The Rebound Guy (9 page)

Kelly just kept staring at the thousands of glittering crystals above them. ‘I can't believe we're staying at the Waldorf,' she said, shaking her head.

Jason groaned inwardly. If they were going to have a repeat of the whole ‘first class' thing, he needed a stiff drink. It had taken a couple of hours for that to die.

‘It's so beautiful,' she whispered, and then she turned round and noticed the glossy black grand piano sitting on a mezzanine level over the entrance and she let out another gasp of rapture.

Jason watched her with interest. He was quite happy that Kelly had
finally
stopped trying to talk business with him. Who knew all it took was a bit of glittery glass and a marble floor? As much as he appreciated her efforts to support him on this deal—that was why he'd asked her to come, after all—his head was throbbing with all the facts and figures and strategies they'd gone over on the flight. They didn't need them.

But Kelly didn't know that. He hadn't quite told her everything about this trip. Not yet. She was freaked out enough as it was. And she wouldn't understand that this was all part of the game of big business. Going direct to McGrath hadn't helped. This time they needed to plan a little better, manoeuvre. Like chess. Just like chess. But that meant Jason needed to keep a clear head. He needed to still the whirling numbers inside his brain and push them to one side.

What he really needed was a basketball court.

But he was pretty sure the Waldorf didn't have one of those, and they might not appreciate it if he tried to shoot hoops in the grand ballroom. They didn't have a pool either.

But there
was
a Y a couple of blocks away...

He glanced across at Kelly, tugging at her travelling clothes and doing her best not to feel out of place in this rather glitzy New York institution. When he'd booked this hotel he'd thought she'd get a kick out of it, but now he was wondering if the decision hadn't backfired on him a little. She obviously was a little overwhelmed. Which meant she was probably just going to increase her efforts to justify her presence. That meant more facts, more reports to read through. More strategies to discuss...

What he needed to do was distract her. From cluttering up his head again, yes, but also from asking too many questions about when and where they were meeting with McGrath. He'd fibbed a little. Told her they had loose plans for this evening, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to occupy themselves for a couple of hours, doing something that didn't involve talking. Just until he worked it all out in his head.

And the other reason...?

Oh, that.

Well, maybe Kelly herself was a little distracting. Maybe she was adding to this sense of jitteriness he just couldn't shake.

It was weird. Now they were away from the office, things were different. Like they had been the day of the picnic. And he'd spent too long at close quarters with her, inhaling her subtle, slightly spicy perfume, being aware of every move she made, even though their first-class seats had given them ample space. He knew they'd reached a silent understanding to back away from whatever had been building between them, but he was starting to forget why.

Another reason to burn off some of that excess energy fast, before he did something dumb. Again.

So when the receptionist handed him the keys, he handed them straight back to her and asked if their bags could be taken up to their room. Then he grabbed Kelly by the hand and headed down the marble steps to the main entrance.

‘Jason! What are you doing?'

‘We've had a long journey and we need to do something to unwind before the busy evening ahead.'

She twisted to look over her shoulder and attempted to slip her fingers out of his. ‘But the spa's that way...'

He snorted. ‘Spas are for wimps,' he told her. ‘We're going to do some
real
relaxing! We're going swimming.'

Kelly's mouth worked. ‘Swimming? But I don't even have my—'

‘Not a problem,' he said as he shoved her into the revolving door and the spinning glass panels cut off the end of her sentence.

* * *

As they'd left the Waldorf Jason had pulled out his phone and issued a set of instructions, and by the time they'd arrived at the pool, a mysterious Knight Corporation dogsbody had magically appeared with swimming things for the pair of them in the right size. Kelly didn't want to think about how hard Jason must have been studying her body to get her measurements just right, but at least he'd picked a tasteful one piece instead of a bikini woven from dental floss.

Swimming was the perfect way to clean off the plane dirt, Jason had said, but Kelly wasn't so sure. She'd rather have been doing what her fellow passengers on the flight into JFK were now doing, normal things like zonking out on their ridiculously comfy hotel beds or drinking cocktails.

