Why Not Tonight?

14

Sunday, 11:00 a.m.

MALLORY WALKED ADAM to the door, ignoring her clamoring inner voice that told her to lock the damn door, throw away the key and drag him back to her bedroom.

And it required all her willpower not to do just that. Especially after the exquisite way he’d just made love to her. Exquisite, yet poignant because she felt in his every stroke, his every look, a single word.

Goodbye.

He’d said it with his body. Now there were only the words. And then he’d be gone. And they’d both go on with their lives.

She reached for the door, but before she could turn the knob, his hand captured hers.

“It was an amazing night,” he said softly.

She looked at his handsome face and her heart rolled over. “Yes, it was. Between last night and my prom, that’s twice you’ve been my knight in shining armor. Better be careful or I’ll get the impression you like me.”

“I do like you. I always have.”

Firmly telling herself not to place any significance on his words-hell, he’d always liked steak and potatoes, too-she smiled and said, “Same goes. Thanks for rescuing my wounded ego.”

“The pleasure was all mine.”

“Not all yours, I assure you.” Now that the moment of goodbye was upon them, she felt the need to get it over with. To make a clean break. Because for reasons she didn’t care to analyze, her heart felt as if an anvil were attached to it. Keeping her voice light, she said, “I hope you have a wonderful time in Europe.”

A slight frown creased between his eyebrows. “Thanks. I’m, uh, really looking forward to it.”

“Three months in Europe? Who wouldn’t? I’m pea green with envy. What time does your flight leave tomorrow?”

“At 8:00 p.m. British Airways.” He hesitated, then added, “I’ll call you when I get back.”

She went still, refusing to acknowledge the leap in her pulse. Before she could reply, he raised her hand and pressed a warm kiss to her palm. “I want to see you again, Mallory.”

Every female cell in her body broke into a resounding chorus of “Happy Days Are Here Again,” and she inwardly frowned. “I’d like that, Adam…”

“Uh-oh. I sense a but coming.”

“It’s just that three months is a long time. A lot could change between now and then.”

“Such as?”

“Such as you might meet the love of your life in some piazza in Rome. Such as I might get swept off my feet by some real-estate magnate. I don’t know. Anything could happen. The point is, I can’t and won’t put my life on hold for three months. And even if I did, what would be the point? Once you return from Europe, you’re planning another long trip to some far-off place. You’re going to move to who knows where, and I’m staying right here. We’re basically in the same bad-timing place we were nine years ago-heading off in different directions.”

For several long seconds he said nothing, just looked at her with a troubled expression. Then he cleared his throat and said, “I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t want to leave here thinking that we’ll never see each other again. Won’t speak to each other again. Won’t still be…friends.”

She hoped her smile didn’t look as forced as it felt. “I don’t want that, either. So why don’t we leave it that you’re welcome to call me in three months when you get back. Worst-case scenario is that we’ll have a nice phone chat and catch up on each other’s lives. Best case scenario is that maybe we’ll end up spending another night together before you jet off to your next location or pack up your stuff and move to Hawaii.”

Again he said nothing for several heartbeats and silence swelled between them. Then he finally jerked his head in a nod. “Fair enough. Agreed.”

He then leaned forward and kissed her…a soft, gentle, tender kiss that ended far too soon and tasted irrevocably of goodbye. With a final quick smile, he left, closing the door behind him.

Reaching out, she laid her hand over the doorknob he’d just touched and remained standing there until she heard his car drive away. When the sound faded, she drew in a deep breath, straightened her spine, then turned toward the kitchen. No way was she going to mope. She had things to do, people to talk to, a career and life to think about. And the sooner she got to it, the quicker she’d put Adam from her thoughts.

Yeah, lots of luck with that, her inner voice sneered.

Shoving that pesky voice as far into the recesses of her mind as she could, she grabbed her cell phone and pushed the on button. She’d missed two calls, both this morning, one from her mother, one from Kellie.

Pulling up a bar stool, she sat at the counter and dialed her mom’s number.

“I’m so glad you called, honey,” Mom said. “Are you okay?”

No. “Yes. You’re surviving the blackout all right?”

“Oh, yes. After I spoke to you last night, a dozen of us brought food and drinks and lawn chairs into the apartment-complex parking lot and we had an impromptu blackout party. Lots of fun. What did you end up doing?”

Mallory’s gaze strayed to her breakfast table and an image of her and Adam and Rocky Road ice cream slammed into her. “I, uh, had a friend over.”

“Kellie?”

“No. Do you remember Adam Clayton?”

“Of course. But you haven’t seen him in years. Where did you meet up with him?”

