Jack just shrugged. “A ploy to catch us off guard. You stay here, Lil, and get ready to pop the champagne when they leave. I’ll go meet them in the lobby and bring them into the executive conference room. Reggie, you should be there, waiting for them.” He glanced at Reggie, who just looked a little unhinged as he frowned at Jack. “It’s professional protocol, Reg.”
Lily thought her heart would explode. He was doing this for her. For Reggie. For Sam. It was a total act of selflessness, against anything he wanted to do in his heart, yet he was willing to make that sacrifice for people he cared about.
He put his hands on the table to push himself up, then froze and looked at Lily, next to him. “Here I go, Lil.”
She wasn’t sure she could look at him. He’d see the love on her face. God, she might even say the words. Slowly she turned to him.
“C’mere.” He reached a casual hand around her neck and pulled her closer. “A kiss for luck.”
He leaned toward her, but she drew back, willing the dampness in her eyes to go away. “You don’t need no stinkin’ luck, Jackson Locke. Every god that ever existed, or not, is on your side.”
He stayed very still for a second, then closed the space between them, taking a chaste five-second kiss. “Not every one,” he said quietly.
Then he stood and left the office, Reggie right behind him. For a long time she stared straight ahead, at the desk where an ad agency president worked, and tried to imagine Jack behind it.
She couldn’t. She put her head in her hands, and whispered the words that had been echoing in her brain all morning.
“What have I done?”
Ten
“Y ou’ve done a tremendous job, that’s what.”
Lily spun around at the voice, seeing an older woman with sleek silver hair and wearing an elegant gray suit standing in the doorway.
“Think of it this way,” she added. “That mammoth piece of mahogany will hide his bare feet.”
Blinking, Lily stood slowly, searching her memory banks for something she knew was there but couldn’t quite find. “Have we met?”
The woman glided into the room, a delicate floral scent preceding her.
“Once. But I don’t think we were actually introduced. You helped my niece prepare for a job interview with a law firm in Boston, and I accompanied her to your office briefly.” She held out her hand. “Samantha Wilding.”
“Sam?” Lily inched back, surprised, then returned the warm handshake. “Jack speaks so highly of you.”
Samantha’s smile was bright, her pale blue eyes twinkling amidst a feather of crow’s-feet. “My niece is Deborah Morris. Do you remember now?”
“Of course!” How could she forget the stringy-haired, awkward law student who’d been transformed into partner material? “And, yes, I do remember you.” The brief meeting in Boston was coming back to her now. “It was last spring, right? Before Deborah’s graduation. Isn’t that right?”
“Exactly. Last March,” Samantha confirmed.
“What an amazing coincidence that we’ve met before.”
“What’s amazing is the transformation you’ve accomplished. I just saw Jack and almost didn’t recognize him.”
“He certainly looks different.”
“I don’t mean the haircut and the expensive suit.” Samantha lifted one lovely arched eyebrow as she pulled out a chair and sat, indicating for Lily to do the same. “He’s in love.”
Lily turned her surprised gasp into a deprecating laugh. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do.” She crossed her arms with an air of satisfaction. “And Dorothea agrees.”
Lily frowned, trying to keep up with a conversation that grew more confusing and intriguing by the second. “You mean Mrs. Slattery?”
“I’d be lost without her, of course,” Samantha said, making a point of straightening a large diamond on her hand and avoiding Lily’s stare. The tiniest quiver in her hands was the only giveaway that the woman battled a life-threatening illness. “She’s been my eyes and ears this week.”
Her eyes and ears? A slow burn started in Lily’s chest, sending, she was sure, a blush to her face. What, exactly, had those eyes seen and those ears heard? She and Jack had made no effort to hide their affection…or the fact that they’d spent every night in the same bed.
Face the facts and never try to doctor up the truth—isn’t that what Lily taught her clients?
“Then you know that our relationship is personal as well as professional, Mrs. Wilding.”
