A Love for All Seasons (8 page)

Their waiter appeared just then. “You can bring me the check,” Jack requested. Then he turned his attention back to the lovely woman sitting opposite him. “I'm not accustomed to that. Usually I take off the last week of the year. You see, my birthday is Christmas Eve.”

She drew in her breath. “No!”

“Yes. People do get born on Christmas Eve, you know.”

“I know. I'm one of them.”

His head jerked. “Really? I don't think I've met three people my whole life who shared my birthday.”

“I only knew one person, someone from school. How old will you be?”

“Thirty-seven.”

“I'll be thirty-five.” Her face brightened. “Have you made any plans for that day?”

“Not yet. It's still early.”

“Why don't we plan on spending it together?”

He broke into a grin. “It's a date.”

 

He opened the door for her as they left, then linked his arm with hers. “Now I'm thinking that I should have insisted on picking you up instead of having you meet me,” he said. “I don't like the thought of you going home alone.” She seemed steady on her feet, and she spoke clearly and distinctly, but that didn't change the fact that she'd had at least three glasses of wine. He didn't want her going out and getting into an accident.

“I'll be fine, Jack. I only have to drive maybe ten miles.”

“I'd like you to call me when you get back to your mother's.”

“I will. This is me.” They stopped in front of a red Solara convertible. Alicia clicked her remote control, and the lights flashed for a second, indicating unlocking doors.

“Nice ride.” Jack began to feel a little nervous. When he suggested she might want to meet him he didn't consider the awkwardness of saying good night in a public parking lot. He'd been so anxious for her to agree to go out with him, he hadn't wanted to provide her with any outs. Fortunately, like him she self-parked instead of using the valet. The last thing he wanted now was an audience.

“I've been happy with it. I keep it at the house so I don't have to deal with the hassle of parking in the city.” She turned to him and grasped his forearm through his suit coat. “I had a nice time, Jack.”

In an instant he moved in, placing his hands on her shoulders and pulling her to him. He couldn't kiss her the way he wanted to, not here where other patrons might see them, but he just had to get even a quick taste of those luscious berry red lips. He raised his right hand to cup her jaw and raised her face to his, then quickly pressed his lips to hers, running his tongue over them for an instant before pulling away. Her skin felt soft and warm to his fingertips. He could caress it infinitely.

Reluctantly he let his hand fall to his sides. “So did I, but next time I'll definitely call for you.” That meant he could bring her home…and kiss her properly.

He held the car door open while she seated herself behind the wheel. She started the engine and lowered the window. “I promise I'll call you when I get in. I've got your number on my caller ID. But you should really get to your car and out of this cold.”

“All right. Drive carefully.”

He returned the wave she gave him before driving away, then stood watching as the Solara went out to the main road before turning to walk toward his own vehicle.

He'd just eaten a full meal, but he was still hungry.

Just not for food.

Something

A
licia's
hands trembled on the steering wheel. She flicked on the heat, but her jitteriness didn't come from being cold, and she turned it off.

It came from the feel of Jack Devlin's strong hands on her shoulders, drawing her close to him. It came from his long fingers on the side of her face, warming her cheek and making contact with that sensitive spot behind her earlobe…and it came from his insistent lips and moist tongue against her mouth.

No doubt about it. The man was dangerous. She knew all about sexual exhilaration, but Jack represented something else, something deeper, exactly what she still hadn't identified. At least she had begun to feel more comfortable with him. The feelings of unease didn't hit until he kissed her in the parking lot.

She considered staying away from him until she had a better handle on her feelings. Maybe something would jog her memory and she would finally understand her reactions to him.

But even as she had the thought of staying away from Jack she knew she wouldn't do it.

Because she could no more ignore the pull she felt toward him than she could defy gravity.

 

Alicia returned to a quiet house. She'd hoped her mother would be asleep. She wasn't ready to answer any questions about Jack, and she knew her mother would ask.

She went to her room and removed her coat, all the while remembering her promise to Jack. She'd call him, but now she felt the old uneasiness returning. She needed to do something first….

She quickly undressed and washed her face, patting it dry. The tartan plaid flannel pajamas she packed weren't very feminine—actually, they were hideous—but at least they didn't require a bathrobe in case she ran into her brother-in-law, Todd, on the stairs. She plodded down the back stairs to the kitchen. She and Jack had shared a bottle of Pinot Noir with their meal, but she wanted something to bolster her when she called him, just in case she got that nervous feeling. Talking to him on the telephone usually didn't make her unstrung, but this would be the first time they talked since that kiss less than an hour ago.

