Jason headed for the hot tub on the back porch. Taking their jackets and shoes off Jason helped Jane into the steaming water, both of them fully clothed. Jason drew Jane into his arms and held her tight, rubbing her arms to bring the warmth back to her. All thought drifted out of Jane’s mind as she let this strong, wonderful, compassionate man take care of her.
Shelly appeared from the kitchen door with a puzzled look on her face. “Is everything all right, boss?”
“Jane had a little trouble with the weather. Would you get a couple of large beach towels? Oh, and make sure there’s a fire in the hearth.”
Hearing the door close, Jane looked up into Jason’s eyes and said, “Thank you.”
Staring at the beautiful vulnerability in her big blue eyes, Jay replied, “You’re welcome.”
Their eyes held as neither wanted to look away. Then simultaneously their faces reached towards each other. Their lips joined in a soft contact. The touch was only a second long, followed by another soft touch, and then another. Then the kiss held until the sound of the door caused Jane to break away.
Shelly set the towels on a chair by the hot tub. “Anything else I can get for you?” Shelly asked trying to mask the smile on her face at the sight of her boss holding Jane, looking dazed.
“No, thanks Shelly,” Jason said wanting her to leave immediately.
She continued smiling as she slowly walked back into the house. Glancing back at her boss, she winked. Jason glared at her but kept his arms around the shivering woman.
He turned back to Jane wanting to continue that wonderful kiss when he heard account executive Maggie Sanders, Vincent, and Sally coming to get into the hot tub. Jason explained to them what happened to Jane as he continued to cradle her against his chest.
“Mr. Collins, you should probably get Jane indoors. Give her a shot of brandy and sit her by the fireplace,” Sally said.
“Let me guess, volunteer fire fighting, Little Rock?” Vincent asked.
“No. Ski rescue, Aspen. We dealt with a lot of nearly frozen people.”
“Amazing,” Vincent muttered.
Jane didn’t hear the conversation going on. Her shivering wasn’t entirely due to the cold weather. The tender kisses had been unexpected. She hadn’t planned it, it just happened. It had jolted her all the way down to her toes. If this had been a test of sorts, she had royally failed. How could she be just friends with this man?
For a moment she thought about “what ifs.” What if she had been able to find him after her twenty-first birthday? What if she had just told him how crazy in love she had been with him? What if they had gotten married and worked together to build his business?
But now it was too late. They had chosen their paths. She had gone on with her life; he had gone on with his. Too much had happened since. Too much time had passed. There was nothing left except for their history and an attraction that still sizzled.
Suddenly feeling depressed, Jane moved away from Jason. “I’ll go in and change now,” she said.
“Are you sure?” Jason asked. Jane nodded. “Okay, change and get in front of that fireplace. I’m going to get you a brandy to drink like Sally suggested.”
Meeting in front of the roaring fire, Jason gave Jane a small glass filled with amber liquid. “Here, drink this.” Jason immediately noticed the stiffness in Jane’s body, the cool blue eyes looking past him as if she were a million miles away. He watched her drink the brandy, wondering what she was thinking about. Obviously, the tender moment between them was broken. Fine with him. It wasn’t a good idea anyway, he reasoned. So he’d stand there and make sure Jane drank her brandy. Then, he decided, he’d leave her alone.
Obediently, Jane finished the drink as she looked into the flames. Her mind was made up. She had to concentrate on promoting CARL and forget everything else.
And maybe plan her wedding.
CHAPTER FIVE
The weekend in the Hamptons had been wonderful for everyone. The team from Patterson came back into the office Monday morning eager to tell everyone about the beautiful accommodations by the Talbot Toy Company.
Jane was not in a good mood.
Over and over she replayed the events of that day in the hot tub, whether she wanted to or not. Thankfully, no one except for Shelly had witnessed the kissing in the hot tub. How could she have kissed him? Again! She was thoroughly disgusted with herself. It was time to start planning her marriage to . . . Ed. Ed, Ed, Ed! Why was she having trouble remembering her fiancé’s name? There was no doubt about it. Jason was confusing her brain cells. Well, no more, she determined. Her decision to interact with Jason only in a business capacity was the only decision to be made. They couldn’t afford any more casual exchanges, recalling shared experiences, and especially touching of any kind.
