She intended to stand on her own two feet if it killed her. She’d start small, take surveillance cases that she felt comfortable with before branching out. If her time working as Rex’s assistant had proven anything to her it was that she needed fresh challenges, needed to find her work interesting, not something she could hide in.
Eventually she knew John would understand and accept that she’d done what was best, but at the moment…
More knocking.
April sighed. Stepping off her treadmill, she crossed the living room and swung the door wide. “Paula must have pulled out the big guns to get you to leave the office before six.”
“She couldn’t have blasted me out from behind my desk with a cannon. But lover boy here wanted to pay you a visit and I couldn’t give your address to a stranger. You and Wilhemina might know this guy, but I don’t know him from Adam.”
Lover boy?
John stepped aside and April saw him.
That rich russet hair and that wicked grin. His star quality in place, looking as charming and as handsome and larger than life as he had on the day they’d met. His melting eyes caressed her, a look that didn’t hide how much he’d missed her, a look that reminded her of all they’d shared.
Every drop of blood drained from April’s face only to rush back again like an erupting volcano. Her cheeks prickled and burned. She had to be as red as a cherry.
A fact John corroborated by rolling his eyes. “All right, Holt. You win. She’s got it bad.” He scowled down at her, which only served to make her blush flare even hotter. “You going to invite us in or what?”
She had no clue what else to do, so she just stepped aside and let them enter.
They strode into her living room, two big men who seemed to suck up all the space with their broad shoulders and male intensity. John never took his gaze off her, but Rex looked around, summed up her place with that gaze that saw everything.
He smiled.
She didn’t know what to say.
John stepped into the breach. “I’m not staying. I just need to know you’ll be safe with this guy.”
Safe was a relative term. Would Rex harm her? Never. But her heart was coming apart at the seams. If he was here then he already knew. She didn’t need her letter because he knew. And she’d never realized what a wimp she was until then, when she faced him, not knowing what to think, what to say or how to act.
“You want me to hang around in case you need backup?” John asked and his wry tone snapped her out of her daze.
She reached up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
He slanted a sharp gaze between her and Rex, then snorted. “You call me the instant you work this out. I mean the second, April, or else Paula will have the girls there tonight to harangue me for details as soon as I walk in the door.” He scowled. “Better yet, you call her. That’ll save me from being picked to the bone with questions. Got it?”
She nodded, going all soft and stupid inside, because he cared so much.
“All right. I’m out of here.” He turned to Rex. “You keep in mind what I said, Holt. Understood?”
“Understood, sir,” he said, and April saw a smile twitching around his mouth.
John left and April closed the door behind him, needing some activity to occupy her, to let her avoid turning around to face Rex for just another few heartbeats….
“What did he say to you?” she asked, barely able to hear her own voice above the alarm screaming in her head.
“I got the proverbial walk around the block.”
“Really?” She clamped her hands behind her back and assumed the position before lifting her gaze to his.
Rex nodded. “He made sure I’m clear that I’ll be dealing with him if I hurt you.” Without another word, he covered the distance between them and wrapped her in his arms.
The past week had felt like forever but the instant his arms came around her, she remembered with striking clarity exactly how she felt when he held her. The way her cheek fitted against his chest, the fabric of his jacket textured against her skin, her head nestled against his shoulder as though she’d been designed to fit. Her body molded against his instinctively, remembering every curve and hollow.
Then she tipped her head back, met his gaze…and erupted.
“Rex, I planned to contact you just as soon as the investigation was officially closed. I couldn’t jeopardize everything and until I could tell you, I didn’t see the point of contacting you. I needed to explain what happened and why I couldn’t tell you and I never expected to sleep with you and then once we did I felt terrible because I couldn’t tell you. Then I met your family and that only made things worse…”
April poured her heart out. Wrapped tightly in his arms, encouraged by his touch, she told him everything she’d written in her letter, everything she’d deleted, every doubt, every fear and every promise she’d made to herself.
