Dinner First, Me Later?

by Candy Halliday

  Jake didn’t tease her any further. He got out of the car and closed the door. Alicia roared away, leaving Jake standing in his driveway, watching as the black Mercedes disappeared up her driveway and out of sight.

  I guess that solved her problem, Jake thought, laughing to himself. He really shouldn’t have teased her like that. But, dammit, she’d almost killed them both on the ride home. That alone was worth a little teasing. Right?

  Plus, he knew Alicia would run scared the second he turned the tables on her. Fantasies were her game. She’d told him so herself. Flesh against flesh? Lips against lips? Way too messy for a woman who had her life all straightened out and a new business to run.

  And lucky for him, his hunch had been right.

  All he’d had to do was say “BOO” and Alicia had skittered off into the night like a frightened little girl.

  Jake stood in his driveway a few seconds longer, pleased with himself in one way, yet irritated with himself in another. Forcing Alicia to run scared had been his new-Jake goal, sure. But what was he supposed to do with the part of him that would always be old Jake!

  A long, cold shower was his only option, Jake decided and started up his driveway. By the time he made it up his porch steps, he already had his sports coat off and slung over his shoulder. Still, Jake couldn’t keep his mind from wandering in the what-if direction.

  What if Alicia hadn’t skittered off into the night? What if she’d called his cocky bluff? What if she were only going home now, long enough to park her car in her own garage so she could sneak back across the street and make him put his money where his mouth was, or shut the hell up?

  Jake laughed and shook his head. Like being up to bat with the bases loaded, he thought, you’ll always strike out more times than you’ll hit a grand slam.

  He put his key into the lock, reminding himself how lucky he was that Alicia hadn’t called his bluff. He hadn’t been joking about their window of opportunity being a small one. And if there was one thing Alicia wasn’t, it was a one-night-of-passion type of woman.

  He’d bet money on that.

  The heck of it was, even if she was willing to settle for just one night together, Jake already knew one night with Alicia would only have him begging for more. Better to leave things exactly the way they were.

  On opposite sides of the street—dead to each other.

  Jake opened his front door, feeling against the wall until he flipped on the foyer light. He wasn’t prepared when his grand slam pushed him through the open doorway.

  Alicia closed the door behind her and locked it. Jake didn’t even have time to yell “foul ball.”

  She looked at him and said, “One night of passion. No strings attached. And no one will ever know.”

  Jake gulped. Alicia wasn’t asking. Alicia was stating the rules! She tossed him a box of condoms, then reached over and turned the foyer light OFF. The next thing Jake knew Alicia had his back against the door.

  She had them both naked faster than he could have ever gotten her out of her little black dress. Flesh against hot flesh. Lips against hot lips.

  Sweet Jesus! This is no fantasy.

  They were both so turned on they were trying to touch each other everywhere at once. Alicia pulled his head down for another hungry kiss. Jake dropped the box and spun her around like a top.

  Now, he had her back pressed against the door.

  She gasped when his mouth found her breasts. Her fingers tangled tightly in his hair when his mouth moved down her stomach. She cried out “Jake!” when his mouth moved even lower.

  “Let’s go upstairs,” Jake whispered, teasing her belly button with the tip of his tongue.

  “No,” Alicia whispered back. “Right here. On the floor.”

  Chapter 8

  Alicia opened one eye and sat straight up in bed. Jake’s bed. The bed where Jake had fulfilled each and every one of her secret desires—after that incredible experience on his downstairs foyer floor.

  He roused and reached out for her.

  Alicia scooted out of his reach, gave the top comforter a jerk, and slid out of bed. By the time Jake switched on his bedside light, she’d wrapped the comforter around her so tightly she looked like a mummy.

  The digital 5:00 A.M. numbers on Jake’s bedside clock also warned her that she had twenty minutes tops to make it back across the street without being seen. In the interest of making a quick exit, Alicia said, “This was a huge mistake.”

