by Lori Ryan
He also gave her a more detailed version of Jack and Kelly’s story and told her about Kelly’s kidnapping, a story Jill had only heard an overview of before.
Several hours into the drive, she gasped at the vision of the sun beating down on a landscape of red rocks with blue sky behind and cacti in the foreground. Without even asking if Jill wanted him to, Andrew pulled the car over so that she could get out and take pictures.
He waited patiently while she changed lenses, checked lighting and switched apertures to achieve different effects she could play with in the darkroom later.
When she was finished, she turned back around to find Andrew leaning on the hood of the car. His long legs were out in front of him, ankles crossed, eyes on her as she walked toward him.
Jill leaned in and kissed Andrew, feeling the sparks start to fly as she pressed the full length of her body to his. He brought his arms slowly up her back, pulling her even closer until she was anchored between his legs. She was pressed as close as Andrew could manage and she loved it.
“What was that for?” he asked when they broke the heated kiss.
“For being patient,” she said, but she knew in her heart it was for so much more.
“I like watching you work,” he said. “It’s sexy.” His grin was devilish.
They climbed back into the car and Jill’s heart did a little flip when Andrew used the word ‘work’ to describe her photography.
“You’re so intense and focused and you bite your bottom lip when you find something you really want to capture. Makes me want to bite your bottom lip...and other parts of you.” He threw a grin her way that had her blushing.
She studied him as he pulled the car back out onto the road and continued toward their destination.
“What?” he asked in response to Jill’s scrutiny.
“I’m just not used to it, that’s all.”
“To someone caring about you and your work? Respecting what you do?” he asked, as if he knew the answer.
She nodded and Andrew bit out his usually refrain about her ex.
“Jackass.”
Jill laughed. For the first time, she felt glad Jake had left her. She might not have a future with Andrew, but she was content.
And even though Andrew had helped bring her to that new state of happiness, she didn’t feel like she relied on him for the peace she was feeling. She was beginning to feel more comfortable with herself. She was confident and satisfied with life lately. That made enjoying her time with Andrew that much easier to do.
She settled back for the rest of the trip, leaning back in her seat and watching the road in front of them. They drove in silence for a while; the kind of comfortable silence that neither felt driven to break or fill simply for the sake of it. When Andrew spoke, his tone was serious for the first time in the trip.
“Do you still want it? Family? Love? Kids?”
Jill felt a kick in her gut at the question and measured her response. “I do. The only problem is that I no longer believe that love can be lasting and I can’t figure out a way around that. And, I know Jake was an ass, at best.” she stopped and grinned at Andrew, acknowledging the reference to Jake’s ass-ness once again.
“But...” She took a shaky breath and continued. “When we got married, we were in love. It just died somewhere along the way. I honestly don’t know how I would trust in love again or trust that my husband wouldn’t leave again. I think I’d walk around waiting for the other shoe to drop all the time.”
Jill was quiet for a minute before she continued. “With Jake, I was so sure, so confident of our love and our marriage until the day I was completely blindsided. I don’t want to be blindsided like that again. I don’t think I could handle that.”
“Why didn’t you guys have kids?” Andrew asked.
“We almost did. We waited a few years before trying so we could just enjoy being married to one another for a while. Three years in, I got pregnant but I lost the baby in my tenth week.”
Her voice broke slightly as she said the words. She hadn’t spoken of her baby in a long time. Hadn’t told very many people about it.
“I’m sorry, honey.” Andrew reached over and threaded her fingers in his and she smiled at him.
“It was hard at the time, but I guess I just think it must have been meant to be. Now that things worked out the way they did with Jake, it’s a relief not to have kids involved. It would be horrible for them to be caught between us.”
“Did you guys try again after that?” Andrew asked. He kept his eyes on the road even though there wasn’t much to keep an eye out for in the wide-open space.
“No. Jake said he couldn’t watch me go through that again. Looking back, I think that was an excuse. I don’t think Jake wanted kids.” Jill saw everything about her marriage through a new lens now that she was on the outside.
“Can you…I mean?” Andrew started but didn’t seem to know how to ask what he wanted to know.
She filled in for him. “Have kids? Yes, I think so. The doctor said he saw no reason for me to miscarry again. Some women just lose a baby for no identifiable reason but then go on to have several children without any issues. Of course, that would mean either doing it on my own or trusting someone else again.”
“Do you think you would ever have a child on your own?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought.” She frowned. “I wanted that baby so much at the time.”
She didn’t say anymore and Andrew stopped questioning, letting them slip comfortably back into the silence.
At sunset, they stopped again so she could capture the sun setting over the horizon. They pulled off the highway for dinner at a restaurant before checking in at the resort and spa for the night. The conversation had returned to light-hearted banter and easier topics than the heaviness of marriage and the shared anguish of lost children.
Chapter Twenty-Six
When it hit Andrew it hit him hard. So hard, he was sure he might have been knocked off balance if not for the large boulder he leaned on as he watched Jill photograph the stunning canvas of Big Bend National Park.