“It’s Sam.” She reached across the table and closed smooth, warm fingers over Lily’s hand. “And I’m thrilled this arrangement was such a success.”
Lily opened her mouth to respond, then closed it, scrutinizing the lovely woman who had a little dash of devil in her sparkling eyes.
And then everything became crystal clear.
“You’re the client who recommended me to Reggie, aren’t you?”
“Guilty.”
“And you had more than a professional makeover in mind, didn’t you?”
Sam’s smile was sly. “Guilty again.”
“Jack thought Reggie set us up, but it was you.” Lily could hardly speak as the truth washed over her. “And it was a setup.”
“I can’t take all the credit.” Sam squeezed her hand. “Dorothea helped. But I knew you’d be perfect for him the moment I met you. I could feel it in my bones, in my heart. And I was right, wasn’t I?”
Lily’s arms went numb, her fingers tingled and a wave of dizziness hit so hard that she had to grip the edge of the table. This was a setup. A scheme to trap a man who would otherwise never be trapped.
Lily shifted in her seat, the right words still eluding her as it all sank in.
“Please, Lily. This really was a legitimate job and an important assignment,” Sam reassured her, obviously sensing that the news wasn’t being well received. “When Reggie told me about having to do something with Jack to impress the new owners, I immediately thought of you. You worked wonders with my niece. And Jack would never, ever have agreed to a standard blind date.”
A tendril of anger curled around her throat, tightening it. “No, he wouldn’t have.”
“But I was right, wasn’t I?” Sam insisted. “You two are absolutely perfect for each other.”
Perfect? They were like opposing trains, headed straight for a crash on the same track.
“No,” Lily said quietly. “In fact, I don’t think you could have picked two people with more conflicting goals in life if you’d tried.”
Sam frowned. “Sometimes opposites attract.”
“Sometimes they do,” she agreed. And then they clash and claw while one seeks permanence and the other seeks freedom. “In this case…” How could she describe how differently they saw the future? “We want different things out of life.”
“But with Jack’s new job…” Sam swept a hand toward the executive desk. “He’ll be chained here. You can move to New York. Work for the ad agency. You’ll be inseparable.”
Lily felt her eyes open wide in horror. “I don’t want to see Jack chained anywhere. I don’t want to snare him. I don’t want to put walls around a man who craves freedom and open spaces and a life without rules.”
She stood, shaking a little, the sensation of being manipulated and used sending shock waves through her body.
“Don’t you love him?” Samantha asked.
Lily almost choked. “Yes, I do.”
“Well,” Sam said, “so do I. And I want him to be happy.”
“Happy? You don’t make a man happy by forcing him into a situation he doesn’t want.”
“Well, I…”
Frustration and fury boiled hot as she looked at Samantha Wilding. Maybe the woman was terribly ill, maybe her intentions were noble and maybe she loved Jack in her own way, but none of that gave her the right to manipulate his life—and Lily’s.
“He did this for you,” Lily said, her voice so tight with emotion that she hissed. “
He endured this whole project for you. And this is how you thank him? Trying to lasso him into a life he doesn’t want? Into a place that—that could kill his spirit and his creativity and the very essence that makes Jackson Locke so remarkable and special? That very thing that makes me love him so much?”
Blood pumped violently in her ears, deafening her to any sounds around her. So she almost didn’t hear the gentle clearing of a throat behind her. Then he repeated the sound, and Samantha’s stunned gaze shifted to the doorway.
Lily didn’t have to look. She knew who stood behind her. And she knew he’d heard every word.
Lily loved him.
The knowledge hit like a sledgehammer to Jack’s chest, making his heart pummel his ribs so hard that clearing his throat was really all he was capable of at that moment.
“Reggie left the contract on his desk,” he finally said, still unable to look away from Lily.
“Jack.” She looked as miserable and shocked as he felt, her complexion pale from the blood that must have rushed from her head to her heart. “You were right from the first night. It was a setup.”
