Because of You (10 page)

Chapter Eighteen

On the flight to California, Jill let her mind drift while Evelyn slept. She, of all people, should know never to make rash assumptions concerning others. When she’d first met Evelyn at the lunch at Serafina’s and heard her British accent, she thought her prim and proper. These assumptions led Jill to be a little uncomfortable about opening up to her. Looking back, those initial feelings were nearly laughable now.

Jill had never discussed her personal life with anyone but Lynne. She always aired her dirty laundry in private. To her, Facebook was too often used like a Laundromat and there was no way she wanted somebody in some town somewhere discussing her marital problems. Of course, social media was an essential part of an author’s marketing toolkit, but Jill was careful about what she put up on the Internet for public consumption.

Evelyn turned out to be quite different from the cool persona she’d given off. She was actually fun. More important than that, she was warm and caring, and the two women grew close on the tour. Because Jill genuinely liked Evelyn, she had been uncomfortable lying to the other woman. That was why Jill had confided in Evelyn about Adam. Evelyn spoke to her as a sister. Her advice seemed sound, and Jill intended to try her suggestion about going on a weekly date with Adam. It was also a relief not to have to hide her feelings, and in this case, the truth had set her free.

One thing that Evelyn had mentioned brought a smile to Jill’s face. “You know, you can call me even if we don’t have some promotional gig going on, Jill. I’d like to think of you as a friend and get together for lunch or drinks some time. We can even do a show.”

Jill’s thoughts eventually shifted to Adam and his unexpected phone call. It was amazing how things turned on a dime. She’d started this tour dreading to go home for fear tensions with Adam would worsen. She really thought her marriage was toast after only eight years. And then his phone call had changed everything.

Jill never really doubted her love for Adam. She just didn’t desire a part-time husband. His phone call came as a relief, because it gave her hope that he was willing to change. It would seem that all he had needed was a little time and separation to realize how much he missed her. Perhaps he worried what would happen if things did end between them. This meant that they might be on the same page, after all.

***

The tapings and book signings in Burbank went especially well. Jill appeared on two late night shows and two early morning programs—programs she rarely had time to watch back home because she was usually asleep during the times they aired.

From Burbank, Jill and Evelyn returned to Los Angeles, where Barnaby and Sons had another office. There she met several executives whose names she’d never be able to remember, and most of the staff. They all knew who she was, though.

At dinner, the third night they were in California, Jill relaxed in their hotel lounge with Evelyn. The day had been filled with two successful tapings and a book signing. The weather in California was delightful, and she felt tired but curiously happy.

Adam’s phone calls every night gave her hope that he’d come to terms with her writing and now understood how she felt.

She replayed the first phone call over and over in her mind; something was nagging her. What had Adam meant by being “ready to make some new moves and needing to take my life in a different direction?”

“What are you thinking about?” Evelyn asked, bringing Jill back to the present.

“I guess I’m still not used to all this acclaim.” Jill hadn’t wanted to tell her she was thousands of miles away thinking about Adam.

“Well, you should be,” Evelyn said. “This is your moment. You’ve achieved so much in such a short period of time.”

“Thanks, Evelyn, for reminding me.”

It had been a long day, so they went back to their rooms early. The following day looked like it would be another long day, since they were leaving for Chicago right after her last book signing.

***

Right before she got into bed, Jill took out her cell phone to add some new contacts and noticed that Adam had left a message. “Love and miss you. Come home safe.”

Smiling, she keyed in: “Always. Loved you first.”

Chapter Nineteen

Jill had hoped Adam would be home when she finally got home from her tour. In her mind’s eye, she pictured herself running into his open arms and their lips meeting in a crushing kiss. Only that’s not what happened at all. Instead, she returned home to an empty house.

Even though he had texted several times and called her, perhaps it was a leap of faith for her to think Adam would be there waiting for her. It would have been a nice touch, though. Leaving her suitcases by the stairs, Jill took off her coat and hung it in the hall closet before heading into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. She looked around the kitchen. Obviously Adam ate dinner out every night, because there wasn’t a dirty dish in the sink.
At
least he missed my cooking
, she thought.
What else had he missed?

Jill smiled. She had decided to take a positive path and try to make things better between her and Adam. She intended to strengthen her marriage and try to bring it back to how it was when they’d first fallen in love. Somehow, she and Adam would find a more permanent way to narrow the gap that had grown between them and make it back to each other.

Now that Adam appeared to be willing to compromise and accept her writing career, she hoped she could really get cracking on her next book.

The opening of the front door interrupted Jill’s internal debate. A moment later, Adam appeared at the entrance to the kitchen.

“You’re home early,” he said.

