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She watched him through narrowed eyes. “I’ve seen you at work. You never give up, you merely change tack. Remember when you went crazy for the sailboat ink drawing I did and vowed to work it into the cologne campaign even though the client was dead set on a cowboy graphic?”
Okay, so that sailboat was now stamped on male cologne bottles around the world—the original drawing framed in his computer room at home. But all that was beside the point. He focused on the goal.
“This is more important than work. I want you calm and happy.” Honest enough, and while he was going for truthfulness… “Hell, and it just so happens that I also want you. You were beautiful before, but now you’re absolutely stunning.”
“Back down, Romeo,” she said, but still smiling, as he guided the car up to a small cabin restaurant. “You’ve already worked your way into my bed.”
“It’s been a while.” Four months that felt like longer and still he hadn’t been able to forget her. Irritation nipped. Damn it, he’d had to force himself to offer to buy another woman a drink. A drink, for Pete’s sake. He hadn’t even asked her for a date.
Lauren pulled out her cell phone and thumbed the keypad.
Jason reigned in his irritation and focused on Lauren. “Your mother again?”
“No, I’m checking the call history.” She pursed her lips. “Hmm… four months and not a single call from you. Doesn’t seem like you’ve been pining for me.”
Had she been mad that he hadn’t called? He’d considered it, but she’d been fast to show him the door after they had sex. Maybe he’d misread her. As much as he prided himself on gauging people, this time, he wouldn’t mind being wrong one damn bit.
Maybe she did want a repeat. God knows, he’d wanted more of her then, wanted more now. Her flowery scent drifted across the car, her soft curves warm, inviting him to pull off somewhere more secluded and tangle up with her. The pregnancy complicated matters, sure. But maybe sex could simplify them again.
Pure want pounded through his veins. “You made it clear our plans for the future didn’t jibe.”
“That hasn’t changed.”
“Everything has changed.” He shifted in his seat, the leather creaking as he leaned closer to her.
Her pupils dilated. She swayed nearer. Still he waited, taking his time to breathe in the fresh scent of her, the flowers and greenery she worked with.
He slid an arm along the back of her seat, just cupping her shoulder, absorbing the feel of her, remembering. Her curves fit into the curve of his arm, softer, fuller with the swell of pregnancy between them.
He forced himself to move away. “This baby puts a whole new spin on priorities, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner we can move on to the good stuff.”
She flopped back with a frustrated sigh. “You have a one-track mind.”
He wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. If there was a chance she wanted to resume the sexual relationship, he wouldn’t mess it up again by pushing too fast or walking away too soon. Time to start romancing the mother of his child.
Jason flipped his coat collar up and unlocked the car doors. “Let’s put this conversation on hold until after supper. I have a surprise for you.”
He was certain the specially chosen restaurant would charm her. He just had to hope his best powers of persuasion would be enough to sway this coolly inscrutable woman.
The stakes were too high to consider a loss.
Where had she lost her self-control?
Lauren gripped the banister of the front steps leading up to her apartment building, a restored brownstone. The dinner with Jason had been amazing. His choice of a family-owned Italian restaurant full of plants charmed her. The rustic old homestead was like a warm vineyard inside. Having him notice her love of greenery touched her. He was trying.
She climbed the steps, aware of him at her back. Of course he was trying. He wanted to get his way. Jason Reagert was a driven, ambitious man. Everyone in the ad business knew nothing could stop him when he set his mind to do something. She’d found it admirable when they were work friends.
But as the target of his campaign? She wasn’t so sure anymore. What would have been an enjoyable, intimate evening bothered her somehow, made her want the real thing.
No. She wasn’t ready to go that far. The ring would stay in her purse a while longer.
She glanced over her shoulder as a car slushed past. “Thank you for the thoughtful dinner. You actually managed to take my mind off the mess at work for a couple of hours.”
He turned up his coat collar, his dark hair shiny in the glow of the outdoor lights. “You need to eat. Glad I could be of service.”
Lauren twisted her key in the lock. “You’re not going to use my comment as an excuse to press your plan for a fake engagement?”
“You know where I stand. What more is there to say?” He followed her into the building’s hallway, apparently in no hurry to call it a night. “And before you ditch me on the stoop, I am going to see you safely to your apartment door.”
“For safety’s sake?” She gestured around the entryway, soaring ceiling echoing the low voices of a couple down the corridor and the older lady in 2A calling to her poodle for a walk. Nobody would get mugged here. Too many witnesses.
“Somebody’s gotta protect you from that vicious pup.” He smiled, his five-o’clock shadow adding a bad-boy air to go along with the glint in his eye.
She rolled her eyes and started up the stairs, trying not to think about how long those three flights would feel once she was in her third trimester. “Come on, then.”
He followed, a wooden stair creaking under his foot. “I’m not asking for coffee or anything. Although if you invite me, I’ll pick you up and carry you inside for a night you won’t forget.”
“I had forgotten how persuasive you can be.”
“I didn’t forget how good you smell.” He eye-stroked her. “Have I told you how much I like the scent of flowers on you?” He dipped his head. “Taking you to that restaurant was as much for me as it was for you.”
