By Candlelight

by Janelle Taylor

  “April.”

  He groaned and cuddled her closer. She ran a finger lazily through his slightly rough chest hair, enjoying the moment. “Don’t leave yet,” he begged.

  “No, not yet…”

  After long, tender moments of kissing, her mouth curved into a smile. “What?” Jake demanded.

  “I can’t leave anyway.”

  “Why not?”

  “You’ve got to take me home,” she reminded him.

  “Then, you’re never leaving. I decree that you’re staying with me all night.”

  Kate shook her head, rubbing her face against his chest in the process. “My daughter’s home alone with her boyfriend, ostensibly cooking him dinner.” My daughter, not our daughter, her conscience reminded her with a little twinge.

  “The trails of parenting,” he said ironically.

  Kate shut her mind to the pitfalls awaiting her over the April issue. She couldn’t think about it now. She couldn’t.

  Jake’s bedside phone buzzed, and he groaned in annoyance. He let the answering machine pick up, but when Phillip’s voice came on the line, he snatched up the receiver.

  “Hello?” His voice sounded curiously sleepy from their hours of lovemaking.

  “You’re in bed already?” Phillip questioned in surprise.

  Jake could have retorted with, “You’re sober now?” but decided against it. Put-downs were more his brother’s forte. “What’s up?” he asked.

  Tactfully, Kate slipped out of bed and started putting on her clothes. Jake motioned her back, but she shook her head.

  “I meant to tell you earlier. I saw the folks today,” Phillip said casually. “I told them it wasn’t working.”

  “What wasn’t working?” Jake flipped back the covers and patted the mattress, but Kate grinned and headed for the living room.

  “The job at the company. You said yourself the employees didn’t appreciate me taking in a substantial income when I did next to nothing.” Phillip’s tone was light.

  He had Jake’s full attention now. Something was going on with Phillip, and it was time to find out exactly what. And yes, Jake had expressed those feelings. “So, what are you planning to do, quit?”

  “I asked our father for a piece of Talbot. Something easily broken off.”

  “What?” Jake sat up straight. Talbot Industries was not easily divided, and several departments and properties helped support other ones.

  “Now, don’t be greedy, little brother. You know you’ve wanted to be rid of me for some time. Dear Old Dad’s thinking it over.”

  “Well, I hope he comes to his senses. Phillip, you own stock. Part of the company’s yours already!”

  “Those shares are not under my control right now,” Phillip reminded Jake tersely. “Father’s got control.”

  “If you really wanted to sell them, I’d talk to Phillip,” Jake said. He and his brother alike could never seem to call their father “Dad” or any other familial endearment. The man was too austere, too cold.

  “A fat lot of good it’ll do you. Nope, this is a better way.”

  “What part of the company are you thinking about?”

  “Oh, nothing much. I’ve got some things I’m working on.”

  “Working on?” The undercurrents here were making Jake very nervous. His brother’s interest in feathering his own nest could be disastrous for the company as a whole.

  “Hey, I’d even take over that unlucky strip mall. Just thought you oughtta know I’ll be out of your hair soon.”

  Though there had always been hard feelings between his parents and Phillip, and though a part of him was relieved at the idea of having Phillip’s problems separated from Talbot Industries once and for all, Jake couldn’t help questioning his brother’s true motivations. Phillip was tricky. He didn’t operate in a straightforward manner. Half the time there was a hidden agenda somewhere, but for the life of him, Jake couldn’t see what it was this time.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” Jake murmured, hanging up. Throwing on a pair of boxers and jeans, he walked barefooted into the living room where Katie was once more fully garbed in her denim, button-up dress and strappy sandals. Her hair was down now, however, after Jake had dispensed with the comb she had twisted it in to run his fingers through its silken strands. She looked so beautiful to him that he couldn’t keep himself from hugging her close again, feeling her warmth against his bare chest.

  “You’re not making it easy for me to leave,” she pointed out.

  “That’s the idea.”

  “Jake, please,” she half laughed, as his lips trailed down the soft skin of her neck and throat.

