Not This Time (10 page)

She laughed at the growl in his voice.
“Behave. I’ll talk to you later.”

They disconnected as he pulled up to a stop
light.

For the first time in his life, he found
himself in the role of an ardent pursuer. It stunned him at first,
until he realized she wasn’t pursuing him, and that made him stop
and think. The connection his old man talked to them about
obviously wasn’t mutual. Yes, she was attracted to him, but it
wasn’t the same hammer-hitting-the-nailhead situation for her.
Without his subtle pressure, she would’ve left after the weekend.
Working quickly, he'd taken advantage of her small interest and had
fanned the flame to give her time to know him better. After
spending a week with him, he’d be flying to spend five days with
her in Colorado. Veronique wasn’t the type of woman you could push,
or one who’d be swayed by money or prestige. Either she liked you
or she didn’t. No bullshit allowed. Pulling into the parking lot of
the college where his crew was working, he was glad she chose him.
Otherwise, they’d have a fight on their hands. Because he knew that
even if she had reservations about having a relationship with him,
he’d have never stopped trying. That trait he’d gotten from his
dad. Once their hearts were engaged, other women dropped off the
radar for serious consideration. And he was very serious about
Veronique.

****

The trip to Colorado meant Frank and
Veronique had another opportunity to see how well they meshed.
According to her soon-to-be former assistant, Macy, Veronique had
taken the opportunity to shut down her office and play house.
Macy’s assessment of the situation was partially true. After all,
why have the man fly all the way to Colorado and then leave him all
alone. Veronique had better manners than that and had deemed it
necessary to spend most of her days with him. Frank was the perfect
guest, he'd had no problem visiting her office with her on the one
day she actually went into work. They did some sight-seeing,
although the sights they saw mostly were each other.

“
Hungry?” Veronique asked as
she walked past the bed where Frank lounged in a pair of sweats.
His brow rose at her inquiry, he licked his lips.

“
I meant for food, the
grocery store variety.” She laughed as he leaned up on his forearms
and winked.

“
Yeah, I can stand a little
sustenance. You’ve been working me pretty hard.” He blocked the
pillow she threw at him. “Hey, that’s no way to treat company.” He
laughed at the finger she threw him.

“
You want the leftover
Chinese from last night or something else?” She yelled as she bent
over to look into the refrigerator. There was a lot of food, but
most needed cooking and she wasn’t in the mood. After Frank’s first
night, and her inability to walk straight a portion of the next
day, domestic duties had taken a back seat. Making up for lost time
was time-consuming and topped their list of priorities. Long talks
and hot sex. She'd brought up the baby issue again, although the
discussion didn’t burn a hole through her this time. Although she
remained adamant about no children, his method of trying to change
her mind rated in the genius ranks. The man had a gifted tongue and
wasn't afraid to share. Lordy, she’d been ready to give away her
firstborn by the time he'd released her, and Cherise was grown.
Hell, who knew what she’d agree to in the future, the lines didn’t
appear nearly as clear anymore.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist.
Veronique squealed in surprise as Frank pulled her close and kissed
her neck.

“
Chinese is good.” He nipped
her neck. She shivered in his arms as his rough palm massaged her
breast. “But I’ll need more of you after.”

“
You’ve got me.” Her breaths
were uneven, harder to catch.

“
I’m happy to know that.” He
spun her around and kissed her deeply. Moments later, after she
caught her breath, he spoke again. His voice low, gravelly. “You
have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that. I missed
you.”

They’d been telling each other how much they
missed one another since the first day she left, somehow she sensed
this was different. Perhaps it was how hard he was holding her, or
the catch in his breath, but something was up.

“
Baby, I missed you too. It
was hard not seeing you in the morning.” She took a chance and
opened up a little more.

