by JoAnn Ross
Sitting there, alone in the dark, Molly felt Lena’s love. And her permission.
“You aren’t the only one who’s been praying for Reece to be happy,” Lena’s calm clear voice echoed in her head. “And I know you can make him happy, Molly. Which makes me so very happy.”
Although all the windows were closed, a faint breeze touched her cheek, like the caress of a hand, or petal-soft lips. “Take care of my darlings. The way you always took care of me.” The voice grew softer, a whisper now as it faded away, back into the ether. “Love them, Molly. The way you always loved me.”
Despite her best intentions not to cry and ruin Tessa’s handiwork, the tears were in danger of winning when a sudden rapping on the driver’s window pulled Molly from her reverie.
The elderly man standing outside the car was bathed in the spreading yellow glow of the shopping-center lights. His face, wrinkled from age and years of California sunshine, was etched with concern.
“Are you all right, miss?”
Molly lowered the window. “Yes, thank you.” She wiped away the single tear that had managed to escape and was trailing down her cheek.
“I thought you might be ill.”
“No.” She smiled reassuringly and felt the warmth left behind by her sister flow through her. “I was feeling a little unsettled, but I’m fine now.”
“Are you sure? I can go back in the store and have the manager call someone.”
“No,” Molly repeated. She had already spoken with the one person who could ease her mind. “Really, I’m fine. But thank you so much for caring.”
He seemed a bit embarrassed by her gratitude. “Well, since you’re all right,” he mumbled, “I guess I’ll be on my way. But a word of warning. Don’t be so quick to open your door or window. It’s not that safe for a young woman—especially one as lovely as you—on the streets at night.”
Molly knew that only too well. Thanking him again for his concern, and enjoying having a male—even one well into his seventies—call her “lovely,” she restarted her car and continued on her way to her meeting with the man she loved.
Reece arrived at La Bella Pizza Palace before Molly and decided that the brightly lit pocket-size restaurant with the four wooden tables and long counter for take-out was about the furthest thing from a palace he’d ever seen. It was just as well, he decided considering the thoughts he’d been having about Molly lately—not to mention his dreams! There was no way he could contemplate having sex with his sister-in-law with all these bright lights glaring down on them. Not to mention the twelve-year-old mall rats playing the Space Invaders video game less than six feet away.
He ordered a beer and was wondering what was so important that she needed to talk with him privately, away from the house and Grace, when she walked in the door and every coherent thought in his head scattered.
Her dark hair had been pulled back from her face with a pair of silver combs, allowing it to cascade down her back like an ebony waterfall. She was wearing a silky pink top the color of strawberry sherbet that, while not exactly formfitting, hugged curves he’d never suspected she possessed. And her legs, clad in white jeans seemed a mile long.
She’d done something to her face, as well. The flesh above her startling blue eyes was smudged with a soft pearly-hued wash that echoed her pale pink lips. She looked soft and sweet and innocent. And sexy as hell.
The high heels on her sandals—higher than any he’d ever seen her wear—caused a soft feminine sway of her hips that stirred emotions he’d been trying to ignore for months.
“Hi.” As she sat down in the white wooden chair across from Reece, the subtle scent of white flowers slipped beneath his skin. “I’m sorry I’m late. I hope you haven’t been waiting too long.”
“Just long enough for two galaxies to be blown to smithereens,” he managed, feeling uncharacteristically tongue-tied.
She glanced over at the video game that was bursting forth with a triumphant victory march. “Actually, that’s a fun game. Have you ever played?”
Even with every ounce of his attention focused on those glossy pink lips, Reece didn’t hear what she said.
“What did you say?”
“Space Invaders. Have you ever played it?”
The floral fragrance fogged his mind and his thoughts. “I don’t think so. Grace is more into Barbie dolls and stuffed animals.”
The way he was looking at her—as if really seeing her for the first time—made Molly feel excited and terrified. She tried to remember all the flirting instructions Tessa had given her while they’d been waiting for Dan to arrive.
Number one was look the guy in the eye. Which hadn’t sounded that difficult. But Tessa hadn’t explained what to do if the target wouldn’t stop looking at her mouth.
Deciding it might break the ice between them, Molly stood up again. “How about I challenge you to a game?” she asked. “Loser buys the pizza?”
The words coming out of those luscious pink lips sounded like the familiar Molly of old. But Lord, how the rest of her had changed! Knowing that if he even allowed his gaze to drift down to those soft breasts, he wouldn’t be able to stand up without flashing one hellacious boner at the old lady behind the counter, Reece dragged his gaze back up to her eyes and realized that although they were like crystal at the center, the outer rings were a rich dark morning-glory color exactly like Grace’s.
“You’re on.” His acceptance of her impulsive bet was little more than a croak. As he followed her the few steps across the room, Reece wondered why the hell he’d never noticed that Molly had a terrific ass.
He watched her ask the boys if they could have a turn and was unsurprised when they agreed. As they backed away from the machine, they continued to stare at her like the males on a deserted island might stare at a mermaid that had suddenly washed up onto their beach.
