Page 23
"They're bottom-feeders. " She folded her arms across her chest. "I couldn't let them turn us into something sordid. Our kiss would've had a hideous headline. "
"I understand. "
"We're not sordid. " It was as if she were daring him to disagree. "We're special. "
His heartbeat accelerated. "Yes. "
"So don't you get angry at me for protectingus. "
"I will not. "
She glared at him for another minute. Then she leaned over and hugged him hard. "I'm not Bonnie so don't you ever think of me in the same breath as her. Understand?"
He nodded. This spitfire was definitely nothing like his first wife. "Apologies, mia moglie . "
"You know what you do to me when you sound so Italian," she accused, eyes softening already.
He knew. "What do I do to you, cara?" He kissed the pulse in her neck, warmed by the fire of her temper. She didn't love him but she was protective of him. It wasn't the devotion his primal soul hungered for, but it was a start. Santorini men were nothing if not determined.
She drew back. "What did she do to you?"
There was no question who she was talking about. "You know. Everyone knows. " And that humiliation still hurt.
She shook her head. "There was something the papers didn't find out, something terrible. Tell me about it. "
The memory turned his voice harsh. "If I don't?"
"I can't make you. " She touched his cheek with a hand that was soft and so tender, he ached. "But, I want this marriage of ours to work, and to do that, I need to know who you are. I need to understand you. "
What could it hurt?Jacksonthought. "Bonnie was pregnant with our baby when she overdosed and she knew it. "
Taylor's eyes brimmed with tears. "That bitch . "
The short, sharp expletive shocked him less than the deep anger in her. Taylorhad a mother's instincts.
"Yes," he agreed, "that's what she became at the end. "
"I won't give you platitudes - I can't imagine your grief. But," she said, eyes bright with unshed tears, "let me hold you tonight. Let me show you tenderness. I know it isn't very macho, but I think you have hurts that need to be healed and I need to try and heal them. "
He was stunned at the quiet power of her. "Ah, piccola , when I am with you, I almost believe that there is true goodness in the world. "
When she rose and tugged on his hand, he let her lead him out. And he let her stroke andkiss and make love to him with such feminine sweetness that he was lost. When she curled up beside him to sleep, her arms hugged him tight, keeping her promise to hold him through the night.
Despite her care, he lay awake through the dark hours of twilight, thunderstruck by the riot of emotion in his soul. With her unexpected tenderness, TaylorSantorini had demolished the blockade guarding her husband's heart.
He belonged to her completely.
After his experience atBonnie's hands, it wasn't a weakness he welcomed, but he was no coward. He accepted the powerful feeling and swore to do everything in his power to teach his wife to love him back, because damn it, there was no reason for her not to trust him with everything in her.
As usual, the papers were delivered to their home in the morning. Taylorwas up and about, whileJackson was in the shower. Nick was still asleep. Anxious to save her husband any unnecessary pain, she flicked through the pile until she found the tabloid carrying their photos.
For a long time, she just stood there, stunned at the image. She'd expectedJacksonto look annoyed, in spite of her instructions. At best, she'd thought he'd attempt neutrality. Instead, the photographer had caught him as he'd glanced down at her, and there was something in his dark gaze that took her breath away.
"What's that?" Still in his pajamas, Nick walked out of his room and hugged her middle. "Cool. Jackson likes you a lot, huh?" He was looking up at her, seeking reassurance.
Reaching out, she stroked his hair. "I think that maybe he does. " She wanted to believe it was real, that expression of intense protective care, but more than likely, her own terrifying hunger for his passionate heart was leading her to imagine things.
"What're you two looking at?"Jackson,dressed in slate-grey slacks and a white shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, came to stand behind her. By unspoken agreement, neither of them referred to the powerful intimacy of the night he'd spent in her arms.
His willingness to let her hold him had shaken all ofTaylor's beliefs about men, about him. For such a dominant man to accept her need to care . . . it had revealeda sensitivity to her emotions that forced her to confront some harsh truths. Jacksonhad trusted her despite the betrayals he'd suffered in the past. Did she have the courage to do the same? Or would she always be a coward, unable to commit to anything?