  His doorbell rang at that moment. Stifling a curse of annoyance, he glanced toward the entryway as if it were the door’s fault itself that he couldn’t continue his lovemaking.

  “I’ll get my purse,” Kate told him, heading back for the bedroom as Jake, after a moment of watching the soft sway of her hips, answered the bell.

  Sandra Galloway stood on the threshold. “Mind if I come in?”

  Jake forced himself to be polite, though his first instinct was to shut the door in her face. Cutting through whatever she was about to say, he told her flatly, “Sandra, there isn’t any pact between us. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.”

  “Oh, no.” Her mouth drew down unhappily. “You were pretty clear. And I’m sorry I was angry, earlier.”

  “It’s all right.”

  Jake didn’t want to see her. He didn’t want this conversation. He only wanted Kate. In his arms. Right now. For some reason it seemed imperative that they jell all the details of their relationship right now, though why that should be he really couldn’t say.

  “You didn’t have to take me off the job!” Sandra accused, her dark eyes full of hurt. “I can still do it.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “When I got home, there was a message from my boss. I got the impression you’d called him right after dinner. Maybe even from the restaurant!”

  Jake stared at her. “I didn’t make a call. I’ve been—busy.”

  “Yes, I know. With Kate Rose.” Her lips twisted. “You don’t have to lie, Jake. I’m a big girl.”

  “Are you saying someone at Talbot asked to have you dismissed as liaison with Turner and Moss Advertising?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “It’s not true.”

  “Yes, it is,” she argued. “I’m off the account.”

  Jake’s gaze narrowed. He realized there were undercurrents he had paid no attention to until now. “Well, I certainly didn’t ask to have you removed. It may have been Phillip,” he added uncomfortably.

  “Phillip! He doesn’t have any control!”

  “He could have called up and said he was me,” Jake pointed out. “It’s happened before.”

  “That bastard!”

  “What is your relationship with him, Sandra?” Jake wanted to know.

  She started. “I don’t have a relationship with him.”

  “There’s something going on. I don’t really care what it is; I just don’t want it to influence Talbot’s business.”

  Her wounded eyes searched his. “That’s the problem; you really don’t care, do you?” Jake didn’t answer, and Sandra made a sound of frustration. “All right, I met Phillip first, but it was nothing. When you and I got together, things clicked!”

  Before he could respond she strolled over to him, sliding her hands down his bare arms. Jake’s hands were in his pockets, and he waited in silence, uneasy. His ears were tuned to his bedroom. Kate could come out at any minute.

  “Can’t it be that way again?” Sandra whispered pleadingly.

  Kate chose that moment to throw open the bedroom door. Jake’s attention was diverted, and Sandra’s eyes widened as she realized they weren’t alone. Jake attempted to gently pull back, but Sandra, quick as a cat, kissed him hard on the lips. He froze, a vision of her bright red mouth imbedded on his brain. S
he released him just as Kate entered the room. “For old time’s sake!” she declared, tossing Kate a bright smile as she twisted open the front knob.

  Kate was frozen, one hand on the bedroom door, the other clutching her purse. Her golden eyes were wide as they surveyed the scene.

  “You’ll talk to my boss, then?” Sandra threw over her shoulder to Jake as she sailed into the outer hallway. “I’d hate to lose Talbot Industries.”

  “I’ll take care of it.”

  The door shut slowly behind her.

  Jake swiped at his lips with the back of his hand, removing the traces of Sandra’s kiss. “It’s about time you showed up,” he accused Kate. “I was being attacked by a predatory female.”

  “Really?” She arched a brow.

  “It was terrible. She had me by the throat. If you hadn’t come in when you did, it would have been ugly.”

  Katie’s pink lips curved into a smile in spite of herself. He knew just what to say to dispel her fears.

