by Marie Force
“I just wanted you to stay here, so when Daddy told me about the job in Baltimore it seemed like the perfect solution.”
“Damn it, Paige, don’t give me that pout face. It might work with ‘Daddy,’ but it does nothing for me.”
With a coy smile, she ran a hand up his leg. “It doesn’t do anything for you?”
He pushed her hand away. “Stop.” He’d fumed about the interference for a week before he took the job, which was the only offer he received in the capital area. Truth be told, he wanted to stay near Paige as much as she wanted to keep him close. But the Admiral’s meddling rankled, especially since he never missed an opportunity to remind Michael of how he got his job.
The next bump occurred at graduation when Michael’s mother and sisters took an immediate and intense dislike to Paige—an opinion they never wavered from in four years. “She’s not for you,” his mother had said.
As Michael fell into a restless sleep in the Simpson’s guestroom, he heard his mother saying, “She’s not for you.” He dreamed of Paige, and as usual, they were making love. Her hands and lips were everywhere on his fevered skin. Then he was inside her, moving with the abandon that overtook him every time they made love. Only when he reached an explosive climax did he realize he wasn’t dreaming. He pulled out of her as if he’d been scalded and rolled away. “What the fuck? What are you doing?”
“I love you.” Sobs rattled her petite frame. “I just needed you so much.”
“Jesus Christ, I was asleep.” Another realization settled in on him. “No condom, Paige! What the fuck?” They had never taken any chances in that department. His head spun, and his stomach lurched from the booze.
She reached for him. “Michael, please. Talk to me.”
He pulled away from her, got up, went into the bathroom, and slammed the door behind him. Goddamn it! Splashing cold water on his face, he tried to contain the urge to choke the life out of her. When he came out of the bathroom, he pulled on sweats.
“Aren’t you going to talk to me?” she asked between sobs.
“I’m all done talking. You need to go to your room.”
“You’re not breaking off this engagement, Michael.”
“I’m quite certain I already did.”
“You can’t!” she wailed.
He picked up her robe off the floor and threw it at her. “Get dressed. Right now. I’ve had enough for tonight.” He watched her work up a head of steam as she pulled on the robe.
“I don’t know who you think you’re dealing with, but you are not just walking away from me after four years like I mean nothing to you.”
“I know exactly who I’m dealing with—a spoiled, pampered brat. You’re not going to push me around or push me into a job I don’t want. And you’re certainly not going to push me into a marriage I no longer want.”
She slapped his face. Hard. “You son of a bitch.”
His hand rolled into a fist at his side. “Get out,” he said in a low tone that left no room for negotiation. “Get the fuck out!”
After she slammed the door behind her, he did something he should have done earlier: he reached for his cell phone to call a cab. He threw on clothes, packed his bag, and went down the stairs into the quiet house.
Admiral Simpson appeared in the darkness. “Going somewhere, Michael?”
“I’m going home.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“I’m positive.”
“So when Paige said you’d called off the engagement she wasn’t being dramatic?”
“No.”
“You might want to think twice about that.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not. I’m just wondering if you’re seeing the big picture.”
“And what would that be?”
“What will Tom Houlihan think of having a man on his team who doesn’t keep his promises? Have you thought about that?”
Michael chuckled. “You know what? I don’t give a rat’s ass what Tom Houlihan thinks about my private life. Feel free to give him a call.”
The cab driver tooted the horn.
The Admiral gave Michael the steely stare that had intimidated legions of sailors, but it had no effect on him. Not anymore. “You’re not the man I thought you were, Michael.”
“That’s funny because you’re exactly the man I thought you were. Take care, Admiral.”
Michael checked into a hotel near the airport and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. He woke up late the next morning, the events of the day before replaying in his mind. And then he smiled. He was free—of Paige and her parents and their endless manipulation. Imagining his mother dancing a jig at the news of his broken engagement, he laughed.
Chapter 8
On the way to the airport on Sunday afternoon, Jeremy and Juliana stopped for seafood in Jacksonville Beach. The day was warm so they sat on a deck overlooking the ocean.
After they ate, Jeremy reached across the table for her hand. “What are we going to do, babe?”
Juliana took a long sip of her wine, put the glass down on the table, and met his gaze. “We’re breaking up. For now.” She had promised herself she wouldn’t cry.
“What?” he asked, startled.
“Three months. We won’t talk to or see each other for three months.”
“Juliana—”
“I’ve thought about what you said.”
“I want you to forget what I said.”
“I can’t. And we can’t go forward with it between us. You were right about something yesterday.”
“What’s that?”
“Neither of us has ever been with anyone else, so how can we know for sure that what we have will last?”
“It’s lasted ten years. That has to count for something.”
She squeezed his hand. “It does. But like you said, how do we even know that we’re having good sex?”
