“How are things with you, Dani?”
“Me?” Dani asked as she pulled on her jeans. “What do you mean?”
“Well, if we aren’t talking about my love life then we’re dancing around Tyler’s situation with idiot boy Drew. We never seem to talk about you.”
“We talk about me all the time,” Dani protested. “I spent most of dinner last week telling you guys about how the work is coming on my photo studio. And if you’re talking about my love life? It’s like Tyler said; I’m in a slump. Things will pick up, they always do.”
Rose wondered. Of the three of them Dani, at least on the surface, seemed the most easy going. No childhood drama, a great career, her pick of men to date. But there had been a bump, a big one.
“You know if you ever want to talk about Portugal, Tyler and I will listen.”
Dani sighed. Now and then one of her friends would bring up that time just after they had all graduated from college. Completely on her own and bursting with youthful ambition, she had taken a job with an online travel magazine, Portugal being her first stop. It was there she had fallen in love for the first time. He was handsome and funny and brutally honest. From the first she had known that they only had a limited time together and that he could be sent someplace new at any time. They never talked about what he did in the military. He couldn’t say, and she didn’t want to know. One morning she woke up alone, and that was that.
She’d cried for two days straight, including a couple of incoherent calls to Rose and Tyler, and then she’d moved on. Those brief two weeks had been perfect. A snapshot of her transition from girl to woman, and, even though, her friends knew most of the particulars; there were some things she kept to herself, locked away in her heart. Things she didn't want to talk about. She preferred the past to kept there. It was an old wound, uncomfortably deep. But not crippling. She needed her friends to understand that.
“You make it sound like I experienced some great tragedy, Rose.” Dani gave her a genuine smile. “I met a man, it was amazing, and then he was gone. End of story.”
“But you loved him.”
“I did.” And part of her always would. “But that was five years ago and he hasn't made any attempt to get in touch with me.” She shrugged. “All I want is for him to be safe and healthy and happy. And if he ever thinks of me I hope he remembers our time together with the same affection that I do. I can't ask for anything more."
“I want you to be happy,” Rose pulled her in for a warm, loving hug. “I want us all to be happy.”
“I am,” Dani assured her and she meant it. Dani believed wholeheartedly in love, and she had every intention of falling in love again. But she wasn't going to lose sleep over it. When the right time and the right man came along, she would welcome love with open arms.
Dani picked up her purse and deposited her phone. “Now, can we drop it? Please?”
“Absolutely.” Rose walked Dani to the door, insisting she take an umbrella just in case. She only lived a few streets over, but the clouds still looked threatening. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good time tonight.”
Rose planned to. She gave Dani a final wave before glancing at the hall clock. Five-thirty. Last night he’d seen what she looked like when she pulled out all the stops. Tonight it was going to be a comb through the hair and a swipe of lipstick. Clean and simple.
JACK PICKED HER up right on time. He had on faded jeans and black leather jacket that had seen better days, but it still looked incredibly appealing on his trim, muscular body. He wore a t-shirt that was the same intense blue as his eyes.
He leaned in and gave her kiss hello. It lingered nicely, leaving her with the promise of more to come.
“Hello." His smile was warm and friendly. "You look amazing.”
“Were you this tall last night?” She desperately wanted to run her tongue over her lips, just to see if he tasted as good as she remembered. But that would be weird. Especially with him watching her so intently.
“Were you this short?” After making sure her front door was locked securely, Jack took her hand and led her to his parked SUV.
“It must have been the heels,” Rose reasoned and he helped her up into the cab.
“I wasn’t wearing heels.”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help laughing. He was quick, she’d give him that.
“Where are we going?” Not that it mattered. She had one thing on her mind tonight. Sex. Sex with Jack Winston.
“I thought you might like to see H&W headquarters. We've pretty much finished all the renovation and upgrades.” He glanced over at her and shrugged. “You’ll be the first to get the grand tour. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve been dying to show it off.”
Rose was flattered. She knew of at least a dozen women who would have lined up at the chance to have Jack Winston give them a personal tour. Everyone in town had been brimming with curiosity ever since he and Drew bought the land on Crossfire Hill. Those who had worked on the construction said it was a large compound with several buildings. But the details remained scarce. In the beginning rumors, of course, ran rampant. Some said it was a secret government facility and that Jack and Drew were some kinds of mad scientists. But her favorite bit of gossip had them opening a sex club. Rose doubted very many people in Harper Falls even knew quite what a sex club was. But maybe she was wrong. Some of those books that no one admitted to reading were pretty detailed.
They'd had the road up to the compound paved, so the trip was much smoother than Rose remembered. The one time she had been up here was in high school when her date had taken her to the local make-out place. Rose hadn’t protested. She’d never been before and was curious what all the fuss was about. Other than a great view she and her date had left disappointed. Will Hazelton’s sweaty groping and slobbery kisses had put Rose off car dating for the rest of high school. From then on if they couldn’t walk she didn’t go. Luckily in college she’d discovered boys with much better technique and much better cars.
