Loving Jack (11 page)

Grace had not only had her career to consider, but her heart was also at risk. Already the stupid thing was trying to convince her that she and Jack were meant to be and that everything happens for a reason. He hadn’t been ready for a committed relationship when they were in college, but he could be now. She reminded that useless organ in her chest that Jack might already be in a relationship. This was not a choice between Jack and her position in New York. It was a choice between a CFO position and a partnership in a growing company in Seattle, or a junior executive position at a successful investment banker in New York.
 

Luke was also a consideration in her decision. She would be moving to the other side of the country. She would rarely see him, if ever, and she never wanted to lose her best friend. She loved him so much and the idea of moving away from him hurt.

Grace flopped back on her bed and picked up the phone. She needed someone to play devil’s advocate and she couldn’t call Luke. She needed someone who could be objective. She would find two such someone’s in her friend and assistant, Daniel and his husband Tom. While the phone rang she fired up her laptop. It was time to do some research on Artifex and its owners. Once she had some solid facts, her friends would help her debate the pros and cons of both companies and what it all meant for her future. Clearing her mind of all emotional considerations, she got down to what she did best, figuring out the numbers.

FIVE

Luke was silent during the ride to the airport. He didn’t even want her to consider the job in Seattle. The idea of being so far from him hurt Grace too, but she had to at least go have a look at the place.

The long flight to Sea-Tac gave Grace too much time to think about her coming visit to Artifex, and more specifically the time she’d be spending in close proximity to Jack. After mulling over and over her choices, Grace decided that Jack was correct, she couldn’t make a truly informed decision without making the effort to investigate Artifex firsthand. She would have full access to the company’s financial records and anything else she wanted to review.
 

Her initial internet search was very promising. So Grace went to the executives and informed them she was going to actually use some of her massively accrued vacation time to think about the junior executive position and inform them of her decision upon her return to New York. Mr. Watson seemed truly confused by her hesitance to accept the position without further ado, and rightly so. Anyone else in her position would have accepted before they even left the executive suite the day it was offered. But Grace had been feeling worn out and unfulfilled for a while now. She needed to give Artifex some serious consideration. A fresh start might be just what she needed to get her life moving again.

This trip was also going to be her trial run at dealing with Jack’s constant presence in her life, at least in her professional life. Since the day she’d met with Jack and Rachel, Grace had been dealing exclusively with Rachel. She still had no idea if they were a couple, but Grace was working on the pretense that Jack was in a relationship with someone. She had to put all thoughts of them as a couple out of her mind and discover if she could work with Jack in a strictly professional environment without losing her mind.

Grace collected her luggage and made her way to the main concourse. Memories of the last time she’d been here came rushing back. Seven years was a lifetime ago but as soon as she set foot on the sidewalk to hail a cab, it felt like not a day had passed. On arrival she’d been the protagonist of her story, moving mountains to stand by her man’s side in his time of need, rushing to make it to the funeral of Jack’s father. On her departure she’d felt like the greatest fool who ever lived for racing across the country uninvited and unwanted.

Taking a deep breath Grace made effort to let go of all of those old hurts and disappointments. The past was where it belonged, in the past. The future needed to be decided now. Before Grace could hail a cab, she saw Rachel jogging toward her.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” she exclaimed breathily. “Traffic was awful!”

Grace was surprised to see Rachel. She’d planned to make her own way to the hotel Artifex had reserved for her, not wanting to inconvenience anyone with the chore of coming to fetch her from the airport. Rachel was flushed but smiling as she grabbed one of Grace’s suitcases. And damn if Miss America 1950 wasn’t equally sexy and alluring in jeans and a tank top as she was in her elegant dress. Rachel’s thick, rich brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her face scrubbed clean of make-up and it made her look much younger than Grace knew her to be.

