by Cora Brent
“How’s the ankle?” he asked, walking through the front door and promptly tossing his keys on the coffee table.
“Pretty sure I wasn’t lying to my mother when I told her I’d live.” I plucked the ice pack off and examined my swollen ankle. Then I winced and replaced the cold compress on the sprain. “I’ll probably be limping around the jobsite all next week, though.”
“We can go to your place if you’d be more comfortable.”
“I’m extremely comfortable right here, thank you.”
“You sure look comfortable,” he said as his eyes scanned my body. In his absence I’d changed out of my sloppy yoga pants and T-shirt into a short blue sundress that I’d packed in my suitcase but hadn’t worn on the trip.
Jason sat down on the couch and gingerly picked my feet up, setting them in his lap, displacing the cold bag of sweet corn, and gently running his broad thumb over my injured ankle. “Does this hurt?”
“Actually it feels a little better when you touch it.”
A deviously sexy look came over him and his hand traveled higher. “In that case, can I touch other things too?”
“You’re incorrigible,” I said, although I parted my knees to give him better access.
But instead of taking advantage, he grew serious. “And you’re beautiful.”
I swallowed. “I missed you so much.”
He took my hand. “I missed you too.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you more often. I was always with the boys, and it was an emotional week.”
He nodded solemnly. “How are they doing?”
“They’re children. With that comes a certain amount of resilience, but I expect this will be a wound that will never quite heal. And William is devastated. He’ll always love Jennifer.”
“I’m sure he will,” Jason said.
My throat tightened as I remembered the conversation my brother and I had on the beach. “He told me things I didn’t know. He blames himself for the divorce because he spent all his time chasing professional success and neglected his family. You know what my brother said to me?”
“What?”
“William said no one ever died thinking, ‘Damn, I wish I’d put in more time at the office.’ It’s true. It’s absolutely true. Jason, I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to sideline the things in my life that matter and someday look back with terrible regret.”
Jason had leaned back and was peering at me intently. “And what matters to you, Audrey?”
I picked up his hand and kissed the broad palm. “You matter to me. I should have told you this sooner instead of pushing you away. I want to be with you, Jason. I want to be with you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
He smiled. “I think your nephew already spilled the beans on that topic.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, blushing and knowing full well he was talking about Leo and what he’d blurted out in the airport.
“He’s strong. That must be why you love him.”
Jason Roma was strong in more ways than I had ever guessed. Calm in the face of pressure, protective when confronted by any perceived threat, and generous enough to forgive a dying parent who could no longer remember the terrible things he’d done. No wonder I’d fallen for him.
“You know exactly what I mean,” Jason accused. He seized me around the waist and pulled me into a straddle across his lap, taking care not to jostle my ankle. Then he reached up and traced my lower lip.
“Say it,” he whispered.
I swallowed hard and took the plunge. “Jason, I love you.”
He didn’t say anything immediately, so I felt the need to continue.
“You’re brilliant and loyal and kind and so goddamn ridiculously gorgeous I can hardly breathe every time I look at you. I’ve closed myself off for so long, but I like who I am when we’re together. I love you not just for you but for bringing out the things in me I couldn’t admit I was missing. And—”
“I love you too,” he interrupted, curling his arms around my body and reminding me of the most practical feature of his strength. “And in case there’s any doubt in your mind, I want you to know those aren’t words I’ve ever said to any woman before.”
He kissed me quickly, then fiercely whispered, “I love you, Audrey Gordon.”
I touched the rough bristle that was growing in across his jaw. “You’re everything to me. You’re more important than all the two-hundred-million-dollar courthouse projects in the world.”
He grinned. “I’m pretty sure that’s the most romantic statement ever uttered.”
“I’m serious.” I paused before I made the next statement. “And Jason, if you want to take that other job, you have my full support. I mean that.”
“Nah,” Jason said. “I’m afraid you’re not getting rid of me.”
I smiled. “No?”
He shook his head for emphasis. “No. Pissing you off is too much fun.”
I playfully swatted at him, but he caught my hands and pinned them behind my back. Now that we’d voiced our heartfelt feelings, it seemed more-physical desires were going to claim priority. I was ready. I wanted him more than ever.
Jason’s kisses turned aggressive and I pressed my body against him, loving the feel of my breasts being crushed against his hard chest. But suddenly he broke away.
“What’s wrong?” I asked breathlessly, ready to start tearing clothes off and get wild.
Jason released my wrists and looked around the tidy, if understated, living room. “This isn’t exactly a downtown penthouse suite.”
“I like it,” I said, nibbling on his neck and wondering when he was going to get back to business. Jason was never one to hold back when it came to sex.
He plucked at the right strap of my dress and slowly eased it over my shoulder. “Do you really?”
I ran my hands all over his chest. “Yes. It’s a nice house. Quiet neighborhood.” I pulled the hem of his shirt up, admiring the smooth, tanned expanse of his muscled belly. I smiled when he sucked in a sharp breath as I moved lower, toying with his belt. “And most important,” I continued, loosening the leather strap, “you’re here.”
