Frankie's Back in Town, page 20
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered.
And Francesca remembered what it felt like to be appreciated by the man who mattered.
Arching her back, she rose to press her mouth against an inviting kiss.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t stop running,” he whispered against her lips.
“I was a suspect.”
“Yes, but you wouldn’t even acknowledge what was between us.” That dark gaze smoldered with intensity, and she knew he wasn’t going to let her off the hook easily.
“No. I didn’t want to read anything more into the situation. It was too complicated.”
“And now?”
She couldn’t stop the descent of her hands, feeling the solid strength of his back narrowing into his waist. The strength of a man who knew what he wanted, and intended to be honest about it.
He wanted her.
And she needed to be equally honest. “A chance, Jack. We have tonight—or what’s left of it. I don’t want to miss this time with you.”
“So I’m your one-night stand?”
“Not if you’re any good.”
His laughter echoed between them. Curling his fingers around her neck, he dragged her close, until his mouth brushed hers in a sexy kiss that stoked the fire simmering deep inside.
“I guess I should appreciate you giving me a chance here.”
Now it was her turn to laugh. “I’m not worried about tomorrow. I’m willing to take one day at a time.” She swept her hands along his back, wanting to pull him close, resisting. “I just don’t want to miss any more time.”
Her reply seemed to give him whatever he was looking for because he stroked damp hair from her cheek and smiled down at her. “I better be good then, so I get invited back.”
“Jack—” she burst out, but he captured her laughter as his mouth came down on hers again hard, demanding, a kiss that ended any discussion about what might happen next.
Their breaths collided with the promise of the moment, an exchange of breaths that let them drink in each other. All thoughts quieted beneath growing sensation. Spearing his fingers into her hair, he arched her neck to bring her more deeply into their kiss. Their tongues tangled, and they drank in the taste of each other, the growing need to get closer, ever closer, to stop the separation of where she ended and he began, to melt together as one.
Francesca was swept away by the demand of that kiss, by the feel of his hard body surrounding hers when he dropped down onto one elbow, his weight pressing into her. She could feel the length of his hard thighs against hers, the maleness that proved he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
She ran her hands along his body with an urgent freedom, explored the feel of each curve and hollow beneath his shirt. She welcomed the anticipation of knowing that beneath the silky fabric was a flesh-and-blood man who wanted her.
And he wanted her.
No question.
He wasn’t nearly as patient as she, and Francesca sighed aloud when he broke their kiss, rolling to his side and bringing her along with him. With his hands firmly on her waist and her bottom, he pulled her on top of him.
Where he could slide his hands beneath her robe.
The shock of his touch on her bare skin dragged a gasp from her lips. He wasn’t remotely deterred and helped himself to a thorough exploration of her every curve.
He ignited sparks in the wake of his touch, trailing fingertips down her spine, along the sensitive sides of her breasts, over her hips, between her thighs.
She breathed his breaths, trailed her mouth along his jaw and against his throat, tasted the throbbing beat of his pulse, nibbled the warm hollow of his neck.
His hands picked up the pace, teasing her until she thought she’d go crazy, especially when her own exploration was hindered by his clothes, their position….
Cupping her bare bottom, he pressed her impossibly closer. His male hardness swelled against her belly and brought a groan to his lips. She arched her hips and ground against him again, a slow silken glide designed to win a response.
A tremor ran the length of Jack’s body, and his grip tightened, holding her immobile for a breathless instant.
Then she fought fire with fire.
Scooting away, Francesca began an assault of her own. With a few no-nonsense motions, she unbuckled his belt and whipped it through the hoops.
He chuckled softly as she dropped it over the side of the bed where it landed with a soft thump on the carpet.
“You’re not a neat nut, are you?” she asked, casting a sidelong glance over the bed.
“Not when there’s a dry-cleaning service available.”
She laughed.
Neither of them were children, so there was no room for self-consciousness, no room for doubts, only the promise of the moment and the excitement of discovery. Francesca liked how comfortable she felt with him, feeling nothing but appreciated as she rose before him, completely naked when her robe slithered away to join his belt.
How could she care when he knelt before her, a proud display of absolutely gorgeous male, revealed by each vanishing piece of clothing?
She made the most of each tantalizing second it took to unbutton his shirt. He helped by unfastening the shirtsleeves, so she was free to slide the shirt down his arms, to press her mouth along his shoulder and blow warm breaths that heated the cotton of his undershirt.
He shuddered beneath her touch then gasped aloud as she slid her hands beneath his undershirt and dragged her palms over his warm skin.
“Oh, my, Jack.” Each word escaped on a breath as she explored the defined lines of a very fit man.
Excitement overwhelmed her, and she suddenly didn’t know what part of him she wanted to unwrap next.
Jack didn’t give her a chance to decide, because his arms were suddenly around her, pulling her so close they were thigh to thigh and her breasts crushed against him.
His mouth was on hers again, kissing her while he murmured her name, a potent combination of abandon and control that literally stole her breath.
