Читать книгу The Case For Temptation - Robyn Grady - Страница 13
ОглавлениеThe smell of fresh coffee woke her.
Blinking open sleepy eyes, Teagan remembered she wasn’t in her own room. The bed looked like a tornado had torn through. Shoes and clothes were strewn all over the place. Jacob Stone was gone from the bed, but his musky scent, and the memories, were everywhere.
Burrowing back into the bedclothes, she circled her head with her arms. What an amazing night! The most intense, and beautiful, of her life. From the instant they’d met, those dark, dreamy looks had grabbed her. Accompanying him from the wedding reception to this suite...
Well, it was always going to end this way—with them twined up together, naked in bed. The decision might have been impulsive, but the reality of making love with Jacob Stone had proved to be more than spur of the moment. It was breathtaking, liberating, and she would do it all again in a heartbeat.
Grinning, Teagan caught her lower lip between her teeth.
Exactly how long was it before her flight?
Getting to her feet, she picked up on the aroma of pancakes and was suddenly so hungry, needing to refuel. But if Jacob walked through those bedroom doors this minute, she would happily snack on him instead. This was—he was—the wake-up call she’d needed.
She’d always prided herself on being strong. Resilient. Then a few months ago she’d suffered a miscarriage, and a relationship she had valued died, too. Now, heading for the attached bath, she felt relief. She could finally look back on that time as a hard lesson learned.
Years after the childhood accident that had left that scar, she’d been told she would likely never conceive. Following her recent loss, however, that prognosis had been modified. Should she become pregnant again, the probability of an early first-trimester spontaneous abortion was high, which had made her feel even worse.
But this time spent with Jacob had helped her turn a corner. She would always remember the pain—physical, mental and emotional—but she had grieved long enough. She could still live a meaningful and happy life.
Just not the one she would have chosen if she’d had any say.
Jacob heard the shower shut off and waited for Teagan to stroll into the main room. When she did, she was wrapped in an oversize hotel robe, long, damp hair free of salon curls and her beautiful face scrubbed squeaky clean. She took him in, too, in his gray T-shirt and weekend drawstring pants, before studying the room service feast he’d ordered up.
She laughed. “Well, someone’s hungry.”
His gaze lowered to her mouth. “Always.”
They each moved forward until he was close enough to repeat the scene that had gotten things started last night. After sliding a hand around the back of her neck, with great purpose and pleasure, he tasted those sweet lips again.
But this kiss was different. Because it would be one of their last? Or the start of something more? Something new?
He gradually broke the kiss but didn’t step away. Being this close again, he felt recharged. Ready for anything, including finding more time to please this woman in every conceivable way.
But first...
“We need coffee.” He reached for the silver service pot. “At least I do.”
As he poured two cups, she held up a hand. “No sugar for me.”
He handed Teagan’s cup over then dropped two lumps into his own, as well as an inch of cream. Chugging back a mouthful, he pulled out a seat for her before grabbing a strip of crispy bacon.
Let the feast begin!
After pulling in her chair, Teagan inspected a glass-covered dish. “Is that steak?”
“Filet mignon. Goes great with hollandaise.”
There was grilled tomato, smashed avocado, sautéed mushrooms, a pile of golden hash browns and more. It smelled so darn good. But she only reached for the muesli container and shook a modest helping into a bowl. Tacking his smile back on, Jacob helped himself to the smorgasbord. This morning, he could eat enough for two.
Earlier, he’d laid her gown over the back of a couch. She caught sight of it now before eyeing the door to the suite.
“This’ll be interesting.” She set down the container. “My first walk of shame.”
“If anyone can get away with wearing that evening gown this time of day, it’s you.”
She was busy searching the room-service spread again. Really looking this time, like she couldn’t find what she wanted. Impossible.
He put his fork down. “Are we missing something?”
“Plant-based milk?”
“Like soy?”
“Or almond.”
He got to his feet. “I’ll order some up.”
Waving him off, she reached for the pancakes. “This is even better.”
No trouble, but he wouldn’t push. If she was happy, so was he. And after breakfast, before they thought about jetting back to ordinary life, there might be time enough to revisit what they had discovered in each other the night before. Frankly, he wanted to slip the robe off her shoulders, taste every inch of that incredible body, and then do it all over again.
She was looking at his plate. He looked down, too. Ha. He’d forgotten all about the food.
As he pushed a loaded fork into his mouth and Teagan poured syrup over a pancake, she said, “I suppose you need to check out soon and get back.”
He chewed and swallowed while pouring them juice. “My flight’s not till one.”
“Mine’s around that time, too.”
“You need a lift to the airport?”
“No, no. I just don’t want to hold you up.”
“I’m in no hurry.” Watching how she was downing that juice, he asked, “Are you?”
She set down her empty glass. “It’s Sunday.”
Right. “The weekend. Time to relax. Forget about work.”
Although tomorrow would be a day and a half. He had depositions to sort, background notes, too. There was an afternoon meeting scheduled with that defamation client—former Londoner, Grant Howcroft. Hunter Publications was in for a very public kick in the corporate pants. Making up tales might sell magazines but—moral of the story, boys—dishonesty does not pay.
“It must be full-on being a big-name lawyer,” Teagan said as she cut into her syrup-soaked pancake.
Was he looking preoccupied?
“It can get busy,” he said, loading his fork again.
“Even on weekends?”
Remembering how her legs had dug into the back of his thighs as she’d bucked up against him, Jacob gave her his word. “Not this weekend.”
“Are you sure?”
He wanted to laugh. “Absolutely.”
“It’s just... I’ve seen that expression before. The gotta get back to the grind look.”
