Tender Touch (22 page)

“Will you take it easy? Brad says it’s no
big deal right now.” Shaena continued to pop fried shrimp into her
mouth even as Jade fumed. “It’ll all blow over probably. Being
invited to Washington, D.C., Lang gets mucho respect for that.”

“And that’s another thing,” Jade jumped in
again. “We beat out twenty other states to get one of the only
seven grants nation-wide.”

“It’s one of the reasons they didn’t take it
any further, the talk I mean.”

“Just who is they?” Jade said it as though
“they” were beneath contempt.

“Brad would say only that they’re some of
the big dogs, guys we underlings don’t see very often.” Shaena took
a swig of her cola.

“Yeah, well, I’ll just bet they couldn’t say
much more. Results speak louder than any rumors.”

“Which is why I said to take it easy. But
still keep your head up.” Shaena pointed a French fry at her. “In
my experience where there’s smoke, there’s a smoldering inferno
waiting to bust out.”

“No way. I’d have noticed something funny by
now,” Jade said with force, but a tickle of doubt went through her
all the same.

“Like I said, be careful.” Shaena cocked an
eyebrow at her. “Bill Lang does have that reputation.”

“I have been keeping my ears open. I just
hope Bill doesn’t put too much trust in that sleazy Mike Testor,”
Jade said in a very soft voice. This time it was she who glanced
around.

“He’s another reason I don’t like the
questions being raised about your section. Testor is a guerilla
fighter when it comes to department politics. Lang would do well to
dump the dude.” Shaena wrinkled her nose in distaste.

“Yeah, he gives me the creeps. He always
wears a greasy smile, like he’s just looked up my skirt.” Jade gave
a shiver.

“Ugh, what a worm. Then there’s Tavis
Collins—handsome and with a mind like a razor.” Shaena spoke with
admiration.

“I can’t quite read him.”

“He’s considered up and coming by those in
the know. Hey, let’s not start worrying for nothing. Like I said,
Brad doesn’t think there is anything heavy to it.”

“Right. Bill is pretty sharp himself. I’m
sure he won’t let those people pull any shady stuff.”

Jade tried to feel as confident as her
words. But like Shaena, she had been in state government enough to
be troubled by this development.

* * *

“Rachelle, I’m involved with someone.” Damon
gazed at her with dismay. He thought of ways to quickly cut his
losses.

From the moment they sat down in Copeland’s,
he sensed this so-called lunch invitation was more than a pitch for
business. Rachelle turned heads in the deep red wool suit she wore
with a paisley silk scarf of red, white and gray. For fifteen
minutes, while they waited for their meal, she’d hinted at how
lonely life was without him. Finally he blurted out his declaration
of being serious about another woman in hopes she would back off.
He was wrong again.

“Of course you are, darling. I wouldn’t
expect you to be celibate for goodness’ sakes. I know how large an
appetite you have,” Rachelle murmured with a glint in her eyes.

“It isn’t like that with Jade. She’s special
to me, very special.” Damon stared down into the cup of now cold
black coffee that sat in front of him. He looked forward to their
trip to Washington more than ever.

Rachelle studied him for a good thirty
seconds before she spoke. “By that dreamy look on your face, I’d
say she’s definitely made an impression. You didn’t even look this
strung- out when we were new loves.” A tight line along her jaw
made it obvious she was not happy.

“Look, I’m sorry if you got the wrong
impression. Can’t we at least be on good terms?” Damon dreaded a
scene. Rachelle was well known for dramatics when her ego was
bruised, particularly by a man.

“Certainly, sugar.” She flashed a warm smile
at him and patted his hand with a look of indulgence. “We’ve both
moved on with our lives. No need to nurse old bitterness. Here’s to
you and...” Rachelle let her voice trail off.

“Jade,” Damon added. His smile grew wider.
“Jade Pellerin.”

“Yes, how nice.” Rachelle’s top lip curled
up for a split second. She lifted her cup of coffee.

They finished their meal, and Damon hurried
back to his office. He tried not to act impatient to be gone, but
he thought of all the last-minute details at the office he wanted
to double check before the trip. He left her still nursing her
second cup of coffee. Rachelle wore a dour expression at his
retreating back.

“Goodbye,” she muttered. “And thanks for
nothing.”

“Rachelle? I thought that was you,” Nick
called from a nearby table. “Haven’t seen you since the last Delta
Sigma Theta ball. Looking good as usual.”

“Oh, hello, Nick,” Rachelle mumbled. She
stared at the door through which Damon had hurried off away from
her. “How’ve you been?” Her upper-class manners kicked in even when
she was aggravated.

