Old Flames Never Die (Valentine Mystery) (12 page)

The green-blue eyes that held her gaze
maintained their irritation until he stepped back. “Why don't we have some
breakfast,” he said.

That was the other thing about Jack, he
could change gears on a dime. If he wanted to let the issue go, she was okay
with that. After all, she hadn't even had any of the mocha yet. “Do you mind if
I take a quick shower first?”

He shrugged.

“I'll be right back.”

Tess showered quickly, thinking about
what he said. She realized that she might have overreacted to him. Throughout
their entire relationship, Jack had done the heavy lifting, always making the
first move. She could at least meet him halfway and trust he'd be there. She
entered the room wrapped in a towel. He looked up and his eyes narrowed.

“Still mad?” she asked as she picked out
her clothes.

“No.”

“You look mad.”

“I'm trying to do the right thing, but
you're standing there wet and naked.”

She looked down at her towel. “Right.
I'll be right back.” She grabbed her clothes and went back into the bathroom.

When she returned, Jack had set the
table and even put the flowers he'd brought her the night before in the center
as décor.

“This looks lovely,” she said as she
sat.

He sat across from her. She could still
see annoyance and frustration in his handsome features.

“I…” Tess was interrupted by Jack's cell
phone ringing.

“Sorry,” he said as he took the call. “What?
Well get her out.”

Tess could only assume Lauren
Worthington was causing problems again.

“Call security. I'll be right there.” He
hung up the phone and stood. “I'm sorry, I have to run.”

“Lauren?”

“Yes.”

Tess nodded. “I understand.”

He leaned down and gave her a quick
kiss, then looked at her for a moment. She gave him a meek smile. He smiled
back, but it didn't reach his eyes or his dimple.

The door closed with a thud that echoed
in her heart. He wasn't the type of man who usually held on to grudges, so why
was he still mad? On the other hand, she'd pissed him off and then turned him
on. She'd be cranky too. Perhaps it was her turn to take action. She headed to
the phone to call his secretary to set a lunch date. 

~~~~

When he'd first taken on the task of
managing Worthington Media Corporation, the project had been fun. Jack had
enjoyed having the Worthingtons fall over themselves to make sure the deal went
right. Even Lauren's crazy outbursts had been amusing. But this week, he'd yet
to walk into his office without already feeling annoyed. Having Lauren pull
another one of her stunts only made things worse. He was done playing with the
Worthingtons.

“How dare you call security on me,”
Lauren spat as two security guards stood over her sitting in his office.

“You're trespassing.”

“I have every right to be here.”

Jack tried to look aloof and
disinterested, even as he wanted to strangle her. “You have no right to be
here.”

“You seem to forget who you're talking
to.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I'm
talking to a woman who had no legal ties to Worthington Media Corp or its
money.”

“My son…”

“You're son isn't here.”

“I'm looking out for his interests.”

“You are very close to losing him and his
interests. I suggest you leave now.”

“Arthur will not stand for this.”

Jack's eyes narrowed. “Fine. I'm happy
to take my money and my management team and leave.” Actually, Jack thought, the
idea was very appealing. “In fact, why don't I just do that. I'm only here to
continue Asa's wishes and to honor my mother. But I don't need Worthington
Media and I certainly don't need you and your crazy antics. So, good luck.” He
turned toward the door. “Oh, you can go,” he said to the security guards. “Philip
and Arthur can decide if she's trespassing.”

“Wait!” Lauren cried. She tried to get
up, but a security guard blocked her. “Get out of the way, you big oaf.”

Jack stopped at the door and turned to
see Lauren try to pry the beefy hand of the security guard off her arm.

“You can let her go.” Jack said.

She ran to him. “You can't just leave.”

“Watch me.”

“No! Philip and Arthur can't run this
company.”

“Maybe you should have thought about
that before you pissed me off one last time.”

“I just want to be sure Philip is
getting his fair share.”

“Philip is getting far more than his
fair share and you know it. Now, thanks to you, he'll get what he deserves.”

For a minute, Jack thought Lauren was
going to drop to her knees and beg. He'd have liked to see that. Instead, she
took a deep breath. “If I promise to be good, will you reconsider?”

“Haven't we had this discussion before,
Lauren? Nearly every day, as I recall.”

“Please,” she managed with an extreme
amount of effort. It was the closest he was going to get to begging.

“You get out and stay out of the way?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Go.” He headed back into the
office. “Make sure she leaves and don't let her back in without an appointment,”
he said to the security guards.

~~~~

Fortunately the rest of the morning went
smoothly. If things continued as they were, Jack would be able to hand over
Worthington Media Corp to a new team within six months. Until then, he had a
lot to do. He was finishing checking numbers for several of the newspapers when
a commotion outside his door interrupted him.

“What's going on?” he asked as he opened
his office door. He saw his secretary, Mrs. Stauffer, physically keeping Liv
away from him.

“I'm sorry, Mr. Valentine,” she said. “This
woman doesn’t have an appointment and your noon appointment will be here
shortly.”

“Noon appointment?”

“Yes, for lunch.”

“Jack, tell this woman who I am,” Liv
said, freeing her arm from Mrs. Stauffer. “Surely I don't need an appointment.”

“Everyone needs an appointment,” Mrs.
Stauffer said.

“She's right,” Jack said looking at his
watch. “But I have a few minutes before my appointment. Come on in, Liv.”

