Page 4 of A Family Affair: The Vow
After, he couldn’t remember who initiated the kiss. Did he cup her face first or did she grab his shoulders? And when their lips met and her mouth opened to invite his tongue, had he pulled her onto his lap or had she climbed there? No small trick with a console between them, but desire clouded out his memory. The kiss turned hot, desperate, needy, followed by her moans and his gasps. The damn steering wheel got in the way, but that only forced them closer. Had she pressed that delicious body against his chest or had he been the one to do it? Hedidremember stroking her back, easing a hand between them to trace the opening of her button-down blouse. He released one button, then two, went for the front clasp of her bra and found heaven. Damn, but he wanted to taste her, every tantalizing inch...
He wasn’t the only one exploring as she yanked the T-shirt from his jeans, ran her hands along his belly to his chest, sighed. More kisses, more moans.More. Intense, irresistible, filled with so damn much pleasure and promise he couldn’t think of anything but being inside of her. If they didn’t stop now, there would be no stopping. Ten more seconds, a few adjustments and he’d ease her onto him, nice and slow and—
Vic broke the kiss, closed her blouse, and dragged a hand over his face. “Rae, we can’t.”
Silence. Long. Deafening. “I doubtcan’tis in your vocabulary,” she whispered, trailing her tongue along the cord of his neck, sucking the tender flesh behind his ear. “Now, do you want to come inside?”
Hell, yes, he wanted to come inside. Inside her house, inside her life, insideher. But he couldn’t do that, not this way, not any way that labeled her as fleeting and inconsequential. “Only a fool would decline that invitation.” He clasped her hands, inched away so he could see her eyes, and opened his heart. “Or someone who’s looking for more than a few hours of pleasure. This sounds ridiculous, even to me and I’m the one saying it, but...” He paused, tried to organize his thoughts from the jumble of emotion clouding his brain. “Leah shared so much about you these past several months that I felt like I knew you, and what I didn’t know I wanted to find out.” Vic squeezed her hands, decided to get it all out before common sense took over and shut him down. “When you walked into the restaurant tonight, I felt a pull like I’ve never felt before and you hadn’t even spoken a word. As for the physical part? There’s no doubt that would be mind-blowing, but this is way more than physical, and I sure as hell don’t want to screw it up by doing something stupid right now. I want to see you again, take you to dinner, spend as much time as possible together before you have to leave.” He worked up a smile, offered more words he’d never spoken before. “When you do leave, I want to see you again. There’s six hours between here and Virginia. That’s definitely doable.” Vic traced her jaw, said in a gentle voice, “Let’s find out how good it can be between us because instinct tells me it could be great.”
“Vic.”
The huskiness in her voice pulled him in, made him misinterpret the reason she’d fixed her gaze on his chin instead of his eyes. He’d taken it for uncertainty and shyness and was determined to get rid of both the only and best way he knew how: more gut spilling. “I want to get to know you, Rae. You’re different from anyone I’ve ever met and I—” he cupped her chin with his hand, lifted her gaze to meet his “—I don’t want to let you go, not when I’ve just found you.”
Okay, that was real gut-spilling, but didn’t everybody say sometimes you had to take the risk, especially for the reward? He’d lay a hundred bucks Nate Desantro wasn’t in love with touchy-feely revelations, but he’d bet another hundred he shared them with Christine. Vic could do this, he could—
“I’m sorry.” Her eyes grew bright, the huskiness in her voice, deeper. “I can’t do this.”
Sorry? ...can’t do this?Hadn’t she been the one who invited him into her house? Climbed onto his lap? Ran her hands over his chest, stroking, touching, as though she couldn’t get enough? As though he were her damn oxygen? Vic eased his hand from her, placed it along the back of the truck seat. “Okay then. Guess I misread whatever was going on here.”
She cleared her throat, once, twice, gave him what looked like an attempt at a half-smile. “No, it’s me. I’m not looking for a relationship. I’ve got a job, a life in… I…”
Right, he got it. She wasn’t looking for anything with him, except maybe a good time. He studied her, took in the almond-shaped eyes, the high cheekbones, the full lips. How had he totally misread what was happening? “I get it. You’re not looking for anything with me other than…”A good time. A hookup. Sex. He paused, waited for her to speak. Damn it, he was going to make her say the words.
She looked away, dragged a hand through her long hair. Inched her gaze back to his. “Vic, I’m sorry.”
“In the name of honesty, can you at least tell me why you invited me into your house? What was your endgame?”
The darkness of the truck cab couldn’t quite hide the flushed cheeks. Rae slid from his lap, buttoned her blouse, remained silent for so long he didn’t think she’d answer. And then she spoke. “Honesty? There’s absolutely no denying your sex appeal. A woman feels it, even from across the room and when you look at her, she senses you’re already undressing her, imagining what she’ll feel like, how she’ll respond to you. Who wouldn’t want that? Who could turn away and say ‘no thank you’?”
