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“You were three years younger. You got frustrated when you couldn’t keep up.”
“I still do sometimes.” Her smile faltered just a bit.
“Remember the time we picked all the roses off the bushes?” Eloisa steadied the lily behind her ear, the fragrance reminding her of their childhood raid on their mother’s carefully tended yard.”You took the rap.”
Audrey rolled her eyes and attacked her cake again with her pointer finger.”No huge sacrifice. It’s not like I ever got in trouble. I cried better than you did. You were always into being stoic.”
“I’m not the weepy sort.” Not in public anyway.
“Tears can be worth their weight in gold. I may be the youngest, but you should take my advice on this one.” Audrey fixed her stare on her father, her fiancé and Jonah.”When it comes to men, you have to use whatever tools you have.”
“Thanks for the advice.” Not that she could see herself taking it even in a million years.”Now can we get back to focusing on your wedding? We have a lot to accomplish in the next couple of weeks.”
She tried to stem her reservations about Audrey marrying a guy with questionable connections. Her little sister had ignored all the warnings, even threatening to elope if Eloisa didn’t keep her opinions to herself.
Audrey pulled another flower from the centerpiece for herself.”And about Jonah Landis?”
Eloisa shrugged, suddenly hungry for the cake after all.”He’s my date.” She forked up a bite from the lone remaining slice on a plate the caterers hadn’t yet cleared.”It’s as simple as that.”
“Guess you don’t need a ride home tonight.” Audrey needled with the same practiced teasing she’d used on her since the days of Eloisa’s first boyfriend—the librarian’s son who occasionally snitched the keys to the reference room so she could read the Oxford English Dictionary in total privacy after hours.
“I have my car here.”
“One of Joey’s brothers can drive it over for you.” Audrey arched up on her toes.”Hey, Landis? My sister is ready to go. How about you get your chauffeur to pull up that Rolls Royce limo of yours. Eloisa’s been on her feet all day.”
Jonah’s gaze slammed into hers, narrow and predatory. She’d seen that look before, right before she’d shimmied out of her dress and fallen into bed with him.
Shoveling a bite of cake into her mouth, Eloisa tried to tell herself it would be enough to stave off the deeper hunger gnawing through her tonight.
Eloisa shifted uneasily in the limo seat.
Climbing back into Jonah’s car had seemed easier than discussing driving arrangements in front of the gossip rag reporter. Now that she was alone with Jonah, however, she questioned her decision. The drive to her town house felt hours away rather than a couple of miles.
Searching for something, anything to talk about other than each other, Eloisa touched the miniprinter and laptop computer beside her. She started to make a joke about checking Facebook from the road, but paused when her finger snagged on a printed-out page.
She looked closer before she could think to stop herself. It seemed like some kind of small blueprint—
Jonah pulled the paper from the printer and into a briefcase.”Why were you so camera shy at the party earlier?”
“I prefer to keep a low profile. Not everyone is hungry for a spot on the front page.” Ouch. That sounded pretty crabby coming out, but Jonah had a way of agitating her every nerve.
“Do you avoid the press because of your father? You can’t expect to stay under the radar forever.”
Did he realize how intimately their thighs pressed against one another? Eloisa slid her hand from the printer and scooted an inch of space between them.”My mother and I managed over the years. Do you intend to change that?”
She bit her lip, unable to stop from holding her breath after finally voicing the question that had chewed at her all night long. Her mother may have managed but it didn’t escape Eloisa’s notice that she’d screwed up mere days after the funeral. She waited through Jonah’s assessing silence so long that dots began to spark in front of her eyes.
“Breathe,” he commanded, holding her gaze until she exhaled then nodding curtly.”Of course I’ll keep your secret. If anyone finds out, it won’t be from me.”
Sighing with relief she flopped back in her seat and fanned her face, relaxing for the first time since she’d heard his engine growl around the corner. That was one secret taken care of, and she had no reason to believe he could have found out her other.”You really could have saved me a lot of angst tonight if you’d told me that from the start.”
“What kind of guy do you think I am?”
A rich one judging by his clothes, his lifestyle and famous surname? Yet all of those were superficial elements. She scoured her mind for things she’d learned about him a year ago … and most of it focused on attraction. She wasn’t so sure she liked what that said about her.”I’m not really sure how well I know you.”
“Then you’ll have the next two weeks to figure me out.”
“Two weeks?” Her muscles kinked all over again.”I thought you wanted a divorce.”
“I do.” He secured the lily behind her ear, his knuckles caressing her neck for a second too long to be accidental.”But first, I want the honeymoon we never had.”
She gasped in surprise, followed by anger … then suspicion.”You’re just trying to shock me.”