Jack pulled to a stop. It was still light enough to see the layout of the compound. There were three main buildings; one was all office space on the first floor. Another acted as on sight housing for when any or all of the crew was there for training. And the last stored equipment and a full-service garage. These buildings formed a semi-circle around an obstacle course and parking lot. Most of the time it was more space than they really needed but when it was in full use they were glad to have the room.
“This is amazing, Jack.” And not at all what she had expected. These weren’t shacks in the wilderness but modern, attractive and built to last buildings. “You and Drew have houses up here, right?”
“Further up.” He pointed to a road that ran up into the trees. “We wanted to be close to work but still apart. We’re within shouting distance of each other and the compound—but private. I’ll show you some other time.”
So he wasn’t taking her back to his place. Since she had spent a good part of the day picturing him in her bed, she was fine with that.
“Come on,” he said, hopping out of the SUV. He came around and helped her down. Taking her hand, he seemed always to be holding her hand, he led her towards the main building. “No one’s around right now but depending on the day the place can really hop with activity.”
She waited while he punched in an elaborate sequence of numbers on a security panel then leaned in for a retinal scan. Very Mission Impossible, Rose thought.
“It’s kind of gruesome to think of what I’d have to do if I wanted to break in here.”
“Most people are a bit squeamish when faced with popping someone’s eye out,” Jack laughed as he disengaged the last lock.
“Have you had any dealings with people who aren’t? Squeamish, that is.” She knew they were a security firm, but it had never occurred to her that they ever faced any real danger. Even though they looked like superheroes she’d assumed Jack and Drew were the brains, not the brawn.
“Nope. An
d we don’t expect to. But industrial espionage is big business, and since we develop programs to stop cyber-theft it would look pretty bad if someone robbed us.”
“But you still do personal security, being bodyguards and such.” Rose couldn’t get past the idea of someone removing one of Jack’s beautiful blue eyes. “That can be dangerous.”
“Rarely. Come on,” he pulled her along through a luxurious reception area that they had decorated in rich shades of brown and cream. “My office is just down this hall.”
Again with the endless code and retinal scan. It might have been scary, but it was also impressive.
Jack’s office was a geek’s paradise. Besides the multiple computers and printers, Rose had no idea what most of the stuff did. So she just walked around and took it all in. One entire wall was nothing but glass that framed an amazing view of Harper Falls and just beyond the winding waters of the Columbia River. Harper House was practically straight across. That must have been a daily middle digit salute to Drew’s estranged mother.
“Pretty spectacular, isn’t it.” Jack came up behind her, not quite touching but close enough for his warm breath to brush against her cheek. “Drew knew what land he wanted before we even found out if it was for sale. Of course, his office faces in the other direction. I doubt that I have to go into great detail as to why that is.”
She would have loved to know what Drew had told Jack about the whole sordid mess, but she doubted he’d be willing to break his friend’s confidence. She would have lost a lot of respect for him if he had.
“Can I see the rest of the place?” Rose leaned back against Jack’s body. He was wonderfully warm, adding to the heat that had been building in her since their kiss the night before. Maybe they could abandon the tour and take advantage of that large, soft looking couch across the room.
“Are you afraid I might have a sex room hidden somewhere?”
“So you’ve heard the rumors.” Rose laughed.
“I thought that might have been what Tyler was talking about last night.” Rose frowned in confusion. “She warned you that I might be a sexual deviant.”
“Whips, chains, and ball gags don’t make you a sexual deviant, Jack,” Rose clarified. “In Tyler’s book and mine, anything goes between consenting adults. What makes you a deviant is forcing someone when they have in any way indicated that they aren’t a willing participant. In other words, no means no.”
“Was she, were any of you ever…?” The question seemed to stick in his throat. The charming rascal had quickly been replaced by a protective warrior. If she’d given him a name, she had no doubt he’d have exacted his own kind of justice.
“No,” Rose assured him. “But Tyler had a friend in college who was attacked and beaten. She fought, but she was no match for him. The next day Tyler made us all sign up for self-defense classes. Dani went on and got her black belt in karate.”
“Dani? Really?”
“I know she looks like a delicate piece of porcelain but never come up behind her without warning. Tyler might rip your balls off, but Dani goes for the jugular.”
“And you?” Jack asked, turning her into his arms. “What do you go for?”
She slowly ran her hand up his chest. She stopped over his heart feeling the increased rhythm. The muscles jumped when she gently massaged the firm, heated flesh. And then before he could blink she was behind him, his arm twisted into the center of his back.
“I lull and then attack.”
“Impressive,” Jack conceded. He could have easily gotten out of the hold, but he liked that she had some moves. And at the moment he liked her rubbing up against his back. “Now that you have me what are you going to do with me?”
If this had been someone she really wanted to get away from she would have kicked him in the back of the knee and run like hell. But Jack had had plenty of time to use his superior strength to gain the upper hand. That told Rose he was in the mood to play, which was fine because so was she.
“Take off your jacket,” she ordered. “Slowly. I don’t want to have to get rough with you.”
Laughing to himself Jack removed his jacket, slowly, and tossed it onto a nearby chair.
