Closing Costs (19 page)

"No. What the fuck? She's only nine!"

"Relax Uncle Jack. It's a crush. You know how those are?"

"The hell I do. I won't have boys sniffing around…." Sara laughed so hard she got the hiccups. "It's not funny." He muttered into his glass.

"Oh yes it is. You players are always the ones who end up with dau…"She stopped, took a sip of wine to cover her near slip.

"Yeah. I know." He left it at that.

As the meal progressed, they shared more laughter, memories and light flirtation. Sara marveled at the man's ability to turn it on and off like a light switch. Serious about something real-estate-related one second, the next teasing her about the oily bohunk soccer coach he'd watched her with that day. She tried to stay away from the one topic that burned her brain – Why Shannon? When? And where did he stand with her now?

"I needed her, for a time." Sara blinked. Had she spoken out loud? "Mainly because she needed me, and I love that; you know it better than anyone. The better, more mature and professional you get the less you need me."

"You? Needy?" She scoffed. "Other than for pussy?"

He glared at her. "I'll let that be the wine talking."

"Well, I'm glad then, that you…got to be needed…again?" She let her voice rise at the end, more than a little incredulous. Jack ran his hand fingers through his hair, and Sara's entire body clenched with the desire to do the same to him. She closed her eyes. The waiter cleared their dishes and started to present the desert menu. Sara looked up at him. "We'll have the..."

"Crème Brule." Jack finished, his smile soft and one step shy of sappy. She looked down, realizing that if she went with what had flashed through her head, she'd be kissing him right now. "And two black coffees."

"And now?" She settled back in her chair. "Do you still need to be needed by Shannon?"

Don't ask a question you don't want to know the answer to Sara.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "But I do know one thing." He leaned forward. She stayed still, not meeting him halfway like she knew he wanted or expected.

"What's that?"

"You are amazing. No seriously, you've turned that downtown office around, in spite of my meddling and budget cutting. You've headed off more crises than most managers combined and …. You are a fucking pure temptation in that dress."

"Oh, and you're gonna let me take credit are you? No more I'm a 'Jack Gordon creation'?" She winced, but had to ask. It had rattled around in her head for years since he'd yelled it at her, that last night at the party.

"For all of it. Shame on me for even thinking that, much less letting it pass my lips. I was an idiot. But, you knew that. It's why you wouldn't marry me, if I'm not mistaken."

She sat, unable to find words to express the roiling in her gut, the panicky fluttering in her chest.
Could it be? Jack had grown up?

"And whoever picks out your jewelry is the bomb." She laughed, stuck her tongue out at him and picked up her spoon to dip into the crisp caramelized sugar that coated her favorite desert; a spoonful appeared at her lips first. She opened her mouth; let the pure sin of eggs, cream and vanilla slide down her throat. Her skin pebbled at the look in his eyes. They finished in complete silence, comfortable, easy and familiar. This time, when he held out a hand on the table, she took it, reveling in the now beloved snap and crackle of their connection.

"I'm not sleeping with you tonight. We clear on that?"

"My dear, I would not dream of it. Why spoil a perfectly good evening with a fight?" She laughed and pulled his hand to her lips, kissed it then released him. "But," He would not let her break their eye contact. "I will kiss you though. A lot. So be ready."

She blushed, got that "first date" thrill up and down her spine again. Jack knew how to pull off this sort of thing.

Jack sipped his coffee and watched her blush. No, they were not going to end in the bed, or the floor, or the couch or the hallway or the car. No, he admonished himself. Tonight was about connecting on a different level; one they'd danced around so many times but never committed to. His body did its usual thing, trying to convince him otherwise; the painful press of his cock behind his zipper a perfect example.

He shifted in his seat and willed it down, willed himself to talk, to impress, to convince; and yet, at the same time, already breaking up with Shannon in his head. He'd made the mistake of committing to a few long-range dates with her, of course. One, a black-tie fundraiser thing, he couldn't back out of gracefully. He'd just have to make her understand they went as friends, nothing more or less.

Sara
.

She tried to reach for the check when it arrived. He let her.

"Damn, Gordon, you are not a cheap date." She tucked her credit card into the folder and smiled at him. Her green eyes lit up, and his heart soared. This was going to work. He'd be damned if he'd fuck it up again. He frowned when his phone buzzed, ignored it. But when it stopped then started again he realized it must be an emergency.

