Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Elliot

Juliette's mother answered on the third ring. I couldn't fully hear her voice on the other end of the call, but I noticed how Juliette straightened her back against the sofa and cleared her throat awkwardly when she spoke.
"Hey mum, sorry its late. I just wanted to let you know I'm staying out tonight."
Her current distraction of the call gave me a great opportunity to study her some more, her deep-set brown eyes and sloping elegant nose that turned up slightly at the end. Juliette's face was always in motion, it seemed, weather that be a scowl or a smile or a smirk. I realised that was the first time I'd ever seen her face just be still. 
She nervously pulled at the set of gold earrings that followed the edge of her lobe, the one that wasn't rested against the phone. A nervous habit of hers, I presumed.
Her fingers twisted one of the smaller studs around rhythmically as she spoke.
She had a lot of piercings. I counted five on that side of her face alone, three on her lobe, one at the top of the cartilage of her ear and a thin gold nose ring that sat comfortably around the curve of her nostril. I wasn't a fan of piercings, figured why would you want to purposely scar and permanently poke holes in your body? But on Juliette, it seemed to work. Either that or I'd just got used to seeing her with them.
"I'm staying over at Teddy's; we will be late in from the gallery, so I don't want to come in late and wake you and Milo up." She spotted me watching her, briefly looking over as she lied to her mother, before focusing her eyes on a spot on the coffee table in front of her.
Did she stay with the lumberjack often? Her mother didn't seem to protest to the idea.
"Okay. I will. Love you too."
She turned back to me with a more settled look, like she was glad that was over and done with. "Sorted."
"Do you have feelings for the lumberjack?"
I'd asked the burning question straight out, no need to dance around it.
I didn't care. I just needed to know in terms of the agreement.
It wouldn't work if she was in love with someone else.
Elliot Truman didn't share.
Millie had told me they were just friends, but I saw the way he looked at her when they were together, it was the look of someone who wanted to be more than friends.
Juliette's brows furrowed in confusion at my question. "Lumberjack?"
"Teddy." I explained.
She burst into a throaty laugh. "Feelings forTeddy? You have to be joking."
When the look I flashed her told her I was deadly serious, her laugh subsided and her eyes widened a fraction.
My signature scowl, it worked every time.
Juliette's mouth popped open, then closed, then open again as she composed her response.
"Teddy is a friend, a good friend. And a colleague. "
I gave her a nod as acceptance.
So it was one sided then, the obvious feelings the Lumberjack had for her. Though, I couldn't understand how she could be so oblivious to it, the way he mooned over her so obviously. And the way they had danced together at Frankie's party.
The thought stirred something in me.
I'd been so mad at her that night, mad at my brother, and mad at myself.
A tired yawn escaped Juliette's lips as she peeled her glasses from her face, rubbing her eyelids with the pads of her index finger and thumb. Even I could appreciate she must be exhausted; it had been a night of revelations.
"Would you like something to eat before I show you to your room?" She hadn't eaten anything all night, and we'd had a lot to drink between the champagne at the gallery and the bottle of wine whilst we discussed the terms of the Agreement.
Juliette shook her head no, expelling another comically large yawn.
I darkened my eyes at her. She should eat.
"I'd like to get some sleep; I have a busy day at work tomorrow." She responded, almost like she could hear my internal scolding.
I let out a sigh, pushing myself off of the sofa and gesturing for her to follow me. I didn't let the feeling of defeat sink in too deeply, I'd just force her to eat plenty at breakfast in the morning to make up for it.
She sleepily followed me across the apartment and down the hall towards two of the four bedrooms. I idly thought of the last time I'd brought her there, down that path, towards my bedroom.
My cock strained against the zipper of my jeans in response to the memory.
Fuck.
I'd been intoxicated that night, hence my lack of judgement in bringing her home with me  in the first place, but I remembered every second of our exchange like it was burnt into the foundation of my brain. Her perfect creamy skin, her white lacy underwear, the feeling of her wrapped around me as I took her in the shower. Then again in my bed...
Snap the fuck out of it Elliot.
I pushed the thoughts deep into my subconscious, trying to conceal the bulging hard-on throbbing in my underwear as I stopped outside the spare bedroom door, it was the second largest in the house, the one just down the hall from my own room.
Juliette eyed the door expectantly, waiting for me to open it.
"If you decide to live here, this will be your room." I pushed on the wood and the door parted from its frame with ease, revealing the simple décor of the bedroom. I hadn't furnished it fully, as I rarely had people round to stay, but it was clad with a large king-sized bed, some bed side furniture, a large fluffy white rug and a walk-in wardrobe half the size of my own.
