by Susan Napier;Kathryn Ross;Kelly Hunter;Sandra Marton;Katherine Garbera;Margaret Mayo
Getting the resort didn’t matter as much as it once had. Adam was happy to have had this time on the island with Jayne. If they didn’t acquire Perla Negra, he’d buy some land and develop his own resort based on a legend. Maybe he’d bring Jayne with him to oversee the construction. “It’s what I do. And frankly, I love it.”
Ray nodded. He took a cigar out of his pocket, but Didi reached over and snatched it out of his hand before he could light it. “I’ve always felt the same about my job. Sometimes this one gives me agita. But otherwise things aren’t so bad.”
“I can tell. Not many owners would hold out for the kind of buyer they want for their resort. I can tell the property means more to you than just a quick buck.”
“Well, you can’t take it with you,” Ray said with a laugh. Didi joined him.
They arrived at a large veranda, where a table was set for four. An ice bucket stood next to the table with a magnum of champagne in it.
“We got off track,” their hostess murmured. “Did you like the cave? Did you read the incantation?”
“I did. I took a stone,” Jayne said quietly.
“I’m not surprised. What about you, Adam?” Didi asked.
“I did, too.”
Jayne glanced at him from under her eyelashes, and he felt her reproval. When Didi excused herself to check on the dinner, and Ray followed her inside, Jayne turned to Adam. “You don’t have to lie to them about it. They know you’re too…practical to believe in that legend,” she stated.
He said nothing, just reached into his pants’ pocket and pulled out the stone to show her. She swallowed hard and stared at him. Adam felt that strange feeling in his chest again when she gazed up at him, this time with her heart in her eyes.
He caressed her face, tilting her head back and capturing her lips with his own. Sipping carefully at her mouth, he treated her like the rare treasure she was. He found it hard to believe that feisty, sassy Jayne was the answer to the empty part of his life.
“What did you wish for?” she asked after a minute.
“I’m not supposed to tell.”
“I hope it comes true, Adam,” she said fiercely.
“You’re the only one who can make that happen.”
She trembled under his hands. “Same here, stud muffin.”
“Woman, you are asking for it.”
“When have I ever pretended not to be?” she said.
“Let’s have a toast,” Ray said, stepping back outside before Adam could respond.
But Adam reached down and pinched Jayne’s backside surreptitiously as they walked to the table. She gave him a look over her shoulder that made his blood flow heavier and his body stir to life.
Didi joined them a moment later, carrying a tray of hors d’oeuvres. Setting it on the table, she took a flute from Ray. Once they all had a glass in their hand, Ray slipped his arm around Didi and looked at Adam, raising his flute. “To the new owner of La Perla Negra. May he find love and happiness as well as prosperous times ahead.”
Adam felt a queer sensation in his stomach as he realized what Ray was saying. He couldn’t lift his glass and drink, but turned to Jayne and took her in his arms. She stretched up and gave him a kiss that shook him. His hands were trembling with desire when she sank back onto her own chair.
“Now we drink,” Ray said.
“Now we drink,” Adam agreed. They all sipped the Asti and Adam took it as a sign. They sat down at the table. Everything in his life was coming together. After years of working and struggling to right the wrongs of the past, he was going to have the resort that had led his father to ruin. Adam had a woman by his side who he knew was a partner in business as well as in life. And he was finally coming to terms with the fact that his heart wasn’t as well-guarded as he’d always believed.
Dinner went by in a haze of pleasure, and Adam realized that the only thing missing from his life was a commitment from Jayne. But in a few hours, he’d have all the pieces in place.
Jayne emerged from the bathroom wearing her one-of-a-kind negligee.
“Close your eyes,” Adam told her.
She did as he asked. Beneath her feet she felt something soft and cool, and peeking from under her lashes, she saw rose petals. Their fragrance filled the room.
“I can’t keep my eyes shut for long,” she warned, crossing the room toward the sound of his voice. She hated not being able to see. It made her feel exposed.
“Sure you can, chére. It’s worth it, I promise,” he said. This time his voice came from a different direction.
She turned toward it, sliding one foot at a time in front of her to make sure she didn’t run into anything. “I can’t stand it. I want to see.”
Large and warm, his hands covered her eyes. “I had no idea you were so impatient.”
“It’s not really impatience as much as vulnerability. I hate that feeling.”
She felt his lips brush hers, with a back and forth motion that made her stand on her toes and try to pull him closer. But when she reached for him, he wasn’t where she’d expected him to be.
“You don’t have to seduce me. I’m already yours,” she said, knowing the words were true. There was no other man who could make her forget the painful lesson she’d learned as a child, and remember her secret dreams. No other man who tempted her to believe that those dreams might have a chance of coming true. No other man who made her forget a time when they hadn’t been together.
“Are you?” he asked. He touched her face, tenderly tracing her cheekbone and the line of her nose. She wished she could see his expression. Adam gave so little away and she was tired of trying to guess at the depth of his feelings.
“You must know that I am,” she said. She wasn’t going to hide from him.
