Chapter 11
Jade hurried into the lobby of Reynolds’ swanky bachelor apartment building. Everything was sleek and modern, all black and chrome. She hated it. The doorman was one she recognized but couldn’t remember his name. He clearly knew who she was, though. He jumped out from behind his desk and raced to open the door for her, clearing his throat multiple times.
“Ms. Carter, how nice to see you,” he said, walking backwards as she strode toward the elevators. He waved his arms toward his desk as if to herd her in that direction. “I don’t think Mr. Whittaker is home. Shall I ring up for you and find out?”
Something about the way he kept flapping his hands around pinged her suspicion radar. He’d never acted this way before. So what if Reynolds wasn’t home? She’d gone there dozens of times and waited for him to come home from work, or dropped in to pick something up for him. All her worry for Reynolds turned to misgivings.
She narrowed her eyes at the doorman. “I have a key.”
She kept heading for the elevator and he cleared his throat so many more times she thought he might be choking.
“Oh, of course. Yes. Certainly.”
As she punched the button for the elevator, he hurried back behind his station and rested his hand on his desk phone. He smiled stiffly, never taking his eyes off her until she got in the elevator. As the doors slid shut, she saw him lift the receiver. If he thought he was being discreet, he was wrong.
Her stomach twisted into knots as the elevator swished speedily to the upper floors. Should she try and call first? Something told her she didn’t want to surprise Reynolds if he was actually home. Her phone wasn’t in her bag or any of her pockets and she wrung her hands together, feeling lost without it. She’d left in such a hurry it was probably still on the coffee table.
The mirrored elevator showed a wild-eyed, twitchy woman she barely recognized. It was the last two days. There was no way anyone could have a sixteenth century pirate wine seller jump out of a painting without looking somewhat wild.
She had to force herself to remember that Reynolds didn’t know that Daniel wasn’t her cousin. He didn’t know she’d had a near death experience. He was probably holed up in his apartment trying to finish that report his boss was looking for so desperately. He was always behind on some project or other. Too much golf, too many boat parties. He’d been born into wealth and never had to work hard for anything. It was an annoying trait, but it wasn’t anything to get as upset as she was about it.
She forced aside all her negativity and drew in a deep breath. Everything would be fine as soon as she talked to Reynolds. If he was behind on a project, she could order some food for him, help him organize his notes.
She almost rang the bell, but used her key instead. She was probably imagining things and the doorman hadn’t acted suspiciously at all. When she opened the door, something red got caught on the edge, whisking along the polished marble floor. She flipped on the hall light and leaned over to see what it was, recoiling as if it was a cobra and kicking it out of the way.
Red lace panties. Super expensive ones. A few feet away she saw a silk blouse, then a matching red bra. This rendezvous had been planned. Nobody wore matching underwear unless they were expecting it to be seen. She stepped over a tie and a belt, then one of Reynolds’ work shirts, the cuff links still in the sleeves. Bile rose in her throat when she heard a female giggle. Apparently the doorman hadn’t been able to reach Reynolds, because his throaty laugh followed.
Leave, she thought. Pretend you never found out.
If she threw open the bedroom door she’d never be able to unsee whatever was behind it. She’d have to choose if she could forgive him. She nearly doubled over, wondering if he’d even want to be forgiven. His phone was on the floor next to his pants, with six missed calls in consecutive order. It looked like the doorman had tried his best, but Reynolds had been in too big of a hurry to get his clothes off. This wasn’t his lucky day at all.
Rage bubbled at seeing an earring in the clothing trail that was exactly the same as a pair Reynolds had given her. Was that in case one got left behind in his bed? She chucked her bag at the bedroom door and then flung it open with a war whoop.
Too much skin, way too much skin. She picked up the duvet off the floor and tossed it over them.
“What in the hell?” she screamed.
Reynolds jumped out of bed, dragging a sheet with him, thankfully leaving the woman covered by the duvet. All Jade could see was some glossy brunette hair and a slender hand. With not only a giant diamond on it, but a thick, diamond encrusted wedding band.
“A married woman of all things?” she yelled again, feeling the tears start.
“Exactly,” Reynolds said, holding out his hands to keep her from tearing him apart, which she very much wanted to do. “She’s married. This doesn’t mean anything, doll. Just a random screw. You know you’re the one I love.”
