by Nancy Warren
“Come on in and see the house,” she said.
The oohs and aahs were predictable. As was the moment when Paige said, “I feel overwhelmed. This place is too big.”
Hailey nodded. “I think I have the ideal place for you. It’s not even on the market yet. We can see it tomorrow.”
She described the town house and immediately saw the couple exchange glances and nod. “Let’s see it,” Jay said. “I’d be a lot happier with a mortgage I could pay off in this lifetime.”
“Since you’re here, you’ve got to see upstairs. The master bedroom is my dream room.”
While Julia showed Paige and Jay the rest of the upstairs, Gloria remained with Hailey in the big master bedroom, admiring the view of the backyard, the fireplace and the window seat. “What a beautiful room.” She walked to the four-poster. “And the bed!”
“I know.” Every time she was in this room Hailey experienced a sense of connection she couldn’t understand. She’d simply come to accept it. She’d step into the room and immediately feel that it was somehow hers, her fantasies of her and Rob in that bed as vivid as though they were memories.
“Agnes Neeson was my English teacher in high school,” Gloria remarked.
“Really? Was she a good teacher?”
“The best.” She shook her head. “Her daughter was a real mess though. She dropped out of high school. Always in trouble. Sex, drugs and rock and roll. Poor Mrs. Neeson. It was really sad.”
“That would be Rob’s mother.”
“The current owner?”
She nodded.
“How did he turn out?”
“He’s... He’s...” How to describe Rob? “He’s a successful photojournalist. Works for World Week.” Without thinking, she sat on the bed and Gloria joined her. “He’s driven, ambitious, cares about people.”
“Easy on the eyes.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“You two having sex yet?”
“Gloria!”
“What? You think I don’t know you almost as well as my own kids? You’re crazy about the man. I can hear it in your voice.”
“I’ve thought about it.” She blew out a breath. “I can barely think about anything else. But there’d be no future.”
“I’ve never known a woman who spent so much time worrying about the future as you do. Maybe you should try living for now a little more.” The older woman drilled her with a gaze that was like Julia’s only with more life experience. “Have you had sex even once since your engagement broke up?”
She shook her head.
“Maybe it’s time.”
A shiver ran through her. Maybe it was.
“What if I fall in love with him and he breaks my heart?”
“You’re doing it again. Forget the future and start living for today.” She nudged Hailey with her elbow. “Or tonight.”
Hailey knew herself too well to believe she could have an affair and not end up hurt. Maybe Gloria was right though. What if she indulged herself and Rob? Not for a long time, that could be dangerous.
But for a short time? Just to give in to the attraction that burned between them?
Could she play with fire and not get burned?
Maybe just one night.
* * *
THE LIGHTS WERE ON, as Rob had expected they’d be when he returned home from Beananza. Hailey always waited to tell him how her showing had gone. He liked to think she enjoyed their short visits as much as he did.
Remembering the door slam as he’d left, he called out, “Hi, honey. I’m home.”
She came from the direction of the kitchen looking better than any Realtor should. He really wished she’d quit making them both wait for something she must know was inevitable.
Something seemed different about her. She glowed with suppressed excitement. With a sense of foreboding he prayed she wasn’t going to present an offer on the house.
“How was the showing?”
“It wasn’t right for them. Young couple with a child on the way. They need something smaller.”
“Too bad,” he said even as a feeling of relief slid through him.
If she hadn’t sold his house, what was she looking so excited about?
“How’s your leg?”
“Healing. Why?” He glanced at her with suspicion. “If you have some big-ass box that needs moving or furniture to unload I have to remind you I’m the walking wounded.”
“What if I want sex?”
He was so dumbfounded he put all his weight on his bad leg and nearly went down. “What did you say?”
“It’s a purely theoretical question. I was wondering whether you think your leg is strong enough for you to have sex?”
“Yes.” The answer was definite.
“Theoretically yes?”
“Let’s-go-upstairs-and-rip-our-clothes-off yes.”
Hailey was enjoying herself. It wasn’t a big surprise he’d so enthusiastically said yes. In fact, she’d have been stunned if he hadn’t, given the level of sizzle between them recently. But to have amazed him like that, to have seen the look on his face go from suspicious to knocked out, gave her a huge charge.
Gloria was right. She’d been too cautious, too scared to get hurt. Too worried about a future that she couldn’t predict.
Even as she watched, congratulating herself on shocking him so completely, the expression in his eyes changed. From stunned to...speculative. He took a halting step closer. He wasn’t leaning so heavily on the cane anymore. In fact he didn’t use it unless he was going out. “I’ve been wanting to get you upstairs in that big bed since the first moment I saw you,” he told her, lifting a hand and playing with the ends of her hair.
She snorted. “When you first saw me you weren’t too happy. You tried to kick me out of the house.”
“That’s true. Doesn’t mean I didn’t want you in my bed. A man can think two things at once, you know.” He traced his index finger up the line of her hair, sending shivers up and down her body. “Especially if one of them is about sex.”