She slid into the pool, feeling self-conscious and hoping no one was watching, even though the place was virtually deserted. The only other people in the water were a group of guys horsing around and a lone swimmer carving up the water as he did repetitive laps. She should do the same, shouldn't she? She should at least be doing
something
when Jason appeared, and swimming was the obvious choice. Much better than bobbing around in the water chatting with him, trying not to notice both of them had next to nothing on.

God, Kelly. When did you turn into such a prude?

She gave a disgusted half snort, half laugh and launched herself forwards. After she'd swum around for a bit, she glanced back at the changing rooms, expecting to see Jason run from them and soak everyone with a dive-bomb, but there was no sign of him. After a few minutes the group of young guys hauled themselves from the pool and went to dry off. That left her and Mr Serious.

She decided to make the most of the peace and quiet and headed off towards the opposite end of the pool, doing her competent but ungraceful breaststroke. When she reached the tiled edge she hung on gently and breathed out, kicking the water under her feet to stay afloat.

Actually, Jason was right. There was something about the quiet here, the rhythmic splash of the water against the pool's edge and the repetitiveness of the strokes that was soothing. She'd be ready to pass out when they got back to the hotel, though.

She frowned and looked around. Where
was
he? Had he pulled some kind of practical joke on her? She'd be furious with him if he had. But then the serious swimmer drew close once again and, instead of rolling and turning gracefully as he'd done a handful of times since she'd climbed into the pool, he came to a stop and shook the water from his hair.

Kelly wondered if the chlorine in this pool was stronger than she'd been expecting, because her eyes weren't making sense. Mr Serious was trying to morph into Jason. She blinked and rubbed her eyes.

‘How are you feeling now?' the blurry blob in front of her asked. ‘Better, huh?' And then the pool water cleared from her eyeballs and she was looking at her boss.

‘Yes,' she said, nodding, hearing the surprise in her own voice. She couldn't quite work out why she hadn't realised the lone swimmer had been Jason, even though it was completely obvious. Must be the jet lag. And maybe the fact that when she'd heard Jason had a failed career as a swimmer, she'd assumed he'd larked around at it for a bit, then got bored and moved on to something else.

But the man in the pool hadn't swum like he'd been larking around. He'd attacked those lengths, eating up the distance with a power that had impressed her. And there'd been a grace about him, as if he felt relaxed here. As if this was home.

‘Do you miss it?' she asked him. ‘Swimming?'

Jason's smile faded and he dragged his hand over his face and hair to wipe away the excess water. ‘Yes,' he said simply.

‘Why did you stop?'

Nosey, Kelly. You've lectured yourself about this before, remember? Say the question inside your head before you ask it out loud.

‘I injured my shoulder,' he told her. ‘It wasn't the same after that.'

‘You looked pretty good to me just now.'

See? Now that was another example of her unfiltered comments reaching her mouth. She'd meant it quite innocently, but somehow her voice had grown huskier, and it had added a layer of meaning she hadn't intended. Not consciously, anyway.

Because he did look good. Boy, did he look good.

She was trying hard not to notice, but it was very difficult when those powerful shoulders were only inches away, glistening with pool water. And she couldn't help but take in the tanned skin and the way the chlorine made his eyes go even bluer and his lashes spiky.

‘Thanks,' he said, and the lopsided smile he gave her told her he'd registered the gravel in her tone. Despite the cool water lapping around her shoulders, Kelly's cheeks grew hot. In fact, everything grew hot, and all she was aware of was a pair of laughing blue eyes and the silence hanging thick above the water.

She pushed herself away from the side with her feet and floated face up in the water, closing her eyes.

‘Don't let me stop you,' she said loudly. ‘You carry on doing what you're doing and I'm just going to relax here for a bit.'

And she did just that, floating with her eyes closed, feeling the water lift and fall away underneath her, lulling her into a dreamlike state. Seconds drifted past uncounted until the water swelled beside her and her internal thermostat began to climb again. Jason was near.

‘Don't fall asleep,' he said softly.

‘I wasn't,' she said, quickly righting herself and treading water.

