Felicity Stripped Bare

by Vanessa Jaye

  Stopping in front of the window, he grunted; he couldn’t just barge into her bedroom and flip her legs up over her head.

  Although, the plan held certain merit.

  He shook his head. No, he’d just end up killing them both as he tried to articulate in lovemaking what was in his heart.

  Daniel went back to his desk. He reached for another pencil as he sat down, and began drubbing it deep in thought. Tap, tap, tap, tap. The scheme to put in place had to be non-threatening, but quick. Tap, tap, tap. He had to get Felicity to let down her guard, let him get close again. Tap, tap— Woo her!

  He dropped the pencil, breaking into a smile. Turn on the charm, seduce and conquer. He frowned, sounded like something he’d heard Rob say once.

  Daniel stood up, sorting through his files. The sooner he got to the office, the sooner he could get back here and put his plan in action. Moving one file in particular revealed the phone hidden underneath and as quickly as his spirits lifted, his mood darkened.

  He slammed the file back down on the desk, sending several documents fluttering onto the carpet and he let loose an expletive that ended with “Stuart”.

  “Daniel!”

  “Not now, Mother,” he ground out, coming from the behind the desk. He hunched down to scrape up the mess.

  His mother placed a peony filled vase beside the phone, then bent down to help him pick up the papers. Daniel dropped the gathered files onto the desk to be sorted later. His plans for Felicity had just been moved up a couple of hours. No way he was leaving her alone in the condo with the phone.

  “So who is this incestuous Stuart?” his mother asked.

  “A client.”

  “I don’t think so; you usually describe clients in anatomical terms.”

  Daniel pressed his lips together, refusing to smile. “I believe that was an anatomical…action.”

  “Still, it’s not nice language, Daniel.”

  “Yes, Mother.” He dropped a kiss of apology at her temple

  “Speaking of which….” she said in that idle way of hers that sent danger signals flying through his synapses.

  He retreated around to the other side of the desk. “We weren’t speaking of anything.” He busied himself with documents that suddenly couldn’t wait to be sorted after all.

  “Hmmm, Stuart wouldn’t be the surprise option Felicity has, would he?”

  Daniel shoved several files into his briefcase, before shutting it with a decisive click. “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Well, do you want to know what I think?”

  “Not particularly.” But he surrendered and sat.

  “I think you should do your best to keep her right here. It’s quite obvious to me that’s what you both want.”

  Daniel reached out and plucked a petal from one of the peonies. “Well think again.” He plucked another one. “This is the last place Felicity wants to be, I practically had to beg—”

  His mother eyes widened in surprise and he shut up. What was he saying? And to her of all people. He groaned at the dawning expression of pleasure that replaced her surprise.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” he growled. Pluck.

  Her smile widened.

  “Things are complicated.” Pluck, pluck.

  Her smile vanished. “Stuart?”

  He was somewhat mollified that the name had the same effect on her as it had on him. And she didn’t even know the schmuck. “Stuart,” he confirmed.

  When she appeared on the verge of offering advice, he held up a hand. “Let me handle this, okay?”

  She dropped her gaze, fussing with the flowers.

  “Mother?”

  She plucked a petal. “Okay, sweetheart,” she answered demurely, pinching off another petal. “Oh!” She looked up, eyes wide. “There is something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

  He let out the breath he’d been holding. His mother could be persistent when she chose to be.

  “Your birthday’s coming up in two weeks; I’d like to throw you a party.”

  Case in point. “No! Absolutely no parties. We made a deal when you booked Ferdinand the Face-Painter at the last party.”

  “Daniel, you were ten!” She rested her hands on her hips.

  “Exactly. Do you think the guys ever let me live that down? You gave Rob a lifetime’s worth of material in that one day.”

  “Well how about the party we threw for you three years ago?”

  “For me?” His bark of laughter was humorless. “Dad threw a party for Mackenzie Phillips and Bassett, and somehow my name got on the invitation as guest of honor.”

  “Now Daniel—”

  “Now nothing.” He tapped the desk for emphasis. “No party.”

