Every casual touch was a prelude to what was to come.
Soulful jazz played in the background. The restaurant Matthew had chosen was perfect. Small tables covered in crisp white linen tablecloths and sparkling silverware were set within the recesses of an old wine cellar, and the clever lighting made each table its own little world. The serving staff was quick and efficient, and before long, everyone was served with their meal.
“I know you must be wondering if we’ve come to a decision yet, so I’m delighted to tell you we have.” Angela smiled. “Your company has won the contract, Matthew.”
Matthew’s wide grin lit up his face. “Well that calls for champagne.” He called the waiter over and ordered a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. “I’m delighted.”
Even though Matthew’s success was nothing whatsoever to do with her, April shared in his satisfaction. His employees had worked so hard, and she knew how much this contract meant to him.
The waiter arrived at the table and poured the effervescent liquid into shallow champagne glasses.
“I’d like to make a toast.” Matthew raised his glass. “To a successful campaign.”
They all drank.
“Seeing the system in action was the clincher,” Angela confessed. She raised her glass to April. “Especially seeing you, April.”
Mel nodded. “We’d run through the simulation, but when we saw the effect the messages had on you, it really rammed home the effectiveness of the advertising.”
Confusion fogged April’s mind. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re the average runner.” Angela’s smile was tinged with apology. “I hope you don’t mind me saying that. Matthew is obviously a very dedicated runner, but you are the perfect demographic for the women’s mini-marathon which will be the first outing for the system. The average runner in that race is one who jogs occasionally. Who feels confident enough about their abilities to attempt a mini-marathon, but might balk at a full one.”
“Sounds like me.” It was tempting to confess she thought she might not make it at all.
“When you approached the screens, seeing supporters cheering you on had a profound effect.”
April remembered how Margie had seemed to stand up straighter and run faster with her friends cheering her on. When she’d seen Matthew she’d experienced a burst of energy and renewed zeal for the finish. “It invigorated me.”
“Yes. We saw many instances of runners picking up speed and really enjoying the messages. When we analyzed the feedback from the voice recorders and correlated the time differences between screens…I’m getting bogged down in the details, forgive me.” She underscored her words with a wave of her hand. “Essentially we could see the system worked. The way the campaign was designed had a tangible, positive effect on the runners.”
Matthew’s Go April Go! Sign had warmed her heart and kept her legs pumping, but the sight of him waiting for her at the finish-line had been like coming home. When he’d kissed her it felt right. Totally right. She’d never been in the grip of such a strong sexual attraction. Marie and Eliza were always encouraging her to take a chance, to stop over-analyzing everything and get swept away.
It doesn’t have to mean anything more than sex.
The next hours dragged. When Matthew left the table to settle the bill, anticipation was tingling through every inch of her body.
Angela leaned close. “When we first met Matthew we didn’t realize he was in a relationship,” she whispered. “The other advertising agency pitching for the job seemed to have more experience pitching campaigns to women; after all, they were all female.” She leaned back and sipped her espresso. “The most profitable product in our company is our women’s range. We want a woman-friendly agency.” A slight frown pleated her forehead. “And his second in command…”
“Jason?”
She nodded. “Jason seems a player. We were concerned that Matthew might be the same. Using a firm of playboys to promote our product would be against everything we stand for.”
If they knew Matthew had run out on his wedding years ago, the consequences could be disastrous. “I’ve known Matthew for a long time,” she said. “And I can assure you he’s a decent man.”
She really had no idea how many women there had been in the past seven years. June had dated half of Ireland before settling down, and perhaps Matthew had been the same. The thought of Matthew with a bevy of faceless someones made a tight knot clench around her insides.
She glanced up. Matthew was walking toward them. His gaze was fixed on hers, and the look in his eyes made one thing completely clear. One person alone held his interest right now. It was time to go home.
*****
April walked before him up the path to the house they shared. The sway of her hips in the warm claret-colored dress mesmerized. The back of her calves, the indent at the back of her knee so smooth, so touchable. Would her skin be warm under his fingers?
She slipped her key into the lock as he came up behind her quick and close. His hand slipped around her waist as he breathed in the scent of her hair. April leaned back, angling her head to the side. A sound somewhere between a moan and sigh rippled from her throat, making him harden instantly.
Matthew’s palm was flat against the front door. The moment it opened, she turned, sliding her hands up his jacket and into his hair. This moment had been too long coming. Every moment in the restaurant had been torture; talking business when instead his entire being demanded he get April alone. Now, at last, the moment had come, and he wasn’t wasting a single minute.
April obviously had the same thought. Her slender body pressed against his from breast to thigh, and as their mouths met she made that sound again, shredding the last vestige of his control.
Expertly he flipped their positions so her back was against the solid oak door. His hands smoothed over her ribcage, then his hands cupped her beautiful, silk-covered breasts. There was too much fabric between them. In a less than elegant move, he angled his body away a fraction while his mouth stayed exactly where it was, on hers, and shrugged out of his jacket. Her eager hands helped, tugging at his tie, half-strangling him in her fervor.