Mallory related the G-rated version of the story, along with the news that she and Greg had broken up-but since a shot of mother sympathy was always welcome, she didn’t skimp on those details.

“That jackass,” Mom fumed. “I’m so sorry, Mallory.”

“I’m fine, Mom, really. No broken heart, I promise.”

“Well, I’m glad, although I know that it must have stung.” She hesitated then asked, “So what was Adam like? Still handsome and charming?”

“Yes.” And sexy and sweet and funny and sexy. “He was very…nice.” Her gaze drifted again to the table. Very nice indeed.

“Well, just be careful about jumping into another relationship too soon, honey.”

“Not jumping. But if the right guy comes along, believe me, it wouldn’t be a rebound situation. Greg is already a distant memory.”

“Good. How about lunch tomorrow? Are you free?”

“I am. Noon at my office?”

“I’ll be there.”

After saying goodbye, Mallory dialed Kellie’s number. Her friend answered on the first ring.

“Has he left?” Kellie asked. “Are you alone?”

“Yes. Where are you?”

“My house. I can be on my way to your house within three minutes. I have a bottle of wine. It’s warm, but hell, what can you expect with a power outage.”

Mallory laughed. “Don’t rush out. I have a few calls to make for work. I may have to show houses later today.”

“You’re killing me, you know that? You phone me last night and tell me you can’t talk because Adam, your gorgeous former lover, is at your house, and now you tell me that you have to work? There’s a phrase for that, Mal. It’s called ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’ Humph. Just for that, I might not tell you the details about the gorgeous man I met at the beach yesterday…and who I’m seeing again this evening. Which means I’m only available for girlie chitchat until six o’clock.”

“I want to hear everything. Let me make my calls and I’ll phone you back.”

After hanging up with Kellie, Mallory called the buyers and sellers she was supposed to see that afternoon. She tentatively rescheduled the appointments for early in the evening, in the hopes that the blackout would have ended by then. If not, then they agreed to reschedule for tomorrow. That done, she called Kellie back.

“I’m free for the next few hours, so come on over,” she told her friend. “But forget the wine. I have possible appointments this evening. Got any diet soda?”

“Nope. But I have a container of Rocky Road in my freezer. It’s probably half-melted but I’ll bring it anyway.”

Mallory squeezed her eyes shut. “Yippee.”

KELLIE’S ARRIVAL AT NOON coincided with the power coming back on.

“How’s that for timing?” Kellie asked with a grin, shoving her carton of half-melted Rocky Road in Mallory’s freezer.

Since the temperature hovered near ninety, they closed the windows and Mallory cranked up the air conditioner.

“Ahhhhh,” she said as the first blast of cold air hit her. “That feels so good.”

“Quit hogging the AC, sit your butt down and tell me everything,” Kellie demanded, commandeering the bar stool closest to the air conditioner.

“You first. Tell me about this guy you met at the beach.”

“Why do I have to go first?”

Mallory waggled her eyebrows. “Saving the best for last.”

Kellie’s eyes widened, then without delay related her story of meeting one Mark Grainger at the concession line. “He was ahead of me and holding up the works because he’d ordered a half-dozen hot dogs and sodas and hadn’t brought quite enough money. Turns out he was seventy-five cents short, so I handed him a dollar.”

“In the interests of getting the line moving.”

“Exactly. Plus, he had a great ass. When he turned around, the front view was just as great. Six-two, dirty blond hair, deep green eyes, killer smile and dimples. He was all kinds of polite gratitude and had the most amazing accent. Turns out he’s from Australia and he’s been in New York six months working for some international bank. He invited me to join his party, so I helped him carry his drinks. His party consisted of his two sisters, his brother and sister-in-law who were visiting from Down Under and one of Mark’s male coworkers.”

Mallory smiled. “I can see that you had a great time.”

“Great is a gross understatement. I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed so much. They were all so nice-and they thought my accent was cool!” She shook her head and chuckled. “As for Mark…wow. Can you believe he insisted on paying me back my dollar? Said he couldn’t let a ‘lydee’ pay for his food.” She patted her chest. “Be still my heart. He’s funny, smart, gorgeous, and so gentlemanly and polite. And he’s employed. And he’s heterosexual. And he’s interested in me.”

“He sounds terrific.”

“Right. Which means there’s got to be something horribly wrong with him.”

Mallory laughed. “Maybe he’s just a terrific guy. I know they’re an endangered species, but there are still a few of them out there. Probably. So where were you when the lights went out?”

“We were all still at the beach. When the radio announcements advised people not to drive, we just stayed there.”

“All night?”