She told him that she was tired of being a disaster and hiding from life. She was stepping out from behind her computer, stepping out from under John’s wing and taking on the world one day and one step at a time. The good, and the bad right along with it.
And she let him off the hook, too. “I understand if you don’t want to be involved in a relationship with someone who’s had to call 9-1-1 for every man she’s ever slept with.”
“Except for me,” he said huskily.
“Except for you.”
Darn if those weren’t tears stinging her eyes.
“It looks like you arranged the furniture so you could pace right through the middle of your living room,” he said, glancing around. “Did you?”
April might have laughed had in not been for the huge knot of emotion rising in her throat trying to choke her. She did pace right through the middle of the room, so she could stare out the windows overlooking the park across the street.
She only nodded, touched that he’d recognize something so simple, yet so important about her.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what?”
“For deceiving you.”
Rex hooked a knuckle beneath her chin and tipped her face toward his. “I’d rather you were sorry for leaving.”
“I made love to you with a lie between us. While you were being thoughtful and wonderful, I was reporting every phone call and fax you sent.”
“I agree the circumstances weren’t optimum, but you were doing your job. Why did you think I’d hold that against you?”
“I didn’t. I just didn’t want to hurt you.”
He frowned. “I was surprised at having been a surveillance target, but all things considered, I appreciated Wilhemina’s precaution. I was a legitimate variable and she made sure we were both protected.”
“I compromised my surveillance by making love to you.”
“You didn’t think I was guilty, did you?”
“No, of course not.”
His frown deepened, etching lines around his mouth, squaring off his strong chin. “I knew something was wrong, April, but I didn’t know what. You wouldn’t tell me, or at least tell me you’d explain when you could. I’d have accepted that. But you never gave me a chance to understand. That’s what hurt.”
Her heart was in pieces, and the stupid tears were prickling at the backs of her lids. “It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you, Rex, I didn’t trust me.”
She blinked, refusing to give in to the urge. But one rebel tear escaped. Rex thumbed it from her cheek, smiled softly. “I trusted you.”
“I know.” And that was all it took to pitch her over the edge. A week’s worth of waiting, of learning how to stand on her own feet, and yes, a week’s worth of uncertainty welled up inside. To April’s complete mortification, she burst into tears, tears that had been building since she’d realized she would have to leave him, tears she’d refused to shed after she’d left.
She cried them all now, great huge dollops that made each breath a sob, rolled down her cheeks and smear
ed her mascara.
And through it all, Rex never said a word. He just scooped her into his arms and sat down with her on his lap, holding her close, an anchor to cling to while she toughed out the storm. He rocked her gently, stroked her back with a soothing touch, pressed soft kisses into her hair, as though he knew exactly how momentous this week had been.
He never said a word, until finally, finally she managed to catch her breath.
“All better?”
She nodded, swiping the tears from her eyes, collecting herself so that Rex could see that even if she faltered she could get right back up on her feet.
His smile told her that he already knew.
Then she found her voice, teary and trembly though it was, and asked, “How did you find out? Wilhemina can’t say anything until the investigation is over.”
Rex traced her mouth with his thumb, a light touch that managed to convey just how much he’d missed touching her. “I’m in research, remember? That means I have a curious streak and lots of resources at my disposal. Once I discovered you didn’t work for the Luxurious Bedding Company, I did some investigating and got the basic idea of what had been going on. Wilhemina couldn’t tell me anything, but she could confirm my suspicions and point me in John’s direction.”
“Good old Auntie Wil. I’m sure she’s having a blast with all this.”
Rex nodded.
“She’s very fond of you, you know? She was willing to bet her career on your innocence. She’s also bet her career that you can help her pull off this launch.”
“I can, with some help.” He eyed her pointedly and this crazy hope began to bloom inside her.
But Rex didn’t give her a chance to savor the feeling or question him because he said, “Wilhemina was also very impressed with your work. So was your former boss.”