At this, the random screw sat up straight and flung away the covers. Jade couldn’t look away as the trainwreck unfolded itself. The naked woman flew at Reynolds and raked her manicured nails down his face.
“How dare you, you little punk. I will end you,” she hissed as she kneed him in the groin. He went down like a bag of bricks, clutching the damaged bits. “You owe everything to me,” she continued. “Everything! Do you think you could have been promoted without me backing you? Random screw? I will randomly screw you right into the ground.”
She punctuated her screeches with kicks and she was so upset Jade almost felt sorry for her. Until she rounded on Jade.
“We’ve been together for a year,” she said, voice hoarse from her shouted threats. “Before you got engaged. Did you believe he was ever going to actually make it down the aisle? You poor idiot.”
Jade had actually believed they were going to make it down the aisle, but come to think of it, any time she tried to make concrete plans, Reynolds always changed the subject.
“Don’t listen to this stupid whore,” Reynolds croaked, crawling toward the bed and hoisting himself to standing again. He rounded on said whore. “Get out of here and stop calling me begging for sex. I can sue you for harassment if you even think about trying to get me fired.”
Who were these people? Were these the high class people she wanted to be a part of? It was like she had been transported back in time to any number of scenes that played out between her mother and her various husbands.
The woman sat on the edge of the bed sobbing now. Reynolds ignored her as he stumbled toward Jade. If he tried to— Yes, it looked like the delusional bastard was going to. She jutted out the heel of her hand and clocked him in the chin just as he tried to put his arms around her. He reeled backwards, almost crashing into the sobbing woman.
“Goodbye Reynolds,” she said, pleased with how calm she sounded. She wasn’t even crying anymore. He didn’t deserve her tears.
“Damn it, Jade, quit making such a thing about this. She’s gone, okay? I’m done with her.”
The sobbing volume increased and the woman made for his throat this time. “You’re done with me when I say you’re done with me, you little—”
“I’m out,” Jade said, turning on her heels and fleeing that awful, about-to-be crime scene.
She didn’t like the Reynolds who would call a woman he’d just had sex with terrible names. She didn’t like that he expected her to think it was somehow okay just because he said it was. She didn’t like anything at the moment.
In the elevator she took out her brush and arranged her hair, then smoothed on some tinted lip gloss, adding a few dabs to her cheeks for color as well. When she reached the lobby floor she didn’t think she looked like a woman whose life had crumbled into tiny pieces. She forced a smile and strolled calmly toward the doorman’s desk.
“If it’s part of your job description to cover for cheating louses, you’re very bad at it. Perhaps reconsider your profession.”
“I didn’t want to,” he called weakly as she strolled out the door in a dignified manner.
She made it out of sight of the entrance and sank onto the sidewalk, glad it was a posh enough area that she didn’t have to share her spot with a homeless person. She’d only have a few minutes to recover herself before someone shooed her away.
Oh God, was this really happening? She thought nearly falling to her death was going to be the worst part of her day.
“And I don’t even have my phone to call for a ride,” she mumbled.
She put her face in her hands. All the calm dignity she’d managed to portray in front of Reynolds and the doorman dissolved into shaking. In a few minutes she’d walk to a store and ask to use their phone, but right now all she could do was tremble uncontrollably.
She sensed a presence next to her. Someone was about to tell her to keep moving. “I’m fine, I’m leaving,” she said before she could suffer yet another humiliation.
A big hand reached down to help her up. She looked up to see Daniel standing there, in a white golf sweater of all things.
“My white knight,” she said, bursting into tears.
He gathered her into his arms and patted her back while she cried out a very bad day.
“I will not say I told you so,” he said.
She pushed away and looked at him incredulously. “That’s exactly the same as saying I told you so. Exactly the same.”
He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I hope you’ll believe me from now on, when I make a judgment call about someone’s character.”
“I’m not going to get a shred of pity?” she asked.
“Do you want pity?”
She smirked. He really did seem to know her. “Wait. How did you know to get here? How did you get here at all?”
He looked extremely proud of himself. “I stole your phone and figured out how to get the taxi to come. Seda told me the address of the reprobate.”
“Thank goodness you have my phone. We can call for another ride home. But how did you pay for the ride here, though? I don’t leave money around the house.”