Stepping inside, Juliette cast her gaze around the room, an unreadable expression on her face as she ran her fingertips lazily along the white wooden bedframe. When she turned to look at me, she seemed lost in thought.
"What do you think?" I asked impatiently, taking a few meaningful strides in her direction.
She let out a gentle sigh. "This room is bigger than my whole house."
I didn't know what to say in response to that, so I just started rambling. "You can decorate it how you want. This furniture is just what I got when I first moved in."
Juliette didn't respond, instead she continued to wonder around the room in a daze, touching surfaces and eyeing up the wallpaper. When her hand eventually landed on the handle of the wardrobe door, she pushed it down till the lock clicked and it opened before her. She stepped inside gingerly, I quickly followed after her.
The wardrobe was all but empty, except a single piece of clothing hung on one of the black velour hangers. Her pink velvet dress, the one she had worn the night we met.
Her eyes went wide as she looked back at me in confusion.
"I had my housekeeper dry-clean it when you left it here."
My breathing was rough and ragged, the remnants of my hard-on still lingering as the silence crackled between us. Being alone with her in such a confined space, in a fucking closet no less, it brought out my more primal instincts.
I was usually so controlled, but in her presence, that seemed to go out of the fucking window.
Juliette's own sharp intake of breath let me know she felt it too.
Pushing her bangs out of her face, she licked her lips and let her fingers trail along the side of her face, down the curve of her neck until they settled on the base of her throat where her locket sat – right above the swell of her breasts. She was wearing a sweater, but it did nothing to hide her womanly curves from me. She might as well have been stood there before me stark naked, the way the fabric clung to her, exposing every edge of her full figure.
I took a step forward towards her, she instinctively took a step back.
A bead of sweat rolled down my spine, the muscles of my shoulder blades straining against my shirt as I resisted the urge to reach out and run my palms along the dip of her hips and thighs.
You don't mix business with pleasure.
The reminder doused me like an ice-cold shower. What the hell was I doing?
This woman was nothing more than a means to an end of my bid to take over the CEO position at Truman & Sons. I couldn't allow my teenlike hormonal urges to make me lose sight of why she was there.
'I'd like an advance on the payment.'
She was there for the money; I couldn't let myself forget that.
I stowed my twitching palms, shoving them in the pockets of my jeans before turning swiftly on my heels. "I'll go get you something to sleep in." I said passively over my shoulder, not daring to look at her as she returned to earth from our moment.
After grabbing a vest and pair of pyjama pants from the draw in my own room, I found Juliette sat on the edge of the bed when I entered her bedroom again. She was stroking the black satin bedsheets rhythmically; unaware I was watching her.
I was captivated by her hands as they drew lazy circles at her side, her nimble fingers skimming along the soft fabric in a sensually slow movement. I realised I was fucking jealous of a bedspread.
'I need the money now.'
I cleared my throat, announcing my arrival as I reminded myself of my mantra. Do not mix business with pleasure. She's here for the money.
She spun around at the sudden sound, her eyes wide in their sockets like I'd caught her in an intimate thought. I tried not to dwell on it as I threw the pyjamas in her general direction and edged out of the bedroom, watching the unknown thought fade in her eyes.
"Goodnight, Juliette."
I didn't stick around to hear her response, just kept my feet moving until I was safely in the confines of my own room. When the door clicked closed and I stripped myself of every piece of clothing except my underwear, I peeled back the covers and slid into bed. A bone deep tiredness setting in as soon as my body hit the soft mattress and pillows.
I'd been working so hard; I hadn't had a full night sleep in days. But now, after getting Juliette to sign the agreement, I let a wave of solace wash over me. I was finally back on track to my goal, the only thing that mattered.
I was going to take over the business and fulfil what was expected of me to my full and capable potential.
I checked the calendar in my phone, setting a reminder to email my assistant Rebecca in the morning to transfer the money over to Juliette.
When I noticed an unread text in my inbox, I clicked it open without a second thought.

Maya: Great to see you again E, we should meet up soon. We've got some catching up to do.

Before tonight, I'd not seen Maya since our brief encounter a few weeks ago, something I'd pushed firmly to the back of my mind and forced myself to forget. Before that, it was our explosive argument at Millie's going away party. The night we broke up.
Seeing her again had set off all the negative emotions she drew out of me, she really knew how to push my buttons. It was infuriating. 
And the way she had spoken to Juliette...
I threw my phone onto the bedside table and turned over, crushing my eyes shut in the hope my tiredness would win over the thought of Maya's bitter words that tediously echoed around my head, and Juliette's deep brown eyes that burned into my memory till they drifted into a dream.