Jake saw her leaving and waved. “I’ll call you about tonight.” He couldn’t seem to stop smiling. At her? Or because his show was such a huge success?
• • •
Jamie and Jake arrived at Millie’s downtown apartment at almost the same moment, and their hostess directed them to the bar. “Fix yourselves drinks, dear boys, while I see to the catering. I have the most wonderful announcement to make, but I’m going to wait until everyone gets here!”
“What do you think it is?” Jamie asked as he uncapped the Scotch. “One of your Madonna pictures of Violet and Daisy sold for a million dollars?”
Jake grinned as he poured himself a glass of soda. “I see you’re dateless tonight.”
“Let’s just say you can move back in anytime you want.” He grimaced before sampling his drink.
“Sorry.” Jake wasn’t surprised, although Pamela had stuck around longer than most.
“Although you’d be crazy to leave your cozy setup.”
It was Jake’s turn to twist his face into a frown. “I wouldn’t call it a ‘cozy setup.’ I’m taking care of my daughter.”
“First thing I thought when I saw those pictures today was, ‘Jake’s in love with her.’”
“Just wait until you have a kid.” Although the only way he could imagine that happening was by accident, the same way it had happened to him.
Jamie laughed and clapped his brother on the back. “I was talking about Violet.”
“I’m not in love with Violet.”
Uncle Matt rolled his wheelchair into the room at that moment, followed by Millie. “Hell, yes, you are!”
“I don’t know what you boys are talking about, but fix your charming uncle a drink, Jake.” Millie passed him in a cloud of expensive-smelling perfume and placed a tray of appetizers on a low table.
Without even asking what he’d like, Jake uncapped a beer and handed it to Matt. “Listen, let’s not pursue this insanity. Violet and her brother will be here any minute, and I wanted to ask you about Carrie before she gets here. Is she working out?”
“Ah, Carrie.” He took a long swallow of the Sam Adams. “My future wife.”
Jake almost spewed his own drink. “I brought her to Wickham to be your housekeeper.”
Matt pointed his beer bottle at Jake, who was afraid it was going to spill on Millie’s Oriental rug. “I’m not in denial about who I love. Unfortunately, unlike your Violet, Carrie doesn’t return my feelings. Yet.”
The doorbell rang again, and Jake found himself holding his breath as he waited to hear Violet’s voice. But no, he wasn’t in love with her. Right. As his mother used to say, you can lie to everyone else, but you can’t lie to yourself.
In this situation, he couldn’t even lie to everyone else. Why had he sent Rayburn to see the pictures of Violet and the baby? Because he’d known what he would see. And if Rayburn could see it, then anyone could. Had Violet? He’d have to do some damage control, and pronto. Because Violet didn’t love
him
. And even if the sparks they’d felt the night they met could be coaxed into a three-alarm blaze, what would it accomplish? He couldn’t be the man she desired and deserved.
That man would show up someday, and when he did, Jake would be happy for Violet. He would even try to be mature and share his daughter with the guy. It just wasn’t going to be Richard Rayburn. Jake would make certain of that.
“Here’s the other star of the show,” Millie said to Violet, who was hovering on the threshold of the room with her brother behind her. She grabbed her by the shoulders and air-kissed both her cheeks.
Jake stepped forward. “Violet, the woman pretending to kiss you is Millie Winston, my agent.”
“And you’re the handsome brother,” Millie turned to Seth and repeated the greeting.
“I’m the other handsome brother, Jamie.”
His brother extended his hand first to Violet, holding it longer than Jake thought he should, and then to Seth.
“Enough of all this kissing and greeting. Now that everyone is here, I want to announce our wonderful news.” Millie floated over to Jake and put her arm around his waist. “
Bébé
, the French company that makes those wonderful skin and hair products for babies and mothers, wants Jake to be the photographer for their new ad campaign.”
Jake opened his mouth to ask her if she’d lost her mind, but she wasn’t finished.
“There’s more good news. They want Daisy and Violet to be their models!”
