Forever Mine, Valentine Read online

  “Out of necessity, but I do like it. Traveling light—in fact, just plain traveling—has been fun, and the camping has been a great adventure.”

  “No kidding. You really are a kindred spirit,” he said, admiration reflected in his eyes. “I wonder if old Charlie’s on to something, after all.”

  “Lots of women like to camp.” Her heart began thumping in her chest.

  “Not with the self-sufficiency you’re demonstrating, they don’t.”

  The fatigue from the day, the stimulation of his nearness and the warmth of his praise were dissolving her restraint. If she sat in the chair much longer, she’d let him kiss her. And from the look in his eyes she thought he might try. “You haven’t said whether or not I can take camping supplies in payment,” she prompted.

  “What? Oh, sure. That’s fine.” He continued to gaze at her. “Don’t you get cold? Or scared being on your own like that?”

  “I…sure, sometimes, on both counts. But I’ve learned how to dress warmly for the cold nights, and I’m braver than I used to be. The trip’s been good for me, for my self-confidence.” She watched the glow of affection in his eyes grow brighter. He was definitely planning to kiss her. It seemed the more she talked about herself, the more he liked what he heard.

  And the longer she sat in Charlie’s soft chair, the more she wanted to be held and kissed. She might have developed self-sufficiency in the past seven months, but that didn’t mean she was impervious to the lure of a caring man’s strong arms. At this moment she wanted to be cuddled, just for a little while.

  It wouldn’t be just for a little while, though, and she knew it. She had to resist the lethargy that was overtaking her and assert her independence, or she’d be lost. She put the legal pad and pen on the table beside her. “Let’s go out in front and I’ll show you what I’d like in exchange for my work,” she suggested.

  He looked amused. “All right,” he said, standing up and leading the way out of Charlie’s intimate little nest. “Last I heard they were predicting snow for tonight,” he commented, as if to remind her of the realities of her temporary life-style.

  Jill chuckled. “Then maybe I’d better take an advance on my pay in the form of some red long johns.”

  He paused with one hand on the curtain that blocked off the doorway into the storeroom. Slowly he turned back to her. “No fair,” he said in a low voice.

  “What?”

  “No fair bringing up red long johns.” He stepped toward her. By the dim light that crept over the shelving from Charlie’s apartment she could barely make out the planes of his face. “You can’t evade me one minute and toss out comments like that the next.”

  “I don’t underst—”

  “Because what happens is,” he barreled on without giving her time to speak, “that my imagination runs wild picturing you in a pair of long underwear, a very snug pair, with every curve outlined, every luscious—”

  “I didn’t mean to do that,” she interrupted, her words whooshing out like air from a balloon.

  “Didn’t you? I’m not so sure. Is it come hither or stay away? Is it yes or no?”

  “You’re a fine one to talk. You don’t know which you want, either.”

  “I’m beginning to. How about you?”

  “I don’t know,” she said desperately.

  “Just two words, two simple words. One is yes, and the other is no. Which is it?”

  “It isn’t either,” she wailed. “It’s…”

  “Maybe?” He stood inches away and flexed his fingers.

  “You’re pushing me to say something that I’m not ready to say.”

  “Then let’s not talk about it.”

  She expected him to turn and push aside the curtain, but instead he reached for her. Before she could react his mouth found hers.

  5

  “NO,” JILL MOANED, but it was too late. Spence’s firm lips and coaxing tongue broke through the barrier she’d tried so diligently to erect. Her resistance crumbled. For the moment, choice was gone as she abandoned herself to the surge of emotion that had been gathering strength ever since they met.

  His kiss blended the familiar warmth of coming home with the churning excitement of adventure. He promised safety and daring, security and delicious risk. He explored the fit of their bodies with gentle hands that sculpted her curves until she was molded against him like clay, there to discover his growing arousal.

  In the space of one kiss, passion had moved from abstract longing to specific need; there was now an empty, aching place within her.