Now he looked embarrassed. “Ah, well. I didn’t think of that until the driver asked me to pay him. I’ve been out of the world for some time, you know.” He fell silent and she poked him in the side to get him to continue. “I don’t have your phone anymore. I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“It’s how I paid.”
“That phone has every single bit of my life on it,” she wailed. This was almost more upsetting than losing her fiancé.
“That speaks poorly of today’s society,” he said, ducking away before she could swat him.
“This is serious. If you managed to get past my screen lock, he probably can, too.”
Daniel shook his head. “I only knew how to do it because I’d been watching you use the thing and even then it took several tries.” He traced the shape in the air. “I don’t think he’ll figure it out. And look, I have his number. I promised him you’d pay the fare in exchange for your phone back.”
“I can’t believe I have to ransom my phone,” she said.
Despite everything and this new inconvenience, her mood was inexplicably lifting. It had to be Daniel. She couldn’t believe he’d followed her, couldn’t believe the lengths he’d gone to. Could Seda have been right about fate?
They stopped into the next apartment building and called the driver. The miserable crook wanted three hundred dollars for it, saying he could easily sell it for that amount and it had been given to him fair and square. She begrudgingly agreed and within a half an hour, he drove by, pulling up to the curb with his hand out.
“Phone first,” Daniel said, stepping in front of her.
“No way, what if you run?”
Jade waved the pile of twenties she’d gotten from a cash machine. “Good God, do we look like criminals to you?” He handed her the phone and she handed him the money. “Please try to be less mercenary from now on,” she said primly.
He nodded at Daniel. “Don’t run out on your man without leaving him any money from now on,” he countered. “This dude made me break at least three traffic laws trying to get here in a hurry.”
“Oh. Well, thank you then. And thank you for not pawning my phone.”
“As long as somebody gave me what it’s worth,” he said with a shrug. “Stop fighting, you two.” He winked and took off with a squeal of tires.
“He must think we were in a lover’s squabble,” Daniel said. He turned to her with his head tilted to the side. “Why didn’t we ask him to drive us home?”
She burst out laughing at her stupidity. No, not stupidity. She’d earned her current lack of brain power. “Because I am exhausted beyond measure. There’s a really nice hotel just up the street. Let’s check in and eat and drink everything in the minibar and then pass out. Sound good?”
“I didn’t understand some of that,” he said, offering her his arm. “But if it sounds good to you, it sounds good to me.”
“Perfect answer, Daniel.”
***
The room was huge. She went all out and asked for a suite and it was perfect. Cool and comfortable, but no pictures of her and Reynolds together, no gifts he’d given her that he might have given to another woman. Just a room and Daniel.
She showed him what a minibar was and they’d polished off the chocolates and the nuts, and had just unscrewed the tiny cap from the second rum. The luxurious suite only had one bed but it could have easily fit four people. They had propped up all the pillows and now sat with their legs outstretched, swathed in the thick hotel robes, mindlessly flipping through the channels with the sound down while they chatted about everything and nothing.
“Tell me something important about your old life,” she said. “What’s important to you?”
He appeared stunned by the forthright change of subject after they’d been discussing the age old question of whether mermaids were evil or not. He said yes, she said no. Now that he had to actually think, she felt sorry for asking and hoped she didn’t ruin the night.
“My father was important to me,” he said slowly. “I loved him, but I knew I could never live up to him. I suppose by all accounts I was more successful than him, thanks to Hugh’s father’s gift of the merchant ship. But he was always so much more upright, honest, generous… more content with his life than I was. My wine business made a decent living. I could have had a comfortable enough life, but I still yearned for more. That’s when I began smuggling.”
“Smuggling? I thought you said pirating.”
“Pirating came later, after I grew bold. No one would believe anyone who dared to say it was my ship who robbed them. Not with the backing of the Marquess of Altonshire. It was all very exciting, but I still couldn’t find contentment.”
“Always wanting more?”
“Always wanting more,” he agreed. “I thought things might change if I could save Hugh from a life of misery with that woman. I told myself I wanted him to be happy since he was like a brother to me. But deep down I knew our pirating days would be over once he was married. I went into that painting never knowing a moment of true happiness. Lots of good times, mind you. But no happiness.”
“How awful,” she said.
