Belatedly he remembered Melanie mentioning that to him before. Unable to think of anything less lame to say, he settled on, “I’m sorry.”
She nodded and placed the picture back on the shelf where he’d found it. “Are you ready?”
“Ready.” He cleared his throat. “You look fantastic, by the way.” He was pleased to see that his ability to talk sensibly was coming back. “Well worth the wait.”
Salvador’s was still the place to see and be seen, and Ella got more than one envious glance from the other women there. Matt just seemed to attract stares from beautiful women, but, to his credit, he did nothing more than return an uncommitted smile. He proved early on he was more than just arm candy and a nice guy: he was a charming and fun date, as well. Their table had an amazing view, situated so neither of them had a back to the window. The chairs were close enough to each other to create an intimate feel while still giving them room to eat.
They ate ridiculously fattening food and talked easily about the wedding and people they both knew. It was, she realized, the best “date” she’d been on in a very long while. And it had been a long while, indeed. She and Stephen had parted ways over six months ago in the ugliest way imaginable. It had been a new low—even for her. But then the wedding plans kicked into high gear and the job from SoftWerx came through, leaving her with little time to think about anything else, much less men.
Just enjoy this for what it is.
As they sat finishing their wine, Matt asked her, “How did a girl from Alabama end up in Chicago? I thought Southerners were allergic to snow.”
“We are.” She laughed and swirled her wine in her glass. “First you have to understand something about kids who grow up in lower Alabama. Their entire teenage years are preoccupied with one thing—getting the hell out of Alabama. I wasn’t any different. So when Northwestern offered me a track scholarship, I jumped on it and moved up here.”
“That explains those amazing legs of yours.”
Ella blushed at the unexpected compliment. He thinks my legs are amazing. She self-consciously un-crossed and recrossed her legs under the table. When she did, she accidentally slid one leg against his. He didn’t move, so she simply enjoyed the pressure of his leg against hers as she sipped her wine.
“Are you fast?”
“What?” She choked on her wine and moved her leg away from his quickly, bumping the table hard as she did. Glassware rattled.
“On the track. Are you still fast?”
Oh, she thought, relieved. “I never was really fast. I ran cross-country. I’m a bit out of shape now, but I do still run for fun.”
“Ah, stamina instead of speed. That’s a good thing.”
Was he flirting? That kind of put a new twist on the evening if he was. Her flirting skills were a bit rusty these days…
“Did you meet Melanie at Northwestern?”
The change in subject jarred a little, but she welcomed it. “We were roommates our freshman year. We lived together all through undergraduate school, then got an apartment together.”
“You two are an unusual pair. You’ve got kind of a yin and yang thing going.”
That caused her to laugh. “I’ve never heard it put quite that way before. But, yeah, we make a good team. Things were rough at the beginning, though. Melanie was out all night majoring in boys and beer, and I had to be up early for track practice. Unfortunately—or in our case, fortunately—University Housing didn’t allow for room switching until a few weeks into the semester. By then we’d worked it out. I guess we’ve rubbed off a bit on each other over the years—filling in the holes, so to speak. It’s going to be really tough to get used to not having her around all the time.”
“Why move home now?” He relaxed back in his chair and casually draped an arm across the back of hers as he asked. The closeness of his body put hers on high alert, and she felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck rise to attention.
Just focus on the conversation. “Nine Chicago winters too many. Anyway, after spending all those years wanting to get out of Alabama, it didn’t take all that long for me to realize how much I missed it. With Mel getting married and moving out anyway, the job offer seemed like fate or something. Moving while she’s on her honeymoon keeps the goodbyes from being all weepy.”
Matt offered her the last of the wine, and she held out her glass. Full of good food and enjoying both the view and the company, she wasn’t in any hurry for dinner to end. He didn’t seem in a rush, either, so she relaxed back in her chair, enjoying the slight weight of his arm against her.
“So what do you do with those degrees in computer science, Ella Augustine Mackenzie?”