Her mind went back to the house in the Hamptons. The rest of the weekend there had been no tenderness from Jason. He was all business. The dark, hard-edged look in his eyes had returned. Jane was frustrated. Wasn’t that exactly what she wanted? For Jason to be all business? Jason hadn’t paid her any more attention after the brandy. She knew it shouldn’t bother her so much but it did.
He had been so gentle with her, had cared for her, and then . . nothing. What she had been expecting, she didn’t know. Maybe she did know and that was the reason for her terrible mood. She had seen a flicker of the man she used to know, and she liked that flicker very much. Then it was gone. She wished she hadn’t seen it at all.
Back and forth she went. Wanting his affection, shunning his affection. Yearning for his affection, dreading that affection. The conflicting thoughts in her head produced a splitting headache.
Work seemed to increase as the day went by. She tried to focus on that and not Jason. By early afternoon, her phone was ringing off the hook with annoying little details set in motion by the weekend, and now was her job to pull off. She wasn’t prepared for this. Stressed to the max, she finally announced to Sally, “I’m taking a coffee break. I’ll be back in fifteen.”
After relaxing at a coffee shop for not fifteen but twenty minutes, she decided to get back to the grind. Sally anxiously met her. “Mr. Collins has been calling for the past fifteen minutes wanting to talk to you.”
“Did he say what it was about?” Jane tried to sound unconcerned.
“No, but when you weren’t back in fifteen minutes like you said, he was very angry. He said he couldn’t reach you by cell.”
“I turned it off. I’ll call him back now.” A little nervous, Jane punched in his number and was informed that he had left the office. She could have called his cell phone but decided to let him receive the message that she had returned his call. She was going back to work. Half an hour later, Jason showed up in the doorway of her office, hands on his hips, seething. He turned, closed the door, and stomped towards Jane.
“Is this what I’m paying good money for? To wait around until you decide to return from your coffee break?” he said, raising his voice.
“I beg your pardon.” Jane was not in a mood to be spoken to that way, even if he was the client. She politely but firmly explained. “It’s been a madhouse around here all day and you happened to call when I got my first break. You want apologies then I’ll give you one. Sorry!” she returned sarcastically.
“I accept your apology,” he continued without missing a beat. “Now, the reason I needed to talk to you. This preliminary sketch is completely wrong.” Jason showed Jane a sketch of CARL approaching a youngster in his living room. “Look at this. Just look. CARL does not look like this scary robotic being. Hell, if I was that kid I’d be screaming for my mom to save me from that big, bad monster. Didn’t you use the drawings we sent you?”
Jane took the sketch and studied it. “That’s strange. I reviewed the drawings myself before they were sent upstairs. Anyway, it’s just a preliminary, to get a better feel for where we’re going.”
“Is this what I’m paying for? Incompetence with my product?”
Jane tried to keep her temper in che
ck. Dignity, Jane. “Jay, I assure you this is not a big deal. We simply wanted your okay on the concept of CARL approaching the child in the living room.”
“Well, I don’t like it at all. With the looks of this CARL, maybe you should add a blazing fire in the fireplace, scary music in the background, and a bowie knife in the child’s hand. It’d be more believable,” he bellowed.
Shocked, Jane paced the room to get control of her emotions. Something was not right here. Turning she calmly asked, “Okay Jason, what is this really about? I understand your annoyance that the wrong picture was used. Easily fixed. Do you really not like our concept or . . . are you mad at me for some reason.” She raised her eyebrows. “Maybe for taking a walk on the beach, getting cold—“
“—Nearly freezing.”
“Yes, okay, nearly freezing. And your having to take care of me like you used to when we were kids.” Jane couldn’t resist bringing up his behavior. “You know you didn’t say two words to me the rest of the weekend after giving me that shot of brandy.”
