She wasn’t the cold fish she wanted him to believe she was. She was hot and all sensual woman. He smiled as he gave the other nipple the same devotion.
He wanted her here and now. In his driveway. On her car. But that wasn’t what Laura Jo deserved. He wasn’t that kind of man. She certainly wasn’t that type of woman.
“Sweetheart, we need to go inside.”
Mark saw her blink once, twice, as if she were coming out of a deep dream. She looked
around as if trying to figure out where she was. He saw the moment she came back to reality and his heart dropped.
“Oh, God.” She sat up and gave him a shove.
He stepped back and let her slide off the car.
She jerked her shirt down, not bothering to close her bra. “I have to go.”
“No, you don’t.”
He stepped toward her and she stopped him with a hand. “I can’t do this.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is wrong for me on so many levels.” She climbed behind the wheel of the car. “I’m sorry, Mark.”
She couldn’t have been any more sorry than he was. He stood there with his body as tight as a bike spoke, wanting to reach out to her. Laura Jo didn’t even look at him as she started the car and headed out the drive.
It wasn’t until the car stopped about halfway down that he knew she hadn’t been as unaffected by what had passed between them as she’d acted. She had wanted him, too.
Guilt filled him. He had no business pursuing Laura Jo if he had no intention of the relationship going beyond what they had just experienced. He couldn’t let it be more. He’d already proved he would run when the going got tough.
Could he trust himself not to let them down, like he had Mike?
As her taillights disappeared, he turned and walked toward the house. All he had waiting for him tonight was a long, cold shower. He needed to stay well out of Laura Jo’s life.
* * *
Laura Jo opened the door early the next morning to let Allie, Marsha and Jeremy in. Before Laura Jo could say hello, Marsha announced, “We’ve got a problem.”
“Bigger than the one we already have?”
“Yep.”
“Come on into the kitchen and tell me what’s happened.”
Marsha followed her while Jeremy rushed ahead and took the chair next to Allie.
Marsha sat in the other chair while Laura Jo got a bowl from the cabinet and placed it in front of Jeremy. She then sat down. “Okay, let me have it.”
“I got an email from the city rep, saying that if we don’t get half the asking price in cash to them by the end of next week then there’s no deal,”
This was worse than Laura Jo had expected. “That only gives us five days, and three of those are holidays,” she groaned.
“I know. That’s why I’m here. Do you have any ideas?”
Laura Jo propped her elbows on the table and put her head in her hands. “No,” she said in a mournful voice.
“I do,” Marsha announced emphatically.
Laura Jo looked at her. “You do?”
“You have to go to the knewe dance. It’s our only chance.”
Laura Jo stood and walked to the sink. After last night, going to the dance had become less about her past and more about her reaction to Mark. She had been so tempted to throw all her responsibilities and concerns into the bay and find paradise in his arms. She’d been lying half-naked on the hood of a car, for heaven’s sake. The man made her lose her mind. She’d had to stop at the end of his drive in order to get herself together enough to drive. Her hands had still been shaking when she’d started across the bay.
She couldn’t stand the thought of losing the best chance they’d had in years to have a new house. But if she went to the dance she’d have to resist Mark, which she wasn’t sure she could do, and face her parents and the social circle she’d left behind. The one she spoke so negatively about. She would be going back with her tail between her legs and begging them to help
her. No, she would be asking for help for the shelter. It had nothing to do with her personally.
“I’ll call Mark. If he hasn’t asked someone else to go, I’ll tell him I’ll go.”
Marsha joined her at the sink. “I wouldn’t ask you to do it if I thought there was another way.” She put an arm around Laura Jo’s shoulders. “The house is too perfect for us not to give it our best shot. I’d go but I don’t have the same influence as you or Dr. Clayborn have.”
“I know. I just hope it works.” Maybe going would not only benefit the house but give her a chance to lay some ghosts to rest.
“Me, too.” Marsha squeezed her shoulder.
What if Mark had already found another date? That thought gave Laura Jo a sick feeling. Then she guessed she’d be going to the dance by herself. Not only to face her past alone but to see Mark holding another woman. Neither experience appealed to her.
