by Lori Wilde
“So what are you going to do?”
“That’s what you’re supposed to tell me. You’ve been down this road. You’re my boss. Give me some guidance.”
“Are you saying you want to marry this woman?”
“Yeah, I think I am.”
Dougal’s smile broke across his face. He got up to pound Quint on the shoulder. “That’s wonderful. Congratulations.”
“There’s just one big problem.”
“What’s that?”
“She doesn’t want to even see me.”
A shudder of apprehension slid down his back when he thought of going forward without Jorgie in his life. Flying on planes from one city to another, never in any place long enough to catch his breath. How had he ever thought that nomad life was superior to the one most people were living? A loving, stable life.
He thought about his brother Gordy and how happy he’d looked with his wife and kids when he’d gone to visit them. He thought about his old friend Keith, Jorgie’s brother. He was married now with a baby on the way. He saw how narrow his world was in comparison to what they had. For the first time in his life, he felt left out in the cold.
In a few months, he’d be thirty years old. How long was he going to play Peter Pan? He’d look pretty pathetic at forty-five partying with young things on his arm. How long could a guy hang on to the folly of youth?
These past two weeks with Jorgie had shown him how wonderful the future could be if he’d just open his mind and his heart to a world full of new possibilities. She was a woman who would be his friend as well as his lover. She balanced him in a way he’d never been balanced. She was smart and funny and pretty and grounded. She was the yin to his yang.
And he wasn’t going to let her walk away without a fight.
“Dougal,” he said, “we have to talk.”
JORGIE BOARDED the plane bound for Texas with a heavy heart. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. You’ll get through this. You’ll get over him. It sounded like a game plan, but she had no idea how to make it happen. How did you begin to forget the love of your life?
She couldn’t wait to see Avery again. Avery would know what to do. Avery had been snapping her out of funks since they were five years old.This is more than just a funk and you know it.
She stowed her luggage, sat down and bent to stuff her purse underneath the seat in front of her. As she did something slipped out of it. A little red glass cat.
The minute she saw it, she lost her composure, felt tears push against her eyelids. She curled her fingers around the cat, clutched it to her chest. Dammit.
She’d had to break up with him. She’d had no choice. It was better to leave him before he left her. Because he would leave her. She wasn’t enough for a man like Quint. She leaned back against the headrest. Closed her eyes, swallowed hard and prayed Quint was not going to be on this flight. He’d told her he had things to settle with his undercover work at Eros. She hoped that meant he’d have to stay longer than she was.
She heard the doors close. Felt the plane taxi toward the runway. Once they were airborne, she slowly let out her breath and loosened her grip on the little glass cat. Okay. He wasn’t onboard. She could survive this as long as he respected her wishes to stay away. Eventually, she’d get over him.
“Miss Gerard?”
Jorgie looked up to see the flight attendant smiling down at her.
“Yes?”
“Could you come with me, please?”
“What is it?”
The flight attendant looked around at the other passengers. “I need to speak to you in private, if that’s okay.”
“Yes, all right.” What was this about? She unbuckled her seat belt, settled the little glass cat down on her vacated seat and followed the flight attendant to the back of the plane.
“Please step behind the divider.” The flight attendant indicated the accordion door that cordoned off a small alcove area of the lavish private jet.
“I don’t understand. What’s this about?”
“Please.” The flight attendant just smiled and waited to be obeyed.
With a sigh, Jorgie pushed aside the accordion door and stepped into the alcove.
“Hello, shrimp,” Quint greeted her.
If she were smart, she would turn right around, go back to her seat, buckle herself in and refuse to move or speak for the remainder of the flight. But one look in his cocoa-colored eyes and she was a goner.
“Please,” he said. “Just hear me out.”
Grimly, she nodded.
He pulled her deeper into the tiny space with him and closed the accordion door. “I quit my job.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t want to be on the road anymore. I’m tired of the flying, of my crazy life. I’m ready to settle down and you’re the one I want to do it with.”
