by Joan Reeves
So the ice queen was testing their marriage already, Jake thought. "That's really very kind of you. I'm sure Maddie and I will be comfortable here until we can make other arrangements. We won't be underfoot very long. Right, sweetheart?"
Maddie managed a tight smile, and an insincere, "Right, darling."
A brief smile flitted across Constance's face. "That's settled then. I have meetings early in the morning so I'll see you both for dinner tomorrow night."
Jake rose while Constance swept from the room with a swish of her skirts.
Maddie sank onto the taupe silk upholstered loveseat and exhaled loudly.
"Tired?" Jake asked, sitting next to her.
"Tired. Confused." She shook her head slowly. "I feel as if I've run a marathon since that day in your apartment."
Jake sat next to her. When she didn't hit him with a blistering remark or move away from him, he realized she really was exhausted. "How about a massage?" He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed so she was at an angle to him. Then he began kneading the tight muscles. "You carry your tension in your shoulders."
"And my neck," Maddie murmured, rolling her head slowly from one side to the other.
Jake kept massaging, eliciting a low moan from Maddie. His hands slid up her neck, slowly massaging the tendons. Maddie slanted her head to the right to give him better access.
To Jake, the soft silky skin of her throat was an invitation he could not deny. His hands slid back to her shoulders, and his mouth landed gently on her scented skin. He kissed her there, his lips soft, sliding from just below her ear, down over the curve of her neck to her shoulder. His mouth opened in a hot sucking kiss there. This time her moan was one of desire. The sound went straight to his groin. He kissed her along her shoulder just as he'd imagined doing when he'd first seen her in the pale green dress that evening. His hands no longer massaged, but spread heat as he stroked her silky skin.
When Maddie didn't protest, his fingertips slid beneath the satin fabric at the low, draped neckline. His mouth followed. He wanted to taste her skin there. He wanted to kiss her everywhere.
Maddie thought she would go up in flames. But she'd wait another minute before stopping him. She knew she was literally playing with fire in letting him touch her, kiss her, but she couldn't resist. It was like so many of her fantasies come to life.
"Let's take this party upstairs," Jake whispered, gathering her into his arms, rising with her held tightly against his chest as if she weighed nothing.
With every step, she told herself that she would stop him. At the top of the stairs, he turned and headed to her room. She could feel his heart pounding against her and knew hers pounded just as hard in response. He was her husband. Would it be so wrong to have this time with him?
Jake paused at her door. A moment later they were in her room with the door closed behind them. He paused again, and she heard the lock click. The lamp on one of the bedside tables had been left on low, casting a warm glow across the satin coverlet. Maddie saw the heat in Jake's eyes as he looked from her to the king-size bed that had taken the place of the girlish canopy bed she'd once had.
At the bed, he released her. She slid down his body, feeling his hardness. His heat. Now was when she would tell him to stop. His hands drifted around her waist. She heard the quiet buzz of the zipper. Her dress fell open. He shoved the satin down. It puddled on the floor around her feet. He unhooked the strapless bra, removing the last barrier that kept his hands from her breasts. When he touched her, his hands shook. That made her feel a bit better because she was shaking like a leaf in a whirlwind.
His hands were hot on her skin. His fingertips, slightly callused, aroused as he stroked her. The heavy ache between her thighs grew more pronounced. Oh, she wanted this. She wanted him. But…he didn't want her. Not really. This was just lust. Any woman would have pleased him. Maddie gasped a strangled protest, "No. Jake. No." Yet she couldn't make herself move from his embrace.
Confused, Jake raised his eyes from her mesmerizing body to her face. She quivered like a tautly strung bow. "No?" he managed to whisper.
Maddie gained the courage to step away. Another step and the spell was broken. She ran to the bathroom and closed the door.
Jake sank onto the bed. He took deep breaths trying to calm his raging body. Why had she stopped him? He knew she wanted him. Several minutes passed. He finally managed to get enough blood back into his brain to think. He heard the shower come on.
