“Let’s just walk.”
He took her arm, and Susan felt every one of his fingers as he pushed the door open and they exited the building. For several moments, they said nothing. Silence loomed like an elephant between them. After three blocks, Susan couldn’t stand it any longer.
“You wanted to talk,” she said, glancing at him.
He stopped abruptly and stood in front of her. If she hadn’t reacted quickly enough, she’d have walked directly into him.
“I kissed you.”
Would this element of surprise from him ever change? she asked herself.
“You kissed me back,” he continued.
The statement was true, but Susan couldn’t speak for several seconds. When she found her voice, André eclipsed her.
“I want to do it again.”
The clog in her throat returned. Emotions she didn’t know existed exploded inside her. She wanted to kiss him too. Her body almost swayed toward his. A herculean effort kept her in place.
“André,” she finally got out in a voice she didn’t recognize. “It’s not a good idea, the two of us.”
“Why not?”
“You’re the head of the store and I work there.”
“This is the twenty-first century, not Victorian times.”
Susan would have laughed if she could. “I said that wrong. I mean you’re the head of the store, and a relationship between us that didn’t go well would cause tense feelings between us, but it could also affect other departments in the store.”
“Why would you think it wouldn’t go well?”
Susan was confused. She hadn’t expected their conversation to take this turn. “Because it wouldn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“André,” she started, feeling exasperated. “You don’t know me.”
“I’d like to change that.”
“But I know you and your history with women.”
“Rumors,” he said.
He could be teasing. Susan wasn’t sure, but she was serious. “They’re not rumors. Isn’t it a fact that your last five relationships didn’t go past the fourth date?”
André glanced up toward the sky. “I don’t keep records.”
“You should read your press...”
“My press? Where is that?”
“The internet, not to mention the store’s rumor mill. You’re an attractive man and people talk about you.”
“You think I’m attractive?”
Susan swallowed. He would latch on to that one statement. “That’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“That you’re not serious about a relationship. You don’t want one. Just a pretty woman to hang on your arm.”
His face changed. The blood rushing to his face darkened his skin. Susan knew she’d crossed a line. She stood up a little taller and lifted her chin a little higher. If André wanted to challenge what she’d said, he could do it to her face.
“That’s what you think?”
“That’s what your history says. Why should I think anything else?”
“Here’s why.”
Susan didn’t know what André meant until he stepped closer to her and his hands cupped her face. Her heart pounded so loudly, she was sure he could hear it. She was on dangerous ground and she knew she should stop this. But she was past being able to do that. Her breath caught and held in her throat. She felt her world changing with the descent of André’s face. Time slowed down. It didn’t stop, but moved in lessening degrees as his mouth sought hers. She felt his breath mingle with hers, knew the heat of their bodies, as it transferred through the tiny space that separated their lips. Her eyelids adjusted downward, pushed by the weight of anticipation. She saw and felt his features blur before her. Their cheeks were nearly touching, bringing a torture that she both wanted and craved.
Susan’s tongue darted out to wet her lips, which were suddenly Sahara dry. So close to André, she tasted the sweetness of his mouth. Like a narcotic elixir, it hooked her and she clamped her mouth to his, opening to him as his tongue plunged between her teeth. Moving in closer, her body aligned to his, just as their mouths clung to each other. With twisting heads, they turned left and right, balancing the kiss as if it was a choreographed dance that neither was willing to end.
Electricity crackled in the air as the essence of sex they created collided with the charges, and sound snapped to the rhythm of their movements.
Susan’s mouth broke from André’s, as the need for air forced her to give way. They stood together, entwined in each other’s arms, her head on his shoulder. Their bodies heaved air inside. She felt his chest rising and falling in the same rapid pattern as hers rose and set against the solid strength of his. Ragged breathing crashed in her ears like the sound of a conch shell whirling the air inside her head.
Sanity slowly inched back into her brain. It didn’t return completely, giving her full control, but just enough to make her wonder if André could make her feel this delirious with a kiss, what was making love going to be like?
Chapter 5
He hadn’t broken any rules. At least not yet. But that kiss on the street had been closer than he’d come in years to wanting to break his own covenant of not letting his heart get involved in a relationship. This wasn’t a relationship. He told himself that over and over as he walked the streets, on his way to his Fifth Avenue condo.
Then why had he kissed her? Why had he kissed her like that? Like his life had depended on it. And once his lips had touched hers, there had been no going back. There had been no stopping the intensity of the kiss or of the connection he’d felt within himself. What had caused that? He’d been in relationships before. He’d dated seriously before. Yet none of his past relationships had prepared him for the emotions that had assailed him on a public street in the heart of Manhattan.