  Unaware of the mayhem he was causing, Spence plunged his tongue deeper into her mouth. She forgot her avowed purpose in being here. Nothing mattered but the unspoken language of his lips and tongue and the imprint of his body.

  After a timeless moment of give and take, he shuddered and slowly drew back. Sliding both hands up her arms, he rested them on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. His face was in shadow, but she could see his eyes, luminous with feeling. “Time out,” he said. His voice was shaky, but she heard his smile in the tone of his voice. “Oh, Jill…” He sighed deeply. “Please don’t tell me you’ve kissed anybody else like that recently.”

  “Not…recently.” Not ever, she almost said, but shyness prevented total honesty.

  “Good.” He massaged her shoulders. “I take everything back, by the way.”

  “Everything?”

  “All the speeches about what I don’t want happening between us. For me, all bets are off.” He drew her close again.

  “Spence…shouldn’t we…I’m afraid we’re rushing into this.”

  “Maybe we are.” His lips hovered over hers. “At the moment I don’t give a damn. All I care about is this.” He covered her mouth and built on the foundation of desire he’d laid before.

  Her breathing quickened in response. She tightened her grip on his shoulders as she sought balance in the whirlpool of sensation he created. Fiery images of loving him flashed like red neon through her mind. The images stretched far into the future, blotting out everything else in her life. But she couldn’t let that happen. She might sample this passion, but she had to control it. Had to. In a minute.

  He lifted his mouth to speak her name with tender seductiveness.

  “You’re very dangerous,” she said, breathing hard.

  “Dangerous?” He laughed softly.

  “All my life I’ve allowed myself to be distracted, to take another route than the one I’ve chosen.” She paused to catch her breath. “I can’t do that with this trip.”

  “I didn’t ask you to.”

  “You don’t have to ask. Just by being who you are, you’ll make me forget my deadline, scuttle my plans.”

  “I can’t change who I am,” he said quietly.

  “Of course not, but I can change my reaction to you.”

  “You can try.”

  Gratefully she leaped upon the flash of his ego as a weapon to fight her desire. “So you imagine yourself irresistible?” She stepped out of the circle of his arms.

  “I wasn’t talking about my appeal,” he said evenly. “From the way you kissed me, I figured some powerful emotions were stirred up.”

  “Maybe so,” she acknowledged. “But I told you what was at stake. I told you a man was waiting back home for my answer. How can I allow this to go on? Isn’t that unfair to him?”

  “You’re asking the wrong guy that question.”

  “Aaron loves me.”

  “That’s his choice, Jill. It doesn’t give him any rights unless you return his love. So maybe that’s the question. Do you?”

  She hesitated. “I…thought I did.”

  “Did you tell him that you loved him?”

  Jill shook her head. “No, but he thinks that’s because I don’t know my own mind about anything.”

  “And what do you think?” Spence said gently.

  Her brain whirled. She couldn’t think of anything when he was so close. “Everything used to be so clear. I promised
myself that I’d stay away from this sort of thing so I could figure out my feelings about Aaron.”

  “Maybe without ‘this sort of thing’ you’ll never figure it out,” he suggested.

  She pressed her fingertips to her throbbing temples. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

  His tone gentled. “Okay. I asked you to help with the mall protest. Maybe we should concentrate on that and leave this other subject alone for a while,” he said, reaching out to stroke her hair.

  His touch felt so good. She longed to snuggle against him and forget all about Aaron and her guilt about his devotion to her. “Yes,” she said, “maybe we should leave it for now.”

  “Ready to pick out your merchandise?”

  “Sure.”

  He pulled back the curtain. “After you.”

  She walked past him, holding her breath, as if just the smell of him might topple her shaky resolve. Once under the stark fluorescent lights, she felt stronger and more able to cope. As she began strolling the aisles looking for what she needed in the way of camping gear, Charlie returned, breathless from his walk.

  His eyes were bright as he glanced from Spence to Jill. “Did you two have a nice chat while I was gone?”

