Reckless Seduction, page 5
The man who stood at her door nearly took her breath away. He looked good enough to eat in his black tuxedo and tucked white silk shirt. They smiled at each other. She opened the door, and he entered slowly, as if at war with himself. He looked at her for a minute, smiled, took her in his arms and hugged her but didn’t kiss her.
“Stunning hardly describes what I…what I see right now.”
It amazed her that this man who always seemed in command now groped for words. Then she realized that the evening was as overwhelming for him as it was for her.
“Perhaps I’d better bring my Colt .45 along,” she said to lighten the mood.
“Whatever on earth for?”
“I want to be sure that you bring me home tonight and not some other woman. And I’m serving notice that, like my forebears before me, I’m fully capable of protecting my interests.”
He was perplexed for a second and then gave that rare full-throated laugh that she enjoyed so much.
As the car pulled away from the curb, Jon pressed the lever that revealed the bar, opened a bottle of champagne and filled two crystal champagne glasses. He handed one to Haley.
“To a really lovely woman,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said and sipped her drink.
“Nels wouldn’t tell me what your background is,” he said, looking intently at her. “He just said that it is very intriguing. I’ve done some guessing, but I want you to tell me.”
“I’m twenty-eight. My father was African American from North Carolina, and my mother is Native American. Our tribe is Comanche, and most of our people are out in Oklahoma, though they are not on reservations. My parents lived and worked in Washington, DC, where my mother still lives. We lost my father twelve years ago.”
“How’d your parents get to Washington, DC?”
“They both went to college there, so that’s where they settled.”
He nodded very slowly. “I see. Were you happy growing up?”
“Yes. We had love to spare. I have one brother who’s a few years my senior. I’ve known two of my grandparents. My paternal grandfather used to visit us often when I was little, and he always spoke about our heritage. He was such a wonderful man, and he loved my brother and me so much that we used to say he just wrapped us up in love as if it were a blanket. I’ll miss him as long as I live.” He refilled their glasses.
“Are you like your mother?”
“Well, I look a bit like her, but I have my father’s disposition, more or less. Why?”
“Oh, I just want to know as much as possible about you.” He took her hand, stroking it gently. Without realizing it, she moved closer to him, feeling a comfort, a peace that she didn’t think their relationship warranted. She sighed.
“What is it?” he asked.
How could she tell him that the night was taking on an aura of magic, that she was happy being with him? She hoped she wasn’t really falling for him. After all, he was leaving, and he could meet someone and get married in the six months that he was planning to stay in Oslo—someone who spoke his native language, with whom he could read poetry and who would understand the jokes and heritage. Suddenly, her feeling of contentment was gone, and she shivered slightly.
“Are you cold?” He knew that she wasn’t cold. He also knew that the feeling of togetherness that he’d felt with her just moments before had disappeared. She seemed to be slipping away from him.
He tugged gently at her arm when what he really wanted to do was clasp her tightly to him and warm her from head to foot.
“Are you cold?” he repeated.
“Not really,” she said, but he was not satisfied.
“Haley, I’m leaving tomorrow. I want this night with you to be special. It has to last me for six long months. And I want you to be so happy with me tonight that you’ll think only of me while I’m gone.”
“It is special, Jon.”
Just then, the limousine came to a halt. When he assisted her from the car, she realized that they were at the Trade Winds, one of the city’s finest restaurants. The maître d’ greeted Jon warmly and led them immediately to their secluded table. They were seated near a waterfall, at the bottom of which grew white and purple water lilies bathed in a soft spotlight that caused the cascading water to shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow. Their table was set with white linen, long tapered candles, crystal stemware and fine silver. And at the center was a vase of white and amber orchids that Jon had ordered. The maître d’ lit the candles and poured champagne.
“I can’t tell you how wonderful this is, Jon. I’ve never felt so… I don’t know…well the only word that seems right is precious.”
He grinned. That was exactly the way he wanted her to feel.
“I don’t expect you to believe it, but you are precious to me.” When she cast her eyes downward and wouldn’t look at him, he knew that his words had affected her.
He looked at Haley over the soft candlelight and felt his heartbeat accelerate. She had a powerful attraction for him. What was it that drew him to her so strongly? Since the debacle that was his marriage, he’d thought that what he had needed was a woman with passion. Now he realized that he needed and wanted more. What he wouldn’t give for a woman who was a warm, loving companion. Haley gave him warmth, sweetness and passion the two times that he’d kissed her. Yet, she seemed to prefer distance between herself and other people, and that gave him a feeling of disquiet. He cared for her, but he did not know her. Was he risking too much? he wondered.
“Have you ever wanted to marry?” he asked her, not certain where that thought had come from.
Surprised, she hesitated. “Once, for a very brief time, I thought I did. It isn’t a period of my life that I remember with pleasure or pride.” Surely not, he thought, observing the sudden sadness in her eyes.
“Then we won’t talk about it now,” he said, in an attempt to reassure her and put her at ease again. So she’d had some bleak times, too. He wondered about the man, how he had hurt her and whether she was over him. He had to know. “Do you still care for him?”
