The Gentlewoman

by Lisa Durkin

  He cut her off. “Rory, don’t. Please. I asked you to marry me because I’m in love with you. I know we’re announcing it to try to flush out this bastard.” He leaned forward and grabbed both her knees under the table, holding her tightly. “But I want to marry you more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. I want you to be my wife. I’m serious about it, and I want you to think seriously about saying yes.”

  Tears sprang into her eyes again. Rather than break down, though, she steeled herself. “I love you, Jackson,” she breathed and smiled at him.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Rory thought about their situation as they drove to Nicole’s house the following afternoon. She could tell Jackson was considering their impending announcement real. Maybe he was hoping she would be convinced. The thought of it would have normally pissed her off and panicked her at the loss of control. But it didn’t. It did worry her. She didn’t want to break his heart. She didn’t know if she could say yes even though she didn’t want to be without him again. She was confused.

  They had stayed in the rest of the day after their lunch at Milo’s. Rory had needed a nap and had slept until dinner time. Her lack of sleep since their breakup and nightmares had caught up with her. She had slept hard and woken with her head on Jackson’s chest, her favorite place. She had immediately turned over and thanked him properly for being her pillow.

  They had gone over some of the details of the announcement. They needed to involve Nicole in the planning, which only made her more nervous about Sunday dinner. She didn’t need Landon making her crazy over this, and he was liable to go ape-shit when he was told she was announcing an engagement to the “other team”.

  They pulled into the driveway and Jackson came around to open her door. She looked around for anyone who seemed out of place before she took his hand.

  “You won’t be smiling after spending the evening with Landon. He’s not as nice as the rest of us.”

  Jackson smirked. “As nice as who?”

  She laughed as she took his arm. She noticed him looking off in the direction of the street as well. They were both spooked.

  They stomped the snow off inside the breezeway and Nicole took their coats. Rory was wearing a charcoal wrap dress with black hosiery and high-heeled black leather boots. Jackson was looking handsome in his gray dress slacks and cream polo sweater. She loved the way the sweater hugged his build.

  They all greeted each other happily. Jim was mixing drinks and he and Jackson immediately huddled around the bar while Nicole whispered to Rory.

  “So how’s it going?” She looked apprehensive and Rory remembered that the last time she saw Nicole, she and Jackson had still been at odds.

  She smiled at her. “I guess you were right. First time for everything.”

  “You’re back together?”

  “Yes, you were right. He does love me.”

  “And you love him,” Nicole insisted, peering at her.

  “Yes I do.”

  Nicole threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly. “I’m so happy for you, Ror!”

  “Thank you. If only we didn’t have to deal with this other bullshit.”

  Landon made his way into the kitchen and over to Rory. “There’s my girl, give us a hug.” He squeezed her hard, with a worried look on his face. He tucked her under his arm and put his hand out to Jackson.

  “Congressman, I’m Landon McCollum, Rory’s uncle. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Rory could tell he was trying to be on his best behavior and it touched her.

  “Director McCollum, it’s an honor to meet you, sir.” Jackson shook his hand.

  “Please call me Landon. So you’ve been looking after our Rory? Damned crazy situation. I’ve been worried sick for her.” Landon squeezed her shoulders. Rory thought he sounded a little guilty, maybe for the silent treatment.

  “Yes sir. I’ve been keeping a close eye on her.”

  “Can we all sit?” Rory asked. “Where are the kids, Nicole?”

  They followed Nicole into the living room.

  “The baby is still napping and the others went to Delia’s. I thought we could use some adult time to discuss what can be done about things.”

  “Yes, we do need to discuss things.” Rory looked at Jackson apprehensively.

  He leaned close and whispered in her ear. “You want me to rip off the Band-Aid?”

  “Maybe,” she said tentatively, raising her eyebrows in horror. She shook her head. She had to handle this. Now was the time to show no fear. Funny how much easier that was when it involved strangers.

