If I Loved You (Harper Falls Book 1) (8 page)

“What did you say?” One of them was crazy,
and it must be her. She certainly felt like she was losing her
mind. She could only imagine how she looked, her eyes wild, her
breath coming in ragged gasps. Jack, on the other hand, looked
calm, collected and utterly unaffected by what had just passed
between them. She
was
crazy, but her
sanity was returning fast.

“Why did you start something you had no
intention of finishing,” Rose demanded. “It’s obvious that you're
as aroused as I am. Why stop?”

Aroused was putting it mildly—and he was
going to suffer for it the rest of the night.

“I don’t do one night stands, Rose.”
Which was true
. “I have. In college
hook-ups were fairly regular. But I’m not a kid anymore, I want
more.” He looked deep into her eyes. “I want more with you.”

Well, crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap,
exclamation point
crap
!

“And I don’t. Want more, that is.” She took
a deep breath. All systems were almost back to normal, and her legs
were able to carry her to the front door. “Thanks for seeing me
home and high praise for one hell of a good night kiss. But this is
where we say goodbye, Jack. I’m sure we’ll see each other around
town, but that’s it.” She opened the door and stood aside so he
could exit.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at
six-thirty. Nothing fancy.” He gave her a quick peck on the cheek
and headed towards the driveway.

Opened mouthed Rose just stared at his
retreating figure. Okay, so
he
was
the crazy one.

“I’m not going out with you, Jack," she
called out.

Jack gave her a backward wave and jumped
into his SUV.

“Six-thirty.”

Rose watched in disbelief as he pulled out
and onto the street. The glow of the truck’s taillights was fading
before she shook herself and went back into the house. What had
just happened? How had she lost control? Had she ever really had
it?

Rose removed her shoes and slowly made her
way upstairs. She carefully took off her dress and hung it up. The
original house had had almost no storage space, so Rose got the
contractor to knock out the wall between bedrooms and design a huge
master suite. New bathroom, walk-in closet; all the bells and
whistles. For the first time in her life, she had a bathroom all to
herself. No sharing counter space, no picking up someone else’s
wet, dirty towel. If there was hair in the sink, she knew it was
hers, not her roommate’s slovenly boyfriend. Everything had been
lovingly handpicked and paid for
by
her. She didn’t have to consult with anyone if she wanted bright
yellow walls or bordello red bath towels. I didn't matter that
she’d gone with neither. The point was she could have. That’s where
the real satisfaction lay.

She did her nightly bathroom routine of face
washing and teeth brushing before slipping on her favorite
nightshirt and crawling between the ultra-soft sheets that she had
put on the bed fresh that morning. She plumped the pillows and
settled back with a sigh. There was supposed to be a big, sexy man
beside her right now. Well,
inside
of her if she wanted to get technical. Damn, Jack Winston.

She reached over and picked up her phone.
She decided to call Dani since she was less likely to push for
details. Tomorrow she would badger as hard as Tyler, but for one
night she’d let Rose keep her thoughts to herself.

“Are you alright?” Dani’s greeting made Rose
smile. They must have been more worried than she realized.

“I’m fine. Tucked up in bed safe and sound.
And alone.” Rose could hear voices and music in the background. She
looked at her clock. Eleven-forty-six. It felt later. “You’re still
at the ball?”

“Tyler wanted to stick around for the
witching hour, or as she puts it, when the witch shows up, sans
broom.”

Regina Harper never mingled at her Lilac
Ball. She made one appearance, at midnight, to give a short speech
thanking everyone for their attendance and generosity. People
always grumbled. Why couldn’t she do it at an earlier hour? But
most of the guests stayed out of respect or fear. And as a result
they donated more money than they might have if they'd been able to
leave sooner. There were raffle tickets being sold all evening and
that alone was a major cash cow.

Tyler stayed because she was one of the few
people who could put a crack in Regina Harper’s icy façade. If you
looked closely, she swore you could see little puffs of steam
coming out of the grand ladies ears whenever she was aware of
Tyler's presence. Well worth the price of admission.

