Treading Water (12 page)

“
Yeah, but not today.” He
nudged his sister toward the house. “Go tell Jamie your
news.”

The rest of the week flew by in a flurry of
brainstorming sessions and planning meetings. Most of the advance
decorating work would be done from Chicago until about two months
before the opening when a headquarters team would be dispatched to
Newport to put the guest rooms and suites together. Andi told Jack
she didn’t relocate for final setup at new properties anymore
because it required too much time away from her son. However, she
expected to make frequent short trips to keep tabs on the work.

Knowing he was unlikely to see her again for
quite some time, Jack experienced a growing sense of desperation as
her departure time drew near. Over the course of the week, they’d
worked closely together, shared many confidences, and forged the
start of a promising friendship. Every time he was with her, he
walked away craving more, and he had a sinking suspicion he’d
regret letting her leave without trying to find out if she felt the
same way.

Before he could chicken out, he ventured
into the office they’d given her to use for the week.

“
Need any help?” Jack asked
from the doorway.

Looking up, she flashed the smile that made
his knees go weak. “I’m just about done.”

Now or
never
. Stepping into the room, he closed
the door and leaned back against it. “I was just
wondering…”

She sifted through a pile of folders and
jammed them into her already overstuffed briefcase. “About?”

While he waited for her to look at him
again, he lost his nerve. “I was going to ask if you need a ride to
the airport.”

As she came around the desk, her lips
quirked with amusement. “If that’s all you wanted, why’d you close
the door?”

“
I, um…”

She folded her arms and looked up at him
with those gorgeous eyes. “What’re you wondering?”

“
Just, ah…” His heart
pounded like a jackhammer, and his mouth went dry as dust. “Well, I
wanted to know if it’s, you know…serious…with the guy you’re seeing
in Chicago.”

“
I don’t know
yet.”

“
Could be?”

“
I suppose, down the road,
maybe.”

“
Oh.”

“
Why do you
ask?”

“
If you’re happy with him,
then it doesn’t matter.”

She took a step closer, until only a foot
separated them. “What if it matters to me? I’d like to know why you
asked.”

Swallowing hard, he forced himself to
continue. “If you were unattached—hypothetically speaking, of
course.”

“
Of course.”

“
I might’ve asked if you’d
consider coming back some time.”

“
To work on the hotel?” she
asked with a coy smile.

Exasperated, he said, “You’re enjoying this
far too much.”

“
I’m sorry.” He watched her
make a futile attempt to curb her amusement. “You were
saying?”

“
Would you? Consider coming
back? To, um, see me? If you were unattached.
Hypothetically.”

Taking the final step to close the distance
between them, she reached up to caress his face.

“
Andi…”

“
Yes, Jack?”

Suddenly, he couldn’t seem to get air to his
lungs. “What’re you doing?”

She wound her arms around his neck to draw
him down to her. “This.”

At the instant his lips connected with hers,
he was lost.

The sensation of her tongue caressing his
made Jack feel light-headed and empowered at the same time. Leaning
back against the door, he put his arms around her and lifted her
for a better angle. “This is so crazy, but I can’t resist you.” He
tipped his head and went back for more, nearly imploding from the
heat of the sensual kiss.

In desperate need of air and searching for
sanity, he nuzzled her neck, breathing in the scent that was so
uniquely hers.

“
Jack—”

“
Come back,” he whispered.
“Not for work but because you want to see me. Come back,
Andi.”

“
When?” She sounded as
breathless as he felt.

“
Soon. Next
weekend?”

“
I don’t know.” Her hands
moved to his chest. “I’ll have to see what’s going on at
home.”

“
I want to see you
again.”

A knock on the door startled them.

“
Ready to go, boss?” Andi’s
colleague, Michael, asked from the hallway.

She rubbed a trembling hand over her swollen
lips. “I’ll be right there.” Looking up at Jack, she studied him
for a long moment. “I need to think about it.”

“
Okay.” Jack rested his
hand on the doorknob while she collected her briefcase and
belongings. All the while, he watched her, memorizing every
detail.

As he was about to open the door, she
stopped him. Going up on tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his
cheek. “I’ve never kissed him,” she whispered.

Somehow he managed to open the door. Somehow
he managed to let her walk away. Somehow he managed to start
breathing again.

Jack thought endlessly about that kiss. He
replayed every nuance of his last minutes with her. When he was
supposed to be working, he thought about the kiss. When he was
supposed to be paying attention in meetings, he replayed the kiss
and pondered the meaning of her parting words. When he was supposed
to be sleeping, he thought about how it had felt to hold her. He’d
kissed his share of women, but no other encounter had ever rocked
his world quite the way this one had—a realization that filled him
with giddy hope and crushing guilt. What was wrong with him that he
was thinking so much about another woman while his wife lay
comatose and helpless?

Quinn stepped into the office and cleared
her throat to get his attention.

“
Hey,” he said. “What’s
up?”

“
I might ask you the same
thing. Where the heck
are
you this week?”

“
Nowhere. Here.”

“
Is something wrong? Is it
Clare?”

“
No,” he said, once again
filled with guilt.
No, he wasn’t obsessing
over his sick wife—not anymore
. “Nothing’s
wrong.”

She studied him for a second or two and then
handed him several files. “The weekly conference call with Infinity
is in twenty minutes. Do you want me to reschedule?”

His heart beat faster at the reminder that
he’d get to speak to Andi again. Soon. “No need.”

“
All righty, then. I’ll let
you get to it.”

“
Thanks.”

