Old Flames Never Die (Valentine Mystery) (13 page)

“What does she want?”

“I don't know. Maybe you should ask.”

“Then I'd have to stop what I'm doing
and I don't want to stop.”

“I told you, you should have shut your
door.”

“Yes, you did.” Jack lifted his head,
keeping his eyes on Tess.

“Do you need something, Mrs. Stauffer?”
He leaned in and kissed Tess again.

“No.” Mrs. Stauffer's gruff voice
answered.

Jack grinned. “She's mad at me.” He
turned. “You failed to let me know my noon appointment was here.”

“So I did.” Mrs. Stauffer's tone
suggested that she'd acted on purpose.

Jack turned back to Tess. “I think she
wanted you to catch me in a compromising position.”

“Is that what that was?” Tess asked.

“You told me to keep people who don't
have an appointment from bothering you,” Mrs. Stauffer noted.

“Yes, I did, and I broke my own rule.
I'm sorry for that. I do appreciate all that you do around here. And if you can
keep Lauren Worthington away from me, there'll be a bonus for you.”

“Does that include Philip Worthington
too?”

Jack's eyes narrowed. “Is he on his way
up?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then yes, it does.”

“Then we're even,” Mrs. Stauffer said
closing the door.

Jack turned his attention back to Tess. “I
trust Mrs. Stauffer, but I could use some time away from this place. What plans
did you have for lunch?”

“How about The Commonwealth Tavern and a
stop at Ben and Jerry's?”

“Perfect.” He grabbed his coat and led
Tess through a different door down a back hallway. As they took the stairs
down, he called Mrs. Stauffer on his cell phone to let her know he was leaving
the building.

“Do I still get my bonus?” she asked? Jack
could hear Philip ranting in the background.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Tess sat across from Jack at the
restaurant, wanting a drink to burn the image of Liv in a lip lock with Jack
out her mind. She knew he wasn't a participant in the kiss, but it still irked.

Jack let out a long sigh. “God, and the
day is only half over.”

“Did you get things with Lauren
resolved?” Tess asked. Maybe talking about something else would help get her
mind off Liv.

“For now. It's only a matter of time
before she acts out again. More and more I'm thinking of dumping the project.”

“Not buy Worthington Media?”

He shook his head. “It's not worth the
hassle, and who am I really doing it for? I didn't like Asa. Delia is dead.
Cora would rather I have nothing to do with them and I don't feel any
particular obligation to the Senator, although I suppose I should.”

“Why?”

“Because he's probably my father.
Because he wants to be my father so damn bad.”

“You can work out a relationship with
him without buying his family's company. I think the problem is you feel
guilty. You don't want a relationship with him, but you feel bad about that.
Helping save Worthington Media is something you can do for him because you
can't or don't want to give him more.”

“Maybe you should become a shrink.”

“It doesn't take a shrink to see how
difficult this is for you. But you don't owe him anything, Jack. Sure it would
be a nice, happy ending to a tragic story, but you're a grown man with a loving
family.”

“Smart and beautiful, no wonder I love
you.”

“I thought it was the chocolate.”

“And the lingerie,” he added with a
wink.

“Well, at least I've got something going
for me.”

Jack frowned. “What's that supposed to
mean?”

Tess bit her lip knowing Jack didn't want
to hear what she had to say. But she needed to say it because it was going to
rattle around in her head until she did.

“How long before Liv will get the
message that you're not interested in her?”

Jack shot her an annoyed look. “I knew
it. I knew you wouldn't be able to let me off that easy.”

Tess was proud of the way she kept her
cool. “You don't think I have a right to be bothered by her kissing you? Twice?”

“You know how I feel about you. If you
trust me, then you can let it go.”

“Okay. How many times will I have to
'let it go'? Because she doesn't seem to be getting the message. One kiss…okay,
I can see that because you're pretty kissable.”

“Thank you.”

“But twice? Even Daniel knew after one
kiss that there was no hope.”

“Wait. What?”

“I told him where he stood and he may
not have liked it.”

“Daniel kissed you?”

“But he respected it and hasn't tried
again. Liv is either dumb or doesn't care.”

“When did Daniel kiss you?”

“What?” Tess realized Jack wasn't
keeping up with what she was telling him.

“Daniel. When did he kiss you? Was it
the other day, when you two were conspiring?”

She sat back. “What does it matter? If
you trust me, you should be able to let it go.”

He wasn't amused by her throwing his
words back at him. “I can't let go of what I don't know about.”

“Does it bother you?”

“Of course it does. Especially since I
didn't know it happened. At least I told you about Liv.”

Tess decided not to challenge the fact
that the first kiss he disclosed because he thought Daniel had already told her
and the second one she witnessed. “You didn't want to know.”

“When did I ever say, 'if Daniel ever
kisses you, don't tell me?'“

“You asked if Daniel tried to win me and
before I could answer you said not to tell you. Something about not wanting to
indulge your insecurities.”

Jack's brows drew together. “When was
that?”

“In February. And I'm not sure you and I
were officially together then anyway.”

“Had we kissed by then?”

“Yes, once or twice.”

“Then we were together.”

She leaned forward. “At least he got the
message.” They stared at each other, waiting to see what the other would do.
The waiter broke the tension by bringing water and menus.