“Fine, fine. I hear tell you’re big in
public relations these days.” Nick sat relaxed in his expensive
suit on an extended lunch break from his grandfather’s thriving
insurance office.

“Marketing,” Rachelle corrected.

“Umm, yes of course. Listen, since your date
is gone, why don’t I join you?” Nick put his head to one side.

“That was no date; that was my
ex-husband.”

“I thought I recognized the famous Damon
Knight.” Nick watched her face. “He’s dating my ex.”

Rachelle looked at him for the first time.
Her face eased into a beguiling expression, like a cat coaxing a
bird from a tree. “Nicky, dear, you most certainly can join
me.”

Chapter 9

“I’m so glad we were finally able to have
you over,” Clarice gushed to Damon.

“Give me strength,” Jade muttered. Her
father wore a look of sympathy for her.

Jade and Damon were in her parents’ spacious
den after dinner. Jade stood next to her father, helping him to
gather a tray bearing the coffee, cups, sugar and cream. All
through the meal, Clarice had been the gracious host. With the
skill of a brain surgeon, she had extracted family history from
Damon without seeming to pry. Jade’s jaw ached from gritting her
teeth.

“So am I,” Damon said. He pressed his lips
together in an effort not to laugh at the flash of irritation on
Jade’s face. “Things have been so hectic in the last couple of
weeks.”

“Mama, I told you I’ve been working lots of
overtime, what with the legislative session coming up—”

“That’s not for another month or more,
dear,” her mother cut her off smoothly. “Cream and sugar, Damon?”
Clarice beamed at him.

Jade swallowed a tart reply and counted to
five. “We start preparing more than a month in advance, Mama.” She
bit off the last few words in a restrained tone of reproof.

“Oh, I see. Well, you’re here now. So,
Damon, tell me more about your fascinating family.” Clarice turned
to him in rapt attention.

For the next hour, Jade and Damon sat side
by side on the sofa, she chafing at the need to find an opening to
leave. Damon seemed completely at ease. He even seemed to enjoy
talking to Clarice.

“Have you met Lanessa? We should get
together again and invite her over,” Clarice said.

“What for?” Oliver shot his wife a sharp
glance.

Jade gazed from her father to her mother.
Her senses went on alert when the undercurrent became clear. “I
guess Lanessa will meet Damon sometime, Mama.” She wondered what
was going on.

“Since you’ll be coming over here for dinner
again soon, might as well be then. Say a few days after you get
back. When will that be?” Clarice popped up to get a calendar.

“Mama, for goodness’ sakes, we don’t have to
plan it now.” Jade felt the tug of an unpleasant yet familiar old
feeling.

For as long as she could remember, her
mother had a habit of arranging for Lanessa to end up with the best
of everything. At first Jade had not understood that it was more
than coincidence that Lanessa got the fancier dress or the
brightest hair ribbons. Her mother had always said, “This style is
better suited to Lanessa, dear” or “This isn’t your color, Jade.”
But by the time she was ten, it was clear that Clarice had
different plans for Lanessa. Plans that included a glamorous life.
For Jade, a life of quiet study and achievement was stressed. Jade
felt a spike of anger go through her as she remembered all the
dashing young men Clarice steered to Lanessa.

“Mama, I’ll decide when to introduce Lanessa
to Damon.”

Jade gazed at her mother steadily. Everyone
else grew quiet. Damon wore a puzzled look at the sudden tension.
Clarice blinked at her in surprise. They stood watching each other
for several seconds. Clarice wrung her hands twice in a jerky
motion.

“Yes, of course. Plenty of time.” Clarice
smoothed her blouse and patted her hair. “Oh, here I’m rambling on
and forgot to bring dessert. I made a special apple spice loaf,
Damon.” She left for the kitchen.

After another thirty minutes of strained
small talk, Jade and Damon left. Back at Jade’s home, they sat
holding each other and listening to music. Jade pushed away
resentful thoughts of her mother’s behavior toward her. She
reminded herself that she was grown and did not have to feel
intimidated by her mother anymore. Damon seemed to be reading her
mind.

“Honey, don’t let your mother spoil our mood
tonight,” Damon said in a low voice as he kissed her ear then
cheek. “I’ve learned to ignore my mother’s attempts to control me.
It’s gotten easier in the last, oh, six months.” He chuckled
softly.

Jade wanted to laugh it off, but she could
find no humor in this. “Mama can be very thoughtless sometimes.
Especially when it comes to me.” Her voice wavered a bit.