  “It appears Sandra was taken off our account by mistake,” Jake added. “Probably Phillip’s doing.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  Kate gazed thoughtfully in the direction Sandra had exited. She didn’t trust the woman, and why should she? Sandra had made it clear she wasn’t giving up on Jake, and for all Kate knew, tonight was just a respite. She could start her campaign to win him back again tomorrow, although Kate reminded herself that Jake seemed less than interested in the fiery brunette.

  With a sound of impatience, Jake crossed the room in ground-devouring strides, gathering her close. She could smell Sandra’s distinctive feminine scent on his skin and see the faint remnants of blood red lipstick smeared at the corners of his mouth.

  With her fingertip, she gently rubbed away the telltale signs. “She’s branded you.”

  “God!”

  Jake dropped Kate and scrubbed at his mouth. Kate started laughing. For that he pulled her into his arms, hauling her over his shoulder back to the bedroom. Kate grabbed on to the casing around the bedroom door. “Stop! No! You must take me home!”

  “You’re driving me crazy,” he muttered.

  “Jake, please!”

  “Oh, all right.” Reluctantly, he set her on her feet. “But I want to see you again tomorrow. Same time, same place.” He pointed to his bed just in case she had missed his meaning.

  “Tomorrow,” she assured him, her eyes laughing into his. Could he tell how much she loved him? She had the feeling there was no way she could hide it.

  The call came in at closing on Thursday evening. Kate was talking to Jillian, who had reminded her yet again about their date with Jeff and Michael the following night, when April, who had taken the call, slammed down the phone and shrieked with delight.

  “I got it! I got it! Oh, geez. Oh, wow. I feel like I’m going to be sick!” Her eyes glimmered a bright blue, and her lips trembled. She started quivering violently from head to toe.

  “Are you okay?” Kate demanded at the same moment Jillian cried, “The Talbot audition? You got the Talbot job?”

  “Sit down,” Kate ordered, leading her shaking daughter to a chair.

  “Yes!” April gulped. “Yes!”

  “That’s fabulous!” Kate squeezed April in a bear hug.

  “Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” April collapsed in the reception chair like a rag doll. She gazed blankly at her mother, then started, as if a sudden thought had caused physical pain. “You knew already, didn’t you?” she accused.

  “What? No! Why would I know?”

  “Because you’ve been seeing Mr. Talbot every night this week.”

  “Just two nights,” Kate protested, but her face flushed in spite of herself. Two wonderful nights, she could have added. “He wouldn’t tell me what was going on at Talbot. We don’t talk about company business.

  “What do you talk about?” Jillian asked, crossing her arms over her chest and lifting a brow.

  “The weather,” Kate declared flatly, to which they both laughed.

  “I can’t believe it,” April said, pushing her hands through her hair. Her face glowed with delight. “I just can’t believe it. They picked me. But I thought I was going to be too young. They picked me!”

  “Of course they picked you,” Jillian declared. “You’re perfect.”

  “I’m supposed to be there Monday morning for the first day’s shooting. Oh, gosh. What’ll I wear? Do you think I should cut my hair?”

  “No!” Kate and Jillian cried in unison. Kate added, “They like you just the way you are.”

  April leapt to her feet. “I’ve got to tell Ryan. He’ll just die. I’m going to die right here! Oh, Mom!”

  Kate’s heart swelled with pride. April was so smart and so adult, and yet such a kid sometimes. She couldn’t wait to see Jake tonight again and thank him for making her—their—daughter so happy. “Jake’s coming over to our place this evening,” she informed April. “You can talk about it then.”

  “I’m going to kiss his feet!” Her brow turned into little lines of worry. “Are you sure you didn’t have anything to do with this?”

  “Positive. We’re just—dating,” she said again, beginning to really hate that term. It meant everything from sharing a meal to sexual fulfillment these days. Guiltily, she wondered if she was destined to be swept aside afterward as easily as Sandra had been.

  “I’ll call off tomorrow night with Michael,” Jillian said a bit reluctantly. “It’s pretty clear you’re ‘taken.’”

  Kate had been hinting around for just that, but Jillian’s capitulation made her feel like an ingrate. “No, let’s go. Just because I’m seeing Jake doesn’t mean I can’t have fun with some friends.”

