Just the Man She Needs

by Gwynne Forster

  Jake ran his hands through his thinning hair. “She’s really something. Yeah, she can teach, and she’s quite a jumper. Cade seems taken with her.”

  “What? You’re kidding.”

  “No, I’m not. If you think Leslie’s a sex pot, you’re in for a stunner. She’s an intellectual, and she teaches physics at the university, but she loves the outdoors. So she’s teaching at the riding school during the summer. In October, she’ll be back at the university.”

  Ashton sent a sharp whistle zinging through the air. “Danged if she didn’t fool me. I should have realized she had something to back up that sharp tongue.”

  “Oh, she’s actually a very gracious woman.”

  “I see. If Cade’s happy with her, so am I.”

  “Where’s Miss Parker? Didn’t I ask you to bring her the next time you came?”

  “Miss Parker and I have to iron out the wrinkles in our relationship. If we do that to suit us both, I’ll bring her.”

  Chapter 8

  Ashton put his bags in his room and went to find his brother, Cade. “I figured you’d be out here,” he said to Cade when he found him lounging beside the pool. “I wasn’t prepared for Leslie Fields. I expected somebody around forty, muscular, makeup-free and flat-chested.”

  Cade released a sound that could be called a snicker, raised both eyebrows and then showed all his teeth in a grin, rare for him. “You’re joking. Not in a million years would Granddad choose a woman who wouldn’t finish in the top five of a Miss America contest. He can’t tell me he picked her for her riding skills. He got lucky. The old man may be over eighty, but he still knows a woman when he sees one.”

  “So do you, from what I hear.”

  Cade closed his eyes and relaxed in the lounge chair. “She’s a breath of fresh air.”

  “Don’t tell me you sit around here talking physics and computer science with that woman. She’s Halle Berry and Marilyn Monroe rolled into one.”

  “After a while, you don’t notice it. I don’t think she’s aware of it,” Cade said, and put on his sunglasses.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. You’ve always been unsparingly honest with yourself and candid with everybody else. Don’t you want to like her? You do, you know.”

  “I don’t know, Ash. I don’t know how the hell I feel about it or about her.”

  The seriousness of his brother’s tone worried Ashton. He sat on a nearby chair. “How does she feel about you?”

  “That’s one of the problems. Neither of us is the type to start a relationship in a hurry. It looks to me as if we’re tiptoeing around each other, postponing the moment when we’ll precipitate an explosion. It’ll be like throwing a lighted torch in a gushing oil well.”

  “Whew! Are you planning to do anything about it?”

  Cade’s shoulder flexed in a shrug that didn’t fool Ashton. “If she wanted an affair, she could have a dozen, and I am not jumping out on that ‘love-me’ limb again, brother. No sirree!”

  “Too bad. You’re going to be very unhappy.” He thought of Felicia, how he missed her and how badly he needed her.

  “Yeah. Better to be miserable because I’m smart than to be miserable because I was a fool.”

  “That sounds like a new kind of logic to me, but who am I to judge?”

  “Right. How are things with you and Felicia? If I had a sister like her, I could discuss these problems that I’m having.”

  “You’d do no such thing, so can the hints. We’re offtrack right now, but I intend to work on it as soon as I get back to New York.”

  “Glad to hear it. Who’s fault was it, yours or hers?”

  “Ours, but I don’t mind making the first move. She means a lot to me.”

  Cade sat up and pulled off his sunglasses. “You’re in love with her? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  “Yeah. Now that I’m CEO of Skate newspapers, and she works for one of them, she’s uptight.”

  “Good Lord. I didn’t think about that. Whatever you do, don’t get heavy-handed with her.”

  “I did.” He told Cade about the column on dishonest congressmen and the reaction of readers. “I ordered her to use that limousine with a bodyguard, and I’m not sorry. If I can get within five inches of her, I’ll straighten it out.”

  “Don’t let it drag on. How does she get on with Teddy?”

  “So far so good. Come to think of it, I’d better find out what he’s doing. He’ll twist Granddad around his finger.”

