Crash Into My Heart (10 page)

***

For two days, Janice berated herself for showing Adrian the door. She couldn’t believe it would be possible to physically miss someone she’d only known for thirty-six hours. And yet, the ache in her chest
disproved that
.

“Whatever happened to ‘o
ut of sight, out of mind,
’
” she m
umbled to herself as she took another cold shower
. The
desert
temperatures were in the triple digits and she thought
longingly
of Adrian’s invitation to come down to his home near the marina. He’d probably
take
her sailing
on his
boat
. Her luck, she’d get motion sickn
ess. Of course
,
for a wealthy businessman,
Adrian
had
made
a
wonderful
nurse.

Out of the shower, she inspected her face. The bruises were fading and her nose was hardly sore at all now. She ran her fingers over her lips and thought about Adrian’s kisses.

“Nope, la
dy,” she told her reflection, “T
hat was a near miss. That
Greek god
would have broken
your heart. You survived more than one
life-threatening situation
this past weekend.”

She trie
d to ignore the suspicion that
her heart resembled her totaled car.

At dinner the other night, she’d
had to endure
Kallie’s
claims
that she was
screwing up
.

You don’t understand,
Kallie
, she’d told her friend.
He’s drop dead gorgeo
us. LA George-Clooney-
gorgeous.
And rich.
Did I mention rich? He probably dates actresses and models.

You
outshine most women
. Besides, looks are only important at the start. It’s your personality and willingness to love and support
each other that matters
.

It does
n’t matter now anyway. He left.

It’s
60 miles tops to where he lives. I go all the way to down to Orange County to see
Duncan
.

Which you are about to
stop doing when school starts.

I know.

You won’t even invite him to your house. Adrian spent t
wo
nights in mine.

Kallie
smiled sheepishly at her, caught out.

Janice turned away from the mirror and her own suspicion that she
was
chickening out. She pulled on a t-shirt and a slim pair of leggings and wandered out into the kitchen to snoop through the fridge. She
craved chocolate
, but there was nothing in the house.

She lay on the sofa. One
o’clock
on a
Tuesday
.
Ten
days and four hours until the boys returned. Then she’d be able to shake
this
restlessness. Then school started. She’d be busy soon
.

The doo
r
bell rang. She
started
in surprise. She
went to the
hall
and
peeked out the eye hole
.
A
giant bunch of flowers?

She swung the door open
.

There had to be
dozen
s of
long-stem
med
ro
ses staring out at her from
green tissue paper.
B
lue
-tipped
roses.
She’d never seen
blue
roses.

“Yes?”
she inquired.

“They symbolize hope for an unattainable love.”

Janice
’s heart stopped.

“Adrian?”

He moved the flowers away from his face.

“Am
I
invited
in?”

“
Of course
,” Janice stepped back and
Adrian entered
with his armful of flowers. The
ir
sensual
scent invaded the house.

“I didn’t know
anything like
blue roses
existed
.”

“I didn’t know
anyone like
you
existed
.
”

Janice swallowed back the rush of emotions that flooded her suddenly. Her eyes shimmered and she blinked rapidly to
clear
them.

Adrian never stopped looking at her.

“They aren’t natural like you, but the color reminded me of your eyes.”

“I’ll put them in water,” she said grabbing them and hiding her face in their sweet fragrance. Adrian followed
directly
on her heels
,
clos
ing the front door shut with a
decisive
slam
.
Was he angry?
She
carried
the
bundle
to the sink and busied herself looking for a vase. Adrian stood inches behind her and when she stood with a large glass container
,
she nearly dropped it because he placed his hands
around
her waist and
yanked
her back against him. He nuzzled her neck
, pressing his face against her
.

She managed to set the vase
safely
down before he swung her around and mashed his lips against hers
. Her knees buckled. S
he leaned into him.

“God, Janice, I’ve missed you.” The words were gr
oaned
against her mouth.

Adrian’s hunger
unleashed
her
own
repressed
response
. She
slid her arms around his neck to pull him tight against her.
She kissed him back
fervently
.