“How do you know I’m not serious?” His blue eyes burned with unmistakable, unsettling—irresistible?—desire.
She’d barely survived their last encounter with her heart intact. No way in hell was she dipping her toes into those fiery waters again.”You can’t really believe I’ll just crawl into bed with you.”
“Why not?” He angled closer to her, so close she would only have to lean just a little to rest her cheek against his amazing hair.”It isn’t like we haven’t already slept together.”
Not that they’d slept much.”That night was a mistake.” One with heartbreaking consequences.”A mistake I do not intend to repeat, so get back on your side of the car.”
“Fine then.” He eased away, leather creaking at his every lazy, slow movement.”Whether or not we have sex will be your call.”
“Thank you.” She laced her fingers together on her lap to keep from hauling him over again. Why hadn’t she eaten more cake?
“Just give me two weeks.”
“What the hell?” The words slipped out of her mouth, startling her as much as it appeared she’d surprised him.”I can’t deal with you right now.” There. She’d actually been honest with him about how she felt.”My sister needs me.”
And then she had to muck it up with a half truth to hide how much he tempted her.
”Doesn’t she have a wedding planner or something?”
“Not everyone has unlimited funds.”
“Your father doesn’t send support?”
“That’s none of your business, and regardless, it wouldn’t have been Audrey’s anyhow.”
“Ah, but if you had a king’s ransom tucked away, I am certain you would have shared it with sister dear. Am I wrong?”
His words stung and she hated how that hinted at his power over her.”I’m not a pushover.”
Although Jonah was right, damn him, that if she did have money, she would have written her sister a big fat check to cover wedding expenses.
Regardless, she didn’t want Enrique Medina’s money. Her mother had insisted she didn’t want it either, but she’d married another man for what appeared to be financial security. What a confusing tangle.
She knew one thing for sure.”I’m not a minor. I make my own way in the world. Besides, he’s not a part of my life and I am not for sale.”
She wouldn’t allow herself to be dependent on any man. Even months after the fact, it scared her to her teeth to think of how close she’d come to mirroring her mother’s past—alone, unloved.
And pregnant.
Four
Jonah told the driver to wait, then pivoted toward Eloisa as she raced toward her town house. Hopefully he would be sending the driver on his way soon, because quite frankly, he didn’t trust Eloisa not to bolt the second he left.
Not that it was any great hardship to be with her. God, he could watch her walk all night long, the gentle sway of her hips and the swish of her ponytail illuminated by the street lamp.
He didn’t expect to get any further than talking tonight. He needed to take his time with her now in a way he hadn’t back in Spain.
Problem was? He could only afford to take these next two weeks off, then he needed to get back to work on his next restoration project. Working on architectural designs around the world fed his wanderer’s spirit.
Next stop? Peru in two weeks.
And if he hadn’t finished business with Eloisa by then? Could he just walk away?
He refused to consider failure. They would go to bed together again. And they would exorcise the mess from last year.
Hands stuffed in his pockets, he followed Eloisa along the walkway. Waves rolled and roared in the distance, the shore three streets away. She lived in a stucco town house, the fourth in the row. New, they’d been built to resemble older, turn-of-the-century construction. Each unit was painted a different beachy color—peach, blue, green and yellow.
She marched toward the yellow home, calling back over her shoulder.”Thank you for seeing me safely to my front stoop, but you’re free to leave now.”
“Not so fast, my dear wife.” He stopped alongside Eloisa at her lime-green door. Keys dangled from between her fingers but he didn’t take them from her. He wanted her to ask him inside of her own free will, no coercion. But that didn’t exclude persuasion.
She faced him with a sigh.”You managed a whole year without speaking to me. I’m sure you’ll do just fine without me for another night.”
“Eloisa, just because I didn’t contact you doesn’t mean I stopped thinking about you.” That was sure as hell the truth.”We left a lot unsaid. Is it so wrong for me to want these next couple of weeks to clear the air before we say goodbye?”
Eloisa studied her clunky key chain, a conglomeration of whistles, a lanyard from some children’s festival and a metal touristy-looking token.”Why a couple of weeks?”
Damn. It wouldn’t be that persuasive to say that was all the time he had available to pencil her into his work schedule. His brother Sebastian’s marriage had fallen apart because of his insane hours at his law practice.
“That’s how long my attorney says it will take to get the ball rolling.” He’d asked for Sebastian’s help this time, as he should have done a year ago.”You can’t blame me for wondering if you will disappear again.”
Sure the morning after their spur of the moment wedding, they’d both agreed it was a mistake. Okay, they’d both agreed after she’d slapped him. Then she’d gasped in horror and yanked on her clothes as she’d stumbled toward the door. He’d expected once she cooled down, they would at least talk about things, maybe take a step back—a few steps back.
