by Leanne Banks
Her skin felt scored by his touch. “Why are you doing this?” she whispered.
“I want to know you better,” he said, sliding his finger to the top of her breast. “Much better.” He lowered his finger to her nipple and took her mouth. His tongue slid past her lips, tasting and searching.
Amanda felt herself sinking into the kiss, into him. He tasted dark and forbidden. He felt strong and hot. She felt him pull her strap down and bare her breast to his gaze and his mouth. He suckled her nipple and she felt an insistent tension all the way down her abdomen to her feminine core.
“Your body is so responsive,” he said, and curled his tongue around the tip. He gave a rough moan, then slid his lips up her throat to her mouth and kissed her again. As if he sensed she was a mass of desire and confusion, he slowly pulled back from her. “Someday soon, you’re going to want me to stay the night,” he said. “Someday very soon.”
Struggling to clear her head, she lay on the bed in her wet swimsuit and watched him leave. When he closed the door, she covered her face with a hand that trembled. In her dreams, he had kissed her. It had been sweetly passionate. In her dreams, she had envisioned a gentle soft-focused yearning. Her dreams hadn’t prepared her for the raw need and breathtaking desire he exhibited and aroused in her. He wasn’t quite as tender as she’d imagined. The reality of Jack was more edgy and dangerous. It shook her to the core that Jack’s someday could have been tonight.
Over the next few days Jack was attentive yet slightly restrained, as if he was waiting for a signal from her. A signal Amanda wasn’t sure she was ready to give. She’d spent years waiting for Jack to notice her. Now he had and wanted an affair. Was that what she truly wanted? Would she fall more deeply, irrevocably in love with him? What would she do once it was over?
What if he was only interested in a physical relationship? That prospect befuddled the daylights out of her. Heaven knows, she wasn’t beautiful.
By late Friday afternoon her ankle was better, but she was still in flux about what to do with Jack. Four out of every five moments, she decided she had to take a chance. That last moment, however, was filled with doubt
After an afternoon walk with Lilly, she fixed the little girl her snack and put her down for a nap. She grabbed a soda from the refrigerator, and the phone rang. “Mrs. Foster, this is Elaine from Mr. Fortune’s office.”
“Hi, Elaine, this is Amanda. I’m not sure where Mrs. Foster is. Can I take a message?”
“Yes. Remind her that Jack won’t be home for dinner tonight.”
“Ah, that Sheridan contract causing him problems?”
“No,” Elaine said. “He’s attending a charity event tonight with Trina. I hear it’s a high-dollar event. All of Minneapolis’s upper crust is supposed to attend. Rough night, huh?” she said with a laugh.
Amanda felt her heart sink to her toes. “Yeah,” she said. “Rough. I’ll pass on the message.”
She hung up the phone and stared at it. Sick with disappointment, she shook her head at herself. A part of her had started to believe that Jack was interested in her. Jack had fanned the flames to her dying dream, and she had allowed herself to be lulled into believing in crazy possibilities.
Going out with Trina. A sting of anger burned her. Why was he coming on to her at the same time he was dating Trina? Amanda hadn’t known that was Jack’s approach with women.
Perhaps she had missed some clues along the way. She couldn’t imagine getting sexually involved with a man unless it was mutually exclusive. The concept was alien to her. But maybe not to Jack.
She shook her head.
She’d always known she and Jack were from different worlds. If her values were this different from his, then they definitely were not meant to be.
Still staring at the phone, she jumped when it rang. She picked it up and answered it.
“Amanda?” a male voice asked.
“Yes, this is Amanda.”
“Jeff Gould, your karate instructor, here. I was wondering how your ankle is healing.”
“Almost ready for class,” she said, in the mood to kick something at the moment.
“Good,” he said. “Next time you have class, would you like to go for coffee?”
No. Her first instinct was to refuse. She’d been refusing dates for over a year. Amanda hesitated. Maybe it was time to start saying yes.