Jake watched Violet smile uncertainly when Millie delivered the first part of the announcement, but she appeared stunned by the second part. Her eyes met his with what he thought was a glare of accusation. How could Millie put them all on the spot like this? She knew he didn’t do commercial work. If he wasn’t making enough money for her, she could find herself another client. But he knew this wasn’t the time or place to say so.
Everyone was staring at him, waiting for a clue. Was it good news or not?
“We’ll have to discuss this later, Millie. I’m not sure it’s my kind of gig, and Violet already has a job. As for Daisy, I didn’t think we’d make her get a job for a few more years. Diapers aren’t
that
expensive.”
Everyone relaxed then, laughing at his joke. Except Violet. Millie’s maid, dressed theatrically in a black-and-white uniform, entered and rang a little bell. The commission Millie made from his work allowed her to have this over-the-top lifestyle. Why were people always greedy for more?
“Let’s go in to dinner,” Millie trilled. If she was disappointed with Jake’s response, she didn’t show it.
In the dining room, Jake pulled out Violet’s chair, which was to the left of his. “I’m so sorry.” He spoke as softly as he could, so the others wouldn’t hear. “This is the first I’ve heard about it. But don’t worry, it will never happen.”
She arranged the skirt of her dress around her as she settled into the chair. It was the same flowered dress she’d worn for the photo shoot, and it had the same effect on him as it had that day — it made him want to undo the row of tiny buttons down the front.
Her smile was thoughtful as she raised those beguiling blue eyes to his. “But I’d like to do it.”
• • •
There was a sudden silence as Violet became the focus of everyone’s attention. She looked around the table at the surprised faces. “I use
bébé
products, and I love them. They’re made of natural ingredients, and the company is very green, very earth-friendly. I think it would be great fun to model for their ads.”
Millie clapped her hands in delight. “I knew you’d do it! Daisy is so beautiful, you have a duty to share her with the world.”
It wasn’t like Violet to make a decision without careful reflection, which was why Seth was shooting her a “who are you and what have you done with my sister?” look from across the table. She was telegraphing back, “you’re the one who told me to be spontaneous,” even as she acknowledged that her sensible side had weighed in on the issue as well.
But she’d seen Jake’s jaw stiffen when she said she wanted to do the ads, and knew her spontaneity had been a mistake. As usual, what worked for other people had failed to work for her. For some reason, as eager as he’d been to take the other photographs, Jake didn’t want to do this project. He probably didn’t want to spend the time with her it would require, since he was seeing someone else.
“Jake would have to agree, of course.” She spoke without making eye contact with anyone, then sipped from an icy glass of water, hoping to calm the flush of embarrassment she was feeling.
“He doesn’t like to do commercial work,” Millie said, while the subject of the conversation poked at his salad with his fork. “But this wouldn’t just be advertising, it would be art. It would also be a very limited contract. Jake will be leaving the country in several weeks, and Daisy is the right age.”
“I think we should just enjoy this wonderful dinner right now, Mil,” Jake said. “Violet and I will discuss it later.”
She had until they got home to figure out what to say to him. A few hours posing for him, and she could set up a substantial college account for Daisy. Yes, she had a good job, and Jake was well off financially, if the crowd at his show was any indicator. But the future was uncertain, especially for Jake, who visited war zones and navigated dangerous terrain.
That would be a good argument to make. She’d wanted, and still did, to be independent. The decision to have the baby had been hers alone, so the financial responsibility should be hers too.
The subject remained dropped only until the maid cleared the salad plates and replaced them with the main course, lamb chops with baby vegetables.
“You know, Jake,” Jamie said, “if you just did this one commercial job, it would expose your work to a lot more people. That company markets to mothers, but I’ve seen their ads in general interest publications.”
“It would expose Daisy to a lot more people, too,” Jake replied. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
Violet’s face burned. Was he implying she would do something that wasn’t in her child’s best interests? Jamie was staring at her from across the table, and their eyes met. He was so different from Jake, she would never have guessed they were brothers. Where Jake had the gold and bronze coloring of a California surfer, Jamie had the intensely dark hair and blue eyes peculiar to some people of Irish descent. Like her and Seth, but where their eyes were the color of the afternoon sky, his were the deep blue of the sky at dusk.