“So I have Sam to thank instead of Reggie.” His voice was surprisingly low-key and calm, considering the tornado that whipped through his blood. “Excellent choice in companions, Sammy. Excuse me, ladies. I’m just going to grab some papers.”
“Jack, listen to me.” Lily could barely hide the touch of desperation in her tone. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I know that,” he said, but he walked toward the desk and the ominous stack of papers that contained his future.
Samantha stood and reached for him as he passed the table. “You’re not mad at me, Jack, are you? Lily is upset.”
He evaded her outstretched hand and continued across the office. “No harm done, Sam,” he assured her, without even glancing her way. “We had fun, didn’t we, Lil?”
The phrase felt phony and forced, but his attention was zeroed in on the pile of legal-sized documents. He spun it around so that he could read the top page. The small print was all jargon and corporate speak, but the main message blared across the top in bold letters.
The acquisition of Wild Marketing by Anderson, Sturgeon and Noble…
Behind him, he was vaguely aware of a chair scraping, and the sound of a soft intake of breath.
“Fun?” The single syllable from Lily’s lips carried a hard punch.
He blinked at the onerous words on the legal document, lifting it as he looked at her. “Didn’t you have fun?”
She looked stricken. “Of course. Fun. That’s what it’s all about, right, Jack? No-strings fun, then on to the next good time.” She nodded to Sam, whose jaw looked a little unhinged at the exchange. “A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Wilding. Would you be kind enough to arrange for Mrs. Slattery to return all of my belongings to my office in Boston? Mr. Wilding has the address.”
Jack’s fingers closed around the pages as he watched Lily march to the door. Didn’t she know he was up to his eyeballs in this deal he hated and couldn’t take Sam to task for what was probably the greatest gift he’d ever been given?
“Lily?”
She turned to him, with the same expression she’d worn when the boom had almost hit her in the face. “Goodbye, Jack. It’s been…fun.” The word fell with a thud.
“No, wait!” He started to follow just as Sam leaped into his path to do the same, and Jack had to wrench back from running into her, sending a hundred pages of legal documents scattering around the room like a blizzard.
“Oh, Jack, I’m sorry!” Sam exclaimed, her arms extended as if she could possibly catch some of the flying paper.
He bit back a curse, watching helplessly as the pages of his future fluttered about and the woman of his dreams disappeared from sight.
Samantha stood just as frozen, her hands over her mouth and horror in her eyes. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, Sam, you shouldn’t have.”
“What’s going on, Jack? We’re waiting…” Reggie’s voice boomed from the hall just before he appeared in the doorway. “Oh, Lord. Is that the contract?”
“Honey, I really made a mess of things,” Sam sighed.
She sure as hell had, Jack thought bitterly.
Reggie lunged toward the floor. “Jennifer! Please help us put this contract back together.” He started scooping up papers, but Jack just stood still, and so did Sam.
“Jack,” she said, reaching out to him. “Go get her.”
He wanted to. His whole being screamed to tear into that hallway and get her before she reached the elevator.
“Please,” Reggie insisted, looking up from the floor and his sea of legalese. “I need you to do this. You’ve come this far. They want to make the deal, Jack.” Reggie’s pained expression deepened as he looked at his wife. “Sam and I need this time together.”
“No,” Sam said, squeezing her narrow fingers over Jack’s wrist. “Reggie, you’re taking Jack’s freedom to buy yours. That’s wrong.”
The crack in her voice had the same effect on Jack’s heart.
“And,” Sam added, her pale blue eyes moist with unshed tears, “I was wrong to try and play matchmaker.”
“Actually,” Jack said, fighting the urge to reach out and dry Sam’s tears, “you nailed it, Sammy. She’s the one for me.” Just saying it out loud felt so good. “I’m in love with her.”
Reggie stood slowly and Sam drew back. “You are?” they asked in perfect, married-for-thirty-years unison.
“I am.”
They beamed at each other, also in unison, making Jack smile despite the ache that filled him. “You two are quite a team.”
