Sparring Partners (36 page)

So much for not swearing in public, if only
in her head.

...

Lily watched the man she'd learned to love,
in the decade since her husband died, introducing her
daughter-in-law to the invited guests, a few of their friends, and
the majority of business contacts that kept William and B.H. on
top, in a world of brilliant entrepreneurs. She felt a sense of
pride, but more than that, a sense of rightness about embarking on
a new and more private life with William, especially with Reed at
Jordon's side to help him move forward on his own journey.

Jordon and Jesse moved toward her, and her
son put his arm around her thinning, but still strong, shoulders.
She looked up at him, but his gaze was honed in on the small
redhead on William's arm. His eyes narrowed as William laughed at
something Reed said, and they both knew William well enough to know
he didn't usually laugh at social gatherings with such impetuous
sincerity. Reed obviously caught him off guard. But then, she was
catching them all that way. She was easy to like. Even easier to
love if one could let go of their pains, long since buried but
never fully acknowledged.

"She fits in like a handmade glove, don't
you think?" Lily said.

Jordon grunted and took a sip of some neon
yellow-green liquid that looked toxic. Lily cringed but held her
tongue, she had more important things to discuss than his unusual
drinking habits of late.

"Her dress is lovely too, but it's not one
she and I picked out in New York. Her hair and make-up are also
tasteful, but I haven't seen her present herself like this
before."

Jesse piped in, "Shay took her shopping and
to some fancy spa downtown this afternoon. I've never seen my mom
wear nail polish before, much less on her toes. She's going to get
laughed right out of the sparring ring."

Both sets of whisky-gold Bennett eyes turned
to him as Lily watched her new grandson blush. He really was a
handsome boy. As a man, he was going to be devastating.

"She wanted to clean up on her own. She said
if she couldn't figure it out on her own, then she might as well
walk now and save herself an unnecessary trip."

"Unnecessary trip?" Jordon asked, his tone
deceptively light. Lily recognized the fear, underlying the
practiced calm in her son's voice, and took heart.

"That's what she said." Jesse shrugged. "I
think this whole 'meet the billionaires' thing is stressing her
out."

Lily held back her smile, not wanting Jesse
to misinterpret the gesture as making light of the situation or his
mother's feelings on the matter. She stepped closer to him
instead.

"It stresses me out too." She cocked her
head at Jesse. "Do you think I should start karate?"

Jesse turned serious. "Sure, I could teach
you a few moves, but you might want to ease your way into it." His
eyes lit with the enthusiasm of a brilliant idea. "We could start
with tai-chi for strength, it helps with balance and getting your
mind and body working as one." He smiled at her, teasing her
lightly. "It could be fun...grandma. Whadda you say?"

Lily smiled warmly and raised up on her
tip-toes to kiss Jesse's cheek. "Sounds like a plan, young-gun.
When do we start?"

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Jordon found Reed curled on the library
floor, barefoot, playing the Japanese game of Go against both
Thorson and Charlie. Shay was pretending to help her, but he didn't
appear to have a feel for the game. Sensei Schwartz was nowhere in
sight, he probably retired early, having little tolerance for
people he thought cared more about the hood ornament on their car
than for who they were inside.

Sensei was judgmental, in the same way
Jordon was. He didn't care to surround himself with shallow people.
It was one of the reasons Jordon chose him to be his teacher,
although he didn't realize it or acknowledge it even to himself at
the time. Now it was so obvious, he wondered why he hadn't seen it
before. He didn't worry about it though, he just stood in the
shadows and watched Reed play her game, thanking God that his
better self knew enough to make the right choices for him when he
was too stupid or too unaware to consciously make them.

Reed moved a black stone forward to a
crisscross intersection on a board filled with white and black
stones. "Ha! Watch out boys, I'm about to kick your ancient
tookussess."

"Many a drip is missed between the cup and
the lip, my girl." Thorson said.