“
Sleep ran from me when you
weren’t there.” He paused. “I don’t like us being apart.” His lips
brushed her lids as the words hit fertile ground. Her heart
sang,
Amen
. Her
mind whirled with the possibilities of his confession. As an
attorney, she knew the power of words, how they could be
manipulated, how they could be confused for different things. This
was her heart, it hadn’t been involved with a man in a long time
and she needed to make sure it was protected.

Leaning back, she gazed at him. A sincere
longing returned her look. “What’re you saying?”

“
I want to wake up with you
next to me and lie down with you at night. I ache to see your lips
move when you say good-morning. I need the smell of your skin in my
nostrils all the time, along with the touch of your lips. I crave
the taste of you and want to fill you every day. When you’re near
me, I feel empowered stronger, complete.” He stroked her back,
sending tingles of pleasure through her. “I know we haven’t known
each other long. But I’m forty-one, and I know what I want. I want
you. I’m willing to wait as long as it takes to have you. I only
ask that you have mercy and not make me wait too long. I can’t
imagine feeling as strongly as I do about you, all by myself. I
hope I haven’t misread you, but I believe you have similar feelings
for me as well.”

Her throat clogged.
Words
. Her tools of
trade. Those damn things had the ability to send you soaring in
happiness to the moon or plummeting to the depths of despair. If
he’d said the word
love
, she would’ve balked. He didn’t. He merely described his love
for her and that made all the difference. Especially since she’d
been miserable without him.

“
I do. I have strong
feelings for you.” Her face hid in his chest, enjoying the strong
beat. “I want all those things, but I don’t know how…how we’ll make
it work. I have an office here, your company’s in Pennsylvania.”
She shrugged, unable to see how they could live
together.

“
Do you want me?” Frank’s
voice sounded hesitant.

Leaning back, she looked at him, but
couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Yes. I want you more than
anything.” His arms tightened.

“
Then we’ll make it work.
Don’t have to know how, just have to be heading in the same
direction.” Standing on tiptoes, she kissed him.

“
Chinese?” he asked looking
into the refrigerator.

“
Yeah.” She moved back as he
pulled out the cartons. One of them would have to move in order for
them to be together full time. Could she do it? Give up her
practice and start over in another state? The idea of taking
another bar exam, and starting over gave her the willies. The
prospect overwhelmed her. She glanced at Frank as he placed food in
bowls before popping them in the microwave. Caring strongly for a
man didn’t equal that type of sacrifice, did it?

“
You’re thinking too hard,”
Frank said, his back turned away from her. “Don’t worry at it like
a sore. It’ll work out, you’ll see.”

Chagrined at being read so easily, she
slumped down on one of the kitchen chairs. “I know. I was wondering
which one of us would move.” He turned slowly and stared at her.
Flustered from his unwavering eyes, she barreled on. “The only way
to see me everyday is to live together, and that means one of us
has to move. I was wondering which of us would do that.” She
shrugged and turned away.

“
Would you move to
Pennsylvania to live with me?”

Veronique cringed. She managed to keep from
blurting her answer, and took her time turning to face him. Maybe
she’d get a clue as to what he was after. He waited. The bell on
the microwave dinged and yet he stared at her, waiting. Her heart
raced under the threat of tears. No matter what, she couldn’t lie
to him. She’d tell him how she felt and let everything work itself
out from there. Inhaling, she caught his eye. “I—” The chimes from
his cell phone cut her off. He raised his finger after glancing at
the caller ID.

“
Yeah, Dad?” He paused. His
face reddened and jaw clenched. Forgotten was her confession, and
their conversation. Veronique rose and walked toward him, fearful
of the darkening colors crossing his face and neck. Whatever his
dad said, wasn’t good news. Finally, she stood in front of him. He
glanced down and pulled her close to his chest with one
hand.

“
I see. When did he leave?”
She felt his arm rise and then fall back to her waist. “I’m in
Colorado right now.” He paused. The deep bass of his voice vibrated
through her chest. Her arms tightened around his waist to offer
comfort. He patted her on the back.