“Yes. We gained time due to the wind current.”

He nodded. “I missed you,” he said moving slightly closer to her.

“You did? How much?” Jill asked moving toward him.

Adam opened his arms wide, his blue eyes burning. “About this much,” he said, and Jill moved inside his open arms.

As Jill raised her head, Adam lowered his mouth to meet hers. Their lips clung to one another a beat before the heat of desire lit them both. Their mouths hungrily devoured one another until Adam lifted Jill up onto the counter. Quickly he pushed up her skirt and pulled off her pantyhose and panties. He then opened his slacks and pulled them down enough to free his straining erection and enter Jill.

Adam grunted and pumped into Jill feverishly. She scored his back with her nails and threaded her fingers through his thick golden hair. Her moans joined his grunts and together created a noisy cacophony of pleasure. Two beats later, they were both spent.

Still gasping for breath, they touched foreheads.

“Missed me a little?” Jill asked teasingly.

“Perhaps. You missed me a little, too.”

They kissed tenderly and Adam scooped her up. Jill put her head on his shoulder and he carried her upstairs to their bedroom.

***

Later on, with both of them fighting a serious case of the munchies, they raided the refrigerator and found a frozen pepperoni pizza in the freezer. Jill, wearing only a long T-shirt that barely reached her knees, turned the oven on. Adam grew hard just at the sight of her. Even in a tee, she could make his pulse race.

Adam spoke. “How was the tour?”

Jill hesitated, not wanting to sabotage the lingering glow of the mind-numbing sex they’d just shared.

Adam noticed. “I did a great deal of thinking about your writing while you were gone. I realize what it means to you, and I’m not going to be a jerk about it. So, how was the tour?”

“Great, but thoroughly exhausting. I need to recharge my battery. What little energy I’d had was just depleted.”

“What? You’re not the Energizer Bunny?” he joked.

Jill laughed. It was more from relief than humor.

Adam laughed along with her. When the laughter died, their eyes met and held.

“I’m really glad you’re home, Jill,” he said, reaching across the table for her hand.

“So am I.” Jill squeezed his hand. “Adam, you never did explain what you meant when you said you were ready to take your life in a different direction. You said we’d talk about it when I got home. I’m home now, sweetheart.”

Adam’s face became shuttered. “I know—I spoke prematurely, honey. I…I may be changing jobs but it’s not something that’s set in stone.”

“But—”

“Please, Jill. Just be patient. I can’t talk about it just now. Okay?”

Jill sighed. Would he ever fully open up to her?

God, I’m still walking the edge at work and nothing is settled with SB&T.

Adam gently kissed Jill’s forehead. “It’s nothing to worry your pretty head about, sweetheart. Just don’t mention this to anyone. As soon as I’ve thought this all out, I’ll let you know.”

And Jill had to be content with that.

Chapter Twenty

Jill could see that Adam was making an effort to come home at a more reasonable hour. If he was going to be late, he’d call and let her know. The declaration would come with a sincere apology. She was thankful for one thing. At least, he wasn’t flying off to Atlanta or wherever. This meant a great deal to her. Still, she couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that all this could change in a blink of an eye. It was as if she were waiting for the other shoe to drop.

She finally got the chance to wear her new lingerie. It did knock his socks off—as well as the rest of what he was wearing. The sex that followed was hot. It also reinforced what she was learning: spicing up one’s sex life with visual stimulation worked. Perhaps a skin flick would help, too.

While Jill was often thinking about sex, which was undeniably an unintended consequence of her romance writing, she was toying with the idea of having a baby. This thought was growing stronger with each passing day. She was merely waiting for the right moment to discuss it with Adam. It would be an undeniable declaration of their love that would cement their relationship and make the house truly a home.

Even though Jill was well into the fifth chapter of her new book, she’d been putting off sending Robin Wyckoff a synopsis. After receiving an email stipulating that whatever she sent would not be engraved in stone, Jill finally put together a working synopsis and sent it expecting an email back in return with Robin’s comments. Instead Jill got a phone call.

“Hey there! How's my favorite author?” Robin said with her usual enthusiasm.

“Watch it! We don't want to hurt your other authors’ feelings.”

“They’re in awe of you, girl. Trust me.”

“Is this a good call or a bad call about my plot line?”

Robin laughed. “Around here, we don't use bad and your name in the same sentence.”

“I'll bet. So, what's the verdict?”

Jill had been pacing as she spoke to Robin and stopped to hear the answer of this question. In fact, she held her breath.

“I like it, but…”

“But you got a zillion suggestions, right?”

“Yeah, but not a zillion, babe.”