“That’s called marriage,” Sam said softly. “You might give it a try sometime.”
“Well, what are you doing here?” Reggie gave Jack’s other arm a soft shove.
Sam nodded, adding pressure to the other arm. “Go, Jack.”
Jack took one second to reach down and kiss Sam’s cheek. “I owe you one, Sammy.” He turned to Reggie. “Stall the suits. I’ll be back.”
“No,” Reggie said, shaking his head. “I’ll tell them the truth.”
“That I’m leaving?”
“That the only thing that matters at an ad agency is the quality of the creative. And we’ve got that covered. With the best damn creative director in the business.” Reggie gave him one more push. “Go!”
Jack needed no more encouragement to hustle into the hall and zip through the departments of Wild Marketing, ignoring the strange looks from his colleagues.
He had to get Lily.
The elevator was gone, the hall was empty. He considered the stairs, but pounded on the call button and hissed “Yesss!” when it dinged down.
She’d misunderstood him, that’s all. He punched the lobby level button six times, the thought bellowing in his head. She’d totally misunderstood him.
He’d been so preoccupied with the meeting and the contract and the role he was playing that he hadn’t even thought about what he said.
It was fun.
What an idiot.
He practically shoved the elevator doors wide open as he burst into the lobby and scanned the empty area. Outside the glass doors, torrential rain turned the streets of Manhattan into a waterfall, driving almost all the pedestrians inside.
Had she gotten into a cab already?
Throwing open the main door, he jogged onto the sidewalk, squinting left and right into the downpour and seeing almost no one on the street. A dark movement about a block away caught his attention. Was that her?
With a silent apology to Deuce for ruining a perfectly good two-thousand-dollar suit, he tore out into the rain, jumping a few puddles, holding off an oncoming cab at the corner and keeping his focus on the dark figure that walked slowly through the rain.
He saw her fling back a lock of sodden hair, and joy punched his chest. It was her. It was her.
“Lily!” he called.
She almost faltered, then conti
nued, upping her speed. Was she really going to run away from him like this?
“Lily!” He broke into a jog and reached her in less than fifty steps, slowing only as he could make out the individual strands of hair and the familiar, feminine way she walked.
Finally she stopped, turning slowly, the sight of her like a punch in the gut.
“This is just how I found you,” he said, dropping to a slow walk to approach her. “Soaking wet and absolutely beautiful.”
She pushed limp, wet hair from her eyes, lifting her chin despite the way it quivered. “So this is how you can remember me.”
“Lily, are you crazy?” He couldn’t stop himself. He reached for her, sinking his fingers into the waterlogged shoulders of her jacket. “How can you walk away from this?”
She blinked at the rain, the remnants of makeup making her expression look even more tortured. God, he hoped it was the rain. He couldn’t stand to know he’d made her cry.
“I’m so sorry, Lil. I really didn’t mean what I said up there.”
“Don’t, Jack. You have enough handcuffs around your wrists now. And I did my part to help put them there. I’m the one who owes you an apology. I just sort of lost it. I was so stunned at what Sam did, and then—”
“Listen to me.” He squeezed tighter, pulled her closer. “I just told Reggie no. The deal’s off. Or maybe it’s on. I don’t know. But it won’t include me as agency president. I’m free of that.”
She tried to ease out of his grip, but he wouldn’t let go. “Good, that’s great. That’s the right thing. I need to get a cab to the airport.” She glanced out on the New York street where, for once, there were no cars or cabs. The gods were on his side here. For the moment, anyway.
“I’ll go with you,” he said quickly. “I’m done here. Let’s fly to Boston, get back to Nantucket and figure this out.”
She managed to escape his grasp. “Figure what out?”
“Lily.” Undeterred, he dug his hands under her hair, tunneling into the last dry place on her. “I love you. And I heard what you said. You love me right back.”
She opened her mouth in shock, then closed it, just managing to slip out of his grip. “No, Jack.”
His Style of Seduction Page 12