He brought the basket over to the bed and handed it to her. “Toast. Juice. Fruit. Cereal.” He listed the basket’s contents. “Sit back and enjoy your breakfast.”
Paige accepted the basket, scooted back against the headboard and stretched her naked legs out across the bed. Dropping his crutch, Jared sat down on the edge of the bed, jerked off his sweater and unzipped his jeans.
“What are you doing?” She stared at his broad, hairy chest and remembered the feel of him pressing against her, rubbing her breasts, igniting her passion.
He unzipped his jeans. “I’m getting back in bed with you.”
“No, don’t. I—I haven’t had a bath.” She glanced down at the basket. “I haven’t eaten breakfast.”
He removed his jeans and tossed them aside. Paige sighed with relief. He wore a pair of black briefs.
“Eat up, honey.” He removed the cap from the mug and lifted the juice to her lips. “When you finish breakfast, I’ll give you a bath.”
“You’ll give me a—”
He pressed the mug to her lips. She sipped the fresh-squeezed orange juice.
“How on earth did you manage to climb the stairs on one crutch and carry a basket, too?” Paige asked.
“It wasn’t easy, honey, but for you, I’d do anything.”
She couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face when she remembered all the things he’d done for her and to her during the night. “What time is it?”
“What difference does it make?”
“I thought you were expecting Mr. Addison this morning.”
“I was,” Jared said. “Greg has been here and gone.”
“Oh, my goodness. It must be late.”
“Only a little after ten,” he told her. “Now, eat your breakfast like a good little mother.”
She didn’t think she could eat a bite while he sat there staring at her, his gaze fixed on her breasts. But once she took the first bite, she found she had a ravenous appetite.
When she finished eating the cereal, Jared lifted the basket and set it on the floor, then reached out for Paige. She drew away from him.
“What’s the matter, honey? Don’t tell me you’re shy this morning.”
“No, not exactly.”
Grabbing her hand, he tugged gently. “Well, come on, and let me give you your bath.”
“No, Jared. I don’t think I’m ready—”
“After last night, you’re ready for anything and you know it. What’s wrong, have you never let a man bathe you before?”
“No, I haven’t,” she admitted. “Just how many women have you bathed?”
“Ah, so that’s it, huh? You’re jealous of all the other women I’ve known.”
“I am not jealous of all the other women you’ve known,” she said adamantly. “Just how many women have there been?”
He fell across the bed, laughing so hard he clutched his sides in pain. Paige lifted a pillow and hit him repeatedly. Grabbing her wrists, he wrangled the pillow away from her and tossed her flat on her back. Straddling her hips, he gazed down at her and flashed her his brilliant smile. She lashed out at him, slapping his chest and shoulders. Manacling both of her wrists, he held them over her head. She squirmed, but he held her in place.
“There’s never been anyone like you, Paige. Never.”
Frowning, she glared up at him. He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers. She thrashed her head from side to side. He buried his face in her neck as he rubbed himself intimately against her. Moaning softly, she instinctively lifted her hips in invitation.
Jackknifing into a sitting position, he eased off the bed, balanced on one foot and dragged her to her feet. “You’re tempting me, honey, but I’m determined to give you a bath before I make love to you again.”
“Jared, I do not want you to give me a bath. We need to talk. We need to…oh!” Paige pulled one hand free and placed it over her stomach. “Oh, my.”
“What’s wrong? Are you in pain? Is something wrong with the baby?” Fear knotted Jared’s stomach and coated his palms with sweat.
“No, I’m fine. The baby…Angela…Angela moved.” She grabbed Jared’s hand and laid it on the rounded swell of her belly. “I’ve felt her fluttering around inside me for a couple of days, but just then it was more than a flutter.”
Tears glistened in Paige’s eyes. Jared knew he’d never seen anything as gloriously beautiful as this woman, her seductive body just beginning to show signs of ripening with his child.
“Angela moved?” He wondered if Paige realized that she’d called their daughter Angela.
She placed her hand over his. “Just hold your hand there for a few minutes. Maybe she’ll move again for her daddy.”
The bottom dropped out of Jared’s stomach. For her daddy. For him. Oh, God in heaven, please let her move. Let me feel her alive inside her mother.
“Come on, Angela, give a little flutter for Daddy,” Jared coaxed as Paige maneuvered his hand over her belly.
As if on cue, the baby moved. Jared drew in a deep breath. “Damn!” Emotions he had never known rose from the very depths of his soul. Emotions he could not—dare not—name.
Kneeling in front of Paige, he clasped her hips in his big hands and drew her belly forward. He kissed the tiny mound that cradled his daughter, then stood and draped his arm around Paige’s shoulders.
“We’re going to take a shower together,” he said. “A long, hot shower.”
On a rational, cognitive level Paige knew that she and Jared needed to talk, to discuss what was happening between them. But on a purely emotional level, heightened by physical pleasure, Paige made no protest when Jared showed her the way into his private bathroom.
