Last Chance at Love (11 page)

He glanced at Allison, whose gaze centered on the she-crab soup that the waiter placed before her, and he wondered at her silence. Where was the feisty, contentious woman who bedeviled him at every opportunity?

“Have no fear, man. I was brought up to respect women. Allison calls the shots.”

Sydney nodded his head. “Yes, but the day will come when you should call them. She—”

“Will you two please not speak about me as if I’m not sitting here listening to you? Sydney’s thirty-two, Jake.”

He had to laugh at that. She let him get her age by deduction.

“Hmm, this soup is great. As I was saying, Jacob, it isn’t easy to find the cracks in that armor of hers, but if you’re discerning, you’ll see them. Those are my last words on the subject.”

Jake savored the veal marsala, contemplating his next words. “Tell me, Sydney, when the two of you are alone later, will Allison chew you out about this conversation?”

Sydney’s arm slid around his sister’s shoulder, and she leaned toward him. “Hardly. She might be a little miffed, but... Jake, from my earliest memory, it was Allison and me against the world. That sounds foolish now that we’re adults, but no, I can’t imagine her chewing me out.”

After lunch, they walked through the Public Garden draped in its midsummer beauty, with the fragrance of roses perfuming the air. The visual evidence of summer maturity reminded Jake of the ticking of his own biological clock. Thirty-five years old, and his dreams were still dreams. He didn’t have the family that he longed for or the woman who would give him that family, and he had yet to achieve the honor that his alma mater bestowed. He also couldn’t stand up before the world as Jacob Covington and play the music he loved.

People who read books knew the name of Jacob Covington, and those concerned with government security knew what he had accomplished as an undercover agent, but his goals didn’t center on fame.

“I’m an only child,” he said at last, “and I always wanted a brother, but I can see that having a sister could also have been nice.”

He had lowered the ring of his cell phone, as he always did when in Allison’s company, but he heard it nonetheless. “I’ve got to get back to the hotel and prepare for my TV appearance, Sydney. I hope to see you again.” To Allison, he said, “I’ll be in the lobby at four-thirty.”

As soon as he stepped out of the park, he called the chief. “You call me?”

“Yeah. Get to a pay phone, use a secure number, and call me.”

“Ten minutes.” He hung up, hoping that he wouldn’t have to break the tour again and further arouse Allison’s suspicions. If she didn’t have some, she wasn’t much of a reporter. He headed for the bank of pay phones off the lobby and dialed the number.

“Have you seen that agent again? We have information that he’s on the general’s payroll. My Lord, man. It’s been almost five years since you broke up that cocaine ring.”

“I haven’t seen him. Maybe he changed his disguise.”

“That’s possible. Watch your back. I’m thinking of giving you a bodyguard.”

A bodyguard?
That might save his back, but he’d have some explaining to do for Allison. “Hold off on that, chief. I’ll keep a lookout.”

“If you spot him, we’ll put a tail on
him.
All for now.”

He’d forgotten about the man, which meant he’d slipped. One of the reasons he’d been so effective as an undercover agent was his lack of emotional ties. His preoccupation with Allison Wakefield had taken his mind off his own safety. He went up to his suite, looked at the sunken tub and Jacuzzi, and resisted the impulse to relax and let the interview take care of itself. But when he sat down to review the section of his book that he planned to talk about, Allison pushed all else from his thoughts.

Her soft, feminine, and delicate manners with her protective brother told him that he didn’t truly know her. It told him also that he could have with her what he needed, that she could be the woman he had longed for, the sympathetic, warm, and understanding woman he needed for his life partner. He closed the book. How could he encourage that side of her without making her feel that she wasn’t his equal as a person, without challenging her independence?

He answered the phone on the first ring. “Covington.”

“Hi. Hope I’m not disturbing you. I didn’t get anything on you during the signing except that huge crowd. Seems they get bigger with each stop on the tour. Uh...can I come up and see your suite? Sydney’s with me, so nothing can...you know—”

Laughter shook him. “Now you listen here, lady. Sydney’s big, but I’m bigger, and if I get any lascivious notions, I’ll pitch him out of here and have my way with you.”