  He looked at her funny. “I hate to point this out,” he said with a frown, “but that’s not exactly what a guy likes to hear after five hours of hot sex and a box of condoms later.”

  “It isn’t personal, Jake,” Alicia clarified.

  “Just business?” he quipped.

  “Just stupid,” Alicia said. “For all of the reasons we discussed earlier. Your daughter. My busy life that I intend to keep uncomplicated.”

  “Our neighbors?” he added.

  “Yes, them, too,” Alicia admitted. “Jen, Tish, and Zada would never let me live this down.”

  He sat up and rested his back against the headboard. But the look on his face was one Alicia couldn’t quite decipher. Thoughtful? Regretful? A little bit pissed at her, maybe?

  She decided on “a little bit pissed at her” when Jake said, “Oh, come on, Alicia. We’re two single, consenting adults. Would it really be so bad if they did find out about us?”

  “I’ll let you answer that question,” Alicia said. “Do you want your daughter to arrive to the neighborhood gossip that you’re already sleeping with the woman across the street?”

  That sobered him. “No,” Jake admitted. “I can’t afford that kind of gossip. Not with a custody suit pending.”

  “Exactly,” Alicia said. “And as much as I love Tish, she’s never been known for her secret-keeping abilities.”

  “This really isn’t fair, you know,” he said.

  “What isn’t fair?”

  He grinned this time. “That our paths had to cross now, instead of back when you had your big fantasy crush on me.”

  Alicia groaned. “God, I never should have told you about that!” She took a threatening step toward the bed. “Swear it, Jake. Swear you’ll never tell anyone about my stupid fantasy crush.”

  Jake grinned again. “Okay. But only if I can become the one you fantasize about during your Fantasy Club meetings.”

  “Not a good idea,” Alicia told him. “You can’t afford me showing up on your doorstep again once your daughter arrives.”

  “True,” he said with a sigh. He thought for a second and said, “What about late-night phone sex? Is it too much to hope you could be into that?”

  Alicia rolled her eyes. “What I’m into,” she said, “is getting my butt back across the street before our secret rendezvous is discovered by watchdog Tish.”

  He said, “So? I really am dead to you now?”

  “Completely dead to me,” Alicia assured him. “You stay on your side of the street, and I’ll stay on mine.”

  “That doesn’t sound very neighborly,” he teased. “Are you sure there isn’t a chance we could at least be friends?”

  “Your best bet is to focus on friends in the neighborhood who have children,” Alicia told him. “Kids and dogs always hate me on sight.”

  His look turned reflective. “I can identify with half of that statement,” he said.

  Alicia knew Jake was referring to his daughter, and that was another cue to get the hell out of there. Fast! It was time for her to get back to her orderly life. And time for Jake to try to make some order out of his life.

  “For what it’s worth,” Alicia told him, “I’m pulling for you, Jake. Good luck with your daughter.”

  He started to get out of bed, but Alicia stopped him. “Please, Jake,” she said, motioning for him to stay where he was. “We’ve had our one fabulous fantasy night together, but now it’s over. For both our sakes, let’s leave it that way.”

  Alicia hurried out of Jake’s bedroom
before he could argue. Minutes later, she was sneaking back across the street like a thief in the night—leaving behind the thief who had stolen her teenage heart fourteen years earlier.

  And, yes! Of course she knew she’d just pulled the most insane stunt of her entire life. But would even a sane woman turn down a night of passion with a celebrity fantasy crush if no one would ever know?

  Alicia didn’t think so.

  And then there was Alfie and his stupid dramatics! She wouldn’t even be in this predicament if it weren’t for her twin. Alfie constantly badgering her about not ending up in bed with Jake had inadvertently pushed her straight in that direction.

  Like Alfie’s asking her to lunch on Friday so he could lecture her at length before she went to Zada’s dinner party. As if she didn’t already know all of the reasons she shouldn’t get involved with Jake without Alfie pounding them into her head. He’d walked her to her car after lunch, and that’s when he’d handed over what he’d dramatically called “a gift of necessity.”

