“What a bitch!” Joey seethed as she stormed through the suite door behind her fiancé. “I can’t believe Larry dumped me for her.”
“Laurence,” Ryan corrected.
“Bite me,” she snapped, and pulled the pins from her hair. “Do you know she actually had the gall to call me a gold digger?”
“Well, to be fair—our engagement is sort of out of the blue. People may think that.”
“Do you think that?”
“Of course not.” He drew her into her arms and smiled when her body surrendered against him. “I told you before I think you’re perfect.”
She shook her head and pulled away. “You can stop that now. We’re alone.”
“Stop what?”
Joey looked at him. “Stop looking at me as though you’re making love to me. Stop saying everything I’ve always wanted to hear. Love. Children. Immortality. It’s starting to turn out that the best relationship I ever had never happened.” She glanced down and stared at her hand through a thin sheen of tears. “Look at this ring. A week ago I would have killed for a ring like this. I still might. Is it really six carats?”
“Something like that.” Ryan smiled. “You know, uh, Carlina suggested we go over a few things in her script...around one in the morning—about an hour from now. Did, uh, Larry make his move?”
Joey dropped her hands. “He slipped me a note.”
“And?”
She shrugged. “He wants me to try to get away so we can talk about...returning a few items we still have at each other’s places.”
“He has clothes hanging in your closet?”
Another shrug. “A few.”
Ryan nodded and slid his hands into his pants pockets. “Are you going to go?”
“It’s sort of silly not to.” She shifted and twisted the ring on her finger. “What about you? Are you going to go discuss scripts with the dragon lady?”
“I did promise you I would help--”
“Yeah, but I don’t want it to seem like I’m sort of pimping you out or anything.”
“No, I’ll happy to do it,” he protested, but felt like a dunce when her face collapsed.
“Oh.” Joey shuffled past him. “Then I better go get changed.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Me, too.”
It was a little more difficult for Laurence and Carlina to sneak off to their separate, secret rendezvous--but it wasn’t impossible. They returned to their suite—all smiles, fake sunshine and hidden agendas.
Laurence decided to fake an emergency medical call from his practice. Given the time difference, he was fairly certain Carlina would fall for it. Other than free nips and tucks, she rarely asked questions about his practice.
Keep your lies short, sweet, and she will never suspect a thing, he assured himself. At least, he hoped.
“Well, dinner was highly amusing,” Carlina broke their silence as she sat on the bed and removed her pumps.
“Oh, how so?” He played dumb. However, judging by the sharp edge of her stare, it wasn’t such a good idea. “Oh, you mean Jo-Jo and Donovan?”
“What else would I mean?” she sulked. “Seems your ex wasted no time getting over you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” His defenses snapped to attention.
“Nothing, darling.” Her voice oozed honey, but her smile remained as tight as a patient’s first face lift. “I just mean I was stunned.”
So was he. “Did either of them mention when the happy occasion would be?”
“They really didn’t talk much, since they were too busy cramming their tongues down each other’s throat.” She shuddered. “It was disgusting.”
The vision of Joey when she first floated into the restaurant with a swirl of bubbly laughter replayed in his mind. “Yeah...disgusting.” He turned away from Carlina.
Laurence had always known that Joey was attractive, but more in a cutesy way. He had no idea she could transform into such a polished gem.
“And that nonsense about eight children,” Carlina harped, slithering out of her black dress. “Did you buy all of that?”
“Jo-Jo always wanted a big family. She’s the fourth of six children. I believe one of her sisters has five children. It was nothing we saw eye-to-eye on, but...”
Caution seeped into Carlina’s voice. “But what?”
He shrugged. “That speech Donovan made about immortality--”
“What about it?”’
“I don’t know. It has a certain ring of truth to it, don’t you think?”
Carlina’s face collapsed while her eyes bulged with horror.
“Plus, babies are the new fashion accessory in Hollywood,” he quickly added.