Jason didn’t reply. Exasperated, Jane finally exclaimed, “You don’t like the concept! I get it! We’ll get another one along with the correct CARL illustration on your desk by tomorrow morning.”
Jane could see it, the eyes starting to turn into stone again. “Okay, stop that right now!” she yelled.
“What!” he yelled back.
Jane gulped and decided to say what she thought. “Stop making your eyes go hard. I know you’re the president of a Fortune 500 company but I can’t take it when you look at me like that!” She felt her eyes well up and embarrassed, she turned away.
Jason walked up behind her, lowering his head slightly to breath in the fragrance of her hair, sighed heavily, and whispered, “I think I know why I’m upset, Janie, and it’s not because the wrong drawings were used.”
Jane turned to face him. The hardness in the eyes was gone and big, soft brown eyes stared back at her. Jane’s breath caught. In a wisp of breath she asked, “Why?”
His head came down to hers as he said, “We didn’t finish our kiss.”
His mouth met hers in a softness that almost had Jane weeping. She lifted her hands to Jason’s chest in a token resistance. It was all for show as the kiss reached Jane deeply in her soul. It just was not in her to stop it.
Nor was Jason going to stop this time. He moved his lips over hers drawing a deep sigh from Jane. Not content, he tenderly framed her face with his hands and drew her closer. Her hands gripped his sides, clinging for dear life. Jane felt as light and as volatile as a sparrow flying through the air. She wanted to stay up, not touching the ground for a long time. Jason softly slid his tongue into her mouth to explore, gently playing and caressing her tongue bringing shivers all through her body.
Slowly, as if choreographed, Jane’s arms slid over his chest and shoulders and his hands came around her waist. Jason felt every nerve in his body relax. At the same time, desire that had been buried for so long started to resurrect in giddy sensations and he realized a startling fact.
He wanted this.
Sally stood by her desk nervously chewing on a pencil. Several other secretaries and assistants gathered with her, hearing the yelling and then the silence from Jane’s office. One of them asked, “What do you think this means?”
Sally said, “I don’t know.” She wasn’t sure what to do. It had gotten really quiet in that office. Had they reached a truce? Were they working out details of the project? Were they strangling each other? “Maybe I should go in and offer some coffee. It seemed to work last time they got into it. What do you think?” she asked no one in particular.
She waited for the general consensus of people to say taking coffee in was the right thing to do. Taking a fresh pot, two mugs, cream and sugar all on a tray she walked over to Jane’s office. One of the other secretaries graciously opened the office door for Sally. Walking in she announced, “I thought you could use a good cup of coffee. It’s freshly brewed and I . .”
Looking up, she saw her boss and the Talbot Toy Company C.E.O. in a lip lock of romantic proportions. She should have gasped or, even better, quickly excused herself. But she was so drawn to the sweetness of the kiss that she murmured, “Awww.”
Jane was so entranced she didn’t notice Sally. Jason lifted his head slightly and said a firm, “Later.” Then he returned to his kiss. Sally got the idea and immediately retreated. In front of her she saw a crowd looking into the office in stunned amazement. Sally softly closed the door with one hand and turning to the onlookers simply said, “Interesting.”
Jane was flying. Her breath caught as Jason placed butterfly kisses over her face. “Jason,” she whispered.
“I know, Janie,” Jason whispered back as he moved to her throat.
Opening her eyes, Jane suddenly realized that she was in her office, being kissed by Jason. Breathlessly she said, “Jay, we can’t do this—“
Jason cut her words off by moving back to her lips to nibble. “I know,” he said and then continued as if she hadn’t spoken.
“No, really. I’m engaged.”
“I know.”
“I’m engaged to . . um . . um . .”
“Abe. No Eb,” Jason said between kisses.
“Yes, Eb.” Jane drew him closer.
Jason frowned slightly. “That doesn’t sound right.”
“Hmm? What doesn’t?