  “Well, how about a nice little quiet sit-down dinner?” She clasped her hands to her bosom, her voice spiced with a soupçon of wheedling. “Oh, and drinks afterwards? But please don’t argue with your father about the wine selection this time.”

  “Fine. Dinner is fine.” He conceded. He wasn’t fooled for a second, his birthday was the perfect excuse for another one of her attempts to get him and his dad together.

  Daniel grimaced. Some happy birthday that was going to be, spent facing Michael Mackenzie across the dining table.

  “That’s settled then.” She swept the vase up from the desk, and moved swiftly to the door. “I’ve got to put the finishing touch on my plans. There’s so much to do!”

  Her unbridled joy gave him a jolt of alarm. “What plans?”

  “Why-why the menu, darling. And the cake and flowers and-and—” her gaze shifted around, “—your gift! All sorts of things.”

  “I don’t need a gift.”

  “Oh, phooey. I have the perfect gift in mind. You’ll absolutely love it, sweetheart.” She beamed at him. “Come, come now. Let me pop these flowers in Felicity’s room. I’ll have to fly after that.”

  A bit more enthusiastic at these words, Daniel rose and hurried after her. He loved his mom dearly, but now that she was on her way out, it couldn’t be soon enough for him. When she and Deirdra were gone, he could focus on Felicity—she, who hadn’t poked her nose out of the bedroom since she got here. The first phase of attack was to get her out of the guest-fort.

  Smiling, he loosened his tie. That showed just how crazy this situation was, he wanted to get Felicity out of the bedroom, so he could get her into bed.

  There was more to it than that of course, but bedrooms and beds figured big in his plans. With a decided swagger he reentered Felicity’s room.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Would you look at these peonies, aren’t they lovely?”

  At Lise’s singsong entrance, the malice in Deirdra’s eyes glossed over and the brunette got up.

  “They do look wonderful. Isn’t that the vase you brought back from your trip to Paris last year?” VD’s voice was pleasant and friendly. So unlike a minute ago.

  “Yes, it is. I thought giving it to Daniel would encourage him to have some fresh flowers in this waiting room he calls a home.” Lise looked around the stark space. “I mean really, darling, can’t you at least do something with the walls? Just a little color.” Lise held her thumb and finger close together.

  “White’s a color.” Daniel leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest. He’d loosened his tie, and for some reason seemed to be more relaxed. When his gaze swung from his mother to meet hers, Felicity blinked, tempted to look over her shoulder for the person he was staring at with such warmth.

  “White is a cop-out,” Lise retorted. “Don’t you think so, Felicity?”

  “Me?” She tore herself away from the sensation of drowning in Daniel’s gaze, and looked around the sparsely furnished room. There was a chair slip-covered white and the bed was dressed in white linens. The only other pieces of furniture were the plain wood dresser and nightstand. He’d mentioned once, when he was spending a lot of time at her place, that he didn’t spend a lot of time at his own. It showed.

  She as
sumed an iffy expression. “Maybe he did play it safe with the eggshell in here. But he really went to town in the bathroom. Bone-colored tiles, off-white on the walls and ivory towels.” She slid a sly glance Daniel’s way and saw two dimples carved into his jaw. Her heart skipped a beat.

  Lise laughed and wagged a finger at her. “I like you.”

  Felicity grinned.

  VD sucked a lemon.

  Then Lise checked her watched. “Oops. Will you look at the time? I have to run.” She came over to bed. “I know this was a short visit, but I’ll be back.” She bent down to kiss Felicity’s cheek. “We have to talk,” she added in a whisper, a twinkle in her eyes.

  “Okay,” Felicity agreed cautiously. Lise’s twinkles usually meant twouble.

  “Deirdra, I’ll drop you back at the office.”

  “I thought I’d catch a ride with Daniel,” VD replied.

  “I’m not going in today. Something’s come up that needs my immediate attention.” He stared at Felicity as he spoke, pulling the tie slowly from his neck. “I’ll be here for the rest of the day.”