“People are my downfall. I don’t have a problem with computers.”
“As long as you’re standing three feet away.” His gaze shot to her unusual computer setup. A corner desk sandwiched in between floor-to-ceiling windows with the monitor on top and a treadmill with a keyboard taped to the instrument panel.
The setup put distance between where she stood and the monitor, requiring her to have a nice-size twenty-one incher that looked like a movie screen and Rex was staring at the screen now. “Is that the letter you were going to send to me?”
She nodded.
“May I?” He didn’t wait for an answer, just slid her off his lap and stepped onto the treadmill.
“I already told you everything that I wrote—”
“Not everything,” his eyes were still fixed on the monitor. “You haven’t told me you loved me. It’s right here in your letter.”
“I do.”
He turned and his melting gaze caressed her, not hiding his pleasure at her admission or hiding what he felt inside.
“I love you, Rex.”
He reached down and swept his hand across her cheek. “I love you, too.”
The moment hung between them so unbearably tender, so rich and hopeful that April felt the darned tears again.
“And you didn’t tell me what you wanted for the future. See, that’s here, too.”
“I want to be with you.
“I know.”
A rogue tear escaped and he thumbed it away. “You’ll trust me to tackle whatever comes up with you?”
She nodded, leaning into his touch. Then he reached for her hand, drawing her to her feet and onto the treadmill as he brushed his mouth against the inside of her wrist, right above the antistatic wristband. “You’ll tackle whatever life tosses at me, too?”
She nodded.
“We’re a pair, you know, April. I’ve been barreling right past life and you’ve been hiding from it.” He laughed softly and met her gaze above their clasped hands. “I’m making a change. I’m making time to enjoy my life and I want you with me. You helped me see how much I’ve been missing.”
“I’m making a change, too.” She inhaled deeply, summoned the strength to voice her hopes and her dreams aloud, knew that no matter what happened that opening her heart was an accomplishment she could be proud of. “I’ve quit my job.”
“John told me. He’s sorry to lose you.”
“And I’m sorry to go but it’s time. There’s something else I’d like to do with my life.”
“And what’s that?”
“Work for you.”
Rex’s smile told her that he wasn’t surprised, most likely because she’d written that in her letter, too. But adrenaline was making her blood pump and her alarm start to head toward the red zone, so she said, “I’ve got this all worked out and it’s perfect. You’re a marketing researcher and I’m an investigative researcher. They fit together perfectly, don’t you think? You like how I pinpoint potential liabilities and you’ve got to finish up the analysis on the Sensuous Collection. There’s the Swiss Army Set and then the Faux Fur and the Incredible Edible. And those are just the gaming and adventure lines. You definitely need my help.”
“I do.” He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, the incline of the treadmill making her align against him at the perfect height for him to rest his chin on the top of her head.
She absorbed the feel of him against her, the warmth of his strong body pressed close.
“I’m guessing you couldn’t have gotten too far starting up your own business in just a week.”
“Didn’t even get business cards printed.” She barely got the words past the lump that was back in her throat.
“Good, because you’ve got the job. It’ll always be interesting, I can promise.”
April lost her battle with the tears again. They squeezed past her lashes as she stared into Rex’s handsome face, saw the truth there. “That’s it, Rex? No contract negotiations?”
He shook his head.
“You’re sure? I don’t switch jobs that often. I’ve only had one so far in my whole life.”
“That kind of job history is a plus as far as I’m concerned.” He turned with her in his arms and reached toward the keyboard taped to the instrument panel and typed out one-handed: Marry me, April.
She noticed he didn’t use a question mark. That might have been because he couldn’t manage the keystroke with one arm still wrapped tightly around her. But April thought it was more likely because he already knew her answer.
She brushed his hand out of the way and tapped out the letters to spell Y-E-S.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7780-3
BETWEEN THE SHEETS
Copyright © 2003 by Jeanie LeGendre.
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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Between The Sheets Page 22
