by Leanne Banks
Amanda held up her hand and shook her head. “Maybe they’re not necessary in this situation. Maybe we should just live together for a while.”
Frustrated, Jack took a long breath and tried to hold onto his patience. “Lilly loves you. She needs—”
“Lilly is going to be fine,” Amanda said. “She went to her play group today and stayed the entire time without me. Lilly is healing.” She sighed. “Jack, it would be stupid for me to marry you when you don’t really want to get married. We would both end up miserable.”
“If I didn’t want to marry you, I’ll be damned if I would ask you. I’ve already been through one hellacious marriage. I don’t want to go through another.”
Silence settled between them like the soft whisk of a curtain lowering. “You shouldn’t go through another marriage with that attitude,” she told him. Her words were blunt, but her tone was soft. “You sounded positively funereal when you proposed to me.”
Jack felt his jaw tighten. “Marriage is serious business.”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “But it doesn’t have to mean death.” She walked toward him and lifted her hand to touch his arm. “Why would I want to marry you when you don’t love me?”
She was confusing the hell out of him. “Some women would appreciate my financial resources. Some would enjoy the influence of the Fortune name. Some women might not find me objectionable as a husband,” he said, unable to keep the sarcasm from his voice.
“Well, more than anything this woman wants you to be happy. I’m not convinced that marrying me will accomplish that.”
Jack’s head began to pound. He met her gaze. It was all perfectly clear to him. “Lilly needs you in her life. I want you. You love me. We should be married.”
Amanda’s eyes were sad. “I’m sorry.”
Jack’s disappointment was a crushing weight in his chest. “Does this mean you’re leaving?”
“Not immediately, unless that’s what you want,” Amanda said.
“No,” Jack quickly said.
“It needs to be done gradually. I thought it would be best to find another nanny and perhaps just have her come a couple of days a week while I’m still here. I’d like Lilly to spend some more time with your mother to strengthen that tie. Lilly has asked to visit her mother’s grave, so—”
Jack’s stomach turned. “I don’t want her focusing on Sandra. I don’t want her thinking about her.”
Amanda looked at him in disbelief. “Sandra was her mother, so she’s going to think about her. Lilly has to grieve in her own way.”
“Sandra is gone, and Lilly needs to move on.”
“She will,” Amanda said. “On her own timetable.”
“I don’t want—”
“You’re wrong about this,” Amanda said firmly. “You need to get over Sandra. You need to get past your bitterness. If you can’t do it for yourself, then you need to do it for your daughter. You may hate Sandra for what she did to you, but that doesn’t change the fact that she was the mother of your child.”
Beyond his anger and frustration, he heard the truth in what Amanda said. He didn’t like it one damn bit, but he heard it. He wanted to punch the wall. He wanted to yell, but how could he yell at her when she was right. He pointed his finger at Amanda. “You followed orders much better when you were my assistant in the office.”
“You gave me a job to do with Lilly, and I’m going to do it. I’m going to make sure she heals. She’s getting stronger every day. She’s happy, and she’s going to be even happier.”
Jack turned to Amanda. “If you want her happy, then you should marry me.”
Amanda’s eyes shiny with unshed tears, she stood on tiptoe and took his mouth with hers. She kissed him with sweet passion, then slowly pulled away. “I love you too much to marry you.”
Jack leaned back in his desk chair and groaned. What a week. His marriage proposal had been rejected, he’d had to fire his marketing research manager and he’d just learned some disturbing news about his father’s company. The only thing Jack wanted was to head for his cabin at the lake and lick his wounds.
His phone rang, and he scowled at it. He’d asked his assistant to hold all calls. “Jack Fortune,” he said.
“Hello, Mr. Vice President,” the rough, wry voice of his brother said.
Jack’s crummy mood lifted a fraction. “Trade you a vice presidency with a view of Minneapolis for a ranching position in Wyoming.”
