GRATIFICATION (Desire Never Dies)

by Clara Grace Walker

  So far they’d shared only one kiss, a small one when he’d dropped her off after their last date. He hoped he wasn’t about to make an old fool of himself. But, after the enchanting evening they’d shared, he had to know if she was feeling the same.

  He’d never met a woman like her before. So feminine. So vulnerable. And yet so strong. She made him feel like a gallant knight about to save a damsel in distress, knowing all the while she didn’t really need him to save her, but allowed him to do so anyway.

  It was a gift she gave him. The gift of feeling needed. And of not making him feel like any less of a man because of it.

  He’d made it almost to her porch when she came out the front door. The halter top she wore, more than filled out by her ample curves, caught his eye at once. His glance wandered next to her high-cut pair of shorts, and an endless length of long, slim legs. One look at her, and he almost forgot how to talk.

  “Henry, hi. What are you doing here?”

  “Uh, hello, Tracy. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, thanks. Just a little surprised to see you here is all.” She paused. “Does this have something to do with Maggie’s bar re-opening?”

  He hesitated, wondering if he should use this easy excuse she’d just given him to spend time with her. See if he could discern anything for himself about her feelings. Or should he just be up front and ask her how she felt? After a moment of thinking it over, he decided to play it safe. “As a matter-of-fact, yes. I’m thinking about filing a suit against DeSantis and I wanted to clarify a few things about his inspection. That is, if you have a few minutes.”

  “Not really, right now. I was just on my way to take the kids to school and go to work.”

  Indeed, as she spoke, an adorable little girl of about five, with a head full of golden curls, came out of the house carrying a little knit purse. “Mommy, are we going now?”

  A slightly bigger girl followed the smaller one outside. She pointed at Henry. “Hey, Mom, who’s he?”

  Tracy seemed a little uncomfortable, and he started having second thoughts. She’d been very careful about preventing a meeting with her children on their previous dates, meeting him out on the porch when he’d come to pick her up, and being dropped off the same place. Maybe this really wasn’t such a good idea.

  He’d no sooner had the thought than she broke the tension with a wide smile, and patted the top of the smaller girl’s head. “This is Mr. Henry Tyler, honey. He’s Aunt Maggie’s lawyer. Henry, this is my daughter, Katie, and my daughter, Sarah.”

  “Hello, girls.” He hadn’t quite deciphered which one was which, but he gave them what he hoped was a friendly, yet unassuming smile. He figured having their approval was the first big test he’d have to pass before he could really begin a meaningful relationship with their mother. The girls had big dark eyes, like Tracy’s, and stared at him curiously. He was about to ask if they’d like to go out for ice cream sometime when the phone rang.

  “I’ll get it,” the bigger girl said, and ran back inside the house. Half a minute later, she returned, frowning. “Mom, there’s some guy named Rod on the phone for you.”

  He felt the proverbial arrow pierce his heart. If she was still dating Rod, then she definitely wasn’t having the same feelings he was. He turned to leave. “I’m sorry I bothered you at such a bad time,” he said. “I’ll call you later and we can set up a more convenient time to discuss matters.”

  “Please don’t go, Henry. It will just take me a minute to get rid of this creep.”

  Creep? He halted and smiled. He was back in the game.

  Chapter 46

  Preston awoke in Maggie’s bed to greet the morning sun. Three years might have passed, but he was sure their love making had never been so intense. Not in all the time they’d dated. Not in all the time they’d been engaged. Time and the bitter struggles between them had served only to increase their hunger for one another. And he’d savored every taste she had to offer.

  And she still loved him. The words had slipped from her lips when they’d been joined together. No one could fake the reaction she’d had last night.

  This settled things. They belonged together. And he was not going to make the same mistakes he’d made before. If she didn’t like living in Miami, God help him, they could move to Key Largo, a halfway point for them both, and they could both commute. Maggie wouldn’t feel like she was living the corporate lifestyle she detested. And she could still have her bar. A perfect plan, he thought. Foolproof.