His sister informed that Katie had a slight fever and wanted to come home. He sighed, and looked at his date. "Well, your daughter is sick. We have to go pick her up."

"What?"

"Yeah." He watched her sign off on the tab and tuck her card away.

"How is Maureen doing anyway?" He slipped an arm around her waist as they walked toward the door.

"As well as can be expected, I guess. She was an absolute mess for a while. He lived, you know, long enough for her to get to the hospital. He held on so he could tell her he loved her one more time." Jack stopped outside the restaurant, looked up at the sky. A light breeze ruffled Sara's hair and he couldn't resist the urge to reach out and tuck it behind her ear. "I loved that guy like a brother, you know?" Alarmed at the emotion rising in his chest, he cleared his throat, and tucked her hand into his arm.

"I'm sorry." She leaned into him. "That's horrible."

"Yeah. So, meet you at her house, okay? I know it's my night but Mo said she thought Kate might want her Mamma, being sick and all."

Katie lay tucked up on the large couch, bracketed by two enormous German shepherds. Jack grinned and sat beside her, putting a hand to her forehead. "You are like an oven. No wonder Hans and Fritz want to snuggle." She gave him a weak smile and climbed into his lap. He carried her into the kitchen where Mo and Sara talked.

"Sure you guys don't want a glass of wine or something? " Mo's eyes still seemed haunted, her skin pale and fragile-looking. Sara gave her a big hug. She looked surprised at first then happy. "Sorry." She let go, wiped her eyes. "I'm a leaking sieve lately."

Sara nodded, looking close to tears herself. Jack shifted Katie in his arms. "I think we should get her to her own bed." He shot Sara a look, realizing their ability to communicate without words. If she gave him a high sign that Mo needed them to stay, he'd put Katie back on the couch and stay. But she shook her head.

"Yeah, probably. But you have my number. Call me anytime." Mo nodded, gave her brother a hug and walked them to the door.

"She's such a doll." His sister touched Katie's bare leg. "A tomboy one minute, a bossy princess the next – and that temper…well, let's say I've seen that before." She pressed her lips to Jack's cheek and opened the door.

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Okay she's got Tylenol and ibuprofen on board, has had a bath and now only needs good-night kisses." Jack rolled his sleeves back down, determined to leave, not to drag this out unnecessarily no matter how bad he wanted it. Sara handed him a glass of wine and headed upstairs. His gaze followed her legs, bare and delectable as she made her way up.

"Should I worry about her?" They sat on her couch later, his arm around her, their legs touching stretched out on the ottoman. "I mean, she's says she's sore all over and stuff. Just the flu?"

"You have your own in-house medical counsel on that I think. Call one of them." She sighed and leaned into him, making his heart beat faster.

"Maybe later. This is nice."

He put his glass on the side table and tilted her chin up. "I'm pretty sure I put 'kissing' on the agenda." She batted her eyes. He slanted his mouth over hers, tasting her, reveling in the familiar sensation of her lips. He got serious with it, sweeping into her mouth with his tongue, gripping her hair with one hand. His body started sending signals he wouldn't acknowledge so he broke away. She started to climb up into his lap but he stopped her, stood and got a grip on his purpose.

"I'm gonna go. Let's let this one sit, shall we? I know how we get, and I don't have the energy or inclination to argue with you tonight."

She stared at him. "But, we don't always argue after…"

"Yeah, actually, we do. I want to develop a new pattern. So I will kiss you goodnight, like a gentleman and be on my way." He held out a hand, fighting everything in him that screamed at him to claim her now, take her, she wanted it he knew it as surely as he knew his own shoe size. She sat, not moving. "C'mon baby. Give a guy a break. I'm trying…" She took his hand, and eased into his arms like she'd never left. Her own kiss spoke volumes, her fingers threaded through his hair and he used all the willpower he could muster not to grab her ass and press his diamond-hard erection into her. When she stopped, tears glistened in her eyes. "No crying Sara. Not tonight." He stepped back, found his jacket and headed for the door.

"Jack, wait." He stopped without turning. "I, I want you to stay." He shrugged into the suit coat and slowly faced her.

