“Baby-sit me, I know,” Jack broke in. “I know you think I’m a little slow on the uptake, but yes, I managed to pick up on the fact that you apparently don’t trust me to be able to string more than three sentences together that you haven’t vetted and preapproved.” He leaned closer, smiled. “Believe it or not, up until a few weeks or so ago, I was doing a pretty damn good job of policing myself.”
He was not going to worm his way into her good graces. Or anything else, for that matter. That frisson of awareness she felt every time he invaded her personal space? A perfectly normal reaction to the heightened tensions running between them. She could certainly control herself. And would. “Well, a few weeks ago, your face wasn’t plastered on the cover of a national magazine. And based on your performance today with Perky Petra, I’d say my instincts are pretty much dead-on.”
His eyes twinkled. The gall.
“Perky Petra, huh?” He reached out and traced his fingertips along her clenched forearm.
She tried very hard not to react. Not to shiver in awareness. To absolutely refuse to acknowledge the way the hairs lifted from her arm as her entire body prickled. He was frustrating, irritating, and a major pain in her ass. She had no business wanting him to touch her.
“I wasn’t really paying attention,” he went on.
She snorted. “Oh, please.” But she didn’t move away. Simply proving to him, of course, that his touch didn’t affect her. Nope. Not at all. Totally immune.
His mouth curved more deeply. “Although I do think that for all her supposed perkiness she was pretty perceptive. In fact,” he continued, retracing his path down to her wrist again, “I’d say she was pretty much spot on with her assessment of the undercurrents that were really swirling in this room. Undercurrents, by the way, that didn’t start until you stepped through that door.”
It was only when he leaned forward that Valerie conceded defeat and turned away. “Believe what you want,” she snapped, flipping open her binder and trying to focus on her notes. On anything except whatever the hell it was he did to her every time they were alone. “Because Petra sure as hell will. And she’ll make damn sure all of her readers believe it, too.”
Jack allowed her to retreat, leaning back against the table, crossing his legs and arms. “I think you’re making too much of it. I understand the grocery-store tabloid wasn’t the vehicle we wanted. But this is different.” He tried one of his trademark cocky smiles. “Besides, it will be in British grocery stores. What do we care?”
Before she could begin to enumerate that list, he went on. “People are going to speculate about something no matter what. Might as well reap the attention for Glass Slipper.”
Valerie ground her teeth. “I think we’ve garnered enough positive attention not to have to pander to people’s more prurient interests, don’t you? Never mind, don’t answer. And for God’s sake, stop smiling at me like that.”
He chuckled. She huffed and took a seat. To think she’d spent even two seconds considering the idea of sleeping with him when this was all over. Obviously, sleep deprivation was getting to her. Although, admittedly, sex deprivation might be equally to blame.
“We have a lot to go over.” She nudged out the chair opposite her with her foot and gestured him to it, not caring what conclusions he drew.
To her relief, he circled the table and sat. “Shoot.”
“Don’t tempt me.” She sorted through her notes, careful not to look at him. She really needed to find a way to stay more balanced around him. She was never like this, testy and shrewish all the time, except around him. Jack Lambert set her off faster than anybody in recent memory. Of course, he could probably get her off faster than anyone in recent memory, too. That was half her problem. Two thirds, even.
“Is Eric planning on making an appearance today?” she asked.
“Actually, Eric seems to think he can trust me. I know, wacky concept,” he said with a mock-surprised shrug. “He said something about an appointment with a real estate agent. I have no idea what that means, or what he’s up to, but since I’ve never seen him this happy and excited, I decided maybe I could trust me, too.” His expression softened a little, and Valerie was struck by how sincerely pleased he was when he talked about his best friend. “And, okay, maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly when I jumped in and agreed to do this People thing and the talk show. I shouldn’t let you provoke me.”
She sat back. “I didn’t provoke you. We’d agreed you wouldn’t do anything else. That’s not provoking, that’s expecting you to hold up your end of the deal. And if I recall, you were all for that yourself. Even Eric agreed. He was all prepared to back us up, too, but nooo, you go and jump in, save the day, be a—”
“Prince?” he supplied helpfully.
She threw her pencil at him.
“Hey!” He lifted a hand and it bounced off his arm.
“That’s provocation, okay?” she said. “Now let’s talk about the upcoming schedule.”
“Valerie—”
She lifted her hand. “I should have said, let me talk about the upcoming schedule. You talking is what got us here in the first place.”
“Just exactly what is it you think I’m going to do wrong?”
She folded her arms on the table. “I don’t know. When I came in here you were dispensing advice. Just because you read Eric’s books doesn’t mean you’re qualified to—” She broke off when she noticed Jack was suddenly having trouble keeping her gaze. She let out a short, harsh laugh. “Oh, my God. You still haven’t read any of them?”
“I skimmed. Heavily,” he added quickly, then sighed and slouched back in his seat when she continued to scowl at him. “I have your synopses of his books. And Eric and I talk all the time. I wasn’t supposed to give advice anyway, so why read hundreds of pages of it?”