  And there wasn’t going to be a lengthy engagement this time either. They were going to get married right away. Elope if they had to. Before anything else happened to upset their reunification.

  He chuckled, disbelieving his next thought. Have a family.

  Ideas occurred to him now that at one time he’d have found unfathomable. He could think beyond his own life, beyond himself, and he could see his future ahead. Remembering their trip to the shelter, and the way Maggie had stared at the children, he felt like a dunce for not realizing it sooner. She wanted children. She wanted to be a mother.

  That got him to thinking about Scott, the little boy he’d met at the shelter. He didn’t know why, but he’d felt like the little boy needed him. The image of Scott’s disappointed face when he’d turned down his offer to play catch stayed in his memory, engraved there like a photograph he could not stop looking at. He really felt like a jerk for hurting the little boy’s feelings.

  Maggie stirred in the bed beside him. He leaned over to watch her open her eyes. “Good-morning, Sleeping Beauty,” he whispered.

  She smiled. “I guess that would make you Prince Charming.”

  “Mmm Hmm.” He leaned over farther and nuzzled her ear. Blood throbbed to the shaft of his manhood, pulling him back to a state of ready, willing and able. “I think we should pick up where we left off last night.” He traced his finger along her bottom lip and grinned. “What do you say? Want to get in a little practice for the honeymoon?”

  Her body stopped moving with his. “Honeymoon?”

  His heart sank. Clearly, he’d phrased it the wrong way. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I guess that wasn’t real romantic of me, was it? What I meant to say was, will you marry me?” He smiled at her, hoping to seem as charming as the title she’d just bestowed on him. “Please? I’ll get down on one knee.”

  She scooted away from him and sat with the covers pulled to her chin. “I don’t think this is the best time to be having this discussion. We’ve only had one night together, and we don’t know if this is really going to work out.”

  Her words felt like a slap in the face. He sat up, too. And then got out of bed and put his pants on, all thoughts of romance pushed from his body like a cold shower of rejection. “So that’s all this was to you? Just one night? And here I am planning to move us to Key Largo and commute back and forth to work every day.”

  “What?” She gave him an incredulous look. “That is so typical of you, Preston. You’re still thinking about how to fit our lives around your job.”

  Damn, but she was mad. Well, so was he. “The only one being typical here is you. I’m the one trying to think of compromises, and you’re being just as stubborn as ever.”

  “Did it ever occur to you I don’t want to leave Key West?” she asked. “And I don’t want a husband who is married more to his job than to me?”

  “Maggie, I …” As usual, her reaction was one he’d been totally unprepared for. What the hell was he supposed to say when she got like this? “I just thought Key Largo would be a more convenient place for both of us. A halfway point between our two jobs. It didn’t have anything to do with trying to fit our lives around my job. I was actually considering your job as well. I can’t believe the attitude you’re taking.”

  “Now I have an attitude? Just because I don’t want to play second fiddle to your career?”

  “Maggie, you’re taking this completely the wrong way. You’re reading things into what I said that were never intended.”
>
  “Is that right? You said you’d changed, Preston. But you haven’t. Not at all.”

  He didn’t have to stand here and take anymore of this from her. He grabbed his shirt and left for the door. “I’ll see you later, Maggie. I’m out of here.”

  Chapter 47

  Maggie returned to the sanctuary of her bar and tried to bury herself in preparations for the grand re-opening. Menus needed reviewing, price lists needed comparing, liquor stocks needed checking on. She thought about decorations and a special drink menu. She thought about what time to have the valet staff show up and how soon to have the band on stage. Lighting needed to be just right and the staff uniforms for the charity ball needed to be distributed to the employees and any necessary fittings taken care of.

  But in between all the hustle and bustle, she thought about Preston.

  What she couldn’t begin to think about, was where things had gone so wrong. Last night, the world had been perfect. How foolish she had been to think he had really changed. Was she incapable of learning that lesson? Or did she just not want to?

