Blake looked over his shoulder.
“Isn’t that Ms. Judi? I’ve seen her with Ms. Ellie.”
Blake bolted out the door without a word. He didn’t go to the elevator, but bounded up the stairs two and three at a time.
He opened the employee door that led to the shoe department and came out from a back room. Looking one way and then the next, he saw Judi browsing a pair of dress shoes. Ellie’s shoes came to him. Images of her, dressed in red with the pearl shoes, shot into his mind. His body started to react the same way it had on seeing the real, flesh-and-blood woman, smiling and walking toward him.
“Judi,” he called.
She turned, saw him and then started to walk away. Blake blocked her escape.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“She doesn’t want to see you.”
He blinked when she said that, yet it was not a surprise.
“I want to see her. I want to explain, apologize.”
“You could have done that when she needed it. But all you did was stand in front of her and let her struggle for a way to explain why she didn’t tell you about the accident sooner.”
“I know. I understand now.”
“You don’t,” Judi contradicted him. “Ellie is in love with you and you’re too stupid to see that.”
“I’m in love with her, too.” Blake stopped her with his declaration. “I want to tell her.”
Judi seemed stunned.
“Where is she?”
“You don’t know?” Judi asked.
Blake shook his head.
“Think about what she loves. Where would she go to find comfort and love? That’s where you’ll find her.”
Blake stared at nothing for a long moment. Then he grabbed Judi, startling her, kissed her on the cheek and was off and running.
He made it to the garage in record time, and breaking all speed limits, he was up in the hills, heading for the Purple Cloud Farm.
Ellie loved this place. She came here often, she’d told him. He rounded the curve, passing the clearing where they had shared their first kiss at a speed that would get him a high-priced ticket for dangerous driving. He saw her car before he had time to stop. Braking, Blake left a layer of rubber and a cloud of toxic smoke on the roadway as he brought the Jeep to a stop. He reversed, backing down the road until he got to the clearing.
He parked next to Ellie’s car and jumped out of the Jeep. His heart was pounding as hard as his footsteps. He ran to the clearing, stopping on a skid as he saw Ellie looking at the city.
“What do you want?” she asked, not turning around.
“I want to apologize.”
Ellie’s back stiffened, but she didn’t turn around. Blake held his breath.
“Ellie, I’m sorry. I should have listened to you.” He waited, willing her to give him a chance. “I know you were asking me to believe in you, give you a chance when you were in my apartment. I didn’t. I’ve thought of nothing else since.”
Blake took a few steps toward her. She didn’t turn to him, but she didn’t step away, either. He took that as a good sign.
“I know I should have been more forgiving. When I thought about it, there was nothing to forgive. It was an accident. You tried everything, but what happened wasn’t your fault.” He paused. “The truth is, no one is at fault, least of all you. You tried to save your father and prevent the accident.”
She finally turned. Blake thought his heart would burst.
“I was the one who was arguing with Alexis. I thought I was in love with her.” His breathing was slowing, returning to normal. “But I wasn’t. I didn’t know what love was. Now I do. Because I’m in love with you.”
Ellie’s face softened just a bit. Her shoulders moved down, loosening.
“Alexis was in love with someone else, and I know how she felt. I can’t think of anything better than having children with you. I want to wake up with you, argue with you, have fantastic sex with you. I want you with me every day and everywhere. I love you.”
Blake took a step forward. He was close enough to her to use a normal voice. He lowered it even more. “I was hurt and angry. Alexis told me she was pregnant by another man. I demanded to know who. She never got a chance to tell me. The accident happened.”
“I’m sorry,” Ellie said. “I tried—”
She got no further. Blake rushed to her, pulling her into his arms and capturing her mouth in a desperate kiss. They could sort out the details later. Right now, it was enough for him to hold her and know that she was his. He was hers, too, and would always be.
When Ellie moved her mouth to breathe, Blake kept her close. He looked over her shoulder at the city. The sun was setting. Long streaks of oranges and reds colored the horizon. The breeze was light, and he wasn’t letting Ellie go.
Holding her hand, he bent down on one knee.
She gasped. “Blake?”
He lifted the blue velvet box that had been in his pocket. “Will you marry me?”
Ellie stared at his open hand and the box lying on his palm. Expressions crossed her face too fast for him to capture any of them.
“Yes,” Ellie whispered. Then louder she said, “Yes, yes.”
Blake wasn’t sure if there were tears in her eyes, but he could hear them in her voice. He understood them. His own throat was clogged with an emotional love that he’d never felt before.
He gave her the box, still refusing to break contact with her. Blake stood up, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her into his side. She opened the box, and the breathy sound she made was nothing short of a climax.
* * *
Unconditionally
Janice Sims
Leo held her close to his chest and inhaled the wonderful scent of her, clean, fresh and subtly spicy. If he kissed her, he knew she’d taste like cinnamon. Or some other sweet-smelling spice.