Just as quickly Carlina’s expression turned thoughtful. “That is true.”
Laurence nodded, but there was something else that Ryan said that really had him thinking. “I can hardly wait to have girls with dark, mesmerizing eyes, rich flawless skin and smiles that remind me each time how lucky I am for marrying their mother.”
If ever there was a woman who could reproduce beautiful babies, it would his Jo-Jo. His. Laurence turned the word over in his mind. How was it that another man had replaced him in her heart so fast? Last week she was in love with him.
Sure, Joey could be a little fickle from time to time, but her feelings for him were real--weren’t they?
Laurence snatched off his tie and slid out his suit jacket. Later tonight he would get his answers, and he was more than confident he could prove that Joey Adams was still in love with him.
#
Joey selected a simple black dress with pink cardigan sweater from her new wardrobe. A part of her wanted to dress to impress; the other part didn’t want to come off looking like she was trying to hard. She removed all her jewelry except for the eye-popping engagement ring.
When she stepped out of her bedroom, she hadn’t expected to bump into Ryan, still dressed in this evening dinner suit.
“Ah, nice choice,” he complimented, handing her a flute of champagne. “I figured you’d need this before you raced out of here.”
She accepted the drink with trembling hands. “Thanks.”
He smiled, but his eyes were hard with disappointment. “Have you prepared what you’re going to say to him tonight?”
“Prepared?”
“When he starts interrogating you about us.” Ryan walked in a circle around her. Occasionally he brushed his body against her. “First thing he’d want to know is if you’re truly in love with me. Then he’d want to know when you fell in love with me, and then lastly--do you still love him?”
“Oh.” Joey’s body stiffened each time he touched her. “Well, then I guess I’ll tell him that I love you more than life itself.”
Ryan stopped walking. “What is it that you love about me?”
She glanced up at him. “What?”
“In case he asks.”
“I, uh, I love how when I do something silly¾like getting wedged in a men’s bathroom window, you’re there when I fall.”
“Land is more like it.” He chuckled and lightened the mood.
She smiled and continued, “I love how you’ve become like a knight in shining armor--showing up every time I need rescuing.”
“A knight, huh?” He shook his head. “Might want to keep that under wraps. It could ruin my reputation.”
“Don’t get me wrong. You still have asshole tendencies.”
They laughed and sipped their drinks. The thought that she should be leaving to meet Laurence crossed her mind, but she made no move toward the door. Instead, she drained her glass in one long gulp.
“How about another one?” he asked, but there was a hidden meaning in his eyes. Stay with me tonight.
Joey’s pulse leapt and her knees trembled as she realized one thing: she was exactly where she wanted to be. “I’d love another drink.”
#
Laurence was spared having to tell Carlina his grand lie when she emerged from the bathroom dressed in a sle
ek black-and-white pantsuit and stating she and her assistant had arranged to read lines before her first day of shooting.
If he weren’t so eager to see Jo-Jo again, he would’ve questioned such an arrangement at a strange hour. As it was, he bade his fiancée good-night and made a show of yawning and stretching before heading off to bed.
However, the moment the door shut behind Carlina, he peeled the sheet off of him and climbed out bed. He’d asked Jo-Jo to meet him in the gardens around one. If he hurried, he would just make it.
He dressed in a flash and charged out of his suite like a man on mission. As he rushed down the hall, he couldn’t believe how hard and fast his heart pounded at the thought of seeing his Jo-Jo.
She didn’t love Donovan, she couldn’t. At most, he was a rebound guy. All he needed was a few minutes alone with her, and once again she would be wrapped around his finger. Maybe he should see about getting a separate suite. He could prove to her how much he still cared for her.
But what about Carlina?
Laurence quickly shook that troubling question from his head. Determined, he would cross that bridge when he came to it. Right now he wanted to Jo-Jo to confess she still had feelings for him.