He saw his bag and Maddie's on the large table by the window. When the pressure against his zipper had subsided, he walked over to his suitcase and removed a pair of gray jogging shorts and a white tee shirt. Well, this evening hadn't worked out like he'd hoped. He knocked on the bathroom door. "If you're finished in there, I need to take a shower. A really cold shower."
The door opened immediately. Maddie's hair was pinned on top of her head, and her face had been washed clean of makeup. She wore an old flannel robe, belted tightly about her slim waist. He bit back a groan. She even looked sexy in that, he thought, escaping into the bathroom.
Maddie knew she and Jake couldn't sleep together, but the floor was the only other horizontal surface in her room. There was no other bedding either, and she didn't want to go rummage through the linen closet because Constance would find out for sure. Then she'd know that Maddie and Jake's marriage was a sham. Amy had said Constance, as trustee, could create problems. Constance couldn't learn that this was a marriage of convenience, but Maddie couldn't risk sleeping with Jake either. At the end of the year, she wanted to walk away from this with her heart intact, not broken in a million pieces.
"Okay," she muttered. "Necessity is the mother of invention." She checked the door to make sure it was locked then she pulled the down comforter from the bed and laid it on the floor at the foot of the bed. She added a pillow to it, removed her robe and used it as a blanket. When she heard the bathroom door open, she hastily closed her eyes and feigned sleep. A moment later, she felt the pillow yanked away.
She sat up to see Jake toss the pillow onto the bed. His hair was wet from the shower. The white tee shirt and gray shorts didn't obscure enough of the details of his body. She looked away quickly.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"I'm doing the only sensible thing given the fact that we can't sleep together."
When he didn't say anything, she risked looking at him. He frowned fiercely. "This is ridiculous. You can't sleep on the floor."
"There's nothing wrong with the floor."
Jake sighed heavily and sat on the edge of the bed. "Look. I'm tired. You're tired. It's been a stressful few days. I can't let you sleep on the floor. I'll have to play the gentleman card and give you the bed, but I don't want to sleep on the floor either."
When Maddie started to protest, Jake held up a hand. "We're both mature adults. I'm way past the stage of being a slave to my hormones. If you can say the same, then why can't we share the bed? For sleep only. You can consider it another oral contract if that makes you happy."
"No sex?"
"None. Nada. Zero."
"No seduction? No wooing?" Maddie asked.
"Right. It's a big bed. You stay on your side. I'll stay on mine."
He was right. Even though she'd been energized earlier when he'd been touching her, the truth was, she was exhausted. "Okay. Just so you agree that there will be no sex."
"How many ways do I have to say it?" He grumbled. "Oh, for the love of a good night's sleep, I'm too tired to argue with you. I promise I won't touch you."
Maddie gnawed on her lower lip. Jake suppressed his smile. She looked so darn sexy in the pink tee shirt and pink polka dot boxers. He'd seen her chew on her lower lip so often when she'd been young. Usually when she was trying to work up her courage to do something she shouldn't do, something that always drew Constance's ire.
"I'm going to hold you to your promise." Maddie went around the bed to the other side. She slid beneath the covers and pulled t
he blanket up to her chin. Jake climbed into bed and turned the lamp off.
"I won't touch you until you ask me too," he said softly in the dark.
"Then I'm safe because I won't ask."
Maddie turned onto her right side, facing away from him. After a minute, he heard her reposition onto her back. Then she turned again. She wriggled and made little enticing sounds until he couldn't stand it. Irritably, he asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I think I'm too tired to sleep."
That brought back memories of all the nights she'd creep into the servants' quarters where he'd be in the small living room reading. "Oh, Maddie, you've always been an insomniac. Want me to tell you a story?"
A smothered giggle answered him. "No thanks. The stories you told me when we were kids always scared the bejesus out of me."
"Yeah, well, I was in my 'Nightmare on Elm Street' phase."
"Don't even mention that movie. It freaked me out for years."
