She realized he wasn’t going to give her any help. At least she’d present him with the autographed basketball, she decided. “If you’d like to come to my place for a minute, I have something for you.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“It’s something I saw and thought of you. It’s—well, you’ll just have to see.”
“Okay.”
They walked to the elevator and rode down in silence. Natalie kept sneaking glances at him, but he gave no indication of what he might be thinking.
Belatedly Natalie remembered she had a couple of specific things to thank him for. “It was wonderful the way you complimented Mom on her book,” she said as the elevator opened and they started toward her apartment.
“I meant what I said. It’s a good story.”
“I’m sure it is. But the way you said what you did, telling her with that intense look in your eyes that it was great—I’m sure she felt very special at that moment.”
“And what intense look would that be?”
“You know. The one where your eyes get all dark and the person knows they have your complete attention. It’s very…validating.”
“Hmm.” He had his key out before she’d reached in the pocket of her dress for hers. He unlocked the door with practiced ease.
The familiar way he walked into her apartment stirred the first embers of desire within her. He’d wanted her once. She wondered if he wanted her still.
Bobo greeted each of them with equal enthusiasm. From the way Jonah talked to the dog and gave him a thorough head-to-tail petting, Natalie suspected he’d spent time playing with the dog every time he’d come over to exchange the clothes they’d been using as props. She was completely absorbed in the homey picture of man and dog together. How she wanted to make the image hold.
He gave Bobo a final pat and straightened. “You said you had something for me?”
With only one lamp on in the living room she had trouble seeing the expression in his eyes. Maybe the shadows were playing tricks on her, but she imagined a light of excitement there. Perhaps there was hope for them.
“I’ll get it.” She went into the bedroom to retrieve the gift-wrapped box she’d left on the dresser.
As she picked it up, she heard the bedroom door click softly closed. She turned to find him standing just inside the room, gazing at her. She looked into his eyes and didn’t miss the message in them this time.
Her heartbeat went crazy. “I…I didn’t get a card. Nothing seemed appropriate.” She sounded like an idiot, but she couldn’t just tell him to forget the damn present and take her, instead. She soldiered on. “I just thought, after all you’ve been through because of me and all the help you’ve given my mother, that you deserved something in return.”
“I see.” His gaze held the intensity she’d described minutes ago.
She’d told him that look was validating—a socially acceptable word she’d decided to use at the time because she’d hesitated to be more explicit. But that gaze was more…so much more. When he looked at her with that dark fire in his eyes, a circuit connected that sent pulses of energy to every part of her body. At first the pulses only warmed, but then the heat started, until she was blazing and breathless, longing to burn.
He took the box. She wondered if he’d set it aside and pull her into his arms, but instead he ripped the wrapping off. The display box allowed him to see what was inside through a plastic window, and his eyes widened. He opened the box and dropped it and the wrapping paper to the floor as he turned the basketball slowly, rubbing his finger over the signatures.
Finally he glanced at Natalie. “These are damn expensive.”
“It doesn’t matter. The point is that you—”
His voice was dangerously soft. “The point is that you can afford it, right?”
She stood, wrapped with indecision. How could she confess that she was broke while he was holding a gift she’d bought on credit? She could see how special the basketball was to him, but if he thought she couldn’t afford it, he’d make her take it back. The gesture would be ruined.
“I can afford it,” she said.
His expression hardened. “You’re sure about that?”
“Yes.”
He muttered an oath under his breath.
“What’s wrong? I can tell you like the basketball.”
“Of course I like the basketball.” His fingers tightened on it. “You knew I would.”
“Then what is it?”
“Nothing.” He turned the basketball in his hands and seemed to force a smile. “It’s great, Natalie. Thanks.”
Her heart broke. The extravagant gift had embarrassed him, weighed him down with obligations he didn’t want. He might need her sexually, but his plans for her didn’t extend beyond that.
Well, if all he wanted was sex from her, she’d ignore the weeping in her heart and give herself to him. It would be an act of love, but he would never know. Perhaps the strength of her love would be enough to carry her through the realization that for him, it was just a physical act.
She loosened the sash around her waist. “The book’s done, Jonah,” she murmured.
SO THAT WOULD BE the way of it, he thought as pain engulfed him. She would buy him off with an expensive gift. Sure, she wanted him to make love to her, but she didn’t want him to be in love with her. Unfortunately, he couldn’t help it. Still, if the meeting of their bodies was all she wanted, he would give her the best he had to offer.
“Yes, the book’s done.” He rolled the basketball gently across the bed and it bounced softly on the carpet on the far side. “I’ve missed you.” He drew her into his arms. So sweet. If only she could feel the same love beating through her veins that throbbed in his.
“I’ve missed you, too.” She closed her eyes and lifted her face for his kiss.
He spared a moment to gaze at her, cherishing the tilt of her nose and the curve of her cheek. He would love her tonight, but after that he might have to beg off to keep himself from coming apart. As pleasure and despair spun dizzily through him, he leaned down and slowly tasted the lips that had been denied him for so long.
