Room 1208 (7 page)

She swung their arms, giving in to the happy
impulse to skip beside him. Dressed as she was in black yoga pants, pink hoodie
and sneakers—her workout gear—she felt like a teenage girl. A teenage girl in
love.

Jason laughed as he brought her closer to his
side. “Watch out for that garbage can, hon.” He steered them around it.

“Have you always lived in New York?” she
wondered.

“No. I was born and raised in Nebraska.”

“Right next door!”

“You’ve always lived in Iowa then?”

“No.” She hesitated. “I grew up in Washington
State. I went to the University of Iowa and decided to stay there after
graduation. Do you still have family in Nebraska?”

“Yes. My parents live there. I have two younger
brothers, one lives in Nebraska, the other moved to Idaho.”

“Are they married?”

“Nathan, the middle one is. He and his wife,
Anne, have one daughter and another baby on the way.” There was a slight catch
in his voice. She pressed his hand. He pressed back, giving her a sideways
smile. “And you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

 “Oh, what is that delicious smell?”

They were walking by a bakery. It was closed, but
a light shone from a small screened window near the entrance to a narrow alleyway.
She tugged Jason’s hand, bringing him to a halt just outside the open window.
Peeking in, she watched as an older man, Italian by the looks of him, pulled
trays of freshly baked bread from a huge commercial oven.

“That smells wonderful!” Maggie said loudly.

The man turned from the oven and smiled. “You
like sourdough bread, lady? You wanna try?” Without waiting for a reply, he set
a loaf on a cutting board and sliced off one end. He unlatched the window
screen and handed the bread to her.

Maggie released Jason’s hand to hold the warm
chunk of bread in both hands as she took a bite. She rolled her eyes in
ecstasy. “Oh my God, this is delicious. Try some.”

She held the bread up to Jason. He took a bite
from her hands, his eyes twinkling into hers. “Mmm,” he said. He took another
bite, his teeth also taking a teasing nibble at her fingers as he did.

Maggie gave a shivery laugh. She turned back to
the baker. “Will you sell that loaf to us?”

The older man waved his hands. “No, beautiful
lady. That was the first batch. You were my test tasters.” He chuckled. “You’re
still alive. Means it’s okeydokey.”

Maggie and Jason joined in his jovial laughter.
“How lucky for us that we were walking by at just the right time,” Maggie said.

While she spoke, the baker put the loaf in a
paper bag and extended it through the window. “Here, you take.
Godetevi
.
Enjoy.”

Jason pulled out his wallet and drew out a ten
dollar bill. He offered it to the man who again waved his hands. “No, no,” he demurred.
“It’s my gift.” He kissed the tips of his fingers in an old-world gesture. “Ah,
amore
. To be young and in love on such a beautiful night.” He gave a
sigh that seemed to carry sweet memories of when he’d been a young man in love.

Maggie blushed.

Jason took the unfinished chunk of bread from her
unmoving hands and dropped it in the bag before putting his arm around her
shoulders. “Thank you, sir. Have a good night.”

The baker was whistling a romantic tune as Jason
guided her further along the street. “There’s an all-night diner just around
the corner,” he said. “They make the best clam chowder.”

“Yum. That sounds perfect. And we have the bread
to go with it!”

Before they reached the corner that led to an
even busier street, Jason suddenly propelled her around to face him, his other
hand clutching her waist as he pushed her back against the side of a building.
His head swooped down, his mouth capturing hers in a fervent, demanding kiss.
Maggie eagerly parted her lips, welcoming his hot, needy tongue with her own.
She threw her arms around his shoulders, sinking her fingers in the nape of his
neck to pull him closer. God, she’d missed this.

He pulled back before the embrace got too out of
hand. “Beautiful lady,” he murmured, “You taste so sweet.”

She grinned. “Spearmint toothpaste and sourdough
bread?”

He couldn’t resist giving her another quick kiss.
“No,” he said as he steered her around the corner. “Just you.”