“And you’re stuck there being a good
friend.” Rose would have stayed too if it hadn’t been for a certain
asshole.

“Someone has to hold her back.” Rose heard
someone asking Dani to dance and her friend’s quick refusal. “One
of these days she’s going to make good on her threat to douse
Regina with a bucket of water.”

“And get arrested for her trouble. Though if
she started melting it would be worth the risk.” The bitter
animosity Tyler felt for the Harper family had been stewing for so
long it was bound to spill over eventually. Rose and Dani secretly
hoped it would take the form of Tyler and Drew ripping each other’s
clothes off. But for that to happen they would have to be in the
same room.

“So you’re alone. Quick off the mark?”

“I have no idea.” Rose punched the pillow
beside her where Jack’s face should have been. “He kissed me once
and left.”

“That was it?” Dani asked, surprise obvious
in her voice.

“He said he didn’t do one-night stands, told
me, not asked me mind you, told me we were going out for dinner
tomorrow night. Then he got into his SUV and drove away.”

“Are you going?”

“No,” Rose answered emphatically. “Probably
not. Oh, I don’t know.” She couldn’t see Dani’s smile, but she
could imagine it.

“How was the kiss?”

“I’m still recovering my brain cells.”

“That good?” Dani laughed.

“Too good,” Rose admitted. “Is that another
guy asking you to dance? Go, enjoy. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Go.”

Rose hung up and burrowed under the covers.
Talking to Dani had helped, she and Tyler settled her. She was
lucky to have them. Sleep felt within reach now. Any solution to
her Jack problem could wait until tomorrow. As her eyes drifted
shut she had one final thought—that
had
been one hell of a kiss.

JACK HAD GIVEN up trying to sleep around
three that morning and decided he might as well use the time to
fiddle with a little problem he’d been having with a new program.
His home office had everything he needed to do the job, but he’d
driven the few miles to the office instead. He didn’t need his bed
as a mocking reminder of the sleep he wasn’t getting or the sex he
wasn’t
going
to get for another
three weeks. But at least he had a clear objective in sight. Not
just sex with some no name woman but sex with Rose. Beautiful,
funny, hard-headed Rose.

He didn’t know why she was intent on the old
love 'em and leave 'em routine. Maybe some idiot had hurt her with
promises of a future that never materialized? He didn’t know
Rose—something he planned changing very soon. She certainly didn’t
seem like someone who would judge all men on the behavior of just
one. But it didn't matter. She’d soon find out that
this
man meant what he said—starting with making
good on the promise to take her out tonight.

“You look like hell.” Drew, on the other,
had looked refreshed, all signs of yesterday’s hangover long gone.
His hair was still damp from his morning shower, and he carried a
large cup of coffee in one hand and a bag of donuts in the
other.

“Kiss my ass and give me that coffee.”

Seeing a man in obvious need of a caffeine
fix, Drew handed over the cup without argument.

“I was going to ask how things went last
night but by the look of you I guess I don’t need to.” Sitting in
the chair on the other side of Jack’s desk he put his feet up and
took a big bite out of a maple bar. “Want one?”

Jack just glared at Drew's big feet over the
rim of his cup, annoying but not worth the effort. Then there was
his friend's choice of breakfast. Jack could never face anything
sweet in the morning whereas Drew had deep fried fat with a heavy
glaze to start most days. The thought made Jack shudder.

“Better now?” Drew grinned as he watched
Jack drain the last drop of liquid.

“I might live. God, is it seven-thirty?”
He’d lost track. “I think I’ve finally gotten a handle on the
glitch in our new security program. A few more hours of fine tuning
and it’ll be ready for the last test run.”

“That’s great, Jack, but the matter wasn’t
pressing. There wasn’t any reason to come in and work yourself into
the ground. You may be able to go longer without sleep than anyone
I know, but even you need to get some shut-eye now and then.”

“Call it a case of hard cock syndrome,” Jack
said ruefully. “Oh, and don’t take this the wrong way, but I hate
you.”