She found a half-empty bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon in the liquor cabinet, and she carried it upstairs with her, along with a glass.

She poured herself a glass and took a generous swallow before sitting down and reaching for her cell phone. She looked up his number on her list of incoming calls, then pressed the Send button to autodial. As the connection went through she took another swallow of wine, her fingers wrapped around the stem of the glass.

He answered on the first ring. “Are you home?”

“Yes.” He'd obviously glanced at the caller ID before answering. “I'm fine, Jack.”

“Yes, you are.”

She smiled and began to relax. Talking to him on the telephone after that kiss outside the restaurant didn't perturb her like she thought it might. Still, she held on to her glass. “Thank you for tonight, Jack. I had a nice time.”

“We'll have to do it again. Soon.”

Her eyebrows shot up. Tonight had gone rather well, but she didn't know about doing it again soon—the key word being
soon
.

“Of course,” she said lightly. She felt reasonably certain that he wouldn't try to pin her down to specifics; he'd been astute enough to give her the option of meeting him. “I gather you're home.”

“Yes, I got in about a half hour ago. I worried about you out driving alone. I really do feel bad about not picking you up, Alicia.”

“It's all right. When I got here everyone had gone to bed.”

“Everyone?”

“My sister and her husband are here, and so is my nephew. They spend weekends here, too.”

“Sounds like you've got a house full.”

“Fortunately, the house is large enough. I think that spending every weekend here is a little trying for both of us, especially my sister because she has a family, but we truly do want to be with Mom.”

“It's good that she has two loving daughters. Everyone doesn't have that luxury.” Jack yawned. “Excuse me.”

“I know how you feel. I'm a little sleepy myself.”

“Why don't we say good night? We'll talk tomorrow.”

“All right. Good night, Jack.”

“Alicia?”

“Yes?”

“I'm glad you called. And I hope you'll think about tonight as you fall asleep.”

“I'm sure I will,” she said honestly. That now-familiar disconcerting feeling came over her again. She felt a tingling from her chest down to her toes. Time to end the call. She disconnected, drained her glass in one last gulp and stretched lazily with the glass still in her hand. Then she shivered, although the heat kept the house comfortably warm on the chilly autumn night.

Alicia placed the glass down, but she couldn't stop trembling. She rushed to her bed, turned it down, and slipped between the sheets, which felt cool to her already chilled skin. She pulled the covers up to her chin and curled into a fetal position, remaining that way until she finally felt warm again.

She turned off her bedside light. The incident of shivering combined with the late hour had left her drained, and she had no difficulty falling asleep.

I've Got A Feeling

A
licia
breezed into her office on Lower Broadway on Monday morning. “Good morning,” she greeted her business partner, Shannon Anderson. Five years ago Shannon had an opportunity to purchase an established court reporting service from the retiring owners, and she came to Alicia for financial assistance. At the time Alicia was laboring as a cost accountant and not liking it very much. She jumped at the chance to join her longtime friend.

“Hey there. We've got—”

She looked up expectantly, curious to learn the reason Shannon stopped speaking mid-sentence. To her surprise, her friend simply stared at her, a knowing smile on her face. Alicia lowered her chin and demanded, “What?”

“You met a man. A special one.”

Instantly she reached inside her handbag and pulled out her compact. She looked at her reflection, half expecting to see a confession written across her face.

She saw nothing unusual. “Okay, I give up,” she said. “How did you know?”

“I'm not sure. You just look different to me today. Happy. I've waited to see that look on your face for years now.”

Alicia had to agree with her friend, but she didn't like the idea of being so transparent. Then again, she and Shannon had known each other since fourth grade at Hurlbutt Elementary School, so Shannon could read her better than most people.

“I had a date Saturday,” she said lightly.

Shannon smiled knowingly. “And how.”

Alicia pointedly cleared her throat. “You were about to tell me something?”

“Oh, yes. I filled an order for a medical malpractice case Friday afternoon after you left. I assigned it to Frances, but we're running short on stenographers who know medical terminology. The others are tied up doing depositions. I'm thinking we should get someone in to give them a quick course.”

“Not a bad idea,” Alicia said thoughtfully. “We're okay with our technical and financial stenographers, but so many cases are related to medical matters.”

