Treading Water (34 page)

“
Surprise me.” She kissed
him again. “I’ve got to get back downstairs. Jen and Louis were
going at it pretty hard earlier. I need to make sure they didn’t
kill each other.”

“
Sounds like fun.” He
kissed her one last time before he walked her back to the
lobby.

She saw him out the door and went to find
Jen.

Andi didn’t get home until almost two the
next morning. She set her alarm for six so she’d have time to pack
what she needed to stay at the hotel after the gala. When she got
into bed, Jack reached for her and pulled her close to him in his
sleep.

She smiled in the dark. It had been weeks
since she’d slept in his arms, and she hoped they’d taken a small
step back to each other.

Chapter 25

Andi wouldn’t have changed a thing about the
opening of Infinity Newport, from the Mayor of Newport presenting
David with the key to the city, to the food, the music, and the
holiday décor. The highlight for her was when Jack and Eric arrived
in their tuxedos. Eric loved his cool suit, and Andi got to dance
with him several times before Jack’s parents took him and Maggie
home. Frannie and Jamie enjoyed their first night out since the
twins were born, but they left early to get home to the babies.

Andi looked for Kate in the crowd and found
her sitting with Jill at the table reserved for the family.

“
Are you guys having a good
time?” Andi asked. She wore a midnight blue velvet gown and had
contained her hair in a high twist.

“
It’s great, and the hotel
is beautiful,” Jill said. With her first semester behind her, she
was home for a month.

“
Your dad’s company did a
wonderful job,” Andi said. “Kate, may I talk to you for a
minute?”

“
Sure.” Kate got up to walk
with Andi to the bar.

Andi ordered a glass of wine for herself and
a soda for Kate. “I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to check in with
you before now. How is everything? Did you talk to your dad
again?”

“
Briefly. He said if I feel
the need to be on the pill, he won’t stand in my way, but he
doesn’t approve. He wants me to wait, and he thinks I’ll be sorry
if I don’t.”

“
That sounds fair to me.
Don’t forget I promised I’d take you to the doctor if you want me
to.”

“
I’m not sure anymore. Ryan
and I haven’t seen each other much since I was grounded. He was
really embarrassed when Dad caught us, you know…” Her cheeks lit
up. “I don’t know if he loves me anymore.”

Andi slipped an arm around Kate. “I’m sorry.
It may not seem like it now, but you’ve got so much ahead of you
and so many people to meet.”

“
I know. I’m okay about
it.”

“
Good.” Andi hugged her.
“You know where I am if anything changes.”

“
Thanks, Andi. I know Dad
was mad at you, and I’m sorry about that, but I appreciate you
keeping my secrets.”

“
Don’t worry about it. Come
to me any time, you hear?”

“
I will,” she said,
returning Andi’s hug.

The gang from Chicago was entertaining Jack
when Andi asked if she could borrow him.

“
What’s up?” he asked when
she led him away.

“
I’m about to drop. Am I
allowed to leave my own party before it’s over?”

“
I don’t see why not. Wait
right here. I’ll let the girls know we’re going, and I’ll tell
David and Jen they’re in charge for the rest of the
evening.”

David hugged Andi and told her to get some
well-deserved rest. She and Jack kissed Jill and Kate good night
and climbed the stairs in the lobby.

Andi stopped him at the top. “This is my
favorite spot in the hotel.”

He put an arm around her. “I’ll let you in
on a secret.”

“
What’s that?”

“
I added that window to the
plans the week I met you. They’d put a wall of Newport memorabilia
here. I nixed it and went for the view.”

“
Good call.” She smiled up
at him. “Have I told you how hot you look in a tux?”

He crooked an amused eyebrow at her. “Are
you coming on to me?” he asked, relieved to feel some of the old
magic returning between them. He, too, had worried they’d crossed a
point of no return over the last month. “I thought you were
tired.”

“
I’m not
that
tired.”

Running his hand up and
down her back, he pressed a light kiss to her lips. “In that case,
have I told
you
how hot you look in velvet?”

“
Hey! You’re stealing my
line!” She opened the door to the Kennedy suite, which was
dominated by Frannie’s painting of Hammersmith Farm and another of
the dashing young president at the helm of his sailboat.

Jack studied the portrait as Andi slipped
off her heels and asked him to help with her zipper. He unzipped
her, took her hair down, and kissed her neck when he was
finished.

Turning to remove his bow tie, she nodded to
the painting of Hammersmith Farm. “I fell in love with you that
day, Jack, and I’ve loved you every day since then.”

“
Even on days I didn’t
deserve it?”

She looked up at him with surprise.

“
I’ve had some time to
think about everything that happened, and I can see now that you
did the right thing with Kate.” He reached for her hands. “That
doesn’t mean I liked being kept in the dark, but she needed a
woman’s advice. I’m grateful she turned to you and even more
grateful you were there for her. I’m sorry I acted like such an
ass.” He leaned in to kiss her. “I’ve loved you from the first
instant I ever saw you, and I always will.”

Sighing, she wrapped her arms around
him.

“
What you said that day
about living in Clare’s house…” He pulled back to look at her.
“I’ve thought a lot about that, too.”

“
I don’t know why I said
that. I honestly hadn’t been thinking about it. Chalk it up to heat
of the moment.”

“
We can make some changes
around the house.”

“
We don’t have
to.”

“
But maybe we
should.”

“
Maybe. Hey, I have some
news that’ll make your day,” she said, removing the black onyx
studs from his tuxedo shirt.

“
What’s that?”

“
Kate and Ryan have cooled
it.”

His eyes lit up with delight. “That’s the
best news I’ve had in weeks.”

