“I can fix my own car!”
“Ah, but you kept running around screaming that it was my fault your car was wrecked. And what about Sean? I’d just as soon not see him flattened when that thing falls apart completely. You wouldn’t do anything about it though. So I decided to fix it on my own. It will never be a safe car, but at least the tail end won’t fall off. And for my pains I got to spend the afternoon in jail with Juan and his ‘amigos.’”
She moved forward to reach for his shoulder, to tell him she was sorry for what he’d gone through, but that it was still his fault. But as soon as her fingers came in contact with his bare flesh, he jerked away from her as if she were on fire.
“Don’t touch me! Don’t! I’ve spent every minute since I got out of that place trying not to touch you!”
“Oh, you are impossible!” Jade yelled at him. “Just leave my car alone in the future! Leave me alone! Then you won’t have problems like you did today!”
“Hey, I think the charcoal is ready!” Lynn called out suddenly. Her timing was so good that Jade was certain she had been listening from the kitchen and had interrupted when she discovered that leaving them alone wasn’t going to work as a peacekeeping maneuver.
Jeff went to help Toby with the steaks. Lynn didn’t try to say anything else to Jade.
Jade called the kids out of the pool so that they could get into their clothes for dinner. Sean and Ryan were still excited about the car. Toby was the one to inform them that it hadn’t been fixed. He laughed when he told them that Jeff had wound up in jail, and that they’d spent the afternoon straightening it all out.
Sean set his fork down, apparently aware of the hostility raging between Jade and Jeffrey.
“It was a neat idea, though, wasn’t it, Mom? Trying to surprise you, huh? It was really nice.”
Had it been a nice idea? She didn’t even know. She just wanted to go home. She wasn’t going to bend. Not tonight. And he was still ready to kill her.
She smiled at her son. “I think we’d better get Toby to give us a ride home, huh?”
No one protested. Jeff stayed seated. Toby drove her and Sean home, and the three of them remained dismally silent during the ride.
That night Jade slept even less than she had the night before.
* * *
There was a horn beeping out front; that was what woke her in the morning. Then she heard Sean, laughing, screaming, and throwing the front door open.
Jade rose, struggled quickly into her robe and ran barefoot out to the living room and then outside.
Jeffrey was standing there, next to her Corvette. Next to her fixed Corvette. He was leaning over the top of it, grinning, and his eyes were once again the color of a summer’s day.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” she returned, trying to smooth back her tousled hair.
He hesitated just a second. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
“Enough to let me make some instant coffee while you get dressed? It’s a perfect day. Ryan wanted to go out to the Metro Zoo. I thought I’d see if Sean wanted to come. And Sean’s mother, if she felt like it. Of course, breakfast would come first.”
She stood in the doorway, lowering her eyes, smiling, feeling a bit panicky at the rush of happiness that overwhelmed her.
“You—you shouldn’t have had the car fixed,” she told him.
“I wrecked it.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“But you do. So how about it?”
She raised her eyes.
“Thanks.”
He shook his head impatiently. “The zoo. How about the zoo?”
“Sure.”
* * *
It was a beautiful day for the zoo, cool and perfect for walking. And there was a lot of walking to do, since the Metro Zoo was planned on a grand scale to give the animals vast spaces to roam in. For a long time they watched the beautiful Bengal tigers, then they saw the elephant show, and Jade taught Ryan the difference between a crocodile and an alligator. There was a special display on domestic animals, and the boys wanted to feed the goats and sheep and donkeys.
An overly eager goat knocked Jade down, and when he went to help her up, Jeff found himself lying next to her instead. Their eyes met; the kids were laughing riotously, and the two of them found themselves first smiling into each other’s eyes, then laughing along with the boys. It was Sean who lured the goats away so that Jeff and Jade could stumble back to their feet.
They were loath to release each other’s hands. Jade started to follow the kids out of the paddock, but Jeff pulled her back. He held her face between his hands and brushed his lips against her forehead. She trembled at that light touch, and moved quickly away from him. She was afraid of the depth of emotion she felt at his simple gesture.
He laughed and joked and teased the kids all the way home. When they stopped for a lobster supper Jade tried to remind herself that he was a bad-tempered chauvinist. But he could also be tender, sensitive, bright, gentle, beguiling…and so sexy that the sight of him filled her with a yearning hunger.
When he dropped her and Sean at their front door, he reached for her hand, curling his fingers warmly around it.
“Friends?” he asked her softly.
“Friends,” she replied briefly. Then she ran inside, because her heart had begun to beat like a drum, and she was very afraid that he would hear its pounding rhythm.
* * *
On Sunday, Jade watched Ryan as well as Toby and Lynn’s kids while Jeff worked. She made a huge pot of spaghetti that night, and everyone ate dinner at her house.
Jeff worked Mondays, too. On Tuesday morning, they looked at houses again. That evening they all went to the drugstore for dinner.
On Wednesday morning, Jeff met Sam Harrison. On Wednesday afternoon, he came by her office—with Sam. Jade was stunned when she learned that they had come to an agreement on the price of The Grange without her even having to negotiate.
