Love Captures the Heart (Sully Point, Book 3) (9 page)

"Sure, that'd be fine."

He ran a hand through his wavy hair and smiled ruefully.
"Well, all that practicality certainly changed the mood I was
creating."

She laughed and ran her hand down his chest to the button of
his jeans. "I just bet I can fix that."

Later that night, before he fell asleep, Jason thought he
might be the luckiest man in the city.

* * * *

Saturday arrived quickly, between days filled with work and
nights spent with Jason. Holly visited the market down the street from her
building to pick up ingredients and then took a cab to his place. The doorman
knew her now and waved her on up. By ten a.m. she was ensconced in Jason's
kitchen staring at a brand new sleek black Kitchen Aid mixer. "When I said
I'd need a mixer I didn't expect you to buy a top of the line stand mixer. But,
hey, great job."

"We aim to please," he said, green eyes crinkled
at the edges with incipient laughter.

"And I know that's true," she said with an impish
grin. "Okay, today I'm making Cranberry-Orange Scones. There are a variety
of types that I could make, but I happen to think these are the best." She
began measuring flour. "What's your grandmother like?"

He pulled out a barstool and sat at the island across from
her. "She's different. Speaks her mind, tells you straight out what she
thinks. She never seems like she could be seventy years old. She does normal
grandmother stuff like knitting, but she is also a terror on the internet. Her
fun comes at participating in a number of forums online where she posts her
comments regularly. Gloria has no patience with fools. I think she loved my
grandfather deeply and misses him to this day. He died about ten years
ago."

"She sounds fascinating. Her name is Gloria?"

"Yes. She prefers that I call her by her name. And
she's all I've got now for family." He sighed. "I'm envious of you,
you know. Seeing all of you in Sully Point made me wish I'd come from a larger
family."

"I don't know, sometimes siblings can be a pain. Did I
tell you about that phone call I had from Holly, trying to get information
about us?"

"Yes, and I think you were right to deny any
involvement. We don't need to deal with people supposing things incorrectly.
They wouldn't understand our arrangement anyway."

Holly cut the dough into triangles. She felt it was the
perfect shape for scones. It felt homey being in the kitchen with Jason like
this. In some areas of his apartment she felt the decorator had gone too modern
and that it wasn't warm enough. But modern suited the kitchen.

"We can bring these to Gloria once they're done,"
he said. "I know she's going to want to meet the woman who made the
scones."

"Are you sure? Will she find it odd?"

"No, I don't think so."

Holly shrugged. "Sure, why not? I've got the whole day
free. I've blocked off most of my weekends for the next couple of months, in
case we need to go to Sully Point."

"Now that's an idea," he said musingly. "I
think I'd like to take Gloria to Sully Point sometime."

"She'd be welcome to stay at my family's house. It's
big enough to be an inn."

"I'll mention it to her. I'd like for her to see the
place I'll be working on."

When the scones were done Holly mixed a drizzly icing made
with confectioner's sugar and orange juice. She only glazed the tops of half
the scones.

"Why half?"

"Some people don't think scones should have icing.
Since I don't know what your grandmother prefers..."

"I see. Let me give her a call and find out when we can
go there."

Holly decided to change clothes if she were going to meet
his only living family member, instead of wearing beat-up looking jeans. She
had a pair of summery green pants and a blouse splashed with colors of yellow,
orange, red, and green on a white background. She slipped on her tan sandals
and belt, and was ready to go.

Jason came into the bedroom as she finished brushing out her
hair from the ponytail she'd been wearing. "Nice," he commented on
her clothing. "Gloria says we can come on out now if we want or after
lunch, either way. And since you've changed I'd better change too. She tends to
believe that people dress far too sloppily today."

"I agree."

She watched as Jason dressed in dark tan slacks and a brown
shirt the exact color of his hair. He always looked handsome, but there were
more times than not when he looked downright sexy. Something about the way he
held his body, the look in his eyes, the curve of his lips as he began to smile
that knowing smile...she realized she had been taking him in with her eyes for
more than a minute and felt herself blush.