Except once she’d left his place in Spain, she’d ignored any further communication other than mailing the paperwork his way. So actually, the crummy paperwork was her fault.
And his. He couldn’t deny it. He shouldn’t have been so damn proud he didn’t show his lawyer brother Sebastian.
Jonah tugged the dangling keys from her loose grip, sifting the bulk in his hands. The touristy token caught his attention. He looked closer and found … an ironwork reproduction of the house he’d worked on restoring the previous summer. Interesting. Encouraging.”Nice key chain.”
“I keep it as a reminder of the risks of impulsiveness.” She tugged her keys back, gripping them so tightly her fingers turned bloodlessly white.
“Risks?” Anger kicked around in his gut. She was the one who’d walked out, after all. Not him.”Seems like you walked away mighty damn easily. If it wasn’t for this inconvenient legal snafu—” not to mention her lies”—you would have gotten away scot-free.”
“Scot-free?” Her face went pale in the moonlight.”You can’t possibly think this didn’t affect me. You have no idea how deeply I’ve wrestled with what we did, the mistake we made.”
Confusion dulled the edge of his anger. She’d left. She’d never called. Why the hell had she been hiding out if their time together stayed with her this heavily?
“Well, Eloisa? What do you say we make every effort possible to put this to rest once and for all? For the next couple of weeks, you can just call me roomie.”
She gasped.”You can’t really expect to bunk at my place?”
“Of course not.” Jonah focused on the little piece of memorabilia on her key chain, a sign that she’d remembered and even cared. He let her relax for a second before retorting,”I could phone the chauffeur and we could be taken to my beachside suite.”
Shaking her head, she slid the key into the lock.”You’re outrageous.”
He clapped a hand over his chest with a half smile.”That hurt. I prefer to think I’m being considerate to my wife’s needs.”
“I’m just dying to hear how you reached that conclusion.” Shaking her head, she pushed her front door open and stepped inside without giving him the boot.
He took that as an invitation and followed. Victory pulsing inside him, he checked out the space she called home for clues about her. The more he knew the better his chances. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again of letting her keep him in the dark.
The living area was airy and open with high ceilings in keeping with the historic-reproduction feel. Her tastes ran to uncluttered, clean lines with a beach theme—white walls, wood floors and rattan furniture with cushions in a muted blue, tan and chocolate. And of course books—in end tables, shelves, curio cabinets. She’d always carried books in her purse in Spain, reading during breaks.
Her reed roll-up shades covered the windows from outdoor eyes. Only the French doors gave a glimpse to a garden patio with an Adirondack chair and ferns. Did she lounge there and read? Soak up the sun?
What he wouldn’t give to take her to his penthouse suite with a rooftop pool and deck where they both could do away with restrictive bathing suits.
He slid his jacket off and hooked it on the coatrack made from a canoe paddle.”Nice place.”
“I’m sure it’s not near the luxury level you’re used to, but I like it.”
“It’s lovely and you know it. Don’t paint me as a bad guy here just to make it easier to dismiss me.”
She glanced back over her shoulder, her purse sliding from her shoulder onto the island counter separating the kitchen from the living space. She tossed her keys beside the bag, the cluster jangling to rest.”Fair enough.”
He’d spent more than a few nights in tents or trailers during the early, intense stages of a restoration project, but he didn’t intend to make excuses to her.”Would you like more luxury in your life?”
His brothers showered their wives with pampering extras and while his sisters-in-law vowed they didn’t need them, he’d noticed they always used those spa gifts.
He thumbed a thick silver binder with an engagement photo of Audrey Taylor and her fiancé.”You said earlier you’re swamped with wedding plans.” He tapped the three-ring binder.”If we stay at my suite, you won’t have to cook or clean. You can indulge in the spa. A massage would take care of your stress at the end of the day. You and your sister and all the bridesmaids could avail yourselves of the salon the day of the wedding, my gift to the bride, of course.”
She slid out of her gold strappy heels and lined them up side by side on the floor mat by the patio door.”You can’t buy me off any more than my father could.”
He took his cue from her and toed off his python loafers, nudging them near the coatrack. How much further could they take this undressing together?”I was brought up to believe it’s not what a gift costs, it’s whether or not the gift is thoughtful. Needed.”
“That’s nice.” She relaxed a hip against a barstool.
“Then pack your bag and let’s go to my penthouse.”
She stiffened again.”I’m not leaving.”
“Then I guess I’m bunking on your sofa.” He stifled a wince at spending the night on the couch at least six inches too short.
“You can’t tell me you actually wanted me to stay together?” Her eyes went wider with shock.”Every woman on that site in Madrid knew what a playboy you are.”