  She’d been instantly ashamed of herself for being so irritated with him. And she’d eagerly torn open the expensively wrapped box, expecting a lovely present from her lovable I’m-only-concerned-about-you brother.

  What she’d found instead was a box of condoms.

  “Just in case dinner first turns into him later,” Alfie had teased.

  She’d told Alfie real quick exactly where he could stick his gift! Then, she’d thrown the box at him. But not to be outdone, Alfie had opened her car door and tossed the box onto her backseat. She’d driven away to Alfie yelling after her, “If you can’t resist him, at least be careful.”

  It would serve Alfie right if she told him his little gift had been the proverbial stick responsible for keeping Jake’s window of opportunity propped wide open.

  She truly hadn’t given a second thought to Jake’s no-one-has-to-know offer until she’d opened the back car door searching for her purse. What she’d found instead was the box of condoms winking up at her from the backseat with a sarcastic it’s-now-or-never grin.

  The next thing Alicia remembered, Jake was naked and she had his back pressed against his closed front door!

  Jake naked.

  Oh. My. God!

  After tonight, Alicia feared she never would be the same again.

  Jake waited until he heard his front door close before he left the bed and walked to his upstairs bedroom window. He smiled when he saw Alicia hurry back across the street with her shoes in her hand, like some naughty teenager sneaking in after her curfew.

  Imagining her as a teenager made him smile again.

  She would have been more vulnerable then. Less polished than the savvy businesswoman she was today. A beautiful teenage girl, curious about love, and her head filled with fantasies about being in love with someone famous.

  Had there been a poster of him on her bedroom wall?

  The thought that there might have been put another smile on Jake’s lips. And okay, he’d admit it. He was flattered that Alicia once had a teenage crush on him.

  However, thinking about teenagers sent Jake’s mind spinning in the opposite direction.

  He walked away from the window and took a pair of sweatpants from his bureau drawer, then headed downstairs to make a pot of coffee. He already knew he’d need lots of caffeine to give him the stamina he would need when he met Danielle at the airport later that afternoon. But when he reached the bottom of the stairs, what he found brought another smile to Jake’s lips.

  This smile, however, was bittersweet.

  Alicia had folded the comforter neatly, and left it on the bottom step. His clothes were also folded neatly and stacked on top of the comforter, his shoes and socks on top of his clothing. Yet another bit of insight into the mysterious Miss Greene, Jake decided. Alicia obviously liked everything around her just as neat and tidy as she intended to keep her presently uncomplicated life.

  A neat, tidy, and uncomplicated life, Jake thought and his smile slowly faded, but not because Danielle was going to change his life; he was worried over the decisions he knew he had to make in order to change his life for Danielle.

  Take Danielle’s determination to have her own modeling career the way Ranatta intended, for instance. If he continued to prance around on TV modeling underwear, how could he possibly convince Danielle that what she needed instead of a modeling career was a college education?

  And that’s one thing that had him worried.

  The contract for the underwear commercials would be coming up for renewal within the next few weeks. His agent would go through the roof, but Jake had already decided he was going to turn the offer down.

  It was time Buddy Vance started earning his keep.

  Buddy needed to start playing down the sex appeal, and playing up some “good sense” appeal. Even Buddy couldn’t deny that baseball had certainly taken its hits in the media over the big steroid scandal, incriminating even baseball greats like the legendary Barry Bonds.

  Maybe it was time for someone to step up and become a spokesperson for an antidrug campaign. Someone who would get the message to young athletes that there were plenty of baseball players out there—both retired and still in the game—who had always said no to drugs.

  Buddy also couldn’t deny that Jake was one baseball player who didn’t have to worry about anyone digging up any drug dirt on him. Drugs in any way, shape, or form had never been a part of Jake’s life, and never would be.

  Drug dirt, Jake thought sadly, thinking about Carla.

  Poor Danielle, was another sad thought for Jake.