He watched with admiration as she blasted away at the alien invaders through several levels before finally having her spaceship blown up. His own turn at the controls lasted less than a minute.
“It takes a while to get the hang of it,” she consoled him. “How about two out of three?” She looked back over her shoulders at her adolescent audience. “Would you boys mind if we tried again?”
As the boys shook their heads, Reece decided that she could probably ask them to throw themselves off the Santa Monica pier and they wouldn’t hesitate.
This time he managed to make it to the third level before being blasted into nano fragments. When Molly was finished she was not only elevated to starship captain, the display of fireworks that lit up the screen announced that she’d saved the world and her score was being added to the official record.
“I’m sorry.” Caught up in the competition, Molly remembered, too late, Tessa’s instructions to always let the man win.
“You should be. When I took you up on that bet, I never expected you to cheat.”
“Cheat?”
Reece heard the murmur of angry voices and realized he was about to talk himself into a pizza-parlor brawl with her young admirers. “It’s damn near impossible to think with your perfume distracting me.”
“Oh.” She smiled at that, a slow, sultry siren’s smile so different from the bright, friendly one she usually bestowed on him.
They stood there, only a few feet apart, too close for comfort. And not nearly as close as he’d like to be. “How hungry are you?” Reece asked suddenly.
Molly read the unmistakable invitation in his eyes and realized that contrary to what she’d told Tessa, there would be no testing of the waters tonight. Feeling more reckless than she ever had in her life, she decided to dive right in, even if she did end up over her head.
“Not very.” Her voice was soft and a little shaky. “How about you?”
“I had a late lunch.” That was a lie. Actually, he’d spent the entire day on the phone calling various hospital board members, but he didn’t want to destroy whatever was happening here with discussions about his work. “What woul
d you say to a rain check on the pizza? And going for a drive, instead.”
Forgetting the rest of Tessa’s flirting tips, and refusing to play coy, Molly put her hand in his outstretched one. “I’d say yes.”
“This is amazing!” Dan was turning the pages in the black journal, stunned by what the entries revealed. Tessa had alleged the journal to be a copy of a source book Elaine used to brief the girls on their various customers. The names of many of the city’s heaviest hitters were represented, along with their sexual preferences and a detailed record of the times and places of their dates. There were also enough out-of-town names to fill several pages of Who’s Who listings in finance, politics and academia.
“You’ve gotta be exaggerating about this one.”
She glanced down at the hand-written entry. The Southern senator was renown for his fiery speeches upholding family values.
“Dog collars are very popular. Not to mention leashes.”
“And rolled-up newspapers?”
“The Washington Post,” she said with a quick grin. The Valium had her feeling wonderfully relaxed. Almost as if she were wrapped in fluffy pink cotton candy. She had to restrain herself from crawling onto his lap.
“Amazing.” He shook his head. The deviant behavior didn’t surprise him, but he was astounded by the list of customers.
“Every man has his secret fantasies.” She looked at his ruggedly cut lips, remembered their taste and longed to feel them on every inch of her warming flesh. “I’ll bet a few of yours are just as kinky, in their own way.”
“You’d lose.” He damn well wasn’t going to discuss his sexual fantasies with this woman. Not when all it took was the memory of that shared kiss to make him hot.
“I can’t believe you’re a boring old missionary-position man.” She pressed a palm against the erection that had begun to stir beneath his jeans. “And you can’t be gay.” She leaned forward and traced a line around his lips with the tip of her tongue. “I can tell by a man’s kiss when he wants me.”
“You’re right. I’m not gay.” He took hold of her wrist and returned her hand to her own lap. “Just discriminatory.”
His cool tone cut its way like a chilled scalpel through the soft drug-induced fog surrounding her mind. Tessa was engulfed by an icy flood of embarrassment that was quickly followed by anger.
A sound like the retort of a pistol rang out. Tessa was surprised to see her hand resting on his cheek. Surprised, but not at all regretful. The bastard deserved it, she told herself.
His expression revealed not a flicker of response. Only that same cool disdain that had made her strike out at him in the first place.
“Now that you’ve gotten that out of your system, perhaps we can get back to work.” His tone was mild but she felt a muscle jerk beneath her fingertips. “I want to know which of these guys you think your boyfriend might have been shaking down.”
“Blackmail’s such an ugly word.” She took her hand away; the white fingerprints contrasted vividly with his tanned face.
“Not nearly as ugly as murder.”
The warning, softly spoken, hit home. As she reluctantly turned her attention back to the damn journal, it crossed Tessa’s mind that were they to ever meet, Detective Daniel Kovaleski and the general would probably get along like gangbusters.
Molly was surprised when Reece pulled into the driveway of a condominium in Brentwood.
“I leased it a few months ago,” he said in answer to her unspoken question when she glanced over at him. “After you complained about women staying over at the house with Grace there.”
“Oh.” Some of the excitement she’d been feeling drained out of her. Knowing that he’d brought all his other women to this secret trysting place made their long-awaited experience less special. And made her feel more than a little cheap.