  Landon was impatient. “Tell us what the authorities are saying, Rory.”

  She steeled her spine. “Well, we were briefed this morning. There was some activity. It seems Jackson and I were followed home and then to a restaurant on Friday night.”

  Nicole gasped and looked horrified while Landon looked angry. “And what are they doing about that?” he asked.

  “Well, unfortunately there’s not much they can do yet. There hasn’t been any illegal activity, so they can’t arrest anybody. They don’t even know who it was.”

  “That’s idiocy. They know you’re being followed. Can’t they pick them up for stalking?”

  “No, But we’ve kind of come up with a plan, of sorts,” Rory said, trying not to sound meek. “Apparently the only way they’ll be able to apprehend him is if he actually takes a shot at me. And right now, he’s watching and waiting, biding his time until he feels like he has a clear path. But that could take forever, so we want to help him along.”

  “Meaning?” Landon asked.

  “Meaning we need to get him to throw caution to the wind and go for it.”

  “How exactly are you going to do that? Wear a sign that says come and get me?”

  “Well, metaphorically maybe. It seems that Roan believes that I’m living the good life with Jackson and wants to put an end to that. So in order to hasten things, we thought we’d make him angrier by really advertising our happiness.”

  There was a moment of silence while this was considered. Nicole was the one who broke first. “So what exactly are you going to do, more press?”

  “Yes, more press, and another thing. We’re going to announce that we’re engaged to be married.”

  Nicole gasped, Landon balked, and then not even crickets were heard.

  “Oh my God, you’re getting married?” Nicole was half excited and half shocked, her mouth hanging open.

  This was going to be tricky. How could she navigate this without hurting Jackson’s feelings in light of his real proposal?

  “Well, that’s what we’re announcing.”

  “What does that mean? Are you or aren’t you getting married? Or is this just to lure in the criminal?” Landon demanded.

  Rory cringed and looked at Jackson, who was listening intently. She didn’t want to hurt him by discounting the truth. “Jackson has asked me to marry him and I am considering his proposal. Meanwhile, we’re going to announce this to try to make something happen from Roan. That’s what’s going on, and we’ll figure the rest out later.” She sat back and hoped that would satisfy everyone. She felt better when Jackson smiled at her and took her hand in his.

  “Wow, Rory, I’m happy for you.” Nicole leaned over the coffee table and kissed her cheek. “Jackson,” she said and touched his shoulder. Jim shook his hand and nodded awkwardly at Rory. Nobody really knew what to say; it wasn’t as if congratulations were actually in order. Landon was quiet.

  “I’m sorry you’re so at risk again, darling. It’s a terrible thing,” he stated.

  “Thank you, Uncle Landon.”

  “Well why don’t we move into the dining room and we’ll get started on dinner,” Nicole suggested. “Then we can make some tactical plans.”

  Rory helped Nicole serve dinner and they made small talk through most of their meal. To Rory’s surprise, Landon seemed to enjoy joining in conversation with Jim and Jackson. Much discussion was made of the upcoming basketball sea
son and Rory rolled her eyes, secretly happy with the normalcy of it. There was some talk of politics, but it was mostly benign until Landon decided to ask about elephant number two.

  “So, Jackson, tell me about this legislation that created all the rage to get Rory on Homeland.” He made a show of draining his drink and cheerfully asking Jim for a refill.

  Rory was surprised when her hackles rose and her first instinct was to defend Jackson. Then she caught herself and looked at him, anxious to hear the answer.

  Jackson cleared his throat and lowered his fork to his plate, wiping his mouth with his napkin. “Well, mostly there are just some additional funding requests for existing programs. Some real priorities for law enforcement…” He trailed off, obviously not wanting to delve into detail.

  “Well, there must be more than that if Rory was so critical to its success.” Landon’s smile was deceivingly genuine.

  “Yes, it is a bill of considerable size. Most of it is bipartisan at its base. I don’t believe either party has too much argument with the bulk of it.”