  “Oh.” VD sounded nonplussed. “But I wanted to confer with you on Tillman Steele…?”

  He was shaking his head. “No can do.”

  VD resumed her lemon sucking.

  “But if you want to set something up for tomorrow—”

  “Lunch?”

  “Sure.”

  “Wonderful.” VD purred; her lemon turned into lemonade.

  “Come along, Deirdra,” Lise said. “See you later, Felicity.”

  “I’ll see you out.” Daniel threw an arm around VD’s shoulders as they followed Lise out of the room.

  Felicity’s spirits plunged to a new depression level: 10 Below, then parked themselves in the farthest darkest corner where somebody had taken a piss. And that somebody would be VD.

  Half an hour later found Felicity staring at the phone undecided. She’d already called The Uptown, to explain to Tony about the fire and her ankle. He’d given her until next Friday to get back to work. What a guy. Not that she could afford to take any more time off anyway, but now she had to decide about staying here. Her head told her to go. Her heart, and a sense of shove-it-up-yours-Deirdra, told her to stay.

  “So are you planning on hiding in here forever?”

  Felicity jerked round at the sound of Daniel’s voice. The business attire had been replaced with loose fitting jeans, hung low on his hips, and a denim shirt, unbuttoned with sleeves rolled up. The hard ridges of his chest and stomach and the corded strength of his forearms were totally on display. She swallowed, feasting on the way his tanned skin shone through the fine gold hairs dusting his body.

  “I’m not hiding. I haven’t been given clearance to leave my quarters,” she said with a touch of sarcasm.

  He frowned. “Is that how you feel, like a prisoner?”

  She shrugged. “What do you expect? I feel like I’m intruding.”

  “It looks like I’ve been a bad host. But give me a chance to rectify that.” He came to her, his hand held out. “Starting right now.”

  Felicity stared into his watchful gaze. Staying in here and keeping her own company would probably be the smarter and safer thing to do.

  Unfortunately she didn’t do smarter/safer very well. She put her hand in his, then suppressed a shiver as a wave of goose bumps swept along her arm and trickled down her back. It was the first time he’d touched her since arriving at the condo.

  “Okay?”

  When she nodded, he helped her to her feet and passed the crutches to her. “I’m sorry you’ve felt unwelcome. Just know that my home is your home, for as long as you wish.”

  She seriously doubted that, given his track record. But she couldn’t help thawing a bit more in the face of that crooked little smile that rocked her heart.

  Limping awkwardly beside him, they left the room and went down the airy hallway that opened up to the great room of the condo. For the first time she got a really good look at the place. Sunlight flooded through the gauzy white fabric that draped the floor to ceiling windows, beyond which she could see a large terrace and, further out, the vista of Lake Ontario and a cloudless sky.

  The room was huge. One wall was taken up completely by a shelving unit that housed some exotic looking artifacts, a bar, and, from her years with Stuart, what she recognized as a kick-ass stereo system.

  Anchoring the center of the room was a low slung sofa upholstered in a rich chocolate brown leather, flanked by two chairs named after one of those dead French kings, and a large rustic coffee table. The other end of the room was dominated by a compact kitchen area, separated from the main space by an oversized island.

  The rest of it was…space. Empty white space.

  Felicity stepped back, intending to turn around again but found herself pressed against Daniel’s hard body.

  “Whoa.” He grasped her arms and recall shimmered through her veins, of the last time they had been chest to back with their bodies pressed together. His voice whispering and urging from behind, his mouth buried in her hair, suckling at her nape, trailing kisses down her spine. Felicity’s knees went wobbly.

  “Are you okay?” He held her tighter.

  “Y-yes, I’m fine.” Briefly, she closed her eyes and breathed in his aftershave, overcome by memories that were much too real—the smell of him, the feel, the taste.

  She fought the need to lean back into him and moved away, clearing her throat several times before she could speak. “So, what do you do around here for entertainment?”