“Oh, I don’t know. So you might have a clue what it is you’ve supposedly made buckets full of money writing about? You know, just in case someone asks about it!” She shoved out of her seat, more angry with her own lack of control than anything, and paced to the long bank of windows, keeping her back to him. “Dammit,” she swore under her breath, then stiffened as she felt him come up behind her. “I don’t know why I let you get to me like that.”
“I don’t know, either. Maybe the same reason I let you get to me.” He very gently took her shoulders and turned her around.
She couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes quite yet.
“I know I haven’t been a model stand-in. I’m not even sure why I’ve pushed things the way I have.” He tightened his grip on her shoulders. “But you get all bossy and controlling and the next thing I know I’m agreeing to do this, stepping up to do that. Pushing things.”
She finally lifted her gaze. “Oh, so it’s all my fault.”
“I didn’t say that. Maybe we’re both not dealing with this as well as we could be.” His grip turned into a caress as he massaged her shoulders a little. “You’re very tense.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind.” She gave him a pointed look.
He pushed his fingers deeper into the muscles of her shoulders and it was all she could do not to groan in abject pleasure as the knots slowly unwound under his clever ministrations. Okay, so maybe she was just a little tense.
“I wasn’t dispensing advice, you know,” he said quietly.
She realized she’d let her eyes drift shut as he continued his massage. She didn’t say anything. They weren’t arguing, and at the moment she wasn’t willing to give up the moment of blissful relaxation.
“I was just repeating what Eric said when he described his occupation to me.”
“Somewhere along the line, you’re going to get tripped up,” she said, her voice having taken on a heavier note. “You can’t be so blasé about this. Readers take Eric’s advice seriously.”
“I know they do.”
She opened her eyes, lifting her hands to cover his, stopping him. “Do you really?”
He held her gaze for a few long m
oments before finally saying, “I don’t know. I don’t usually turn to a book for answers to my personal problems.” He tried a little smile. “But then, I have Eric, so I don’t need to. But I don’t dismiss it as a recourse for others, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
She didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say.
“I think you know, deep down, you can trust me,” he said. “If for no other reason than that I wouldn’t do anything to hurt Eric.”
“I know you don’t want to. I just think you have a cavalier attitude about this, and it worries me because there is so much riding on it.”
“Is that what you’re really afraid of? Losing your job?”
She closed her eyes briefly, then sighed as she looked at him again. “I’d be lying if I said that’s not part of it.”
“But?”
“But the part that keeps me awake at night, and maybe a big part of why I’m so testy all the time, is the dishonesty. I’m not a good liar, Jack. And I can’t enjoy any of the success we’ve gotten from this because it’s all based on a lie.”
“Eric’s books exist. That’s not a lie.”
“But Prince Charming doesn’t. Not like we’re pretending he does.”
He wouldn’t let her disengage her hands from his. Instead he turned them and wove his fingers through hers. “Eric is a real Prince Charming. He just happens to be gay. So we’re giving the public a Prince they can handle. That’s all.”
Valerie couldn’t help the dry smile that curved her lips. “I’m not sure they can handle you, that’s the other part of my problem.”
Jack smiled briefly, then, when she looked away, he dropped one of her hands so he could tip her chin up, turn her face back to his. “We’re not hurting anyone. And we’re giving Eric a chance at a real life, without sacrificing everything he’s worked for. You said people take that advice seriously. Well, that’s because it’s damned good advice. Why ruin that? Why make them doubt what he’s told them over the years? Who is that going to help?”
“I don’t know.” She let him trail his fingers along her jaw, knowing she should move away now. But it felt too damn good, and she’d been carrying this guilt for what felt like ages. It was nice, just for a moment, to share the burden a little. “I just don’t want this to blow up in our faces. Not just for my job. But for what it will do to the godmothers. To Eric.” She pulled his hand away then. “I’ve come to care for them all a great deal. And I guess I’m just scared that what we’re doing could end up hurting them all very badly.”
His lips quirked. “Well, that explains things a little.”
“What do you mean?”
“The tension between us. Why you see me as the bad guy, or potential bad guy. You’re setting me up as the fall guy. The one who can take the blame, at least in your mind, if this all blows up.”
She opened her mouth to tell him he was totally off base, then stopped. Because maybe he wasn’t. Not totally. “Well, you’re certainly not helping matters any there.”
“Meaning?”
“This,” she said, stepping away. “You provoke me, irritate me, then you step in and start being all reasonable and nice. Touching me and—”
“I like touching you.” He pushed his hands into her hair, walked her so her back hit the window.
She gasped as his body came right up along hers. But she didn’t squirm free. She could have told herself it was because he wouldn’t have let her go anyway. But that was one lie too many.
“And for the record, you provoke me and irritate me, too.”
“Then why do we keep ending up like this?” she asked, frustration creeping into her voice.
“Screaming sexual tension?”
She grabbed his forearms, but didn’t push them away when he ducked in and kissed her. It was a short, fast kiss that he followed up with a trail of softer, sweeter kisses along her jawline.
“We can’t do this,” she said a bit breathlessly.
“I wish like hell you were right,” he said, nibbling at the side of her neck.
“Then you don’t want this, either?”
“It complicates things. I’m not one for complications.” His breathing grew more ragged as he pinned her arms up against the glass.
