Chapter Eight
Jaya braced herself against the door once more. Could she really do this? Have this show down with Tamara when she knew Alec was down the hall eavesdropping? Tams was the only other person who had a key. Another hard knock resounded through the wood. Whether she wanted to have the conversation or not, Tamara was coming in.
“Jai, it's Tamara. I need to speak with you.” For a second, Jaya considered climbing out the window, but she’d never been that much of a coward. Drawing in a deep breath, she muttered to herself, “You can do this.” She stepped back, allowing Tamara in.
Her sister stumbled in, carrying a medium sized box. “Damn it, you need to get your door fixed. I know it’s summer, but there’s no excuse for a swollen door in a building like this. It’s not like you are in some really old prewar building or something.”
As usual, accompanying Tamara was an air of disorganization and chaos. Jaya reigned in her already crackling temper. What the hell was her sister doing here? Here, when she had Alec in her apartment. She didn’t need Tamara reporting back to her father how Jaya had some one night-stand staying at her place. “What are you doing here, Tamara? I’ve got a busy day.” Her eyes made an involuntary dart towards the hallway. What was he doing in her bedroom? Before her imagination could gallop off with that thought, she focused on her sister. “It’s early.”
Tamara barged past her. “Sometimes, I swear you think I’m your enemy.”
“Come on in, why don't you,” Jaya muttered under her breath, refusing to feel the twinge of guilt. Tamara had already proven she didn’t care about her feelings.
Placing the box she carried on the couch, she turned to face Jaya. “You left this at the office. It's your personal stuff. Derrick had me clean it out for you. I offered to bring it by instead of sending a courier.”
As Tamara scrutinized her, Jaya shifted under the gaze. “Thanks. You shouldn’t have bothered.” If everything went the way she hoped, she’d have to cart it right back to the office anyway.
Tamara’s gaze shifted from Jaya’s. “I wish you'd said something before you left the office. I was really gutted when Derrick told me. I never thought he’d go through with something like that.” Tamara shifted from one foot to another. “I mean, I know you two have your differences and everything. If you want, maybe I can talk to Dad and—”
Jaya's brows drew up. “Exactly what would you say in my defense? ‘Geez, honey, go easy on my sister—we owe her after all?’”
Tamara ignored the jibe. “Well, you probably didn’t need to disobey Dad and do that specific presentation. You could have done the one Dad and Derrick approved.”
Weary, Jaya rolled her shoulders. She didn’t need to rehash her greatest failure over and over again. Especially not with Alec in ear-shot. But she couldn’t let it go. “In the office, I was an equal employee. It was my account and my client, so I had the right to give the pitch any way I wanted. And it got us the client’s business, if today’s newspaper is correct.” Jaya could hear the tone of her voice and the increasing decibels, so she forced her breathing into an even cadence. “You’re not here to talk about how I got fired, so what do you need?”
Tamara shifted again in her Prada loafers and adjusted her purse strap. “I, um, wanted to see if you'd still be at the wedding.”
Jaya cocked her head. “Tamara, I—”
Tamara held up a hand. “Look, I know you hate me. You have every right to feel that way and to not come, but I’d hoped maybe you'd still be willing to support me. Since Mom's not here you know. You’re the only one I have close to a mother and—”
There it was. The familiar guilt. Because, even though she was younger, Jaya had always been the one to take care of her sister. There’d been a point when they were inseparable. Right before Tamara swiped Derrick out from under her nose. But Tamara was still her sister. “I don’t hate you.” Just your leech of a fiancé. “I told you I’d be there. I'm not happy about it. I wish I could be happy for you, but considering the circumstances, I’m not that altruistic.” She sucked in a breath, because that was what you did for family. “But you’re my sister. I'll be there.”
Tamara nodded her thanks, knowing better than to offer a hug. Jaya had tried for almost a year to let go of some of the anger. After all, it wasn't as if she still wanted Derrick. He was an asshole. But the betrayal of her sister still didn’t sit well. And her father's acceptance of it all, as if nothing had ever happened, bit the big hairy one. But she was an adult. She could get over it—well, mostly. This was her sister and family was everything. She’d promised her mother.
“Oh.” Tamara turned on her heel. “Are you sure you won't be bringing a date?”
Jaya opened her mouth to say she wasn’t sure--after all, nothing was set in stone until Adele Westhorpe said yes to hiring her. But before she could answer, Alec and his sexy shoulders ambled through her bathroom door with a grin.
“Yep, she’ll have a date.” He thrust out a strong hand. “Alec Danthers, nice to meet you.”
Tamara's jaw hung open as she did the stare-and-ogle thing up at Alec. Not like Jaya could blame her. She knew how beautiful he was to look at from all angles. Her sister’s jaw was flapping so hard, she only managed a soft stutter. “T-Tamara.”
There was no shock in his face as he looked back and forth between the two of them. They looked enough alike that most people assumed they were twins. Only someone paying close attention would know they weren’t.
“You must be Jaya's sister. I've heard a lot about you.”
It took several attempts, but Tamara finally found her voice. “I—we—um.” she cleared her throat. “Jaya hasn’t said anything about you.”
He nodded in understanding, making Jaya want to slap him. “Well you know your sister. Keeps things close to the chest. Jaya wanted to keep me quiet for a bit.”
As Jaya watched their exchange in disbelief, she had a hard time working her vocal cords. She wanted to clock Alec with something, shove her sister out the door, and burn the box of her office things, but somehow that didn’t fit in with the behavior of a full-grown adult, so all she said was, “Um, yes, been keeping Alec under wraps.”
Alec continued. “We’re actually heading up to LA today if you want to join us. I’d love to get to know Jaya better through you.”
Tamara blinked, as if she couldn’t fathom the god talking to her again. “N-nice of you to offer, but I have wedding planning.” She glanced back at her sister and mouthed “Wow,” then stumbled on unsteady feet toward the front door. “I’ll check in later, okay?”
She turned with a scowl to Alec. “Well, I guess you answered for me.”
He grinned back at her. “I guess I did.”