Suddenly Love (3 page)

Trevor Dane no longer needed to pretend. An earned confidence had replaced the old cockiness. Sexiness had taken the place of what she’d thought of as hunky hotness.

As for his looks, well, she’d seen recent photos on the company website, but nothing had prepared her for his impact in person. He was gorgeous, the force of his personality magnetic. At a glance, the changes in him were obvious. With his jet-black hair in an expensive cut, a power suit, and a red tie, he radiated confidence. His blue eyes were still as piercing, his knowing gaze as raw. His face was leaner, more chiseled, and if possible, he was even more handsome.

She had no doubt women lined up to date the eligible, wealthy bachelor, something she figured she’d discover first-hand the more time she spent with him. Pain shot through her heart at the thought, but she had no one to blame but herself. No matter how much she was still drawn to him, they were history.

Even after he’d overcome his shock at seeing her, wariness remained between them. Still, he insisted she accompany him, not just for his daily business but on all his after-hours appointments as well.

Beginning with dinner tonight, a formal event on Friday evening, and a dinner party on Saturday. That meant she needed a formal gown and another dress for Saturday night, none of which she could easily afford. She’d tried to cover her surprise and dismay and knew she’d failed miserably… but at least she’d salvaged her pride and hadn’t let her lack of money slip.

No doubt Trevor assumed she’d received a nice settlement to end her marriage. She wasn’t about to inform him how hard she’d had to scrape for life’s little luxuries. Her marriage and its aftermath were none of his business. She didn’t want or need his sympathy—if he’d even afford her that, given their history.

She’d left his office at three in order to pull herself together, check into her hotel, and then go shopping. Since she didn’t know any places like Consign and Design in the city, she’d have to pay full price at a department store. At least her parents were watching Olivia through the end of this school week and then her baby was going to stay with her father and his bimbo.

Make that Brad’s soon-to-be wife, who was all of twenty-two years old and who possessed more money than even Brad’s family. Lissa cringed. But no matter how much Lissa resented Brad and his behavior, she knew Olivia was safe and cared for with her father, giving her the freedom to be in the city and take care of business.

She grabbed her purse, made sure she had her credit card in her wallet, and started to leave, when a knock interrupted her. A look through the peephole showed her someone in a hotel uniform, so she opened the door.

“Can I help you?” Lissa asked the younger man.

“Are you Miss Elisabetta Gardelli?” he asked.

She nodded. Every time she heard her full name, she was glad she’d reclaimed her maiden name after the divorce. Olivia was still a Banks, but Elisabetta had no desire to be one anymore.

“Special delivery for you.” He gestured to the rolling cart Lissa hadn’t noticed before.

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t order anything.”

The man looked at the paper in his hand. “From Saks Fifth Avenue, for you. May I?” He inclined his head, indicating he wanted to come into the room.

“Umm, sure.” Confused, Lissa let him enter and lay out garment bags on the bed, along with shoeboxes and shopping bags.

He’d started to push the cart back out of the room when her brain kicked back into gear. “Wait, please.” She went to her wallet and pulled out some bills to tip him with. “Here. Thank you.”

“No, ma’am. It’s all taken care of, but thank you.”

“I don’t understand,” she said, her legs beginning to shake as she realized there was only one person who knew she needed clothing.

“A Mr. Trevor Dane is downstairs. He asked me to get your permission to share your room number with him?”

Mutely, Lissa nodded. “Send him up,” she murmured, lowering herself onto a corner of the bed, knowing her legs wouldn’t hold up much longer.

Nothing about this interview and reunion with Trevor was going as she’d envisioned. She’d known being with him again would be challenging, but she’d hoped it would be cathartic. She’d never quite gotten him out of her system and after seeing him today, she was coming to the conclusion she never would. She thought she’d be resigning herself to that throughout this long, torturous weekend.

But now she was facing this… thoughtful, caring gesture from a man who ought to hate her. He should be doing everything he could to make her time with him as painless for himself as possible—by spending as little time with her as he needed to in order to get the article written. Yet he was sending her expensive clothing from Saks and showing up at her hotel room in the middle of his workday to… what?

