by Ava Miles
It had been new, missing someone, but he’d never been far from her mind, not even while she was working. God, it was good to be back.
His tongue tangled with hers, and soon he was carrying her down the hallway to her bedroom. When he shut the door and then lowered her onto the bed, she rolled until she was on top of him. Her desire was out of control now, like a Ferrari testing the limits of its engine, and all she wanted was to feel his hot flesh against hers. She stripped off her navy cashmere wrap and then her white T-shirt.
Her self-consciousness seemed to have evaporated like the rare raindrops in Las Vegas on hot pavement. Before she’d left, Matt had held her naked in front of the mirror after a shower and told her all the things he loved about her body. She had decided to give herself the same gift. While she was in Cabo, she looked at herself alone in the mirror, and for the first time in her life, she saw more than a tiny body without any curves. She saw her luminous skin, her supple strength. Matt had told her she had a dancer’s body. While ballerinas weren’t big-breasted or curvaceous, they were beautiful and graceful. And so was she.
That revelation had brought about a profound shift inside of her.
So, when she and Elizabeth had chanced upon a lingerie boutique in Cabo, she’d fearlessly gone in and bought something perfectly suited for her body. Not needing any support due to her small breasts, she’d decided to embrace what she had and selected a sheer lace bra, which she was wearing tonight. Her nipples were visible through it, and it had been a little shocking to her when she’d tried it on, but she’d bought it anyway, imagining Matt’s reaction.
“Oh, Christ,” he wheezed out. “You’re going to kill me if you keep wearing stuff like this.”
And when his hands covered the lace and plucked at her nipples, her head fell back, his words music to her ears. Then he shocked her by levering himself up and fitting his mouth to her, lace and all. He was pulsing underneath her, and she ran her hands down his back until she could pull on his coat, which he hadn’t even bothered to take off.
His laughter reverberated against her, and he leaned back. “It zips.”
“Take it off then,” she urged, frantic for him.
“You did miss me,” he murmured as he shrugged out of it, his slumberous blue eyes twinkling with desire. It had been less than a week, but it had felt like an eternity.
“I told you,” she whispered. “I want you naked. Now.”
He rolled her onto her side and scooted until he was off the bed and began to strip, making her mouth water as more of those hard, defined muscles were exposed. Seeing him in a navy blazer with a red silk tie gave her a strange moment. Right. Bingo Night.
“Who am I to deny a lady?” he asked, throwing his clothes on the floor.
She tugged off her boots, leggings, and socks, but left on the bra and panties. His eyes immediately went to the lacy patch between her thighs.
“Feel free to wear that all the time. Just promise you won’t tell me you’re wearing it when we’re out in public. I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself.”
“We’ll see.” God, this playfulness was sexy.
He tossed a condom on the bed and lowered himself beside her. “I missed you too, Jane,” he whispered. “So much.”
His arms fitted her to him, and their mouths met with hunger. Sweetness was there too, as fingers traced skin which had become so cherished, so beloved, so desired. He trailed kisses down her torso and then kissed her through the lace, causing her to cry out in delight. Setting his mouth to her in a tantalizing rhythm he helped her cross that first peak. Gasping, she felt the slow slide of the lace down her legs as his mouth kissed a path down the sensitive skin of her inner thighs and calves until he tossed aside her underwear and gently bit her heel. The flash of desire was a shock, and she leaned up on her elbows to look at him.
His smile was wicked as he slid up her body again, his kisses more urgent now.
“Matt,” she whispered, wanting to feel him deep within her.
He slid his hands over her nipples and then put his mouth on her there too. She moaned at the sensation as he reached behind her back to unhook the bra. Then he was sliding that off too, and those perfect lips closed around her bare nipple, first one and then the other, until she was arching her back like the ballerina she now saw herself as.
When he rose from her and slid on the condom, she held out her arms. He returned to her embrace and settled against her frame, his weight on his elbows.
“Oh, Jane,” he said when he pressed deep inside her.
Urging him with a hand to his back, she met his gentle rhythm, but soon it wasn’t enough for either of them. She gripped his hips as he drove into her hard, groaning now. The heated slide of him inside her, the friction of them coming together, and that steady gaze of his on her face sent a tidal wave of energy slamming through her. She cried out as she pulsed over and over again, and he came hard inside her.
His breath rasped against her throat as she succumbed to the force between them. Home, she realized. She was home. Her heart beat radically in her chest at the thought, but she knew it was true.
“I love you,” she whispered, kissing his cheek.
He nuzzled her neck, still wheezing. “Me…too.”
Rolling them to their sides, he dispensed of the condom and then slid back against her. His skin was dotted with sweat, and she traced a bead that rolled down his chest.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to make it these past five days,” she admitted. Which had been insane after going so long without sex. But she knew why. It was because she wanted this man. No one else could make her feel this way.
“I know,” he said. “I tried to run it out of my system every day, but when I got into bed at night, there it was again.”
He traced her cheek, and they just stared at each other. It was a perfect moment.
