If I Loved You (Harper Falls Book 1) (9 page)

Five minutes later Tyler was agreeing. She
was the least sentimental of them all, but Rose could hear the
slight catch in her friend's voice after she heard the song. “Rose,
it would have been a crime to let anyone else write the score. I
can't believe you even hesitated.”

“It’s a love story.”

“And?” Tyler and Dani asked
simultaneously.

They were going to make her say it.

“And I’ve never been in love. I understand
that people write about things they don’t know. But I loved this
book, you guys loved this book. It needs just the right touch.
Nothing too sappy or sentimental.”

“Which makes you perfect,” Tyler reasoned.
“Give it to someone who’s in love and they’ll turn it into sugary
mush. What if the writer had just gone through a messy breakup?
Then they'd make it cynical or give it too hard an edge. That song
you wrote proves you have just the right feeling for the
material.”

“I want this so much,” Rose sighed. “That’s
the first time I’ve admitted it even to myself.”

“Then it’s settled. Great material—great
song—great writer. Now that that's settled,” Tyler said. “Let’s
talk you into going out tonight with Jack Winston.”

“No need. I’ve already decided to go.”

“That’s great,” Dani exclaimed. “What
changed you mind?”

Rose shrugged. “I like him.”

“You knew that last night,” Tyler reminded
her.

““Okay, it’s going to sound stupid." She
took a breath. "He tucked my dress into the car before shutting the
door.”

“Now, why would that sound stupid?” Tyler’s
sarcasm practically dripped through the phone.

Ignoring her, Rose continued. “Jack was
helping me into my car and the hem of my dress was hanging out. We
all know plenty of guys who wouldn’t have noticed, or just not
cared, and gone ahead and closed the door probably ripping or
staining the material. Jack made sure there was nothing hanging out
before he closed the door. Closed, not slammed.”

“That’s sweet,” Tyler smiled. “Kind of
romantic.”

“But he wasn’t
trying
to be,” Rose explained. “There was nothing
calculated or staged. I never got the feeling he was trying to make
a good impression. I’d say his mother brought him up right, which
from our brief conversation is true. But—”

“Nature or nurture,” Tyler finished her
thought. “Just because someone teaches you how to treat people
right doesn’t mean you will.”

“Exactly.” Rose thought of her own
childhood. No, she didn’t want to go there. “Jack Winston is
innately thoughtful. He’s careful with other people.”

“Gorgeous, sexy, kisses that make your brain
cells explode and a good guy? Why aren’t you running in the
opposite direction?”

Because she might have
finally found a guy who worth running to
. But that was
too scary to say out loud so instead she kept it light. “It’s one
date, Tyler. We can talk about it again if he doesn't turn into Mr.
Hyde.”

“Oh, we’ll talk,” Tyler assured her. “Dani
and I are in a dating slump, so we need you to give us a few
vicarious thrills.”

They spent a few more minutes going back and
forth about nothing in particular, and then Tyler hung up, anxious
to get back to work on her latest commission.

“Looks like the rain has stopped.” Dani put
her phone away and headed for the laundry room where her clothes
were drying. “These are ready. I’ll change and be on my way so you
can get ready for your date.”

“How are things with you, Dani?”

“Me?” Dani asked as she pulled on her jeans.
“What do you mean?”

“Well, if we aren’t talking about my love
life then we’re dancing around Tyler’s situation with idiot boy
Drew. We never seem to talk about you.”

“We talk about me all the time,” Dani
protested. “I spent most of dinner last week telling you guys about
how the work is coming on my photo studio. And if you’re talking
about my love life? It’s like Tyler said; I’m in a slump. Things
will pick up, they always do.”

Rose wondered. Of the three of them Dani, at
least on the surface, seemed the most easy going. No childhood
drama, a great career, her pick of men to date. But there
had
been a bump, a big one.

“You know if you ever want to talk about
Portugal, Tyler and I will listen.”