“No room for former VPs at my Final Destination Ranch,” Garrett said. “I got your message. Rough day?”
“Yeah, I found out Gray McGuire has acquired enough Knight Star stock to do some serious damage to Dad’s company.”
Garrett gave a low whistle. “That’s bad news. Have you told Dad yet?”
“I will later. I wanted to call you first. I don’t know what McGuire’s agenda is.”
“Keep me posted. By the way, how’s the woman in your life?”
“Don’t ask,” Jack said.
“What’s wrong with Lilly?”
Jack paused.
“Wrong woman?” he asked with far too much brotherly intuition.
“Right woman, for a change. I asked Amanda to marry me.”
“That’s great news. I wondered if you would ever take the plunge—”
“She turned me down, Garrett.” Jack felt the return of his headache and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Silence followed.
Jack heard Garrett’s muffled chuckle and pulled the phone away from his ear to stare at the handset. He thought about hanging up, but returned the phone to his ear.
“Amanda said no,” Garrett said and chuckled again. “She’s smarter than I thought.”
“Keep it up, bro, and you’ll be listening to Mr. Dial Tone.”
“Okay. It wouldn’t be funny if I wasn’t sure you were going to help her change her mind.”
Something inside him eased a bit. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said.
“You sound worried. Closing is your specialty.”
“Usually,” he conceded. “But not this time. She said she loved me too much to marry me.”
“That’s original. How did you present the idea to her?”
Jack felt a surge of discomfort. “You have to remember that my relationship with Amanda began professionally. We didn’t have the usual hearts and flowers,” he said, thinking his heart was locked up.
“You didn’t try to sell this as a business arrangement, did you?”
Jack hesitated.
“Oh, Jack, you should know better.”
“I pointed out the financial and security advantages of marrying me,” he said, hating the defensiveness in his voice.
“And?”
“And she suggested we live together,” Jack said in distaste. The memory drove him nuts. He had to stand.
“Sounds like she doesn’t want your money,” Garrett mused.
“No.”
“Sounds like she doesn’t give a rip about getting the Fortune name or image.”
“No.”
“Sounds like a winner to me. Just like I found.”
“Yes,” Jack said, and he had to find a way to get her.
By the time he arrived home that evening, it was well past Lilly’s bedtime. Weary, he slipped into her room and kissed her forehead. For a satisfying, timeless moment, he watched her even breathing and her sweet, sleep-flushed cheeks. He walked out of her bedroom, noticed there was no light from beneath Amanda’s door and headed for his own room.
Tired and discouraged, he started to push open his door when he noticed the light was on. He frowned and walked into his room, immediately spotting a goddess on his bed.
“I missed you,” she said with a secret smile.
Her hair was tousled and sexy, her gaze welcoming and intent on him. She wore a silky apricot negligee that was so pretty he didn’t know whether he wanted her to leave it on or take it off. Amanda in tigress mode.
The bitter taste of the day faded
. Just looking at her renewed him. He walked toward her. “What a—” He stopped, almost saying the word nice. He didn’t want to understate her effect. “Spectacular surprise.”
Her smile broadened and she raised up on her knees, pressing the pearls he’d given her to her lips.
He toyed with one of her shoulder straps. “This is so pretty I hate to take it off,” he said. “But I will.”
She unknotted his tie. “I always thought you looked great in a suit.”
Approving her boldness, he watched the fire in her eyes. “You did?”
“Uh-huh, and I wondered how you looked out of your suit.”
“And?” he prompted as she unbuttoned his shirt.
“You take my breath away.”
His blood heated his skin, and his heart rate picked up. He ditched his shirt and kicked off his shoes. She tugged him toward her and kissed him, a tenderly carnal caress. Her hands skimmed over his chest and ribs. He could feel a sexual buzz emanating from her skin. She wanted to consume him. The knowledge made him hard.
Her tongue cupping and sucking his, she unfastened his slacks and pushed them down. Jack pushed down the straps of her gown, and her breasts brushed his chest.