To get them naked. As soon as possible.
As his shirt followed the path his jacket had taken to the floor, her hands were unbuckling his belt.
How does her dress…?
“The zip is at the side,” she murmured, her voice so sexy husky another wave of lust poured through his body.
He lowered the half-length zipper that clinched the dress tight to her waist.
Her breathing hitched.
Slowly, he smoothed both hands over her hips and down her thighs to the hem.
April bit her lip as he gathered the material in his hands and pulled the dress up and off.
Damn, she’s beautiful. A sliver of red lace covered her, matching the red lace bra above. There were tiny red bows on the straps and between her pale breasts. Like a present made for unwrapping. “Red underwear?” He sounded as though he’d been crawling through the desert for a couple of weeks.
“I bought it to match the dress.”
Because April was all about the details. Where he pulled on whatever was to hand, she planned every aspect of her appearance. She would match her underwear with her dress; it wasn’t as if she’d worn red just for him.
Her head tilted to the side, watching him. Her lips rolled together, then relaxed. She glanced down, then peeked up from beneath her lashes. The all-engulfing flame that had brought them to this point flickered.
She was unsure.
Matthew pressed his lips against her palm, feeling a shiver run through her from the point of contact. “Come upstairs with me.”
She held his hand. Nodded. Each step up the stairs had an inevitability to it.
Matthew was tormented by conflicting emotions. It would be easy to give in to desire, to obey his body’s urgings. He rearranged the bulge pressing against his zipper.
She deserved more. So did he. Wor
ds unsaid built a wall between them.
He needed to explain. And yet he remained silent as they walked to the bed. Said nothing as she turned in his arms and fused her mouth to his.
The taste of her mouth. The soft slide of her warm skin against his palms.
She climbed into bed.
He followed. His fingers smoothed over her face, traced her cheekbones and the soft dip of her indented cheek. The last thing he wanted to do was to bring her sister in to this moment.
“You’re frowning.” Her voice was soft, like the caresses her fingers were smoothing over his shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“You mean a lot to me.”
“I know.”
“I want to make love to you.”
Her mouth curved in a smile. “I know that too.”
“You don’t know everything.”
She laid her head back on the pillow. “So, tell me.”
“You’re not going to like it.” She was going to hate learning her sainted sister had faults. She might not even believe him. He rubbed her lips with his thumb, watching her eyes change color and her jaw tilt up.
The easy thing to do would be to taste her again. Let his lips follow the curve of her neck.
Life wasn’t easy.
He leaned back, putting space between their bodies. Pulled up the sheet to cover the expanse of tempting, milk-white skin. If he was going to do this, he had to block her body from view. “I have to talk to you about the wedding.”
Her smile faded. “June’s wedding?”
“June’s wedding.” The moment of total intimacy was fading away.
Her hands left his shoulders.
“June’s wedding. First time around.”
*****
Well that was a passion-killer.
They were making love, and Matthew was thinking about June?
His words felt like a slap in the face.
April wrapped her arms around herself, holding the sheet he’d pulled up in place. She’d left her dress downstairs; otherwise she’d get out of this bed right now, rather than hear how he still had feelings for her sister.
Of course, it hadn’t just been the two of them, had it? There had also been a baby. A baby that would be her niece or nephew if it had lived. And Matthew would be her brother-in-law if he hadn’t run.
He’d run.
He’d broken her sister’s heart, and he’d run.
“I don’t want to be lying here in my underwear talking about you and my sister.” He should put some clothes on over his spectacular chest. The thought of June running her fingers over his chest and a whole lot more, made her nauseous. She glanced to the end of the bed, spotting what she wanted. “Could you pass me the robe?”
Silently, he complied.
She scooted up and shoved her arms into it, tugging it closed and belting it. “This was a bad idea.” She swung her legs out of bed.
“No.” He stopped her with a hand on her arm. “April, I know you don’t want to listen, but…”
“Your timing sucks.”
“I can’t…won’t make love to you without talking about this first.”
“She’s moved on, Matthew. She doesn’t want you anymore. I know you might find that difficult to deal with, and maybe you’re regretting walking away, but you’ve had years to make everything right, and now it’s too late.” April sucked in air.
Why the hell it had to be her who explained this to him, she didn’t know. It seemed a particularly cruel handful of cards to be dealt, to have to fall in love with a guy and then tell him his chances with her sister were nil.
Fall in love?
The fastest double-take in history. His dark hair was mussed from her fingers. There was a trace of pink lipstick on the dip of his neck where she’d tasted him. His wide tanned chest tempted her fingers. She wasn’t in love with Matthew Logan. She wasn’t in love with Matthew Logan.
She wanted sex with Matthew Logan. She liked spending time with Matthew Logan. It wasn’t love. Wasn’t even close.
He looked pissed off. Good. At least she wasn’t the only one.