“So why don’t you stop?” She gasped as his body pressed more fully into hers.
“Maybe it’s more than sexual tension.”
She wasn’t sure about that, and he didn’t sound all that sure, either. It felt pretty damn sexual at the moment. In fact, if her skirt weren’t so narrowly tailored, she’d be inching her thigh up his hip, shifting that hard body right where she needed it most. “How could it be? I drive you crazy,” she panted. “You make me nuts.”
“Insane. I know.”
“So?”
He lifted his head to look at her. His gray eyes had gone all glittery and silver. The desire she saw there packed almost as powerful a punch as what he’d been doing to her with his mouth and hands.
“So,” he said, quite seriously, his chest rising and falling against hers. “I can’t seem to stop. And I don’t want to. I think about you, wonder about you. All the time. It’s making me crazy.” He traced his fingertips with surprising tenderness down the side of her face. “Maybe we just need to get each other out of our systems.”
She smiled just a little at the earnestness in his words. “You think?”
He smiled a little, too. “I don’t know what to think. And I have to tell you, that’s not like me. But then, I haven’t been me for a while now, have I?”
“You know,” she said, more seriously than she intended. “I’m beginning to think you’re right. I don’t know the real you at all.”
“Well,” he said, his smile slowly growing. “Here’s your chance.” He started to lean in again.
“What if it’s a chance I’m not willing to take?”
“Then just tell me to stop.”
Now her smile widened. “I believe I’ve been doing that all along.”
That bad-boy grin that made her pulse leap. “And yet here you are, letting me put my hands all over you. Again.”
“I guess I’m going to have to work on that.”
“You do that,” he said, then leaned in and put his mouth on hers.
And just when she gave in, just when she lowered her arms to circle his neck, to fall completely into his kiss . . . that, of course, was when the door to the conference room swung open.
Foreplay
Men are generally a bit slower to realize that the “F” word should be more than some groping mixed in with a little tonsil hockey. Ladies, these men can be trained. Eventually. However, never underestimate the power of a man who needs no training. This is a guy who can have multiple flaws, and still steal your heart. This is the man who understands that the most powerful aphrodisiac in the world . . . is shared laughter.
Chapter 15
“Well, well,” Eric said, his voice filled with amusement. “And here I thought I was the only one who couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
Valerie scrambled away from Jack. “This is exactly why I can’t do this. I lose all perspective around you. Jesus.”
Jack didn’t try to stop her as she moved around the end of the table, scooping up her ubiquitous notepad along the way. As if they’d been deeply involved in their meeting and had, for no apparent reason, just paused suddenly for a deep soul kiss. Shaking his head, he turned a rueful smile on his friend. “Your timing still sucks.”
Eric’s smile was unabashed. “Oh, like Jill Lockerman was going to let you get past second base.”
“She might have,” Jack retorted. “I’d been practicing my moves.”
“Moves.” Eric snorted. “Women aren’t like pillows. They actually respond.”
“Like you’d know.”
“True,” Eric conceded.
Valerie just looked at them both as if they’d lost their collective mind. “Can we please get back to business?” She glared Jack into silence when he opene
d his mouth. “And I don’t mean monkey business.”
“She’s comparing you to an ape,” Eric said. “I’m thinking you still need more practice.”
Valerie glared at Eric. “Do you have any advice on how a woman is supposed to deal with two grown men who can’t be around each other for five minutes without reverting to frat-house humor?”
Eric scratched his closely cropped hair, pretending to give it serious consideration, then grinned unrepentantly and said, “Nope. I’m afraid there is no cure for that.”
For once, Jack wisely stayed out of it and took his seat. Valerie and Eric did the same, and they spent the next hour going over the list of media outlets vying for a piece of the Prince.
When Valerie finally closed her notebook, Jack drained his second cup of coffee and slumped back in his chair. “No offense to you, man,” he said to Eric, “but what in the world is wrong with these people?”
“Never underestimate the power of a pretty face,” Eric said dryly.
“Oh, yeah. I’m downright adorable,” Jack said.
“He has a point. Eric, I mean,” Valerie added quickly. “Seriously, though, maybe it’s because you’re not exactly what everyone expected. Don’t let this go to your head, but I think the general consensus is that you are a better-than-average-looking guy.”
“Now there’s gushing praise,” Jack said, propping his feet up on the chair next to him.
“What I mean is, everyone was hoping for a handsome prince, but we’re all cynical enough to know that’s probably not going to be the case. Then you come along. Not exactly princely,” she said. “A bit rough around the edges. More of a guy’s guy than readers expected. With the kind of edge that gets a woman’s attention.”
Jack let his mouth curve as he held her gaze.
She didn’t fluster so easily this time, holding ruthlessly to her all-business demeanor. “You held your own with your interviewers, both male and female. And I think that helped boost your desirability.” She tapped her pencil on the table. “But now that we’re getting into lengthier interviews, that means meatier interviews. A sparked public is a nosy public. Someone is going to go digging; they’re going to find out you’ve been married. So we have to be prepared to deal with and respond to the fact that the guy dishing out advice couldn’t keep his own marriage together.”
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