Heck, if she just showed up, he would have his answer. A few minutes later he strolled out his hotel and into it beautiful but cold gardens where he waited and waited...and waited.
Chapter 22
Joey didn’t leave after her second drink or after her third. In fact, while the night flowed effortlessly into another day, she and Ryan stood out on the breezy terrace, soaking in the panoramic view of Milan.
They stood close to each other; but not close enough, not as close as they would like. Each behaved as though waiting for the right sign or body language to move in close.
“It’s so beautiful here.” She sighed. “I can see why so many people love it.”
Ryan followed her gaze and nodded in lazy appreciation as he puffed on his cigar. “I’ve been here a number of times and I had never stopped and noticed.”
“And now that you have?” she asked, glancing over at him.
“Now that I have, I know it’s just one more thing that’s not as beautiful as you.”
The warmth of his words sustained her, despite the freezing temperature. “You’re working awfully hard to win your bet.”
“Of course I am.” Ryan finally inched closer. “Look what I’ll win.” He stood straight as an arrow and stared at her full lips. Lord, how he wanted her--and not just for the night. That realization stunned him. “How long does it take for a person to fall in love?” he asked suddenly.
Joey blinked. “I don’t know.”
His eyes deserted her lips to travel back up to her eyes. “No?”
She shrugged, thinking. “My oldest sister, Sheldon, said she fell in love with husband, Edwin, the moment she laid eyes on him at a roller-skating rink.”
“Love at first sight?” He erased another inch.
“She swears by it.”
“And how about you? Are you a believer?”
“I’m starting to think that I don’t know what I believe anymore,” she answered truthfully.
The white puffs of air from their chilled breathing blended together.
“Do you think he’s still waiting for you?” he asked.
“Who?”
He smiled.
“Oh, uh. I don’t know.” She frowned, wondering where her head was.
“Do you care?”
Joey’s heart leaped into her throat while she battled whether to tell the truth. However, Ryan didn’t wait for her to answer, instead he finally erased the last few inches between them, tossed his cigar over the terrace and drew Joey into his arms.
She loved the taste of him. He was a unique blend of Brandy, spearmint and Cuban cigars. The latter gave him the taste of danger and raw masculinity.
The very thing she’d come to love about him.
Ryan’s large hands gently made quick work of her sweater’s small buttons. When he slid it off her body, she shivered against him.
“Shouldn’t we go back inside?” she asked.
“I’ll go wherever you want to go,” he said, breathlessly, now attacking the buttons on the back of her dress.
Joey gently stills his hand and when his probing gaze lifted, she smiled. “Then take me to the bedroom.”
“I’m feeling a strange sense of déjà vu,” he admitted.
Her lips grew even wider. “Trust me. Sleep is the last thing on my mind.”
Grinning, Ryan swept her into his arms. “Does this mean I’m finally going to get laid?”
She pulled his face close and branded him with a kiss. “Yes, Mr. Donovan. That’s exactly what it means.”
“Hallelujah!” He twirled her in a wide circle, and she giggled as though breathless from a roller-coaster ride. Within seconds he crossed the spacious presidential suite and kicked open the bedroom door Joey had slept in the previous night.
All the while Joey convinced herself that she was out of her mind. What she was doing defied all reason--and yet, she couldn’t stop herself. Nor could she explain the cluster of butterflies that race through every inch of her body.
One thing was certain: she had never felt this way with...what’s his name?
He placed her onto the bed and sat down next to her. For a long moment, the couple was satisfied to just gaze upon one another as if each was burning the other’s features into their memory. Ryan liked every angle of her face, loved the plumpness of her lips and was completely crazy about her eyes. Perfect.
Joey couldn’t decide on what she loved more: the way his long lashes framed his dark eyes or the slight crookedness of his nose. She sighed. What the hell was happening to her?
Ryan reached for the top button of her dress, and again she stopped him.
Joey smiled. “I want to do you first.”
His lips curled. “Then by all means.”
