The car left her parents’ circular drive and sped off toward Manhattan. Traffic in and around the city was brutal at any given time, but Saturday night had to be the worst. Inbound was horrible. Nearly ten already, and people were just headed in. It felt as if she’d never get home.
Eric kissed her hair. “Hey, are you still sulking?”
“I’m not sulking.”
“Wrong word. Stewing.”
“Yes, I’m still stewing.”
He laughed, hugged her closer. “I knew you were anxious to leave, but that was a bit extreme.”
“Are you trying to make me feel better? It’s definitely not working.”
Sighing, he rested his head on top of hers. “I liked your family.”
“That scares me.”
“Come on, seriously.”
“I am serious.”
He straightened to look at her. “What problem could you possibly have with Dakota? It’s obvious she adores her older sister.”
Dallas leaned back and smiled. She knew that. “We get along great. Of course, we’re the most alike.”
“And Cody was a little dull at first, but he was great once he warmed up. He isn’t all that conservative when it comes to legal issues. He believes in something and he’s passionate about it. I admire that.”
“I have to admit I did enjoy him tonight. I just wish Clair had a little more personality. He needs someone to give him a jolt once in a while.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” He started to laugh and then pretended to clear his throat.
She looked at him. “What?”
“Nothing.”
She elbowed him in the ribs, and he grunted. “Don’t give me that. What were you thinking?”
“About your father. If I were ever hauled into court, I’d want someone like him hearing my case. He seems reasonable and fair. I like him. Part of the dying breed who still watches baseball. Does my heart good.”
“Uh-huh.” She gave him a “nice try” look.
“And then there’s Tilly. What’s not to like about her? She’s a doll.”
She loved that he’d included Tilly as part of the family. “You still haven’t told me why you were laughing. Although I have a good guess.”
“You first.”
“Chicken.”
“But I have my good qualities.”
She grinned. “It’s about my mother.”
“Sort of. I was thinking how she probably gives your dad all the attitude he needs.”
“And then some.”
“But I liked her,” he added quickly.
“Right.”
“I did. At first, I admit, she gave me the willies. No offense,” he said with a wry smile. “But then later she mellowed. The way she brushed off your dropping the pie and then joking about not needing the calories, well, I thought that was nice.”
“Yeah.” Dallas had been a little surprised at her laid-back reaction. Maybe she’d figured she’d beaten up on Dallas enough for one evening.
The unfair thought left Dallas uncomfortable. Her mother had given her a lot to think about. Dallas couldn’t blame her for that. Nor could she blame her mother for being right. Damn it. The idea chafed.
“Are you stewing again?”
“Now I’m sulking.”
“Not allowed.” He lifted her chin and brought her around to face him, then brushed her lips with his. “This is a no-sulking zone.”
“I could wait until we get home.”
He frowned, thinking a moment, and then shook his head. “Better get it out of your system. I have plans.”
“Oh? Such as?”
He slid a hand between her thighs.
She jumped. “Oh.”
“Need I demonstrate further?” He lowered his voice, prompting the driver to glance in the rearview mirror.
Dallas met his eyes and quickly dropped her gaze. She wagged a scolding finger at Eric, which he grabbed and sucked into his mouth. She got the giggles and couldn’t stop until she had to gulp for air.
“Damn.” Eric shot a sidelong glance at the driver. “He thinks we’re having much more fun than we are.”
That started Dallas giggling all over again. Not because that idea was particularly funny but because she needed the release. Needed to laugh or she might start crying.
Tilly’s gentle criticism had gotten to her the worst. Tilly had never lied to Dallas. Ever. Tilly had always been supportive, always fair and always available with a shoulder for Dallas to lean on or cry on. In fact, she was that way with everyone in the family. And she thought Dallas had rubbed her rebellion in her parents’ face.
Had she? Certainly when she was younger, just out of college, she’d done her share of flaunting her independence. She’d ended up paying for her own graduate studies as a result. Anyway, she’d backed off since then. The construction job didn’t count. That had nothing to do with rebellion. It was good, honest work, and she needed the money.
Her conscience whispered otherwise, and she shifted positions as if the maneuver would ease her emotional discomfort.
Eric obviously misunderstood and pulled her closer. She smelled the cognac lingering on his breath, the musky masculine scent that was all his. “Okay if we go back to my place?” he whispered into her hair and then rubbed his clean-shaven chin there.
She hesitated, unsure what kind of company she’d make. And then he tilted her chin up and kissed her, and she knew she’d be a lot more miserable at home, fretting over what she was missing.
16
ERIC HAD A PROBLEM. HE closed his apartment door behind him and watched Dallas sink into the couch and kick off her shoes. She was in a strange mood. Even before she’d splattered the pie on the hardwood dining room floor. The memory brought an involuntary grin to his face, which he promptly stifled.
The thing was, he needed to give Horn an answer on Monday, but Eric didn’t think now was the right time. Maybe later, after she’d relaxed. After they’d made love.