Dani sighed. Now and then one of her friends
would bring up that time just after they had all graduated from
college. Completely on her own and bursting with youthful ambition,
she had taken a job with an online travel magazine, Portugal being
her first stop. It was there she had fallen in love for the first
time. He was handsome and funny and brutally honest. From the first
she had known that they only had a limited time together and that
he could be sent someplace new at any time. They never talked about
what he did in the military. He couldn’t say, and she didn’t want
to know. One morning she woke up alone, and that was that.

She’d cried for two days straight, including
a couple of incoherent calls to Rose and Tyler, and then she’d
moved on. Those brief two weeks had been perfect. A snapshot of her
transition from girl to woman, and, even though, her friends knew
most of the particulars; there were some things she kept to
herself, locked away in her heart. Things she didn't want to talk
about. She preferred the past to kept there. It was an old wound,
uncomfortably deep. But not crippling. She needed her friends to
understand that.

“You make it sound like I experienced some
great tragedy, Rose.” Dani gave her a genuine smile. “I met a man,
it was amazing, and then he was gone. End of story.”

“But you loved him.”

“I did.” And part of her always would. “But
that was five years ago and he hasn't made any attempt to get in
touch with me.” She shrugged. “All I want is for him to be safe and
healthy and happy. And if he ever thinks of me I hope he remembers
our time together with the same affection that I do. I can't ask
for anything more."

“I want you to be happy,” Rose pulled her in
for a warm, loving hug. “I want us all to be happy.”

“I am,” Dani assured her and she meant it.
Dani believed wholeheartedly in love, and she had every intention
of falling in love again. But she wasn't going to lose sleep over
it. When the right time and the right man came along, she would
welcome love with open arms.

Dani picked up her purse and deposited her
phone. “Now, can we drop it? Please?”

“Absolutely.” Rose walked Dani to the door,
insisting she take an umbrella just in case. She only lived a few
streets over, but the clouds still looked threatening. “I’ll see
you tomorrow.”

“Have a good time tonight.”

Rose planned to. She gave Dani a final wave
before glancing at the hall clock. Five-thirty. Last night he’d
seen what she looked like when she pulled out all the stops.
Tonight it was going to be a comb through the hair and a swipe of
lipstick. Clean and simple.

JACK PICKED HER up right on time. He had on
faded jeans and black leather jacket that had seen better days, but
it still looked incredibly appealing on his trim, muscular body. He
wore a t-shirt that was the same intense blue as his eyes.

He leaned in and gave her kiss hello. It
lingered nicely, leaving her with the promise of more to come.

“Hello." His smile was warm and friendly.
"You look amazing.”

“Were you this tall last night?” She
desperately wanted to run her tongue over her lips, just to see if
he tasted as good as she remembered. But that would be weird.
Especially with him watching her so intently.

“Were you this short?” After making sure her
front door was locked securely, Jack took her hand and led her to
his parked SUV.

“It must have been the heels,” Rose reasoned
and he helped her up into the cab.

“I wasn’t wearing heels.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help
laughing. He was quick, she’d give him that.

“Where are we going?” Not that it mattered.
She had one thing on her mind tonight. Sex. Sex with Jack
Winston.

“I thought you might like to see H&W
headquarters. We've pretty much finished all the renovation and
upgrades.” He glanced over at her and shrugged. “You’ll be the
first to get the grand tour. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve been
dying to show it off.”

Rose was flattered. She knew of at least a
dozen women who would have lined up at the chance to have Jack
Winston give them a personal tour. Everyone in town had been
brimming with curiosity ever since he and Drew bought the land on
Crossfire Hill. Those who had worked on the construction said it
was a large compound with several buildings. But the details
remained scarce. In the beginning rumors, of course, ran rampant.
Some said it was a secret government facility and that Jack and
Drew were some kinds of mad scientists. But her favorite bit of
gossip had them opening a sex club. Rose doubted very many people
in Harper Falls even knew quite what a sex club was. But maybe she
was wrong. Some of those books that no one admitted to reading were
pretty detailed.