Six
“No, thank you,” Amanda said in the matter-of-fact, almost-cool voice Jack had heard all too often lately. He’d invited her to join him and Lilly for their weekly picnic in the office. “I have other plans for lunch.”
There was something different about her, Jack thought. Something different in the way she looked at him. Or was it his imagination? It was almost as if she’d looked a little closer at him and hadn’t liked what she’d found. The thought gave the same sensation of someone jabbing an elbow in his ribs. He studied her. “How’s your ankle?”
“Much better. I’m ready to return to my karate class.” She checked her watch. “I’ll be back in about an hour. Is that okay?”
Irritated that she was leaving so quickly, he paused. “No,” he said to get a reaction from her.
She blinked. “Pardon.”
Jack smiled. “Just wanted to make sure I’ve got your attention.” He noticed a stray white hair on the sleeve of her navy jacket and lifted it off. “Delilah left her mark. She’s done the same to me a few times.”
“I warned you that no human is safe from her feline wiles,” Amanda said with a slight smile.
Jack stepped closer to her and touched a strand of her hair. “But you didn’t warn me about you.”
Amanda’s eyes widened, then she gave a husky chuckle. “No need for warning. I don’t really have feminine wiles.”
“That’s a matter of opinion. I like the way you blush when I touch you,” he said, stroking her soft cheek with his finger.
Amanda sucked in a quick breath, and her eyes darkened in confusion. “I bet you say that to all the ladies,” she said, and looked at Lilly. “Have fun with your daddy. I’ll see you in a little bit,” she said, and added with a smile, “little bit.”
Jack watched her leave, feeling an explicable possessiveness. He wanted inside her head. He wanted inside her. And he would get there.
Amanda grabbed a newspaper in the lobby to keep her company during lunch. Carol was out of town, so Amanda had prevaricated when she’d told Jack she had other plans. She was only stretching the truth a little, though. After all, her plan was to get over Jack. According to her book, that meant reduced exposure.
Just as she was headed out the front door, she saw Chloe Fortune and Mollie. “Hello, there. How’s the wedding coming?”
“Slowly,” Chloe said with a discouraged expression. “Mollie and I were supposed to meet Dad for lunch, but he’s held up in meetings.” She glanced at Amanda’s newspaper. “Would you like to join us for a sandwich at Charlie’s?”
“That would be nice. Thank you.” Amanda had always admired Chloe’s beauty and sense of style, and she couldn’t deny the woman’s warmth. “I love taking care of Lilly, but it’s nice being around adults sometimes, too.”
“That’s right,” Chloe said as the women walked the short block to the eatery. “You’re the fill-in miracle nanny. Kate says you walk on water.”
“That’s definitely stretching it,” Amanda said with a laugh. The three women followed the hostess to a small table in the corner of the busy restaurant.
“Has Jack seen the light and asked you to marry him?”
Amanda felt her cheeks heat. “Oh, no. Jack’s definitely out of my league. In many ways,” she added, thinking about his involvement with Trina. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, I think you might’ve mentioned something to Kelly, and she mentioned it to me and—” Chloe stopped and winced. “Forgive me for bringing it up.”
Amanda immediately felt contrite. “I guess I didn’t do a very good job keeping my unrequited—” she paused, n
ot wanting to say the L word “—crush on Jack a secret. Some things have happened to make me see that it’s time to move on. As a matter of fact, my karate instructor asked me out, and I think I’m going to go.”
“Good idea,” Mollie said.
“Definitely,” Chloe agreed. “Although don’t count Jack out. I think you would be so good for Jack.”
Amanda’s heart twisted. She had thought the same thing for a very long time. “I’m not sure Jack knows what he wants in a woman. In the meantime, it’s silly for me to keep hoping when—” She needed to change the subject “I need to get a haircut. I’ve always admired yours. Can you recommend a place?”