Her soft laugh made the darkness more companionable. He'd never liked sleeping with a woman after sex, but he found he liked being here with Maddie, cocooned in the dark with only moonlight shining through the windows as they talked. Maddie had turned on her side, facing him. "I know you want me, Maddie. Why do you keep saying no?"
Maddie tensed. She couldn't tell him the truth. She opted for another truth that he might accept as answer. "I'll tell you on two conditions. First, don't make fun of me, and, second, you have to tell me a painful truth too."
"Let me think. The first is easy to fulfill. I promise I won't make fun of you. There. That's done. The second. Hmm. I take it you're going to impart a painful truth?"
"Particularly painful. In every way."
Jake turned on his side, narrowing the de-militarized zone between them. Moonlight allowed him to see her fairly well. "It's a deal. Tell me your deep dark secret."
Softly, she whispered, "I'm celibate."
His eyes flew open. "You're what?"
She laughed, but there was little amusement in the sound. "It's true. Mad Maddie, the oil heiress known for her sexcapades, is celibate. She no longer sleeps around. She no longer drinks too much and goes home with strange men."
Jake heard the pain in her voice. "Did you do that? Go home with strange men?"
"Yes. Any man. Anything to make my life less lonely."
Jake hated the jealousy that rolled through him like black bile. But he hated the desolation in her voice even more. He breached the distance between them, pulling her close, seeking only to comfort.
Maddie stiffened. "You promised."
"I haven't broken that promise."
When she turned away from him, he pulled her close, curving his body around hers. "Here's a painful truth. I just want to hold you. Don't ask me why. I'm not trying anything. I'm not breaking my promise." He laid his arm across her, holding her against him. Having her bottom snug against him was the most delightful torture he could imagine. She was so close to him that he could feel her heartbeat against his arm that bound her to him. She took a deep breath that sounded suspiciously like a sob.
"What are you, a saint?" Maddie gasped.
"I must be," he muttered. "Only a saint would set himself up for such torture."
He heard another choked sob. "Why are you crying, Maddie?"
"I'm not."
Jake knew that was a lie. "Just sleep. You're safe in my arms until you tell me otherwise." He laughed softly. "If you can ignore my erection, I guess I can too."
To his surprise, after several minutes, Maddie relaxed against him. Her breathing deepened. He drew her even closer, liking the way she felt in his arms. That roused her.
In a sleepy murmur, she said, "You still owe me a painful truth. The other doesn't count."
He held her and willed himself to yield to sleep. She wanted a painful truth?
How about the fact that he found himself wanting her more than he'd ever wanted any woman?
Chapter 8
The next day, Maddie awoke to find herself lying almost on top of Jake. Her right arm was flung across his chest, and his left arm rested on her back. She tensed and waited to see if he too were awake, but he slept on. Slowly she pulled away. Sleeping in his arms had been as unexpected as it was wonderful. He made an unintelligible sound and rolled onto his stomach. She took one last look at him even as she told herself not to get used to the tenderness he'd shown her last night. After that intimacy, she needed to shore up her defenses.
Maddie dressed quickly in jeans, a lime green tee shirt and sneakers. She grabbed an old leather aviator jacket that she'd bought at one of the charity resale shops and hurried out of the room before Jake awoke and asked her where she was going. She didn't want to lie to him about the shelter.
Downstairs, she dashed into the kitchen and greeted Inez with a smile. Usually, Maddie had coffee with her, but not today.
She had a hard time starting the old Mercedes. Although beautiful on the outside, the old sports coupe that had been her mother's was a clunker on the inside. The engine needed a valve job or something like that. She'd listened patiently to the mechanic who told her about everything wrong with the car, but the details hadn't sunk into her non-mechanical brain. She just knew it would cost more money than she wanted to spend so she had to put it off until next year when she could tap into her trust.
Maddie backed the car out of the garage, cringing when the engine backfired. She prayed the sound didn't rouse Jake. Before she could shift into low, it backfired again. Damn. She glanced up at her bedroom window. "Please be asleep."