Her moan of delight nearly broke him. He wanted the right to make her moan like that for the rest of her life. Realizing that some other man would have that privilege brought on violent emotions that had no place in this bedroom tonight. He pushed the thought aside and deepened the kiss.
She responded, but then she always had. The chemistry between them had been incredible from the beginning. But as he undressed her, it was more than chemistry guiding his hands. Each touch, each caress carried the love he couldn’t say aloud. She might put the perfection of their mating down to technique, but when he was loving Natalie, he didn’t even have to think. Instinct took over.
She fumbled with his clothes and he took some satisfaction in her eagerness. She might not love him, but she wanted him more than any woman he’d ever been with. By the time he lowered her to the bed she was trembling and gasping with the force of her need.
And he was no more controlled than she was. His erection throbbed as he quivered with the desire to push deep and claim her. But this might be the last time he’d ever know that moment, the last time he’d ever kiss her breasts, her thighs, all the secret places he’d enjoyed those long weeks ago. So he took his time, and she grew wild.
He liked making her wild. He wanted her to remember tonight for the rest of her life, even if she didn’t plan to spend that lifetime with him. Finally the red haze of passion blotted out all reason. He sheathed himself and moved between her thighs, unable to hold back any longer.
As he gazed down at her, she opened her eyes. The fire there was real, and something else glimmered in those gray eyes, something…something tender and…but no, he must be mistaken. And he didn’t dare make that mistake. With a groan of surrender, he slid into paradise for the last time.
NATALIE TRIED to quell the rising tide of her climax. As much as her body clamored for release, she didn’
t want the moment to end. For this night of lovemaking was goodbye. She couldn’t put herself through this again.
But Jonah knew her too well. His steady movements carried her relentlessly to the brink and quickly hurled her over it with a glorious fury that brought tears to her eyes and a cry to her lips. But a last shred of self-preservation kept her from crying out the words that beat against her heart.
Jonah followed soon after, his own groan of satisfaction seeming to come from deep within his heart.
For one shining moment Natalie wondered if…but no, that was only fantasy. Still, she snuggled against him, needing to be stroked, needing to be cuddled, needing to keep him there a little longer.
Instead, he left the bed, and in no time he was dressing again.
She tried to steel herself, but it wasn’t working. “Do you…have to go right away?” she asked in a tremulous voice.
“Yes.”
“I thought maybe—”
He avoided her gaze. “I have to, Natalie. I wish I could stay. I wish I could be the person you want, a good-time guy to have around, no strings attached, but that’s not me. And so I have to go. I’ll be in touch.” He opened the bedroom door, said something to Bobo and started out of the apartment.
No strings attached? In her dazed state it took Natalie a few seconds to register what he’d said. Once she had, she bolted from the bed and threw on her clothes. Then she grabbed the basketball and ran into the hall. She didn’t realize she’d left the door open until Bobo bounded after her, barking with joy. She didn’t dare stop to take him back.
“Jonah!”
He turned, his finger on the elevator button.
“Don’t you dare get in that elevator!”
Bobo barked with even more excitement, as if he really liked this game, and an apartment door opened down the hall as the tenant peeked out to see what was going on.
“You forgot your basketball,” Natalie said breathlessly as she reached Jonah.
He glanced down at the basketball but made no move to take it.
She swallowed the lump of nervousness in her throat. Maybe she’d misunderstood what he’d said a moment ago. Maybe she was about to make a complete fool of herself. She pressed the basketball against her fluttering stomach. “Who says I don’t want strings?” she asked.
He looked startled.
She took a shaky breath and found the courage to look into his dark eyes. “Maybe I’m crazy about strings.”
His jaw tightened and he glanced at the basketball again. “You could have fooled me. That’s a kiss-off gift if I ever saw one.”
“It is not a kiss-off gift!”
“No?”
“No!” Another door opened a crack and curious eyes peered at them. Natalie ignored them. “I bought it because I wanted you to have something special, because I know how much you love the Knicks and to show you how much I—”
“To show me how much money you had, you mean!” His eyes blazed. “I can afford it, Jonah. Don’t spend too much money on me, but I can afford to spend a lot on you, because I have it to spare.”
Heat washed over her as she understood. What an idiot she’d been not to tell him sooner. “I don’t have a lot of money,” she said. “In fact, I blew my retirement fund to buy you at the auction. I put this basketball on credit, but I’d do it again. I’d do it all again! I don’t care about the money!”
By now doors were open all up and down the hall and a few neighbors had come out to stand and watch, as if she and Jonah were an interesting street act. She had no time to worry about them as she gazed at Jonah, waiting for him to explode at the idea that she’d been so foolish as to spend her retirement money on him. To her amazement, he began to smile.