She had no idea, and that scared her.

*     *     *

As Trevor rode the elevator to the thirty-sixth floor, he figured he’d lost his mind. He had no other explanation for doing something so out of character as leaving work in the middle of the day. No doubt about it, though, his phone call with his mother had shaken him badly.

For years he’d assumed that once Lissa had gotten pregnant and Brad had done the right thing by marrying her, she’d lived a charmed life as Bradley Banks’s wife. The money, the country club, all the things that at the time, Trevor could never be sure he’d be able to provide. And once she’d had Brad’s baby and married him, whether or not Trevor succeeded in life no longer mattered. He’d had a decade to build a picture in his mind of how good her life had been without him, while no matter how much professional success he achieved, Trevor still felt hollow inside.

It had taken no time to have his illusions—or rather, delusions—shattered. According to his mother, Lissa’s married life had been a decade-long embarrassment. The bastard had married her in name only, doing the so-called “right thing” by his child. Not by the baby’s mother. When Lissa finally had enough and walked out, her settlement had been paltry and she’d been forced to take a part-time job serving coffee at Cuppa Café while writing the obituary column for the
Serendipity Gazette
. She lived in a small house on her original side of town, and though their daughter’s future was secure thanks to Brad’s parents, Lissa worked for everything she had.

No wonder she’d nearly passed out when he’d mentioned a formal affair and a dinner party this weekend. Not only couldn’t she afford those kinds of clothes, she probably didn’t even own them. Trevor had misjudged her, the life she’d lived, and who she’d become. And though nothing could change what had happened in the past, he damned well respected her choices now.

He should have known better. If he could have gotten past his hurt and anger sooner and let his mother fill him in, he’d have known how unhappy her life had to be. Would it have changed anything? Would he have gone back for her, married or not?

He’d never know.

On that thought, a mechanical voice announced he was on the thirty-sixth floor, and the elevator door opened in front of him.

Well, whatever was in the past, Lissa was here now and Trevor had this one chance to see what might have been. What could be. Either way, when this interview process was over, he’d have the one thing that had been missing all these years.

Closure.

And he’d also have Lissa one more time. He refused to accept any other outcome.

Trevor reached Lissa’s room and found the door partially open. He walked in to find her sitting on the edge of the bed surrounded by bags of clothing.

“Hi,” he said to capture her attention.

She glanced up, meeting his gaze with a wide-eyed, wary gaze. “What is all this? And don’t say
clothes
,” she said, before he could do just that. “Why didn’t you just let me go shopping?”

Trevor ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed. It wasn’t like he went around ordering clothing for women. “It wasn’t hard to figure out that I was putting you on the spot with the formal affair and the dinner party.”

“And I said I’d go shopping.”

“You also mentioned something about serving coffee and you literally paled when it dawned on you that you’d have to buy new things. I realized I knew nothing about you now.” He stared up at the ceiling, knowing he had no choice but to admit the truth. “So I called my mother and she filled me in.”

Lissa felt her face flush hot with embarrassment and awkwardness. “So you found out all about my life and realized I couldn’t really afford a new wardrobe for the weekend. You felt sorry for me and sent these clothes over?” Her voice rose along with her mortification.

“Hey, that’s not it.” He sat down beside her, close enough so their legs were touching. “It’s more like I got a shocking lesson in making assumptions.”

She swallowed hard. “You thought I lived well off the Banks money.”

“Well, I assumed that if the guy was doing the right thing by marrying you after he—” He caught himself before saying
knocked you up
. “After he got you pregnant, then he would treat you right after he split up with you, too.”

“You know what they say about someone who assumes things,” she muttered.

To her surprise, he laughed. “Yep. And an ass certainly describes how I acted today. So maybe the clothes were an apology, too.”

Lissa didn’t know what to do with this kinder, gentler Trevor, and part of her wondered if that wasn’t his intention. To keep her off balance, guessing, unsure of herself during the time she was with him. To her dismay, she realized she didn’t know him all that well anymore.

“I’m sorry things have been so hard for you.”