She couldn’t stop from touching him, from raking her palms along his strong back, savoring the feel of his warm supple skin, the hardness cradled against her stomach, the wild excitement that spurred her to greater boldness.
Almost without conscious thought, she unfastened his pants and pushed them over his hips.
Not a boxer man.
Some crazy part of her let out a relieved sigh, and she ran her hands over him, loving the feel of his tight butt in soft cotton, couldn’t swallow back a laugh at her own expense.
Who got so aroused by tighty whities?
Francesca should have seen it coming. In one instant he was kissing her then the next his entire body grew taut. With a low growl, he tackled her, his weight pressing her backward into the pillows before she had a chance to resist. She went down in a boneless heap beneath him, and almost before she registered what was happening, he’d clamped his strong hands on her knees and slid her down the bed with a bold move.
Their gazes locked for one surprised instant as she realized exactly what he was about before he disappeared between her thighs with a smile on his face.
Oh. My.
That was the last semicoherent thought Francesca had before she was burying her face into the pillow to keep from crying out.
Oh. My. Oh, my. Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my.
Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she hung on for the ride. And when she went over the edge, she went hard. She gasped out loud as her entire body collapsed in pleasure.
The echoes of pleasure eventually faded, and she found Jack watching her, his hair tousled, his expression very pleased.
“I’m sensing it’s been a while for you,” he said.
She sighed, such a boneless move she earned a laugh. That irked her pride, so she made another attempt. “It’s been so long, I can’t remember if I’ve ever felt this way before. I would remember, wouldn’t I?”
“You would.”
He traced circles inside her thighs, so teasingly close to her most private places that she quivered beneath his touch.
“There’s another one in there.” Not a question.
“Not possible.”
His grin flashed. “Trust me.”
Oh, she did. She was in good hands with Jack Sloan. No question. And from the recesses of her passion-soaked brain, she remembered reading that unlike men, women hit their primes later in life. Did mid-thirties count as later?
She thought it might.
Then Jack brushed a sensitive place between her legs with his thumbs. She let out a gasp as her whole body quivered.
“Definitely another.” He quirked an eyebrow as his face disappeared between her thighs again.
And that’s when Francesca knew what was happening—Jack was being good.
“I’ll invite you back,” she said. “I promise. If I’m still alive.”
“Oh, you’ll be alive,” came his muffled reply. “Trust me.”
Francesca was in such trouble here.
She hadn’t even gotten him naked yet.
Jack might be a charming gentleman everywhere else in his life, but he was pure rogue in bed.
And that was never as evident as when he brought her to pleasure again, and yet again, before allowing her a chance to catch her breath and recover enough to even undress him.
And when she finally did, when she got to run her hands over his breathtakingly, gloriously naked body, Francesca knew she was a goner. Big-time.
Because there wasn’t another word spoken between them. No words were necessary. They came together, bodies becoming one as if they’d been waiting for the chance. And it didn’t matter what came with the dawn. Jack had his villain, and Francesca had proof that she was still a woman who could feel, a woman who could enjoy the moment with an impossibly irresistible man.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
GERALD HAD INSISTED ON DRIVING Susanna to the airport himself. He was a nice man and always had been. Today, she felt very grateful.
“Please tell Betty thanks again for the delicious dinner last night. I can’t imagine what the night would have been like sitting in my hotel room waiting for the ax to fall this morning.”
“She’ll be glad to know she distracted you. That’s exactly what she wanted to do.” His expression grew solemn, and suddenly Susanna could see how gray he’d gotten. The vital man who’d befriended her years ago when she’d become a part of the company really was getting old.
“I know you’ve had a lot on your plate these past few years, Susanna,” he told her, never glancing away from the road as he wound through Chicago’s lunchtime traffic toward O’Hare. “We’ve all been impressed with how you’ve handled yourself. I can tell you the firm has been tremendously pleased with the way your team has gotten things up and running. We’ve never had a smoother launch.”
Susanna was pleased by his praise and her role in that smooth opening.
“I don’t know what your workdays are like on the property,” he said, “so I’m not sure what your relationship with Francesca is like, but she was a real pistol about these thefts. Flat-out told us she hadn’t stolen anyone’s identity and she knew you hadn’t, either. From what your police chief told the board, Francesca has been telling him all along to keep on looking because he didn’t have the right names on his suspect list.”
Susanna was speechless. She finally forced out the epitome of lame responses. “She did?”
Gerald nodded. “Had nothing but good to say about your work. I thought you should know.”
Of course he did. She’d thrown Frankie under the bus to keep suspicion off herself while Frankie had defended their innocence. Gerald cared enough to share this insider information, so Susanna would know her tarnished image would need some polishing in the days ahead.
“Have I told you how much I appreciate you lately?” She could barely get the words out around the swell of emotion choking her.
“You haven’t.” He finally glanced away from the road and met her gaze. She could see fondness sparkling in his warm eyes and felt very grateful for his friendship. “But I always like to hear how much I’m appreciated.”
“You are. Very, very much.”
“Ditto, kiddo. Ditto.”