He opened the door to the enormous glass-and-chrome shower and they stepped inside. Leaning against the tiled wall, Jared pulled her close, enjoying the feel of her body against his. He quickly divested her of the silk pajama top. She removed her panties and helped him take off his briefs. Standing in front of him, she trembled with desire and anticipation. He had schooled her body in exquisite pleasure and it longed for another lesson.
Water jetted down against their bodies from all four sides of the shower. Squealing, Paige flung herself into Jared’s arms. While rivulets of water cascaded down their bodies, Jared held her close, kissing her passionately.
He lathered her with soap and washed every inch of her, taking his time as he concentrated on her breasts, and then her buttocks, finally parting her legs to cleanse her intimately.
Jared pleasured her with his mouth and hands and taught her to pleasure him. The slow, sweet loving grew in intensity until passion claimed them. They emerged from the shower glowing with joyous satiation. Wrapping themselves in two of Jared’s plush robes, they went into the bedroom, gathered up Jared’s crutches and ventured downstairs.
They spent the rest of the day together in a sexual fog, lovers with no past and no future, living only for the wondrous present. They prepared a late lunch together and sat on a rug in front of the fire in Jared’s bedroom, feeding each other, nibbling on each other’s fingers.
“Move in with me,” he said, cupping her chin in his hand.
“I can’t. I—”
“Then stay for the rest of the week, as we had planned. Only sleep in my bed.”
Jared wanted her to live with him, to be with him whenever he wanted her, and he wanted her all the time. It seemed the more he made love to her, the more he wanted her, the deeper she became entrenched in his life, possessing him as no woman ever had.
She had given herself to him without demanding anything of him. She hadn’t been denying him sex to manipulate him as he’d feared. Paige wasn’t playing games, wasn’t trying to up the ante.
Why had it taken him so long to realize that she really was just what she appeared to be? Why had he allowed what one woman had tried to do to him seventeen years ago to keep him from trusting Paige?
Because it had been easier to distrust her, to assume she was l
ike most of the other women he’d known, than to accept the fact that she loved him. Being loved by Paige scared the hell out of him.
She was hardly a suitable wife for L. J. Montgomery. But by God, she would marry him! He was not going to spend his life without her. She was a diamond in the rough, one he could polish to brilliant perfection.
“All right. I’ll stay until Sunday.” Paige wrapped her arms around his neck.
“And then?”
“And then we’ll see,” she said.
“Yes, we’ll see,” he agreed.
Paige wondered if she could teach Jared how to love her in a week. Would she be able to open up his heart and plant the seeds of an emotion he didn’t believe existed? If she couldn’t teach him to love her, would she be able to walk away at the end of their time together and survive a broken heart?
They made love again and again as if it were their last twenty-four hours on earth. And when one day ended and the next began, they slept in each other’s arms, sated and happy, secure in the certainty that they would have five more days alone together.
Chapter Nine
Paige Summers had never known such happiness as she experienced with Jared that week, and when Sunday afternoon arrived and their time together came to an end, she had never known such sorrow. They had worked side by side every day, slept in each other’s arms every night and shared every moment of their special time alone together. Not once had they marred the beauty of the past week by discussing the future. But it was time for her to return to her apartment in Grand Springs, and they couldn’t delay the inevitable forever.
Standing by the fireplace in his bedroom, Jared Montgomery watched her pack her suitcase. When she glanced his way, he averted his gaze. He didn’t want her to leave.
“What time did you tell Kay to pick you up?” he asked.
“At four,” she said. “I thought that would give us time to drive down the mountain before it gets dark.”
He checked his watch. “We have less than an hour.”
“I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.” Where she’d once again become just his administrative assistant. She zipped her burgundy suitcase.
Using his crutches, Jared took several tentative steps toward her on his sprained ankle. “Don’t leave. Stay with me.”
“Oh, Jared.” Breathing deeply several times, she willed herself not to cry. She’d known she was taking a chance, risking a broken heart, by staying with him. She had placed her hopes and dreams on teaching Jared to love her. She’d failed. Not once had he mentioned the word love, not even in their most passionate moments.
“Please, honey. Stay.”
“Why do you want me to stay?” Dear God, let him tell me that he cares. If only he could say that he thinks he’s falling in love with me, it would be enough.
“Why?” He stared at her, an incredulous look on his face. “Because we’re good together, you and I. We’re damn good together.”
Hell, it could take years to have his fill of her, to reach the point where he didn’t want her day and night with an insatiable hunger. If only she’d marry him…
Closing her eyes, desperately trying not to cry, Paige bit down on her bottom lip. She had to agree with him. They were good together. But didn’t he realize that what they shared was special, that the chemistry between them was experienced by only the luckiest couples in the world?
“This week together has been wonderful,” she admitted. “The most wonderful week of my life. But—”
“No buts, honey. You want to stay. You know you do.” With his gait hampered by the use of the crutches, he made his way slowly across the room. When he reached her side, he sat down on the edge of bed, propped his crutches on the footboard and held out his hand.