The diner was busy, the patrons a mix of all ages
and ethnicities. The hostess led them to the last empty booth, just outside the
kitchen door. Jason scooted onto the bench next to Maggie instead of sitting
across from her. He draped his left arm over her shoulders as they studied the
menu together. The entire side of his body from chest to foot pressed against
her. She snuggled into him, relishing the feel of his solid, strong
masculinity.

“What would you like to drink?” he asked her.

“Just water.”

A waitress hovered. Jason ordered two bowls of
clam chowder and some waters. He opened the bag the baker had given them and
tore off two chunks of bread, handing one to Maggie. They chewed in silence,
smiling at each other, oblivious to the noise around them, the crowd of young
club-goers scarfing down burgers and fries at the counter, the group of college
students arguing politics a few tables away, the constant swinging of the
kitchen door as the wait staff scurried back and forth.

They only glanced away from each other when the
waitress returned a short time later with their meal. Jason kept his arm around
Maggie while they ate. She savored the delicious chowder, the crunchy sourdough
bread, the feel of Jason’s body next to hers. “This is wonderful,” she
whispered.

He smiled in agreement. “The best date ever.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, is that what this
is?” she asked coyly. “A date?”

He tugged at her earlobe. “A man. A woman. A meal
shared. It’s a date.”

She caught a flicker of something—pain or regret,
she couldn’t tell—in his eyes before he blinked it away. She looked down at her
bowl, nearly empty now. “Did you ever take Rachel here?”

“Yes. We’d meet here sometimes. My office is just
a couple of blocks away. She’d take the train into the city once or twice a
month.”

“Have you been here since…?”

“Since the accident? No.” He was silent for a few
moments. His fingers continued to idly play with her earlobe. “I’m glad I came
here tonight with you, Maggie,” he finally said softly. “It feels right
somehow.”

She tilted her face up to his, her heart
lightening at his words. “What was she like?” A gut feeling compelled her to
ask the question. She knew her instincts were right when he merely smiled, not
revealing any discomfort at the direction their conversation was taking.

“You know how some people just light up a room
the moment they enter it? That was Rachel. She was so full of life.” He pulled
out his wallet, opened it with one hand and flipped through to a plastic photo
holder. He pushed it towards her. “This was taken the summer before she died.
We were vacationing in Maine.”

Maggie studied the photo. Rachel sat in profile
on a rocky outcropping overlooking the ocean, her face angled slightly towards
the camera. She had long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was slender
and attractive with an open and inviting smile. “She’s beautiful.”

Jason brushed his finger along the photo edge,
studying it quietly for a few moments before flipping to the next photo. “And
this is Gina.”

A happy little girl with a missing front tooth
grinned at them from her class photo. She had black curly hair and blue eyes.
Maggie smiled back. “She looks like you.”

“Her kindergarten photo. She loved school. She
wanted to be a teacher.”

Maggie placed her hand over his. “Thank you for
showing these to me. I know it must be hard.”

He gave a slight shake of his head. “The pain
will never go away, Maggie. It just becomes another part of you. But I’ve
learned not to hide it. I’m pretty open about it with my family and friends.
It’s become…easier…to talk about over the last couple of years.”

“I know what you mean.”

He glanced at her, eyebrows raised in silent
question.

She pressed her lips together, searching for the
right words to say. “It’s only been in the last three years that I’ve learned
how to talk about my own…pain. I’ve finally learned what it means to take each
day as the blessing it truly is and live my life to the fullest.” She flushed.
“A cliché, I know.”

“But it’s so true. You wrote something like that
in your note.”

She frowned in momentary confusion, and then
groaned. “Oh, that note. Were you totally shocked when you read it? You must’ve
thought I was crazy.”

“No. I thought
I
was going crazy. I had to
read it several times before realizing I wasn’t hallucinating.” He gave her
wicked grin. “I’d never been propositioned by a lady before.”

“I was so nervous. I was half afraid you wouldn’t
knock on that door and half afraid you would.”

He flipped his hand over, palm up, and interlaced
their fingers. “Do you remember what I said to you? About finding me in the
right place and at the right time?”

“I remember everything you said that night.”