“No, I haven’t for a very long time. Perhaps I never did. I don’t know, but as I look back, what I felt then seems trivial compared to…”
“Compared to what?”
She took the coward’s course. “Compared to what I think a woman can feel…well, you know…”
He smiled inwardly. The normally poised Dr. Feldon was suddenly flustered. He didn’t try to subdue the hope that rose within him.
The waiter brought them small cups of soup. Haley smiled in anticipation of the feast and lifted the round lipped silver spoon to her mouth.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the goddess. Remember me?” Haley stared at the man, trying to place him.
“No, I don’t remember having made your acquaintance.”
“Course you do, Nels Andersen introduced us at his party.”
“You don’t know this man?” Jon said through clenched teeth, rising from his seat. She shook her head, and he signaled for the maître d’.
“Is there something wrong, Mr. Ecklund?” the maître d’ queried nervously as he sensed hostility between the two men.
“Mario, would you show this man to a table of his own.” Mario casually wiped his chin with a white handkerchief, and a big tuxedo-groomed bouncer appeared immediately and escorted Art Chasen gently but firmly to the side door.
“My apologies, Mr. Ecklund. I’m terribly sorry.”
“No problem, Mario. Thanks for your assistance,” Jon said as he returned to his seat.
Both the force of Jon’s anger and his ability to control it told Haley much about him. He was his own man, and he could depend on his ability to control his behavior and his words. Was he controlling what he felt for her? Her upward glance confirmed her suspicions. Oh, he felt something, all right. His smoldering green eyes told her that, and they had told her before, but he wasn’t ready to confirm it.
“I’m sorry about Chasen’s rudeness. I met him at Nels’s party and didn’t like him then. I like him even less now.”
“Don’t give it another thought.”
Wanting to restore their earlier companionable mood, she grasped his left hand lightly and stroked his strong tapered fingers. He covered her hand with his right one and smiled at her. She looked at the smile that played around his sensuous lips and thought that she could happily look at him forever.
As they ate, they talked of their work, something that they hadn’t done before. They discovered they shared many interests.
“Do you like working so closely with your father?”
“We’re a team and a good one,” he said. “I have enormous respect for his judgment and for him as a man. Yeah, I like working with him.” His next thought astonished him.
“What is it?” Haley wanted to know, evidently having witnessed the abrupt change in him.
“I was thinking how much my father would like you. I think my mom would, too, but Dad would adore you. You’re exactly his type of woman—intelligent, feminine, one who doesn’t depend upon a man for her identity. Yes, he’ll like you, no doubt about it.”
“Did he like your ex-wife?” Why had she asked that? “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“You aren’t prying. And no, he was not fond of Karen, though he was always gracious to her. Neither of my parents was happy with my marriage.”
“Hmm, I’ve eaten so much, but this lemon-rum soufflé is wonderful.”
He knew that she was changing the subject to a potentially less explosive one.
“This has really been the most delicious meal. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed one more,” she said and then leaned forward. “Perhaps the company is the ingredient that has made it so perfect.”
“Does that mean that I get a good-night kiss?”
She half smiled. “One never plans these things. Who knows, maybe if you stay on your best behavior…”
“I’m always on my best behavior.”
“Heaven forbid.” She blushed, realizing that she’d said it aloud. “Does that mean I’ll never get to see the real you?”
“Let me assure you that there’s nothing saintly about me. I swim au naturel and sleep in the buff,” he said. From the heat in her face, he knew she was imagining how he’d look emerging from a Norwegian lake dripping wet.
The waiter saved her. “Your espresso, madam, sir.”
“Thanks,” Haley murmured, but he could see that she was distracted.
As they made their way out of the restaurant, he walked slightly behind her with his right hand splayed at her lower back. He couldn’t help but notice the way men openly appraised her as they walked to the limousine. He wasn’t the only one who found her desirable. It occurred to him that six months was a long time with that kind of competition. What the hell, he thought, if she couldn’t sustain an interest in him for six months just because he wasn’t around, then he wouldn’t have lost anything.
The limousine drove several blocks and stopped. She looked inquiringly at him but asked nothing. She was placing herself in his care this night for whatever magic he decided to spin for them. Did she trust him so much? She didn’t dare question herself just now. She cast her doubts aside and took his arm when he offered it. The determined smile that she gave him belied her uncertainty. She forced herself to think of the six months when he would be away, when she would either forget about him or be undone with longing for him. At The Razor’s Edge, a doorman opened the front passenger’s door of the limousine. “Welcome madam, sir.”
It took a lot to overwhelm Haley, but the pains that Jon had taken to make their evening memorable nearly accomplished that. Surely, she thought, he wouldn’t do this for just any date. Maybe he would be different from Josh and other men she’d dated, but she wasn’t going to hope for it.