“I like a man who can follow orders. Now turn around.” When he did Rose grabbed a handful of is t-shirt, pulling him down until they were eye to eye. “Kiss me, Jack. Like you mean it.”
It would have been so easy to give her what they both wanted, Jack thought. Just lean in and take what she was so sweetly offering, forget everything he’d decided that afternoon while he tossed and turned, still unable to sleep. It took a while, but he finally came up with two reasons to hold off sleeping with Rose.
Number one, the bet. It was stupid, juvenile and completely impossible to justify to anyone but himself and the group of idiots who had been too drunk to understand just how ridiculous they were being. Maybe it was a guy thing but he just didn’t want to give in and admit he couldn’t keep his dick to himself for such a relatively small amount of time. On top of that it was a bet that hurt no one. Outside of his overactive libido it was a victimless crime, so to speak.
And then there was Rose. Beautiful, funny, confident and oh so sexy, Rose. Two weeks ago he wouldn’t have hesitated. He would have spent last night in her bed, and he had no doubt it would have been amazing. But then what? She claimed she wanted a one night stand. He’d never been with the same woman for more than a few weeks. Suddenly he had the chance to get to know a woman as a person. Sex wouldn’t be the end game every night. People still went to the movies, held hands and ended their dates with just a kiss or two. Stupid as it was, the bet had given him the chance to find out if he and Rose were compatible outside of the bedroom. A novel concept but, with Rose he found the idea more and more appealing.
So instead of the full on kiss she expected, Jack gave her a soft peck on the cheek. Sweet and affectionate. That seemed to be the order of the day.
“I haven’t finished showing you around,” he said, taking her hand. “And then I have a surprise for you.”
Rose was already surprised. As Jack led her out of his office and to a nearby stairwell, she couldn’t help but wonder what had just happened? She had been so sure he was about to kiss her and not like you’d kiss your kid sister. Something had changed in the short moment between him taking off his jacket and his lips landing on her cheek. Had she read him wrong? She didn’t have much experience with men like Jack. But wasn’t he supposed to be a sure thing? How hard could that be to read?
She followed Jack down two flights of stairs, the smell of chlorine becoming stronger with each step.
“There’s a swimming pool down here?”
“Drew likes to swim every morning,” Jack explained as the entered what Rose could only describe as a subterranean oasis.
“Honestly, Jack?” Rose laughed. “This is like something out of a movie. Who takes care of all this?”
“We have a guy,” Jack answered. Several, actually.
She did a slow circle trying to take it all in. The pool was large, not Olympic size, but big enough to do laps easily. It was surrounded by lush, green plants that were thriving despite the lack of sunlight. Grow lights, she assumed. The room was humid but not overwhelmingly so.
“I don’t hear any fans,” she commented, still taking in all the amazing details. “But it seems fresh air is being pumped in.”
“State of the art system, almost soundless.” Jack was enjoying the changing expressions flitting across Rose’s face. Wonder, amazement, humor. Mostly humor.
“I’d say boys and their toys,” she laughed, “but this goes way beyond video games and giant TVs.”
One day he’d show her the huge projection screen that they had hidden in the ceiling. Maybe when he brought her back for a late night skinny dip.
Taking her hand again, he showed her the weight room and showers and then led her to down the hall to what looked like a dead end. Jack pushed a button, and the wall opened up to a hidden elevator. Rose gave Jack a 'yo
u've got to be kidding me' look as they entered.
“Rooftop,” Jack said and the elevator started moving. “I know,” he laughed. “But it’s fun, right? We spend most of our time here. There’s no reason it has to be all business.”
The ride was short, so Rose had no time to do more than shake her head and smile. But when the elevator doors opened there were no words. All she could do was gasp.
Jack didn’t need to look at the sunset; he could see it in Rose’s eyes. They glowed, not just with the brilliant lights of the days last moments but with the joy she found in seeing it. It was a memory he would carry with him the rest of his days. Maybe, if he were lucky, over time he and Rose would create a few million more.
“It’s like I’m seeing it for the first time.” She turned to him, and he realized it wasn’t the sun shining in her eyes, it was just Rose.
Getting ahead of yourself, Jack. Slow down, you don’t want to scare her. Hell, he didn’t want to scare himself.
“We designed most of this with a sloping roof so the snow will slide off easier in the winter. But I wanted a small section that we could use for lunch breaks or meditation, or this.” He stepped aside letting her see the table he had set up earlier in the day.
Everything was set up for romance, Rose thought. Pale yellow china on an antique lace tablecloth. Flameless candles, practical but no less sweet, flickered next to fluted crystal champagne glasses. And in the center a small vase of white peonies.
“I got the flowers from that new place down on Walnut. Is it weird that I got peonies from a place called Peony? Lila suggested them.”
“You know Lila?” Rose asked in surprise.
“She’s the sister of an old friend,” he explained. “I knew she wanted to open a place of her own so I suggested Harper Falls.”
“Small world,” Rose whispered.
“You don’t like them?” Maybe he should have gone for the cliché and gotten roses.
If I Loved You (Harper Falls Book 1) Page 7