  She’d certainly been born to two lousy parents.

  God willing, Jake intended to change that.

  Chapter 9

  They didn’t try to put anyone in the seat beside you, did they?” Ranatta Harper asked the second Dani answered her cell phone.

  “No, Natta,” Dani said. “No one is sitting beside me.”

  “Well, there’d better not be anyone sitting beside you!” Ranatta vowed. “I paid good money for that first-class seat beside you so you wouldn’t have to put up with anyone stupid on your flight.”

  Dani rolled her eyes.

  “And when you get to Chicago, I want you to keep your eyes and your ears open, Danielle. Do you hear me? Twenty-four/seven, if that’s what it takes. Jake might have fooled the judge into believing he’s ready to become a role-model father, but he hasn’t fooled me. And he won’t be able to fool you, unless you let him. Are you listening, Danielle?”

  “Yes, Natta. I’m listening.”

  But Dani placed her cell phone facedown on the paid-for-with-good-money empty seat beside her long enough to hand her empty tray over to the waiting flight attendant. The woman nodded a thank you, then moved on to the next first-class passenger.

  When Dani put the phone back to her ear again, her grandmother was still in full-rant mode. “It’s just a matter of time before Jake makes a mistake that will put an end to his temporary custody,” Ranatta insisted. “I’m counting on you to do whatever it takes to make sure Jake makes that mistake. Are we clear on that?”

  “Yes, Natta,” Dani said with a sigh. “We’ve gone over this a gazillion times already.”

  “And we’re going to go over it a gazillion more times if that’s what it takes, young lady!” Ranatta snapped. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about your modeling career,” she added in her how-could-you-be-so-ungrateful voice. “Maybe you’re already having second thoughts. Maybe you’d actually prefer living in some god-awful suburb of Chicago with a father you barely know.”

  This time Dani let out a long, really, really exaggerated sigh for her grandmother’s benefit. “You know I haven’t changed my mind about anything. I don’t even know why you say things like that.”

  “Good,” Ranatta said, ignoring Dani’s latter statement. “Then let’s go over our plan one last time. After you arrive in Chicago, we might not have another opportunity to talk so freely.”

  Dani recited on cue,
“I’m going to make Jake’s life as miserable as possible. I’m going to find out everything I can about any of his girlfriends so you can have your private detective do a background check on them. And I’m going to make sure the social worker knows how terribly unhappy I am living with my father.”

  “Whom you barely even know,” Ranatta reminded her.

  “Whom I barely even know,” Dani repeated.

  “And remember to keep your cell phone hidden at all times,” Ranatta stressed. “Your father is a fool if he thinks he can limit me to one Sunday phone call only. I expect a daily call from you, Danielle. Understand?”

  “Yes, Natta. Yes!”

  Ranatta’s own sigh echoed through the phone. “I know I’m a controlling person, Danielle, but staying in control is the only way to handle any situation. Believe me when I say that Jake is more interested in getting back at me than he is in getting custody of you. He still blames me for Carla walking out on him.”

  “Don’t worry, Natta,” Dani finally gave in and said. “I won’t let you down.”

  “That’s my girl,” Ranatta said happily when she got the response Dani knew she’d been waiting for. “Just remember to call me as soon as possible. I expect a full report.”

  As usual, Ranatta clicked off without a good-bye.

  Dani closed her cell phone and leaned her head back against her seat, wondering why she hadn’t run away the minute she learned to walk. She couldn’t imagine how being a penniless child of the streets without any parents could be any worse than being a rich kid with two famous parents who were so self-centered they rarely acknowledged she was alive. No, Dani decided, make that two famous parents who rarely acknowledged she was alive, and one famous grandmother who was so overbearing she could make you wish you were dead.

  Except the word dead sent a sharp pain through Dani’s heart. But only for a second. Her anger quickly stepped in to take over. Anger was her best friend. It always had been. Anger kept her from splintering into a million little pieces and evaporating right into thin air.