“Dinner was nice and I appreciate that you picked a spot to win me over, but I don’t like being manipulated. Your honesty calls out to me more than anything.”
A grin creased the corners of his eyes as they reached the third floor. “I forget sometimes that you and I are in the same business.”
“Just be straight with me.”
“I can do that.”
Could she believe him? Leaning back against her door, she searched his eyes for some sign of his deeper thoughts and feelings. She looked and found… passion.
Not a surprise, but unsettling all the same, with her own emotions in such a whirl that she felt the least upset could send her spinning. Before she could think, she reached to dust melting snowflakes off the lapel of his jacket. Hard, male muscles twitched under her touch. Her pulse raced, stirring that pottery wheel inside her faster.
“Whoa!” She jolted back, pressing a hand to her belly.
Frowning, Jason braced a palm against her back. “Are you all right? Give me the key. You need to lie down.”
“I’m fine, totally fine.” She stepped away before she succumbed to the temptation to lean against him. The baby’s swift kick brought her back to reality. “Our kiddo is just exercising off that fabulous chicken marsala.”
His gaze dropped to her stomach. His fingers flexed. The way he didn’t ask for what he so obviously wanted nudged her to offer. “Do you want to feel?”
He nodded curtly.
She took his hand and flattened it to the spot where… “I’m not sure if you’ll be able to feel—it’s still kinda early.” And no way was she inviting him to touch her bare stomach. Would he be at her doctor appointments down the road? Too much to think about. She needed to stay in the moment, one thing at a time. “Wait, just a little to the left.” She guided him. “Right there.”
His eyes widened. He looked up at her quickly, then back to her stomach. “I think I… Yeah. Wow.”
“Sometimes I just lie in bed and feel the baby move until all of the sudden I see an hour has passed. Wild, isn’t it?”
“I had no idea what that felt like. I’ve never… ” He looked up at her again, holding her gaze, no shutters in place for the first time. “Thank you.”
All noise around her faded, the other couple, the barking poodle, became a dull din drowned out by the drum of her pulse in her ears. She linked her fingers with his, wondering what it would be like to follow this attraction.
The heels on her boots brought her closer to his face. He only needed to duck a little, or she could arch up. Only a kiss. Nothing more. A simple… brush of his mouth against hers. She could feel his breath already touching her in a phantom caress and, God, how she wanted this, just this much. Why even bother worrying about whether they would take it further?
She nipped his bottom lip. He growled low, then took her mouth with his, fully, no way to tell who’d opened for whom first because the hunger just took over. They’d kissed in her office before landing on the sofa. It hadn’t been a totally impersonal hookup, but they certainly had made out. Not like this, standing in the hall outside her door, necking with the man who’d taken her to dinner. There was something wonderfully romantic about it. Something that made her want to sink in for a while and just enjoy the moment.
Her fingers tested the texture of his short hair still damp from snowflakes. He smelled of the cool crisp winter air and a hint of oregano from the restaurant, and her ravenous senses lapped up every bit.
“Lauren,” he whispered, scattering kisses up her cheekbone, over her ear, “this is getting more than a little out of control for a public hallway. Do you want to move inside?”
Did she? She inched back to stare up into his face.
Her apartment door swept open, startling her back a step and into the present. Jason stepped in front of her protectively, his back tense under her fingers. When had she touched him again? Her fingers curled deeper into the fabric of his jacket, taut muscles flexing under her grip.
She peered over his shoulder and winced. “Mom?”
Four (#ulink_0258fcef-8f1c-5029-9308-52de338ffb5b)
Lauren stared at her mother, framed in the open doorway, and tried not to panic. How long would it take those keen maternal eyes to notice the baby bulge under the baggy sweater? She really should have taken care of informing her parents before now.
Second-guessing herself served no good. She needed to focus on how to best handle the moment, which began with gauging her mother’s current mood by how she dressed.
Jacqueline Presley had always been a strange mix of junior league meets avant garde. She wore her standard Chanel suit—plum purple today—but with chunky jewelry in an animal theme. A family of ruby lizards climbed up one side of her jacket. Her emerald cape with silver fringe was draped haphazardly over her arm. She must have just arrived.
How she’d talked her way past the super to get inside, Lauren didn’t even want to know.
She had more pressing concerns, anyway. Her mother’s clothes said she was in an up mood, but her tousled hair, chipped nails and shaking hands testified to a frenetic edge. Sure, they were minor signs, but Lauren had learned long ago to catalog every detail, read the nuances, prepare herself for anything.
As she struggled for what to say, Jason stepped forward and thrust out his hand. “Hello, Mrs. Presley. I’m Jason Reagert.”
“Reagert?” She shook his hand, then tapped the air with a rhinestone-studded fingernail, chewed down on one corner. “Are you related to J. D. Reagert of Reagert Comm?”
His smile tightened but didn’t disappear. “My father, ma’am.”
“Oh, no need to call me ma’am. I’m Jacqueline.” She took his arm and hauled him into the apartment, not even looking back at Lauren.