Finally she smiled at him. “I need water. What about you?”
“Definitely,” he said, sitting up. “And a shower. And then I want to hear more about your trip.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
They brought their water glasses into the shower, and after only a few minutes of soaping each other up under the steamy water, Matt raced out of the shower for another condom, which made her laugh like a giddy schoolgirl. Soon he was back and pressing her against the tiles. The steam from the shower, her already sensitized skin, and the deep, urgent strokes of his body into hers soon had her calling out his name again. God, she was so lucky, she realized as they finally toweled off. And she slapped his butt with her towel just for the fun of it.
His brow rose. “I like this side of you.”
She did too, she realized. She could be playful. Have fun. Not have to worry about one single thing. The freedom of it was a potent elixir, like a good wine. Which reminded her.
“I opened a 1997 Chateau Lafite Rothschild to celebrate coming home.”
He finger-combed his wet hair, which made him look so sexy. Tousled wasn’t Matt Hale’s normal style, but it suited him. She could look at him like this forever.
Elizabeth’s earlier words echoed in her mind, but she shook them away to focus once more on the present.
“Woman, you’re going to turn me into a wine snob,” he said, pulling her against him.
“Do you mind?” she asked half-seriously, and from the way his eyes flickered, she knew he understood she wasn’t only talking about the wine.
“Not one bit. So, tell me more about your week.”
She ran a brush through her hair. It was already mostly dry, which was the nicest thing about short hair. “Okay, but then you have to tell me about everything I’ve missed, especially Bingo night.”
“Deal.”
He shrugged into the robe he’d started to leave at her place and then took her hand. Soon they were settled in front of the fire with the dogs at their feet and two glasses of a brilliant Bordeaux, and they caught each other up on what they hadn’t been able to share in their phone calls and texts.
A wry smile flashed across his face. “Ah, so there’s an incentive program.”
“Yep. Rhett said early on that…” She had to stop herself from saying “we.” Elizabeth could not be included in her account—at least, not as anything other than Rhett’s publicist. “Well, he insisted I have a share of his winnings. He figured it was only fair. I get five percent on top of my annual salary.”
Matt whistled. “Well, well. What was the pot he won? Three million?”
“Uh-huh. There’s more pricy wine in your future.”
“Good to hear. This stuff is ridiculous. I’m serious. I may never be able to drink wine from a box again.”
“Not that you should,” she said, stroking his thigh. God, this was nice. The sex, the talking, seeing him in that green terrycloth robe with his hair uncombed, knowing he was going to sleep over tonight and wake her in an inventive way in the morning.
“Did anyone miss his old poker girls?” he asked.
Thank God she hadn’t been drinking her wine, or she might have spewed it across the room. This was uneven ground, and the guilt she felt about everything he still didn’t know strangled her.
“A few people asked, but they didn’t miss them.” Was her voice steady? “There are always tons of poker girls around.”
All of which was true. No one had truly missed Raven and Vixen. They had part of the scenery—two poker babes out of the dozen or more who hung out at tourneys with players to make them seem more Alpha at the competition. It was like being in the chorus of a large Broadway ensemble. No one truly noticed anyone but the lead actors. For a few moments when she’d first stepped out with Rhett in her new role as Annie’s keeper, her stomach had trembled. But no one recognized the new her. Or Elizabeth for that matter. Their disguises had been remarkable, so it would be shocking if anyway did notice her, but still… These were faces they knew well, had known for years. For a moment, the anonymity had made her feel meaningless while Elizabeth had simply been relieved.
Still, it didn’t take long for Jane to make peace with her new role. She liked who she was becoming. With Matt. And with…well, herself.
“Did you ever meet them while you were working at The Grand Mountain Hotel?”
Oh, crap. How was she supposed to answer that? “They kept to themselves.”
“Well, I’m sure Annie held everyone in her thrall this weekend. She could outshine a poker babe any day. I’ll bet you brought some crazy outfits for her to wear.”
Sitting in front of the fire, Matt took her hand then and held it, the gesture so sweet it almost brought tears to her eyes. God, she couldn’t handle continuing to lie to him, not when they’d admitted they loved each other.
“Yes, she was terrific,” she told him, her voice hoarse suddenly. “We even had a couple fashion designers contact us to see if they could design clothes for her as Rhett’s sponsors.”
“You’re freaking kidding me!”
Poker was a crazy scene sometimes, and fortunately, it seemed as though Matt’s questions about Raven and Vixen were over. “No, totally serious.”
“That’s…I don’t even know what to say…”
As if she knew what they were talking about, Annie stood beside the fire and wagged her tail.
“Yeah, you, girlfriend,” Jane said, her voice back to normal now. “Now tell me more about what you’ve been up to.”
He’d been busy while she was away, and he told her about the ten local organizations with which he’d already met, but it was his account of the Bingo game that made her laugh so hard she needed to set aside her wine.
“A pole worker,” she sputtered. “That’s awesome! I can’t imagine anyone from my hometown ever making that joke.”