They were scheduled to go home tomorrow afternoon, and she knew that once they returned to New Orleans, reality would come crashing down. She’d prayed that reality might mean a marriage of her life with Adam on the island and the one they’d had before. But she couldn’t tell what he felt. She thought he loved her…well, knew he cared deeply for her. The way he held her at night, so close and tight, told her it had to be more than sex.
“Good,” he said, quiet satisfaction in his words.
He wrapped a length of silk around her head, covering her eyes. “How’s that?”
“Adam…”
“What?” His mouth was against the back of her neck, moving slowly downward. “You can’t see and my hands are free.”
She swallowed her doubts and said, “Do your worst, stud muffin.”
He chuckled and then wrapped her in a tight embrace. “I intend to. But first…”
He lifted her in his arms and carried her somewhere. She felt the warm sea breeze a minute before he set her in one of the rattan chairs on the balcony. She loved his strength and the fact that he was a toucher. She’d never been petted like this by any man, but Adam was always reaching for her.
“Wait here a minute. I have to take care of a few last-minute details.”
She heard him leave, and leaned her head against the back of the chair, tilting her face up to feel the breeze more fully on her skin. The roar of the surf was a pleasant accompaniment to the wind rustling through the palm trees and bushes.
“Miss me?” Adam asked a moment later, speaking directly into her ear.
Before she could answer, he tugged her to her feet and removed the blindfold. She blinked a few times and realized that all around her candles flickered. Not just on the balcony, in wall sconces and tiki lamps that had been mounted to the railing, but also behind her, in the bedroom.
“Are we celebrating Perla Negra?”
“No, chére. I’m celebrating you.”
Oh, God. Her heart started beating so fast she thought it might burst from her chest. She’d hoped and prayed that he might come to care for her, but she’d never expected a gesture this big. This grand. But she should have, because Adam wasn’t a man given to subtlety.
“Jayne, I have s
omething important to ask you.”
“Yes?” She could scarcely breathe as he turned toward her. Her heart raced, and for a moment she was afraid to believe the dreams she’d harbored for so long were at long last coming true.
“Will you live with me?”
She shook her head, unsure she’d heard him correctly. Adam gave her the gentlest smile she’d ever seen grace his face.
“Chére, we’re great partners in the office. I think blending our personal and professional lives is…the perfect solution.”
Jayne was still trying to understand what he’d said. But she didn’t doubt his sincerity. Adam was offering her the one thing he’d never offered any other woman. And she wanted to accept. But her own dreams were hard to let go of. “I’d like nothing better, ” she said.
“Great. I knew you’d see it my way.”
Sadly, she realized she hadn’t been clear. This conversation wasn’t something she’d anticipated. She wished she’d had time to make a plan of action for it. “I’m sorry, Adam. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. If we’re going to live and work together, why not get married?”
“Marriage is the one risk I won’t take.”
“Being your mistress is the one risk I won’t take.”
“Dammit, woman, I’m not asking you to be just a mistress.”
Her heart ached for him. And she almost changed her mind and agreed to be his, whatever the terms. But in the end she knew they’d both end up hating each other. Adam watched her and she shook her head at him.
“Dammit, you think this is easy for me? You know how I feel about office romances and yet I’m willing to do this for you.”
“Don’t make this about me. What you’re offering is designed to give you everything you want.”
He took her in his arms. “Don’t say it like that. This is the best I can do right now.”
Tipping her chin back, he stared into her eyes. “Please, chére, give this a chance. I’m not ruling out marriage forever but I need more time.”
She stared up at him, cupping his jaw in her hands and, standing on tiptoe, kissed him with all the love she had in her body. “I don’t need more time, Adam. I already know I love you.”
“And I care deeply for you. I know our relationship can be a successful one.”
“Being your mistress or live-in lover will kill me, Adam. I’ve spent my entire life, built my entire self-image around not being like my mother. And I have to be honest here—I want kids.” She didn’t need a marriage certificate to stay with the man she loved if he was committed to her. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn’t want them. But she held her breath for his answer.
“No.”
Her heart broke then and she realized that she’d fallen in love not with Adam, but with the man Adam could be if he’d ever let go of the past and start to dream of the future.
She shook her head and pulled out of his arms, backing away from the man that had seemed like her future.
“Oh, chére.”
She went to the dresser to find her clothing. Pulling them on carefully, praying she could finish dressing and get out of there before she started crying. She refused to let Adam’s last image of her be one with tears running down her face.
“So this is it?” he asked.
“Yes. You’ll have my notice on your desk Monday morning.”
“I thought you loved me,” he said, quietly.
She stared at the man she knew. The man who’d carefully crafted a life of loneliness because he believed that was the only safe way of living. She wanted to reach for him. But didn’t.
“I do. But that doesn’t mean I don’t value myself.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked. He grabbed his pants from the floor and shoved his legs into them.
“Nothing. I was being nasty.” And she had been. In fact, she’d hurt herself with the words. She knew that Adam felt more for her than the other women he’d seen. And if she were a different kind of person—one who didn’t need order and structure—she might be able to accept the offer he’d made, and hope that some day he’d come around.