She forced a smile. “I managed.” She’d also put herself in the position of having to marry Brad, but it didn’t seem smart to get into the specifics of their past right now. “Thank you, though.”

“You’re welcome.”

“And thank you for these.” She swept her hand toward the bags surrounding them on the bed.

“That was my pleasure.” His smile warmed her straight down to her toes.

She was trying really hard not to think about the fact that they were sitting in a hotel room alone on a king-sized bed, but it wasn’t easy. Trevor’s pants-clad thigh touched her bare one and she could swear she felt the heat of his skin through the material. When she inhaled, he smelled deliciously male and need rose quickly.

It had been so long since she’d had a man’s arms around her, a man who made her feel good and wanted. Unlike her ex, Lissa had remained faithful in her marriage, and her one short relationship afterward had left her cold and wondering whether she’d ever feel real desire again.

Well, now she knew. She ought to be surprised that it was Trevor who’d awakened her long-dormant hormones, but she wasn’t. Not really.

Lissa pulled in a deep breath and forced herself to continue the conversation. For all she knew, she was the only one feeling the heat and she didn’t want him to think she’d misinterpret a kind gesture for anything more. She knew how he felt about her.

His first unguarded reaction had shown his true emotions, and though he was trying to be nice now, she knew the resentment still lurked below the surface. She couldn’t let herself think anything else was at play or she’d be risking her heart. She was sure Trevor’s was locked up tight, at least to her.

“How did you know my size?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I asked my secretary to guess. Some of the things will have to be returned.”

She nodded. “I look forward to trying them on.”

“I look forward to seeing you in them.” His gorgeous eyes sparkled at the thought.

“What time should I be ready tonight?”

“I’ll pick you up at seven.”

Lissa shook her head. “I’ll meet you there.” This wasn’t a date; it was business. She couldn’t let him play the gentleman and go through the motions. It would only make her want things she’d never have.

He scowled. “I don’t mind picking you up.”

“There’s no need for you to treat me like a date. I’m a journalist writing your story,” she felt compelled to remind him. Or maybe she needed to say it out loud for herself. “The Waldorf, correct?”

He nodded, but she could see from the stiffness in his shoulders he wasn’t happy with her suggestion.

“Great,” she said, rising from the bed. “I’ll see you there.”

He rose and stood way too close. “You’ll see me, all right,” he murmured too enigmatically for her liking. Reaching out, he placed his fingers beneath her chin until she looked directly into his eyes. “We have a lot to catch up on.”

He tipped his head and her stomach did a nervous roll as his lips came closer to hers. A yearning the likes of which she’d never felt before rose up to greet him. But instead of touching his mouth to hers, he placed a kiss on her cheek, his touch too short to make any promises and yet too long to mean nothing.

He stared at her for a long while afterward, as if studying her.

She curled her hands into fists at her sides, her heart pounding, her body responding in ways she’d long forgotten. Her breasts grew full, her nipples peaked, and dampness pooled between her thighs.

“See you later,” he said in a deep voice, gruffer than before.

“Bye,” she whispered, unable to form a coherent thought. And though he hadn’t really kissed her or touched her at all, heat licked at her from the inside out.

Oh boy, was she in trouble.

Lissa spent the rest of the afternoon pulling herself together. She tried on the variety of dresses Collette had sent over, surprised to find each one fit. It was up to her to decide which to wear and which to return. The answer came down to one question.

How sexy did she want to be?

She luxuriated in a scented bath and took an amazing amount of time getting herself ready. The last time she’d primped so much on her appearance had been back in high school. Sadly, that had been the last time she’d truly cared about impressing someone, and she had to admit it felt too good to make the attempt now.

Though she knew she ought to eat and had ordered up something light, she merely picked at the salad and fruit, too nervous for a full meal. Still, at least she had something in her stomach so that she could nurse a drink and not feel tipsy. Something told her she’d need to be in full control of her faculties this evening when dealing with Trevor. Not to mention, she wouldn’t be taking notes on the people she met and on Trevor’s interactions, so she’d need to rely on memory when she wrote up her interview notes later.