"Yeah? And every dog has her day, Thorson.
You and Charlie won the last round. Of course, you had Sensei to
help you. Give me a break and let me bask in the golden glow of Go
glory."

"Not on your life fancy pants. Where did you
get that dress anyway?" Charlie asked.

"Why? Don't you like it?" Jordon didn't like
the hesitancy in her voice.

"Very much, sweetheart. It becomes you.
Spill the goods, girl. Where did you get it?" Charlie was the only
man Jordon would let get away with that particular endearment when
referring to his wife. But then, she'd been Charlie's wife too, if
only for enough time to solidify Jesse's adoption. Since Charlie
was unabashedly gay, the love he put into the word didn't stress
Jordon as much as it otherwise might have. He was jealous of their
comfort with one another and the deep affection and loyalty they
shared. He wanted that from Reed too, although he realized he
hadn't exactly given it in return.

"Macy's clearance rack. Forty-nine,
ninety-nine." Reed grinned, as she moved another black stone to an
intersection, surrounding and capturing three of Charlie and
Thorson's white ones. Jordon couldn't quite make out the emotions
flitting across Reed's powdered face as she gave the place and
price she paid for her dress. Pride was there for a moment.
Self-deprecation too. But it was the flash of uncertainty, and the
settling of vulnerability between her brow, that hurt his heart and
made him want to punch something. Since Shay was sitting so close
to her, he'd do nicely.

"Do you think Jordon liked it? I didn't get
a chance to ask him before he left with Mr. Takahara, Jay Giles and
William for another one of their endless meetings."

The hitch in her voice, as she said his
name, had him moving forward. Enough doubt went into her question
to twist his insides and heat the back of his neck.

"It's almost as beautiful as the woman
wearing it, although I was so struck by her beauty it took a while
to notice." Jordon said, his own voice thick with emotion as he
walked into the room.

"That, gentlemen, is our cue to leave."
Thorson cleared the board of stones, placing the white and black
ones in their respective pots. Reed didn't appear to care that he'd
cleared the board on a game she was destined to win.

All three men said their goodnights to Reed,
each kissing her cheek. Shay loitering a little too long holding
her hands.

"Are you all right?" Shay asked.

Jordon stiffened as Reed smiled softly into
Shay's eyes and nodded. It was a friendly smile, not one that
promised more, and Shay's body language said he knew it and
accepted it. If she hadn't hugged him too, Jordon's hands probably
wouldn't have fisted at his sides to the point of cramping. It had
been days since Reed smiled at him like she was smiling at Shay.
Jordon wanted to be her friend too. Friend, lover, husband,
sparring partner. He wanted it all. He didn't want to share her,
although he begrudgingly would, he'd even be gracious about it, so
long as she always loved him best and told him so at least once a
day. Maybe twice a day. Morning, and right before he sank into her
at night. That would be good.

Jordon's fists eased as Shay pulled away.
Shay glanced at Jordon as he left the room, inclining his head in a
purely male gesture that conveyed more than words could have.
She's yours now, I'm backing off, but if you fuck it up I'll be
all over her again like white on rice and to hell with you and
yours.

Jordon inclined his head in response, like a
knight exiting the battlefield after combating a worthy and
respected opponent.
Message acknowledged and accepted. Since I
will not fuck up, your loyal service will not be required by the
lady, and if you try, absent said fuck up, I'll kill you.

Jordon heard the soft click of the door as
Shay left the room and he sent the universe a fervent prayer:

Please, God, don't let me screw this up.
Make her love me even though I don't deserve it. Don't let her
leave me. Please.

...

Reed watched as Shay and Jordon exchanged
tense glances. Only after Shay shut the door did Jordon turn to
her. His eyes burned with an emotion she couldn't name, but made
her insides turn to warm honey on a hot summer day.

He was the only man she'd met who could
decimate her with a look.

She wanted to eat him alive.

She wanted to slap him silly for making her
feel this way after being such a shit.