CHAPTER SIX
I
T WAS MIDMORNING
and Mark was at his office desk when the woman he’d been planning to ask to the dance informed him that he had a call.
Picking up the phone, he said, “Dr. Clayborn here.”
“Mark, its Laura Jo.”
Like he wouldn’t recognize her voice.
“If you don’t already have a date for the dance, I’d like to go after all,” she finished on a breathless note.
He’d thought of little else but her since those minutes outside his home. She’d kissed him so thoroughly, leaving him in need of not only one cold shower but two. Laura Jo had completely turned the tables on him with those hot, sexy kisses. He’d only hoped to kiss her one more time but instead he’d been left wanting all of her.
“No, I haven’t asked anyone else yet.”
After the way she’d left last night, something
bad must have happened regarding the shelter for her to agree to go to the dance with him. He didn’t care, he wasn’t going to question the gift.
“So I’m still invited?”
“If you would like to go.”
“I would.”
“So what changed your mind?”
“They’ve moved up the timetable on the shelter house and I’ve been left no choice.”
“Well, it’s nice to know it isn’t because you might enjoy an evening out with me,” he said in his best serious tone.
He had to admit it stung to know that she had no interest in being seen at the most prestigious event of the year with him. The only reason she had agreed to go was because she needed help finding funds for the shelter. She had made it clear on more than one occasion that she didn’t want to go, so he could only imagine how desperate she must be to pick up the phone and call him. She wanted that shelter enough to take this bold step. What impressed him most was that it wasn’t for her but for someone else.
“I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Make it eight. I have to work the parade.”
That figured. When did she ever take time for herself? He was going to see to it that she enjoyed the evening out with him if it killed him.
“I’ll be there at eight, then. We’ll make a grand entrance.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. Bye, Mark.” With that she rang off.
* * *
“Laura Jo, stop fussing, you look beautiful,” Marsha nagged as Laura Jo pulled up on the dress that showed far too much cleavage for her comfort.
She’d found the evening dress at the upscale consignment shop downtown. Ironically, it was the same one her mother had taken all the family’s outdated clothes to when Laura Jo had been a child. Her mother would say, “Maybe someone less fortunate can use these.” Like people who were less fortunate cared whether or not they wore couture clothing.
“I’m only going to this thing to try to drum up funds for the shelter, not to have men staring at me. I’ll have to wear the green dress. Would you get it? It’s in my closet.”
Laura Jo hadn’t had time to look any further for a more appropriate dress. She’d taken the first one that was her size and looked suitable. She hadn’t even tried it on and had had no idea this one would be so revealing.
“Isn’t the dress formal?” Marsha said, as if she were reassuring a child having a temper tantrum.
“Yes, but I guess I don’t have a choice.” Laura Jo looked into the full-length mirror one more time. The plunging neckline left the top of her breasts exposed. Each time she breathed she feared more than that might be visible. For a brief second the memory of Mark’s lips pressed against her flesh made her sizzle all over. She inhaled sharply.
“Is something wrong?” Marsha asked.
She circled around and faced Marsha. “Don’t you have a pink shawl? I could put it around my shoulders and tie it in front. That would fix the problem.”
Marsha sighed. “I don’t see a problem but I’ll go get it. I think you’re overreacting. The dress is perfect the way it is.”
Laura Jo looked at herself again. Was she overreacting? If so, why? Because she was going to the dance with Mark or because she was afraid she couldn’t control herself around him?
She studied the dress. It was midnight blue with the slightest shimmer to it. The material hugged her in all the correct places. Twisting, she turned so that she could see the back. It closed close to her neck so that it formed a diamond-shaped peephole in the middle. It was the loveliest detail of the dress.
“Mommy, you look pretty,” Allie said from behind Laura Jo.
“Thank you, honey.” She leaned down and kissed the top of Allie’s head.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” Allie said, running out of the room.
Laura Jo followed. Surely it was Marsha, returning with the wrap.