  “With the bulk of it, I see. Does that mean there are parts with which Rory might have argument?”

  Jackson leaned back and placed his arm on the back of Rory’s chair. “It’ll be delivered tomorrow. I’d rather discuss it with Rory in private first, sir. My priority at this point is to make sure that Rory is comfortable and I’ll be making sure of that with Larry Page myself. Rory won’t be made to do something against her will again.” Jackson held Landon’s stare.

  “Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Landon offered after a moment. They all resumed eating. “I’m not really worried about Rory with the legislation at this point anyway.”

  “Yes, this other business is much more concerning,” Jackson agreed.

  “Yes, that’s very true.” Landon nodded. “But also, I’ve seen what Rory can do to legislation. If she’s giving in on anything, she’ll be sure to get tenfold.” He took a swig of his drink and looked directly at Rory. “I can’t wait to see how you twist this, sweetheart.”

  “My heart is in my throat thinking of you being followed like that,” Nicole said despairingly. “You must be going crazy.”

  Rory really didn’t want to talk about it. “Yes, and annoyed at the number of agents surrounding us all the time. Homeland agents followed us here tonight and are waiting out there to follow us home.” Talking about how scared she was didn’t help.

  Rory picked at her dessert. It was so easy to concentrate on how her space and life were being inconvenienced. Talking about the danger would drive her over the edge again.

  “So we need to plan an engagement announcement,” Nicole mused.

  “You and Jackson’s people can work together, if you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind. We’ll make it nice.” She smiled and looked between Jackson and Rory. “As a matter of fact, Sabrina called yesterday. She got several offers for interviews after the ET footage of you two aired. We could go that way.”

  Rory looked at her. “You know I hate doing interviews, who with?” Nicole rattled off the reporters’ names. Two of them were with very impressive news shows and even Rory’s eyebrows raised. “Let’s just release a statement for now.”

  Nicole left the table to get little Danny, who they could hear making noises on the monitor. Jim led Jackson back to the living room to watch ESPN while Landon and Rory sat at the table together.

  “Again, I’m sorry I didn’t call you after our lunch. I was stubborn, dear.” Landon seemed contrite.

  “It’s okay. We’re cut from the same cloth.”

  “That we are.” He raised his drink to her. “That’s why I’m not worried about this Homeland thing. I know you’ll make lemonade from it.”

  “If there’s anything I can get, I’ll certainly try.” They were silent for a moment while they both sipped their drinks.

  “I’m worried about this Sullivan thing.”

  “Me too,” she admitted quietly.

  Nicole came back and handed the baby to Rory.

  “How’s my Danny?” She kissed him and bounced him on her lap.

  Nicole took the opportunity while Jackson and Jim weren’t in the room. “Rory, I’m so surprised that Jackson has proposed marriage. You’ve only known each other for like six weeks.”

  “Actually four,” Rory answered over the baby’s head.

  “And you’re considering it?” Landon asked gently.

  Rory took a deep breath and shrugged. “We’ll see. I’m sorry he’s a conservative, Uncle Landon.” She was only half kidding.

  “Rory, don’t be like that. I’m not sorry. Jackson seems to really care for you. We want you to be loved, dear. Your parents wanted that for you. I just want you to be sure this is what’s right for you.”

  Rory looked into the living room at Jackson.

  “Nicole, do you remember that night we were out with the alumni group last fall and I left early, even though we were at Nanno’s?”

  “Yeah, your favorite place. But you always leave early.”

  “Since Aidan…leaving early has been the only way to deal with the pain of enduring other people’s happiness.”

  Nicole blanched and Rory continued. “I know that sounds bad. It’s not that I don’t want others to be happy; that’s not it at all. It’s hard to explain.” She looked at Jackson for another moment. He was animated about some sporting event with Jim.