The three of them wrote up the contract together. The closing was still a month away, but there was a clause that said Jeffrey could take possession of the house that Saturday morning.
Even with the contract in her hand, Jade couldn’t believe how much money she had made, or how much nicer it was going to make her life.
She was too dazed to think about much of anything. Except for Jeffrey. They’d been together so much. They’d talked, laughed, argued occasionally. And each time she’d been with him, she’d been achingly aware of him.
She couldn’t think of anything to say. It didn’t matter. Sam Harrison and Jeffrey had really hit it off. They were talking sports.
“See you tomorrow at practice?”
“What? Oh, yes, of course.”
They were both leaving. Sam thanked her; she thanked Sam. Jeff was going to buy Sam a drink, then take him to dinner.
And she was jealous. Terribly jealous, because it meant she wouldn’t be seeing Jeff that night.
Just before he walked out the door, Jeff turned to her. Sam was already out on the sidewalk waiting for him.
“Toby’s having a slumber party tomorrow night,” he said. “He’s invited all the boys on the team.”
“Yes, he, uh, has one every year.”
“Well, it’s perfect, don’t you think?”
“For what?”
He smiled. Slowly. Lazily. His very sexy, very male, very assured smile.
“Dinner. To celebrate my buying the house. I’ll take you to Vinton’s and you can get your rose and the pillow beneath your feet.”
“W-Who?”
“Who?” He frowned. “You and me. A date, Mrs. McLane.”
Her mouth was totally dry. Perfect. The boys would both be at Toby’s. Perfect…
“Well?”
Say yes, stupid!
“Ah, yes. It sounds…perfect.”
CHAPTER 6
Late, late, late, for a very important date. All day long, Jade had felt like the white rabbit, or Alice in Wonderl
and herself. Things kept going wrong. Clients arrived late; sellers who were supposed to be home were not. Jade picked Sean up thirty minutes late, then rushed to get him ready for the night. Naturally, she couldn’t find his good pajamas, and she didn’t blame him for not wanting to go to Toby’s in his old ones.
By the time they found the new pair in the dryer, it was very late indeed. It was seven when she dropped Sean off at Toby’s, waved to him and Lynn and quickly drove out of the driveway, painfully aware of the Lincoln parked at the side of the house.
Back at her own house, she had less than an hour left to shower and change.
She was nervous, horribly nervous. It was only a dinner date, she tried to remind herself. But it wasn’t. It was the culmination of all the days that had gone before, all the words spoken, all the looks exchanged.
Not even the spray of the shower or the whir of the hair dryer had any calming effect on her nerves. Dinner, yes. But after dinner…she would invite him in for a drink, she would wind up in his arms, and the rest would be easy. It was all up to her…
If only she knew exactly what she wanted.
Finally, showered and dressed with five minutes to spare, Jade stood before the full-length mirror on the back of her bedroom door. She had chosen white.
Because it was virginal?
No! Because it was her best dress for the occasion. It was silk with puffed sleeves that showed off the golden tan of her arms. It had a wonderful, feminine feel to it. The skirt flowed around her when she walked, and the bodice and waist hugged her figure.
When the doorbell rang she was so startled that she actually let out a little shriek. Then she cursed herself beneath her breath, decided she definitely needed a drink and rushed to the door. Of course, she was rather breathless when she opened it and was angry with herself all over again.
He looked…perfect. His jacket was a burnished shade of brown; his trousers were several shades lighter. His hands were thrust casually in his pockets. She didn’t need to touch his cheeks to know that he was freshly shaved. He smiled slowly.
“May I come in? Am I too early?”
“No! I mean, yes, come in. No, you’re not early.”
She felt as if her heart were sinking to her toes. Already she was as flustered as a high school senior going out with the team quarterback. This wasn’t going to do at all.
“Would you like a drink?”
“Sure.”
Would he like a drink. Why had she asked that? She still didn’t have anything in the house except for beer and wine.
“Ah—burgundy?
“Fine.”
Jade fled into the kitchen. Her fingers wouldn’t work right when she tried to remove the cork. The cork crumbled and she swore softly, reached for her strainer. Not an elegant way to pour wine. Where was her sophistication?
“Let me do that for you.”
Jade spun around. She hadn’t heard him come into the kitchen behind her. And she didn’t like the knowing, subtle smile on his lips. He knew that she was a wreck.
She smiled thinly in return, arched a brow, handed him the wine and moved several steps away, crossing her arms over her chest. “Please,” she muttered.
She felt hot and feverish all over again as she watched his fingers, watched their expertise with the bottle, the strainer and the wineglasses. He handed her one, and she took a long swallow. The wine was very good; it was bottled courage.
What was she so nervous about? It was just dinner. And sex. Lord, she had every right to be nervous. It was a major step for her. But she would do it. She would have to, or resign herself to a life of celibacy and loneliness. For all Jeff’s temper, and the maddening mockery of his smile, there were few men with his sensitivity. It was now or never.
He sipped his wine, watching her. “How was your day?”
“Hectic. How was yours?”
“I’m not sure. I spent it thinking about tonight.”