  That evening, he sat around the chrome barbecue and grill machine with his brothers, his granddad and his son. The adults talked of the changes in their business enterprise, and their changing roles in it.

  “Now that Damon is taking on the job of legal counsel, what do we do about the escort service?” Jake asked. “Seems to me it’s a source of civil suits against us. We’ve been lucky that none of the men have gotten out of hand.”

  “I vote we sell the business. Obviously, there’s a need for it, so we shouldn’t disband it,” Cade said. “It’s served its purpose, anyway. Without it, Ash probably wouldn’t have met Felicia Parker. I say put it up for sale.”

  “I agree,” Ashton said. “We sell the escort service, we get a principal to manage the riding school, and another instructor to teach animal husbandry. Anything else?” When none of them offered another suggestion or asked a question, he said, “Okay. Teddy and I will be heading out tomorrow morning.”

  “Can I stay here with Granddad and Uncle Cade, Daddy? I won’t bribe Granddad anymore. Honest.”

  Ashton looked at his grandfather. “Did he try to bribe you?”

  “Well…he’s too little for that, but—”

  Ashton walked over to the grill, got a plate of food and gave it to Teddy. “Eat that, and go to bed. I’ll deal with you tomorrow.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  At two-thirty the next afternoon, Ashton walked into his house, greeted Eartha, and dashed up stairs to his room with Teddy right behind him. He changed the boy’s clothes, went to his own room and sat down. Cade had said, “Don’t let it drag on,” and he was right. The longer a problem existed, the bigger it got. He dialed Felicia’s office phone number.

  “Felicia Parker speaking.”

  “This is Ashton. I need to see you, and I’d like to meet you when you leave work today. It’s important to me, Felicia.” The long silence drilled an opening in the pit of his belly. He had no choice but to wait for her answer as sweat beaded on his forehead.

  Finally, she said, “I…uh…have to go home. Can’t we meet at my house at about seven?”

  He let out a long breath, closed his eyes and gave silent thanks. “That’s fine with me. Why don’t I make a dinner reservation someplace?”

  “Let’s not go to any place fancy. How about Peter’s Backyard down in The Village?”

  “I haven’t been there in ages, but why not. The food’s great. I’ll see you at seven.” He hung up. Why had she decided to go home first? He hoped she only wanted to freshen up, that she wasn’t concerned that her colleagues might see them together. No matter, at least she wanted to be with him.

  Felicia had been expecting Ashton’s call, but neither his tone nor his suggestion. It occurred to her that she would have to explain her behavior during the past three weeks, and that if she wasn’t truthful, if she didn’t tell him why she’d backed away from him, she could forget about him. Ashton would know if she withheld the truth. And what of the things they never talked about? Important things, like Teddy, the child’s relationship with his mother—if he had one—and most basic of all, where he wanted or didn’t want their relationship to go. He knew whether she suited him physically, what she was like as a lover, just as she knew he was the man for her. But other than his distaste for the publicity-seekers, and his admiration for her work, what did he really think of her as a woman? She didn’t know, and it was time she found out.

  The doorbell rang at seven o’clock precisely, and she dashed down the hall toward it. Stopping so sho
rt that she nearly twisted her ankle, she leaned against the wall, verging on hyperventilation. “Good Lord, I have to get myself together. I can’t let him see me like this.” The bell rang again, and she forced herself to straighten up and walk to the door.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi. I thought you’d decided not to open the door.”

  She stared up at him. Had his long-lashed olive-brown eyes always been so beautiful and so enticing? Were they the reason she loved him so? Her gaze wandered down to his perfectly knotted yellow-and-gray paisley tie and back up to the eyes that now signaled what she needed most to see. She gripped his shoulders and the expression in his eyes nearly unglued her. He stepped inside the foyer, kicked the door closed with the heel of his foot and lifted her into his arms. Her hands went to the back of his head and he plunged his tongue into her waiting mouth.