“Sounds pretty straight forward to me.” Drew
crumpled the empty bag and tossed in the nearby trash can. “So, who
is she?”

Jack scrubbed a hand over his face and
sighed. “You don’t want to know.”

“Sure I do. I might even send her thank you
flowers if she’s gotten
you
tied up
in knots.” Drew threw his head back and laughed. “You meet a woman
you want to screw and for once in your life you have to keep you
dick in your pants. I’m loving that bet more and more.”

“Screw you.”

“Not if you want to win the bet,” Drew
laughed again. “Now tell me about this woman that kept you from
your bed.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“I know you don’t like to kiss and tell
but—.” Drew heard Jack’s soft curse. “So there
was
a kiss. Must have been pretty memorable.”

He’d only thought about it a couple hundred
times.

“It was alright.”

“Sure.” Drew leaned back, his fingers
steeped in thought. “Let’s see. Who is a sexy woman that you’re
reluctant to talk about?" Drew's feet hit the floor with a thud.
"You son of a bitch.”

“What?” Jack jumped in surprise when Drew
suddenly shot out of his chair.

“It’s Tyler.”

“Are you out of your mind?” For a moment he
thought that Drew might actually throw a punch at him. And since
Jack was fall on his face exhausted he wouldn’t have been able to
put up much resistance. He was bracing himself for the blow when
Drew collapsed back into his chair; all the fight drained out of
him.

“I’m sorry, Jack.” The anguish on Drew’s
face was palpable. “I know you’d never do that. You want to hit
me?”

“Yes, but right now it would be with all the
force of a wet noodle. Get back to me after I’ve had something to
eat and a couple hours sleep.” Jack pushed himself out of his
chair. “And that’s what I’m going to do. But let me leave you with
a piece of advice you don’t want to hear. Make your move and soon.
You’ve had ten years to figure out how to get her back, and you’re
damn lucky she’s not married with a couple of kids.”

He didn’t wait for a response because there
was nothing to say. They both knew Jack was right; it was up to
Drew to do something about it.

“Hey,” Drew called as he was leaving the
building. “You never told me the name of your lady.”

Jack smiled to himself and kept on walking.
His
lady
. He liked the sound of it.

ROSE'S HAND REMAINED on the old guitar; her
eyes still closed as the emotion of the song drifted through, the
last notes fading away

Dani had dropped by about an hour earlier
damp from the rain storm that had blown in that afternoon. She
liked to walk whenever possible, but she never remembered an
umbrella. Fortunately some borrowed clothing and a hot cup of tea
had warmed her up in no time. They had settled in for a rehash of
the night before and segued into Rose playing a rough draft of
Wishing
. It was a sample song for
the movie of the same name. She had finally given in to Sam
Laughton's badgering, but she still wasn’t sure she was the right
person for the job. It was such a lushly romantic story, and her
music had always been raw, sexual. Almost angry. Writing these
songs would be a huge departure for her, and it had Rose
questioning the judgment of the Sam Laughton. But even more, it had
her questioning herself. On top of that, because the original
songwriter had dropped out at the last minute, Rose had less than
two months to finish five songs.

She waited for Dani’s response, but none
came. Was it that bad? As she opened her eyes she heard her friends
sniffle. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was searching
through her purse.

“I don’t have any tissues,” Dani cried.

Rose grabbed the box from the nearby
table.

“It’s good?”

“It’s us.”

Rose nodded. In the movie, the song was
about a young woman who was struggling with loss. The loss of her
mother, the loss of the man she loved. When going through her
mother’s things she finds a piece of paper with a list of wishes.
Wishes her mother had made for her on the day she was born. When
writing the song Rose had pictured Dani and Tyler, and herself
combined to make the one woman. So the wishes were for them. Rose
felt a lump form in her throat. It meant so much that Dani had
understood what she was saying with her words, the love she was
expressing for the two most important people in her life.

“You have to play this for Tyler.” Dani
dialed and blew her nose at the same time. “I'm so glad you agreed
to do this movie.”