  The first thing he’d done after they’d made love was to turn right back into a bulldozer.

  A bulldozer who’d asked her to marry him. Remembering that part broke her heart. It would have been everything she’d ever wanted, to have him with her, sharing the life she had now. But that wasn’t the way things would be. He’d said the word “commute.”

  He’d still be working at Ty-Ken, trying to keep up with the corporate rat race. And the long commute would eventually wear him out, not to mention her. Then, he’d want to spend Monday through Friday in Miami and come home on the weekends. Their life together would change after that, become thin and strained. And she would once again face every day knowing the man she cared about the most loved his job more than her. In the end, it wouldn’t be worth it. That kind of heartbreak, she could do without.

  “I don’t know who’s more of a space cadet today, you or Tracy.” Skip, one of the bartenders, walked by carrying a case of beer to the cooler and shaking his head.

  “Tracy’s a space cadet?” That part of the comment took her by surprise. She’d been so wrapped up in herself she’d failed to notice the strain the re-opening must be putting on her friend. “Could you please see if she needs a hand with anything, Skip?”

  “Sure thing, boss.”

  Her presence out on the floor obviously wasn’t helping any. Maybe it would be best if she just got her act together in her office for a while. Finding her way upstairs, she curled into her over-stuffed easy chair, leaned back and closed her eyes. Just as she started to doze off, a knock on the door startled her back awake. It had to be Tracy needing her assistance.

  “Coming,” she said, opening the door.

  The wolfish grin of Rod Skinner greeted her. “Maggie, my sweet. You’re looking as hot as ever.”

  She could only assume that, despite her previous coolness toward him, he still had not gotten the message. Dressed in exactly the same sort of Armani shirt and trousers she’d expect to see Preston in on a casual day at the office, he stood smiling at her like a hungry man about to pig out at a buffet. Her first impulse was to slam the door in his face.

  “Rod,” she said dryly. “Now this is a surprise. What’s the matter? You run out of women to chase after?”

  “Hey, come on now.” He pouted as though hurt. “Is that any way to treat the man who got this bar back open for you?”

  How to respond? Certainly, she didn’t want him to think she was ungrateful, but there was no doubting he put her ill at ease. “Come in,” she finally allowed.

  He stepped inside her office, his eyes never leaving her body. His intense gaze unnerved her to the point where she felt like slapping him. Showing even the slightest bit of weakness where the womanizing jerk was concerned, however, was not in her plans. “What can I do for you?” she asked.

  He ignored the question. “It looks like everything’s going great,” he said.

  She just nodded. “Everything’s going great, Rod. Getting the bar opened back up was a real boost for me.”

  He winked. “I thought it might be.”

  The winking really pissed her off. Why the hell couldn’t he get the message? She wasn’t interested. Did she have to tattoo it on her forehead before he would clue in? Next, she wondered if Preston knew he was here. Would he even care after this morning?

  An awkward moment of silence passed while Rod made himself at home in her office and sat down on the end of her couch. Maggie noticed now that Rod had the first few buttons of his white shirt undone. In sharp contrast to his head, his chest sprouted a full growth of hair. The hairy chest reminded her of Preston, and she wished she hadn’t noticed.

  Rod cleared his throat. He continued staring at her with his penetrating dark eyes. “Preston tells me he asked you to marry him this morning, and that you turned him down.”

  The revelation hit her like a brick. “Preston told you that?”

  “So it is true? Did you turn him down just for me?”

  His arrogance knew no bounds. He draped one arm over the back of the couch, as if he expected her to come and sit next to him. She remained standing. “Not even in your dreams.”

  He continued to smile. “I think the lady does protest too much.”

  “Rod, the lady is not interested.”

  “You say that, but you really want me, don’t you?”

  “No. I don’t.”

  He grinned, as though she hadn’t spoken a single word of rejection. “It’s true, isn’t it? You turned Preston down because you really want me.”