He crossed the room, but when he reached for her, she took a step back. She didn’t want him to touch her now. She felt as if she might break into a million pieces with very little provocation.
“Please, don’t go. I’ll give you anything you want if you stay.”
“Anything?” she asked, knowing he wasn’t offering his love and that she’d never ask for it.
“Yes. Name it—a new car, a fur, jewelry. Anything.”
She knew then that despite the fact that she’d laid her soul bare to him, Adam had never seen the real her. Or he’d know that the trappings of a mistress were the last things that would make her stay with him.
“There’s nothing you have that I want,” she said. And this time she meant it. She had wanted his love, but knew that he didn’t have enough in his cold soul to give her.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do. You’ve surrounded yourself with material objects and status symbols. I need more than that to be happy. Actually, I need a lot less than what you have. What I want doesn’t cost anything.”
“No, you just want my soul,” he said.
Until that moment she hadn’t realized that she’d asked him for his soul. But she did want it. After all, he already owned hers. “I thought it was an even trade.”
“Well, it’s not. I’m not like you, Jayne. I don’t look at the world through rosy glasses. I’ve lived in the real world my entire life and I know what you’re looking for is a fairy tale.”
She stalked to the door. She wasn’t talking to him anymore. “I’m not giving you two weeks.”
“I’m not giving you a reference.”
“I don’t need one from you.”
She took her purse and ran out, slamming the door behind her. She didn’t look back, but let the tears run unchecked down her cheeks.
Chapter Twelve
Adam punched the wall nearest him and cursed savagely. How had things gotten so out of control? His hand throbbed, and as he surveyed the room he realized that he couldn’t stay here another minute. Every time he saw those candles and the rose petals he was reminded that his seduction had gone terribly wrong.
Why had the setup that had worked in the past failed him? Probably because Jayne wasn’t like every other woman who’d been in his life. She was so damn stubborn.
He knew what she wanted. In fact, if the burning in his gut was any indication, he already loved her. But he wasn’t saying the words out loud.
And he wasn’t marrying her. He couldn’t. He’d tried to make her understand that if she just waited a little longer, gave him time to adjust to having her in his life, he might be able to. But that wasn’t good enough for Jayne.
He sank into the armchair, gazing around the hotel suite, which was like so many others. But in the last ten days, Jayne had made this feel like home. She’d given him someone to share not just the business of his life with, but also the other things. The part that no one had ever been interested in before. Jayne actually cared that he loved being on the water, and had arranged for them to go sailing every afternoon, even though she was still afraid of the ocean.
But did that mean she would stay with him? Did that mean that once he married her she wouldn’t get bored and move on? And did that mean that he’d always want her in his life?
His fear was not that Jayne would leave him, he acknowledged. His real fear was that someday he’d leave her. And he couldn’t stomach the thought of hurting her that way.
Hell, he needed a drink. He grabbed a shirt from his closet and shoved his feet into a pair of loafers, heading out the door and straight for the bar.
His hand still throbbed, but he felt as if he deserved the pain. God knew it was less painful than the feelings deep in his gut, feelings that he refused to acknowledge came from Jayne’s leaving.
He ordered a glass of single malt and sat do
wn at one of the deserted tables in the back of the smoky lounge. The band had long since finished their last set and the place was almost empty.
“Eh, compare, still celebrating?” Ray sat down across from him.
The waiter brought his drink, and Adam downed half the glass. “Bring me another.”
“Where’s Jayne?” Ray asked.
“I have no idea,” he stated. He could guess, though, and the images in his head made him want to get drunk so that he couldn’t see them anymore. He didn’t want to picture Jayne as he’d last seen her—face pale, tears glistening in her eyes. She’d run from him, and he cursed himself for making her go.
“Women problems?” Ray asked.
Adam sneered at the older man. “Not me. I’m the expert when it comes to relationships.”
Ray leaned back in his chair and reached in his pocket for a cigar. He lit it and then glanced around the room. “Don’t get me wrong, pal, but what kind of expert is sitting in a bar an hour before closing time, drinking alone?”
“Not much of one,” Adam said, downing the rest of his drink. He knew nothing when it came to women or relationships, which was probably why he’d lost the one woman he wanted to keep.
“Want to talk about it?” Ray asked, exhaling a thin veil of smoke.
“You really get into that father confessor thing?” Adam said with derision.
“Nah. It’s just that I’ve been there.”
“With Didi?” Adam asked. It would make him feel better to know that he wasn’t alone.
“No, not with her. I let someone else slip away because I didn’t realize that the love of the right woman can make a man stronger. You know, a better man.”
“Well, Jayne doesn’t see that. She can only see…” Adam didn’t know what Jayne saw when she looked at him. He suspected it was some romanticized version of him. But he’d bet his business that she didn’t any longer.
“What can she see?”
“That I’m not the kind of guy to give her what she wants in order to be happy,” Adam said at last. He toyed with his highball glass, rolling it in his palms.