by Bella Andre
Realizing she was rambling, Mary stopped herself with a laugh that was a little bit hollow from speaking about her mother. “See, here I go acting like a travel agent, just like I said I would.”
“I could never tire of hearing you talk about something that you love.”
He was right, she realized. Regardless of what had happened between her and her mother, Mary only ever looked back on her childhood, and the people who had made it so special, with love.
Just as she had when she’d been speaking of home in the diner the night before and emotion had threatened to overwhelm her, she tried to dismiss it with a joke. “Next thing you know, I’ll have you on a plane to Italy with an itinerary of the best secret spots that no other tourist knows about.”
“I’d like that,” he said, and she could suddenly see it so clearly, the two of them holding hands as they flew across the Atlantic. She’d never taken a lover to her country, had never stolen a kiss with someone in a shadowed alley that had been there since medieval times while the bells of the church chimed above them.
“Has your hometown changed much from when you were nineteen?”
Mary slowly stirred their espresso with a spoon in the pot before pouring it into two espresso cups. Coming to sit beside Jack on a bar stool, she said, “I don’t know.”
He stopped with the cup halfway to his lips. “You don’t?”
“No, I haven’t been back.”
She had never spoken about her family situation with anyone outside her closest circle of friends and confidants. A voice in the back of her head reminded her that it wasn’t wise to reveal so much to Jack when they had met only a day ago. Still, when he lowered his cup and reached for her hands, his touch warmed her better than any cup of coffee could have.
“I truly loved my family, my friends, my town, but I always knew I was different. Because when everyone else was dreaming of wedding rings and babies, I was dreaming of adventures and airplanes. My father understood, and he would tell me about the places he’d seen in the war. But my mother—”
When she grew silent, Jack gently ran the pads of his thumbs over the backs of her hands. As always, there was a deep sensuality to his touch, but tonight she was more aware of the empathy in the gesture.
“Your mother wanted you to stay.”
Mary nodded. “I was all she had, her only child. And she was afraid for me, afraid that I’d be hurt. I understand it better now that I’m watching over girls who are the same age I was when I told her I’d met an agent who wanted to make me a big star in New York City. I was so naive,” she said with a laugh. “And very lucky that Randy—the talent scout—was honest and legitimate.”
“That’s why you look out for the girls when you could be living the high life in a penthouse. You want to make sure they make it home to their mothers safe and sound.”
“Yes, and I’m not much for penthouse heights, either,” she confessed. Though he smiled, she knew he hadn’t missed the fact that she’d left out part of her explanation. “My mother was angry with me for being headstrong and foolish. I was angry with her for being stubborn and determined. We both said things we didn’t mean.” Mary swallowed hard. “When I called home the night I arrived in New York City, she refused to come to the phone. My father made excuses, but I knew. I knew. She’d meant it when she said I was no longer her daughter.”
Mary couldn’t stop her tears from falling as she wept for the mother who had never understood her daughter’s need to open her wings and fly, if only to see how things looked from new skies and not because she wanted to fly away forever.
“But she’s always been my mother. And I long for her every single day.”
Jack drew her against him, his arms warm and comforting as he stroked her back. He didn’t speak, didn’t try to make everything better for her with simple platitudes. He simply held her and let her cry out the tears she’d held back for too long.
It wasn’t until she’d drained her well of emotion dry that she realized he’d pressed his lips to her forehead in the kind of kiss one friend gave to another.
No man had ever kissed her that way before. As a friend.
And she’d never before slipped so easily into a man’s arms, as if she’d finally found the place she was supposed to be.
Taking a shaky breath, Mary pulled back slightly and brushed a hand over the broad shoulder that she’d just cried on. “Just when you were starting to dry off, I got you all wet again.” It would have been easier to stand, to fiddle with reheating their coffee, to talk about the ad campaign. Anything but remain in Jack’s arms and meet his concerned gaze. “Thank you for listening,” she said as she looked up into his eyes and was immediately caught up in desire. Just that quickly.
Again, that voice in the back of her head scolded her with reminders of caution. Maybe, she found herself thinking as she reached up to stroke her fingertips over the dark shadow across Jack’s jaw, she was still the same foolish and headstrong girl now that she’d been at nineteen.
“You’ve already gone above and beyond tonight, dancing with me in the rain, holding me while I cried. I know I shouldn’t ask for more, but—”
Before she could say anything more, or ask for all the things she shouldn’t allow herself to desire, his mouth covered hers, hard and hungry.
Moments ago, Jack had kissed her as a friend.
Now, he kissed her as a lover.
One hand threaded into her hair, the other cupped her hip as he slid her from the seat to pull her against his body. My God, he felt good. Hard and strong, his caresses just wicked enough to make every nerve ending spike to life inside her.
His tongue slid across her lips once, then once again as if he hadn’t gotten nearly enough from the first taste. And then, a moment later, she knew for sure that he hadn’t because he was sucking her lower lip into his mouth and making her moan with pleasure as he scored it gently with his teeth.