  Jill couldn’t manage to utter a casual reply. A simple yes stuck in her throat and she appealed mutely to Spence to fill the silence.

  “We…seem to have a lot in common,” he said, sending a tiny smile Jill’s way.

  Charlie gazed at them benevolently. “I rather thought you might,” he said.

  ALTHOUGH HE WAS halfway expecting her, surprise and fascination jolted Spence to a stop when he walked out of his office Friday afternoon and saw her on the other side of the display windows. Painting was a sensuous activity, he realized, especially when viewed this way, facing the artist.

  He watched as her mouth pursed in concentration and he ran his tongue over his upper lip, remembering Wednesday night. Oh, she’d been sweet to kiss, this woman who stood there outlining a sock on the glass with practiced brush strokes. He’d read somewhere that a soft paintbrush was a wonderful love toy. Especially, he thought, in the hand of someone creative like Jill. Her artistic nature and vagabond life-style had hooked him. With a woman like Jill, no telling what he might—

  His erotic musings were interrupted when she became aware of him and stopped painting. For a moment she held his gaze and he wondered how many of his thoughts were reflected there for her to see. Was there an answering spark in those green eyes, or was that wishful thinking on his part? She broke contact and dipped her brush in the paint.

  “Spencer, my boy, she has the look of a woman contemplating romance,” Charlie said from near Spence’s elbow.

  Spence jumped. “No fair sneaking up on me like that!”

  “I most certainly did not sneak,” Charlie said with an injured expression. “You were so immersed in contemplating our Jill that an entire regiment of soldiers could have marched up behind you unnoticed.”

  Spence scratched his ear and glanced away. “That obvious, huh?”

  “No matter. She feels the same way about you.”

  “I hope so, Charlie. But she’s all hung up on this Aaron guy back home. Thinks she owes him something because he’s crazy about her.”

  “I saw the expression on her face just now. She can’t escape her destiny any more than you can, my boy. Now go on out and talk to her. Break the ice.”

  “Well, actually, I should make sure she’s all set for the meeting tonight.”

  Charlie nodded. “Excellent. Excellent. Perhaps then you can move from practical matters to more romantic ones.”

  “And, Charlie, speaking of romance, here comes your lady love.”

  “Gladys?” Charlie turned. “I didn’t think she had an interest in the great outdoors.”

  “I don’t think she’s here to shop,” Spence said with a chuckle. “Except perhaps for a husband.”

  “Husband? Good gracious, I’m not husband material, my boy. I’m a transient, a ne’er-do-well, a tramp, if you will.”

  “Right, Charlie. And I’m Donald Duck,” Spence murmured in an undertone. “Well, hello, Gladys,” he said brightly as she approached. “Charlie and I were just discussing the merits of camping out.”

  “I’m dying to try camping,” Gladys said, “and I’ll do it the minute someone invents an inflatable Hilton.”

  Charlie looked puzzled. “An inflatable Hilton? Spencer, do we carry that brand?”

  She winked at Spence. “Don’t you just love him? He never gets any of my jokes, but that makes him all the more adorable.”

  Charlie opened his mouth to comment, but she rushed on.

  “Spence, I have a message from Robert about the meeting tonight. He, Bernie and George want to come. So do I, for that matter.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Spence replied. “The meeting’s not secret. Charlie’s planning to come.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” Charlie confirmed.

  “Robert feels that the Senior Striders need a role in this,” Gladys said. “We’ve been strictly a recreational and social group, but we think some advocacy is in order. These changes Tippy wants will hit the old and infirm hardest. Most of us are in the first category and eventually we’ll fall into the second.”

  “Nonsense, Gladys,” Charlie said gruffly. “You’ll always be fit as a fiddle.”

  She flashed him a wicked smile. “And ready for love, as the rest of that expression goes?”

  Spence watched in amazement as Charlie blushed. Apparently Spence wasn’t the only one being distracted by a member of the fairer sex. He grinned as Charlie cleared his throat and struggled for a witty response that never came.