Maybe he could even talk her into spending the night. Then over breakfast he’d lay it all out. God, he couldn’t even recall the last time he’d let a woman spend the night.
He tossed his keys on the kitchen counter. “How about something to drink?”
She groaned. “I think I’ve probably had enough.”
“You only had two glasses, but I have orange juice, or I can make coffee.”
Dallas shook her head and smiled. “I’m good.”
“Yes, you are,” he said with a suggestive grin, moving in beside her and sliding an arm around her. “Very good, in fact.”
She didn’t hesitate to snuggle up to him and lay her cheek against his chest. “Tell me something.”
He picked up a lock of her honey-colored hair and let the silken strands fall between his fingers. “Anything.”
“Tell me about your family.”
“Like what?”
“I know you have two brothers and you’re the middle one. But that’s all.”
The subject was bound to come up. He still didn’t like it. But he wouldn’t lie. Not that he would volunteer more than her curiosity demanded, either. “Well, I think I told you I grew up in Pittsburgh. All of my family is still there. My parents still live in the same house where I grew up.”
“Sounds like my family.”
“Nope, my family is nothing like yours.”
She flinched and moved away, and he knew she’d taken it wrong.
“My family is strictly blue-collar,” he quickly clarified. “Our dinner conversation tended to center around who the Steelers were going to cream that weekend.”
“That’s football, right?”
“See what I mean? That question alone would be considered sacrilege where I come from.”
She grinned. “What happens when the Steelers lose?”
“Two days of lamenting what a bum the quarterback is and how the coach has no business coaching in the pros. And then they start getting pumped for the next weekend’s game.”
Smiling, he ran a hand down her thigh. “You caught me.”
She shifted closer again. “Then you went to college?”
“Only one in the family.”
“Go back to visit often?”
“Mostly just on holidays. I’ve got a bunch of nieces and nephews I like to see. And of course, my parents.”
“And your bothers?”
“Sometimes there’s tension. They think I’m uppity.”
“Are you?”
“What do you think?”
She stared down at his fly and gave her head a sorrowful shake. “You’re not uppity.”
He barked out a laugh.
“But I can take care of that,” she said, sliding her hand across his thigh.
That’s all it took, and he started getting pretty damn uppity. She undid his belt buckle, and he relaxed his head back against the cushions, his arms stretched out along the back of the couch, and he watched her.
She took her time, unzipping an inch, kissing him through the fabric, unzipping some more. She was making him crazy, just as he was sure she intended. When he lifted his ass so she could pull down his waistband, she ignored him and pushed the front of his slacks aside. She found the opening in his boxers and freed his cock. He sprung up hard and ready.
She touched her tongue to the tip, and he shuddered. She glanced up, took another lick and smiled. “Did you say something?”
“Help.”
She laughed. “Don’t you worry. A little CPR should take care of the problem.” She lowered her head, but fool that he was, he stopped her, and she blinked up in surprise.
“Stay the night.”
A small frown drew her brows together. “I don’t know.”
“We’ll get up early, have breakfast and then you can do whatever.”
A slow smile curved her lips just as she ran her tongue around the head. “You stopped me for that?”
He groaned and closed his eyes. How could he think straight when she was doing that?
She took him into her mouth, and he forgot about anything besides her warm breath and talented tongue. She went from gentle swirls to assault mode and back again, keeping him off balance, taking him to the brink and then reeling him back in.
Until he couldn’t take it anymore. He tried to get up, intent on reciprocating, but she gave it all she had, and the explosion started before he had another coherent thought.
DALLAS AWOKE AROUND DAWN. Bits of dusky light seeped through the blinds. She tried to roll over to see the alarm clock, but Eric had curled around her, his chest pressed to her back, the stubble from his chin tickling her shoulder. Not even her moving around woke him. He snuggled closer, his semihard penis nudging her backside.
Smiling, she thought about waking him. She’d give him two minutes tops to get hard enough to get inside her. The boy certainly had stamina. Last night alone had proved that fact. They’d made love twice before they’d even gotten to bed and then once more sometime between one and three. She’d nodded off after that.
On the nightstand was her watch, and she slowly reached for it. She yawned and blinked at the blurry face until it cleared. Nine-thirty! It couldn’t be that late. She blinked a couple more times. Still nine-thirty. That gave her less than two hours to shower, dress and make it home before Nancy and Yvette got there.
Slowly she pushed back the covers and inched away from Eric. His arm came around her waist and he pulled her back against him.
“Morning,” he murmured into her hair and then planted a kiss on the back of her neck.
“Go back to sleep,” she whispered, knowing that wouldn’t happen. Knowing she wasn’t going to make it out of bed anytime soon. And not really caring.
“Right.” He kissed her again, her neck, each shoulder, then started down her spine.
“Eric, I have to go.”
“What time is it?”
“Nine-thirty.”
“No kidding.” He cupped her breast and teased the already tightened nipple.
She closed her eyes. “Eric…”
“Hmm.”
“You promised.”
He lightly bit the side of her neck and then rolled onto his back and sighed. “I was a fool, but you’re right. I did.”