Then
, she was weightless as he carried her into the living
room and tossed her down on the couch. She bounced once.

“Undress
.”

She stared up at Adrian, still dazed from his kisses. He had already unbuttoned his
business shirt,
unzipped his slacks and was shedding them, alon
g with his boxers
. He stumbled slightly as he tried to kick off his shoes along with the slacks. Then he was naked except for his black businessman’s socks.
His hard, long cock bobbed at her.

He pounced.

Janice regained enough sense to help him peel off her leggings before he ripped them, but the t-shirt was a goner. He grabbed a fist full of her cotton panties and simp
ly ripped them off as well. She’d
be sore
later
but she didn’t care. This
was hotter than any
sex she’d ever imagined.

***

Adria
n reached down and slid his fingers between Janice’s thighs
. She
was
wet.
She was ready.
He lifted her legs up over hi
s arms, positioned himself and filled
her in one drive.

All he’d thought about for two d
ays was this moment.
Being
deep
inside
Janice.
It was madness.
He’d argued with himself, covering the pros, the cons, the insanity of his
sudden
feelings, his desires. But in the end, he couldn’t ignore the fact that he felt like he’d been run over by a Mack truck
. B
eing apart from Janice after being with her was simply unacceptable.

He thrust in and out, gr
oaning
at the intense pleasure each stroke caused. He reached down and
circled
his thumb against her clit, determined that they’d come together. She mewled under him and he almost came
right then.
He grit
ted
his teeth
and slowed his pace. It was damned difficult to hold onto his control with Janice.

S
he
rock
ed
up eagerly into him and he sensed her orgasm approaching. He cupped and stroked one of her breasts with his free hand
,
and she began to shake. Her insides clenched him and he let
his control go, driving deep,
erupting at her core.

He trembled afterwards. He s
agged down on top of her,
resting his head
between her breasts.

“Fuck, Janice. That was..
.”

Janice shifted under him and he realized he was probably crushing her. He pulled out and the sticky feeling and smell of fresh sex hit his nose. Shit. He’d just had unprotected sex with Janice. He hadn’t had unprotected sex since college. And even then, it was with his then-girlfriend whom he had trusted
implicitl
y. She’d been on the pill.
Janice wasn’t. That could be a problem.
Or
maybe
not.
She’d be tied to him then.
If one
child linked them together forever, they’d have ten of them.

Adrian dropped down on the sofa
behind
Janice and curved his body around her, tucking her into his che
st.

“We should talk about what just happened,” she
said
.

“The sex?”

“The
unprotected
sex.”

“That
’s irrelevant
.”

Janice turned her face up to look in his eyes
like he was crazy
.

“
What
?
”

“
We’re going to get married.
I want y
ou.
This.
E
very single minute of the next nine
days alone with you.
Every minute of the next
fifty
years with you.”

Janice
sucked
in a
long
breath, and he felt her chest
expand
. He slid his hand down to cup and
caress
a breast
. He kissed her
cheek
tenderly.

“I’m in love with you a
nd you’re in love with me.”

“We’ve known e
ach other for less than a week,” she countered, weakly, unconvinced
herself
.

“I want to meet your boys.
I want to take you all on my boat, to baseball games, to meet my family, to meet yours.
Janice
,
koulka
mou
.
I want to marry you as soon as
possible
.”

He felt her start in hi
s arms. He
realized
he was moving too
fast.
He tightened his grip on her.

“No. Don’t run scared on me.”

He
turned her face to his and
kissed her
until she kissed him back
.

“
D
on’t
push me away
.”

“Adrian. I’m flabbergasted. I don’t know what to say. I was
n’t
ready
for a fling five days ago, much less a relationship.
A
nd
marriage!
”

“Do you deny you
r
feelings for me?”

“No. I do have feelings for you, but I really don’t know how to handle t
hem.”

“Will you
give me a chance?
Us a chance?”

“What does
koulka
mou
mean?”

“My doll.”

She gazed up into his eyes for a long moment of indecision. He wished she
didn’t need to think so hard. Then
she smiled mischievously up at him and
snuggle
d
back into him
.