Crash Into My Heart (9 page)

S
he
stood and crossed to a large, framed mirror on the wall
. Her skin was g
ood. Her bra cupped her breasts,
shaped them nicely. She critique
d
her figure
. Maybe they weren’t as bad as she’d
thought
. Adrian
seemed to like
her body.

Almost immediately
after
Karl’s death, men
approach
ed
her for dates. She’d shot them all down.
More recently though,
she
’d
fantasize
d
about
the idea of
finding a
love
r.
I
nevitably
,
she’d decided she was
too busy with the boys.
She already had too much
to do
.
Was it
fate,
m
e
et
ing
Adrian just as the boys left for a holiday?
Her phone vibrated
.
She answered.

“Hi, stranger!
What’s up?”

Kallie’s
voice was happy and relaxed.

“Not much. What are you doing?”

“Lying on the beach.”

“Sounds heavenly.”

“W
hat are you doing?”

“Waiting for my lover to
take me home
to bed
.”

Kallie
laughed.

“Really.
W
hat are you doing?”

“I just told you.”

“
What?
No way. Tell me everything.”

Janice heard voices coming down the hall.

“I can’t right now, but I’ll catch up with you soon. When are you in town?”

“I’m coming home tomorrow and spending the night
alone
. Do you want to meet for dinner?”

“Sure. See you tomorrow night for dinner.”

Adrian entered the room
as
she clicked the phone off.

“Who are you meeting for dinner?”

His voice was
surprisingly
curt
.

“My girlfriend
Kallie
.”

He relaxed
then
and
arched an eyebrow
.

“You might be otherwise occupied.”

“Don’t you have to go home?” She had a thought. “You don’t actually
live
up here, do you?”

“What if I did?”

Janice felt flustered. She’d been imagining a fling like her friend
Kallie
was having—an LA guy to see on the weekends once or twice a month for a good bout of sex. If he was local, he’d expect regular contact and that would
interfere
with her responsibilities as a mother. Plus, she remembered his reaction when he realized she had kids.
The man
was
most definitely
not looking for an instant family.

She
placed her hands on his chest, gazing up at him.

“You don’t. So it’s not an issue, is it?”

He let her pull his head down for a kiss, but a mild scowl remained on his face.

             
“Let’s shop and get those essentials for tonight.”

***

Adrian couldn’t shake his disquiet over the fact that Janice
wasn’t as eager to be with him as he was to be with her.
He was confident he could take charge in the bedroom. Outside of it
though
, Janice seemed
to
control
the progression of their
relationship
.

Relationship?
Normally,
a woman
only
wanting casual sex
suited him
perfect
ly
. With Janice
, it felt unsatisfying. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he’d figure it out. He was a
born
problem-solver.

He guided her to his car
, opening the passenger door for her to
s
t
ep
in
. She looked good in his car. He strolled around to his door.
His
meeting had been productive, and fast
,
because he wasn’t willing to keep Janice, or his desire, waiting.
He had a
n
afternoon, evening and night to figure out what was going on with Janice and his feelings about her
before he had to head back to LA
,
and he intended to exploit
that
time to its fullest.

At the s
tore
, they picked up
ingredients for dinner along with two
bottles of
good
wine.
I
n-season
peaches smelled heavenly
,
so
Janice picked out a few ripe ones for dessert. Adrian knew how they’d be eating those. He picked
out
the largest package of condoms
on the shelf
. When Janice looked at him
, her eyebrow quirked
in askance, he teased her.

“Maybe we should get two packs.”

He loved her
surprised
laugh.
It was so damn
arousing, he kissed her hard and long
in the grocer
y
aisle, indifferent to
the gawking passersby
.

***

The
y spent the afternoon
in bed, just as Adrian had hoped.
And he’d improved on his
earlier
endurance.
Later
, they cuddled on the couch to watch Janice’s favorite film,
Run, Lola,
Run
, which Adrian had ne
ver seen.
Dinner and a bottle
of wine later, a bowl of juicy sliced peaches in hand,
they retired to the bedroom again
, where Adrian
showed
Janice
ways
to
eat sweet,
sticky peaches on a naked body. The evening ended in utter satiation.