At first Jake thought the sound was gunfire. He awoke disoriented, but he knew in an instant that he wasn't back in Afghanistan and under fire. He was alone in the bed. He went to the window and saw the old Mercedes that used to occupy the last bay in the garage. Surely Maddie wasn't driving that old heap. As he watched, it belched smoke from the exhaust and backfired. That explained the noise that had awakened him. Why wasn't she driving some sleek new car?
Jake dressed in jeans, a red knit pullover shirt, and his favorite running shoes. Within fifteen minutes he was in the kitchen and chatting with Inez, the new housekeeper, over a cup of coffee. The short, slightly built woman--also Hispanic like his mom--was probably in her mid-forties. Inez didn't beat around the bush. "Your mother helped me get this job. She's a good woman."
"Yep. That's my mom." He looked around. He'd spent much of his youth in this very kitchen. Walking across the black and white marble tiles was like coming home.
"Would you like me to cook you some breakfast? Mrs. Quinn told me to do whatever you wished."
That surprised Jake. "Thanks, but I'm going to visit my mom."
"Please tell her I'll see her at the farmer's market next weekend. Oh, and I'll prepare the coffee pot in the morning so you can just press the power button when you come into the kitchen. Unless you want me to bring a tray to your room. I mean Miss Maddie's room."
"Oh, heck no. I can fetch my own coffee."
She giggled. "That's what Miss Maddie does. Except this morning. She didn't even stop for a cup."
Jake should have realized Inez knew everything that went on in the household. Graciella always had. Chances are Maddie hadn't warned Inez to silence. "So where did Maddie go in such a hurry?"
"Oh, you know her. She can't wait to get to the shelter every morning. She thinks they can't operate without her there to help." Inez rolled her eyes. "But sometimes her help is more a problem than a help. You know what I mean?"
"Maddie does have a way of jumping head first into things." He finished his coffee and took the cup to the sink. "I thought I'd pick her up for lunch, but I forgot to get the address. Do you happen to know it?"
"Sure. It's near West Alabama in one of the older homes over there." She grabbed a piece of note paper from a pad next to the phone and wrote quickly then handed him the note. "It's easy to find. Oh, Mrs. Quinn said to remind you that dinner is at seven."
Jake thanked her and left. He memorized the ad
dress then entered it into his phone and checked the GPS directions as he walked to the Camaro. He took a few minutes to sync his phone before driving away.
Like any good soldier, he'd reconnoiter and gather intel. Logically, his mother was the person to provide the information he'd need so he headed to her house, planning his itinerary on the way.
Traffic was light so he reached the tree-covered subdivision where she lived in record time. Every time he visited her, he felt a warm glow of achievement when he looked at her house. When he'd netted his first million, he'd bought her this house and set up an investment fund to pay for its maintenance and upkeep for the rest of her life. It still amused him that she'd wanted an ivy-covered English Tudor rather than a Spanish-style stucco with a clay tile roof. Although she fussed about all the money he spent, he ignored it.
Before he was out of the car, his mom had the door open and was walking down the sidewalk to greet him.
"Morning, Mom. I think we have something to talk about."
Graciella hugged him and ushered him inside. Jake looked around to see any changes she'd made since the last time he'd been there. Her home was comfortable and filled with warm colors, beautiful stained wood, and overstuffed furniture. He had to admit, he loved the furniture even if it did have pale pink cabbage roses on the chintz fabric.
Jake accepted another cup of coffee from his mom and settled into one of the rocker recliners in front of the fireplace. "There are a few things we should talk about. Why don't you start by telling me why you told Maddie I was unemployed?"
Graciella waved a hand. "Oh, that. I just had an inspiration I guess you could say." She laughed. "Maybe I've been reading too many romance novels."
"That's it? That's your excuse?"
"I can't remember exactly what happened. You know how it is when you get old."
"Old? Mom, you're not even fifty yet."
Graciella made a big show of looking at the clock over the fireplace. "Oh, my goodness. Is that the time? I'm afraid I'm going to have to shoo you out of here. I have a…a hair appointment in fifteen minutes."