“Yup. They had a cooler filled with drinks, bags of chips and pretzels, so we were set. Everybody else eventually fell asleep, but Mark and I stayed up the whole night talking. I swear, it felt like we’d known each other for years. Total clickage between us. And wow, does he know how to kiss.” She heaved a dreamy sigh. “I’m telling you, Mal, this guy’s totally knocked me silly. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Every time he looked at me I felt positively woozy.”

“Believe me, I know the feeling.”

Kellie’s gaze sharpened. “Well, since you haven’t met Mark, you must be talking about Adam. Your turn to spill. Tell me everything.”

There was no point in sugarcoating it-Kellie would see through that in a heartbeat. “The night was…amazing. He was amazing. Exactly as I remembered, only better. Charming, sweet, thoughtful. We talked and laughed, reminisced about the past-”

“And the sex was…?”

“Amazing.”

“When are you seeing him again?”

The question brought a hollow pang to her midsection. “I don’t know that I am.”

“Ha-ha. When?”

“Seriously, I don’t know that I am.” She gave her a quick recap of how they’d left things. When she finished, Kellie shook her head.

“Mal, I understand you not wanting to put your life on hold, but it sounds like you and Adam have something special. Don’t forget that eighty-eight percent, ‘One Who Got Away’ statistic.”

“In this case, away is the operative word. Pretty hard to figure out if you have something special with an ocean between you. And I’m not about to sit around for three months while he’s off discovering European women.”

“He’ll be back.”

“And then he’ll be gone again. Or moving to Hawaii, or somewhere else.”

“Surely after three months in Europe he’ll be all traveled out. Maybe you could persuade him not to go away again.”

That brought her up short. And had her heart lurching. Persuade him not to go away again? “I…I don’t know. I haven’t had enough time to sit down and really think it through.”

“Well, you need to. If he’s ‘The One Who Got Away,’ you don’t want him to get away again. Chances are he found last night as amazing as you did. Which means that you’ll be on his mind. Which means that when he gets home and sees you again, he might not be so anxious to go jetting off somewhere else or moving thousands of miles away. You said he wants to leave Manhattan-he didn’t say he wanted to leave New York. Give the man a reason to want to stay. As for his trip, don’t forget-absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

“Don’t forget-out of sight, out of mind.”

“From what you told me, which was pretty stingy on the sexy details by the way, you will not be out of his mind.”

“Three months is a long time.”

“But it’s not forever.”

Mallory huffed out a laugh. “You have an answer for everything.”

“Yes, I do. It’s part of my charm.” She batted her eyes. “Mark particularly liked it. He thought I was smart and savvy.”

“You are.”

“So are you.”

Mallory managed a limp smile. “Thanks.” But she didn’t feel smart or savvy. Darn it, she felt like a deflated balloon, which was precisely what she didn’t want to feel like. And it was all Adam’s fault. Blowing back into her life with his sexy grin and blue eyes and everything that made him so irresistible, reigniting all the feelings she thought she’d buried, then breezing out again, leaving her reeling as if her emotions had been battered in a windstorm.

Well, he was gone and there was nothing she could do about that.

Or was there?

ADAM PACED AROUND Nick’s kitchen, feeling like a large animal penned in a too-small cage.

“Dude, you’ve been here for ten minutes and done nothing but pace,” Nick said. “Watching you is giving me a crick in my neck. Something’s obviously bothering you, so why don’t you just spit it out-preferably before I need a chiropractor.”

Adam halted and a sheepish smile pulled at him. “Sorry.”

Nick waved away his apology with his longneck beer bottle. “No problem. But my sleep deprivation is making my attention span about three minutes, so if you wanna talk-which I’m assuming you do since you’re still here-you’d better get started.”

Adam pulled in a deep breath then slowly exhaled. “I don’t really know what to say because I’m not sure what’s wrong.”

“It’s simple. If you know something’s wrong, but you can’t put your finger on what it is-”

“Exactly.”

“Then it’s a woman.” Nick looked him up and down, his brows raising slightly when they hit the grass stains on the knees of his jeans. “Doesn’t look like you got much sleep last night-something I can relate to, although I bet your lack of z’s had nothing to do with a crying baby.”

“I spent the night with Mallory.”

“Ah. Can’t say I’m surprised. From the looks of you, it either went amazingly good or amazingly bad.”

“There was nothing bad about it.” Except that it had ended. And the way his damn insides had been knotted since he’d left her.

“For a guy who had an amazingly good night, you don’t look too happy.”

“I guess the problem is that I’d kinda like to have another amazingly good night.” Kinda? He barely refrained from looking at the ceiling at that whopper of an understatement.