Instead, she just stood there, waiting for
him to say or do something, anything, that would determine her next
move. Flight, fright or fight. She'd rather tear off his tuxedo and
throw him naked to the floor, ride him until they both burst,
first, but that depended entirely on him.

Jordon took at step closer. Then another,
until she could feel his breath on her bare shoulder as he bent to
kiss her nape. She tilted her head away to give his lips better
access, but he didn't touch her, only his softly spoken words in
her ear did as he slowly pulled the pins from her hair, discarding
them haphazardly on the floor.

"This dress is almost the same color as your
skin. Did you choose it on purpose?" He asked. Not waiting for an
answer he continued, "I've been imagining you naked all evening, as
I'm sure every man here tonight was doing. The only thing marring
that picture is this fierce knot you've twisted your wildly
extravagant hair into. I like you free and wild, Reed. My own
woodland elf dancing naked through my forest."

He finished with the last of the pins and
ran his strong fingers through her hair, massaging her stinging
scalp with his finger tips as he gently worked his way through the
hair spray and the tangles the severe style left behind.

"Dance naked for me, Elf. I'll make it worth
your while."

Those few words worked better than a bucket
of ice in the face could have to cool her mood.

"I'll dance for you naked or dressed in tiny
gold sequins and pins in my hair."

She took a step away from him and the sweet
lethargy he roused so easily within her was gone by the time her
second foot made the journey. She looked into his still blazing
whisky and moss eyes.

"But not because you'll
make it worth my
while
, or because there's something in it for me other than the
obvious, but because I want to pull you into me and never let go.
Because I love you, even though you've turned into a cold hearted
calculating idiot since we passed through those iron gates. I'll
dance for you because maybe it'll bring back the sharp-witted,
kind-hearted man I married." Reed took another step back when he
reached for her. She wasn't done yet.

"The only thing I want as much as that, at
the moment, is to beat you to a bloody pulp and give all your money
to charity. You choose. Right now I could go either way."

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Jordon followed her as she moved away,
matching her step for step, only his steps covered more carpet. He
was within touching distance in two steps. He could feel the heat
from her body in three. She wasn't backing away any more. So far,
so good.

"You can have my money. Give it to whomever
you want. I'll make more."

Jordon reached out and touched the side of
her face. Her eyes narrowed, but she leaned into him. She was
different tonight. More vulnerable, almost wounded. Another man
might have found that attractive. It made him sick. He wanted his
fighting elf back, spitting nails at him every time he screwed
up.

"You're welcome to try your hand at kicking
my tail, but we should get you out of that dress first. Even with
that artful slit running to your thigh, you can't maneuver well
enough to draw blood."

Reed moved around him and was halfway to the
door before her caught her arm. So much for his maneuverability
theory. He'd gotten that about as right as he'd gotten everything
else since he brought her here. Things were so much simpler,
clearer at Potters Woods. Too bad the man he was there wasn't who
he was here.

His grip was painful, it had to be, with the
amount of force he was using to hold her there. If it hurt she
didn't show it. Her usually expressive face didn't show anything at
all. Not pain. Not anger. Not the passion of moments before.
Nothing. She was shutting down on him. Shutting him out of her
life, her heart. He'd learned enough about her to know that if she
shut that door completely, he'd never open it up again, not even
with C-4.

"Don't leave." he said, his heart in his
throat, blood rushing through his ears like the Titanic taking in
water.

"Why should I stay?"

"Because I'm still the man you married,
under this monkey-suit. Because you own my heart and I can't live
without it...without you. Because without you life doesn't make
sense anymore. Because I love you now, and I'll love you long after
I'm dead and buried."

Jordon suddenly felt cold. She wasn't
pulling at his arm anymore. She didn't even blink, she simply
looked at his hand where it manacled her wrist. He let go of her.
She turned away and walked slowly to the door. He didn't speak
again until her hand was on the knob.

"You love me too, Reed. I know you're angry,
and I know I've cared more about appearances than making you
comfortable here. I know I've been an ass. Let's pack up. We can
leave right now, if that's what you want."