“Do you think you’d want to be here too?”
I stopped messing with his belt and looked at him. “What?”
Jason’s smile was somewhat shy. “You mentioned your apartment lease is up at the end of the summer.”
I vaguely recalled telling him that I needed to find a new apartment soon because my apartment complex was converting to condos next year. I didn’t like the place enough to make a permanent investment. But since there were still several months left of my lease term, I hadn’t made any plans.
“That’s true,” I said.
Jason slid the left strap of my dress down. “I’d love to have a roommate,” he said, and gently kissed the top of each breast. “If you wouldn’t mind living out in the stucco suburbs and commuting on the freeway in rush hour traffic.”
I hadn’t expected Jason to ask me to move in with him. But it took less than five seconds of consideration before I had an answer.
“We could commute together,” I suggested, returning to the job of getting his belt out of the way.
“And make better time using the carpool lane,” Jason agreed.
He let out a small groan when my fingers triumphed over the belt and began working on his zipper.
“Jason, I’d love to live here with you.”
His face lit up and I loved knowing I was the reason. We were in love. We made each other happy. There might not be any such thing as perfect when it comes to relationships, but I was determined to keep working at it. This kind of work was the real success in life. The things we did in exchange for a paycheck could never measure up.
After we kissed tenderly for a few minutes, Jason was delighted to discover that I wasn’t wearing panties beneath my dress. As he lifted me in his arms and carried me to bed, I told him the same thing I’d already told him. There was no such thing
as saying it too much.
“I love you.”
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER . . .
“Oh my god, I’m starving,” I groaned, leaning against Jason and pretending to wilt into a faint.
He circled an arm around my waist to prop me up. “I’ve got a solution for that,” he said confidently.
I glanced up at him. “Are you talking dirty?”
“No, I’m talking about pizza. Dominic said we should come down and celebrate when we’re done here.”
I eyed the collection of sweaty, overdressed people who were still milling around in the shadows of the newly completed courthouse. “Are we done shaking hands with half of Phoenix?”
“I hope so. That was exhausting—I don’t know who the fuck half of these people are.”
“County officials, local businessmen, and a lot of local politicians pretending to be eager about meeting the team responsible for the new courthouse.”
“In that case I’m glad I pretended to be eager to meet them back,” Jason said.
“Yes, although we should probably make it a point to locate some hand sanitizer before eating lunch.”
“Good idea,” Jason mused. “Davis Brown’s handshake felt a little wet. I don’t really want to think too hard about why.”
I gagged.
The Man approached with a big smile and an orange hard hat above it.
“There’s my dynamic duo,” he crowed, pumping our hands for about the tenth time today.
I couldn’t blame our boss for being pleased. The largest construction project in the company’s history had been completed on schedule and within budget. In this industry, that counted as an astounding victory.
“I don’t think you need this anymore,” Jason said good-naturedly, pointing to the hard hat. The courthouse was no longer an active construction zone and precautionary measures were not necessary, but The Man’s eccentricities were well known. He was the only person in sight wearing a safety hat.
The Man removed the hard hat with some reluctance. “Can never be too careful,” he said, scanning the sky in case a rogue crane was about to drop a brick on his head. In the next instant his name was called by a trio of men who looked like members of the aforementioned political class. The Man wordlessly handed his hard hat to Jason and scurried over to the men who had summoned him.
Jason held the thing aloft. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
I considered. “Let’s keep it as a souvenir.”
He nodded. “I can stick it in the garden to scare away the crows.”
“Jason, we don’t have a garden.”
“Then what’s all that green shit in the backyard?”
“Weeds.”
He laughed and tried to lead me away. “Let’s get out of here, gorgeous. Ceremony’s over. Courthouse is open. We’re no longer needed.”
Just before Jason and I walked away hand in hand, I glanced up to see a familiar tall blond head. The man attached to it saw me at the same time. Of course it made sense that he would be present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony since he was the chief architect. Jason and I waved, and Lukas Lund smiled at us before waving back.
“Want to walk or drive?” Jason asked.
“Drive,” I said immediately, fanning myself with a program that had been handed out for the ceremony. “It’s too damn hot to walk.”
“It’s Phoenix, Audrey. It’s always hot.”
“Then we should always drive.”
Jason’s car was on the first floor of the new parking structure beside the courthouse. He opened the door for me with a gallant flourish and I paused to kiss him before ducking inside.
“You hear from William this week?” he asked on the short drive over to the quaint old downtown neighborhood where Esposito’s Pizzeria was located.
“He’s having a blast at the beach with the boys. And you know my folks flew in yesterday. They’re all excited that we’re coming to visit next week.”
William was in the middle of a long-term sabbatical from the court. Working as a legal consultant gave him the flexibility to do things like take Leo and Isaac on a one-month vacation to the beach house on the Oregon coast. He knew Jennifer would have wanted him to bring the boys there to spend time with her side of the family.