Dallas turned over and laid a hand on his chest. His hair was sticking up on one side and his chin was dark with stubble. He looked adorable. “Of course, I could spare about twenty minutes.”
A roguish smile started at the corners of his mouth, but then he frowned, pushed a frustrated hand through his hair and said, “Tell you what, I’ll go make coffee while you take a shower.”
“Sure.” She shrugged a shoulder and turned to get up, but her disappointment must have shown because he caught her arm and pulled her close again.
“I’d like nothing better than to stay in bed with you all day, but you have things to do, and I have something I’d like to discuss with you before you leave.”
She didn’t like the serious sound of that. “Like what?”
“Nothing bad. Relax.”
“Well, let’s talk now.”
“You sure you don’t want to be ready to go.”
“Why? Am I going to want to run screaming from the apartment?”
He grinned. “You have quite an imagination.”
“It’s getting worse by the second.”
“Okay.” He sat up, letting the sheet bunch at his waist, and she kept her attention on his face, not wanting to be distracted by his yummy chest. Apparently he didn’t have the same compunction. His gaze went directly to her breasts. He noisily cleared his throat. “On second thought, I think we’d better get dressed.”
She grunted in exasperation, her curiosity about to burst. “I want to know now or I will hurt you.”
He smiled. “Sounds promising.”
“Damn it, Eric.”
“Remember Lawrence Horn?”
“Of course.”
“He came to my office on Thursday. He wants you to be his spokesperson.”
“His what?”
“That’s broad, I know. Basically he wants your face to be associated with his company and he wants me to design ads based on that.”
Dumbfounded, she fell back against the pillows.
“The money would be good. I’m thinking six figures over the life of, say, a three-year contract.”
She exhaled slowly, her thoughts one big jumble. This was her chance to get out of the construction business. And she wouldn’t have to eat crow, either. Not when the job had landed in her lap. But did she want to get back in that crazy business? She was older now and a little out of shape, less tolerant of sadistic photographers who liked to harp on every little flaw.
God, she’d be like Wendy—desperate, chasing after the next gig, pathetically ignoring the fading of youth. She took a deep calming breath and looked at Eric. “I don’t think—”
He put a refraining finger to her lips. “I know what you’re going to say. But this is different. No cattle calls. No worrying about paying the rent on time. Best of all, no competition. This is a sure thing.”
Of course, he knew what she was thinking. They’d had a similar conversation before about why she didn’t like modeling. But he didn’t know the rest. She already had a job. And it was a far cry from smiling pretty for the camera.
“Look, you’d call the shots on this. We’d work around your schedule. There’d be print ads, commercials, billboards—the usual. I haven’t done anything on it yet. Not until I talked to you.” He gave her a wry smile. “You realize you still haven’t told me what you do.”
“No?”
He gave her a long-suffering look, and then his gaze narrowed. “You’re a lawyer, too, aren’t you?”
“God, no.” She hesitated. “Three in the family are enough.” Now would be the perfect time to tell him. On the other hand, if she accepted the offer, why bother? He wouldn’t need to know. What she did for a living now would be irr
elevant.
Her mother’s words came back to her and she tensed. Not that Dallas was embarrassed. It wasn’t as if she were a stripper or made porn movies, for God’s sake.
Eric touched her arm, bringing her out of her preoccupation. “What are you thinking?”
“Frankly, about how much I have to do today. And now this.” She waved a frustrated hand. “Well, I’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”
“Right.” He squeezed her arm. “Maybe we could meet for dinner? I’m sure you’ll have questions.”
“I have one now. How will my decision affect you?”
He leaned his head back and glanced at the ceiling, one side of his mouth lifting slowly. “Horn’s an important client and he wants you.”
“And your boss has told you to make it happen.”
“Of course he wants to keep Horn happy. But this has nothing to do with us. Whatever decision you make has to be what’s best for you.”
She took a deep breath. Her decision would have more to do with their relationship than he thought. The image he created in Horn’s ad campaign would be exactly the kind of woman Eric wanted. At the thought, her defenses started to rise. Stupid, since she couldn’t blame him for something he didn’t even know was happening.
Besides, she was hardly being fair, having withheld information about herself. Hadn’t she also created a certain image? A very wrong image. The idea stung.
“I’ll have to let you know later about dinner,” she said and started to get up.
“Wait.” He tugged on her arm, coaxing her back beside him. He drew the back of his hand down her cheek. “No matter what, we won’t let whatever happens affect us, okay?”
She nodded. “Deal.”
Their lips met, and she wanted to crawl back under the covers and pretend he was right. That everything would be okay. Only somehow deep down she knew better.
WHEN DALLAS ANSWERED THE DOOR, she was surprised to find not just Nancy and Yvette but also Jan and Sally standing in the corridor.
“Hope you don’t mind us tagging along,” Jan said, leading the others into the apartment and then heading for the kitchen with a grocery sack in each hand. She planted both bags on the counter, which pretty much eliminated room for anything else.
A Glimpse of Fire Page 16