“Well, I guess that's a relief,” Jill replied. “I can deal with a half-million.”

“Hey, cool it. I’m the funny girl remember?”

“Sorry to step on your toes,” Jill replied with laughter bubbling inside her.

“And don't you forget it,” Robin said and they both laughed.

When the laughter died down, Robin grew a tad more serious. “Listen, instead of doing this via email, why don't you meet me for lunch in Manhattan tomorrow and we can discuss things face-to-face. Emails aren’t immediate and are often misinterpreted. Besides, I miss you and could use a decent lunch.”

Jill rolled her eyes at Robin’s mention of food. “Tomorrow's good. Where and when?”

“I know just the place. It's been open forever and has a great business menu. It's called The Palm and it's on 2nd Avenue. Google it and you'll see what I mean. Will you be coming in by train?”

“Yeah. It's the easiest. I don't have to worry about parking. Hold on a sec while I get the train schedule.”

Jill retrieved the train schedule to Manhattan from Locust Valley and brought it back to the phone. “The best time for me would be if I left at 10:39. That would put me in Penn Station at 11:48. The next train is much later and you'd probably starve waiting for me. So figure around noon. Is that good for you?”

“That's perfect. See you then.”

While Jill was printing out a hard copy of her synopsis, she took Robin's advice and Googled “The Palm.” It seemed to be a colorful place with quite a history. It was opened in 1926 by Pio Bozzi and John Ganzi and was still run today by members of the original families. The restaurant became known for its steak, even though steak hadn’t been on the original menu. It became a staple because of demand. Whenever a patron asked for a steak, somebody had to run to a butcher to purchase one.
Eventually, they got tired from running back and forth
, she thought. The restaurant’s walls were covered with portraits. Artists would often pay for their meals by painting portraits or caricatures of notable patrons on the wall.

Jill also checked out the business lunch menu. Robin was right. It did look good and she was looking forward to having lunch at The Palm.

***

Robin was outside the restaurant waiting for Jill when she arrived. The two women embraced and then went inside. The Palm was busy. Jill noticed there were a lot of men in suits probably having power lunches. There were women, too, but the men seemed to be more dominant.
It
has to be the steak,
she mused whimsically.

The maître d' led them to a small table that had just been set up. When they were seated, Robin said, “You look wonderful, Jill.”

“So do you. It's good to see you. And I'm not just buttering you up so you go easy on me.”

“I intend to devour my food, not you, kiddo,” Robin replied.

Teasingly Jill said, as she pretended to mop her brow, “Phew! That was close.”

The waiter appeared and handed them menus. “Would you two ladies care to have anything to drink?”

Robin turned to Jill. “The Palm serves an outstanding Merlot. Shall I order that for us?”

Jill nodded her agreement and Robin said, “Two Merlots, please.”

By the time the waiter returned with the wine, both women knew what they wanted to eat and ordered. They both had the mixed green salad for starters, filet mignon medallions with bordelaise sauce, a side order of cottage fries and fried onions, and New York–style cheesecake for dessert.

Robin took out her copy of the synopsis along with her comments and Jill removed her synopsis from her messenger bag. Methodically, they went through the tentative plot line together. Jill actually welcomed Robin’s criticism. The editor was quite good at pointing out weak spots.

***

Adam read the email from Anna Revere twice looking for some hidden meaning. Whenever she passed him in the hall, her eyes would roam his body, no doubt mentally undressing him. When she could, she touched him, sometimes stepping so close to him he could feel the heat from her body. It was blatant harassment, but there seemed little he could do. Especially after Roy Jackson gathered the department together, prior to her arrival, and warned the men to cut her some slack for being a woman and “not to come on to her.”

He looked at the email again. There was to be a mandatory lunch meeting at The Palm for Adam’s account managers. The restaurant was one of the company’s favorite spots to take clients because of its business lunch menu.

Now what could that woman want?
She never seemed to be happy. All she ever did when she wasn’t undressing the men was complain about their account numbers. At least his three account managers would be there and there was safety in numbers. Adam found this somewhat comforting.

When Adam arrived at The Palm, the maître d' escorted him to a table in the back, where he discovered only Anna seated there perusing the menu. Instinct told him to turn around and leave, but he knew he couldn't. He had a scheduled appointment to go to Phoenix to firm up his contract with SB&T first. He reassured himself that the others were just late. He thanked the maître d' and turned to Anna. “I wonder where everyone is?”

She put her drink down. “They're not coming. Sit down. You and I need to talk without your account managers’ being here.” Anna patted the chair next to her.

Although preferring the chair opposite her, Adam sucked in his breath and dutifully sat down beside her, his gut clenching.

“About what?”