What the hell?
She’d been so freaked out worrying that her mother would learn about the baby—only to be ignored completely. But then, Jason represented everything her mother wanted in a son-in-law. Lauren followed them inside, closing the door behind her.
Jacqueline’s laugh bounced around in the vaulted ceiling. Her mom had many wonderful qualities, and she could certainly be charming when she wanted. And the times she’d taken meds, life had been level, happy. Lauren couldn’t quite say “normal,” because her mother was always quirky and artsy, but when she took care of her health, those eccentricities were actually fun.
God, she hoped this was one of those times.
Lauren inched her purse around over her stomach and followed Jason and her mother deeper into the apartment, the pair still with their backs to her. Jason pulled out a chair for her mother at the dining table. Odd choice, but Lauren wasn’t going to argue, since sitting at the wooden ice-cream-parlor-style table would conveniently hide her pregnancy.
Had Jason known that? A sharp and watchful edge in his eyes indicated he was very aware of everything going on around him. Realization washed over her. Jason was shielding her from her mother. He’d maneuvered everyone so Lauren’s stomach was never visible, while keeping her mother distracted—offering to take her wrap, pulling out her chair, asking about her trip down.
Could they actually pull this off without her mom finding out about the baby in such an explosive way tonight? It looked increasingly possible as Jacqueline seemed enraptured with quizzing Jason about his new job in California. Neither of them spared so much as a glance across the table at Lauren. Jacqueline was too busy soaking up the attention to even fidget with her glasses chain dangling from her neck.
How strange, not to mention different, to have someone run interference with her mom. She’d never had that before—her father had been more concerned with hiding out than containing the situation. Okay by her. She was an adult now.
Still, it felt good to breathe. Of course, Jason offered only a temporary reprieve. The news would come out soon enough, but in a more controlled setting.
Fifteen or so minutes of small talk later, Jason clasped Jacqueline’s hand. “Jacqueline, it’s been a delight meeting you. I hope you don’t find me pushy here, but I’ve just gotten in from California to visit Lauren and have to leave soon… ”
Her mother scooped up her cape and passed it to Jason to hold open for her. “Oh, don’t let me keep you two lovebirds. I’ll just head back to my suite at the Waldorf.” Stepping into her cape and shaking out the fringe, she turned to Lauren. “Lunch, dear, you and I, as soon your guy here returns to California.”
“Sure, Mom. We really do need to talk.”
“I know a great place with all organic foods. It’ll help you with that water retention. Your face is a little puffy.” Jacqueline leaned close to press her cheek to Lauren’s. “He’s a keeper. Don’t mess it up this time, dear.”
Lauren secured her purse over her stomach. “Of course, Mom.”
She so didn’t want to have a conversation with her mom about finding an “acceptable catch,” especially in front of Jason. She could even let the “puffy face” comment pass if it meant getting through this visit without a confrontation. Come to think of it, her mother would probably see this baby as an opportunity to reel in that “catch.”
Lauren shivered in disgust at the thought of her child being used that way.
Jacqueline breezed toward the door with a wave over her shoulder but not even a backward glance at Lauren as Jason escorted her out to the hall.
Lauren sagged in the chair, her purse sliding to the hardwood floor with a hefty thump. She smoothed her hand over the slight bulge of her stomach, the baby rolling under her hand. No child of hers was going to be seen as merely an opportunity to climb up some social ladder.
A tear dripped off her chin.
Damn. She scrubbed the back of her wrist along her face. She hadn’t even known she was crying. She heard the creak as Jason closed the door, and she swiped her fingers under her eyes again, praying she’d cleared away any mascara tracks.
As he stepped into the apartment again, she scavenged up a smile. “I can’t even begin to thank you.”
“For what?” He pulled a chair closer to her and sat.
“For running interference with Mom, for not saying anything about the baby or my slimy accountant.”
“I’m all about making things easier for you and our baby.”
Our baby.
His words sent a shiver through her. Of excitement or fear?
She thought of their kiss in the corridor and how quickly she could land right back in his arms again, in his bed. Jason had a way of making her lose control, and that scared her most of all.
Lauren clenched her hands together to keep from clasping his hand on the table. “You’ve been great. Really. Coming here the minute you found out, dinner, handling Mom.” In so many other ways, but still she couldn’t forget the past months of no communication, not even so much as an e-mail. They needed to talk about that night sometime. Discussing it seemed less daunting now in light of the land mine she’d just dodged with her mother. “You haven’t asked how I ended up pregnant.”
He scratched his jaw, leaning back. “I figured the condom must have failed.”
Memories of their frantic coupling churned through her mind, her body still humming from their make-out session in the hallway. Four months ago they’d torn at each other’s clothes. And yes, they’d kissed then, too, deeply, frantically, desperate to connect. Then the mad fumbling through his wallet to sheath him before… “We were pretty preoccupied at the time.” Lauren shifted in her chair, suddenly unable to get comfortable. “I appreciate you not questioning me about it.”
Her eyes lingered on his strong neck as she remembered the strength of it under her lips, savoring the bristly texture of his late-day shadow.