The maître d’ led them to their reserved table, and when the waiter brought their champagne, Jon gave him a note. Almost immediately, the orchestra played “If I Loved You.” Smiling, he lifted his glass, and they silently drank to each other. Then, he stood and held out his hand to her. His nerves rattled, and his heart raced for he sensed that they were reaching a milestone in their relationship.
Haley didn’t understand why she was suddenly so sharply attuned to Jon’s feelings. All at once, she knew with certainty that he was as unsure about their relationship as she was. He was seeking sustenance just as she was. Like her, he was reluctant to reach out for it. So, when he opened his arms to her there on the dance floor, she let go and stepped into him. She wasn’t thinking of herself, only of him. She just knew that she wanted to heal him. She put her head to his chest, her arms around his shoulders, and as she had not done before, she simply surrendered to him. She made no demands, just relaxed into him, telling him without words to take what he needed from her in that moment.
He had not previously had that experience, for most women saw him as Mr. Money Bags. So when he realized what she was telling him, his heart pounded. It wasn’t passion that overcame him but joy. Pure joy. She was there for him, and she was telling him so. Her total surrender told him that she wanted to share whatever he was experiencing without question and without judging him in any way.
He lowered his head and gently kissed her eye. “Haley, you’re sending me messages that give me the hope I’ve never had. I care for you. Feeling you in my arms like this is more than I dreamed of, ever. Don’t say anything. Just…just be close to me, like now.”
She’d been close to him before. Her kisses had electrified him, but until now, she hadn’t given him herself, her compassion, her tenderness. He didn’t dance with her again, just sat there with her, holding her hand and telling her his plans for the next six months. He didn’t dare dance with her again in the presence of a single soul.
Their ride back to Haley’s apartment was quiet and unexpectedly filled with tension. The driver waited while Jon walked Haley to her door. So he isn’t planning a big seduction scene, she thought. She wasn’t sure whether she was grateful or disappointed. He took her key and unlocked the door. She moved inward, but he didn’t follow her.
“I don’t suppose it makes sense to invite you in for a drink when we’ve just had one.”
“I don’t want a drink, Haley.” His voice was low, husky and lacking its usual resonance.
“Then, I suppose it’s good night. I had a wonderful evening with you, Jon, one that I won’t soon forget. I hope you have a pleas—”
He interrupted her. “What I want right now, Haley, is you.” She gasped. “But I can’t have what I want,” he went on. “I’m thirty-four years old and long past the point in my life where I could have a casual relationship with a woman that I care for, and I care for you. I told you yesterday that I have things to work out. I won’t try to take our relationship any further until I’ve done that. I know that I’m asking for a lot of trust, but I’m still asking it. Perhaps during these months, you will release some of the anxieties that you have. This isn’t easy for me. In fact, leaving you like this may be one of the most difficult things I have ever done.”
“And six months is all you need?”
“Perhaps less, I don’t know. I want us to keep in close touch. I can’t tell you what I’m feeling just now. The entire evening has given me a glimpse of what a woman can be to a man…of what you and I could have and more. Be here for me, Haley. I told you that when I come back I want to come back to you. Don’t forget that.”
For a long minute, she looked at him without speaking. She knew that she wasn’t ready for an affair, that she was frightened of the possibility of what one implied. He sensed her mood.
“This isn’t a time for mistrust or misgivings, but for understanding and faith.” As the burning intensity of his passion-filled gaze warmed her, she relaxed.
“I’ll miss you, too, and I’m just having difficulty dealing with the strength of what’s happening between us. We’ve only known each other for six weeks.”
He stroked her cheek. “Sweetheart, have you forgotten that we saw each other for months before we actually met? I was attracted to you the first time I saw you.”
He opened his arms. “Come here to me.” She stepped into his arms, knowing that she was probably courting despair but unwilling to forego this last opportunity to hold him and to feel herself enclosed in his masculine warmth. She lifted her arms to his shoulders and raised her parted lips for his kiss. He shuddered as her move unleashed his desire and stepped back in an effort to gain some control. But she gave no quarter, pressing into him with her softness, going after what she wanted—to merge into him and forget herself and everything but the feel of him.
“Haley, oh, Haley.” He caressed her face softly, almost reverently and gazed into her eyes, as if willing her to understand what he could not say.
Frustrated with longing, she solved the problem for him, rising on tiptoe and pulling his head down to her level. She sought and found his warm sensuous lips, and he capitulated and took her to him, mutely proclaiming to her that he longed for and needed her. Wordlessly, she asked for his tongue, and when he gave it to her, she sucked on it as if it were the essence of life itself. Jon cupped her buttocks and fitted her to him. He was not accustomed to feeling a woman’s need as he did then, and he knew that he was nearing his limit. He felt her full breasts pressing against him and, heedlessly, reached into her strapless gown, took her breast into his mouth and nourished himself. When he felt her shiver, he knew that he had to stop.
“Jon, if you’re going to leave me, go.”
He held her close for a few minutes. “Just tell me you’ll be here for me. Tell me that what you’ve given me here tonight is real and that you’ll help me work things out for us.” He knew she didn’t understand what he meant, yet she did not hesitate.