They'd had the road up to the compound
paved, so the trip was much smoother than Rose remembered. The one
time she had been up here was in high school when her date had
taken her to the local make-out place. Rose hadn’t protested. She’d
never been before and was curious what all the fuss was about.
Other than a great view she and her date had left disappointed.
Will Hazelton’s sweaty groping and slobbery kisses had put Rose off
car dating for the rest of high school. From then on if they
couldn’t walk she didn’t go. Luckily in college she’d discovered
boys with much better technique and much better cars.

Jack pulled to a stop. It was still light
enough to see the layout of the compound. There were three main
buildings; one was all office space on the first floor. Another
acted as on sight housing for when any or all of the crew was there
for training. And the last stored equipment and a full-service
garage. These buildings formed a semi-circle around an obstacle
course and parking lot. Most of the time it was more space than
they really needed but when it was in full use they were glad to
have the room.

“This is amazing, Jack.” And not at all what
she had expected. These weren’t shacks in the wilderness but
modern, attractive and built to last buildings. “You and Drew have
houses up here, right?”

“Further up.” He pointed to a road that ran
up into the trees. “We wanted to be close to work but still apart.
We’re within shouting distance of each other and the compound—but
private. I’ll show you some other time.”

So he wasn’t taking her back to his place.
Since she had spent a good part of the day picturing him in
her
bed, she was fine with that.

“Come on,” he said, hopping out of the SUV.
He came around and helped her down. Taking her hand, he seemed
always to be holding her hand, he led her towards the main
building. “No one’s around right now but depending on the day the
place can really hop with activity.”

She waited while he punched in an elaborate
sequence of numbers on a security panel then leaned in for a
retinal scan. Very
Mission
Impossible
, Rose thought.

“It’s kind of gruesome to think of what I’d
have to do if I wanted to break in here.”

“Most people are a bit squeamish when faced
with popping someone’s eye out,” Jack laughed as he disengaged the
last lock.

“Have you had any dealings with people who
aren’t? Squeamish, that is.” She knew they were a security firm,
but it had never occurred to her that they ever faced any real
danger. Even though they looked like superheroes she’d assumed Jack
and Drew were the brains, not the brawn.

“Nope. And we don’t expect to. But
industrial espionage is big business, and since we develop programs
to stop cyber-theft it would look pretty bad if someone robbed
us.”

“But you still do personal security, being
bodyguards and such.” Rose couldn’t get past the idea of someone
removing one of Jack’s beautiful blue eyes. “That can be
dangerous.”

“Rarely. Come on,” he pulled her along
through a luxurious reception area that they had decorated in rich
shades of brown and cream. “My office is just down this hall.”

Again with the endless code and retinal
scan. It might have been scary, but it was also impressive.

Jack’s office was a geek’s paradise. Besides
the multiple computers and printers, Rose had no idea what most of
the stuff did. So she just walked around and took it all in. One
entire wall was nothing but glass that framed an amazing view of
Harper Falls and just beyond the winding waters of the Columbia
River. Harper House was practically straight across. That must have
been a daily middle digit salute to Drew’s estranged mother.

“Pretty spectacular, isn’t it.” Jack came up
behind her, not quite touching but close enough for his warm breath
to brush against her cheek. “Drew knew what land he wanted before
we even found out if it was for sale. Of course, his office faces
in the other direction. I doubt that I have to go into great detail
as to why that is.”

She would have loved to know what Drew had
told Jack about the whole sordid mess, but she doubted he’d be
willing to break his friend’s confidence. She would have lost a lot
of respect for him if he had.

“Can I see the rest of the place?” Rose
leaned back against Jack’s body. He was wonderfully warm, adding to
the heat that had been building in her since their kiss the night
before. Maybe they could abandon the tour and take advantage of
that large, soft looking couch across the room.

“Are you afraid I might have a sex room
hidden somewhere?”

“So you’ve heard the rumors.” Rose
laughed.