Her hair was silk in his fingers, her mouth an instrument of sensual devotion. “I want to make love to you all night long,” he muttered against her lips.
She shook her head, sliding her hands over his hips.
“No?”
Amanda pulled back slightly and brought her hands to the front of his thighs. She caressed him intimately, and Jack groaned at the sensation.
“I want to make love to you tonight.”
She continued stroking him. “No argument here,” he said, his voice rough to his own ears.
“Good,” she said, loving him with her eyes before she took him into her mouth.
“Oh, Amanda.” The pleasure was so intense he swore under his breath. “I can’t stand much more.”
She pulled away, her gaze sultry. “I want you,” she whispered, pulling him down with her on the bed, “every way.”
Rolling onto his back, he tugged her on top of him filling his hands with her tight, sweet bottom. Her sexy scent made him crazy. Finding her wet and wanting, he played with her femininity, feeling her grow swollen beneath his touch.
Her moan touched off every male nerve ending in his body. He wanted to possess and be possessed. He dipped his finger inside her at the same time he slid his tongue into her mouth. She strained and arched against him.
Her legs parted and he positioned himself between them. She rippled back and forth against his aching hardness, bringing him close to her delicious opening, then moving away.
Jack began to sweat. Amanda arched against him. She moved her pelvis in a mesmerizing searching motion. “Inside,” she said. “I want you inside.”
Sucking in a deep breath, he slowly thrust inside her. Wet and tight. Her eyes closed for a second and she shuddered around him. Then she looked at him with such a powerful passion that he could have lost himself in her. When she began to ride him, he did just that.
In fluid mind-robbing motions, she pumped him, lifting his hands to cup her swollen breasts. Her eyes didn’t leave his face as she drove him on. The sight of her naked swaying body made his mouth dry, but it was the pleasure on her face that sent the first ripples of climax through him.
Through the haze of his intense desire, he could see that her pleasure didn’t come just from how they made love—it was far more personal. The turn-on for Amanda centered on him. He’d never known such intimacy, and it shot his control to hell and back.
“I love you,” she said, shattering around him in completion.
He felt her words to the core, and thrust deep inside her in a long, scalding release. Amanda sank down on top of him, tucking her head in his shoulder, her breath coming in soft pants on his skin.
Jack closed his arms around her, holding her close. A few moments passed before he found his wits. “Marry me,” he whispered in her ear. “I want you here every night.”
She groaned and put her hand over his mouth. “Stop tempting me. You turn my body into an earthquake and now you’re trying to catch me at a weak moment.”
“Is it working?”
She groaned again.
“Is that the secret? Tempting you until you say yes?”
She pulled back slightly and lifted her hand to his chin. The devotion and sadness in her eyes created a unique pain in his chest. “I think you know what the secret is.”
Jack felt his stomach sink. She wanted him to love her. She wanted the one thing he couldn’t give her because another woman had left his heart with a barbwire fence around it.
Twelve
In the early hours before dawn, Jack made love to Amanda again. The strength of his desire took her breath, and she felt herself sinking more deeply in love with him. It frightened her. Long moments afterward Amanda still trembled. She felt incredibly vulnerable.
“I should go,” Amanda said. “Lilly could wake up early.”
“So?” Jack said, tightening his arms around her as if he had no intention of letting her leave.
“So it might be tough explaining why Amanda is in Daddy’s bed.”
“You can tell her we’re living together,” he said in a silky voice. “Wasn’t that your counteroffer?”
Surprised, Amanda felt a rush of butterflies in her stomach. Jack had been so adamant that she hadn’t believed he would take her up on the counteroffer. “I—uh—”
“It might be a good idea after all,” Jack said. “It’s a very successful marketing technique. For a limited time, the customer tries out the product, and if they don’t return it, the product becomes theirs permanently.” He gave a dangerous grin. “You can try me on for a while and see if I’m good husband material.”