“
You may’ve dodged a bullet
this time, but you’ve only postponed the inevitable.”

“
I don’t have to think
about it now.” He swept her off her feet, swung her around, and
lowered her to the bed with a serious expression on his face.
“Right now, I’m thinking only of you.”

“
Is that so?” She ran her
fingers through his thick dark hair. “And what’re you
thinking?”

“
That it feels like I
haven’t made love to you in ages.”

“
That’s because you
haven’t,” she said with a playful pout.

“
What do you say we fix
that immediately?”

“
I say hurry up and get
naked.”

Laughing, he did as directed and slid into
bed beside her, sighing with relief at the feel of her soft skin
against his.

Andi snuggled into him, pressing her lips to
his throat.

“
Let’s not allow this to
happen again, Andi. No matter what.”

“
I hated feeling estranged
from you.”

“
I hated it, too.” He
captured her mouth in a deep, searching kiss as he cupped her
breast and rolled her nipple between his fingers. Steeped in the
scent that had driven him wild since the day he met her, Jack
breathed her in. He hadn’t realized he’d been starved for her until
she was back in his arms.

A tremble rippled through her, and she
shifted onto her back, bringing him with her. “Now, Jack. I want
you so badly.”

“
Mmm, I’m here.” He dipped
his head to kiss her as he entered her slowly. “You mean everything
to me. I hope you know that.”

She gasped and raised her hips to meet his
thrusts. “I do. I know that. You’re everything to me, too.”

He held her tight against him, filled with
love and relief as he drove them both to an explosive finish.

Jack woke before dawn and was unable to go
back to sleep. Since Andi was still asleep, he moved carefully so
he wouldn’t disturb her. He closed the bedroom door, hoping she
would sleep awhile longer. All the plans she’d made and staff she’d
hired would shift into gear today when the hotel opened to the
public.

He called room service to order breakfast,
asking them to send coffee and a paper now, and the rest in an
hour. Looking around the elegant room, he was deeply satisfied with
the way the hotel had turned out—it was everything they’d hoped it
would be and so much more.

By the time he took breakfast in to Andi,
he’d already finished a small pot of coffee, read the paper, and
called home to check on the kids.

He bent down to kiss her awake. “Good
morning.”

“
Hey,” she said sleepily.
“What time is it?”

“
Almost ten.”

She sat straight up. “For real? I need to
get to work.”

“
You can take another hour,
babe. You’re the boss. Have some breakfast.” He poured her a cup of
coffee, brought an envelope from behind his back, and handed it to
her.

“
What’s this?”

“
Open it.”

Her face lit up with delight when she pulled
out two plane tickets to the Virgin Islands and a brochure for a
resort on St. John.

“
It’s all-inclusive, so we
can eat, sleep, and soak up the sun.”

“
That’s it?” she asked with
a sexy smile.

“
Well, maybe a few other
things, too,” he said, leaning in to nibble on her bottom
lip.

“
It’s just what we need.
When are we going?”

“
I left the tickets
open-ended so you could check your schedule, but I was hoping to go
in February since we’ll have another anniversary to
celebrate.”

“
Yes, we will. I can’t
believe we’ve already been living together for almost a year.” She
kissed him and lay back against the pillows. “Thank you,” she said,
caressing his face. “I don’t know if I can wait until February to
spend a week alone with you.”

He kissed the palm of her hand. “I figured
you’d want some time to make sure everything is running smoothly
here before we go.”

“
You figured right.” She
took a bite of toast and reached out to coax him into bed with her.
“I’m only working a few hours today and then you know what
we
have
to
do?”

“
I’m almost afraid to
ask…”

“
Christmas shopping. I
haven’t bought a thing for anyone.”

He groaned. “Do we have to? The stores will
be mobbed today.”

“
Yes, we have
to.”

They returned home weary but with their
shopping finished. The first day at the hotel had gone smoothly,
and Jen was in charge for the weekend with orders to call Andi if
anything arose that she couldn’t handle.

Andi trudged upstairs while Jack went for a
run. All she wanted was a long soak in the Jacuzzi and eight hours
of sleep. She peeled off her clothes, opened the medicine cabinet,
and reached for her birth control pills. Opening the container, she
did a double take.

The pack was almost full.

When was the last time I remembered to take
it?

Dazed, she pulled on a robe and sat on the
edge of the big tub with the pack of pills in her hand, trying
frantically to piece together the last few weeks. Judging by the
pills still in the package, it’d been more than two weeks since
she’d taken one. She had never missed a day, let alone two
weeks.

“
Oh my God,” she gasped
when she remembered making love with Jack twice the night before
and again that morning after weeks of hardly seeing each other.
“Oh
God
,” she
moaned as she quickly did the math.

The timing was ideal.

Knowing she shouldn’t take them if there was
a chance she could be pregnant, she got up to put the pills back in
the cabinet.

“
Pregnant.”

She had to say the word out loud to get it
to register as she tried to remember how long she had to wait to
take a test.

Andi got through Christmas by willing
herself not to think about the possibility that she could be
pregnant. The kids were on vacation, and Jack and Jamie had closed
HBA for the holiday week as a thank you to the staff for their hard
work on the hotel. Andi and Jen were working alternating days so
they could each have some time off during the holidays.

On New Year’s Eve morning, Andi finally took
a pregnancy test. Afterward, she stared at the pink plus sign for a
long time before she walked out of the bathroom and got back in
bed. Suddenly, cold all over, she began to tremble as the shock set
in.

“
Everything all right,
hon?” Jack asked.

“
I thought you were still
asleep.”

“
I’m programmed to get up
for work.” He put an arm around her. “You’re shivering. Come over
here.” He drew her closer to warm her up. “Better?”