André crossed block after block, oblivious of people on the street, not seeing the storefronts change to apartment buildings, not even noticing when he passed his own building and walked three blocks farther than necessary. After reversing his direction, he went home, entered his apartment and immediately wanted to call Susan. He needed to talk to her. It seemed there was never enough time to talk. He was different when he was with her, and even when he was only thinking of her, fantasies entered his head, and that seemed to take up a lot of time these days.
André couldn’t tell her they needed to talk again. Clearly they preferred doing other things with their mouths than stringing words together. He paced his apartment, moving from window to door to kitchen to hall, then returning and completing the steps again. Half an hour later, he’d made a decision. He needed to present it to Susan. Checking the clock, he decided to wait until the next day to approach her.
He went to the furniture department, just before Susan’s lunch hour, and was greeted by Jessica. She was obviously stressed. And Jessica didn’t get stressed—at least she didn’t let it show.
“What’s going on?” André asked.
“I had to call in extra help today. It took a while, but I got two extra associates to give up their day off and come in to pick up the slack.”
“Is someone ill?”
Jessica cut her eyes at him as she straightened a pillow on one of the sofas.
“Not that I know of.” Her voice held a bit of sarcasm.
“Then, what happened?”
Jessica straightened her shoulders and stood up to her full height. She tilted her head to look him directly in the face. “Susan quit this morning.”
“Quit!”
“This morning and without notice.”
André was stunned. It took him a moment to regain the power of speech. By then Jessica was talking to herself.
“I don’t understand her,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like her to just abandon a job, especially sinc
e she appeared to like it so much. Did she say anything to you?”
André shook his head.
Jessica did too, but hers was a gesture of confusion. “I thought I was a good judge of character, and this doesn’t seem like something Susan would do. At least not without a really good reason.”
André wondered if he knew the reason, but he said nothing to the department head except thank you.
“She liked you. See if you can find out if we did anything to offend her?” Jessica asked.
“I’ll try,” André said.
“She was the best sales associate I ever worked with.”
André nodded. He knew Jessica liked Susan. Everyone who met her liked her. It was probably the reason he liked her too. But why did she quit? Her reaction had to be because of him. She’d given him reasons why they shouldn’t have a relationship, and he’d replied by kissing her—by ignoring her wishes. But André hadn’t been the only one involved in that kiss. Susan had been on the other side of it.
And she had been willing. He was in no doubt about that. Was that the reason? Was she attracted to him and fighting it? Why?
André didn’t have to hear an answer to that question. He knew why.
* * *
Susan looked cautiously in both directions, outside her building. André must know by now that she no longer works for the House of Thorn. It had gone against her grain to call Jessica and quit over the phone, but she’d had no choice. Jessica would have asked questions Susan couldn’t answer, if she’d gone in. And there was the possibility of running into André. After their last encounter, she couldn’t face him again, not with the way he made her feel.
She’d lied to him. From the moment they’d met at the employee orientation, she’d kept her real identity a secret, and deception, like fraud, had no statute of limitations. It didn’t matter that she had a good reason for doing it or that she hadn’t expected things to progress between them. They’d begun something, but neither had reached the point of no return. Walking away was the best thing to do.
She turned left and merged with the crowds walking toward Madison Square Garden. André wasn’t outside. She was both glad and sad. In the back of her mind, she had the thought that he might rush to find her as soon as the news had reached him. But she didn’t want another encounter like the last time. Expecting him outside her building and not finding him there was both a joy and a sadness.
Susan lifted her head and continued walking. She was meeting Minette for an early dinner. Her apartment was becoming too small, so she was grateful that she had someplace to go. For most of the day, she’d wandered from wall to wall, finding the space cramped and small. She’d turned off her phone just in case he called.
Minette was sitting by the hostess’s stand in the restaurant and stood up when she saw her coming. Her face said she could see the tension in Susan.
“Turn around,” she said, taking Susan’s arm and propelling her out onto the street.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re going to my apartment,” Minette said. “I have a bottle of wine there and you look like you need it.”
“Do I look that bad?”
“Let’s just say you look like there’s a man who’s kept you awake all night, and I don’t mean for sex.”
Twenty minutes later Susan had a glass of wine in her hand and she was sitting on Minette’s sofa. Unlike Susan’s apartment, which had a panoramic view of the city, Minette’s faced the back wall of another building. The place was tiny, but had an intimate, cozy feel to it.
“I know we haven’t known each other that long, but you need someone to talk to, so tell me about him.”
Susan didn’t consider claiming that there was no man involved.
“I quit my job today.”
“What?” Minette sat forward in the chair across from Susan. “Why?”
“I couldn’t work there any longer. Things started to get complicated.” Susan tried to suppress a yawn, but she couldn’t. After being in André’s arms and having him kiss her stupid, she had found it hard to sleep. Her bed looked like she’d been fighting with the sheets all night. And she looked like the sheets had won.
Minette waited for her to continue.