Their first kiss had been a shockingly sweet press of lips that had sent pleasure humming through her. But this kiss—and the sharp, hot, deep rush of being so close to him—was setting off an entire fireworks show inside of her.
Both of them were breathing hard when he finally drew back an inch. “I’ve never tasted anything as good as you. Not even close.”
He dipped his mouth down for another taste that had her toes curling in her boots, but too soon he pulled back again. She could feel the tight rein he was trying to keep on himself.
“I’m trying to be patient, Angel. I swear I am. I should go before I forget everything except how much I want you.”
She’d asked him to see their business relationship through before asking for more. But that was when she’d assumed she could hold on to her own control when being around him.
“Please,” she found herself begging him now, “before you go, give me one more kiss.”
She expected him to draw her close again, to thread his hands roughly into her hair and devour her once more. But Jack Sullivan had surprised her from the start, and though his gaze ran hot with desire, the light brush of his fingertips over her lips was so gentle, so sweet, that she was stunned by the force of emotion that rocked through her as he touched her. She could feel herself melting into him and knew that if he kissed her again tonight, it wouldn’t end there.
“I think we’ve tested our restraint enough for one night.”
She wanted to argue with him, wanted to wrap herself around him and convince him with more kisses. She longed for bare skin against bare skin and to forget the rules she’d laid down.
But Mary sensed Jack wasn’t the kind of man who second-guessed himself once he made up his mind. And she knew he was putting on the brakes not because he didn’t want her, but because he respected her too much to let a moment of heady passion destroy the friendship growing between them.
A friendship that might, if treated with the proper care, become the foundation for something much, much bigger.
As a model, she’d learned how to exercise a
great deal of control over her body so she could hold difficult poses for hours on end, sometimes in brutal heat, other times in biting cold. It was that control she called upon now. She forced herself to slip out of Jack’s arms and pick up his jacket from the radiator across the room.
“Next time I invite you in,” she said with a small smile as she gave him his coat and walked him to the front door, “I’ll let you drink your coffee.”
He was standing on her front step when he said, “Next time you invite me in, I’m going to make love to you.”
He covered her gasp of surprise with that last kiss she’d begged for. Before she had a chance to catch her reeling heart, he was gone.
She didn’t know how long she stood at the front door, staring out at the people walking on the sidewalk below and watching the cars and taxis and buses move slowly through the Friday-night traffic. Jack Sullivan was everything she’d ever looked for in a man. Smart. Sexy. And with a heart full of so much warmth it stunned her.
And yet, she realized as she finally closed her front door with a soft click, instead of being calmed by that realization, she was more frightened than she’d ever been before.
Frightened and utterly enthralled.
Her heart still pounding hard, she headed for the phone. “Gerry, it’s Mary. You know how you were saying you were hoping to work together again? Is there any chance you might be able to squeeze in a last-minute shoot this Monday for a really interesting ad campaign?”
Chapter Seven
On Monday morning, Jack walked onto the set where Mary would be shooting their first print ad. When he caught sight of her dark hair swinging over her shoulders and her long, toned legs that seemed to go on forever, for the very first time in his life, Jack could not figure out how to remain rational. In all honesty he couldn’t remember why he should even keep trying.
The speed with which his heart was racing made him feel as if he were on a racetrack in one of the stock cars he’d retooled over the years. Race cars, he’d discovered back in high school, were the perfect antidote for the slow pace of invention and engineering development. Jack’s experience on the track had taught him how to embrace not only the rush and the thrill…but the danger, as well. If you weren’t risking on the track, you had no business being out there.
The risks he took on the racetrack seemed a hell of lot more dangerous than the ones he took in the garage working on his computers but, the truth was, it was the other way around. Those risks were minuscule by comparison considering that he’d already given up ten years of his life for a risky dream.
And yet, as Mary’s laughter moved through him, Jack finally understood that the stakes had never been this high.
Not only was his dream on the line…but it seemed his heart was, too.
Jack had done some serious thinking over the weekend. Thinking, after all, was what he’d always done best. He should have been thinking about the launch of the Pocket Planner. He should have been hunkered down over shipping schedules with Larry. He should have been going over distribution and sales outlets with Howie. He should have been approving final ad campaign plans.
The very last thing that Jack should have been focusing on when they were in the final lap of a dream that had been ten years in the making was a woman.
He had always had to fit women and relationships into the few spare slots of time and attention he had available. He’d never even come close to thinking about “forever” or love. He’d treated the women he’d taken out well, but work had always come first.
But Mary was no ordinary woman.
Of course, it was perfectly natural to look at a woman like her and want her. But was it natural to only be able to think of her? To remember every flavor of sugar and spice on her lips as he’d kissed her? To keep feeling the silky softness of her skin as he’d stroked her cheek? To hear continued echoes of the sweet sound of pleasure she’d made when he’d taken their kiss deeper?