  Slapping the smirk off his face was her first thought and most ardent desire. How could that much arrogance and totally undeserved self-confidence possibly be packaged into one single human being? “I have no intention of discussing my relationship with Preston with you, and I am never going to want you in his place. So why did you stop by?”

  He stood up and stepped closer to her. Her hand reared back in “make my day” fashion, ready to strike. Just go ahead and try something, she thought. At this point, she’d really love an excuse to let him have it.

  “Relax, Maggie. I just wanted to make sure everything was fine with your bar. Make sure there wasn’t anything else you needed.”

  The remark came laden with sexual suggestion. “I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful for your help, Rod. On the contrary, I’m extremely happy about getting my bar back in business, and I’ll be the first one drinking a toast to your legal efforts at the party tonight, but I have everything under control. You can leave now.”

  He crooked his mouth back into a grin. “You sure that’s what you want?”

  “I’m trying to figure out how I could possibly make it any clearer.”

  “Maybe if you stopped sending mixed messages all the time, people might believe what you tell them, sweet stuff.”

  “I am not your sweet stuff. And exactly how do you think I’m sending mixed messages?”

  “Take my man Preston, for instance. You string the man on like you love him, tell him it’s just living the corporate lifestyle in Miami that keeps you from committing. But what do you do when the guy offers you a compromise? Asks you to marry him? You move the goal posts on him? Tell him he hasn’t changed, despite the huge sacrifice he was willing to make on your behalf. And why do you think you do that, babe? Is it really because you don’t think the two of you can make it work together? Or because you just don’t want to?”

  Fury streaked through her. “How dare you! How dare you act like you know anything about me or what I want or -”

  “Drop the indignation act, princess. Preston might not know what’s really going on in that pretty little head of yours, but I sure as hell do. You don’t want the man. And since you don’t want him, I can’t help but wonder if it’s because there’s something else you do want.”

  He took the liberty of moving a couple of steps closer to her. Standing close enough now that she could feel his breath blo
wing on her cheek. Confusion erupted in response to his accusations. Anger and denial and something else. Fear. She shuddered.

  “You look beautiful when you’re excited,” he said. “You need someone who’s more of a man than Preston is. Someone who can tame that little shrew inside you.”

  Maggie lost her resolve and took a step backward. It was the wrong move, and she knew it. The moment she stepped back, he lunged forward. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up next to him. His lips found hers in a kiss that was both rough and uninvited.

  The longed for slap finally came, landing with a sharp, stinging sound across his face just as he’d forced his tongue inside her mouth. Rod stopped abruptly and let her go. Bright red imprints from her fingers sprung to life on his cheek.

  She staggered away from him, gasping. His raw aggression, left her shaking and almost ready to cry. “How dare you! You asshole!”

  “Hey, come here. I’m sorry. I thought you wanted that kiss. Really.” He tried to grab hold of her again, but she dodged him and pulled open the door.

  “Get out, Mr. Skinner. Before I have one of my bouncers throw you out.”

  The grin completely left his face. He looked much like he had that day on her dock when she’d blown him off, like some wounded puppy dog, only more so. He stared at her, breathing hard, his nostrils flaring.

  “You liked that kiss, Maggie. And you know it.”

  Her temper flared instantly. “Enough to shove my knee in your crotch if you ever try it again.”

  Touching his hand to his cheek, he winked. “I’ll see you tonight, babe.”

  Maggie slammed the door behind him. “Not if I see you first.”

  Chapter 48

  The unwanted itch of indecision lingered in Tracy’s mind. She wished she could be more certain of her own judgment. Was Henry really as interested in a long-term relationship as she was, or was it just wishful thinking on her part? He certainly had smiled when she’d referred to Rod Skinner as a creep, but that could be a remark most people who knew Rod would smile at. She wished there was some way she could be more certain of Henry’s intentions before she completely gave her heart away. She sure didn’t want to be hurt again, and the girls definitely didn’t need anymore disruption in their lives.