  She looked over her shoulder, turning on her good leg to face him. His eyes were hooded and the skin seemed stretched taut across his cheekbones. With his thumbs hooked into the belt loops of his jeans, the pants settled further down on his hips.

  Her eyes followed the happy trail of bronze hair from his navel down into the shadowy regions just below his waistband.

  Before her eyes, he turned hard.

  And she turned to liquid.

  “I find ways.” He focused on her mouth then skimmed over the cotton T-shirt she wore, the heat in his gaze beading the tips of her breasts.

  A muscled ticked in his jaw and he moved abruptly towards the wall unit. “There’s lots to do in the area since we have tourist designation. And on the rare occasion I don’t bring work home with me, I read, watch a good movie, or listen to music.” He pressed a button on the stereo and in an instant, soulful crooning infused the space.

  “Otis Redding, right?”

  His back to her, Daniel nodded. Felicity limped over to the sofa and sat, allowing the words of the song to wash over her. A little tenderness would be her complete undoing right now.

  “Felicity?” The sadness in her expression hooked into Daniel’s chest and drew him to sit beside her. Slowly, he reached out and framed her face in his hands. His thumbs exploring the softness of her skin as he gently urged her closer, till he settled his mouth on the lushness of hers.

  She opened to him with a little whimper, and the muscles in his shoulders bunched under the will not to crush her to him. Never let her go. Arousal accelerating into overdrive, Daniel plunged his tongue in her wet warmth, entwining her tongue, swallowing her greedy moans. Then with an agonized moan, he broke away. Easy does it. He forced the thought through his passion-fogged brain, even as every nerve in his body snarled in frustration.

  Deliberately, he slowed his breathing as he stared into her face. He saw confusion and passion in her eyes…and something else, something warm and yearning, just before her lids swept down. It was a glimmer of the truth.

  “Felicity?” He nudged her chin up, willing her to look at him. After long moments, she raised her eyes again. They were guarded. Daniel felt his jaw tighten. Had he seen a hint of her true feelings, or did he just imagine it? Just want it so damn much? Abruptly he stood up.

  “Let me show you the terrace.”

  She hesitated for a moment before accepting his help up from the deeply cushioned seat. They stepped
out onto the terrace. As they crossed to the railing, his hand settled into the small of her back, but he was sorely tempted to let his palm slide down over the sweet curve of her ass.

  He folded his arms across his chest, hands securely sandwiched between biceps and torso. Must not touch.

  Felicity leaned on the railing, face turned skyward. “I didn’t realize we were on the penthouse level.”

  Her eyes lit up as a gentle breeze played in her hair, lifting several wisps, then trailing one lock across lips that were parted in pleasure. He reached out and smoothed the hair away from her face. He wanted to capture that sweet mouth again.

  “I like my privacy. No neighbors except the ones downstairs.” Daniel leaned forward dropping his voice suggestively. “No one to hear your moans.”

  He watched the muscles in her throat work, saw her eyes darken. What the hell was wrong with him? This wasn’t wooing. He might as well grease his hair back, throw on some gold chains and unbutton his shirt, for all the finesse he was showing. Wait a sec—

  His shirt was unbuttoned.

  The upbeat sounds of Motown drifted out from the condo. Something about a guy being a clown. That would be him: Horny the Clown. Stuck tooting his own horn for the foreseeable future.

  “Look, I apologize; that was a stupid thing to say.” He dropped his hand. “I’ll show you the rest of the condo.”

  “How much more is there?”

  “Like I said, no neighbors. The whole floor is mine.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “Must be nice.”

  “I bought in from the beginning. The developer is a client and a friend of the family.”

  “Of course,” she said wryly and hopped in place, adjusting the position of the crutches.

  “Are you up to it?” he asked, concerned.

  “It’s going to take a lot more than a little fire and a twisted ankle to lick me.”

  Lick me. Not a good phrase for a man in his present condition to hear. Daniel fisted his hands in his pockets, hoping to give his semi-erection a little more room.

  “After you.” He inclined his head for her to go ahead of him. There really wasn’t much to show her except a few more under-furnished rooms.