His right hand was at the base of her neck. Her thick hair felt like silk. Her warm skin, beneath the fleece jacket, enticed him. He wanted to touch her bare skin but knew that would be an invasion somehow. He was happy to just hold her. That was a major improvement.
He fought the urge to bury his face in her fragrant neck. She resisted the urge to raise her mouth to his in silent surrender.
He felt her body tremble slightly. She felt the muscles in his arms and thighs grow tense, as if he was summoning up all the restraint he could muster.
They stood there for nearly two minutes before the dogs jumped up on them, breaking the spell. Laughing, they succumbed to their pets’ playfulness and let them romp all over their humans on the living room floor.
“What are we going to do about these two?” Leo asked, laughing. “It’s obvious they’re wild about each other.”
“We should set up a playdate,” Meghan suggested. “Maybe next Saturday?”
Leo smiled at her. “It’s a date.”
Janice Sims is the author of over thirty titles ranging from romance and romantic suspense to speculative fiction. She won an Emma Award for Favorite Heroine for her novel Desert Heat. She has also been nominated for a Career Achievement Award by RT Book Reviews, and her novel Temptation’s Song was nominated for Best Kimani Romance Series in 2010 by RT Book Reviews. She lives in central Florida with her family.
Books by Janice Sims
Harlequin Kimani Romance
A Little Holiday Temptation
Escape with Me
This Winter Night
Safe in My Arms
Thief of My Heart
Unconditionally
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
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This book is dedicated to the memory of our daughter, Rachel Renata Sims, who passed away on October 12, 2015. She was my inspiration to become a writer. Now she’s become my inspiration to continue to write!
Acknowledgments
My sincere thanks to Senior Executive Editor Glenda Howard, who, first of all, displayed such patience and kindness when I had to take some time off to recover from a health crisis. Then she also offered wonderful editorial suggestions that gave Meghan and Leo’s story more depth and meaning. Also, to my line editor, Rachel Burkot, whose comments were so wise and warm, they made revising this book a pleasure. Lastly, to my readers who knew what I was going through the past three years. Your encouraging messages kept me going. God bless you all!
Dear Reader,
It gives me great pleasure to bring you Meghan and Leo’s story. It’s a different kind of romance because Leo has a serious condition that causes him to suffer from self-doubt. While you’re reading it, I ask you to be open-minded and be patient with him. After all, isn’t love supposed to be unconditional? While writing it, I asked my husband if Leo’s behavior in this tale was believable and he said yes. Even he would have had a hard time telling the woman he loved the secret Leo was hiding. I’m currently working on the fifth book in the Gaines Sisters series: Petra and Chance’s story. Please post your thoughts wherever you buy books online and let me and other readers know what you thought of this book. Feel free to friend me on Facebook!
Continued blessings,
Janice Sims
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 1
Meghan Gaines kept checking her cell phone, a habit she reverted to when she was nervous. Every few minutes, her gaze would flicker to the café’s entrance. It was a Saturday in mid-October and she was meeting someone for the first time at noon, and it was already a quarter past. She had chosen Annie’s Café because she knew the owner and it was between Raleigh, where she lived and worked, and Durham, where Leonidas “Leo” Wolfe lived and worked. Plus it served fresh, delicious, locally grown food.
The restaurant was open concept and reminded her of a well-appointed Southern kitchen. Diners could see into the cooking area, with its stainless steel counters and pristine white cabinets, and watch the staff bustling about, preparing orders. Soft rock music played in the background and lush greenery was everywhere. Annie’s Café had a very relaxing atmosphere.
What was up with his name? Leonidas? His parents must have been ancient Greek history buffs, since Leonidas was the name of a king of Sparta. The one who’d led three hundred people to their deaths at Thermopylae in 480 BC. Of course, all most people knew about Leonidas was what they’d learned watching the actor Gerard Butler portray him in the movie 300.
She made a mental note to definitely not ask him about his name. She nervously bit her bottom lip. She hoped her sister Mina wasn’t trying to fix her up with her soon-to-be brother-in-law. Mina and DEA Agent Jake Wolfe had recently gotten engaged, and after his twin brother, Leo, said he was moving from Atlanta, where he was an English professor at Spelman College, to Durham, where he’d been offered a position at Duke University, they’d asked Meghan to show him around the area.
Even though Meghan suspected a setup, she couldn’t refuse because Leo was going to be a part of their family soon, and you didn’t start off familial relationships by avoiding new family members. That was bad manners.
She heard the bell chime over the café door. A tall, handsome black guy the color of roasted chestnuts, with a bald head and a goatee like the one actor/musician Common sported, strode in, wearing jeans, a casual shirt, a tan leather jacket and a startlingly white pair of athletic shoes. His eyes scanned the place and locked onto her. Her breath caught in her throat. Dear God, Mina had told her he looked like Jake (whom she’d already met), but the resemblance was uncanny!