Did he hear giggles? Allison didn’t giggle. Nonetheless, the sound that floated to him through the wire was precisely that.

“I’ll tell him what to expect, but I’d better warn you. Sydney doesn’t take down for anybody except our mother. We’ll be right up.”

He kicked off his bedroom slippers, put on his shoes, and waited. He wanted to stand in the open door and watch her sashay toward him, but he’d implicated himself enough for one afternoon. He draped his right foot over his left knee. When had the notion of Allison and himself as a permanent couple settled in his head?

* * *

“Why do you want me to go up to the guy’s suite with you? He’ll think you need a chaperon.”

“I don’t want him to get the wrong idea. That’s why. And I want to see what these suites look like. Considering the elegance of my room, the suites must be palatial.”

“Quit fooling yourself. You’re nuts about the guy, so why can’t you go up there by yourself? The man’s a gentleman, and nothing will happen unless you want it.”

The elevator stopped, they got out, and he began to laugh. “Please let me in on what’s funny,” she said, showing mild irritation.

“Sis, the funny is that you trust Covington, but you don’t trust yourself. If you’re at that stage, go for it.”

“Tsk-tsk. Suppose our mother heard you say that.”

“It would be damned good for what ails her,” he replied and pushed the bell at suite 14R.

The door opened. “Hi. Come on in.”

But she stood there transfixed until Sydney nudged her in the back. “Hi.” She had never seen him without his suit jacket, and had gaped at the sight of him in that open-collared, short-sleeved T-shirt that stretched tight over his pectorals and exposed his rippling biceps. She had always been conscious of his sexuality, but as she gazed at him, she saw a different, more earthy man, one who reached something primal inside her.

“You want to look around?” he asked her, breaking the silence and reminding her that the two of them were not alone.

“Sure thing,” Sydney said so quickly that she knew he sensed the tension reverberating between Jake and herself. She followed the two men into the living room, the writing room, and then to the bedroom.

“The bath is really something,” Jake said. “Have a look.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed that you’re so neat, Jake,” she said, after peeping in the bathroom and ducking out quickly as if reluctant to invade his privacy. She looked out of the living room window and said, “You have the same view that I have.” He didn’t comment, and she didn’t expect him to; he disdained small talk.

“We’d better let you get back to work.” Sydney cleared his throat. “Unless you two have some business to discuss.”

She let her eyes censor him. “He’s preparing for his TV interview, so you’re right. We ought to leave now.”

Jake kicked at the beige broadloom carpet. Then he looked directly into her eyes. “I wasn’t having any success, so I closed the book. You’ve got a lot to account for.”

Stunned at that admission in her brother’s presence, she managed to say, “Yes. Well, I’ll see you downstairs at four-thirty. Let’s go, Sydney.”

“When are you leaving?” Jake asked Sydney.

“I’m getting a six-fifteen train to New Haven this evening. This has been a pleasure.”

They shook hands, but Jake barely shifted his gaze from her face. “See you later.” His voice caressed her, and she looked at Sydney in time to see his raised eyebrow.

“You needn’t bother pretending,” he told her as they walked to the elevator. “You two are ready to explode so be honest with yourself and with him. He’s laid his cards on the table, but you’re still behaving as if you’re uncertain or you don’t want to get involved. Girl, that man is worth any woman’s time. Wake up.”

“Sydney, I’ve been there—”

“Clean that out of your head. Farr was a scamp. This man is first-rate. Besides, you care a lot for him, sis. I’d hate to see this thing fizzle.” When she would have responded, he held up both hands, palms out. “All right, all right. My last words. But he’d make a great brother-in-law.”

“When did you get to be so fanciful? I’m not as stupid as you seem to think. Besides, what I’m feeling will take care of it one way or another.”

“You know him better than I do, but it’s my hunch that if you don’t play it straight with him, he’ll be out of your life like smoke in a windstorm. I’ll call you.”

His hug gave her a feeling of security as it had for as long as she could remember. “Thanks for coming.”

She closed the door and because she knew she wouldn’t work, she telephoned Jake. “What have you got to say for yourself, mister? What made you say those things in my brother’s presence?”

“If this is a reprimand, it doesn’t sound like one. If it isn’t, surely you don’t want to talk about it over the phone. Which is it?”