“It's more like instinct with her. It's
just how she is,” Jack said answering Tess' initial question.

“She goes around kissing men because she
can't help herself?” While Tess thought the argument was dumb, there was
probably some truth to it. Liv struck her as a woman who used her assets to
manipulate men.

“It won't happen again.”

“When you say that, it's like you have
control over it. If you have control over it, why did it happen a second time?”

“Tess.” Her name came out on an
exasperated breath. “It won't happen again.”

She decided that was probably the best
she was going to get. At least he understood that while she trusted him, she
had her limits.

“Okay.” She took a sip of water. “Since
you're already in a bad mood, now is probably a good time to mention that we've
been invited to Helen and Tom's for dinner tonight.”

“We or you?”

“We. The Senator will be there and he
wants to talk to you about something.”

Jack paused before saying. “Yeah, okay.”

“I know it's uncomfortable for you.”

“They don't like me.”

“That's not true.”

He gave her an 'are you serious' look.

“Okay, Daniel doesn't think much of you
and Helen is barely civil, but Tom likes you. And the Senator thinks you walk
on water.”

“I said I'll go. Should I meet you
there?”

“Why don't you pick me up? We can go
together.” She knew the news of her moving to the hotel would have reached
Helen and Tom and she didn't want them thinking things were over between her
and Jack.

He nodded. “Like a date.”

“Like coming home to meet the family,”
she said with a smile.

His smile was forced and Tess couldn't
help but feel a growing distance from him.

~~~~

Tess rushed from the shower, throwing on
her robe. Her hair was a sopping mess and would soon be a curly mess. But she
could hear the knock at the door and knew it was Jack to pick her up for dinner
at Helen and Tom's. Once again he was catching her not looking her best.

She opened the door. “Jack.”

He frowned when he saw her. “Did you
forget or change your mind?” He sounded grumpy, which was becoming his usual
mood.

“No. I'm just running behind. Come in.
I'll be ready in a minute.”

He passed by her without a kiss, without
a look.

“Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said opening the curtain a
few inches to look out over the Jefferson Tavern skyline.

“Did more bad things happen at the
office this afternoon?”

He shrugged. “It's never fun with the
Worthingtons.”

Whatever it was, he didn't want to talk
about it. And since she didn't want to provoke an argument, Tess decided to let
it go.

“I'll be ready in a minute,” she said
turning towards the bathroom.

Before she could get the door shut he
was standing there. “Are you naked under there?” He fingered the lapel of her
robe.

She looked down at her robe and then up
at him. “I just got out of the shower.”

“You have some nerve, Tess, telling me
that I distract you so you can't live with me and then parading around nearly
naked. It's the second time you've done this today. Is this a test of my
ability to abide by the new rules, because I'm precariously close to breaking
them.”

Tess nearly laughed except he looked so
serious. “I'm sorry. And no, this isn't a test.” She loosened the belt on her
robe. “I may need a little alone time, but I never said you couldn't touch—”

She'd barely gotten the words out when
she felt herself pushed against the bathroom vanity. One strong arm wrapped
around her and hauled her up until she was sitting next to the basin. And then
he was kissing her. It was frenetic and glorious.
More, more
was all she
could think.

His hands slid over her shoulders,
pushing the plush robe aside. His lips followed, cascading kisses over her
shoulder, along her collarbone, lower. Then he stepped back, watched as the
robe fell away, pooling on the counter where she sat. Tess felt dazzled by the
way he looked at her. With awe and reverence. It always stole her breath.

“You like to torture me,” he said as his
eyes drifted back to hers.

“No,” she said. “Not on purpose, anyway.”

He laughed. “Someday you need to learn
about your appeal so you can stop accidently torturing me.”

She wrapped her hand around his tie. “I'll
study harder.” She pulled him back to her, wanting to feel his lips against
hers again.

This time his kiss was more controlled,
yet still thorough. His lips slid across hers, coaxing them to part. His hands
once again moved over her then were followed by his mouth.

She fumbled with his tie. “You've got
too many clothes on,” she said when she couldn't loosen the knot. He ignored
her at first, seemingly lost in her, but then pulled back.

He tangled with the tie enough to slip
it over his head and then went to work on the buttons of his shirt. “We're
going to be late.”

“Do you care?” she asked.

“Not at all.”

Wanting to save time, Tess hooked her
hand into the waistband of his pants and pulled him between her legs as she
undid his belt. His pants fell to the floor, along with his shirt.

“Now we're even,” he said as his hands
slid up her thighs and he stepped closer to her.  Gripping her hips, he tilted
her and stepped into her heat.

Tess felt the pleasure envelop her. But
more than that, she felt connected to him again. Not just physically, but
emotionally as well. Even though they'd worked to keep the situation about Liv
from coming between them, each little issue they had dealt with pulled them
apart. But now, like this, they were one. The fissures that had opened between
them closed as they joined their hearts and bodies. She responded by wrapping
her legs around him, pulling him closer, deeper. She wanted to hold on to that
closeness for as long as she could.

He moved, with her, against her, the
sensations enhanced by his words, until pleasure pierced through. He must have
felt the same need to be close, because afterwards he held her as if he was
afraid to let her go.

He lifted his head and looked down on
her. “This new situation we're in…we can date and we can make love. We just
can't live together?”