“Okay, so I’m a financial disaster,” she said. “Go ahead and laugh. I’m completely broke and I can’t afford this basketball, but I’m not returning it to the store, and that’s final.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want you to return it.” A soft light came into his eyes. “But I would like to know exactly why you bought it, considering it’s totally out of your price range.”
“I wanted you to have it.”
“Not good enough. Why did you want me to have it?”
“Because…” She became aware of all the neighbors standing in the hallway, and suddenly she longed for a bit more privacy.
“Because why?” Jonah prompted.
To hell with it, she thought. Privacy was highly overrated, anyway. “Because I love you!” She glanced around at the neighbors as if daring them to comment.
“Hey, that’s great.” Jonah took her by the shoulders. “Because I love you, too.”
Natalie stared up at Jonah, her heart pounding as a big smile bloomed on his face. “You do?”
“I do. And I’m prepared to repeat that in front of the first available preacher, if you’ll stand there and say it with me.”
All the happiness in the world seemed gathered in this narrow hallway as she gazed at the man she loved. “Yes. Yes, a thousand times, yes.”
Jonah’s eyes glowed. “Looks like we need a trip to Buffalo.”
“Looks like.”
A smattering of applause soon turned into a resounding ovation as the neighbors voiced their approval. “String city!” called out one of the neighbors.
Jonah glanced around at the onlookers and back at Natalie. “Do you know your neighbors well?”
“No, but I have a feeling that’s about to change.”
He grinned. “I guess that rules out the idea of a small wedding.”
Natalie began to laugh. “You actually thought that the wedding of the sexy fireman and his puppy lady would be small?”
Jonah groaned. “Here we go again.”
“And you’re going to love every minute.”
“I’m going to love you every minute.” He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “I’ll tolerate all the trappings. Come on.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her down the hall as Bobo pranced happily around them. “Let’s go home.” As he walked past the smiling neighbors, he nodded to each of them. “I’m Jonah Hayes, folks,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll all be seeing a lot more of each other in the future.”
Epilogue
ON HIS WAY DOWN the hall, Jonah called out a greeting to Mrs. Heinrich, the sweet little lady who lived on Natalie’s floor. A month ago he’d helped her paint her bathroom, and he and Natalie had been enjoying Mrs. Heinrich’s apple strudel ever since. Between the strudel and the zabaglione Mrs. R. brought over every time she visited, Jonah had been forced to increase his jogging sessions. Good thing he lived right next to the park now.
As he fit his key in the lock, he experienced the familiar tug of homecoming that would never grow old. He loved being married, loved making a cozy home, and more than either of those things, he loved Natalie LeBlanc Hayes.
She flung open the door before he could turn the knob. “Look! The first copies of Mom’s book!”
“Really?” He grabbed her with one arm and took the book in his free hand. Kicking the door shut with his foot, he ignored Bobo temporarily while he indulged himself in a long, luxurious kiss.
“The book,” Natalie murmured when he came up for air.
“Right. The book.” He started to return to her full lips.
She put her fingertips over his mouth. “I think you’d better take a look.”
“I will. But I’ve already read it.”
“Not the dedication.”
He stilled. Slowly he lifted his head to look into soft gray eyes brimming with laughter. “She didn’t.”
“She wanted to acknowledge all you did for her.” Natalie looked as if she would burst into giggles at any moment.
“Aw, hell.” Jonah released her, opened the paperback in his hand and turned to the dedication page. To firefighter and hero Jonah Hayes, for making this book possible. He glared at Natalie. “Did you know about this?”
“I didn’t. I swear.” She grinned. “I bet Pete will be jealous.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Oh, boy. That’s all I need. How many people buy these?”
“In this country?”
He stared at her in horror. “It goes to other countries?”
“Of course. Heart Books has a very wide distribution.”
“Natalie.”
“Oh, relax.” She patted his cheek. “Being an international hero isn’t such a bad thing. Think of what it will do for your image with your kid.”
“I don’t have a kid.” He gazed at her as she continued to smile. Oh, God. She’d mentioned a doctor’s appointment today, but he’d thought it was routine. His vocal cords refused to work. “Do I?” he croaked.
“You have a start on one. Maybe even two.”
He stood there as a warm feeling poured over him like syrup. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. You’re gonna be a daddy at last.”
“Hot damn.” He scooped her up and whirled her around while she laughed and called him crazy. Bobo scampered in their wake, barking shrilly. Finally he set her down and bracketed her face with both hands. He’d imagined what it would be like to love a woman this much, but his imagination hadn’t done the feeling justice. “I love you.”
The look in her eyes fed all his fantasies. “And I love you,” she murmured. Then her lips curved in an elfin smile and her voice deepened to a sexy whisper. “You’re my hero.”
“You know, when you say it like that…” He leaned down, his lips a fraction from hers. “It doesn’t sound half-bad.” Then he settled in to enjoy a hero’s reward.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5961-8
SINGLE, SEXY…AND SOLD!
Copyright © 1999 by Vicki Lewis Thompson.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
Single, Sexy...And Sold! Page 18