  “Never mind, Charlie.” Gladys patted his arm. “I didn’t mean to get you all flustered. What I really came by for was to invite you to skate with me on the pond. You mentioned that you know how, and I think we should take a few turns around the ice, my treat.”

  “Terrific idea, Charlie,” Spence said, having a great time with this budding romance between Charlie and Gladys. “Skating will strengthen your ankles and you may even improve your race-walking that way.”

  “Is that so?” Charlie straightened his tie and strove for his usual dignity. “I could use some improvement there, certainly.” He turned to Gladys. “But it hardly seems appropriate for you to pay for both of us, my dear.”

  Gladys eyed him fondly. “You simply have to get in step with the times, you sweet man. I have a generous income from my husband’s life insurance and you are temporarily low on funds. These days, if a woman is in better financial circumstances than a man, she treats. Simple as that.”

  “She’s right, Charlie,” Spence added. “Go on and have fun.”

  Charlie glanced at him and touched the gold figure-eight pin on his lapel. “I have the strangest feeling you’re reversing our roles at this moment, Spencer.”

  “Anything wrong with that?” Spence said with a smile. “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

  “Your back itches? Calamine lotion is—”

  Gladys took Charlie’s arm and propelled him away. “That’s just a figure of speech, Charlie,” she explained as she guided him toward the front of the store. Her voice drifted back to Spence as they walked away: “Honestly, you take everything so literally. Spence meant that he’d do you a favor if you’ll do one for him. Are you helping Spence in some way?”

  Spence couldn’t hear Charlie’s answer as the couple left the store. Spence wondered if Charlie would tell Gladys about Valentine’s Day and fate. Come to think of it, was Charlie subject to the same principles? Still mulling over that idea, Spence walked toward the front of the store and the dark-haired woman who was supposed to be his destiny.

  She glanced up when he came through the door. “Does this look okay?” she asked, gesturing toward the window.

  “Great.” He surveyed the white thermal socks with red elastic hanging by their toes on a string of tiny hearts. She was a whiz with that pain
tbrush. Then he remembered his paintbrush fantasies and felt warmth rising in his cheeks. He was probably blushing the way Charlie had a moment ago. “What have you planned for the other window?” he asked, not caring a whit, but needing small talk to counteract his tendency to think bawdy thoughts.

  “I thought maybe a big red kerosene lantern with the slogan of ‘Light up your lover’s life.”’

  “A lantern sounds perfect,” he said, entranced by the translucent skin of her throat. “Still ready for the meeting tonight at seven?”

  “Sure.” She tucked dark curls behind one ear, revealing a ruby-red earring in the shape of a heart.

  “I put Charlie and his Senior Strider buddies to work delivering the flyers,” he said, mesmerized by the contrast of the blood-red heart against the white skin of her earlobe. “I’ve had several calls about the meeting,” he blundered on, hoping his conversation made sense. “It seems just about every store in the mall will be represented.”

  Jill nodded. “Good. Speaking of Charlie, I saw him taking off with his friend…is it Gladys?”

  “That’s right.” He decided to use this change of topic to his advantage and work around to more personal subjects. “Gladys would like to be much more than Charlie’s friend, unless I’m misreading all the signals she’s putting out. Frankly, I think a match between those two would be a great idea. She has the money and Charlie has the charm.”

  Jill laughed and returned to her painting. “What a riot. First Charlie tries frantically to fix you up with someone and now you’re doing the same thing to him. You two deserve each other.”

  “You don’t believe in Charlie’s theories about fated lovers?” he asked, keeping his tone light.

  “Afraid not.” She plied her brush with deft strokes and didn’t elaborate.

  He watched her impatiently. Charlie had said that she was a woman contemplating romance, and that he could tell from her expression that she wanted Spence as much as he wanted her. Spence wished he could believe that, yet she was acting totally indifferent at the moment.

  He, on the other hand, was itching to grab her and kiss the living daylights out of those pursed lips. “You think you have a choice or something? That you can decide ‘okay, I’m ready now,’ and fall in love?”