“It was really fun, and I thought, hey, I’m going to enjoy this mayor thing,” he said, his thumb making circles over the back of her hand. “And then someone asked me something that upset me.”
Her laughter faded as quickly as it had come to life. “What happened?”
He met her gaze, his bold eyes never leaving her face. “They asked about you. Where you were from. Who your family is. Jane, I…you and Rob were right. I’m not going to be able to keep you out of it, so we need to figure out what I can say.”
Her insides curled like the newspaper she’d used to make the fire. It was exactly what she’d feared. Dammit.
“I don’t want you to get scared here,” he said, tipping her chin up. “I love you, and I’m right here. Talk to me.”
The fire drew her gaze, and suddenly the room shifted, and she was back in her father’s office at campaign headquarters. She was sixteen, and a damaging report had just been issued about her uncle’s recent investments with a corporation the FCC was investigating. The spin doctors were throwing out ideas on how to package the story to underplay any embarrassment or scandal to the campaign. She knew how to spin—she’d been trained in the art of it just as most children were taught nursery rhymes.
Oh, how she’d wished never to use those skills again… The very thought made her feel like she was dying inside.
She wet her lips. “You can tell them that I’m from a small town back east like Dare and that my father is a public servant in state politics like you.” Her heart accelerated, and her breathing grew shallow. “That I graduated from Harvard with an MBA.”
“Jane—”
“That I run The Women’s Freedom Scholarship Foundation to support young women who want to go to college and make their own way in the world.” A choice she’d never really been given.
Matt took her shoulders in his hands. “Stop.”
She shook her head. “You can tell them that I lived in Nevada before coming here because I like the West—the wide open spaces, the independence of the people…” And she could hear her father’s voice in the back of her head as he recited words she’d written in one of his speeches.
“Jane!” Matt shook her now.
“No! Let me finish.” She pushed out of his hands and stood by the fire, the blaze burning her legs. “That I love dogs, so I was happy to become a dog walker, and that I helped Mac out at the hotel on some special projects because I’m good with investments.”
Matt rose, his jaw clenched. “Enough.”
“That I plan to vote for you in the primary not only because I love you, but because you are the embodiment of the best qualities of a public servant.”
The room was silent when she finished save the falling of embers in the fireplace.
“I don’t want this to hurt you,” he finally said, his voice quiet. “But I can see that it does, and I don’t know how to stop that.”
The fire was burning her now, but she was rooted in place by all the old memories. “You can’t. But it doesn’t change how much I love you, and I know you wouldn’t ask this if you had a choice. We expected people would ask questions, so this shouldn’t be a surprise.”
Running his hands through his hair, he stared into the fire. “There are times, like right now, when I wish I wanted something different. It’s tearing me into pieces seeing what this is doing to you.” Then he finally looked up, and the anguish in his eyes made her tear up. “And I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse.”
Swallowing suddenly seemed impossible. “Are you saying you want to call it quits?”
“No!” He crossed and pulled her into his arms, away from the burn. “I am not going to lose you over this.”
She remembered Elizabeth’s comments again and pressed her face into his chest. “I don’t want to lose you either. Just please…be patient with me.”
Hs cupped her cheek then. “Always. Just promise me something.”
“What?” she said, letting his touch cast some of the dark shadows away.
“That you’ll keep telling me how you feel as the campaign continues. The whole truth. Even if you know it’s going to hurt me.”
“All right. If yo
u’ll promise to do the same.”
“I will. Are we okay?”
For now. God only knew what the future held. She had been a part of enough campaigns to know how nasty they could become.
She nodded.
“Then come to bed with me. I want to make those shadows under your eyes go away.”
“I’m just tired,” she said, scrubbing at her face.
His hands pulled hers down, and he held them gently in his. “No, you’re not.”
The smile she tried to give him was an effort. “You’re right. I’m not.”
“You can tell me how you feel, Jane. I can take it.”
A pocket of air rose up in her chest, and she had to let it out. “I’m scared.”
“I know. I am too sometimes. Like tonight. I don’t want anyone to ask you questions while I’m running for mayor, but I know I can’t do anything to prevent it. Besides, it’s as chauvinistic as hell, and my sisters would read me the riot act.”
“But it’s sweet, and I know why you feel that way.” Didn’t she want to shield him from her past as Raven?
God, please don’t let anyone find out about that during the campaign. It might destroy his chances entirely.
“I want to protect you too,” she said. “Running for politics isn’t for the faint of heart. Not that you’re weak… But you’re still so nice, Matt.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “You just can’t stop seeing me as the damsel in distress, can you?”
She knew he was trying to ease some of the tension between them.
“I’m glad you fell that day. Otherwise, we might not be here right now.”
They both stared at the fire, and he pulled her closer to his chest. “Oh, I think we would have gotten here eventually.”
Chapter 22
Matt was wrapping up his notes for the next day’s talk to the Dare Valley teachers association when his secretary stuck her head through the crack in the door.