Jason just gave her one of those twinkly looks. ‘Two more minutes and you'd have been gurgling and spluttering and I'd have been pulling you out of the water and giving you the kiss of life.'

Her pulse kicked into high gear at the suggestion. ‘In your dreams,' she said and set off swimming towards the changing rooms, not caring if he was ready to leave or not.

And in yours...
a little voice whispered as she forced herself not to look back to see if Jason was checking her out as she climbed out of the water.

NINE

Kelly fussed with
the hem of her cocktail dress. She'd been ready to bring just business clothes for the trip, but Chloe had insisted she pack for every eventuality. No suitcase should be without a Little Black Dress, apparently. She'd even lent Kelly a pair of outrageously red stilettos to finish the look off.

Kelly stared at the ornately carved metal doors of the lift and tried not to notice that Chloe's shoes were pinching her little toes. ‘What a coincidence that Dale McGrath's hosting a party here at the Waldorf,' she said to Jason.

She was trying not to look at him. Mainly because she hadn't quite recovered from the swimming-pool episode. When he didn't respond to her comment she made the mistake of glancing in his direction, forgetting she'd been trying to keep her eyes on the lift doors. A rush of heat started at her toes and rose up to the tops of her ears.

Even though Jason was looking far too gorgeous to be true in his dark suit and midnight-blue shirt, since the pool she couldn't help picturing him with much less on, little rivulets of pool water running down the muscular contours of his chest. It was most disconcerting.

‘Is that why you booked us here?'

‘Kinda.' She didn't know how, but she sensed Jason was wearing a grudging smile.

‘It was nice of him to invite us.'

‘Very.'

‘That's a good sign, right? If he's willing to mix with us in a social setting before the official meeting?'

She looked over when he didn't respond immediately. Bad idea. Violent flashback. One involving dark, wet lashes and blue, blue eyes. The breath got stuck somewhere in her chest.

He nodded and the lift doors opened and they stepped inside. He pressed a button for the eighteenth floor and they slid closed again.

Was it hot in here? Kelly was hot.

When they arrived at their floor he guided her into a lobby with a marble floor and a stunning chandelier made of glass feathers. A set of double doors was at the other end, guarded by an attractive blonde with a clipboard. The party was already in full swing. Kelly could see moving lights and milling people and could hear the thump of a popular chart song.

Jason leaned in close and whispered in Kelly's ear, ‘You go ahead.... I'll see to this.' And then he walked over to the harried-looking blonde and bestowed his most devastating smile on her. She instantly stopped scowling and smiled back.

Kelly snorted to herself. Now
that
was why she should remember that getting involved with Jason Knight was a bad idea. The man couldn't help himself.

He moved back a few steps as he talked to the blonde and she followed him, stepping away from the door a little. Jason made a shooing motion with his hand, indicating Kelly should go inside without him.

Honestly.

Here she was, all hot and bothered and starting to wonder why she shouldn't just do as Chloe suggested and have a hot New York fling with the man, and he was totally unaffected and chatting up another woman right under her nose!

She huffed to herself then trotted into the party in Chloe's crimson stilettos. The ballroom was long and thin, stretching away from the centre doors to both left and right. Tall French windows with thick damask curtains flanked the space and the gauzy curtains underneath billowed, giving her a glimpse of a short stone terrace. There was a dance floor directly in front of her and at either end of the room, up a couple of steps, were seating areas where guests clustered and chatted or wandered over to the well-stocked bars. All in all, it looked like something out of a Hollywood movie.

Jason appeared by her side, looking a bit too pleased with himself and tucking something into his jacket pocket. A small white business card, if she wasn't mistaken—with numbers scrawled across the back in a looping feminine hand. She raised her eyebrows and gave him a look that said
Really?

He just grinned back at her. ‘I can't help it if she decided she couldn't live without our new line of yoga mats.'

Kelly threw him another one of those looks. This one had shades of
Yeah, right!
attached.

‘Let's just find McGrath, do what we've got to do, say what we've got to say and get out of here.' She frowned and scanned the crowd. ‘Now, where is he?'