  More. She had to have more of him. A sweet and wrenching hunger settle in her. It had been so long. Lord, so long. He moved in and out of her, showing her what he’d do to her if he got the chance, and her hips began the slow dance of love. Try as she would, she couldn’t control the passion that now roared out of control, and she tried to climb his body. He leaned against the wall, letting it take his weight, locked his hands on her hips and held her still.

  “You’ll never imagine how much I’ve missed you,” he told her, “and as badly as we need to make love right now, we need an understanding before we get to that.”

  She groped for her sense of humor, hoping to add levity to what was almost an embarrassing situation. “And if you don’t get any food,” she said, “you won’t have any energy.”

  His eyes sparkled with wicked glints. “If you think you won’t need energy, you’re fooling yourself.”

  Realizing the import of what she’d said, she leaned back and glared at him. “You misunderstood me perfectly.”

  Oh, how his laughter thrilled her! She tightened her arms around him and kissed his lips. “You’re addictive, Ashton. There’s no other plausible explanation for this. Let’s go eat.”

  “Me? Addictive? I’d begun to think something quite the opposite. But we’ll get to that later.”

  A limousine pulled up in front of the apartment building as they walked out to the street. To her surprise, Bob got out and opened the back door. “Good evening, Mr. Underwood, Miss Parker.”

  They greeted Bob and settled into the backseat of the Town Car. “You think I need a bodyguard when I’m with you?” she asked him, a little peeved.

  “I used to be pretty good with my fists back in the days when I was a teenager and used them, but I’m well out of practice. Besides,” he said, making himself comfortable, “if there was a problem, I’d probably need a gun, and I don’t have a license to carry one. That answer your question?”

  “I told myself I wasn’t going to bring that up, and I’m sorry I did. So, please let’s drop it.”

  “Thanks,” he said, and wrapped her hand in one of his. “New York is wonderful at night. Almost as busy as it is in the daytime, and far more colorful. I wonder about the night people, prowling the streets, looking for something to happen.”

  “Maybe they’re lonely,” Felicia said.

  “Yeah.” His voice took on a distant quality. “And this is one of the easiest places in the world in which to be lonely. And I mean lonely and alone.”

  Her head snapped around. “Are you telling me…I mean have you ever been lonely?”

  “Felicia, I’ve been lonely. I’ve been alone and unhappy all at once.”

  “But surely being alone was your choice.”

  “When you didn’t return my calls for three weeks, whatever I was experiencing as a result was not of my choice. Right?”

  “No it wasn’t, and let’s eat dinner before we get into that,” she said. His fingers tightened around hers, and his warmth flowed into her as a river empties itself into the sea. Her body moved itself closer to him, and he released her hand and eased his arm around her shoulder.

  “Something tells me it’ll take a genie to kill what’s growing between you and me. Don’t you sense that?” he asked her.

  How could she tell him she sensed it when, although she prayed for it, her own actions worked against the chances of their having a permanent relationship? “I know there’s a good basis for thinking that,” she hedged.

  “And I know that’s all I’m likely to get out of you right now.” The limousine stopped in front of the restaurant. “I’ll phone you when we’re ready to leave, Bob. Park in a garage somewhere, get your dinner and save the receipts.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “We have a crowd tonight,” the waitress said. “Your table will be ready in about fifteen minutes. Would you like to have a seat at the bar?” He nodded, and she led them to the bar.

  “Do you want to go somewhere else?” Ashton asked Felicia.

  “Oh, no. But if I’d known I had to sit on this stool, I’d have worn a wider and longer skirt.”

  “That’s no problem,” he said, lifted her and placed her on the stool. Two men sitting nearby applauded. “Right on, man. Way to go!”

  She ordered a spritzer, and when Ashton looked hard at her, she explained, “You’re going to ask me a lot of questions, and I need my full mental faculties.”

  He whispered in her ear, “Yes, I am.”

  She hadn’t thought the noise at such a level that she couldn’t hear him. When his breath caressed her ear, she turned to face him. “I may not be in the mood for teasing, Ashton.”