“Let's order first. I think I see our waiter coming.”

“What would you like to drink, sir?”

“A Manhattan on the rocks, please.”

“And I'll have a refill, as well,” Anna said, shaking the ice in her glass.

Adam had no desire to have lunch with the woman who sat next to him. He could sympathize with the fly caught in a spider web watching the arachnid approach. He really needed that drink.

As if the waiter had mental telepathy, he brought the drinks to the table in rapid time. “May I take your order now, as well?” he asked.

“I believe we’re ready,” Anna began. She selected medium rare steak medallions with a side of onion rings and potato wedges. Turning to Adam, she laid a hand on his thigh, rubbed it, and said, “You look like a steak man to me. Shall I order you the same?”

Adam wanted to slap her hand away. Instead he tried to shift his chair farther away from her. She just smiled and closed the gap. He was surprised she didn't order her meat rare as most man-eaters did. However, not wanting to make a bad situation worse, he looked up at the waiter and said, “I'd like my steak well done, thank you.”

After the waiter left, he turned to Anna, who either seemed to be growing larger or was merely inching closer into his space. “Now tell me, what is so top secret that could not be discussed back at the office?”

“Roy informed me that your division was the top producer in the firm, yet since I've been the director of client services, your stats have decreased. This concerns me.”

“Have you realized that the economy has worsened and the first item that is slashed on a company's expenditure sheet is advertising?”

Anna gave Adam a wry smile. “Good answer, Stone, but not the correct one in this case.”

“As far as I'm concerned, it's the only viable one.”

“Is it?” Anna challenged.

Adam did not care for the look in her eyes one bit. That look made his stomach clench again. “Of course it is!”

“I think not. And I also understand why you're denying it.” Her voice grew huskier in tone.

Adam swallowed hard. “Anna, I have no idea what you're referring to. I have been actively involved in gaining new accounts and handling established accounts with kid gloves.”

“But I have been a
distraction
to you. Why else would you be trying to avoid as much contact with me as possible? Because of your avoidance, I had to stoop to subterfuge to get you here just to talk.”

The sexual context of her last statement was undeniable. Adam shook his head. As if fortifying himself, he took a large sip of his drink. The alcohol burned going down his throat and nearly met the bile that was rising from his stomach.

“So, I'm correct?” she purred.

“Not even close.”
Adam could hardly believe he said that and prepared himself for the worst.

Raising an eyebrow, Anna studied him. She was about to say something when the waiter slid salad bowls on the table. The waiter’s intrusion had only been a brief reprieve. Icy fear gripped Adam’s heart as he felt cornered. His apprehension about her intention toward him had been spot on, but he should have been more careful and chosen his words more wisely. So before she said anything, he tried to explain how he felt.

“Anna, you’re a beautiful woman and a pleasant distraction, as all beautiful women often are. But your presence has never affected my work performance. I am here to do a job, which I’ve always tried to give one hundred and ten per cent. I am a firm believer in the separation of work and play. Office romances almost never work and are often detrimental. Having said that, I’d like to remind you that I am a happily married man and love my wife dearly. I hope I’ve made my position clear on this matter. If you find my work performance poor, I’m sorry. However, it is not due to your presence. So if you truly want to go over my accounts now, I am willing to stay and discuss them. If not I have clients to see.”

Adam silently prayed as he waited for her reaction. He’d tried to rebuff her, as prudently as possible, but any rebuff is exactly what it is—a rebuff.

Instead of biting his head off and going on the attack, Anna gave Adam a Cheshire cat smile. “Let's review your accounts, shall we?”

As relieved as Adam was, he couldn't shake the feeling that Anna hadn't given up on her quest to bed him.

***

As the time passed and the lunch crowd thinned, Jill continued to discuss her tentative plot line with Robin. Jill was about to reply to a question posed to her by Robin when the people at the table directly in front of theirs got up and left. That gave Jill a clear view of the tables across the restaurant. It revealed a couple sitting extremely close together. All she could see were their backs, but there was something about the man that reminded her of Adam, aside from the blond hair. The woman continually touched him, patting his thigh or rubbing his back. Then the man turned to say something to the woman, and Jill was able to see his face.

It
was
Adam! Her stomach pitched and rolled so quickly, she nearly ejected its contents right there on the table. As sick as she felt, she couldn't wrench her eyes from the spectacle. They looked a little too cozy. They looked like
a couple
. And the way the woman touched him so knowingly, made her sick at heart.

The realization of what she was witnessing simply amazed and stunned her. She was focusing so intently on them that she’d forgotten about Robin Wycoff, who was now intently watching her.

“Are you okay, Jill?” Robin asked.