“That’s going to be one crowded house next week,” Jason commented.
“Yes, crowded,” I agreed, “but fun. Full of family and love.”
At the mention of family, I thought Jason looked a little wistful. Christian Roma had died in his sleep only a month ago. Jason’s father never did remember us from one visit to the next, but he always seemed thrilled whenever we came by, believing we were friends he was just meeting for the first time. His grin spread a mile wide during our small, intimate wedding three months earlier, and I knew Jason had been glad to have his father there. The fact that he was no longer himself had been what made it possible for Jason to absolve him in the first place. The terrible father Christian Roma had been was dead long before his body gave out.
“Hey.” I put my hand on Jason’s knee.
He looked at me.
“I love you.”
My stunning husband smiled. “I love you too, baby.”
I squeezed his knee. “Then feed me some pizza.”
Dominic and Melanie were full of hugs the second we entered the restaurant. Since we’d gotten into the habit of hanging out with them often, Melanie and I had become quite close. It was nice to have a girlfriend outside of work, and Melanie, a little spitfire, always made me laugh.
As the pair of them watched us bite into the custom pizzas they’d prepared in anticipation of our arrival, Dominic stood behind his wife with a protective arm across her petite shoulders. Melanie absently rubbed her growing belly with a small smile on her face.
“Sit down,” I said, scooting over.
“Can’t,” said Dominic. “Got to return to the kitchen.”
“The lunch crowd will be descending any minute,” Melanie agreed.
“I’m proud of you guys, though,” Dominic said. “I passed the courthouse this morning. The place kind of gives new meaning to the word impressive. And now every time I hear that a crime has been committed, I’ll think of you.”
Jason snorted. “Thanks, buddy. That’s a hell of a tribute.”
Dominic shrugged. “I do what I can,” he said before he retreated to the kitchen, where he would happily slave away in front of the giant brick ovens hour after hour.
“I’m proud of you too,” Melanie said, and pecked each of us on the cheek before heading over to help at the takeout counter, which was already starting to get busy.
I finished off a slice of pizza and reached across the table to take Jason’s left hand in mine.
“You were right to pick the platinum bands,” I said. “I like the way they look together.”
He picked up my hand and kissed the knuckle beneath the ring. “I like the way we look together.” He set my hand down on the table and lightly ran his fingertips across the back. “You ready to embark on our next adventure, Audrey Roma?”
“I thought you promised me a lifetime of adventures.”
“And I plan to deliver. But I was specifically talking about the business side of our relationship.”
“Oh, that.” I smiled at him. “I’m ready. I think it’s high time to stop working for someone else.”
He nodded with approval. “Time to call all our own shots.”
Jason and I had decided our days at Lester & Brown were numbered. Just this week we’d filed the necessary paperwork to incorporate Gordon Roma Construction. Jason had always dreamed of having his own construction firm, and even though I’d never thought about it much, with Jason at my side I wasn’t short on optimism. We planned to start small, bidding for projects out in the East Valley where construction was booming. My father heard about our plans and pledged to offer any additional financial support we might require. Although I was grateful, I told him we really didn’t need any
favors. Aaron Gordon frowned and told me it was no favor. He believed in me. Moreover, he believed Jason and I made a hell of a team. That was about as remarkable an endorsement as we could ask for.
“The Man’s liable to shit bricks when we tell him we’re both leaving,” I said, cheerfully taking a bite of pizza.
Jason waved a hand. “Might be good for the guy to shit bricks. He’s always been bunched up too tight. All that pressure has to crack sometime.”
I snorted into my iced tea glass over the imagery. “You’re nasty.”
He winked at me. “I could be nastier.”
“Don’t I know it.”
A few minutes later I noticed Jason was looking me up and down in a very familiar way.
“What?” I teased.
“Are you finished eating?”
“Are you in that much of a hurry to get back to the office?”
“To hell with the office. They’re not even expecting us back this afternoon.”
“How do you know that?”
He leaned forward. “Because this morning before the ceremony I called and ordered Marnie to inform everyone we’d be at a meeting and unavailable for the rest of the day.”
“What meeting? With whom?”
Jason’s hand touched my knee under the table, slowly creeping higher under my skirt. “With each other,” he said in that slow, sexy voice that left no doubt about exactly what he had in mind.
I held up one finger. “Check, please.”
“Get out of here, you guys,” Melanie scolded as she walked by carrying a basket of garlic bread. “You know your money is no good in this establishment.”
Jason took two twenties and tossed them on the table anyway.
“Let’s get the hell out of here before Dom comes roaring out and yells at me for paying,” he said, pulling me to my feet.
I laughed and held on to him as we stepped outside into the brilliant sun. We had to pause at the corner and wait for the light to turn green. When it did, Jason glanced my way, raised an eyebrow, and we crossed to the other side hand in hand.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A ton of gratitude to my family for their steadfast support of my long working hours, lackluster housekeeping skills, and insatiable appetite for Red Vines.