He loved Jill. He almost laughed at the realization of that. Laughed at the fact he hadn’t seen it until that moment. How could he have missed it?
In such a short time, Jill had crept into his heart and laid claim to it and he had been powerless to defend himself against her. The funniest part of it was that he didn’t mind at all. He wasn’t in a panic like he thought he would be. Andrew was completely calm while the emotion washed over him as he watched her.
Even so, he sure as hell couldn’t tell Jill he loved her. That, for damned sure, wasn’t gonna happen. And it surprised him to realize it wasn’t his own fears that stood in the way. He wouldn’t be afraid to tell Jill he loved her because of his own baggage. No. The problem was with her hearing it.
He knew Jill would run like hell if he mentioned love. She was too gun-shy after her marriage. But he did need to figure out how to convince her to spend the rest of her life with him without actually telling her the truth – any other result would leave him broken again.
He couldn’t conceive of a life without her by his side. Without her smile and those smoky, smoldering eyes and the laughter he loved to hear. Without her sexy, sensual kisses that knocked him on his ass and without waking up to find her in his arms.
She turned to Andrew with a smile that pulled him out of his musing.
“You must be bored to tears,” she said apologetically.
If only she knew.
“Nope. Not at all. I like the surroundings and the view is…exceptional,” he said as he looked straight at her. “Besides, I like watching you work. I can tell that you’ll pull images out of here that I wouldn’t have spotted for all the world. It’ll be incredible to see what you bring home and to know I was there and missed all the nuances you spotted. It’s like you have a different set of eyes and you’ll show me, let me in on all the secrets, when we get you home to y
our darkroom.”
Jill stared at him with eyes wide and her mouth forming a small O.
“What?” he asked with a laugh.
She shook her head. “You always say things that make me feel so special. How do you do that? You know the right thing, just the right thing, to say all the time – even if I didn’t know what I needed to hear until after it was out of your mouth.”
He grinned and pulled her into his arms for a long kiss then rested his forehead on hers. “What can I say? You bring it out in me,” he teased.
He wanted to keep things light as his mind churned up a plan to convince Jill to overlook her fear of love and stay with him forever.
With all the strength she could manage, Jill was fighting to keep from falling head over heels for Andrew. The man was not making it easy on her. He went hiking through the park with her, waited patiently for over two hours while she watched a family of black bears until they came close enough to capture photos through her telephoto lens.
Then he hiked higher into the hills with her to try to spot a mountain lion, based on reports of a sighting in that area the previous day.
And now, as she lay in his arms in bed trying to catch her breath and to steady herself, she could scarcely remember her name. He had tormented and tortured her in the most sensual, delicious ways.
He began with those hot, drug-like kisses that swept her under instantly, making her knees weak, her mind foggy. After bringing her almost to orgasm with his hands and tongue, he plunged into her, filling her for a few heady, perfect strokes and then pulled out only to begin his ministrations with hands and tongue all over again.
Andrew had played with her, repeatedly burying himself in her only long enough to have her begging for release over and over until she was coiled tight as a spring and ready to explode.
When he finally pushed her over the edge, she had tumbled into a climax that strummed and pulsed through her whole body in a way she never felt before and, was ashamed to admit, would beg for again and again.
She no longer thought about her ex-husband and how unsatisfying her sex life had been with Jake. Now that Jill had a point of reference, her only thoughts were on Andrew and the places he took her when they were in bed together.
She couldn’t allow herself to fall for him emotionally, but she would permit herself to wallow in the magic of his hands, his mouth, his body, for as long as she could. That much she could give herself. And him.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Andrew lay holding Jill in his arms, his hands idly running patterns up and down the smooth, creamy skin of her torso. He had never experienced anything like the pleasure he found in her arms.
And as he held her, it suddenly became crystal clear. He knew how to convince her to marry him. How to build a life with Jill forever.
Andrew had to be clinical about it. Logical and practical. Because if the topic of love came up, he was confident she would run.
It was staggering how perfect a fit they were for one another. Andrew, who thought he would never risk saying those words again, and Jill, who could never stand to hear them again. Taking a deep breath, he set out to fit the pieces of their perfect puzzle together, without sending her into flight.
“We should get married, Jill,” he said, not stopping the strumming of his hands across her body.
She moved in a flash. She suddenly stood completely naked at the foot of the bed looking at him as if he had two heads. She was so incredibly beautiful.
So, so… Andrew couldn’t think of a word to describe Jill’s beauty. There just weren’t words for how she looked standing there with nothing covering her except for a look of incredulity.
He chuckled and held out his hand to her, calling her back to bed. “Calm down, honey. Come listen to me. You’ll see I’m right.”
She gaped at him and shook her head. She didn’t come back to bed.
“Really, Jillie, come here. You’ll get cold standing there like that,” he coaxed, with a pointed look down the length of her naked body.