“That's my concern, that we'll have to start turning down orders because we're short on staff with technical knowledge. I'll make some inquiries, see how much it'll run to have an instructor do maybe five hour-long sessions to cover the basics.”

“Why don't we see how many contractors would be interested first,” Alicia suggested.

“All right. I'll phrase it so that it's optional but not optional, if you know what I mean.” Shannon smiled at Alicia as she backed her five-foot-nine-inch slim frame toward her office. “I know you don't want to talk about him, so I won't pry. But I'd love to hear all about him when you're ready to share.”

 

Jack reached for the receiver of the ringing phone. “Hello?”

“Guess what?” a female voice half-shrieked. “I'm pregnant!”

He lowered his chin to his chest and frowned. “Uh…who
is
this?”

His response met with another shriek, then a quick word to someone in the background. “Can you believe it? He just asked me who this is.” She dissolved in laughter, and Jack heard the receiver being passed.

The next voice he heard belonged to a laughing male. “Rhonda just told me what you said. I guess that wasn't the best way to break it to you.”

“Oh, man. Pete. I didn't recognize Rhonda's voice. She scared the bejeezus out of me.”

Pete chuckled. “Made you think of that old flame you left behind in Birmingham, huh?”

“Yeah, the one who flew up in September to break it off with me in person, but not before we, uh….”

“I get the picture. We just got the news this afternoon. My wife is already driving me nuts. First she gave me the speech about not telling anyone outside of our parents and siblings until she's through her first trimester, and now she's calling everybody.”

Jack didn't buy the aggravated bit for a minute. The pride with which Pete said, “my wife” suggested he felt nothing but joy and good humor. “I'm happy for you both,” he said. “I know you've wanted this for a while now.”

“Yeah, I guess it's time to stop living like carefree young marrieds and do that whole settle-down thing. House in the suburbs, minivan, the whole shebang.” Pete paused a beat. “So, how was dinner with Alicia?”

“It went very well. I took her to Morton's.”

“Morton's, huh? That must have set you back a couple of bills.”

Jack grinned. “You offering to reimburse me?”

“Not a chance. I'm about to become a family man with a stay-at-home wife. The best I'll be able to do is take-out Chinese. But that was an excellent choice for someone like Alicia. Those rich girls from Westport are used to livin' large.”

Jack spoke without thinking. “Westport. Is that where she's from?”

“Yeah. Didn't she tell you?”

“No. I got the feeling she was being cagey about where her mother lived, so I suggested she meet me at the restaurant if she felt my picking her up would disrupt the household.”

“That's Alicia for you,” Pete said knowingly. “I'll bet she had you thinking her mother lives in a tiny apartment. The truth is that she's got a house with something like fifteen rooms. And Long Island Sound is just beyond their back yard.”

Jack whistled. “Sounds impressive.”

“Yeah. I was there once, when her sister got married. They had the reception right there on the grounds. Westport probably never saw so many brown faces as it did that day.” He chuckled. “Alicia joked that their family and that musician Nile Rodgers are probably the only black residents of the town. And that's probably more than you'll find in Greenwich.”

Jack was silent. At least Alicia freely admitted that the house had no shortage of bedrooms, but why had Alicia felt she had to hide her family's wealth from him? He made no bones about his lower middle class background, but he'd become a director for a pharmaceutical giant, overseeing an annual budget in the millions. Did she think he was some poor little nobody after her for her money?

“So I gather she didn't mention much about her personal life,” Pete said gently.

“Well, she told me about the business she and her friend started.”

“Yeah, Shannon. Another rich Westport girl. I guess her family should be added to the short list of African-Americans living there. Anyway, that's what I mean about Alicia, Jack. She's so charming and so personable that you don't realize you're doing all the talking.”

Jack grew quiet with sudden embarrassment. They'd had such a nice conversation that went on for so long, but now he felt almost duped. Sure, he knew about the interesting work she did—“scoping,” she called it—in her capacity as partner in a court transcription service. She talked a bit about her college days at U. Conn, but that was virtually the only personal information she'd divulged. Instead he'd rambled on about growing up in Docena and his family, plus a few fond memories of his high jinks at Fisk with Pete. Everything else they discussed had been more of a general topic. How could he pat himself on the back at a job well done when she hadn't even seen fit to even mention the name of the town in which she'd grown up and where her mother still lived?

His mouth set in a determined line. The next time he asked her out—provided there
was
a next time—he would insist he pick her up. And if she refused, he'd just cut his losses and move on.