Slowly she sat up and reached for the clear buttons of his starched shirt. Her fingers trembled, but they worked steadily. Moments later she flung it and his T-shirt to the floor.
Taking her time, Joey rubbed the contours of his solid, wide chest. Then, as if mesmerized, she leaned closer and ran her tongue along the same trail. Soon her mouth found its way to his shoulder, his neck and at long last settled to nibble on his earlobe.
Ryan’s long, lean fingers resumed their work on her dress, and in no time the thin material joined his clothes on the floor.
One look at the black-and-red lacy lingerie and Ryan made a mental note to send Sergio an extra tip and add him to next year’s Christmas list. After that, his thoughts muddled. Joey’s hand fumbled at his pants buckle while her hot mouth still suckled his ear.
He was too anxious, too excited. If he didn’t cool things off a bit, things might be coming to a head prematurely.
“Not yet, baby.” He pulled her hand away and leaned her back onto the bed.
Joey sighed as he stretched out above her while his hand stroked her inner thighs. He smiled, nuzzled his face in her chest and tugged open the small bow nestled there with his teeth. In no time at all, he greedily filled his mouth with one and then the other breast, his tongue glazed each bud to a polish finish. Then finally he bit at them, pulled them this way and then that as if to get a feel of their full weight.
The painful pulse in his pants became a merciless throb; he fought all that was holy to maintain his current pace. His hands soon deserted her thighs to roam across the flat plains of her belly and then slipped beneath the borders of her panties to gaze over a vee of downy soft curls.
Another sigh tumbled from her lips the moment his fingers entered her slick passage. Her hips immediately lifted from the bed in a polite homecoming.
“You like that, baby?”
Joey tried to talk, but her head was too dizzy, her body too hot.
“I didn’t hear you, baby.” Ryan baritone turned husky with passion “I want you to tell me.”
&nb
sp; “Y-yes! Oh please, don’t stop.”
“But I’ve got something better for you.” As quick as whip, he wrenched down her hips and legs and flung them to join the other clothing. He pushed up and ravished her mouth with a kiss that curled her toes and stirred her soul.
Before her arms could enfold him, he vanished. But his mouth and his tongue were placed on another pair of lips.
Joey squirmed to the head of the bed, but Ryan’s strong arms locked around her thighs and dragged her back toward him and his invading tongue.
Breathing seemed impossible, and soon a galaxy of stars danced before Joey’s eyes, while heat scorched her from all sides. If she could just get away, she might be able to save herself.
But Ryan’s hold was firm, his mouth and tongue relentless.
Joey bit her lower lip and managed to draw in short pants of air. Tiny ripples of something glorious threaded through her body; her hands drifted down to hold his head in place; her legs wrapped and squeezed him tight.
Her sighs became moans and then finally cries of ecstasy when her first orgasm rocked her world. However, Ryan mouth persisted, and her bid for freedom or a reprieve renewed her efforts to escape.
“Please, please. I can’t breathe,” she begged.
Ryan chuckled and released his hold. “Well, we can’t have that now. Can we?” He climbed off the bed and removed the last of his clothes.
At first sight of Ryan’s...equipment, Joey blinked, and then blinked again. How was she gonna...? Could she handle...?
“Don’t worry,” he said, unwrapping a Magnum wrapper. “I’ll be gentle.”
“Wait.” A nervous excitement coursed through Joey. “May I?”
Ryan’s smile widened as he handed over the condom. “By all means.” He stepped closer to the bed with no worries whether he would be able to maintain his erection. In fact, the moment Joey’s hand slid around his thick shaft, he knew nothing was going to disturb this groove.
However, Joey’s assistance quickly turned into torture. Her long fingers were as smooth as silk and her light handling had him struggling for control. Yet, one look at her face and it was clear that she knew exactly what she was doing.
“Payback is a bitch.” She winked.
When You Were Mine (Adams Sisters) Page 14
