by Janice Lynn
“No.” Her tone didn’t sound confident. “At least, I don’t think I am. I don’t know.” She gave him a trembling smile and shrugged. “I’ve never been in a helicopter.”
Protectiveness swept over him. An odd protectiveness that felt different from any he’d ever experienced until she’d been telling him about her failed date. Just as then, he wanted to take on her fear, her doubt, and give her the world.
He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“You’ll like this,” he assured her, hoping he was correct. “Penny is a great pilot. You’ll like her.”
Still eyeing the helicopter, she asked, “Penny?”
“My cousin Penny,” he clarified. “She said she knew you. Among other things, she’s a paramedic with Manhattan Mercy’s air ambulance.”
“Penny Davenport. Your cousin. Charles’s younger sister. Of course.” She glanced at him and a new uncertainty crept into her eyes. “You get along with her, then?”
He nodded. “She’s crazy, like me.”
“You don’t care if she knows you’re with me?”
Not what he’d been expecting Sarah to ask, neither did he understand why she had.
He frowned. “Why would I care if she knows?”
Insecurity shone behind her glasses. “I... I just wondered. I wasn’t sure how much your family knew about your women.”
Maybe because he was concerned he’d miscalculated on the helicopter trip or maybe in retaliation for the vulnerability he felt at the intense protectiveness she evoked in him, Sarah’s comment made him angry. Enough was enough.
“You’re not one of my women, Sarah.”
She wasn’t. She was...hurt by his outburst.
He could see it in how she averted her gaze, in how she looked even more tentatively at the helicopter, in how her grip on his hand loosened.
“That didn’t come out right,” he began, wanting to rake his fingers through his hair but knowing Penny was watching from where she now stood next to the helicopter. “Let’s not talk about other women, Sarah. They don’t matter.” They never had, but especially they didn’t at that moment, when he was looking into Sarah’s eyes and wanting to recapture the magic that had sparkled there when they’d left the theater, when they’d been at the restaurant, before he’d spilt his guts to her. “Okay?”
“Fine by me.” But there was no sparkle as she eyed the helicopter, just wariness.
“Sarah?” His pretty cousin with long, wavy chocolate-brown hair greeted them. Her eyes were the same blue as Jude’s, that piercing Davenport blue that his family was famous for and that they couldn’t escape.
“I know we’ve bumped into each other in the emergency department from time to time,” Penny continued. “But we’ve never officially met. It’s nice to meet you.”
Sarah went to shake the woman’s hand, but got pulled into a hug instead.
Seconds later, Penny had him in a death-grip hug, too. To be so tiny, his cousin packed a punch. He’d always connected to Penny on a level he hadn’t with the rest of his family. Maybe because they were both risk-takers and didn’t fall into line with family expectations.
“It’s good to know my cousin’s taste is improving,” Penny teased, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder, much as one of his male friends might do.
Sarah’s gaze cut to him, as if assessing how she was supposed to respond to Penny’s comment since they’d just agreed not to discuss other women.
“As if yours is any better,” he teased his cousin back, determined he was going to recapture the joy from earlier. “You ready for this?”
“Absolutely.” Penny turned excited eyes toward Sarah. “I’d have sworn Jude didn’t have a romantic bone in his body. I was so impressed by his call there was no way I could say no.”
Sarah’s feet shifted. Jude doubted it was because of her new shoes. “Romantic?”
“Quit giving away my surprise, cuz.”
Smiling, Penny rushed them into the helicopter, gave them a quick safety rundown, headsets to put on, and then they were off.
Sarah’s hand gripped his for dear life. He glanced at her and questioned himself again. Maybe he should have saved the helicopter for another night.
“Open your eyes, Sarah.”
“No.” She shook her head back and forth in tiny little movements. The rest of her body was stiff, as if she was afraid to move for fear she might trigger a tailspin that would send them crashing to the ground. “I can’t.”
Her hand had become clammy against his and Jude mentally swore.
“Have you ever flown in any type of aircraft, Sarah?”
She shook her head.
“Another first, eh?”
Which he probably should not have said as Penny’s gaze briefly cut toward them.
“My stomach is still on the ground.” Her face was pale, her hand clammy, her lower lip half-hidden between her teeth.
Then she trembled.
Aw, hell. Jude’s stomach dropped to the ground, too, because there went that crazy, strange protectiveness again.
So he did what he had to do.
He pressed his lips to Sarah’s.
Her eyes sprang open and her teeth freed her swollen lower lip.
Eyes locked with hers, he continued to kiss her, to taste her, to caress her mouth with his. Slowly, she relaxed, her grip on his hand taking on new purpose.
“Hi,” he whispered against her lips when they finally separated a few millimeters.
Gaze locked with his, full of trust and so much more, she smiled the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. “Hi back.”
His insides flooded with emotion, he searched her eyes. “You okay?”
“I am now.”