Well now, wasn’t that just interesting? A sex symbol? A sex toy? Is that what she thought he was? “I don’t know who would or wouldn’t want that, but contrary to what you might believe, have heard, or surmised, I’m more than just a sex toy. But it’s good to know I made you feel all those things because at least I wasn’t imagining the attraction.”
“No, definitely not.” She licked the lips he’d tasted seconds ago and when she spoke, he didn’t miss the confusion or the regret. “It was real, but—”
“It’s just about the sex, right?” He forced a laugh. “Imagine that? That’s usually my line and the women all think once I’ve been with them that I’ll change my mind and start spouting off words liketogetheranddestiny, and maybe I’ll even invite them to move in. Never happens. Not going to happen. But you, Rae Darlington, you, I could have made an exception for…” Another laugh, this one scorched his throat, but he would not let her see how she’d gutted him. “Guess now I know what it feels like to get burned.”
“It’s not you, Vic. We’re just too different and I’m not looking for a relationship. I live in the city, I’m in charge of one of the most upscale women’s clothing lines in Virginia and when I’m not working, I’m networking at dinner parties or social events... It’s what I do and it’s who I am.” Pause and the softest “What could we possibly have in common other than the obvious?”
Boy, talk about dumping on a guy’s ego. He dragged a hand through his hair, wished to hell he’d kept his mouth shut instead of spewing emotion like a fool. “Well, considering we spent most of the night talking about everything from the ‘right’ way to eat pizza to favorite movies, even why dogs tend to resemble their owners, I thought it was a decent plan to find out. Add in the undeniable chemistry and the fact that we’re both small-town people with big ideas and I guess I wouldn’t say it was just sexual.”
She clasped her hands in her lap, squared her shoulders as though trying to get away from his words. When she spoke, he didn’t miss the determination in her voice. “Itcan’tbe anything more. I have goals, and a five-year plan, and I’m sorry but you aren’t part of those.” She unclasped her hands, reached across the seat, touched his arm. “I’m sorry, Vic. Sorry I couldn’t give you more.”
“No problem.” If he was going to crash and burn, at least he’d do it with a little dignity and humor. “Be thankful I didn’t follow you inside because who knows? Once we landed in bed, my guess is I might have convinced you to change your mind. And then what? That five-year plan you’re holding onto would have been demolished.” He slid her a smile, held it in place until his cheeks hurt. “No hard feelings. Good luck with those plans.”
3
Three years later
Rae Darlington had never believed her life would implode in the span of twelve short hours, not when she’d taken years to plan it, work for it, sacrifice because of it. The job was gone, the career derailed, and the man? All gone. She’d believedtheymattered, that they had a future together, one that did not depend on their employment status with the same company.
How could that last part ever have been true when their after-hour conversations were saturated with work and plans for advancement?Getting to the next stage of success, as Richard called it.One promotion at a time. Rae bought into all of it, never thought about what might happen if one of them didn’t reach the next stage of success. Why would she consider such a possibility when she and Richard were the sweethearts of the popular clothing company where they both worked: high-achieving, determined, exceptional?
But a new CEO changed everything.Vision shift. Right sizing. Reorganization.Those were the buzz words that collapsed whole departments and kept HR busy delivering termination notices and severance packages. Richard got the promotion to head up and expand the company’s digital presence, which she later discovered he’d known about long before the cuts started. While he hadn’t flat-out admitted he’d known, he hadn’t denied it either. Richard was very good at circumventing issues, especially ones that cast him in a less-than-favorable light. Like the fact that he must also have known the new organizational chart didnothave her name on it, but he’d never said a word, not even a hint of a warning. No, he’d let her walk into the meeting with the new CEO, excited and anxious to find out what her future role would be.
There’d never been a second when she’d considered she might not be included in the company’s future. Why would she think that when she was an integral part of the operation, a person who worked long hours, rarely took vacations, and if she did, brought work with her? How could the reorganizationnotinclude her?
Except it didn’t.
We appreciate the work you’ve done for the company, specifically the Perfectly D line. Your accomplishments, your drive and never-ending enthusiasm are truly stellar. But...we’ve decided to move the company in a different direction with a huge online presence, and market studies indicate people don’t want to pay $500 for a pair of slacks or $300 for a scarf. They want casual, wash-and-wear, affordable. That’s never been the Perfectly D philosophy and while we’re proud of the quality and design, maintaining the line is no longer a viable option. That’s why we’re shutting it down. We’ve got to be receptive to our customer base and the shift that’s occurring. I’m sorry but you’re not the right fit for where we’re heading.