She looked down as if she had forgotten her naked state and yelped before jumping back onto the bed. She wrapped herself in one of the sheets, but didn’t wrap herself back in Andrew’s arms.
She stayed on the other side of the bed, eyeing him suspiciously. She still hadn’t said a word, so he plunged into his pitch.
“Think about it. We’re perfect together. We both still want a family, a good marriage, even though we can’t exactly trust in love the way most people might. But we’re great friends, we more than enjoy each other’s company, and we’re great in bed together. Our chemistry is…well, phenomenal, to say the least,” he said with a grin.
“I…I can’t, Andrew. I can’t go through that again,” she protested.
He held up a hand, palm out to her. “Hear me out. I’ll give you a guarantee. A penalty clause to keep you feeling safe. I’ll have my lawyers draw up a prenup that gives you everything I have, every ounce of my money and property if I leave you at any point.
“That’s millions, Jill. A lot of millions.” He didn’t tell her it was actually a little over two billion. He knew she’d freak. “I’d even lose Adelaide. The only way the marriage would end would be if you wanted it to end. Not me. You’ll never have to worry about being blindsided again.”
He could see the temptation pulling at her, but she remained wary. She shook her head silently for a moment.
“What about you, Andrew? What guarantees would you have?” she asked.
“I don’t need guarantees from you, Jill. I’ve known you half my life. I know you’d never hurt me the way Blair did. I know you wouldn’t, hell, couldn’t even contemplate the kind of cruelty she displayed. It’s just not in you to do something like that.”
He took a breath and then threw in the biggest lure of all. “We can try to have kids, Jill. And if you can’t, we’ll adopt, but I bet we can. And, we’d be good parents together, because we have a good friendship as our foundation. We’re good together, Jill. We’re good for each other.”
By now, he had coaxed her back to his side and his hands began their soothing play over her back, her arms and shoulders. The two of them lay quietly like that for a long time. Andrew barely breathing. Jill thinking so hard it was almost audible.
“Yes.”
She said it so quietly, he wasn’t sure she’d actually spoken. Just the quietest whisper of ‘yes’ and his heart kicked over in his chest.
He pulled her back and looked into her eyes. “Yes?”
She nodded. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He closed his eyes and pulled her close, reveling in the power of that one word.
It wasn’t traditional or romantic or any of the things that a proposal should be – and that tore at Andrew’s heart because he wanted more than anything in the world, to give Jill all of those things and more – but it was what she needed it to be.
And from that moment on, Andrew knew he would always put her needs above his own. He would forever do whatever it took to keep Jill happy.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Andrew returned to the office Monday ready to share his good news, only to face another surprising blow. Patty had been hit in a hit-and-run accident on Friday night. It happened right in the parking garage connected to the building where Sutton Capital leased its office space.
Patty was in stable condition but she suffered numerous broken bones and a concussion. She hadn’t seen much. Only a dark sedan. The driver seemed to be bending over the passenger seat as if they were reaching for something. Two seconds of the driver’s inattention caused such pain for Patty. Thankfully, her injuries were not life-threatening and her recovery would be complete.
The worst part of all was that the driver didn’t pull over. The person left Patty there in the parking lot to be found by the security patrol. Video surveillance of the exit showed only a black sedan with the license plate missing on the front of the car and covered by mud on the back. The driver wore a hat and could not be
seen clearly in the fuzzy tape.
For the second time in a week, Andrew was grim as he sent flowers to one of his staff to encourage a speedy recovery. At least Debbie was back at work and seemed to be feeling fine, if a bit stiff. It made Andrew feel marginally better to see Debbie up and around.
“Hey, guys,” Andrew said as he walked into Jack’s office to meet with Chad and Jack.
“Hey, how was the trip?” Jack asked.
Andrew grinned. He had planned to wait to tell them until he and Jill could tell everyone together, but what the hell? He couldn’t get the smile off his face or hide his happiness, so why not tell his best friends?
“Jill and I are getting married.” It felt weird to say it and by the shocked looks on his friends’ faces, it sounded a little funny too.
“Holy shit! We send you off for the weekend, a confirmed bachelor, and you come back ready to tie the knot,” Chad said.
Jack just grinned and shook Andrew’s hand, pulling him in for a one-armed hug.
“I love her. It just hit me one day. I just can’t picture life without her,” Andrew said.
Jack got a funny look on his face. “Did you tell her that?” he asked.
Andrew and Jack had talked about Andrew’s feelings about confessing love to someone.
“Oh, hell no. I wanted to but she’d freak if I told her that.” Andrew heard groans from both of his friends but continued on. “Jill’s not really in a place to hear that. She was in love with her husband and thought her husband was in love with her. After the way that ended, she says she won’t put her faith in love again. She would run if I told her how I feel.”
“So, how exactly did this proposal go?” Chad asked, scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck.
“It’s complicated,” Andrew said, fighting not to squirm under their scrutiny.
This earned him hard, level stares from both his friends.