There it was again, the heat, the fever, burning through her. Was it his words, or the way he had said them? She felt hot, yet the color drained from her face. He had turned back to the counter to collect the little pieces of cork scattered there, but she could have sworn he was smiling.
Jade began to chatter in an attempt to diffuse her nervousness. She talked about Sean, about Ryan, about the office, about the Grange. She finished her wine, idly poured herself another glass and kept talking. Jeffrey answered her in short sentences that barely registered in her mind. She was so aware of him that it was painful.
“Want to come with me tomorrow to christen the place?” he asked her.
“Pardon?”
“The movers can’t come until Sunday—I’ve got some furniture, and clothing, of course, at Toby’s. But I want to go over around noon tomorrow and decide what I’m going to do. I thought I’d get some champagne and we could toast the Grange.”
“Ah—”
“Toby and Randy and his friends are taking the kids to the ice cream parlor for lunch at noon. Then they’re going back to the house to swim for a while. You don’t have to worry about Sean. Want to join me? You’re the one with the talent for renovation. I’d pick you up about eleven.”
“I’d pick you up…
Didn’t he plan to seduce her tonight and stay at her house? Was he trying to throw her off guard by implying that nothing would happen between them?
“Sure,” she said casually. “Eleven sounds fine.”
He glanced at his watch. “We’d better go.”
Jade nodded. The sooner they got on with this the better. She set her empty glass down and fled the kitchen. Then she practically ran out the front door.
Jeff followed more slowly. “Don’t you want to lock it?”
“What? Oh.”
She wanted to kick him. The color flooded back into her face as she returned to the door to lock it. Damn him a thousand times over! He knew she was a wreck. Did he intend to seduce her? Did he know the things that were going on in her mind? Did he sense her uncertainty? Was he completely confident that he could overcome her fears?
He opened the car door for her, but didn’t put out a hand to help her in. As he drove, he commented on the warmth of the weather and on how nice it was not to have to buy snow tires. Jade leaned back against the plush headrest. She felt the thrum of the car’s engine and found it soothing. The stereo was on, playing a soft, romantic melody. She was aware of those things, but most of all, she was conscious of Jeffrey beside her. She could reach out, place her hand on his knee. She could lean toward him as he drove, laugh, tease, flirt, do a dozen little things….
And he was talking about snow tires. Both his hands were on the steering wheel. She could see the line of his profile, and it was striking and handsome and somewhat hard all at once. She liked the look of his shoulders beneath his jacket; she wanted to touch the fabric, to feel the vitality of his body beneath it.
She didn’t move. She let the subtle magic of his scent and the music wash all around her and wished that she were not a coward.
When they reached the restaurant, he opened the car door for her. As they entered the dining room, he put his arm around her so that his hand rested lightly on her hip. They were led to a table on the patio. The night was just right for dining outside, and the patio seemed so intimate with the stars above them and foliage surrounding them. Jade was handed a rose, and a pillow for her feet to rest upon. While Jeffrey ordered wine, she found herself just smiling and playing with the rose set before her.
“Do you like it?” she asked him a little shyly.
“I’ve been here before,” he reminded her.
“But for dinner?”
“It’s perfect. I like the stars, I like the plants…I like the company.”
They ordered the chef’s special, which could only be ordered by two. There was an appetizer of tiny white shrimp in a creamy wine sauce, salads of carrots, radishes and bamboo shoots that were as beautiful as they were delicious. Then there was a taste of scrod and oysters, sherb
et to cleanse their palates, and a main course of minted lamb. All during the meal they talked of casual things, baseball and broadcasting, real estate and furniture, schools and roads and the city itself.
It was easy, Jade discovered, very easy. She kept sipping the wine, and her smile became a permanent, whimsical curve to her lips. She was so relaxed, and so comfortable that his eyes, dark blue with the night and speculative upon her, did nothing but make her feel a delicious shiver of heat again and again. When Irish coffee had been ordered and Jeff leaned back casually to light a cigarette, she didn’t even stiffen as he asked her about her marriage.
“So, Mrs. McLane, what is it with you? Was your relationship with your husband so perfect that you’ve given up on trying to find a man to take his place?”
She didn’t take offense at his tone. She just smiled nostalgically, because she had loved Danny.
“No.”
“No?”
Her smile widened and she found herself playing with her rose again. “I loved Danny. Very much. But if he had lived, we wouldn’t have been married today.”
“Really? Why not?”
She hesitated, then shrugged. “Danny was a wonderful man. He was fun, talented, charming. Too charming. He always wanted to come back to me—but he liked to wander, too. We were separated when he died. I was at the game that day because we had talked about getting back together. But I’m not a sharer, not when it comes to marriage. I can see now that it wasn’t really in Danny to change. Not in his nature.” She fell silent, taking a long sip of wine and wondering why she had said such a thing to Jeff. She didn’t wait for a reply, but tossed her head back and asked, “What about you, Mr. All-star Martin? How could any woman—the mother of your child, at that—be persuaded to leave you?”
He lowered his head; she didn’t see his grimace or his secret grin at her epithet.
“I filed for the divorce, Jade. But when I did, Diana was already gone.”
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