He snorted. “You can say that after last night?”
“I’m just agreeing with you, Jer. That’s all.”
“Why three months? Why not one or two?”
“Because anything less wouldn’t be enough time.”
He thought it over for a moment. “Supposing I agree to this, what are the rules?”
“No rules. We’re both single and can do whatever we want.”
He raised an eyebrow. “But you’re not going to, you know—”
“You can, but I can’t?”
“You said you never wanted to.”
“That was before I knew you did.”
He dropped her hand. “This is bullshit. I’m not agreeing to this.”
“Then we’re done. I won’t spend my life with you wondering if you’re unsatisfied or unfulfilled, or worse yet, unfaithful. I watched my father cheat on my mother for years before he finally left. I won’t live like that.”
“So either we break up for three months or we break up forever? That’s a hell of a choice.”
“It’s up to you.”
“What would happen at the end of the three months?”
“We either end it for good or we get married.”
“And would we discuss what happened during the three months?”
“Never.”
With a deep sigh, he sat back in his chair. “This is a pretty high-stakes game you’re playing here, Jule.”
“It’s no game, and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I can’t imagine a day without talking to you, let alone ninety of them. But I don’t know what else to do.” Her stiff resolve crumbled, and her eyes filled.
“This is all my fault.” His face tightened with tension. “The idea of you with someone else…”
“I know.”
He checked his watch. “Damn it. We have to go.”
“So what do you say?”
“You haven’t given me much of a choice. Since I’m not prepared to lose you forever, I guess we’re breaking up for three months.” He threw some cash on the table and guided her from
the restaurant.
They drove to the airport in silence, but he kept a firm grip on her hand. He walked her in, and when he couldn’t go any further with her, he folded her into a long hug. “I’ll miss you. Every minute of every day, I’ll be thinking about you.”
The huge lump in her throat made it impossible for her to speak so she just nodded.
“Three months,” he said with tears in his eyes. “Not one minute more.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll call you three months from today.”
She nodded.
He tilted her chin up and kissed her with a fierce, possessive passion that left her breathless and then despondent when it ended. “Don’t go falling in love with someone else.”
“I won’t. I couldn’t. Don’t you, either.”
“Never,” he said, letting her go with great reluctance.
“Three months,” she said one last time as she moved into the security line.
“Not one minute more.” He watched her until she was through to the other side.
She waved, blew a kiss, and walked away.
Michael found her halfway down the long concourse twenty minutes later. She sat on the floor against a wall with her face pressed into her arms, but he remembered that shiny dark hair. He sat down next to her. “Hey.”
Startled, she looked over at him and didn’t seem to recognize him for a second, probably because he was wearing a sweater and jeans rather than a suit. “Oh, hi,” she said, wiping tears from her face.
“I take it things didn’t go well.” Even with her soft brown eyes swollen from crying, Michael thought she was nothing short of exotic.
She shook her head as a fresh wave of sobs overtook her.
Her misery touched him, and with only the slightest of hesitations he put his arm around her.
For a few minutes she rested against him and then seemed to realize she was crying all over someone she hardly knew. She sat up. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Do you want to talk about it?”
She shrugged.
“You might feel better unloading on a stranger you’ll never see again.”
“That’s true.”
“I have three sisters,” he said with a coaxing grin. “I’m a good listener.”
She returned his grin with a weak one of her own.
He stood up and offered her a hand. “First we have to get to the gate, or we’re going to miss our plane.”
“Good thing you came along.” She wiped her face. “I probably would’ve still been here when it took off.”
“Maguire to the rescue.” He pulled her up and tossed her carry-on bag over his shoulder with his own bag.
“How was your weekend?” she asked on the way to the gate where the plane was boarding.
He smiled. “Total disaster, but you first. What happened?”
While they stood in line to board the plane, she told him the whole story.
“Hmm.” He scratched at the stubble on his chin. “So what happens at the end of the three months?” Michael took her boarding pass and handed both of them to the gate agent.
“I told him we’ll either break up for good or get married.”
“What if he meets someone else?”
Juliana winced.
“Sorry.”
“I know it’s a big gamble, but how could I marry him knowing he has all this curiosity about other women?”
“How will you marry him without knowing if he acted on it?”
They found seats together on the plane. “Why couldn’t I have just let it go? Why did I have to make such big deal out of it? He said if it was a choice between me and sowing his wild oats, he’d choose me.”
“So then why’d you insist on the separation?”
Juliana looked out the window for a moment before she answered him. “My father cheated on my mother for years. Everyone knew it. Even she knew, but she ignored it because he always came back. Then I guess he fell for one of them because we haven’t seen him in five years.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “It’s old news now, but that’s not how I want to live. Just the idea of it…”
“Then you did the right thing. At the end of the three months you’ll know where you stand with each other, and you can figure out where to go from there.”
