied smile. She flipped her curly black hair behind her shoulders, thrusting her breasts into prominent display. As though they needed the help. "I'm here with Scott. He's staying in the penthouse, and I'm his guest. Are you going to ask him to leave, as well?" 

James moved close against my back, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I could tell by her eyes on those arms that Jolene did not appreciate the sight. "Perhaps I'll tell him what you've been up to. Just how tolerant do you think your husband will be if he knows that you've been up to your old tricks?"

She stiffened, looking just a touch alarmed, before schooling her face into a serene expression. "He won't believe you. And even if he did, you'd never do that. You know how much it would hurt him."

"It's becoming very clear to me that the truth couldn't possibly hurt Scott as much as you have, Jolene. I don't have an ounce of patience left where you're concerned. Keep that in mind."

A movement caught the corner of my eye and I glanced behind Jolene, to where a figure was eating up the ground as a large man strode purposefully towards our group.