He laughed. "Whatever could be on your mind?"

"World peace, socio-economic causes of poverty, what do
you think?"

He walked to where she stood, reached out with both hands to
run them through her hair and pull her head to his so that he could kiss her
thoroughly. It was like lighting a match. Her body pressed against his and she
moaned. "I want you," she murmured against his lips.

His hands ran down her back and he said, "I'm either
ripping that shirt off of you or--"

She quickly pulled it up and over her head and tossed it
toward the chair in the corner. Her white lace bra was revealed and he stared
at her hungrily as she began undoing her belt. His hands kept touching her in
between his own efforts to get undressed.

He kicked off shoes and pants and her hands unbuttoned his
shirt rapidly. "Why do we ever bother dressing at all?" she asked.

"Stand still a minute," he said in a rough, deep
voice. He stared at her, green eyes darkened with lust. "You are so damned
beautiful." He reached for her and then propelled them onto the bed. He
kissed her hard. She felt as though she was ready to explode inside.

"Now," she whispered.

"Now," he agreed.

* * * *

They had a lunch of sandwiches at the deli near Jason's
building, and then headed out to Gloria's place. She lived in an old building
with character, a pre-war with high ceilings and spacious rooms. When they
first walked in, Holly gawked at it. Clearly Gloria had exquisite taste and what
appeared to be an unlimited budget.

"Gloria, this is Holly Grainger, owner of the personnel
agency I told you about. Holly this is my grandmother, Gloria Earlington."

"It's nice to meet you," Holly said, shaking
Gloria's hand.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Hard to say yet, I would
bet."

"Gloria, these are the scones Holly made." He
handed her the box of scones.

"Why don't we have tea," Gloria said. She turned
and, using a cane, made her way into the next room. "Holly, you come into
the kitchen, and help me with the tray."

Holly followed her into an immaculate kitchen. "Get
that silver one off the shelf there, that's it," Gloria said. "What
kind of scones are these?"

"Cranberry-orange."

"I've got some tea with hints of orange. We'll have
that. Grab that bowl of cut up lemons out of the refrigerator." Within a
very few minutes everything was on a tray that Holly carried back out to what
she assumed was a drawing room or parlor. Antiques filled the room, but it wasn't
cluttered with too much furniture. It felt like a room that was used and lived
in.

After settling on the chairs and sofa, everyone had their
tea. "Delicious scones," Gloria declared. "You, girl, can cook. Why
don't you do this for a living?"

"I used to. Now I have the personnel agency."

"Hmph. How's business in this job market?"

"Actually, very good. There are still jobs out there,
but employers can be much pickier about who they choose. They rely on people
like me to screen for them. Finding a good match is important so that time and
money aren't lost training the wrong person in a job."

Gloria sat back in her chair and sipped her tea. She was a
tall woman with a slight limp. Her eyes were a clear blue behind steel-rimmed
glasses. Her hair was shining silver. Holly could see a fierce intelligence in
her eyes.

"I heard you found him an assistant. Smart move, that,
choosing a mature woman for the job."

"Thank you."

"Time will tell, of course, whether you were right, but
I think you were. So, what's this project you two are working on together?
Jason dropped hints about it after last weekend."

Holly and Jason told her of the project in Sully Point,
trading off giving different pieces of information.

"Why use Jason? He's not been doing that style of
architecture."

"Because he's the best. No matter what or where it is,
we believe he can pull it off better than anyone else," Holly replied.
"We see it as a showcase."

"Sully Point...I don't think I've ever been
there."

"I'd like to take you down for a weekend soon,
Gloria," Jason said. "I think you'd like the place. And before I
forget--" He lifted the bag he'd carried in and gave it to her. "I
bought this for you while I was there last weekend."

Gloria looked into the bag at the yarn and smiled. "Now
this is a handsome gift. Someone in that town is doing their own dye work on
the yarn. Nicely done. This almost matches your eyes. I think I see a sweater
in your future."