She lifted her suitcase, placed it on the floor, then sat down beside Jared and put her hand in his. “It would be so easy to agree to stay here with you, but I can’t. These past few days together have been days out of time, moments we’ve stolen from our real lives. We’ve been pretending that everything is all right, that we don’t have any problems.”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, then held it against his cheek. “Isn’t what we’ve shared this week enough for you? God, Paige, don’t you realize how good it is between us?”
“Of course I realize how good it is.” She slipped her hand out of his grasp. “But I want more. I want it all. Not just the fantastic sex. Even marriage isn’t enough without the love and happily-ever-after that goes with it.”
“Why can’t what we have be enough for you?” Jared clenched his jaw.
“Is it enough for you?” Paige asked.
“Yes, it’s enough. It’s more than enough. Hell, it’s more than I ever thought I’d have.”
Jared’s brutally honest admission touched her deeply. How little had he expected? Had he really thought he could marry a woman and spend a lifetime with her not only without love, but without passion? Poor, poor Jared. His plans to find a suitable mate, marry and produce an heir had been logical, unemotional, sterile plans.
“Before we met…” She paused, trying to choose the right words, words that wouldn’t frighten him. She wondered if perhaps not only did Jared not believe himself capable of loving someone, but that the very thought of love scared him. “Hasn’t it ever been like this for you before? I mean…haven’t you ever felt about another woman the way you feel about me?”
Grabbing her shoulders, Jared turned her to face him. “Dammit! What do you want me to say? Do you want me to admit that you hold a power over me that no other woman ever has?”
“I want you to be honest. With yourself, as well as with me.” Tell me you love me.
“All right. The honest truth is that I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life, but I hate needing you this way. I’ve always had control over every aspect of my life. You make me lose control. You make me crazy!”
Even though he couldn’t tell her that he loved her, Paige wondered if perhaps the feelings he did have for her were closer to love than anything he’d ever felt. Had their week together strengthened his feelings for her even more than she had hoped? Had Kay been right after all, about teaching Jared how to love? If so, this might be the first step in the learning process.
Leaning her head to one side, she rubbed her cheek across the top of his hand that held her left shoulder. He loosened his grip, ran his hand down her arm and circled her waist.
“I need to go back to my apartment for a few days,” she told him. “I can’t think rationally when we’re together all the time. Whether or not I should move in with you is a major decision.”
Jared cupped her chin in his hand. “Are you saying that you’re considering moving in with me?”
“Yes, I’m considering it. But if I do decide to live with you, it will be only until Angela is born.” Or it can be for the rest of our lives, if you learn to love me.
“Ah, honey, you’ve made me a happy man.”
“I haven’t decided yet. I think this is something we both need to take time apart to consider. In a few more months, I’m going to be big and fat and…and we may not be able to have sex. Be sure this is what you really want.”
He kissed her, hard and fast, then smiled. Paige’s stomach did an evil flip-flop.
“I don’t care how big and fat you get,” he said, then patted her stomach. “You’ll be getting larger as my baby grows inside you. And even if we can’t have sex later in your pregnancy, there are other ways to make love.”
Don’t blush, dammit, she told herself. Don’t blush! “I need a few days to think about it.”
“Take a week, if you need to, as long as you decide to live with me.”
Jared toppled them both over into the bed, and within moments they were lost to the passion that neither could control. They were still in bed when Kay arrived. Jared dressed hurriedly and went downstairs to answer the door, while Paige freshened up and put on her clothes.
* * *
The house w
as empty without Paige, and Jared was lonely. Although he’d been alone most of his life, he didn’t think he’d ever been really lonely before. Except, maybe, for a while after Grandpa Monty had died. He had missed that old man for a long time. Hell, sometimes he still missed him.
Even though his parents had given Jared everything money could buy, they’d never spent much time with him. As a child, he’d been cared for by a succession of nannies and servants, people paid to see to his needs. As an adult, he’d changed very little about his lifestyle, depending on employees to keep his business and his ranch running smoothly. Even though he made friends easily, he never knew what they liked better, his money or him. And always in the past, he had chosen women with whom he could have unemotional, uninvolved relationships that he could end effortlessly.
But Paige was different from any woman he’d ever known. And the way he felt about her was different. Stronger. More intense. He’d never really needed anyone before—he’d made sure of that. But Paige had hit him like a ton of bricks. A chance encounter in an elevator had turned his life upside down. After making love to Paige, nothing else would ever be the same.
As much as he wanted her, Jared hated his weakness. Paige made him vulnerable. She had taken his sane, orderly, well-planned life and thrown him into utter chaos.
Here he was rich, powerful, not bad-looking and reasonably young. With the snap of his fingers, he could have a hundred women at his beck and call. But he didn’t want those hundred women—he just wanted one. One feisty, stubborn, romantic redhead, who had him spinning his wheels while he waited for her to make a decision.
Using a cane for support, Jared paced back and forth in his den. How long was it going to take Paige to come to her senses, to realize that there was no logical reason for them not to live together, for them not to marry?
She had moved back to her apartment three days ago, and even though he’d seen her every day at the office, it wasn’t enough. He wanted her in his home, in his bed, in his arms, every morning and every night.
Nine Months Page 16