“It’s not the same,” he assured her, as if he possessed the ability to read her mind. “Would it make you feel any better to know that I’ve been arguing with myself about this for months? And that while I’m still not sure it’s the right thing for us to be doing, I also know that you mean far more to me than any other woman I’ve brought here?”
His words, instead of making her feel better, only succeeded in embarrassing Molly more. What kind of woman would he think she was? It was the nineties, for heaven’s sake, nearly the millennium and she was behaving like some throwback to the past century.
“You don’t have to say that, Reece, really.” She forced a smile that wobbled only slightly. “I’m a big girl. I know what I’m doing.”
Looking at her earnest face, illuminated by the slanting silver moonlight streaming in the car window, Reece felt a rush of tenderness.
“We could go to a hotel.”
“No.” That would even be worse. She couldn’t imagine sitting in the lobby waiting for him to register, neither of them with any luggage. She might as well be wearing a scarlet A on her chest. Molly groaned inwardly. She was truly hopeless. Now she was thinking like some helpless heroine from an eighteenth-century novel. “This is fine, Reece. Really.”
He gave her a long look. This is quicksand, pal, he warned himself. One more step and you could end up stuck for good. Even knowing that, he found himself unable to resist. Sighing his surrender, he leaned across the center console and brushed his mouth against hers. Once. Twice. A third time.
Her lips reminded him of rose petals, soft and velvety and oh-so-sweet. He deepened the kiss, and as her lips parted, then opened, like blossoms opening to the lure of a sultry summer sun, Reece knew he was lost.
Somehow—Molly had no memory of it happening—they made their way from the car into the condo. The furnishings, all chrome and glass and black leather, seemed unsuited to the Reece she’d always known.
“I leased it furnished,” he said as he viewed the puzzled frown lines on her forehead as her glance swept the room.
“It’s very nice,” she lied.
Reece shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess,” he lied back. When he’d first seen the condo, he’d thought it possessed all the personality of an operating room. Since he was only interested in the bed, it could have been draped in silk and satin like a pasha’s seraglio for all he cared. “Would you like a drink?”
Molly almost smiled at that, thinking back on the night she’d drunk wine with Joe and ended up kissing him. The night she’d dreamed that it had been Reece whose mouth had created such burning need.
“I don’t think so.” The few kisses they’d shared in the car already had her head buzzing. If she was going to go through with this, Molly fully intended to remember every detail in the morning.
“Well.” Christ, he couldn’t ever remember being so damn nervous with a woman. Reece felt like some anxious, horny teenager about to experience sex for the first time.
They stood only a few feet apart, looking at each other. Molly was unreasonably uncomfortable, wondering if he was comparing her to all the other glamorous, sexy women he’d brought to this place and was finding her lacking.
She need not have worried. Reece was fascinated by this woman who was both foreign and familiar all at the same time, and absolutely enthralled by the open desire shining in her wide blue eyes.
“I’m scared,” she admitted breathlessly.
Reece understood that she was not referring to the physical act. She wasn’t the only one concerned about what the impact of what they were about to do would have on their relationship.
“Me, too.” He managed a smile. “Scared to death.” He touched his hand to her face. “It’ll be all right.”
“Yes.” She covered his hand with hers. “And I promise to respect you in the morning.”
He laughed at that, a rich, bold laugh that banished the lingering discomfort. Molly’s ability to diffuse awkward situations was one of the things he’d always loved about her.
Loved? The word reverberated through his mind like the civil defense siren that used to sound every noon in downtown L.A. This wasn’t about love, Re
ece reminded himself. Oh, it was a lot more than the lust he’d felt for all the other women—the ones Variety had called “Longworth’s playmates.”
But love? No way. Love was too dangerous. Too sneaky. It lulled you into complacency, got you to trust, to relax in its warm golden comfort, then in one fell swoop, pulled everything away, leaving you alone. And empty.
Closing his mind to that perilous thought, Reece laced their fingers together and began walking toward the bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The bedroom was decorated in the same sparse, sterile style. The huge bed dominated the room.
Molly looked up at Reece, her anxious heart in her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”
If any other woman had said that to him, Reece would have taken it as a sign to run. But the woman standing in front of him, looking up at him with a blend of desire and uncertainty was Molly—his Molly—and that made all the difference.
“Don’t worry.” He rocked forward on the balls of his feet and touched his mouth to hers. “I do.”
It was not a hard kiss. It did not plunder, not even when he slipped his tongue between her lips and swept the dark moist interior of her mouth in an enervating way that made her go weak at the knees and forced her to hold on to his shoulders. Part of her felt on the verge of crumbling to the floor. Another part felt as if she were floating, high above them, in some misty, glorious place.
The dazzling kiss went on and on, creating warm ribbons of golden light that flowed through her veins like liquid sunshine.
“Ah, Molly,” he murmured against her mouth, “if you had any idea how many times I’ve dreamed of this.”
Her eyes, which had fluttered shut, flew open. “Me, too,” she admitted hesitantly.
She felt his smile curve beneath her lips. “I’m glad I wasn’t the only one suffering.” He wrapped his arms around her and drew her into the cradle of his thighs. “But this is even better than my dreams.”