In preparation for the meeting, Jack forced
himself to take note of the files Quinn had given him, while trying
to stop thinking about Andi and THE KISS. That damned kiss! By the
time he dialed into the call, he was almost mad with her for
twisting him into knots and then leaving him hanging without a word
for two days.

But then he heard her voice on the phone,
and a burst of wild desire chased away the anger. He tried to focus
on the call and not on the memory of how it had felt to hold her,
to kiss her, to be engulfed by her alluring scent. When he tuned
back in to the meeting, ten minutes had gone by, and Jack had no
idea what he’d missed. They wrapped up a short time later, and Andi
asked him to stay on the line. While she waited on her end for the
others to leave, he suffered in silence.

“
How are you?” she finally
said.

“
Great. You?”

“
I’m good. It’s always nice
to get home to Eric.”

“
I’m sure.”
What’re we doing?
he
wanted to shout.
What’re you doing to
me?

After a long, pregnant pause, she said, “So,
I’ve been thinking…”

“
About?”

“
Coming back to
visit.”

Jack sat up straighter in
his chair. “And?”
Please don’t let her say
no. Please
.

“
How does the weekend after
next sound?”

Thrilled, he gave the calendar a quick scan
and found the second weekend in September wide open. “That sounds
good.”

She released a long deep breath that told
him this conversation was making her as nervous as it was making
him. “So I’ll send you my flight info?”

“
I’ll pick you up. Do you
think…”

“
What?”

Feeling like an awkward teenager, he said,
“Could I maybe call you before then? Ten days is a long time.”

Her soft laughter rippled through the phone
and stirred emotions he hadn’t experienced in far too long. “Sure.
I’d like that.”

“
So, um, what about the guy
you’ve been dating?”

“
I told him last night we
couldn’t see each other anymore.”

Overwhelmed with relief, Jack wanted to rest
his head on the desk. “What did you tell him?”

“
That some things had
changed, and it wasn’t going to work out.”

“
What’s changed?” he asked
in a teasing tone, needing to hear her say it, to confirm he wasn’t
the only one who felt the magnetic pull.

“
I’m not quite sure yet,
but I couldn’t come visit you as long as he thought we were
together.”

Jack released a deep breath he hadn’t even
realized he was holding. “Andi?”

“
Yes?”

“
Are you scared? Of
whatever this is?”

“
I’m petrified.”

Laughing, he said, “That makes two of us.
How am I supposed to wait ten days to see you again?”

“
You could come
here…”

“
I can’t,” he said,
groaning with frustration. “Jill has a lacrosse game, and Maggie’s
playing soccer.”

“
It’s only ten days. You’ll
survive.”

“
I’m not sure I will. How
do you feel about spending the weekend on the boat?” In a rush of
words, he added, “There’re plenty of beds and a shower and
everything we need.”

“
That sounds great.
Perfect, in fact.”

“
All right, then. It’s a
date.”

“
I can’t wait.”

Chapter 9

Jack and Andi fell into the habit of talking
late at night, sometimes for hours, about the kids, work, friends,
places they’d been, people they knew. Jack lived for that time with
her at the end of every hectic day. The night before she was due to
arrive, he got home late from a dinner meeting with clients and
found Frannie in the family room, watching a movie.

“
Where is everyone?” he
asked, plopping down next to her on the sofa.

“
Finishing homework and
taking showers.”

“
I’ll run up to see them in
a minute.”

“
Everything all set for
this weekend?”

Resting his head back on the sofa, he
glanced at her. “I guess.”

“
What’s wrong? You’re not
having second thoughts, are you?”

“
Not about wanting to see
her. I can’t wait for her to get here. I just feel kind
of…”

“
Guilty.”

Nodding, he said, “I went to see Clare
today, and it was so weird knowing I’d be spending the weekend with
someone else.”

Frannie reached out to rest her hand on his
arm. “There’s nothing you could do for Clare that you haven’t
already done or tried. It’s time to move on.”

“
You’re sure I’m doing the
right thing by not telling the girls I’m seeing Andi?”

“
I can’t see any reason to
involve them until you know where it’s going.”

“
I suppose you’re right.”
Jack didn’t like keeping things from them but didn’t want to upset
them when they were finally getting back to some semblance of
normalcy.

“
I’m going to head over to
Jamie’s now that you’re home, but we’ll be here this
weekend.”

“
Thanks, Fran, for
everything. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“
Have a great time, and
don’t worry about anything.”

The flight was thirty
minutes late. After waiting ten torturous days, the extra half hour
was unbearable. Jack paced the waiting area at the bottom of the
escalator, keeping an eye on the passengers descending from the
second-floor arrival area. Just when he thought he’d go mad if he
had to wait another second, he caught sight of those curls, those
eyes, that smile.
Oh, that smile gets to
me
.

She signaled for him to stay put rather than
fight his way through the crowd. The metaphor wasn’t lost on Jack
as he watched her come toward him, knowing exactly what she could
expect from him—and what she couldn’t. In that moment, he realized
with clarity he couldn’t easily understand or explain—even to
himself—that he loved her. At some point over the last two weeks of
talking to her and sharing confidences he had fallen hard.

Before he had time to process the startling
discovery, she was standing in front of him, and he couldn’t decide
whether he wanted to hug her or kiss her or maybe both. Reaching
out to frame her face with his hands, he bent his head and brushed
a light kiss over her lips. “I thought you’d never get here.”

Her eyes flittered shut as she dropped her
bag and stepped into his embrace.