Jason looked into Jane’s dreamy eyes. He had to stop this. As much as he could now admit to himself that he wanted Jane and would try to start something with her, he couldn’t take advantage of the situation. He had to give Jane room to decide if she truly wanted this. Or if she really wanted to marry that lawyer. Jane would have to make the decision on her own.
“Janie.” Jason held her back at arm’s length.
Coming to, Jane’s eyes widened. She clamped her hand over her mouth. How could this be happening? “Ed!”
“Yeah.” Jason took a few steps back. “Listen, I’m sorry.” He walked to the window to steady his breathing. “This was my fault. I shouldn’t have dragged you into . . . this.”
“This?” Jane wasn’t sure what was going on. All she knew was that for the first time in years she felt alive, complete.
“Emotions are running high and . . . obviously I’m still attracted to you. I don’t want to take advantage of that. Especially since you’re promised to another man.”
Jason started for the door. “Again, I’m sorry. But don’t tear yourself up with guilt over this. It was just a few kisses.”
Then he was gone.
Jane looked at the door. Tears started swimming in her eyes. Sadness started swirling in her stomach. Her life had been planned—climb up the ladder of success in marketing, along with having a comfortable marriage with an established attorney. She would spend her years creating marketing campaigns, making a home with Ed, living her life in a calm, serene, content fashion.
Now, it sounded boring to her.
Two facts were crystal clear to Jane. First, like it or not, Jason Collins was back in her life.
Second, with Jason in her life, she couldn’t agree to marry Ed Simpson.
The tone for the rest of the week around the Patterson Advertising Agency was exuberant. Everyone was chomping at the bit to work on the CARL project, which meant that Jane had more help than she needed.
Sketches from Jane’s office of the revised media images had been sent to the art department for clean up before they would be sent to the Talbot Toy Company for approval. Scripts were being written and discussed among the team with Jane leading the group. All print media was being planned on a draft table and a calendar. In short, things were humming along.
Everything seemed to be as it should be until one day when Jane was leaning over Sally’s desk going over some notes. She could swear that she heard giggling behind her. Looking up, she saw a group of people scatter quickly. Scanning the large office, she noticed several men and women staring at her. A few smiled, a few winked, and a few
tried to hide a chuckle.
“All right, Sally, what is it? Do I have something on my back? Something in my hair?”
Ever the faithful assistant Sally checked. “No, everything looks fine.”
“Then tell me, why is everyone looking at me?” Sally hesitated. “Come on, Sally, you know something. What is it?” Jane said straightening and crossing her arms in front of her.
“It’s just that . . . well . . . the other day when I took coffee to your office and you and Mr. Collins were . . . you know in conference, there were others who happened to peek in.”
“Oh my,” Jane sighed.
“Yes, and I’m afraid that they told everyone who wasn’t privileged to be there,” Sally reported.
“This is terrible.” Jane thought for a moment. Her mind was swirling with possible outcomes of everyone knowing what she and Jason had done. None of them were good. “I don’t know how to handle this.” Turning to Sally she said, “How do I handle this?”
Sally smiled. “I don’t know. This has never been an issue with you before, I take it? Mr. Collins must be someone special.”
Jane felt the color rise into her cheeks. No, she’d never had to deal with this before. What should she do? She did the first thing she thought of—she retreated. In her office she called Talbot Toys.
“Jay, I’m in trouble here.”
“What’s up?”
Jane whispered as if anyone outside of her office could hear her. “I’m afraid that everyone knows that you were kissing me in my office the other day. Several people saw it and now it’s all over the company!” Jane was panicking as if a terminal disease was infiltrating her office.
Jason grinned as he held the phone between his ear and shoulder. Personally he was glad people had seen them. Maybe it would get back to Ed and he’d end things with Jane. Harsh, yes, but Jason had realized that those kisses were addicting. He wasn’t sure he wanted to stop kissing Jane.
“Why don’t you just tell them I was getting something out of your eye?” He chuckled softly.
The Biggest Part of Me Page 9