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Well, now, there was an understatement. Desi wondered briefly if she had misjudged him and he was going to apologise, but the next words that came out of his mouth left her almost dumbfounded.
"But I understand, now, that you don't get much male attention and your inexperience means that you don't know how to please a man…"
Desi took in a strangled breath and tried not to choke. On the other side of the room, she saw Connor striding towards her, gesturing to Jake, who was over at the bar, along the way, and suddenly, they were converging on her.
"But you know, we could try again and I can show you where you're going wrong."
Desi's eyes shot to James in complete shock at that last suggestion. Seriously?
She finally found her tongue. "You know what, James," she started as Connor approached. "I think if we're going to be completely honest, then we have to admit that that night really didn't work for either of us."
Connor drew up on her right side and she could see Jake closing in on her left. Their support boosted her confidence and she remembered her newfound resolve. "Whether I can be described as 'experienced' or not, James, the simple truth is that I was not aroused."
Jake reached her and placed a proprietorial arm around her waist, causing James to start, then look from him to Connor.
"I can assure you that I have absolutely no wish, whatsoever, to risk the further disappointment of a rerun."
With that, she smiled at Connor and turned away, tucking her arm into Jake's as she finally went in search of that much-needed drink.
Behind her, she could hear Connor's deep voice saying, "She blew you off, bummer."
"Hmph! It's best not to go there, mate. The woman's completely frigid and wouldn't know what to do with a decent man if she found one."
"Really? Connor remarked slyly. "Maybe whoever gave you that bit of information just wasn't a decent enough man then." Connor's voice held amusement as he went on, "Because she seemed absolutely outstanding when she was screaming her enjoyment around a mouthful of my cock, the other week."
With that parting comment, Connor slapped a sputtering James hard on the shoulder, making him stumble forward. He started towards them, while Desi hid her face in the fabric of Jake's jacket sleeve and tried to pretend she hadn't heard, wondering if she should be embarrassed at Connor's disclosure while her shoulders heaved with laughter. She figured since James was already spreading stories about her, he'd probably look more stupid, himself, if he suddenly did a complete about face and turned her from being frigid into a whore.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sipping on her drink—she didn't know what it was, she'd just told Jake to get her something long, cold and alcoholic—she made her way, with Jake and Connor, back to others. She noticed that another woman had joined the group. She was tall and thin and had a slightly gaunt look about her, but she did look a little familiar.
Jake faltered slightly as they approached, and Desi frowned at the protective arm Connor, of all people, placed at her back. Did they think she was going to get into a public slanging match with Joseph or something?
The man in question hurried over as he saw them return, grasping Desi's hands in both of his. "My dear lady, I do hope I didn't offend you," he boomed without an ounce of shame. "Of course, I should have known that good for nothing Eric Oliver was overplaying his description of you. He always was the jealous type. If he couldn't have something for himself, when he was a boy, then he'd break it just to make sure no one else could play with it. Not changed much in his dealings with people, by all accounts," he declared as if that excused whatever misconceptions he'd been harbouring, both about the young Daisy and about what he'd said earlier.
Desi imagined that Joseph Blackwood wasn't a man who was used to having anyone disagree with his opinion, let alone stand up to him.
As they joined the rest of the group, Joseph changed the subject, hinting towards the takeover. "I've noticed that you hold a rather large percentage of shares in Universal Holdings," he commented.
So, he had been checking. She replied lightly as if it were unimportant. "Why, of course. What sort of director would I be if I didn't have complete faith in my own company? Especially since I'm the head of finance. I view it as an incentive. If my capital is tied up in the shares of my own company, then obviously, I work harder to make sure that money is protected and profitable."
Joseph nodded sagely, but thankfully, made no more comment about the takeover plan. The conversation turned to general business for a little while, and Desi was pleased to find her opinions valued as equally as the men's. Regardless of her stellar reputation, that wasn't always the case at these social functions, where most of the women were just arm candy. It wasn't unheard of for a few of the men to forget that some of them actually had a brain.
The other woman in their group, to whom she had yet to be introduced, definitely fell into the arm candy category. Desi supposed she was beautiful, but there was a harshness about her features, and her makeup looked like it had been plastered on with a trowel. The dress she wore was undoubtedly expensive, but Desi found it quite tasteless with its cleavage that gaped open all the way down to the woman's belly button. She still had the feeling that she knew her from somewhere but just couldn't place her. Maybe they'd met at another of these functions in the past.
Whoever she was, she was very obviously bored. She didn't bother trying to contribute to the conversation and grabbed a fresh glass of champagne whenever the waiter passed by. She divided her time between trying to get attention from either Joel or his father, hanging on to their arms and pawing at them, stroking at their sleeves and fluttering her eyelashes in a falsely coy and rather irritating manner. Joseph had shrugged her off several times, but Joel was a little more tolerant, though obviously uncomfortable.
Desi got the impression that she was probably used to being the centre of attention and wasn't too happy that, tonight, she wasn't as Joseph clearly hung on to Desi's every word and seemed happier to debate business and to get Desi's opinion on a wide range of practices than he was to pander to this woman's insecurities, which, Desi guessed, was very much what the elder Blackwood usually did.
Eventually, at the woman's constant plucking at imaginary lint on Joseph's sleeve, he finally stopped talking to Desi and turned to her. "What on earth has gotten into you this evening?" he asked with exasperation.
The woman looked up at him through eyelashes that she fluttered while she pouted. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me and tell everyone our news?" she sulked.
Joseph sighed and turned back to Desi. "I'm forgetting my manners," he began insincerely. "Although, I assumed the two of you must already have met, considering…" He paused and shrugged. "Anyway, Desirae Harper, I'd like you to meet Anita Howard…"
Of course, that's why the woman looked familiar. She was thinner than she used to be. She'd always been slim, but that additional weight loss had hollowed out her cheeks. Her hair was shorter and much more blonde than it had been eleven years ago, but then, clearly, Anita hadn't recognised her, either, so she supposed they were both quite different.
"Anita is Joel's new fiancée. My son has finally decided to make an honest woman of Anita, and about time, too."