"I know." Before she could say anything else, he blew her a kiss and walked out the door, cursing at and congratulating himself at the same time.

Chapter Twenty-Five

"God, Sara, I am so sorry!" Craig looked frazzled, so she tried not to sound too pissed. "I still have no seniority in the group. When one of the other docs has to take time off I get to pick up the shift." He flopped into the chair opposite her desk. She mentally ran through the options for the weekend. She had planned to get caught up on some paperwork Saturday in the quiet but nothing she couldn't put off until the next weekend.

She glanced at her monitor. An email from Mateo had arrived that morning. "I'm so sorry you are not coming up to Traverse City with us. I would have liked to buy you a drink." She blushed and deleted it. That kid had no business being interested in her, much less flirting so relentlessly, but if she was honest, it was quite a buzz.

She reached for her phone and dashed a text to Jack, cancelling their date. Disappointment pierced her brain. She'd planned a real seduction scene for the night at her place. He'd been true to his word all week, sending her funny texts, an obnoxious display of roses, a bottle of expensive champagne. It all served to ramp her up so high she had started keeping her vibrator under the pillow for emergencies. Damn the man.

She put a hand on Craig's shoulder to make him stay as she had a quick conversation with her secretary, then shut the door. Sitting in the chair next to him she stared hard into his lovely brown eyes. "So?"

He ran a hand over his light red beard. "Well, we're 'taking it slow,' like she wants. She's so fucking guarded. So enthusiastic about…you know, but when it comes to anything beyond physical, she shuts it off like a light bulb. Reminds me of some other frustrating female I know." He stood, pulled her to her feet and into his arms. She sighed, breathing him in, remembering. "But I'm gonna stick it out with her. My odds are better this time I think." He kissed her lightly and left.

Katie did nothing but whine all the way home from school when Sara broke the news that Uncle Craig had to work. Sara fed her a snack and tossed her in the bathtub without much conversation, biting down on the urge to scream at her to stop sniveling. Tell her life was full of disappointments and that she had gotten her own way too often. But the girl had not felt a hundred percent for days, although the pediatrician claimed there was nothing medically wrong with her now that the fever had passed.

"
Hey sexy."
She smiled at Jack's regular evening missive.

"Hey yourself. Busy. Packing."

"Right. So do you want me to come too? I was gonna take Mo and her kids up north eventually anyway."

"No, she's expecting you to watch them so she can go to the spa. She told me. Do NOT stand her up. She needs it."

"All right. Have Kate call me after her games."

"Will do."

She set the phone on the bed, threw the necessary items in a bag, locating all of Katie's soccer paraphernalia. After a long hot shower, she plucked the girl from the couch and deposited her into the car along with her laptop for movies and a pile of coloring books and marker collection. The little girl sniffled, then snuggled down on her pillow. Sara sighed. She had a three and a half hour drive up to the Grand Traverse Resort and had not slept well all week. She started out, driving through a coffee shop for a double espresso. It wasn't until she'd gotten north of Brighton that she noticed her phone had five unread texts. One from her brother.

"I'm bringing Maddie up. Lila has the flu. I hear you will be there. Wanna carpool?"

"Shit!" She read the next few, two from Lila indicating that her date with the two men had indeed gone very well. Sara smiled into the darkened car.
Small fucking world.

Then one from Mateo that made her ears burn.
"I hear you are coming. Can you meet me tonight? I'll be in the rooftop bar."

And then Jack, one she must have missed at the end of their conversation.
"I do love you, you know. Don't tell anybody. I have my reputation."

She tossed the phone into the passenger seat, cranked her tunes and sped up through the rapidly darkening night.

Jack kept checking his phone, trying not to be pissed that she never responded to his last text, wishing he'd hadn't sent it, and attempting to concentrate on the crisis du jour. Shannon walked by, shot him a murderous look before he indicated the phone conversation he was having took priority over her pique. The breaking it off thing had not gone as smoothly as he would have hoped. The woman had said some fairly spot-on things about him and Sara and him in general. But he'd heard it all before; it no longer had power to hurt. He shut the door, so she would not take it as an invitation and finished arguing with a fellow broker about a stolen listing, then hung up, digging his knuckles into his eyes. God he'd give anything to be driving them up to that tournament right now. He had a standing upgrade at that resort, could get them a condo.