“You must go to Jacques at The Red Carpet Salon and Spa,” Chloe insisted. “He’s wonderful. Tell him I sent you. You ought to make Jack give you a day off and spend the whole day there getting pampered. After all you’ve done for him, he owes you.”
“I could use a break,” Amanda murmured.
“Then take one,” Mollie said with a smile. Although Mollie was quite young, she seemed poised and mature for her age.
The waiter took their orders, then Mollie started discussing possibilities for Chloe and Mason’s wedding reception.
Chloe sighed, frustration showing in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mollie. I haven’t had a chance to discuss any of this with my father or Mason. Mason has been busy lately. I feel as if I’ve been engaged forever. I wish everyone would stop getting married before me. Mason and I haven’t even made love—” She closed her eyes and shook her head, wearing a weary smile. “Please forget you heard that.”
The waiter delivered the drinks and knocked the newspaper off the table, haphazardly scattering it. He apologized profusely and gathered it up, handing it to Amanda.
“Oh. There are the pictures from the benefit the other night in the Society section,” Mollie said. “That must have been one incredible party.”
“It was very nice,” Chloe said, glancing at the paper. “It looks like the camera caught Gray McGuire. They’re calling him the Bill Gates of Minneapolis.”
“He’s very good-looking,” Mollie said. “Smart, good-looking, successful. Now that’s the kind of man I wouldn’t mind sweeping me off my feet.”
Amanda heard the sounds of a romantic crush forming. She thought about warning Mollie, then nixed the idea. Although she couldn’t tell it from her own experience, crushes were supposed to be fun as long as they were kept under control. She ripped out the picture of Gray McGuire and gave it to Mollie. “He’s all yours.”
Mollie laughed. “Okay. And you have fun on your date with your karate instructor.”
Chloe gave Amanda a speculative glance. “Does Jack know about this date yet?”
“No. Why?”
Chloe smiled. “This could be interesting. You must call me after your date.”
“Your hair is different,” Jack said Saturday evening as Amanda returned a glass to the kitchen. She carried her new strappy sandals in her other hand.
Struggling with second thoughts about her date, Amanda absently touched her hair. “Chloe recommended her stylist. I only had time for a cut.”
Jack moved closer. “Looks nice,” he said. “You look nice. Why the dress?” he asked in that silky voice that made her stomach knot.
Amanda took a deep breath and turned away. “I have a date.”
“You have a what?”
Staring at the copper cookware on the étagère, Amanda cringed at his tone. “A date,” she said. “It’s when a man calls up a woman and invites her—”
“I know what a date is.” His hand squeezed her shoulder, and he turned her around to face him. His green eyes searched hers. “What’s going on?”
Amanda’s heart pounded against her rib cage. From his look, she could almost think that the fact she was going on a date mattered to him. She swallowed. “My karate instructor asked me out.”
“And you’re going,” he said in an incredulous voice.
She nodded.
“But you want me.”
Amanda blinked. “I thought I did, but—”
“You thought you did?” he demanded, cocking his head to one side.
Her knees began to tremble. “I—I’m not sure we share the same—views on some issues.”
“Amanda, what in hell are you talking about?”
Resenting his tone and her nervous reaction, she stiffened her spine. “I don’t believe in trying to go to bed with one woman and dating another one at the same time.”
“For the last time,” he said, exasperation dripping from his tone, “what are you talking about?”
“You came on to me, told me I would ask you to make love to me, then went out with Trina.” She lifted her hand when he opened his mouth. “That’s fine. Not everyone shares my values. But I have no interest in being intimately involved with a man when the arrangement is not mutually exclusive. Call me crazy. Call me old-fashioned, but—”
Jack covered her mouth with his hand. “Trina asked me to take her to the benefit three weeks ago.”
Feeling his hand on her lips, Amanda felt the bluster of her indignation wane. She stared into his eyes and felt a sinking sensation.
“Did you hear me?”
She nodded.
“Trina asked me to stay the night, but I didn’t.”
“Oh.”
The doorbell rang. “Jeff!” she said. “I need to put on my shoes.”