He noticed Liv's look of triumph towards
his secretary. He hated that people thought they were better than people hired
to serve them. His secretary was invaluable and he didn't want her feeling like
her efforts were unappreciated. “Thank you, Mrs. Stauffer,” he said. “Please
let me know the minute my appointment arrives.”

She nodded, not hiding her annoyance at
Liv. “Yes, sir.”

“Jack, thank you for seeing me. I know
you must be extremely busy.”

“I am. What can I do for you?” he asked,
sitting on the edge of his desk and not offering her a seat.

“This whole thing with Charles and the
police, it's been so awful. And now I'm stuck in a stuffy hotel room. I just
had to get out and talk to someone. Someone I can trust.”

“You can trust me.”

“I know. That's why I'm here. I just—” The
tears she'd been holding back started to fall. “I can't believe they think I
killed him. How can they think that?”

“I don't know,” Jack said, wanting to
help his old friend, but feeling annoyed at how she kept popping in at the most
inopportune times. “Did you call me a couple of months ago?”

“Yes. Did the police grill you about
that too?”

He nodded. “Why didn't you leave a
message?”

“I didn't know what to say,” she said
with a shrug. “Truthfully I was glad you didn't pick up. I was going through
one of those times with Charles and I was in Washington so I thought I'd call.”

“You and Charles were having problems
again.”

“You know how it was. We couldn't seem
to live together, but we couldn't live without each other. I got a call right
after I tried to call you that changed everything. We worked it out again.”

“What kind of call?” Jack asked.

“It doesn't matter now,” she said with a
wave of her hand. “Charles and I had our ups and downs, but I wouldn't kill him,
despite what everyone thinks.”

“Not everyone thinks you killed him.”

“The few friends I had are avoiding me.
Even your new friend thinks I did it.” She looked at Jack with big, round eyes.
“You don't think I did it, Jack, do you?”

“No.”

“You don't know how much that means to
me.” She threw her arms around him. “I've been so alone.”

“It's okay,” he said patting her back. “It
will all work out.”

“Do you think so?” she asked, her voice
muffled against his chest.

“Yes.”

She lifted her head, smiled. Jack was
shocked when her lips touched his and her tongue sought entrance to his mouth.

~~~~

Tess stood in the doorway, watching what
looked like Jack and Liv kissing. But surely she was mistaken. Nope, they were
kissing. Her first instinct was to walk away, but she'd read enough romance
books to know that situations like this were not always as they seemed. Her
second instinct was to yank Liv's gorgeous blonde hair from her head. Instead,
she waited to see what would happen.

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Jack said,
jerking back and pushing Liv away.

“What?” she asked.

He frowned. “Liv, I'm your friend, but
that's it. I'm in love with Tess. Deeply, forever in love.” Tess felt both love
and terror at Jack's words of forever. She wondered if she'd ever get used to
them.

“I…I'm sorry. I guess old habits die
hard,” Liv said, stepping back.

Tess' eyes met Jack's, which showed
surprise and then worry.
Good
, she thought.

“Tess.”

“Hi, Jack. Liv,” Tess said, her voice cool
and aloof.

“Oh, I…uh…Tess, I'm sorry…” Liv
stammered, although Tess didn't think Liv was as sorry as her words suggested.

“'Are you the noon appointment?” Jack
asked.

“Yes. Looks like I got here just in
time.”

“I guess I better go.” Liv said.

“I think you should,” Jack agreed.

“I'll see you around.”

He simply nodded.

Tess watched Jack, curious as to what
he'd say or do. He watched her and she got the feeling he was waiting for her
reaction.

“Looks like Liv was having a bad day,”
Tess finally said.

He nodded.

“My day hasn't been so great either,”
Tess said moving towards him. “If I seek comfort in your arms, will you push me
away too?”

She saw the flicker of relief and
amusement in his eyes. “I don't know. You'll have to try it and find out.”

“Hmm. I'm not big on taking risks,” Tess
said, standing a breath away from him.

“Odds are in your favor.”

She considered, then smiled up at him as
she slid her arms around his neck. Her hands slid behind his head and pulled
him to her. “Come here then.”

He dipped his head and she took
advantage by capturing his lips with hers. He groaned and her worries and
tension slipped away.

“You taste better,” he whispered.

“Good to hear,” she said kissing him
again until she needed to breathe. She started to pull away, but Jack wrapped
his arms around her, picked her up, swung her around until she was sitting on
his desk and maneuvered his body between her legs.

“Mr. Valentine?” she gasped. “What will
the steno pool think?”

“Damn the steno pool.” His lips trailed
down her jaw to find the ripe spot just below her ear.

“Is this left over from this morning?”

“What you did this morning was cruel,”
he said between nips.

“It was unintentional.”

“That's what makes it so cruel. You
don't know what you do to me.”

“I think I'm getting a clue.” She
pressed a hand against his chest so he would look at her. “Before you take me
on your desk, you should know two things.”

“What?”

“First, I'm sorry for making you angry
and agitated.”

“And two?”

“And two, your door is open. Any of your
staff can see us.”

“So?” He grinned, dimple and all.

“Ahem.”

“Did you hear something?” Jack asked as
his hands slid up Tess’ back.

“I think there's someone at your door.”

“Who?” he asked.

Tess tilted her head and looked over his
shoulder. “It's Mrs. Stauffer.”