“Let’s get you out of here and settled.” Rachel hustled ahead of Grace. Grace tried to feel uneasy about being alone with Rachel. They’d been exchanging emails for the past two weeks and even had a couple phone conversations, but seeing the beautiful woman and wondering if she was with Jack had her on edge. Again, this was something Grace would need to get past if she took the partnership they’d offered her.

They reached Rachel’s car and it was all Grace could do not to laugh out loud. She’d imagined the co-owner of Jack’s company would drive a luxury vehicle of some kind. When Rachel hit the button in her key fob and the tailgate of a minivan slowly began to rise, Grace gaped. It was a very nice minivan with automatic opening doors but it was a
minivan
. They loaded up Grace’s bags and she was surprised to see two car seats strapped into the backseat. One was rear facing for an infant and the other forward facing for an older child.
 

Once they were on I5 and driving north the silence became a little uncomfortable. Grace wanted to ask about the car seats. She wanted to ask if the babies they belonged to were Jack’s babies. She could imagine beautiful little blond haired, hazel eyed babies resting in the back seat of this very comfortable family vehicle.

Rachel broke the silence first. “So tell me about you and Jack,” she suggested. Grace nearly choked on her gum. Rachel offered her an unopened bottle of water from the console between them and she took it gratefully, swallowing the cool liquid to give herself a moment to come up with an answer. What was she supposed to say?

Rachel continued, “I had no idea you and Jack had been an item until we met in New York.” Grace was still trying to contain her coughing. “I’ll be honest with you, Grace, I thought Jack was gay.”

“Gay?” Grace sputtered. Christ she was going to choke to death on her own saliva. If she thought he was gay then . . . those car seats did not, in fact, belong to Jack’s babies. And that made her ridiculously happy, stupidly pleased.

“Oh, you didn’t know Jack likes men? Shit! Let me shut my mouth. He’s going to kick my ass.” Rachel was backpedaling.

“No, I knew that, but he’s bi-sexual. To be honest, I thought . . .” Grace peered into the backseat and Rachel caught her meaning. She laughed out loud.

“Jesus! You thought Jack and I were together?” she slapped a hand on the steering wheel. “Tony is going to love that!” she laughed and Grace blushed. Rachel wiped her eyes. “When I met my husband I was on a business trip with Jack. We were just getting started and we’d gone down to California to do our spiel for a prospective customer. Tony was also there on business. We met at the hotel bar and really hit it off until Jack showed up. Tony totally backed off. I thought he just wasn’t interested. Over the next week he was all I could think about. It was like I already knew he was the one that got away.
 

Luckily we’d already exchanged numbers. When we got home I gave him a call. Tony made it clear right away that he had no interest in being with a woman who was already dating someone. He wasn’t the type to share. I had no clue what he was talking about. I wasn’t seeing anyone at the time and I told him so. Tony saw the easy camaraderie between Jack and I, and he believed we were together, like a couple. I don’t see it, but he still says we look like we’re 'together' when we’re together. At first it annoyed him, but now he loves it. When we go away on business the men leave me alone, because they think I’m with Jack.”

“So you and Jack never . . . you know?” Grace didn’t know why she was asking. It didn’t really matter. Only it kind of did.

“Hell no! Don’t get me wrong, Jack is a gorgeous man, but like I said, I thought he was gay. I’ve only ever seen him with men.” Rachel took the exit and stopped at the red light at the bottom of the ramp. She turned to look at Grace. “So . . . you and Jack?”

She wasn’t going to get out of telling Rachel. Honestly, if they were all going to work together Rachel probably should know they had a past. “Jack and I had a thing during our senior year of college. He wasn’t ready to be monogamous, especially given his attraction to men and women, and I wasn’t able to play nice with his other lovers. I just couldn’t share. That’s it. I hadn’t seen or heard from Jack in five years.”

“I get the feeling there’s more to it than that.” The light turned green and Rachel returned her attention to the road. Grace didn’t respond. The rest didn’t matter now.