She saw him ruffle Nick's hair and he hugged her from behind before playfully biting her neck. "Morning, wife. "
Forcing the uncomfortable thoughts from her mind, she said, "Morning, husband. "
He reached out with one hand and shifted the paper so he could read the article. "Well, there's nothing too objectionable in it. "
Nick had wandered off to get ready for school, soTaylorindulged herself. "Did you notice it describes me as your beautiful new wife?" She peered over her shoulder, taking the same light tone as him. Surely he would've said something if the picture had revealed what she'd thought it had. Disappointment hit her hard, shocking her with the strength of her desire for his love.
Smoldering dark eyes met hers as he turned her around. "Just as well he doesn't know of your temper. "
She made a face at him and got herself thoroughly kissed for her trouble, his hands slipping under her thick terry-cloth robe to touch skin.
"I have a meeting," he rasped against her lips. A minute later, "Maybe, I can postpone it. " He nuzzled her.
"Hush. " Her body was already itchy for him and he was only making it worse. "Do you want coffee?"
He grinned. "I want you. " He reached up to cup her breasts, teasing the tips with the pads of his fingers.
She swallowed at the gleam in his eye and tried to concentrate on his mouth rather than his clever hands.
But, looking at his lips only made her want to haul him down to her for a scorching kiss. He removed his hands from her robe just when she was about to start whimpering.
"Coffee!" She shoved a cup into his hands to stop him from doing further mischief.
After breakfast,Taylorwaved off her men and spent the majority of the day on the final organization for the dinner party. That accomplished, she got on the phone with her network of secretaries and other administration staff, inviting them to a very different kind of party.
"A party at JacksonSantorini's ?" one of them whispered, "Are you sure he'll want the riffraff around?"
She rolled her eyes. "He married one of us, you dolt. "
"Yeah, but you were always classier than average. I'll be at your barbecue with bells on. See you in a week. "
"Bye, Tina. "
After hanging up, a hint of disquiet infiltrated her mind. She'd thought she had carte blanche withJackson
's home but maybe he would mind. Nothing in their bargain said that she had the rights an indulged and loved wife would have. Feeling uneasy for the first time, she rang him.
"Cara?"
That warm tone put her at ease. "Jackson, I'm inviting several of my friends, including studio people, to a barbecue, a few days after the dinner party. " There was no response. "Is that all right?"
"They are your friends?"
She wondered at the odd note in his voice. "Yes. "
"Then they are welcome in our home. " He sighed. "The secretaries aren't going to lynch me are they?"
So, that was the problem, she thought in relief. "No, I'll protect you. "
"Don't everstop, piccola . " The request was quiet but her heart thundered. Had she imagined the incredible tenderness in that deep voice?
/>
"I won't," she promised. "Have you heard from Lance?"
"Nothing definite but it looks like he's withdrawing his pleadings. If anything happens, I'll let you know. "
After they hung up, she spent a long time wondering at the indefinable vulnerability she'd heard in his tone.
Jacksonsat at his desk wrestling with a strange mix of emotions. Part of it was an irrational jealousy that these people hadTaylor's affection and friendship, without paying for it. He'd made the decision to bargain for her and he'd made a very good bargain. She was a protective, affectionate and sexy wife. It was his problem that he'd been hoping for something more, something that had eluded his family forever, something he'd never touched.
What would his wife say if she realized that big, tough JacksonSantorini would lay his heart at her feet, if she would only give her trust and love into his keeping? If she would only let him banish the shadows in her eyes that told him she still expected him to walk away from her.
He snorted, crushing the starving creature inside him. His wife was far too practical to think about love in relation to their marriage. All her love was bound up with her brother, and she'd told him point-blank that she didn't trust anyone else enough to love them. Other men might have begrudged Nick her affection, butJacksoncouldn't, not when he'd been a child whom no one had loved. He wouldn't wish that utter loneliness on anyone.
Until he'd metTaylor, he'd thought that love between a man and a woman was a fool's dream. Maybe, despite his recent resolution to make her feel the passion he did, he'd been right all along. Look at his parents and siblings. They fell in love every other month and all they got for their trouble were divorces littering the world.
Hehad a family filled with joy, and he had to concentrate on nurturing it rather than trying to get his wife to give him something she wasn't capable of. Nick's loyalty was his without question, but he needed to fully bindTaylorto him. She'd never divorce him if a child was involved, so he had to make her pregnant as soon as possible. His desire for a baby now came second to his desire to keepTaylor. There was no way in hell he could lose her. He would never survive the loss.