“The man is André Thorn.”
“Thorn?” She frowned. “Didn’t I meet him?”
Susan nodded.
“Is he part of the department store the House of Thorn?”
Again she nodded. “President of the store.”
“What happened?”
Susan took another sip of her wine. She had to be careful now. She didn’t want to reveal the whole and complete truth, not even to Jerome’s daughter.
“I’m not ready for a relationship. And...” She hesitated. “Things were progressing a little too fast.”
“Do you like him?”
Susan nearly sucked in a breath. She hadn’t expected that question. “That was the problem. I do like him, but I don’t see a future for us.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not ready for a relationship. And I don’t think he is either.”
“Why do you say that?”
Susan had known a little about André Thorn before she had first seen him a few months ago. She’d seen him at the wedding they’d both attended, and a friend had pointed him out. His reputation for love ’em and leave ’em was well-known. Why he’d sought Susan out after she’d spilled champagne on him was a mystery to her.
“Susan?” Minette prompted.
“A man in his position has a footprint that follows him. André’s says he’s not serious about relationships. At the moment, neither am I, but I know the dangers of thinking one way and having your heart do something else.”
“So you left.”
“I don’t need that job. I’d much rather focus on my photography. I never expected to get hired anyway. I was new in New York and wanted to meet people.” She hunched her shoulders. “When they offered me the job, I took it. But it’s not working out, so leaving isn’t a hardship.”
Susan hoped she sounded honest. She believed the words, but in the back of her mind, she knew her real reason was the growing feelings she had for André. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to stifle a yawn, but she was so tired.
“I see you’re exhausted, Susan. I have a guest room. Why don’t you take a nap, and when you wake we’ll have a late dinner?”
“I can make it home. It’s not that far.” She yawned again, and her eyes watered a little. She wiped the moisture away with her fingertips.
“Humor me. Just lie down for a few moments and I’ll wake you when dinner’s ready.”
Susan was too tired to fight. It seemed the moment she’d entered Minette’s apartment, the entire night had descended on her. And the thought of a bed was too inviting. Minette helped her up and led her to the bedroom door.
“The bathroom is on the right,” she said.
Susan kicked her sandals off and fell onto the bed. She was asleep the moment she wrapped the bedcover around her. When she woke it was totally dark, and for a moment she was disoriented, not remembering where she was and why the room she was in wasn’t her bedroom. Her memory came back and she heard the faint sound of someone talking in the other room. After pushing her feet to the floor, she sat up, dropped her head into her hands and took a moment to push the cobwebs in her brain away.
She stood up, stepped into her shoes and opened the bedroom door. Minette was curled up on the sofa, watching television. She looked up as soon as Susan reached the end of the tiny hallway.
Minette uncurled her legs and stood up. “I tried to wake you, but you were so tired. I thought it best to let you sleep.”
“What time is it?” Susan asked, looking down at her watch, but finding the room too dark and her eyes too unfocused to read the numbers.
“Midnight
,” Minette supplied.
Susan couldn’t believe she’d slept that long. “I have to go home,” she said.
“We haven’t finished talking,” Minette said. “And if it goes long, you can always sleep here.” Minette grinned. “You must be hungry. Come on—I made things that you don’t have to heat.” In the kitchen, Susan was treated to a Cobb salad, fruit, cheese, wine and French bread.
“Wow, is all this for me?” Her stomach growled at the sight of food.
“I had some, and it’s not often I get to cook.” She used finger quotes to surround the word cook. “For guests,” she finished.
“Really? You don’t have a string of guys vying for you?”
Minette was extremely attractive. Susan couldn’t imagine her spending her nights alone.
“Not at the moment. I was in a relationship, but it didn’t work out.”
“What happened?” Susan asked between bites. “That is, if I’m not being too nosy.”
She looked away, then down at the table. “We wanted different things. I wanted to get married and he didn’t.”
Susan’s heart hurt for her. “I’m so sorry.”
Minette smiled quickly, the kind of smile that said she was hiding her own hurting heart. “I’m doing fine,” she said. “This is New York. There are plenty of men out there. I’ll find one who thinks like me.”
It was time to change the subject. Susan didn’t want to return to her own love life—or rather her loveless life.
“We’ll just have to band together and find two of those guys,” Minette said.
She raised her glass to Minette. They clinked a toast. Yet Susan couldn’t help thinking of the glasses that tumbled together and ended up on André Thorn.
* * *
Where was Susan? André still wore the clothes he’d had on the day before. He’d walked the floor of his apartment like a father whose daughter was out on her first date, finally dropping onto the bed for a couple of hours before waking. He’d called Susan at least seven times since the sun had risen. By nine o’clock he’d made several more calls, not to mention the times he’d called her yesterday afternoon.
Love in New York ; Cherish My Heart Page 7