  “Since Aidan, what makes others happy, and used to make me happy, just doesn’t work. Everything falls short of the mark. I’d be out and everybody would be having a great time, but I’d have to fake it. It felt like there was someplace else I was supposed to be, some other plane of existence. For three years I have never been able to satisfy that feeling that I should be somewhere else, doing something else that would make it stop hurting or make the anxiety stop. I couldn’t find that place.” She looked back at Jackson again as she bounced the baby. “I found it when Jackson came along. When I’m with him, I’m not searching anymore. I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

  Tears fell from Nicole’s eyes. “Welcome home,” she said.

  “So they didn’t try to talk sense into you?” It surprised her that Jackson had been nervous.

  “Well, they did bring up the age difference, but I told them your stamina more than made up for it.”

  He laughed and squeezed her knee. “I’ll show you some stamina when we get home. baby.”

  They parked the car in the usual spot, and Rory tried not to look in the direction of the agents she knew were following them. She frowned as Jackson opened the back door. As they neared his condo door, she looked at her own.

  “You know, it’s strange.”

  “What?” Jackson said, opening the door. He locked it when they were inside and took her coat.

  “You and Reynolds say that Roan is interested now because I’m happy. But the first time I noticed my door unlocked was before I ever hooked up with you.”

  He thought about it. “True, but we had been out in public together.” He shrugged, removing his shoes.

  “True,” she said as he approached her and pulled her to his body. She could feel his erection on her belly.

  “How about that stamina,” he whispered, lowering his lips to hers. He kissed her deeply, engulfing her body. “These boots have been driving me crazy all night. I’ve been dying to see what you have on under this dress.”

  He stalked her back to the couch and lowered her onto her back. He untied the bow and laid the two sides of her dress open, gasping at what he saw underneath. She wore a black lace bra with matching G-string and thigh-high stockings. He slowly ran his hand down her body. Her back arched and her knees bent as she closed her eyes and enjoyed his touch.

  “I want you.” He was quickly unfastening his pants. “I have to be in you right now.” He grabbed her G-string and ripped it from her. She cried out as he slammed into her.

  He stilled for a moment. “You okay?”

  “Oh yes, please fuck
me.”

  He hammered into her. She reached behind her head and grabbed the arm of the couch to keep from being fucked off. He didn’t stop. He enjoyed the view of her bra and thigh-highs, arms overhead hanging on, and knees raised high as he pounded into her. Her tits bounced to his rhythm. He reached down and splayed his hand across her belly, placing his thumb directly on her naked clit. She felt his rhythm inside her and on her clit and burst in an explosive orgasm, shouting his name. He smiled as he watched her come.

  He thrust into her several more times before pressing deep and spilling into her.

  They embraced on the cramped couch, exhausted.

  “You know, this is the first time this couch has seen any action.”

  Rory chuckled. “Playboy Dorn has never fucked on the couch before?”

  “Playboy Dorn hasn’t fucked much in this condo at all. I’m happy that’s changed.”

  Rory opened her eyes. “You didn’t bring your fuck friends here?”

  “No, we mostly went to their places. Or stayed at the club I belonged to.”

  “Oh. Club?”

  Jackson opened his eyes. “Club. For those kinds of fun and games…”

  “Oh. Do you miss your fuck friends? The ménages, I mean?”

  He looked at her as if she were speaking in tongues. “I haven’t given it a single thought.” He considered it and continued. “I think I was over it. And then you came along and…well, this is just a level of desire that I never knew. You arouse me more than any of that ever did.”

  Rory’s heart soared and she gazed at him in awe.

  “Wow,” she whispered.

  He smiled. “Yeah, so you damn well better marry me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  As promised, Rory was delivered the much ballyhooed legislation on Monday. She leaned back after reading it through, hands gripping the arms of her chair. She finally understood the mind fuck Jackson’s folks were up to.

  “Now I know why they needed me so badly,” she murmured to Nicole, who was still reading. Rory stared at the document. Anger had been her immediate response, but that quickly mixed with disbelief.