“
Donald and Blaine have
already left?” He sounded surprised by that bit of news. Veronique
had never met his twin brothers, but Cherise had filled in a lot of
blanks. They sounded like interesting characters.

“
Okay.” Frank sighed. “I’ll
get back with you. Talk to you later.” He clicked off and held her
tight for a moment. His chin rubbed the top of her head.

“
Don’t think I forgot what
we were talking about. I want an answer.”

“Baby, what’s going on?
What’d your dad want?” Veronique asked, instead of backtracking to
that prickly conversation. Her comment earned her a smack on the
ass, but he allowed it to pass. And she was grateful.
She was no punk by any definition, but a
procrastinator was different from a punk, in her book
anyway
.
They’d
discuss her willingness to move or not, later. Much later. After
the idea had an opportunity to do more than scare her
shitless.

“
My brother Roark is having
some problems.” He paused and looked at her. “Actually, his lady is
having some problems with an ex and feels she needs to handle it on
her own. My brother doesn’t agree, and followed her to Michigan.
The problem, from what my dad says, is the guy's involved with some
serious people, and he doesn’t want him up there alone.”

Veronique nodded, understanding family
dynamics. “He’s sending his sons again, like he did with Red, which
makes sense.”

Frank snorted. “If only.”

She looked at him, confused. “What?”

“
Yeah, he wants us there,
but he’s checking into some other avenues as well. Trust me when I
say the last person anyone wants in Flint, Michigan is Elder
O’Connor and his kin. My old man lives for a good brawl. But that’s
not all.” He glanced at her.

“
What?” She grew tired of
the guessing game.

“
He wants you to come to; he
believes we’ll need a good lawyer.”

She nodded, mentally moving things around in
her schedule. “I can do that. I’ll have to talk to Macy about a few
things.” She paused remembering a court date the following week. “I
can’t stay too long, but if a few days will help, I’m game.”
Besides, she’d get to see Cherise and Nora, a definite plus. A
wicked thought hit her. “You’ll owe me.” She grinned when he
frowned.

“
My dad will owe you,” he
corrected.

“
Good, he can help you pack
and move.” She walked out the kitchen, laughing as he sputtered
behind her.

“
You want me to move here?”
His tone challenged her. He’d stopped in the doorway between the
kitchen and dining room, watching her intently.

“
Would you move to Colorado
to live with me?” She threw his question back at him. Maybe he’d
understand her anxiety. After all, could he just shut down his
company and start over here.

“
Yes. Yeah, I’d move to
Colorado and live with you.” He moved slowly toward her.

“
Whaaaat?” She couldn’t have
heard him right. “What’d you say?”

He took her hands, and held them in his
hands. “I said I’d move to Colorado to live with you.”

“
But…but your company, what
would you do about that?” Her heart raced, at the sincerity in his
eyes. Good lord, he’d give it all up to be with her. She couldn’t
wrap her mind around that reality.

He shrugged and sat in one of the dining
room chairs. “It’s a job. I’ve worked hard and long enough that I
could’ve retired five years ago. I didn’t have anything else to do,
so why not work.” He pulled her between his thighs. Flummoxed, she
sat on his lap, staring at his beloved face. There was a peaceful
serenity stamped on his features. “You’ve given this some thought,”
she accused. “No way you could be this easy-going if it’d just
occurred to you.”

He nodded. “I couldn’t stop thinking about
you. Wanting to be with you, missing you. Nothing seemed right
while we were separated. Now, I don’t know, it just feels like this
is how it’s supposed to be.” He shrugged. “Us together.”

“
But your company. It means
so much to you.” She couldn’t grasp the enormity of his sacrifice.
A part of her buckled in shame because she couldn’t match him as
easily.

“
What we have means more.”
His soft-spoken words jarred her out of her paralysis. Tears filled
her eyes. Bending forward, her forehead touched his as she blinked
back tears. The rough pad of his thumb touched her bottom
lip.