Moments ago this room had seemed magical, but now the jet lag was sucking away the fairy dust fast, making her feel lethargic and grumpy. At least that was what she ascribed her current mood to. She wasn't prepared to let it be anything else.

Jason didn't join her in her search. In fact, he didn't look particularly enthused at her suggestion. He took the empty glass out of her hand—how had that happened?—and snagged them both another from a passing tray.

‘Here,' he said, thrusting it in her direction. ‘It's a party. We need to blend in...I mean, chill out. I think we should mingle a bit first.'

She opened her mouth to disagree, but he held up a hand in protest. ‘This is a New York moment, right here, and you're missing it! You can't rush this. The Starlight Roof was the place to see and be seen in the thirties and forties. Have you looked up yet?'

Kelly looked up. Above their heads was the most amazing art deco ceiling, covered with a series of stylised metal grilles with central decorations of winged horses and leaping gazelles. ‘It's stunning,' she said a little breathlessly.

‘We're on the top floor of this section of the hotel. The roof used to retract so the social elite of the day could party underneath the stars.'

So that was where it had got its name. She had wondered.

Kelly had never heard of such a thing. Or been to such a place where people would think it was necessary to roll back the roof to have a good time. It was both wonderful and bemusing. She stopped looking at the ceiling and turned her attention to Jason. He looked completely comfortable with the whole concept. To him, it was just a neat idea. To her, it was a signal of just how different they were, of how she shouldn't get sucked into his world and believe she could be a part of it.

‘It's a business trip, Jason. So let's do business.'

‘Kelly...' The voice was low and playful. ‘Your first time in the Big Apple and you've hardly seen anything more than an anonymous pool and the inside of a hotel suite. Yes, this is business, but the working day ended—' he checked his watch ‘—
nine
hours ago in London! Why not cut loose and have a little fun? Especially as you've got the chance to mingle with
today's
bright young things.... Look over there!' He pointed to a group huddled on some sofas to their right and Kelly recognised a chart-topping singer and her entourage. ‘And there...' A few feet away a group of headline-grabbing sportsmen were arguing about the outcome of a baseball game. ‘I can't see McGrath—he may not even have arrived yet. Why not take the chance to have a little fun? When will you ever get the opportunity to do this again?'

Never.

That was the word that rang instantly through Kelly's head.

Jason led her over to a dessert table where there were miniature everythings from pastries to pavlova and layered desserts of different colours and flavours in different cocktail glasses. He handed her a plate. ‘Stop. Taste. Enjoy the moment.'

Kelly breathed in and held it.
Enjoy the moment.
When had she last done that?

She frowned. ‘I think I've forgotten how.'

When had there last been a moment to stop and enjoy? The day the doctor had stared back at her with a grim face and told her it wasn't good news? The day her hair had started to fall out in clumps? Or how about the afternoon she'd answered Tim's phone when he'd been in the shower and found a rather graphic text message from another woman? None of those were moments she'd wanted to stop and savour. No, instead she'd powered through them all as fast as she could, closing her eyes and hoping they'd disappear behind her if she ran fast enough.

And she'd never stopped running. The realisation settled over her like a haze.

‘Good job you've got me on hand to remind you,' Jason said, and held a miniature cheesecake with a raspberry on top up to her mouth. Kelly stared at it, then took a bite, careful not to accidentally let lips meet fingers.

Heaven. That was the next word to echo round Kelly's head. Pure heaven. She closed her eyes to savour the taste. Eating a New York cheesecake in New York had been on her bucket list, but she'd imagined a little diner somewhere and a waitress in an apron, chewing gum. Never in a million years had she imagined she'd be on the top of the Waldorf, being fed the most exquisite specimen by the best-looking man in the city. The whole experience made her a little giddy.

She opened her eyes to find Jason only inches away. He'd stopped smiling. And she could practically see him vibrating with the same pulse that was pounding in her ears.

‘Let's dance,' she heard herself say. ‘Do you want to dance?'

She had to do something to break this weird magnetism between them and dancing was supposed to be
fun
, wasn't it?