The shock of hearing her middle name nearly caused her to choke on her wine again. Then she remembered pulling her degrees out from storage under the couch last week for packing and leaning them against the wall. He must have seen them earlier. “Hey, Augustine’s a family name.”
Matt snorted.
“What’s your middle name, hotshot?”
“Matthew.”
“Oh.” So much for that witty retort. “What’s your first name, then?”
“William.” A smug smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.
“Lucky you. Well, William Matthew Jacobs, until two weeks ago, I was a software designer. Two weeks from now, I’ll be the design team head at SoftWerx.”
Matt let out an impressed whistle. “I’ve heard of them. Congratulations.”
Pride bubbled up inside her. She’d been so caught up in the wedding, she hadn’t had time to fully adjust to the idea of her success. “Your turn. How’d you end up in Atlanta?”
Matt sipped at his wine and signaled the server for the check. “Strictly business. I, too, went to college out of state—Ohio State, actually—but for different reasons than you. Did Melanie tell you I have five brothers?”
“Actually I’ve heard quite a bit about the Jacobs six-pack. I’ve even met a few.”
“There you have it. I was tired of being ‘that youngest Jacobs boy.’ All five of my brothers stayed around here, so I had to be different and go out of state. I ended up at Penn for law school and got in with a local firm. They opened a new office in Atlanta two years later, and I was sent there.” He shrugged as if his job was nothing—the law equivalent of flipping burgers at McDonald’s. Something about the way he carried himself, though, made her think otherwise.
“What kind of law do you practice?”
“Mainly entertainment. I take care of a lot of the contracts for most of the major venues in town. A few local celebs keep us on retainer, as well.”
“Anybody interesting?”
“Couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to,” he teased her.
“Do you like Atlanta? I haven’t been there in years.”
“I love it.” His hand came to rest on Ella’s shoulder. Rusty or not at the flirting thing, as his thumb slid lightly over her skin, even she could recognize he was flirting with her. She shivered at the sensation as all her blood seemed to rush to her skin. Focusing on the conversation took on a whole new level of difficulty. “All the excitement of Chicago without all the snow,” he continued, and it took her a second to remember what they were talking about. “In fact, I’ve gotten a bit thin-blooded in the past few years, and I try to avoid coming up here at all in the winter.”
She pulled herself together with a deep breath. “That must make coming home for Christmas a bit difficult.”
“I don’t think anyone notices when I don’t make it.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
“Seriously, we are the Catholic family cliché. You think Brian’s family is bad? Mine’s worse.”
“I think Brian’s family is nice—a little loud when they’re all together, but…”
“Brian’s got nothing on my family when it comes to loud. My mom and dad have nine brothers and sisters, so I have, let’s see, um, twenty-two—no, twenty-three—first cousins. All my brothers are married and have
two or three kids apiece. There’s at least fifty people at my mom’s house on any given holiday. That is the definition of loud.”
She was such a sucker for the idea of a big family gathering—noisy or not. How could he be so blasé about it? “I’m sure they take note of who’s there.”
“Well, my brothers and I look a lot alike, so short of actually calling roll…” He sighed. “Do you have siblings?”
“No, it was just me and my grandparents.”
“Consider yourself lucky. Everyone was at the house today, and it was an absolute zoo. It’s enough to drive a man crazy. I used to dream of being an only child. Sometimes I still do.” Matt was the picture of the aggrieved youngest child, and Ella sipped at the last of her wine to stifle a laugh.
“And I used to dream about being in a big family. I mean, Mel’s family has adopted me, for all intents and purposes, but it’s not quite the same thing. I guess everyone wants what they don’t have.”
“Usually I’d say you were right. Especially after a day like today.”
This time she did laugh. She couldn’t help it. “Mel’s told me about your mother. I can’t imagine she’s too happy with the lack of grandchildren from you.”
“I hear it all the time. Someday I’ll see what I can do about that. Right now it’s not really an option.”