Uh-oh. She’d heard that tone in his voice before, right before he bagged a major account. Amanda gulped. “I’m not sure—”
“You’re not reneging, are you?”
Yes, her survival instincts screamed, but she couldn’t turn down the challenge in his eyes. “No,” she said, wondering what she was getting herself into.
He slid out of bed and stood naked in front of her. He extended his hand to her. “Take a shower with me.”
Her heart dipped, and she stared at him. “A shower,” she repeated weakly.
“C’mon. Find out if I’m any good in the shower,” he challenged.
Amanda accepted his invitation to lead her into his bathroom and quickly learned she was in big trouble. She couldn’t recall much soaping and scrubbing. Instead, she remembered the sensation of Jack’s slick skin against hers, incredible pleasure...and sighs, gasps and whispered oaths.
Later that afternoon her favorite flowers, sweetheart roses, arrived with a message from Jack: “Thank you for a wonderful night. It could be every night...”
Her heart twisted at the possibility. Deep down, Amanda knew, however, that if Jack didn’t truly love her, his passion for her would fade. Then what would they have? She couldn’t bear the idea of becoming invisible to him again.
Over the next few days Jack seemed determined to obliterate that thought from her mind. He took her to his bed every night and called every day from work. He sent her fresh strawberries, her favorite fruit, and Amanda grew curious about where he was getting his information about her. She’d never told him she loved strawberries.
When she asked him, he just smiled and said, “A husband knows these things.”
Despite the fact that Jack was chipping away at her resolve, Amanda continued with her plans for Lilly. After a trip to Sandra’s grave site, she and Lilly met Marie for lunch on her patio overlooking the gardens and the lake.
“Your flowers are beautiful,” Amanda said.
“Thank you. Gardening has always been a comfort for me. You can pick a few flowers, darling,” Marie said to Lilly. “The purple pansies right over there and the red ones right next to them.” She put her arm around Li
lly and pointed out the flowers.
Marie watched Lilly skip away and sighed, then glanced at Amanda. “I can’t tell you how much it means to be able to see Lilly. I never understood why Sandra kept her away from Jack,” she said, then frowned. “Well, maybe I do understand. I’m not sure Sandra ever really loved Jack. Certainly not the way he needed to be loved. I think she may have been more interested in the monetary benefits of marrying a Fortune. That marriage was a point of honor for him, so he was wounded when it didn’t work out. Such a sad time for him.”
Amanda remembered how she’d caught Jack staring at a picture of Lilly with such longing it had hurt to see it. “Yes, it was.”
“That’s right,” Marie said. “You worked for Jack during that difficult period. Things are very different now, thank goodness. Does he know you’re in love with him?”
Amanda’s lemonade went down the wrong way, and she choked. She coughed. “What makes you say that?”
“My dear, it’s so obvious.”
Amanda sighed. “Unfortunately it’s not reciprocal.”
Marie knit her brows in confusion. “Are you quite sure?”
Amanda felt a sliver of doubt. He had been so attentive and generous, so passionate. Maybe he did love her...maybe. She reminded herself that for all Jack had done, he’d never said the words. “Yes, I’m sure.”
Marie looked skeptical. “I think you two would do well together.” She lifted her hand when Amanda opened her mouth to protest. “Don’t mistake me for Kate. But I know what Jack has gone through. A mother can hope,” she said with a gentle smile.
Amanda’s problem was that with each passing day, she was hoping more and more that a miracle would happen and Jack would love her. Then she wouldn’t have to go away.
It had been an evening of tears and temper. Lilly had missed her nap, and Miss Annabelle was missing. The three-year-old petted Delilah while she and Amanda looked out Amanda’s bedroom window at the stars.
Amanda stroked Lilly’s hair. “Did you pick out your lucky star?”
Lilly nodded and pointed at the sky. “Right there. It’s the brightest one.”