Without waiting for an answer, or to see what Jason did with the remainder of the cheesecake, she turned away and joined the mass of moving bodies on the dance floor. When Jason joined her he was licking his lips and she guessed exactly where the rest of her teeny dessert had gone. Knowing that if their lips met they'd taste the same sweetness on each other made her insides growl—okay,
purr
—and she wasn't sure it was her stomach doing the talking.

She concentrated on her dancing instead. One thing she'd been really good at once upon a time. However, if she thought she'd be able to scare Jason off or teach him a thing or two, she was wrong. No, Jason was as smooth and effortless on the dance floor as he was everywhere else. He had easy grace and an impeccable sense of rhythm, and Kelly found herself feeling a little jealous to start off with—especially when the girls came flocking and cooing. But he kept his eyes on her, his body turned towards her, and while he didn't ignore the other women, he didn't let them cut in. She was grateful to him for that.

Once she stopped watching him like a hawk, wondering if he was going to disappear with some long-legged, big-boobed model and leave her to fend for herself, she began to enjoy herself. And when Jason took that as encouragement and cracked out some of his more outrageous dance moves, that enjoyment made itself audible. She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so much. The weird thing was he didn't look stupid, as a lot of other people would have done, he just looked full of energy, full of life. Kelly couldn't tear her eyes off him.

More than an hour passed and she didn't want to stop moving. Jason was right. This was fun. And when had she last had some guilt-free fun? She didn't have to watch the clock to make sure she was home in time for the babysitter or feel bad she'd missed bedtime stories. It didn't involve counting pennies then putting the item back on the shelf because she didn't really need it and the boys came first. And she was burning calories instead of putting them on. When had she last felt this free?

Before, maybe. She didn't name what. Just
before
. Before everything.

That had been a long time ago.

Almost a different Kelly ago.

So when her chest was heaving and her feet were screaming and Jason asked if she'd like a bit of fresh air, she nodded and followed him towards the long French windows that led to the fairy-lit terrace. The air was cool out there and, eighteen floors below, Park Avenue went about its business. The sounds of taxi horns, the rumble of tyres and the occasional siren made an oddly beautiful serenade.

They walked to one of the lower parts of the crenellated balcony and looked over. Kelly breathed out and turned to Jason. ‘Thank you. I think I needed that.'

Jason smiled at her. Not one of his cheeky ones, or his I'm-going-to-get-you-to-do-something-you-don't-want-to-do ones, just a normal, regular smile. Something inside Kelly's chest hiccupped. Jason must have felt it too because his expression became more earnest.

‘Why?' he asked softly. ‘Why have you forgotten how to have fun?'

She stared back at him. For the first time in her life she didn't want to tell the truth. She didn't want to ruin this moment. This night was all magic and fantasy and glitter. She didn't want to bring it crashing back down to earth by telling him her depressing reality.

But maybe she should.

Maybe she really should.

Before she did something stupid, like believing this could all spin on for ever and she wouldn't get hurt.

He's still Jason, she reminded herself. She couldn't ask him to change and she didn't want him to, but he was not who she needed. Not if she was going to fall for him. And she suddenly wasn't kidding herself anymore that she wouldn't cross that line if they got closer. She'd never been one for holding back and her fragile heart had already latched on too tightly to the man she'd seen beneath the smoke and mirrors.

He stepped forward and looked into her eyes, tipped his head a little to the side, enquiring. Kelly blocked his image out momentarily with a slow blink, then began. ‘My husband left me and our two boys for a much younger—and much bendier—woman,' she said and, Lord bless him, he didn't laugh. He just kept looking at her with that strange un-Jasonlike softness in his eyes.

It didn't work. The truth didn't scare him away like it did other people, so her only option was to plough on, spell the ugly details out fully. ‘Right after I was diagnosed with cancer. Lymphoma. It took a load of chemo and a year and a half, but I beat it. So there you have it. Basically, there hasn't been much in my life to find funny recently.'

She could feel her throat growing thick. Odd. She was used to batting these details out to anyone who came too close. Why should this time be any different? Why should the truth she'd waved proudly like a flag catch her out this time?