He moved closer and she loved the feel of his warmth, his personal space meshing with hers so you didn’t know where one left off and the other began.
“Why the change of heart?” he wanted to know.
“The truth?”
“Of course.”
If she was going to sleep with the man she ought to at least be able to tell him why, after informing him she wouldn’t be kissing him anymore she was suddenly planning to become as intimate as two people can be. “I can’t stop thinking about it,” she said softly, shrugging. “It’s getting in the way of my work. I’m usually not a daydreamer. I’m very efficient.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“I feel like if we just do it already I’ll stop thinking about it.”
“Such a romantic.”
He’d think she was a complete die-hard romantic if he knew how much her fantasies revolved around that big four-poster. Ever since she’d first seen him stretched out all scruffy and gorgeous she’d associated him with the bed, and adding the two together equaled hot sex in her mind. Maybe she was being stupid, as she accused herself about six times a day, but the truth was she couldn’t keep wasting time dreaming about having sex with the man. She’d be better to do it.
Why not? As Gloria had reminded her, she and Rob were both single, and she was young and healthy with a normal sex drive. Nobody was going to get hurt. Why shouldn’t they indulge?
His mouth drew closer to hers and, as she lifted her face to his as though compelled, she retained enough sense to say, “I have some rules.”
The forward motion stopped.
The sexual intensity in his glance dissipated replaced by a glint of humor. “Of course you do,” he said. “Do I need to go wash my hands first? Change the bedding? Brush my teeth?”
“No.” She laughed. “Well, brushing your teeth is probably a good idea. I’ll brush mine, too.”
“You’re a head case, you know that, right?”
“Darling, the rules of sex are simple. Nobody gets hurt, and everybody has a good time.” He stepped even closer. “And I will make damn sure you have a good time.”
Warmth was stealing over her. He might be half joking, but the other half was dead serious. She had a strong feeling that this man would be generous in bed, making sure his partner had at least as much fun as he did.
“That’s not— I mean, I’m sure you will but...” She shook her head. “Oh, this is ridiculous. The only rule I wanted to suggest is that we are very clear—this is one night only.”
He seemed completely taken aback. “One night only?”
“Yes.”
“But we’ll barely get started.”
“Well, I’ve thought about it, and that’s all I want.”
“I don’t know.” He scratched his cheek where stubble had formed. “I don’t do my best work under pressure.”
She glanced significantly at his injured leg. “Your profession is all about performing under pressure. I saw the pictures you took in Africa. During the gun battle when you got hurt. They’re amazing.”
“Thanks. But this is different”
What she didn’t tell him was how she’d practically trembled imagining him in that war zone in constant danger. She could never lose her heart to a man like that. She had to be so careful. Maybe she was stupid even to consider sleeping with him once, but she was suddenly tired of living so rigidly by her rules. Besides, her rules were designed for maximum efficiency of her time. If she was losing sleep having twitchy, hot fantasies about Rob, wouldn’t it be easier just to sleep with the guy and be done with it? Then she could put her fantasies behind her.
He wasn’t playing according to her program, however. He gazed at her as though she might be more than a little crazy. “I don’t know. I’ve never been the type for one-night stands.” He paused, “Well, not since college. I think I’d feel used.”
She burst out laughing. “I’m not using you.”
“A deal for one night of sex? Even if I want more? What would you call it?”
“I guess I thought we’d be giving each other pleasure for a night. Not that anyone was using anyone else.”
“I don’t see it that way.” He took a step back. “This is probably a bad idea. I’m not at my best mentally or physically right now.”
Her astonishment at being turned down by a man for uncomplicated, no-strings-attached sex evaporated when she searched his face and saw real hesitance there. He wasn’t playing a game. And then suddenly his behavior made perfect sense.
All his bluster about feeling used, and his earlier comments about everything working properly came back to her.
He was worried about his performance. His leg was far from healed which meant they’d have to make some adjustments. Maybe he wasn’t as certain everything was working as he’d told her he was.
He probably thought she was playing games when all she was trying to do was protect her heart. Maybe if she was contemplating being intimate with her body, she should at least let the man into some of what was going on in her head.
“Rob,” she began, then didn’t know where to go from there. “Rob. You are the sexiest, most interesting man I’ve met in a really long time.”
He didn’t appear to be over-the-moon flattered. He simply stood there and listened. She supposed it came from being a journalist. Listening was a skill and not jumping into speech kept the other person talking. As she knew well from her own profession. People often thought they wanted a certain kind of property but sometimes when she listened and encouraged them to talk a different vision would emerge. Not what they thought they wanted, but what would make them happy.
Now he was looking at her and she was going to tell him more than she’d intended. “The thing is I’ve got a busy career and I’m so focused. I don’t want to be distracted by a relationship.”
He shook his head. “Who said anything about a relationship? All I said was I’m not a big fan of one-night stands. I’m too old for that crap. I’d have thought you were, too.”