He brought their entwined hands to his mouth,
kissed her fingers. “I had just decided only a few weeks before that night that
it was time to get into the dating scene. That was why I’d gotten tested,
though it seemed unnecessary. You were the first woman—and the only woman—I’ve
slept with since Rachel.”

Her heart somersaulted. “Really?”

“Really.”

She bit her inner cheek, a hundred questions
simmering inside of her.

He brought his head down to hers; his lips grazed
her ear as he whispered in a sinfully soft growl. “You were worth the wait, sugar.
I only have to close my eyes and I can still feel your wet heat around my cock,
your legs wrapped around my back. The sounds you made that night have played a
feature role in all of my sexual fantasies since then.”

She gave a little gasp, felt her face turning a
dark crimson red.

He chuckled against her ear. “Damn, I love that
blush of yours.” He groaned. “Oh, Maggie,
Maggie
. That night was so incredible.
I’d never experienced anything like it.”

She leaned back to look him straight in the eye.
She was shocked. “But… what…even with…?”

He nodded. “
That
was the guilt you heard
in my voice. I’d never imagined that I would find anything to equal what I’d
shared with my wife. Never
wanted
anything beyond what I had with her.
In that sense it was a betrayal of sorts—comparing what you and I shared with
how it’d been with Rachel.” He clutched her hand in a tighter grip, compelling
her to understand. “I loved Rachel. She will always be a piece of me. But I
didn’t realize anything was missing until I held you in my arms for the first
time. What Rachel and I had…” He searched for the right words. “It was like
your favorite pair of shoes, the ones you wear around the house and in the yard
until they’re raggedy and scuffed and, even then, you just don’t want to toss
them out. Because they’re comfortable, they’ve melded to the soles of your
feet, they’re…easy. With Rachel, everything was easy. We met in college and it
just clicked immediately. There was no fuss, no angst or drama. And we just
eased right into marriage.” He smiled in reminiscence. “I’m not saying it was
perfect. We both had our moments. Rachel could be a real spitfire. And I can be
stubborn and controlling, I’m warning you now.”

Maggie gave a soft huff of laughter. “None
needed. You were, um, pretty demanding that night.”

 “That’s the thing. That second time I took you…
I’d never been that way before. And I wanted more, Maggie.” He briefly closed
his eyes. When he opened them again they were flaring with the memories of that
passionate night. “I want so much more. Things I’ve only imagined doing before,
but never put into action.”

She couldn’t speak. The heat of his gaze had
sucked all of the air out of her lungs.

“I don’t want you to misunderstand me,” he
continued, his voice almost harsh with the sincerity he wanted to convey. “It
wasn’t just the sex. There’s something about you that…pulls me towards you. I
don’t know what name to give it except that it’s astonishing and powerful. Do
you feel it too?”

“Will you folks be wanting dessert? I’ve got
people waiting to be seated.”

Jason blinked. He looked away from Maggie with
clear reluctance. “No, we’re finished,” he said to the hovering waitress.

She slapped their bill down on the table. “You
can pay up at the front. Thank you.”

“What time is it?” Maggie asked as they left the
diner.

Jason glanced at his watch. “Almost three thirty.
Getting sleepy?”

“No.” She heard the surprise in her voice. “I
should be.”

“Times Square is just around the corner. Do you
want to see it?”

“Yes!” She hooked her arm through his, gesturing
for him to lead the way. “I’ve never been to New York before, can you tell?”

“The quintessential small-town girl in the big
city.” He smiled down at her. “What do you think so far?’

“It smells.”

He threw his head back and laughed.

“I love your laugh,” she said, recalling the
first time she’d heard it.

“I love your honesty,” he replied, still
chuckling.

“Do you live in the city?”

“Yes. I have an apartment in Chelsea. Nothing
fancy, but it’s convenient.”

“You mentioned that Rachel would take the train
in…”

“We had a country home upstate. I sold it three
years ago. How about you? Do you live in Des Moines?”

“In the suburbs. I bought a condo last year. It’s
my first home. I love it. The neighborhood is full of trees and open spaces. The
air is clear.”

“You live alone?”

“Yes.”

“Does anyone in your family live nearby?”