“I don’t believe you.” She folded her arms over her chest in a desperate bid to protect herself.
“I know. I’ve got a lot to prove. But I can be patient. I can wait. I just need you to give me a chance to do it.”
She wanted to say yes, but she was so afraid of getting hurt more than she was already hurting.
“I don’t get it. You could have any woman you wanted,” she said. “Why me?”
“Besides the fact that I’m madly in love with you?”
“Are you?” she whispered.
He took her into his arms and kissed her, firm and commanding. “Does that answer your question?”
“It’s only a kiss, Casanova.”
“No.” He shook his head. “No more Casanova.”
“How can you give it up just like that?”
“I’ve found something better.”
“Another job?”
“Actually, yes. I’ve been thinking I might like to be a teacher for real. Not teaching sex tips, of course. But go back to college to get a certificate to teach high school.”
“Not math, I pray.”
He laughed. “No, not math. I’m thinking history. But that’s not really what I meant when I said I found something better.”
“No? What did you mean?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“Love’s a powerful force. It can change worlds, melt hearts.” He pulled her closer, nuzzled her neck. “I love you because you keep me guessing. I love you because you’re both strong and sexy. I love you because you see right through me. You see the real me underneath all the fast talking and fun-loving antics that I hide behind. You see the real me and yet you like me anyway.”
“Not just like you,” she murmured. “I love you.”
“You do?” He looked so vulnerable she almost laughed.
“I do.”
“But why do you love me? What is there about me for a woman like you to love?”
What? Was he blind to his own good qualities? “Are you really that unaware of what you have to offer?”
“Well…” He shrugged. “I’ve been told I’m not bad in bed, but that doesn’t make me husband material.”
“That’s just a skill. It’s not who you are.”
“I’ve never had a long-term relationship.”
“By your own choice.” She traced his bottom lip with her index finger. “Besides, there’s a first time for everything.”
“You’re not afraid I’ll let you down?”
“You could never let me down, Quint.”
“Really? Because here I am, a guy who’s spent his life having fun and playing games and running away from responsibility.”
“You didn’t run from responsibility when it counted,” she said. “You were in the air force. That takes commitment. And when that saboteur knocked me down, you were right by my side when you should have gone after him straight away. Yes, you love to have fun, but when it comes down to it, you’ve got the ability to face life head-on. You fully engage with life, and I need that to shake me out of my staid little one-track existence. You focus on the world of possibilities, and that’s exciting to a
literal-minded accountant like me. You’re fun to be with and you make me smile. A lot.”
He swallowed. “You believe in me that much?”
“I do. My love is here to stay. It’s not written in invisible ink. It won’t disappear if you make me mad. I love you for who you are, Quint. All sides of you. The good, the bad and the myriad in between. None of us are perfect. We all stumble and fall, but when you have someone who loves you to pick you up and dust you off, getting back up is easy.”
“Jorgie,” he said huskily, and drew her into his arms. “You’re amazing.”
“No more so than you.” She stared into his dark brown eyes and what she saw reflected in those depths moved her deeply. She had no doubts about him or their future. None at all. On the surface they might be opposites—a fun-loving, impulsive man and a cautious, practical woman. But underneath it all, where it really counted, they valued the same things—romance, equanimity, tranquility. Quint provided the stimulation and she was his audience. She’d balance the books and he’d make sure she didn’t get too caught up in the details to have fun.
As their mouths joined again she thought of how she’d loved him since Miley Kinslow’s party. How he’d always been her image of a dream man. Now the dream was coming true. She’d found the courage to spin the bottle, play the game, and she’d won.
Fun and games had lead them here. To the deepest intimacy of their lives.
And when he slipped his palm up underneath her shirt and asked if she was game to join the mile-high club, Jorgie knew the fun had just begun.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4612-0HIS FINAL SEDUCTION
Copyright © 2010 by Laurie Vanzura.
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