“I am. I don’t normally indulge like that either. But. Oh, this is so hard. I have this little problem where I...get involved with men I’ve been intimate with. I don’t want to fall for you and then have you break my heart when you go back to war zones and put your life in danger again. So I need to balance the wanting to sleep with you against the fear of losing you. And the only way I can reconcile the two things is to go into this with a very short-term goal.”
“One night.”
“Yes.”
“That’s the craziest damn thing I’ve ever heard.”
She was more let down than she’d have believed possible. She’d really wanted to have one night with him, one night of memories she could enjoy without risking her foolish heart. “So you won’t do it?”
He glared at her. “Of course I’ll do it. I’m a man. I haven’t had a woman in months. You’re always underfoot smelling good and looking good. Yeah, I’ll take the deal. But I don’t like it.”
She smiled at the grumpiness in his tone. And in relief. “I understand.” She took a deep breath feeling a little shaky now they’d made the decision.
She pulled her electronic organizer out and clicked to her Week at a Glance. “Okay. When do you want to do this?”
A large and very masculine hand reached out and, before she guessed his intent, grabbed the organizer out of her grasp and set it ungently on the table. “How about now?”
“Now? But I was going to bring my nightdress and things over.”
“You won’t need a nightdress,” he informed her stepping closer.
10
“I— OH,” AND THAT WAS the last sound Hailey made for a long, long time, as his mouth closed over hers and he reminded her of all the reasons she’d been thinking lustful thoughts of him ever since they’d kissed in the bedroom.
It was different now. She had no frustrations about doing this. She’d made her deal, set boundaries she could live with.
Tonight he’d be her lover.
Tomorrow he’d be back to being her client.
It was fine. It was good. Oh, and the deeper he took the kiss, the more she knew how much she wanted him. She felt herself bending to him, melting against his body as he ran his hands up and down her back, stroking, enticing. His mouth toyed with her, seduced her.
He took her hand and led her up the stairs. He didn’t take the cane but held the banister with one hand, and with the other, linked his fingers with hers. She felt the warmth traveling back and forth between their joined hands, felt her heart begin to hammer in anticipation.
She slowed her steps to keep pace with him even though she wanted to race up the stairs and dive into bed.
When they got to the top of the stairs and he tugged her toward the big bedroom she paused.
“What?” he demanded.
“I keep a toothbrush in the other bathroom,” she admitted.
“Of course you do.”
“Do you mind if I—”
“Five minutes. If you’re not in my bed in five minutes the deal’s off.”
A little thrill went through her at his macho, caveman attitude.
“I’ll be quick,” she promised and scooted over to the other bathroom.
She brushed her teeth in record time, astonished, when she saw her face in the mirror, at how a little sexual buzz added color to her cheeks and a sparkle to her eyes. She managed to run a brush through her hair and grab a couple of the condoms she’d also stashed up here when she first started thinking thoughts that had nothing to do with buyers, sellers or amortization schedules.
She dashed down the hall and entered the master suite well within her allotted five minutes.
He came out of the master bathroom and stood in the middle of the room, watching her. The expression in his eyes brought a delicious heaviness to her limbs. With languorous st
eps, she walked to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
She smiled against his lips, tasting fresh mint. “You brushed your teeth, too.”
“Figured I’d get kicked out of bed if I didn’t,” he grumbled. Then took over the kiss, licking into her mouth, drawing her body against his so she could feel the full force of his passion.
Oh, my.
He raised his head. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” she asked when he took her hand and led her out of the master suite.
“My old room. I feel like I’d get in trouble if I had sex in my grandmother’s bed.”
“But your bed’s a single.”
“I know. I wouldn’t feel comfortable is all.”
“Okay.” She tried to be understanding. Of course, grief did strange things to a person, and she respected his feelings, but she loved that four-poster. It was a bed for fantasies and she did not for one moment believe that Mrs. Neeson would begrudge her grandson pleasure. All the same he had to work through his loss in his own way so she went with him to his old bedroom, staged to sell but still containing only a single bed.
When they entered the room, she flipped on the bedside lamp and turned back the coverlet on the ridiculously small bed. “Did you sneak girls up here when you were a teenager?” she asked.
“Truth is I snuck them downstairs to my man cave in the basement.” He shot her a wicked look. “I still remember my moves down there if you want to give it a try.”
“I am not going down two flights of stairs. And neither are you.”
“Maybe later.”
She raised her brows at him.
“We’ve got all night. Don’t think you’re going to sleep for one minute of it.”
A tiny moan started in her throat and almost escaped. She bit it back in the nick of time. How did he do this to her? Driving her wild with no more than a promise of an action-filled night.
She was so hot she needed action now. When she glanced up at him she got the strong impression he felt the same. He stepped closer and began kissing her again. He wasn’t one for wandering all over the place, planting kisses on her cheeks and forehead and any old place his lips felt like landing. He seemed to be a man who liked deep, wet, hungry soul kisses. Which was fine with her. Their bodies strained together as the kiss grew more urgent.