Gerald dropped Susanna off at the gate, leaving her alone to her thoughts, which followed her all the way home on the flight. Frankie hadn’t thrown her to the wolves. And when Susanna thought about it honestly, she wouldn’t have expected Frankie to do anything but what she’d done. Defend her people.
So why had Susanna been so convinced of Frankie’s guilt? Not because of anything she’d seen at the office. Frankie hadn’t done a thing suspicious since the day she’d walked onto the property. Yet Susanna had convinced herself that Frankie’s professionalism must have been a diversion to hide her underlying dishonesty.
Why had she been so eager to believe the worst?
She needed to answer that question, but was thankful Jack hadn’t run his investigation the same way or else she might be behind bars right now.
What disturbed her even more than looking bad in front of corporate was her own prejudice. In hindsight she saw what had happened. Her anxiety about work combined with Karan’s crusade against Frankie had proven deadly. Susanna had jumped on the bandwagon the way she had in high school.
Hadn’t she grown up at all?
She didn’t like the answers that awaited her on those familiar roads leading to Bluestone. Not one bit. And when her cell phone rang with a call from her mother-in-law, who was taking care of Brooke and Brandon, Susanna flipped open her cell, relieved for the distraction.
“Hey, Mom. Everyone okay?”
“Oh, yes. No problems,” her mother-in-law said. “I just wondered what time you’d be back.”
“I’m outside of town now. Need me to pick up anything?”
“I’m figuring out whether or not I needed to make arrangements to pick up Brooke. Dad’s not home yet from his Elks meeting, which means they’re playing cards, and he won’t sail through that door until after eleven. Brandon fell asleep already, and I didn’t want to leave him alone.”
“Where’s Brooke?”
“At the lodge. She wants to be picked up at ten.”
“What’s she doing there?”
“Some sort of event. I’m not really clear on the details. I figured you’d know. She’s been working on it practically around the clock ever since you left. She went over after school to set up, but she called to let me know so there wasn’t a problem.”
But there was a problem. Glancing at the digital display on her dashboard, she frowned. Ten, on a school night? Her daughter obviously hadn’t expected her home from Chicago yet.
“Let Brandon sleep,” Susanna said, “if you wouldn’t mind getting him off to school in the morning. I’ll take care of getting Brooke home.”
“You’re sure, Susanna?”
“I’m sure. Relax and enjoy the rest of your night. I appreciate all your help.”
“Everything work out okay in Chicago?”
That was code for Are you off the hook yet? Because everyone in town is talking.
“Everything worked out just fine.” Even saying the words lifted her mood. “All is well. Our resourceful police chief caught the real thief. And as it happens, our property wasn’t the only one hit.”
“Good for Jack. He’s always been a good boy.”
“Well, he deserves a trophy this time around, as far as I’m concerned. All right, Mom. I’m on my way to get Brooke. I’ll call in the morning to talk with Brandon before school.”
Susanna disconnected and headed toward the lodge, racking her tired brain to remember what was on Monday night’s activity calendar. She couldn’t come up with anything except bridge club and the current events discussion. And neither of those would necessitate a weekend of frantic preparations.
As soon as she stepped inside the main lobby, Susanna knew something big was happening. Glittery stars and bright red hearts hung in profusion from the ceiling. Silver garland had been draped over nearly ever surface in the main lobby, including the doorways. It looked as if Otis’s holiday decorations storeroom had exploded.
And if this crazy mélange of Christmas and Valentine’s Day decor wasn’t enough, music poured from the direction of the banquet room adjoining the restaurant. Lori, the night clerk, sat at the desk, sipping some sparkling beverage—not champagne surely—from a plastic flute. She was decked out in what looked like a bridesmaid’s dress.
“What on earth is going on?” Susanna asked.
Lori raised her plastic flute in salute. “Shame on you. You’re not dressed for the prom. Did you even bring a date?”
“I didn’t even know prom night was on the calendar.”
“You didn’t?” Lori frowned. “The girls were here all weekend setting up.”
The girls? Brooke…Gabrielle Raffa. “That’s what I heard. What manager’s on duty?”
“Jerry. But everyone’s here. Well, everyone but you and Francesca. They’ve all been helping pull this together.” She pointed toward the banquet hall and gave a sheepish shrug. “Just follow the music.”
Susanna was nothing short of amazed at the sight that greeted her in the banquet room. The entire place looked like a scene from some cheesy prom horror flick with foil stars hanging from the ceiling and strobe lights spinning. Roberto had been recruited as deejay, and big band music poured from the karaoke system that Rachel, the activities director, normally used during the monthly sing-a-long.
Residents were all decked out for the event. They sat at tables positioned around the dance floor, and Susanna spotted a number of staff members ushering drinks from inside the restaurant where a buffet table had been set up. The dance floor was packed. Couples swayed among small clusters of friends, and all appeared to be having a great time.
A song ended to laughter and applause, and as Roberto introduced the next, perceptively giving folks enough time to make their way back to tables safely, Susanna headed toward Rachel who’d just emerged from the restaurant.
“Don’t you look lovely?” she said, pointedly eyeing Rachel’s scarlet taffeta formalwear.