She wished she could change the subject, not wanting him to be miserable, which would remind her of her own misery. She wanted to hear more though, certain he had more to say.
“So,” he said, turning to face her. “You asked me what was important about my life. That was my father. And what is important to me now?”
She nodded, mesmerized by his searching brown eyes. “Yes?”
“You are, Jade.”
If he had been a man from her time she would have made a vomit noise and kicked him out, but she could see he was being completely sincere. He believed what he said, whether she did or not. And she wanted to believe him.
“Me?” she asked, feeling like she was fishing for compliments.
“I was somehow set free from my curse when I laid eyes on you. It isn’t gratitude I feel, though.” He took her hand in one of his, and rested his other hand alongside her cheek.
“What do you feel?” she whispered.
He smiled, putting her broken heart back together with just the quirk of his lips. He leaned over and kissed her gently. “I love you, Jade. You are as beautiful and vibrant as your name.”
“No,” she said, tears prickling at her eyes. He even liked her name.
“Yes.” He kissed her again. “I know because I never felt a sense of true happiness in my entire life. Until I saw you. Until you spoke to me. I am complete now.”
She closed her eyes, two fat tears plopping onto her cheeks. “Oh, Daniel.” She opened her eyes to find him looking at her adoringly with that overly gorgeous face. “Oh, my God, Daniel.”
She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself onto his lap. Running her fingers through his long locks, she traced his jaw, his collarbone, his shoulders. How could he be real? But he was. Very real, very warm, and wanting her as much as she wanted him.
He slipped his hands around her waist and she felt him smiling as he kissed her with lips that were soft and firm and tasted like chocolate and rum. His beard tickled her jaw as he made his way down the side of her neck and goosebumps popped out all over as he untied the belt of her robe.
He nudged the soft terry cloth off her shoulders as he nuzzled the hollow of her throat and she pulled herself closer to him, aching to feel his skin against hers. Letting her head drop back, she closed her eyes and concentrated on his bristly beard and skilled mouth working their way down her chest.
She clutched his shoulders and moaned as he lifted her by the hips to access her breasts. She was in heaven, absolute heaven. His dark auburn hair glinted in the light of the bedside tables and she ran her fingers through the shiny strands, breathing in the scent of sea air and pine trees. How did he even smell so good? He pushed the rest of her robe aside and trailed his fingertips down her spine, chuckling when she shivered.
He paused, making her drop her chin and face him. His eyes were full of wonder and love and she felt it as surely as she saw it there. She’d always craved to be loved without reason or logic. Not because she was a hard worker or for anything she did or had. She saw that in Daniel’s eyes and at that moment she felt it just as strongly for him. But it couldn’t be. They hardly knew each other. It had to be his expert touch. Which she definitely wanted more of.
Stop thinking, she admonished herself.
He gently eased her off his lap and kicked aside the covers. “You’re cold,” he said, chafing away the goosebumps that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. “Let’s get under.”
She was perfectly fine with that suggestion. When they were snuggled close together under the fine hotel sheets, he smoothed away her hair from her face and ran his finger along her jaw and over to her bottom lip.
“You’re far too beautiful,” he said. “You make me weak.”
She shivered deliciously, despite being under the covers. “And you give me goosebumps.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his body. She reveled in the feel of all those muscles rippling under his smooth, warm skin.
“Let me heat you up, then.” He rolled, keeping his arms tight around her, until she was snugly beneath him. “Cozy?” he asked, propping himself on his elbows and grinning down at her.
She shook her head and giggled, wrapping her legs around his hips and wriggling around until she felt the hot, hard length of him pressing against her. It stifled the giggle with a gasp of pleasure and she went still, her bones feeling like they’d turned to liquid.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, closing her eyes. Just being on the cusp was enough to send her into a paroxysm of pure pleasure.
He pushed ever closer, kissing her jaw and stroking her breasts and muttering her name. He was as lost as she was. She twined her fingers in his hair, gripping to bring him back to her.
“Daniel,” she gasped, bucking under him.
It was both a plea and a demand. She remembered she could make him do whatever she wanted. Oh, this was going to be fun. But her mind was blank of commands. All she could do was call his name again.
He answered with a strong, smooth thrust, joining them together at last. Yes, now she was definitely in heaven.