  The waitress came then and led them to their table. “I hope you don’t mind the balcony,” she said. “It’s quieter there.”

  Felicia tried to be jocular and to exchange quips with Ashton, but that was not what she wanted from him. She needed him to love her, needed to explode with him buried deep inside of her. She wished she hadn’t agreed to go to dinner, and had ordered something from one of the take-out restaurants on Columbus Avenue.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked her. “You’re not your usual vivacious self.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry, but I have this awful feeling of an impending disaster.”

  He reached across the table and took her hand. “If you love me, what can you look forward to other than happiness? We’re going to talk, because I want us to have a clean slate. After the way we greeted each other this evening, you ought to be feeling great. I am.”

  “You’re not the one who put the skids on this relationship. I am, and I know I’m the one who has to pay up.”

  A grin sprinted across his face and he closed his left eye in a suggestive wink. “Yes, I know.”

  She gazed at him for a minute before her face slowly creased in a laugh. “You devil.”

  “But I’m precious, aren’t I? I mean, you wouldn’t exchange me for any other man, now would you? Come on and fess up.”

  “I’ll give that some thought,” she said. “I don’t like to make rash statements.”

  “Hmm. I see. That’s a trait to be prized.”

  “You’re laughing at me.”

  He poked his tongue in his cheek and made a stab at appearing serious. “Considering what I may be up against, you don’t think I’d be that rash, do you?”

  She hated to josh like that when she wasn’t sure of her ground. She could banter with the best of them, provided there was no serious undercurrent. Nobody had to tell her that when they got back to her house and began to talk, there wouldn’t be a smile on Ashton’s face. He took his time with the chocolate cheesecake that he ordered for dessert, chewing slowly and sensuously as he looked into her eyes. She pushed away her sorbet, her taste for food gone, as her nipples tightened and tension gathered within her while she stared into the dark desire of his mesmerizing eyes. He placed his fork on the side of his dessert plate and beckoned for the waitress.

  “May I have the bill, please?” He took out his cell phone and dialed Bob. “We’ll be out front in about ten minutes.”

  He didn’t kiss her in the car, and t
hat disappointed her, though she should have known he wouldn’t do that in the presence of a man who was obviously his employee. She didn’t know what he said to Bob when they got out of the car, but she hoped he told the man that he’d finished work for the night.

  “I’m going to make us some coffee,” she told him in her apartment. She didn’t especially want coffee, but having it would allow her to do something with her hands while they talked.

  “All right, if you like, but please don’t stay in there too long.”

  She made the coffee with Melita papers, poured it into an insulated pitcher, put it on a tray along with cups and saucers, milk and a spoon and was back within a few minutes. She placed it on the coffee table and sat on the sofa in front of it.

  Ashton faced her in a chair, and when her surprise showed, he explained, “I want us to talk, and if I sit over there with you, talk will not be my priority. Why did you stop returning my calls?”

  She realized that she had folded her arms across her middle in a posture of self-protection, and unfolded them. “I was scared, Ashton. I saw myself going through what I experienced a decade earlier, only this time, I had invested so much more of myself in the relationship. You told Miles that, although you loved me, you weren’t satisfied that I was the woman for you. Did you expect me to sit around and wait for you to find a more suitable woman?”

  He leaned forward and braced his hands on his knees. “And you didn’t care enough to discuss it or even to find out what aspect of our relationship wasn’t working for me? Don’t you know that if a man really loves you—and I do—you can fix most anything that goes wrong? Anything short of infidelity, that is.”

  “That’s what Miles said, but I was hurt. You had some shortcomings, too, Ashton.”

  “Of course I have, and we’ll get to those as soon as we iron this out.”

  He wanted a clean slate, and so did she, so she wasn’t going to hold back a thing. “I agree that I should have talked with you, but I looked at that as begging to be accepted, and…well, that’s not in me. I wasn’t unfaithful, although I confess that I tried to be. I simply couldn’t go through with it.”