He reached out and grabbed her legs, pulled them back into the bed, and smoothed the sheet over her again. “You can leave once you’ve heard what I have to say, but not before.” His mouth was set in a tight line.
“Your seduction techniques leave a lot to be desired.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” He rubbed a hand through his hair. His shoulders slumped as if pressed down by a heavy weight. He leaned his back against the headboard, and pulled the sheet over his abs. “First off, I don’t feel anything for June any more. You’re the only woman who interests me.”
Right.
“I thought she’d come clean. At least to her family, so many years later. I guess I shouldn’t blame her, but I do.”
“Matthew, this story is an old one.”
“You don’t know the whole story.” His eyes flashed. “You don’t know the half of it.”
What June had gone through wasn’t imagined. She’d been there, had seen the devastation on her sister’s face when Matthew left. Whatever spin he tried to put on it, wouldn’t change the facts.
She crossed her arms. “So tell me.”
Matthew breathed in deep. “I was young, and I thought I loved her. I thought she loved me.”
She closed her eyes, hating the pain that stabbed her heart at his words.
“It was a long time ago, and she was my first love. My first lover. We always used protection, so when she became pregnant I was stunned. We both had so many plans for our futures, things we wanted to do before we became parents. I’d like to say I was happy about the prospect of getting married, but I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t even vaguely ready to settle down.”
“So you ran.”
“No.” He clutched her hand. “I knew the right thing to do was to marry her, so I proposed and she accepted. My future had changed, but I thought it contained her. And our baby.”
He’d never spoken about the baby before. April’s chest expanded with her held breath.
“I wanted the baby, and when she miscarried…” His mouth twisted. “I was devastated.”
“You could have stayed around. There was nothing stopping you.”
His gaze locked on hers. He spoke slowly, deliberately. “When June lost the baby she was relieved. She told me now we didn’t need to get married after all. She wasn’t even sure if I was the father. She’d been sleeping with another two guys while she was going out with me.”
April’s throat dried. Her heart was pounding fit to burst. He was telling the truth, no-one could fake the pain shadowing his eyes.
“All the preparations for the wedding had been planned, and everyone was ready for us to become husband and wife. She couldn’t tell her parents she’d been sleeping around; they’d already been pushed to the edge with the news she was pregnant.”
He looked into her eyes. “June begged me to take the fall, April. She asked me to be the runaway groom, so her reputation would be intact.”
“Why didn’t you…”
“Tell anyone?”
She nodded.
“Amy overheard a telephone conversation I had with June. She’s the only one who knows the truth. I was betrayed and angry, but I still felt enough for her I realized I could weather the storm easier than she could. I had an offer for college in Scotland, and I took it.”
Chapter Nine
The foundations of April’s world were rocked to the core by Matthew’s story. She didn’t want to believe June had lied for years, but the emotion in his face hadn’t been faked. For the past week, she’d avoided him while she teased out the truth, running over past conversations with June and Amy in her head. Trying to reconcile this new reality.
She’d sewed all day and most of the night for the past week—the good news was her collection was finished, and she’d started working on June’s dress. The bad news? That from the moment he came into the house she wanted to go to him.
&nb
sp; Somehow she’d stopped seeing Matthew as hot-fling-prospect, and connected deeper. He’s shown her a glimpse of his emotions, his past pain, and tangled her feelings for him in the process. She still wanted to jump his bones, but she also wanted to smooth the kinks from his brow.
She didn’t want to care, but she couldn’t avoid the emotions swirling inside.
She’d always seen life in black and white, but now, everything was dove grey, so for the past four nights April had eaten before he got home and had snuck back upstairs to avoid him, leaving his dinner in the oven. He’d followed a familiar routine since then, had come home then gone out running for an hour before eating.
He’d come home over an hour ago, changed, and gone out again. She’d seen him pounding the sidewalk from her garret window.
If he kept to his routine, he should be back soon from his run.
The phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Uh, hi. Is Matthew there?”
April recognized Amy’s voice instantly. “He’s out running.” She pulled in a deep breath. “That’s Amy isn’t it? It’s April.”
“April? April? I never expected to hear your voice at Matthew’s house.”
“I’m staying here. There was a fire at my apartment.”
“I-I’m confused. I thought you hated my brother.”
April bit her lip. She’d broken off all communication with her friend, had refused to consider any truth apart from the one June was selling. “I did.” She sucked in a deep breath. Amy had every right to hate her. Had every reason to tell her to go to hell, but she had to be brave. Had to try to make things right. “I don’t hate him anymore. He told me the truth about him and June. I’m sorry, Amy. I should have listened.”
She heard Amy’s puffed out breath. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”
“June…”
“She never told you?”
April shook her head, even though Amy couldn’t see the action. “Even now, she’s sticking to her story.”
“I don’t blame you,” Amy’s voice was soft. “If it was just a case of believing my brother rather than June I would have believed him blindly too. But I heard June tell him…”
Runaway Groom Page 8