Sure. “There’s an element of that. You’d know, with a business of your own.”
“A small business. That’s more than enough.” She hastened to add, “Of course, people should make their own choices. Ambition isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Ambition was a very good thing, particularly when someone had a past like his: a legacy of poverty, despair and why the hell bother.
“I had a weird upbringing. Guess that’s where I get my drive.” He put a little more sugar in his cup and listened to the tinkle of the spoon as he stirred. “How about you?”
“As far as drive goes? I want my business to do well.”
“It’s important to you?”
“Of course.”
He looped back to the heart of the question. “And your upbringing?” Her childhood?
“I wouldn’t say it was weird. More filled with challenges, I suppose.”
The previous night, they had learned so much about each other, and not all of it purely physical. And yet now, in the morning light, Teagan still seemed largely a mystery.
They both had flights to catch. Nevertheless, he wanted to know more—feel more, which was a big step for him. It was the right time, right place.
Certainly right girl.
After she’d finished two pancakes and Jacob had put a decent dent in his generous helping, he dabbed the corners of his mouth with a linen napkin then tapped back into that question.
“So, where did you grow up again?” When they’d met, he’d asked about the accent, which wasn’t always noticeable but definitely cute.
“Australia. Sydney.” She chose a fat strawberry from the fruit platter. “My family’s still there. Well, my father and his wife and their kids. My oldest brother and his wife, too.”
“And the rest of the clan?”
“My other brothers are in the States now. Actually, the middle one lives here in LA. He’s engaged to someone who grew up in Oklahoma so he spends a lot of downtime there. The other brother’s in New York.”
“Hey. Small world.”
“Wynn’s a dyed-in-the-wool workaholic. Although, now that he has Grace in his life, I’m sure that’ll change. Or I hope that it does.”
In the middle of topping up coffee cups, Jacob hesitated as a chill rippled over his scalp. He shook it off. Found a smile.
“Wynn? That’s an unusual name. I’m putting a case together at the moment. The defendant, if it gets that far—” which it would “—his name is Wynn.”
“Wow. How about that.”
He nodded. Smiled again. Yeah. “How about that.”
Seeming to read his mind, Teagan laughed. “Don’t worry. It couldn’t be my Wynn. He keeps his cards close to his chest, but a libel suit? He’d have said something about that. Social media would be all over it.”
“We haven’t submitted yet. No one knows.”
Teagan reached for another berry while Jacob finished his second cup of coffee. She hadn’t spoken about her family the previous night and hadn’t gone into much detail now, not that he’d been particularly forthcoming in that area, either. Admitting that his background was weird was the tip of a Titanic-size iceberg. His childhood had been beyond toxic.
But right now he was more interested in Teagan. And Wynn.
“So what does your brother in New York do? We might know each other.”
“How many Wynns have you met again?”
He grinned and conceded. “Only one, and that’s on paper.”
“So you couldn’t know my brother.”
Ha. Right.
Still...
“What did you say he does for a living?”
Teagan gave him an odd look, like, “maybe drop this.” And he would, as soon as this was squared away, because the back of his neck was prickling now. Could be nothing, but he’d learned the hard way to always pay attention to that.
“Wynn works for my father’s company,” she said. “Or an arm of it. All the boys do.”
The prickling grew.
One arm of a family company? “Sounds as if your father runs a big enterprise.”
“It’s big, all right. Out of college, I decided to do my own thing. I didn’t want any part of the drama.”
“You’re not estranged from your family, though.”
Her eyebrows snapped together. “God, no.”
“Everyone went to that wedding?”
“Everyone was there.”
“So you’re all close.”
“We’ve had our differences, between my brothers and father particularly. Too much alike. Although, as they get older, it’s not as intense. And, yes. We are close. Protective.” She pulled the lapels of her robe together, up around her throat. “That’s the way it is with our family. We can say what we want about each other, but anyone throwing shade from the outside needs to brace himself for a smackdown.” She set her napkin on the table. “What about you?”
Jacob was still thinking about Wynn and family companies with arms in Sydney, LA and New York.
He tried to focus. “Sorry? What was that?”
“Your family, Jacob. Do you have any siblings? Nieces or nephews?”
“No siblings.” As far as blood went, anyway.
“So, it’s just your parents and you?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s complicated.”
Her laugh was forced. “More complicated than mine?”
Shrugging, he got to his feet. Teagan got to hers, too.
There were questions in her eyes. Doubts about where he’d come from, who he really was. Okay. Let’s see.
His A-hole father had jumped ship before Jacob was in school, right before Mom had screwed up monufreakingmentally. As a teenager, he’d gone off the rails and literally crashed before lucking out and finding a buoy at just the right moment.
But that was a lifetime ago. So forget about the past and concentrate on this. On now.
Jacob took her hands and stated the glaringly obvious.
“I had a great time last night.”
Her expression softened. “Me, too. Really nice.”
When he lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her palm, every fiber in his body sat up and took notice.
“You smell so good,” he said. Like vanilla.
“It’s called soap.”
“I skipped the shower. Didn’t want to wake you up.”
She tilted her head and gave him a teasing look. “I’m awake now.”
His gaze roamed her face...the thousand different curves and dips he’d adored and kissed long into the night. Then he considered their backgrounds again, and that yet to be filed libel suit. He thought about his Wynn, and he thought about hers.
It didn’t matter. At least, it didn’t matter right now.
Leaning in, he circled the tip of her nose with his and murmured, “That robe needs to go.”
Her beautiful eyes smiled before she unraveled the bulky tie at her waist. A second later, the robe lay pooled on the floor and they were headed for the bedroom again.