Ella wondered about that statement as Matt moved away from her in order to pay. The light teasing tone that had marked their entire evening evaporated once they started talking about his family. Mel hadn’t mentioned any rifts in the family—not beyond the norm, at least. Maybe he was just touchy about the whole get-married-and-have-kids thing. She could relate to that.
With Matt’s arm gone, she missed the warmth that emanated from him. Although the restaurant temperature was comfortable, she shivered as the heat dissipated. Matt noticed.
“Do you need my jacket?” He was already lifting it off the back of his chair and holding it out to her.
“Your mama must have raised you right. Or else Southern manners have rubbed off on you.”
“I will pass the compliment along to Mom.” He continued to hold the jacket out to her.
“No, but thanks. I’m fine.” She wrapped her shawl around her shoulders as Matt shrugged into his jacket.
But as they left the restaurant, the intimacy they shared also seemed to be left behind, because Matt didn’t flirt with her at all on the way back to her apartment.
Even though it made the situation more complicated, she was more disappointed by that than she cared to admit.
CHAPTER THREE
THE frustration of shifting back to small talk after all that flirting had Ella balancing on her last nerve by the time they reached her apartment. Matt waited as she unlocked the door, then held it open as he ushered her in first.
“I’ll just get those wedding presents out of the way for you.” He followed her up the stairs.
“Thanks. Mel’s brothers are coming Saturday to pick up her furniture and stuff to take to Brian’s, but they didn’t want to be responsible for moving the fragile things.” She pointed in the direction of the boxes. “I’ll go grab some tape to close them up so they’ll be easier to carry. I’m going to change, too, if that’s okay. I’ll kill myself trying to carry stuff down the stairs in this getup.” He nodded, and she added, “There’s wine and beer in the fridge. Help yourself.”
“Thanks. Can I get you anything?”
“Um, wine, please. The glasses are in the cupboard beside the microwave.”
She could hear Matt opening and pouring the wine as she rummaged for something to change into. Yoga pants and a baby tee were easiest to find in the rubble, but slightly revealing. She debated for a moment, but she couldn’t bring herself to appear in front of a muffin like Matt in battered jeans or ratty sweats. Vanity won out over practicality, and she returned to the living room, twisting her hair up into a ponytail as she went.
When Matt’s eyes widened appreciatively at her outfit, she had a momentary surge of girl power. He’d removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, and Ella hoped that meant he planned to stay for a little while. She really was enjoying his company, and the ego boost wasn’t bad, either. He offered her one of the glasses with a smile.
“Thanks.” She sipped at the Merlot before setting it aside, and kneeled on the floor next to some boxes to strap tape across their tops. In a conspiratorial tone she asked, “If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell Mel or Brian?”
Matt joined her on the floor. “Of course.”
“I hate this china.” She laughed. “Mel fell in love with it at first sight and registered for every piece they made. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen.” She pulled out one of the overly colorful and flowery plates to show him. “What do you think?”
“Yikes. I can’t believe Brian agreed to this.” He took the plate from her hand, and his hand brushed hers. Again her senses jumped to red alert. Had the touch been accidental or intentional?
“As far as I know.” She frowned in mock dismay. “It’s sad. Melanie has such good taste in everything else.” He passed the ugly china back to her before leaning back against the couch and loosening his tie. Another good sign he plans to stay for a while.
“I promise your secret is safe with me. I just hope Mel never invites me to a fancy dinner party. I don’t know if I can eat off that and keep it down.”
Ella also leaned back against the couch. “Unless she calls in a caterer for the event, you have nothing to fear in that arena. I love her, but Mel is a lousy cook. About the only things she can make are scrambled eggs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The last thing that girl needed was dishes.”
“Uh-oh, better watch out. I may tell on you.”
“That’s an empty threat. God knows I’ve told her the same thing hundreds of times. I think one of the reasons she lived with me was because I could cook. I’ve tried to teach her over the years, but she’s just a bit hopeless in the kitchen.”