She had called him because she wanted assurance that he meant what he said, wanted to hear him repeat it. His reaction said he knew that, and she wanted to give herself a good kick. She attempted to finesse it. “Sydney is very dear to me, and I don’t mislead him.”

“Too bad I didn’t see you when you said that. You may not mislead him, but you didn’t volunteer to tell him the truth, at least not in my presence. I meant every word I said. If you need more information on the subject, be more forthcoming yourself.”

She tried to think of a way to end the conversation without seeming uninterested, rude, or abrupt. Finally, she said, “Could we talk about this another time? I’m at a disadvantage right now.”

“All right.”

She inspected her shoes, cleaned and polished them, and was about to check her dress for wrinkles when she heard the chimes of her door. She lifted the peephole latch, and her heartbeat accelerated. Jake!

He had her in his arms before the door closed. “Jake. This isn’t... I mean—”

“You called me because you needed me, and for once admit that you’re as human as I am, and that you know it’s only a matter of time before you welcome me into your body.”

“Jake. Please. I don’t want to start anything with you. We have to work together, and I have to do my job. I... Help me, Jake.”

“I agree it would have been better if we’d met under different circumstances, but we didn’t, and the more I see of you, the more I want you.”

She should move out of his arms, away from his strength, his magnetism, but she couldn’t; every cell in her body wanted to be closer to him, to know him as a man. “We shouldn’t be having this conversation,” she managed to say.

“No, we shouldn’t. By now, we ought to have an understanding. Do you realize that you’re holding on to me and that your hand is stroking my face?”

He tipped up her chin with his left index finger, forcing her to look into the impassioned turbulence of his eyes. “Say that, if you feel you have to, but tell me straight right here and now. Do you feel anything for me?”

“You...you know I do,” she whispered.

She couldn’t stop the sudden quivering of her lips, and when her breath shortened, lost in an emotional fog, she closed her eyes and gripped his shirt. He didn’t hesitate. His big hands gripped her waist and tightened, drawing her so close to him that she inhaled his breath, and rivulets of heat cascaded through her body. He seemed to possess her, and his masculine aura besotted her as his scent—the odor of aroused man—filled her nostrils. She tried to shift her glance, but with his gaze he held her captive as surely as if he’d been a stranger with a gun.

“Open your mouth and kiss me. Let me taste you, feel myself inside you. Sweetheart, open up to me.”

She didn’t know that she obeyed or when she did it. She only knew the heaven of his tongue in her mouth, and his lips, hungry and searching, moving over hers. She sucked him deeper into her, and he sampled every crevice, every centimeter of the sweetness she offered him, taking possession of her senses, destroying her willpower. A tide of frustration welled up in her, emboldening her, and she rubbed her chest against him in an unspoken plea. Immediately his hand went to her breast and began to stroke her nipple. She wanted more, needed it, for she thought she’d die if she couldn’t feel his mouth on her, tugging at her aching nipple.

“Jake. Oh, Jake.” She heard her moans and wondered at their origin. And then, he no longer held and kissed her, but had set her from him and stood staring at her, his nostrils flared and his breathing short and deep.

“I have to be at the studio in one hour and twenty-seven minutes, and that means I don’t have anywhere near the time I’d like to spend with you. If this happens again, we’ll make love. You know that. Is there a man anywhere who means more to you than I do?”

Half-numb from what she had just experienced with him, she managed to shake her head. “There’s no one, and you don’t know what an effort I’ve made these past four years to be able to say that. Is there a special woman in your life?” She remembered that she had never asked Roland that question. If she had, she might have saved herself a lot of pain.

“You are the only woman in my life.” He thought for a minute. “Other than my mother, of course.” A half smile moved across his lips. “Thanks for not telling me you’re sorry it happened. I’m not. It’s what I came down here for.”

“I...I guess that’s why I called you.”

His eyes sparkled. “I knew that, but I appreciate your telling me. See you downstairs at four-thirty.”

She couldn’t imagine what kind of expression he saw on her face, for he grinned and said, “Oops. Almost made a big boo-boo,” clasped her shoulders, kissed her quickly, and left.