  “As long as Michael’s informed of the facts,” Jillian said.

  “Well, yes, that would be better.” Kate dimpled.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

  Kate nodded. After all, she reminded herself, it was just one evening, and she had already told Jake she was busy on Friday. He had taken the news in stride, although maybe that was because she had mentioned it just after they had made the kind of passionate love that left no doubt about her feelings for him. His, for her, seemed just as strong. The only tiny bit of strangeness was that neither one of them seemed to be able to say those three little words that would have clinched everything.

  “Oh, let’s go home,” April said, her young face dazed but elated. “I can’t stand it. I seriously don’t believe what just happened!”

  “Believe it,” Kate said with a grin.

  When they got to the house Ryan was already waiting in the driveway, his body slouched insouciantly against his beat-up car. Kate regarded him tolerantly. Maybe it was having Jake in her life, but she didn’t feel the same anxiety she once had upon encountering her daughter’s boyfriend. Then, also, April truly had a cool head on her shoulders. Ryan wasn’t about to talk her into anything she didn’t want to be talked into.

  It was just Kate’s own old fears at work. Her mind still shied away from those awful months after graduation when she had learned she was pregnant, abandoned and virtually without any family support. Talk about the acid test into the adult world.

  With a mother’s ferocity, she vowed again that April would never suffer the way she had.

  Jake stopped at the flower shop near his office. He bought a dozen yellow roses, then after some thought, purchased another dozen of red. The sweet, familiar scent filled his head, and he drew it deep into his lungs, hesitating long enough to have the salesclerk staring at him wonderingly.

  He didn’t understand himself. He was as lovesick as he had been eighteen years ago. His brain was full of images of Katie, and though he knew it was the height of ridiculousness, he couldn’t—and wouldn’t even try to—contain himself.

  Throughout the day Kate entered his thoughts. On the treadmill, at lunchtime, in the latest phone conversation with Diamond Corporation. And though he
sensed with his own innate talent and business acumen that something was rotten in Denmark about that particular deal, right now he couldn’t summon up the will to care.

  It hadn’t helped when Sandra had blown into his office while he was daydreaming away, his gaze aimed toward the hazy cobalt sky. It hung like a curtain over the slow-flowing Willamette, the river coursing directly through Portland’s city center, dividing the west side from the east on its languorous way to the Columbia River. He had been entranced by the view, another symptom that something was definitely wrong with him, since normally all he could think of was Talbot Industries no matter how beautiful the vista.

  “So you’re using April Rose,” Sandra said without preamble.

  Jake sighed. For a woman supposedly grateful that he had gotten her job back for her, Sandra was awfully abrasive. “We decided to use April Rose as the spokesperson. Damn near a unanimous vote all around.”

  “Is Phillip jumping for joy?”

  “You’d have to ask him,” Jake informed her shortly.

  Sandra looked like she had a lot more to say. In truth Jake wished she would just leave. He hadn’t wanted her to be fired from Talbot’s account at his brother’s whim, but he had to admit it might be a lot easier if she weren’t around so much.

  “You never gave us much of a chance,” she suddenly put in, and Jake inwardly groaned, realizing they were about to start Round Two.

  “Look…” Jake hesitated, not wanting this. He felt guilty and angry, both at himself and her. Yes, he had been callous to drift into a relationship that he had sensed had no future, yet in all fairness to himself, Sandra had certainly pushed things forward at a quicker pace than he might have chosen.

  “You were already seeing her, weren’t you? That’s why you ran off to the beach.”

  “I wasn’t seeing her then,” he disabused flatly.

  “Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? Since things have clearly progressed pretty quickly since then.”

  “Yes, they have.” He met her gaze squarely. There was only so much sidestepping he was willing to do.

  “So, she’s the reason,” Sandra said through tight lips.

  Jake could have cured her of that opinion. But was it kinder to let her think she had been thrown over for someone else rather than explaining that he had never had serious feelings for her in the first place? There was no good answer during a breakup.