***

I
n the morning, Adrian whistled as he dressed. His clothes were
beyond
wrinkled
, but he intended to stop at his house to change before heading into the office.
He had to prep for important meetings early Monday
morning
.
Janice lay drowsy and
indolent
on the
bed. H
e could hardly talk himself into leaving her.

She smiled up at him,
a
woman satisfied.
He
stop
ped
dressing to kiss her several times before he’d actu
ally got to his shoes. Finally
dressed, he
teased
her.

“
Aren’t you going to at least see me to the door?
”

She
chuckled
her
deep laugh
and he
dropped
back down on the sheets with her.

“Get dressed
and come with me,” he urged her as he nibbled on her neck.

“What would I do
while you went to work?”

“You could sun on the patio, swim—I have a pool—you could read, surf the web,
watch
television. You could have dinner ready for me when I get home.”

“Really?”
She cocked an eyebrow at him, teasingly. “Like a wife?”

Adrian froze.
Had she guess how infatuated he
already
was?

She laughed at what was probably
a
stricken
expression on his face.

“Adrian, I have to arrange for a
car
rental, talk to my insurance company, probably shop for a new car, and I’m having dinner with my friend
Kallie
tonight, remember?” She pouted prettily. “Plus, I’m
unused to..
.
you know.
”

“
When can you come down? Your
son
s are
away
. You’re on summer break
.”

“Adrian, I have a l
ife
here
. I can’t drop everything to
come see you.”

“What do you have to do tomorro
w more exciting than
seeing
me.
”

“That’s not the point. I’m a busy person.
A single mother.
A house to keep.
Laundry to do.”

“I’ll help you shop for a car. Don’t go to a
dealer without me. I’ll get
you
a good deal. Car s
ale
smen always shaft women
.”

Janice rolled her eyes. “I think I can
buy
a car on my own.”

“Promise me.”

“Aren’t you busy too?”

Adrian struggle
d
to hold back his growing
frustration
. Or was it anxiety. He felt a visc
eral fear at leaving her.
Like she
might not
willingly
see
him
again.

He sat down on the bed and
caught
up her hand. He brought it to h
is lips and kissed it
. He
stared
into her blue eyes. They reminded him of the color of the ocean just as the sun set on the Pacific. Blue
striated
with deep shadows of dark gray.

“I need you to say you’ll see me again.
Soon.”

“Why?” she
asked
, staring at him with huge eyes.

“
You’re
under my skin.”

Janice tried to tug her hand away, but he held onto her tightly.
She looked nervous.

“Adrian, this was a fling. An amazing weekend, but if I see you again, I’m going to start to feel things I’m not ready to feel.”

“
Is this about your husband
?
Even though he’s been gone for
four
years?”
It was hard not to sound jealous.

“It’s not that
. It’s mo
re complicated. I…have the boys. They come
first and no one can displace them.
Ever.”

Adrian sensed his face darkening ominously.

“That’s it then. You only have room for them and no one else?”

“I don’t know.” She
paused
. “I haven’t tried to love anyone else for a long time.”

“And you won’t take a chance on me. See where this might go?”

“Where do you want it to go?
I would have guessed on Friday night that you had no intention of
acquiring
a girlfriend.”

She was absolutely right.

“I hadn’t met you
.”

“I have
kids
. I won’t bring someone into their life
w
ho
won’t be staying. I’m sorry.”

Adrian stared down at her,
keeping his face impassive,
stroking her hand with his thumb.
He’d never had to beg.

“At least, g
ive me your cell number?”

He
pulled his phone out
and turned it on, entering
her number as she
recited it
.

He leaned down, kissed her
hard before pulling
back.

“
This isn’t over
,
koulka
mou
.”

H
e
left
.