Matt tugged his tie the rest of the way off and placed it behind him on the couch. As he leaned forward, those chocolate eyes captured hers. “And you? What are you a bit hopeless at?”
Suddenly, the air felt thick, and her voice didn’t seem to work very well. She cleared her throat and tried for a light, flirtatious tone. “A lady never admits her shortcomings.”
“Come on. Tell me.” His voice dropped, and Ella’s temperature rose several degrees.
She swallowed hard around the knot in her throat. “That’s a rather personal question, don’t you think?”
He reached out to touch a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail and trailed down the side of her face. Curling it around his finger, he said, “I don’t think so. We all have small things we’re just hopeless at. Me, I can’t get my TiVo to stop taping Brady Bunch reruns. It’s ridiculous.”
The mood shifted the moment Matt touched her. Light flirtation was over. This was serious stuff. Ella tried to ignore his hand as he tucked the wayward strand behind her ear, but couldn’t. He was stroking her earlobe, for heaven’s sake. A shiver ran down her spine, and she couldn’t stop herself from leaning, just slightly, into his hand.
“You, Ella, are beautiful, smart, and can single-handedly organize large weddings.” He brushed her bangs back off her face. His hand slid down so that he cupped her cheek. His eyes locked with hers. “That’s impressive.”
He was so close Ella could feel his breath and the warmth radiating off his body. His voice and the gentleness of his hand hypnotized her. He had called her beautiful. This unbelievably gorgeous man had called her beautiful. Her mouth went dry, and she swallowed hard—again—but still couldn’t get her voice above a whisper. “I’d say you were the impressive one.”
To illustrate her point, she laid one hand on Matt’s broad shoulder, slid it down to where his biceps bulged under his shirt and squeezed the hard muscle. She had meant to simply emphasize his size, but, at her touch, Matt�
�s breath caught, and his hand reflexively curled around the nape of her neck to pull her closer to him.
“Glad to hear it,” Matt whispered, and then his lips met hers. His first touch was gentle, almost hesitant, barely catching her bottom lip, but Ella leaned in to him. That small encouragement seemed to be all he needed, because his second kiss wasn’t at all hesitant. His mouth moved over hers, forcefully seeking, and she put her arms around his neck. When her lips parted, Matt’s tongue swept inside, sending bolts of pure desire to Ella’s core.
She’d never felt anything like this before, the undiluted sensation of total lust that sent her senses spinning and chased all rational thought out of her head. All she knew was what she felt: the soft thickness of his hair as she held his head to keep him from moving away, the pressure of his body as he lowered her back onto the floor, the hardness of his body as he lay down next to her and pulled her firmly against him.
Bliss.
He was huge, solid muscle all over; she could feel the movement of the bunched muscles of his back and chest under her hands and the hard pressure of his thighs as his legs entwined with hers. His hands roamed restlessly down her back and over the curve of her hip as his lips moved across her jawline and down her neck to her shoulder. Heat rushed to each place his lips touched, causing her to shiver when his mouth moved away and air cooled the moisture left behind. As Matt’s hand finally slid up to gently cup her breast, she gasped and arched into him.
It was the gasp that focused Matt’s attention. His response to Ella amazed him and left him shaken. He’d wanted to taste her all evening, but he hadn’t been prepared for the desire that had slammed through him the moment her tongue touched his. He hadn’t been able to focus on anything but the feel of her since then. He wanted to touch her everywhere, all at once, and his hands slid across her body, learning her. But her gasp had snapped his attention back to Ella’s face. It was his turn to catch his breath.
Ella’s head was thrown back, her eyes closed. A flush spread across her cheeks, and she was breathing shallowly through her mouth. He now knew what lust looked like and was shocked by the same feeling rocketing through him. Carefully he squeezed the breast nestled in his hand, and he was rewarded when her teeth caught her lower lip in response.
The Secret Mistress Arrangement Page 3