“Good answer.” He leaned his forehead against hers, the top of her glasses pressing against his face as he stared into her eyes. “I can have Penny take us back.”
Sarah shook her head. “I think I’m okay now.”
Brave girl.
“But you’re missing your surprise.”
To which she turned to look out the helicopter.
“Wow.”
In a few seconds, she relaxed further, but still held onto his hand with a bit of death grip as she stared out at what he’d wanted her to see.
What he’d wanted to share with her.
The New York City skyline from the air.
Penny flew them over the bay, along acceptable flight routes, lingered at all the right places, as if she could somehow hear Sarah’s breath catch over the loud buzz of the helicopter.
When they arrived back at the helicopter pad, Sarah gushed her thanks to Penny, who waved off the praise, hugged Sarah again, and gave Jude an approving thumbs-up that caused heat in his cheeks that some might have called a blush, but he knew better.
Within minutes, Jude and Sarah were back in the limo on their way home.
Home.
To his home.
Or her home.
Or to each their own?
As she leaned her head against his shoulder, squeezed his arm and thanked him for the most amazing night of her life, he knew the answer.
* * *
Sarah grew more and more antsy as the elevator made its way to their floor. Did she invite Jude into her apartment? Was that how this worked?
Or would he invite her into his?
Either way, she wanted what this night would bring. She couldn’t imagine any better conclusion to their wonderful evening than to spend the night in bed with Jude.
That would be the grand finale.
The real surprise.
The first of all firsts.
What would make her stomach soar and drop in ways Penny’s helicopter never could.
Feeling self-conscious,
she reached out and took his hand, startling him in the process.
He’d been lost in thought for most of the limo ride home. Which had been okay by her, because she’d rested up against him and felt an inner peace at where they were.
Did she have any expectations of Jude beyond the night?
No. She knew better. She didn’t even expect him to stay interested until Christmas. She was just another in a long line of women to enjoy the wonderful man he was.
Which didn’t exactly thrill her, but he hadn’t made any pretense of anything else. Other than that he’d said they’d enjoy each other through Christmas.
Which was so much more than she’d had to distract her from the holiday blah just a few days ago.
She walked beside him down the hallway, planning to take his lead on whether to invite him to her place or to eagerly follow him into his.
He stopped outside her apartment, so she dug into her coat pocket and pulled out her key.
Fumbling a little, she unlocked the door, but didn’t turn the handle, just looked up at him. “Are you coming inside with me, Jude?”
He closed his eyes. “Do you want me to come inside with you, Sarah?”
“What do you think?”
“That I want you to come with me tomorrow evening to a party at my station.”
Stunned, Sarah blinked. “A party at your fire station?”
He nodded. “The crew will be cleaned up and have their partners with them. It’s an annual pre-Thanksgiving meal, of sorts. I’d like you to go with me.”
“But...won’t they wonder who I am?”
A V formed on his forehead. “Why would they? I’ll introduce you. They’re a rowdy bunch, but I wouldn’t trade them for any other.”
He was inviting her to go with him to a party at his fire hall. To introduce her to his coworkers. He was letting her know tonight wasn’t a one-night stand, that there would be a tomorrow night.
Smiling, she nodded. “I’d love to go with you, Jude.”
“Great.” He let out a sigh of relief, then bent and kissed her with the quickest of pecks on her eagerly waiting lips. “I’ll text you the exact details in the morning and pick you up about seven tomorrow evening. We’ll take a taxi if that’s okay with you?”
Did he think he’d set a precedent with the limo that he’d have to constantly repeat?
“I usually walk most places I go,” she reminded him, not wanting him to confuse her with someone who expected grand gestures all the time. “We can do that, or take a taxi if walking to your station is too far.”
“It’s not that far, but we’ll take a taxi.” With that he took a step back from her and didn’t quite meet her eyes as he said, “See you tomorrow, Doc.”
With that he opened her apartment door, practically picked her up and set her inside, handed her keys to her, then pulled the door closed.
With him on the other side.
* * *
Jude leaned against Sarah’s door and fought the urge to rip it off to get back to her.
What had he just done? Turned down an offer from a woman he wanted more than he’d ever wanted any other?
He’d lost his mind. Had to have.
But going into her apartment with her, knowing what would happen, wouldn’t have been right.
Not with Sarah.
Not when spending the night with her would make her think she was no different from any other woman he’d ever known.
She was. So very different.
He wasn’t playing for keeps so what she thought shouldn’t matter so much, but it did.
She wasn’t one of his women.
He wouldn’t, couldn’t, treat her as if she was.
CHAPTER TEN
ALTHOUGH SARAH HAD other plans, she spent the day at a mall instead. Not her favorite thing to do any time of year but as the holiday season was getting under way, the crowds made the whole outing that much more intimidating.
She was intimidated.
She bought clothes to hide her body, to blend in with her surroundings, to not be noticed, things she ordered online and didn’t care if they hung on her body all wrong.
That wasn’t going to work today.
She wanted to be noticed as a woman.