“I’m sure you’ll find some gorgeous European women who’ll be happy to oblige you.”

“I meant with Mallory.”

“Oh.” Nick shrugged and took a pull on his beer. “So give her a call. You’re not leaving till tomorrow.”

“I thought about it, but…” He dragged his hands through his hair. Damn, he’d thought of little else.

“But you’re needing some space.”

“Yeah. I need to think-”

“And you can’t think around her.”

Adam stared at his bleary-eyed friend. “When the hell did you become clairvoyant?”

“I’m not. But I know the symptoms. I do have some experience with women-having married one and all. Besides, you’re just easy to read.”

“Really? Well, good. Tell me what I’m thinking because I have no freakin’ idea and it’s driving me nuts.”

“Okay. This chick has you all fired up and you’re bummed because you’re hot for her, but the timing sucks because you’re going away tomorrow.”

“All true. But it’s a little more complicated than that.”

“Look, put it in perspective, man. You’re going to Europe-another word for ‘place where hot women dwell.’ So enjoy yourself and call Mallory when you get back.”

“She might not be around three months from now.”

“She’s falling off the face of the earth?”

“She might meet someone else while I’m gone.”

“You might meet someone else while you’re gone. As for Mallory, keep in touch with her while you’re away to keep those home fires stoked. Phone her from Italy. E-mail her from France. Listen, chances are by the time you make it through those two countries you won’t even remember Mallory’s name.”

Adam shook his head. “I don’t think there’s much chance of that.”

“Oh. Well, then you’re screwed.”

“Meaning what?”

Nick held his hand to his ear. “What’s that sound I hear? Oh, yeah. The death knell tolling for your bachelor days. Believe me, I know. I heard that same sound. Annie and I were married six months later.”

Adam frowned. “I’m trying to be serious here.”

“So am I. And you know what? That sound was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“But I’m not ready for that. I’m supposed to be resting. Relaxing. Living it up as a bachelor. Dating a slew of gorgeous women. Figuring out what I want to do with my life and where I want to do it.”

“Good for you. Nobody’s stopping you.”

Adam nodded. “That’s right.”

“Your head’s just messed up from a combination of too little sleep and too much sex.”

“That’s right.”

“Totally feeling your pain on the too-little-sleep thing. No sympathy whatsoever on the too-much-sex thing.”

“Understandable.” Adam let out a long, slow breath. “Mallory would never move from Long Island.”

“So the tiki bar in Hawaii would be out?”

“’Fraid so.”

“Maybe Long Island needs a tiki bar.”

“Maybe.” He studied his friend for several long seconds. “How’d you know Annie was the one?”

Nick made a helpless gesture with his beer bottle. “I just…knew. I was happy when she was around and miserable when she wasn’t. Every other woman just sort of faded away and I had no interest in being with anyone else. She was my best friend and I wanted to have sex with her-a great combination that I can only describe as the best of both worlds.” He clapped his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “It’s what I’d wish for you. You think maybe you’ve found it?”

“I…don’t know.”

“This woman scares you.”

“Yeah. She scared me nine years ago, too.”

“And you let her get away. Might want to think about if you want to do the same thing again now. But hey, you’ve got the next three months to think about it.”

“Right. Any advice?”

“About women? Yeah. After two years of marriage I can say with some authority that they want a guy who’ll provide chocolate and who will shut up when they’re talking. Never-and dude I can’t stress this enough-never say anything that can in any way ever be construed as suggesting ‘your ass looks big.’ Other than that, I have no clue.”

Adam raised his brows. “This is what you’ve come up with after two years of experience?”

“Believe me, there are guys who’ve been married twenty years who haven’t figured out those pearls I just cast before you.”

“I think I could have figured those little gems out on my own.”

“I don’t know. Women-they’re tough to figure out.” He nodded toward a photo of Annie holding Caroline. “But when you find the right one, they’re worth the effort. It just boils down to deciding what you really want. What’s going to make you happy.”

He slapped Adam on the back and nudged him toward the door. “Now go home and pack so I can catch a catnap with my wife before our daughter wakes up. Have a great trip and touch base every once in a while, okay?”

Adam departed and spent the drive back to Manhattan and the entire night mulling over Nick’s words. It just boils down to deciding what you really want. What’s going to make you happy.

All he needed to do was decide.

And after hours of soul-searching, he finally knew.

When dawn broke over the city, staining the sky in streaks of mauve and gold, he stood at the door of his apartment, holding the handle of his wheeled suitcase. With one last look around, he headed toward his car to drive to the airport.