Her eyes sparkled with tears. “There hasn’t been a day in the last ten years that I haven’t talked to him. Not one day.”
Michael reached for her hand. “You’ll be okay. I’ll bet you’re tougher than you think. The time will just fly by.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Michael kept her hand between both of his as the plane raced down the runway and took off into a sky streaked by the setting sun.
“Thank you,” she said when they were airborne.
“For what?”
“Listening and offering comfort. I’ll bet you’d make a good friend.”
“I wish there was something I could say to make you feel better.”
“You’re helping. You got me on the plane, right?”
He laughed. “Yes, I guess I did.”
“Tell me about your disaster. Give me something else to think about.”
He sighed and released her hand.
“That bad?”
“Thermonuclear meltdown.”
She turned to him. “What happened?”
“I broke off the engagement.”
She gasped. “Oh my God! Before or after the party?”
“During,” he said with a sheepish grin.
“No way. You did not!”
“I did,” he said, relaying the story of the weekend from hell.
“Jeez,” she said when he was done. “We should’ve started with you. I don’t know what to say. Are you okay?”
“I think I am. Maybe in a day or two when it has time to register I won’t be, but I know I did the right thing. I can’t be marching to her father’s drum my whole life. It wouldn’t have bothered me half as much if she’d tried to stop it, but she was only thinking of herself. Nothing new there.”
“It’s always disappointing when someone turns out to be less than you thought they were.”
He appreciated that she understood completely. “Yes, it is. But it’s my own fault. I’ve pushed aside doubts for a long time because underneath it all, I was crazy about her. I proposed to her when her parents were moving, hoping she’d stay in Maryland with me. She accepted the proposal and moved anyway. That should’ve been a sign of where her priorities were—or where they weren’t.”
Juliana rested a comforting hand on his arm.
The stewardess came by to offer drinks.
“This time it’s on me,” Juliana insisted, ordering him the same kind of beer he had gotten on the first flight and a gin and tonic for herself. “Make it a double,” she added.
He laughed. “When in pain, drink.”
“That’s my mother’s philosophy of life. Unfortunately for us, she’s in constant pain.”
“Ouch,” he winced. “Sorry.”
She shrugged. “It is what it is.”
He lifted his beer can in to toast her. “Here’s to a disastrous weekend and new friends.”
“To new friends.”
The plane landed at Baltimore/Washington International Airport just after nine. They walked through the terminal to catch a shuttle bus to the parking lot.
“Which lot are you in?” he asked.
“Long-term A.”
He chuckled. “Me, too.”
“Of course you are,” she said with a smile.
On the shuttle, Michael reached for his wallet and dug out a business card, which he handed to Juliana. “Call me if you need a friendly ear. My cell number is on there, too.”
“Thank you. Stop by the salon if you decide to cut that mop of yours.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “You think it needs it?”
“Uh, yeah. Now that you’re back on the market, the ladies will think you’r
e hot without all that hair.”
Flustered, he said, “You think so?”
“Uh huh,” she said, making a scissor gesture with her fingers.
“I just might take you up on that.”
“I hope you do. I really am sorry about your fiancée.”
“Thanks. Things work out the way they’re supposed to, you know?”
“I guess I’ll find out in three months. Oh, this is where I get off.”
He looked up with a grin. “Me, too.”
As they were getting off the shuttle, his cell phone rang. He was relieved to see it wasn’t Paige calling again. He had been ignoring her calls all day. “I’ve got to take this,” he said reluctantly. “It’s work.”
“Good luck with the trial. I’ll be pulling for you.”
He gave her a quick one-armed hug and answered the phone. “Hey,” he said into the phone. “Hang on a sec.” Holding the phone aside, he turned back to Juliana. “Take care of yourself.”
“You, too. Thanks. For listening and everything.”
“My pleasure.”
Waving, she unlocked her battered Toyota Tercel and tossed her bag into the backseat.
Chapter 9
On the way to his car, Michael took the call. “What’s up?”
“We’ve got a problem in the District.” His co-worker and second chair George Samuels sounded aggravated.
Michael stopped walking. “What kind of problem?”
“She’s having a hissy fit. Wants to see you and only you.”
“Oh, come on! Can’t you guys settle her down? What about her mother? Has she been there today?”
“From what I hear, the mother’s being an even bigger pain in the ass. You’d better get down there, Michael.”
“For Christ’s sake, I just got back from Florida.”
“She’s been acting up since Friday, but the boss told us to leave you alone this weekend.”
“Fine. I’ll be there in an hour.” He flipped his phone closed. “Damn it!” All he wanted was to go home, put his feet up, and catch his breath after everything that had happened. Just then he heard a clicking noise and turned to see where it was coming from.