She didn’t want to blend into the background and be a faceless, shapeless, asexual person.
She wanted Jude to notice her.
Correction, she wanted Jude to want her. To want her in every way a man could want a woman.
Which seemed a silly thought. He did want her.
She’d seen desire in his eyes repeatedly throughout the evening before. She wasn’t blind. Desire had been there and real. What she didn’t understand was why he’d shoved her inside her apartment and high-tailed it.
Her towel-wearing, bedroom revolving door wielding neighbor had not taken what she’d wanted to give him.
Had he thought she’d follow him out of her apartment, to perhaps beg for more, as Brandy had?
Wrong. She’d wanted to spend the night with him, but was not pathetic. She had her pride, her morals. She would not cling or beg. Ever.
She didn’t want to have to beg.
Funny, she believed one hundred percent that had she been willing on the night he’d cooked her dinner he’d have taken her to his bed. Last night she had been, and he’d sent her to bed alone. What had changed?
The man really was complicated.
Had he not asked her to go with him tonight she might have questioned whether or not he’d been as attracted as she’d thought, if he’d really enjoyed himself. He’d seemed to, smiling, flirting, charming her hesitations away, but what did she know of such things?
Not much. Too little experience.
Now she wanted to seduce him, to be irresistible to him. Was that even possible?
Ugh. Her head hurt from just considering all the things that had happened between now and the morning when she’d stepped out of her apartment and found a towel-and-woman-wrapped Jude.
“Quit squinting your eyes,” the sales clerk ordered, stepping back to survey her work. She turned Sarah first one way in the swivel chair and then the other. “That is so much better. Girl, I’d kill for those eyes. And those cheekbones. Are they implants?”
Sarah blinked at the woman whose name tag read “Cher”. “What?”
“Your cheekbones.” She studied Sarah’s face. “Are they fake?”
Fake cheekbones?
“Um, no, they’re all mine.”
Had Sarah chosen implants, they sure wouldn’t have been the cheekbones she had. She’d always thought them too prominent. Besides, if she ever got implants, she had other, mostly flat, areas that could use curves more than her face.
“Lucky you, girl.”
“Thank you,” Sarah answered automatically, reminding herself the woman complimented customers for a living.
“What color is your dress so I know how to do your eye make-up?”
“I don’t know,” Sarah admitted. “I ended up in the make-up department before I made it to dresses. I’m going there next to find something.”
Cher’s eyes widened. “No dress? Girl, we’ve got to get your dress before I do your eyes. What’s your budget?”
Sarah told her what she planned to spend.
The clerk laughed. “You’re funny. Leave this to me. My roommate is a personal shopper in Women’s. I’ll give her a call and she’ll fix you right up.”
Sarah started to protest then recalled how much she disliked fighting the crowds. “I guess that would work, but make sure she knows I...” She what? Wanted something that would blow Jude’s mind, but that still left a lot to the imagination because Sarah wasn’t used to skin showing and didn’t want to feel self-conscious in front of Jude’s c
oworkers? Did such a dress exist?
The dress Jude had given her for the evening before had been beautiful, had covered up her body, yet had gently hinted at what was beneath. She’d felt feminine without feeling like she was hanging everything out. He’d done a great job. Maybe she should have hired him to buy a dress for tonight.
Only she couldn’t afford the name brands he’d sent.
“Something nice, but not too revealing,” she told the clerk, who was patiently waiting for Sarah to finish the comment she’d started making. “It’s for a date at a fire department party. I’ve never met any of them except my date and it’s only our second date.” Or was it third? Did the night she’d set off her smoke detector count? “I don’t want to feel as if I’m pulling up my top and tugging down my skirt all night. I will feel out of place as it is, so anything I can do to raise my comfort level is a plus.”
Cher smiled and waved away Sarah’s concerns. “Like I said, leave this to me. You want sexy without looking as if you’re trying. My friend can do subtly sexy. No problem. You’ll be the belle of the fire ball and make your firefighter want to take you for a spin on his truck.”
Taking out her cellphone and punching in a number, she walked away from a blushing Sarah and began talking. Sarah couldn’t make out her exact words but imagined they consisted of things like plain Jane, boring, out of her league.
Not that the clerk knew Sarah was out of her league.
Not once had Sarah told anyone who she was going out with, or even that she was going out at all. Part of her still couldn’t fathom why Jude had asked her out, much less asked her a second time to attend a party at his fire hall.
Maybe he wanted someone more normal to take to where he worked than someone a Davenport would typically date. Someone who’d fit in with ordinary people who didn’t sing, act, model, or been born into wealth or prestige.
At least that theory made sense, because his wanting to date her for real seemed too far-fetched.
* * *
“Wow!” Jude gushed when Sarah opened her apartment door. “I should have sprung for the limo.”
Lowering her lashes, layered with mascara, Sarah bit the inside of her painted bottom lip. “Is it too much? You didn’t say what I should wear.”