Always Daddy
Page 16
Glancing around, Alicia didn’t see Jon and suspected he was waiting downstairs. Her hands grew clammy as she descended the steps.
Jon was standing by her desk, waiting. She stopped in front of him, close enough to smell his cologne, close enough to touch him.
“I was surprised when you called,” he said, studying her expression, maybe trying to gauge her mood.
“I made a mistake leaving the way I did.” She’d come to that conclusion after her phone call to him.
“Maybe not.”
Her hope withered. If Jon was glad she’d left…
“It made me look at some things more carefully.”
“What things?” she asked, sounding breathless.
“First of all, you were right to be angry about the article. I should have told you. My only excuse is that I did want to protect you, and I grabbed onto the situation as the reason to ask you to marry me. I couldn’t recognize love even though it was filling me up until I thought I’d overflow. I called it everything but. By the time I’d realized just how much I love you, you’d left, and I knew you weren’t ready to listen, you’d think I was manipulating you to get what I want.”
Her heart almost stopped. “I’m ready to listen.”
He grasped her shoulders. “I love our daughter, Alicia. But I love you, too. I never heard my parents say they loved each other, and they weren’t demonstrative. It was just understood. They had this bond, and I could feel the same bond forming with us. But I didn’t associate it with love. After Cecile, I decided I’d never feel deeply about anyone again. But I knew something was happening with you. And I knew we could have a future. I was just afraid to call it love, I guess. Can you believe me now when I say I love you?”
The raw need on Jon’s face was as convincing as his words. Alicia couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. “Yes, I can believe you. I love you, Jon. And after I talked to Adam, I realized you’d shown me love over and over again. Maybe I was afraid to see it, too. My own insecurities blinded me. But I can see it now, and if your proposal still stands—”
He closed her in his arms and sought her lips with all the hunger of the past week evident in his kiss. He was tender and demanding, gentle and passionate, devouring and teasing. She pressed against him, wanting all of him and everything he could give her. She had no more doubts, no more fears. His love had wiped them away.
Breaking the kiss, he rested his cheek against hers for a moment, then raised his head. “I want to get married as soon as we can arrange it.”
She lifted her head. “But, Jon, we live three thousand miles apart….”
He smiled. “Not for long. How would you feel about living here during the school year, maybe flying out to L.A. for Thanksgiving and Christmas with Mom, and then living at the beach house in the summers? With fax machines, there’s no reason why you can’t run your business from L.A. for the summer, though you might want to cut down then.” He straightened a little. “This doesn’t sound as if I’m running your life, does it? I mean, it’s open for discussion.”
Taking his face between her palms, she placed an ineffably tender kiss on his lips and felt the shudder that forked through him. “It’s a wonderful idea. But what about you?”
He stroked her back and brought his hands up to play in her hair. “Wescott Industries has been considering acquiring a few East Coast papers. I can open a corporate office here. I might have to fly out to L.A. now and then, but I think it’ll work well.”
“You’ve thought of everything.”
“Except how to put a gag on Valerie Sentara. After the confrontation at the gala, she didn’t know what to print. When no engagement announcement appeared in the other papers, she called me. I told her if she gave me two weeks, I’d give her an exclusive interview and she could print the complete version of the story.”
“Two weeks?”
“That’s all the time I was going to give you before I took some action. You don’t think I’d let you shut me out of your life, do you?”
The love in Jon’s eyes was so overwhelming, her throat tightened. She stroked his jaw because she couldn’t find any words.
He gave her an understanding smile. “So are you going to do the interview with me?”
The idea wasn’t totally pleasant. “What if she’s combative?”
“I’ll handle her.” He amended, “We’ll handle her.” As he gently let Alicia’s hair flow through his fingers, he said, “As I see it, we only have one problem now to contend with.”
“And what’s that?”
“We have to convince Ria to let us fly her out to L.A. for holidays. Think she’ll come?”
“If the rest of our problems are that easy to solve, we’ll have a wonderful life.”
“We will have a wonderful life. And every day for the rest of it, I’m going to bless the fates who put Emily in your care. I love you, Alicia.”
She raised her lips to his for another kiss, a kiss that showed him she believed him, she loved him, and she’d be his for always.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4077-7
ALWAYS DADDY
Copyright © 1995 by Karen Rose Smith
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 editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
Visit Silhouette Books at www.eHarlequin.com