Jamie smiled at Violet, but his words were directed at Jake. “Isn’t she exposed to the public right now, in the gallery?”
He raised his hand, palm forward, when Jake glowered at him. “You did that to share your artistry, the same way I want my buildings to be appreciated. But why not let
bébé
give your child a college fund at the same time?”
“Jamie, your brother asked you to stop talking about this baby company, whatever it is.” Matt said in the voice of a father who’s heard enough arguing. It was obvious this wasn’t the first time he’d mediated between the brothers. “Why don’t we move on to a safer topic, like religion or politics?”
• • •
When they got back to Violet’s, Seth went upstairs to the guest room to call his wife, while Jake walked Grace Cornelius down the street to her house. Violet spent the time organizing the arguments she would use on Jake, even jotting down notes.
Her preparation turned out to be unnecessary.
“This is what Millie said
bébé
is offering,” he said without preamble when he returned, handing her a slip of paper with a number followed by an amazing number of zeroes. “She can get more. If you weren’t so eager to do it for some reason, I’d say no. But you are, and it does seem foolish to pass up the money. Jamie’s right. It can go into a trust fund for Daisy, since you won’t let me set one up otherwise. I’ll know her future is secure.”
He said something she didn’t catch. “Hmm?” Her sofa was so comfortable and cushy. She was glad she hadn’t gotten the stark, modern one Pamela had suggested.
“I think we both need to get some sleep.”
This time she heard him, but as though from a great distance, and she found it impossible to reply. Sinking further into the cushions, she just smiled.
When her eyes blinked open again she saw, not her blue upholstery fabric, but Jake’s cotton shirt. It was about an inch away, since her face was resting on his chest. The first thing she did was check to see if she’d not only used him as a pillow, but drooled on him as well. Mercifully, she had not.
She attempted to raise herself back into the position she’d started from, but discovered she couldn’t move. Jake’s left arm was around her, and it clutched her even more tightly when she tried to pull away. In order to shift at all, she’d have to push her hand against his chest for leverage.
As soon as she did, his eyelids fluttered open and his other arm went around her too. For a moment she panicked. An outdoorsman like Jake might wake up alert and ready to take action, and in his semi-conscious state, he could think she was some kind of threat. Both their bodies tensed for a moment, then she felt his relax. He grinned at her, then closed the gap between their faces, pressing his lips against hers.
She relaxed too, relieved she wasn’t in danger. Then she realized she was just as “caught” as she’d been when she first woke up. If she pulled away now he would surely let her go, but how — and why — would she do that? Kissing Jake felt right, like something she’d lost had been returned to her. When their mouths opened and their tongues met, it felt more than right, it felt unstoppable. She was no longer thinking, only reacting to the heat and desire coursing through her.
Jake moved his right arm to the front of her dress and began to fumble with the buttons at her bodice. Knowing the combination of tiny buttons and thick masculine fingers would defeat him, she brought her own hands to the task. She was about to rip the dress down the front in frustration when his hand finally slipped inside her dress and the thin fabric of her bra. The heat and roughness of his calloused skin brought her to the brink of orgasm, and she gasped.
At the same moment, Jake froze. “Did you hear something?”
She struggled to quiet her ragged breathing. At first she heard only squawks of static coming from the baby monitor, then a whiny cry. “Daisy.”
Jake sighed. “It sounds like she might go back to sleep.”
But the mood was broken; Violet’s brain was functioning again. What had she been thinking? That was the problem, she hadn’t been thinking at all. She sat up and pulled the front of her dress together.
“I’ll go check on her. Goodnight, Jake.”
He put his hand on her arm, letting it slide away as she stood. Without his touch, the air felt cold. She shivered as she forced herself away from him and toward the stairs.
“Sleep well,” he called after her in a husky voice.
• • •
Seth, despite the time zone difference, was already up and drinking coffee the next morning when Violet staggered into the kitchen carrying Daisy, followed a few minutes later by Jake, who appeared as bedraggled as she felt.
“Did Daisy have a bad night?” Seth placed a cup of coffee in front of his sister and took the baby from her. She squealed with delight and grabbed his nose. “She theems fine now, but the two of you look like you didn’t get any sleep. Oww!”