What’s more, when she’d told him about her severed relationship with her mother, he’d thought of his own mother and how much she meant to him. He wished he could do something to help Mary gain back what she was so sure she’d lost.
As if she could hear his impassioned thoughts, Mary suddenly looked over her shoulder and saw him. He saw her eyes flare and her skin flush with what he hoped was a desire that matched his own.
Jack hadn’t been able to forget the yearning in Mary’s eyes when she’d asked him for one more kiss. Lord, all he’d wanted was to lift her into his arms and take her back to her bedroom and make love to her all night long. But she’d been so earnest in the diner when she’d asked him to be patient, and he intended to respect that which was so clearly important to her. Still, that hadn’t stopped him from stealing one more kiss before he’d made himself leave.
Now, Jack badly wanted to steal another kiss. He wished they could forget all about business. He longed to pull her into his arms and bury his hands in her hair as he drank in her scent, her softness and the sweet sounds she made when she melted against him.
But just as he’d been trying to remind himself all weekend, this was neither the time nor the place for wooing her.
“Gerry,” she said to the photographer, “come meet Jack Sullivan.”
Mary looked perfectly poised, but he didn’t think he’d imagined the slight hitch in her voice as she’d said his name. Maybe he hadn’t been the only one tied up in knots this weekend….
He held out his hand to the slim man with the bright green eyes. “Thank you so much for agreeing to work with us on such short notice, Gerry.”
The photographer sized Jack up as they shook hands. “I’ve never been able to say no to Mary.”
Jack knew exactly how he felt. There were a dozen questions he should have asked Gerry about the shoot. Instead, he turned back to Mary. “Did the girls get home all right on Friday night?”
“It was closer to Saturday morning,” she said with a little shake of her head, “but apart from leaving a string of broken hearts throughout San Francisco, they came back safe and sound.”
Gerry was looking between Jack and Mary with raised eyebrows when the studio door burst open and Howie and Larry came in with Allen on their heels.
“You’re more gorgeous than ever,” Allen said as he kissed Mary once on each cheek. “I’m afraid I can’t stay, but I wanted to wish you luck, my dear, and thank you again for being a part of our product launch.”
Mary introduced everyone to Gerry, then excused herself from the group to go and take care of putting the finishing touches on her hair and makeup.
Jack and his partners were sitting on the folding chairs at the back of the set when Mary walked back out fifteen minutes later. Jack’s heart nearly stopped beating in his chest as he drank her in. She was dressed in casual black slacks and a soft red sweater that skimmed over her curves. She had put on just enough makeup to highlight her features in a beautifully elegant and simple way.
The campaign they’d decided on was simple and direct. Mary was not going to play a role for the camera. Rather, she was going to let the buying public know, via both still shots and a live-action commercial that they’d be shooting later that week, that she used the Pocket Planner and loved it. The set today looked a great deal like her actual living room and kitchen, and Jack realized it was because she’d brought in some things from home. A pretty blue-and-white vase of flowers. A sculpture of a dancing girl. A bowl of fresh fruit.
As she displayed their invention for the camera, Jack was impressed all over again. She worked nonstop for hours, not just in front of the camera but behind it, as well, as she assisted Gerry with his lighting and props. When Larry and Howie started grumbling about food and drink, Jack suggested they head out to pick up something for everyone. At the same time, Jack could see the faint lines of fatigue beginning to appear at the corners of Mary’s eyes and mouth while Gerry changed cameras.
Standing up and walking onto the set, Jack said, “Time for a break.”
> Gerry sighed in clear relief as he put his camera down. “I’m going to run across the street for a triple espresso. Should I bring back one for everyone?”
Jack shook his head. The last thing he needed right now was more adrenaline coursing through him.
“Thanks, but I’m fine, too,” Mary murmured, reaching around to rub a kink out of her neck. “I think I’ll just get off my feet for a few minutes.”
After Mary had left the set for her small dressing room, Gerry told Jack, “No other model of her caliber and fame would even consider assisting with lights and makeup like this. There isn’t another woman like her in the world.”
“You’ve got that right,” Jack agreed.
“I was extremely surprised when Mary called me about your campaign. She was dead set on leaving modeling, and no one could get her to change her mind. Not until you came along.”
“I’m a very lucky man.”
Gerry assessed Jack again with his cool green eyes before nodding once. “Don’t ever forget it.”
Jack headed over to the small room at the side of the set that Mary had disappeared into. At first he only saw the table where Mary had set up a mirror, and her makeup and hair kit. Just as Gerry had pointed out, she normally had a whole crew of people working on her photo shoots. Moving deeper into the room, he saw that she was sitting on a soft chair, rubbing her neck and shoulders as if they ached.
She turned her head toward him when she heard his footsteps. “Jack, do you need something?” She immediately moved to stand, but when he replaced her hands with his own on her shoulders and began to massage the tight muscles, she sank back down into the chair.