"Jason says that you spend time on the internet,"
Holly said. "What interests you the most?"

Gloria set her tea cup down on the round table beside her
chair. "I have a blog of my political musings that has a small, but rabid,
following. The internet is a wild place where you can have erudite
conversations one minute and be reading the latest Chuck Norris joke the next.
There are times when I find it infuriating, but generally I think it's a good
thing, a helpful thing."

"I'll have to get the address of your blog from Jason.
I'd love to check it out."

Gloria pulled open a drawer in the round table and brought
out a tablet computer. "What's your email address?"

Holly bemusedly told her.

"I'll send you the link. You can sign up for my
newsletter, if you find it interesting. Now tell me, who is handling the
financial end of this project of yours?"

"Rob Tremaine," Jason replied. "Holly is the
point person for the family on everything but money. Rob handles that."

Gloria looked surprised. "Rob Tremaine? That's a name
I'm familiar with." She faced Holly as she said, "My late husband had
dealings with Rob Tremaine. Respected him. He's connected to your family
how?"

Holly explained how her best friend Julia Tremaine had
married her brother Cody and brought her father Rob into their circle. She also
told Gloria of her other sister's marriage to Sam Carter, the famous novelist. "So,
you see, we have several sources of money supporting this endeavor."

"Married to Sam Carter you say? So Anna Grainger is
your sister? She's a damn fine artist. I was at her last showing at Stanley's
gallery. But tell me this, with your project in Sully Point, just what are you
aiming to accomplish? Are you trying to create some kind of utopian community?
Is that what the project is really about? Because I can tell you right now, if
that's your goal, it will fail. There's no such thing possible when you deal
with human beings."

"But can't we at least try for it? For a better world
in general?" Holly asked her.

"Certainly striving to be better is what we hope
everyone does. Although, not many actually work very hard at it. Even those
with the best intentions can end up causing terrible things to happen they'd
never expect."

Holly sipped her tea, and then set it down. "I like to
approach life with hope, with a belief that we can work together and create
something worthwhile."

Gloria shook her head. "You may find it hard to keep
that optimistic outlook as you get older."

"I hope not. If we don't look for the brighter side, we
just end up stumbling in the dark."

Gloria raised an eyebrow, but nodded slowly. She turned to
her grandson and began asking him questions about the meeting he'd had last
night.

Holly watched the way the two of them interacted. He was
respectful of her, but not intimidated, and that was an achievement, she thought,
as Gloria was clearly an indomitable woman. It was clear that they loved each
other and were part of each other's lives. His visits to her weren't just
dutiful tokens. She tried to picture Gloria in Sully Point, but found it
difficult. The woman seemed to be the quintessential city-dweller.

They took their leave of her not long after that, with Jason
promising to come for their weekly lunch the following day. When they were in
the cab she said, "I liked her, a lot. She's got something--a presence
that fills the room."

Jason smiled. "She is special, isn't she? I don't think
I appreciated her fully until I'd left her home and was on my own. I look
forward to every visit with her."

"We should get her down to Sully Point. It would be
fascinating to see what she makes of the town--and what it makes of her."

He laughed. "I agree."

The cab took them to the Helix. They said good-bye in the
taxi. Holly thought it showed how businesslike they were about their
arrangement. A simple kiss and she was out the door and on her way into her
building, while Jason headed to his gym.

She had to confess that she needed some 'me' time. Or, she
thought with a laugh, time that wasn't about sex. The week had flown by with
phenomenal nights spent in each other's arms. But she needed to take a long
bubble bath, give herself a pedicure, watch something mindless on TV and simply
relax without a man--that man--to distract her.

* * * *

Jason took a shower after a heavy duty workout, feeling
energized and toned. His evening was spent working on final drawings for the
project he was focused on before shifting his attentions to Sully Point.
Thoughts of Holly intruded periodically, but he continued working. By eleven
that night he was satisfied with the job he'd done.