They reached the Fairmont and Grace checked in while the bellboy unloaded her luggage from Rachel’s minivan. They made plans to meet in the morning so Grace could ride into the office with Rachel.
 

Her suite was larger than she’d expected with a sitting area and dining table. Grace was staying for at least two weeks, so it was nice to have room to spread out. She collapsed on the plush king-sized bed. It was a relief to know Rachel and Jack had never been a couple. It would make working with Rachel much easier for the green-eyed monster lurking behind Grace’s eyes. She’d never been a jealous woman, unless Jack was involved. It seemed some things hadn’t changed.

****

“Grace.”
 

His voice came to her through the darkness. Jack’s large hands roamed hungrily over her body in the darkness. Jack was in her bed. How had he gotten into her room? He was massaging her breasts and tasting her throat. Oh God, yes! Fuck! She was hot for him already.

“Grace.” His hand moved down her body and she held her breathe. He moved slowly, teasing her with feather light brushes over her sides and belly. He cupped her mound over her panties. Grace’s hips bucked and pressed into his touch. She wanted him to stroke her aching clit.

“Fuck, Jack, please.” She writhed and begged him to keep going. And he did. He moved down to suckle her breasts until her nipples were taut points of pleasure. His hand slipped beneath her panties and she shuddered.

“Grace.” Jack’s voice was more forceful now as his fingers separated her wet folds. Oh shit! She was going to come. He’d barely touched her and she was already too far gone to stop the impending orgasm. Jack felt her muscles ripple with the first waves of her release. Two of his thick fingers delved deep into her pussy. She rode his hand, wanting every drop of pleasure he could provide.

“Grace!” B
ang, bang, bang.
The door to her suite vibrated. “Grace, are you okay in there?”

Grace jerked awake with her hand in her panties. Jack was in the corridor calling her name. Fuck! Really? A wet dream? She was mortified by her own behavior.

“I’m coming,” she hollered, and then winced. She wasn’t coming anymore, but she had been. A peek at the alarm clock told her it was still early. Rachel wasn’t due to pick her up for two hours. She was exhausted. She spoke to Luke the night before but he was uncharacteristically quiet and he made some bullshit excuse to get off the phone. Grace had lain there for a long time thinking about what it would be like if she left Luke behind. Was that how it would be between them? She hoped and prayed that wouldn’t be the case.

She leapt from the bed and went to open the door. Jack stood there looking concerned and downright tasty. He wore a charcoal suit with a white shirt open at the throat with no tie. He looked her up and down just as she did him. Grace blushed crimson, as if he could just by looking at her know that she had just stroked herself to orgasm while dreaming of him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Is the hotel on fire?” she snapped to cover her embarrassment.

Jack’s frown lifted at the corners. He shook his head. “No, smartass, there’s no fire, but I was calling your room and you didn’t answer. So I became concerned and came up to check on you. I was banging on the door for five minutes.”

Grace left the door open for Jack to enter while she went into the bedroom to check the phone by the bed. “The last person must have turned off the ringer.” She turned the ringer up. Then she scurried into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Yuck! Morning breath!

Her reflection in the mirror over the sink made her wince. Her ponytail was crooked, her eyes were puffy from sleep, and she wore only a pair of boy shorts and camisole to bed. She hadn’t thought to grab her robe before she ran to the door. Now that her mouth didn’t feel like a desert and she’d donned her robe she went back out to the sitting room. Jack was watching the news and scrolling through emails. He looked up and gave her a heated look complete with the heart stopping grin that she had no defense against.
 

Jack came to his feet and moved toward her. His eyes moved to her mouth and she knew he was going to kiss her. He would kiss her and she would let him. She wanted to feel his hot mouth on hers, demanding she submit to his will. But he stopped just inches from touching her. His nostrils flared and he cursed.

“Meet me downstairs in the lobby. We’ll get breakfast before we head to the office,” he said and swiftly moved to the door.