“Lanessa is the princess, like my brother
Trent was always ‘Mama’s little man.’” Damon nodded with
understanding when Jade looked up at him. “Oh, yeah, been
there.”

“But it’s so awful. Sometimes I still resent
Lanessa. We’ve only just begun to get close. I don’t think they
realize how they’ve pushed us apart.” Jade was tom between worship
and dislike for Lanessa even now.

“You said it right—thoughtlessness. Your
mother and mine have a lot in common. They just seem to forge
ahead, thinking only of what they want, convinced they’re right.
But we won’t let them make life difficult for us.”

Jade felt a new source of anxiety take hold.
“Your mother has said something to you about seeing me?”

“My mother never wanted me to divorce my
first wife. She has this very eighteenth-century idea of marriage.
While we were little, she actually picked the three families she
expected us to choose our wives from.”

“You’re kidding.” Jade shook her head,
amazed. “And I thought my mother was bad.”

“Baby, nobody tops Marlene Cormier Knight
when it comes to wanting her way. Except maybe Rachelle.” Damon
gave a grunt of scorn after saying her name.

“So Rachelle was one from one of the ‘right’
families?”

“First on the list.” Damon got up to get
them both a glass of red wine.

“I guess so. The Balleaux family is so old
money I’ll bet some of the coins have whiskers.” Jade thought of
the proud handsome men and elegant women who bore that name. They
were prominent in south Louisiana.

“Don’t be too impressed, sweetheart.” Damon
sat next to her and handed her the wineglass. “They’re just as
flawed as the rest of us. Believe me, I know.”

“But you’re part of that world, too. The
Knight family goes back for generations. And your mother’s
family...” Jade’s voice trailed off. She reviewed the idle gossip
she’d heard over the years. The Cormiers descended from a Therese,
an African slave woman left a large tract of land by her owner, for
whom she’d had several children. The legend was still fresh after
two hundred years.

Damon put down his glass then took hers.
“Listen to me; I’m thirty-four-years old. My parents don’t dictate
to me. I did marry Rachelle out of a stupid sense of duty, sure.
But I honestly thought I loved her.”

“And you didn’t?” Jade had almost blurted
out the question in present tense. She had seen Rachelle Balleaux
Knight several times at social functions. Rachelle had a kind of
picture-perfect beauty most women wanted badly.

“I loved the woman I thought she was, Jade.
Beauty on the outside doesn’t mean a thing if it covers an empty
shell.” Damon gazed off.

“That’s kind of cold. She can’t be that
bad.”

“You’re right.” Damon thought for a few
seconds. “Rachelle just has no concept that what she wants isn’t
best for everyone else. She can be engaging and even generous.”

“So she isn’t a complete witch,” Jade said
with a shade of disappointment in her voice.

“Is Nick a total wash as a human being?”

Amusement tugged up the comers of her mouth.
“No.” Jade had to admit that Nick was great with children. In his
fraternity he always played the clown when they treated inner-city
kids to special parties for major holidays.

“See what I mean? Of course I’d like you to
remember what a no-good bum he was as a husband,” Damon said with a
teasing note in his voice. He lifted her face to his.

“And you just remember your ex-wife’s most
annoying habits, mister.” Jade brushed a forefinger across his full
lips.

“I can’t think of much when I’m holding you
like this,” he whispered. His mouth covered hers. He touched his
tongue to her lips, stroking them lovingly as though savoring fine
wine. “Wanting you is the only thing on my mind.”

The soft jazz music was an enchanting
accompaniment to their lovemaking. He guided her down onto the
sofa. Damon caressed every part of her body as he undressed her
slowly. Jade panted in delicious impatience yet was hypnotized by
his actions. She watched him touch her breasts with the tip of his
tongue and move his hands down her stomach. Jade arched to him when
his fingers touched her. Like a brush of fire, his fingers caressed
her into mindless pleasure. His lips traced a line between her
breasts down until they tickled the soft flesh of her mound. Jade
cried out and gripped his shoulders. For what seemed like hours, he
brought her to the brink of ecstasy only to ease her back from the
edge. Finally Damon groaned with his own need. He mounted her with
a quick motion that brought a gasp from them both. Jade wrapped her
arms around him and matched his gentle rocking motion, her mind
filled with him. This love was like a deep ocean welling up inside
her, leaving her breathless. She swam with the current and reveled
in the sensation of having him inside her, surrounding her. Damon
was everywhere at once. For one bright, shattering moment as the
orgasm rippled through her, she lost a sense of being separate from
him. Jade screamed his name, and he answered with his own release.
They drifted off into a semiconscious state of sexual contentment
for an hour, happy to feel completely cut off from the world.