“You’re not going with him,” Jack said.
“Of course I’m going,” Amanda said, bending down and struggling with the fasteners. “I agreed to go. I can’t cancel now.”
“I’ll cancel for you,” Jack offered.
Amanda rolled her eyes. “I’m not canceling.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
Amanda’s heart stopped. She looked at Jack, wondering how a statement that sounded like an order could have so much emotion in it. “It’s just dinner. It would be wrong for me to cancel.”
The doorbell rang again.
“I’ve got to go,” she said.
“Okay,” Jack said, but snagged her hand and drew her against him. He took her mouth with such passion and persuasion she nearly forgot her name. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
After he put Lilly to bed, Jack prowled the den. He had grossly underestimated and miscalculated where Amanda was concerned. He was paying for it now. Fair, he conceded to himself. It had been his mistake to view her as background music. He felt his jaw twitch in irritation. It had been arrogant of him to assume she wouldn’t be able to fall out of love with him.
Amanda had more heart and backbone than any woman he’d ever met. If he weren’t so totally disillusioned with the idea of romantic love, then maybe he could love her. He shook his head, rejecting the idea. He didn’t believe romantic love existed for him anymore—even if his own brother now was a firm believer in it.
He did, however, believe in mutual passion. On a good day he could even see the possibility for mutual respect. He liked the way he felt when he was with Amanda. He liked how she was helping his daughter blossom.
He wanted her, and the intensity of his desire surprised him.
Glancing at the clock, he scowled. Why wasn’t she home yet? The knowledge that she was out with another man stuck in his craw. When she’d left, Amanda had been wearing a dress that emphasized her slim, bare legs. Her hair was cut in a sexy style. After he’d kissed her, her brown eyes had glimmered with passion. Jeff probably hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her.
Grinding his teeth, he deliberately pushed that thought aside. He’d never been involved with one of his employees. This would require some planning. Stalking across the carpet, he turned his attention to how he would handle the situation ethically.
Her shoes dangling from one hand, Amanda tiptoed through the front door just before midnight. The house was black except for a soft light in the kitchen. She glanced around for Jack and didn’t see him. Just as well, she thought, breathing a sigh of relief. It had bee
n a crazy night.
“Late night,” he said from the darkness of the den.
Her heart raced. “His car broke down. It took forever to get a tow. He was so embarrassed I felt sorry for him. He finally called a cab for me to get home.”
He stepped in front of her. “Did you have a good time?” he asked in a low voice.
“The restaurant he chose was very nice,” she hedged. Her mind had been full of Jack.
“Did you like being with him?” he asked, standing very close.
“He was kind,” she whispered, caught by the fire in his green eyes.
“Don’t go out with him again.” He cupped her cheek in his hand.
Fighting the way her heart was opening to him, she closed her eyes. “That sounds dictatorial.”
“Did you think about how I kissed you?”
“Don’t make me answer that.”
“Did you?”
Feeling her resolve slip, she opened her eyes.
“Darn you, Jack Fortune! I was making progress. That was the first date I’d been on in a year. I’m trying to get over you.”
“I don’t want you to get over me,” he said, sliding his arm around her and drawing her against him. “I want you,” he said against her lips, then kissed her.
He gently, seductively consumed her mouth. He rubbed his mouth back and forth against hers, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth and exploring her with his tongue. His hard chest meshed with her breasts, turning her nipples into turgid points. He slid his hand lower to her bottom and guided her against him, making her intimately aware of his arousal.
She clung to him with her mouth and hands while her mind urged her to pull back. “We should stop,” she said breathlessly. “You’ll change your mind in the morning. You’ll say we should keep our relationship professional.”
Jack swept his tongue over her lips and beyond, denying her words. He tugged her dress upward and slid his hand beneath the silk of her panties to her bare skin and caressed her. With his other hand, he searched the curve of her breast and found her nipple with his thumb. He groaned in approval.