She turned off her cell phone and shoved it into her shoulder bag. She wasn’t going to miss a minute of this.
She knew she was staring at him as he walked over to her table, but she couldn’t stop. He chuckled as he hesitated before pulling out a chair. “If you’re not Mina’s sister, you ought to be,” he said, his light brown eyes twinkling with humor. She saw his brief perusal of her body and was sure he’d noted that she was dressed casually in jeans, like he was, and her brown suede jacket was hanging on the back of her chair. She was glad she hadn’t glammed it up.
“I am Mina’s sister,” she said, sounding foolish to her own ears. His voice, on the other hand, sounded like a cross between Morgan Freeman and James Earl Jones. Deep, but sexy as hell. “And you have to be Jake’s brother, Leo. Otherwise the universe is out of whack. You look just like him.”
He sat down and offered her his hand. They shook. “Hi, Meghan, or is it Meg?”
“Meghan,” she told him, smiling and finally relaxing enough to take a deep breath. She peered closely at his face. “I take that back. You don’t look exactly like Jake. His nose is different. And, of course, he doesn’t have a shaved head.”
“True,” Leo said with an amused smile. “His nose has been broken once. Mine hasn’t. Also, if you look closer, you can tell that I have a scar on my right cheek from a cut I got when I fell out of a tree when I was eight.”
“What were you doing up a tree?”
“Trying to prove I could go higher than Jake, of course. We were very competitive back then.”
“I hope you didn’t break anything,” Meghan said.
“Nah, just a few scratches, some more severe than others,” he said, his hand going to his cheek. He let out a relaxed sigh as he picked up the laminated menu. “So, Mina tells me you teach history at Shaw University. The oldest historically black university in the South. How do you like it?” His eyes met hers over the menu.
She smiled at him. “Easy question to answer. I love it. I love the sense of history, the dedication of the teaching staff and administration, and the potential I see in my students. I’m very happy at Shaw. You also worked at an HBCU in Atlanta, right?”
“Spelman, yes,” he replied. “Great school. I would’ve been there the rest of my life if I hadn’t started feeling like things were beginning to become stagnant. I’m forty. I’d been with Spelman since I got my doctorate fifteen years ago.”
Meghan flashed him another grin. “I got my doctorate at twenty-five, too.”
“And you’re how old now, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I’ll be thirty in July,” Meghan answered, bracing herself for his reaction.
“You look twenty,” he said incredulously.
She groaned inwardly. People were always telling her she looked younger than she was. She couldn’t help how she appeared to others. It wasn’t as if she dressed like a teenager. Or tried in any way to cut years off her age.
“You look good for your age, too. I could show you my driver’s license,” she joked. Then, after they’d finished laughing, she said, “Please go on. You were telling me you felt stagnant.”
“Yes, as if I were standing still,” Leo said. “I mean, in my work I always tried to be innovative, changing it up for my students to keep things fresh. It was my personal life that wasn’t going anywhere. So I published a couple of novels to prove I wasn’t just an English professor who couldn’t master the language, only teach it. But I still felt like I needed a change, so when the recruiter from Duke phoned me with a very nice offer, I took it.”
“Back up. You casually mentioned you’d
published a couple of novels. I read a lot. Especially black authors, but I don’t recall seeing your name on any novels.”
Leo smiled sheepishly. “My name isn’t on the novels. I use a pen name. Jeremiah Jacobs is the author of the dystopian novels Monkey See, Monkey Do and The Silverback.”
Meghan was once again staring at him. “Set in the near future and an alternative history in which Africans were never enslaved in the United States, but discovered the country, instead.”
“You read them?” He looked surprised by the possibility.
“More like devoured them,” Meghan told him, smiling with pleasure. “You’re very talented.”
“Thank you,” Leo said sincerely. “But the market was glutted with dystopian novels, especially young adult ones. My books were well reviewed, but weren’t exactly bestsellers. Although they did earn back their advances, and the publishing company wants another one.”
“Are you working on it?” Meghan eagerly asked. “Because I’m dying to know what happens next.”
“No, not really. My heart hasn’t been in it. Writing’s a lot of work. I know it may seem like it isn’t. People think writers have it so easy because it’s a compulsion with most of us, and the words should just come flowing out like a wellspring. But sometimes it’s hard to come up with the inspiration to do it.”
“Mmm,” Meghan said, considering his words. Publish or perish. Many academics believed you couldn’t get tenure without being a published author. She’d published articles herself, and had written three historical novels she hadn’t shown anyone.
“I’ve always been in awe of those who can create a world just out of their imaginations. But I suppose it can be a frustrating process. I hope you get your mojo back.”
“Thank you,” Leo said. “You know, with both of us having worked at HBCUs, I thought you might be a little judgmental about my signing on with Duke. I’ve had other colleagues call me a sellout.”
Love in San Francisco ; Unconditionally Page 17