Allie opened the door and Mark stood on the other side. Their eyes met and held. Everything that had happened between them the night before flashed through her mind. His gaze slid downward and paused at her breasts.
They tingled and her nipples grew hard. Heat pooled in her middle. What was happening to her? Something as simple as a look from Mark could make her feel alive like no one else could.
Was he remembering, too?
“Doesn’t Mommy look pretty?” Allie asked, looking back and forth between them.
Mark’s gaze didn’t leave her. Seconds later, as if coming out of a stupor, he said, “Uh, yes, she looks wonderful.”
Laura Jo swallowed hard. She’d never felt more beautiful than she did right now as Mark admired her. The man was starting to get under her skin and everything about his idea of life
was so wrong for her. Or was it? She’d better guard her heart tonight or he might take it.
Allie looked up at Mark. “You look pretty, too.”
He did, in the most handsome, debonair and charming way. His blond waves were in place and his eyes shone. Dressed in his formal wear of starched white shirt, black studs and tailcoat, he took her breath away. She’d seen many men wearing their finest but none compared to the man standing before her.
“Thank you, Allie.” He was still looking at her when he said, “Do you mind if I come in?”
“Oh, no, do.” Laura Jo gave Allie a little nudge back into the hall. She stepped out of the way and let Mark enter.
“Come in and have a seat. I’m waiting for Marsha to bring me a cover-up.”
“From where I stand, you look perfect just the way you are.” His voice had a grainy sound to it that wasn’t normal.
“Thank you.” When had she become such a blusher? When Mark had come into her life.
“Have a seat while I get my purse. Marsha should be back by then.” Laura Jo indicated a chair in their small living area.
There was a knock on the door and Allie ran to open it. Laura Jo trailed behind her. Her friend breezed in, breathless. “I couldn’t find
it. I must have given it away at our last clothes drive. Hi, Dr. Clayborn. You look nice.” Marsha let the last few words spin out.
“Thank you. I was telling Laura Jo she looks great just as she is.”
“I think so, too.” Marsha said. She offered a hand to Allie. “Come on. It’s time to go. Jeremy will be home in a few minutes.”
Laura Jo picked up a small bag and handed it to her daughter. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be picking you and Jeremy up from school.” Laura Jo kissed her on the head.
“Okay. Bye, Mark.” Allie happily went out the door.
“Have a good time and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Marsha quipped with a wink.
“Marsha!”
Mark’s low chuckle didn’t help to lessen Laura Jo’s mortification.
She turned to him. “You do understand I’m only going to the krewe dance because I need funds for the shelter. Nothing else can happen.”
“You more than made it clear that the evening has nothing to do with my company. Are you ready?”
Had she hurt his feelings?
“Mark, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so rude.” She looked down. “After the other night I just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. I do
appreciate you taking me to the dance. It’s just that I have a difficult time with the idea and I seem to be taking it out on you.”
“Maybe if you explained, I would understand.”
She looked at him again. “It’s because…I shunned that world years ago.”
“Why?”
“I fell in love, or at least what I thought was love, with a guy who my parents didn’t approve of. ‘Not of our social status,’ my father said. My parents were adamantly against the marriage. They told me Phil was after my name and money, not me. That he was no good. My father was particularly vocal about Phil being the wrong guy. He forced me to make a choice between them or my ex.
“I always felt like I was an afterthought to them. I never quite fit the mold they had imagined for their child. They spent little time with me when I was young and now they wanted to start making parental demands, showing real interest. I had always been more headstrong than they liked, so my father’s ultimatum backfired.
“I told my parents if the man I loved wasn’t good enough for them then I didn’t need them. I chose Phil. Turned out they were right about him. He was everything they said he was and more. I said some ugly things to my parents that
I now regret but I couldn’t go running back. My pride wouldn’t allow that. I had to prove to them and myself I could take care of myself. Live with my mistakes.”
Laura Jo would never let Mark know what it took for her to admit her mistakes. No matter how many times or how sweetly Marsha had asked Laura Jo, she had never told her as much as she had just told Mark.