Chapter 12
Twelve
Andi dragged herself out of a sound sleep to go home in the middle of the night, since she knew her mother wouldn’t approve of an all-nighter.
I’m thirty-seven years old and still worried about my mother’s approval, she thought as they rode the elevator to her top-floor apartment.
Andi hadn’t mentioned her mother’s disapproval to Jack and didn’t plan to.
She hugged him at her front door. “Thank you for the most amazing evening.”
“It was entirely my pleasure. I’ll see you at your office later this morning after my meeting with David. Will you be able to leave around noon for the game?”
She stifled a yawn. “Mmm, but I’ll probably fall asleep in the third inning.”
“Go get some rest. I’ll see you in few hours,” he said with one last kiss.
Jack let the car go so he could walk the short distance to the hotel. Even though it was still dark, the sky was shot with the first traces of sunrise. After the evening with Andi, he was more convinced than ever that they had a future together if they could figure out a way to make it happen.
Back at the hotel, he managed a few hours of sleep before his meeting with David Johnson. Waiting in the conference room, Jack stretched out the kinks of the nearly sleepless night.
A burst of energy preceded David into the room.
Jack stood to shake hands with the youthful-looking man with the bright red hair who presided over Infinity.
“It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you, Jack.”
“Likewise,” Jack said, withstanding the scrutiny of one of Andi’s closest friends. “I’m sorry I’ve been unable to get out here to meet you before now.”
“We’ve enjoyed working with your team. They’ve done an outstanding job of capturing just what we were looking for in the Newport property.”
“I’m glad you’re pleased with it.”
“I don’t know if Jamie told you that I once had secret ambitions to be an architect myself, but when the family business called…” David shrugged and smiled.
“Ah, that explains why the CEO himself is involved with the building plans.”
“I’ve overseen the design of all the properties we’ve built since I took over the helm. It’s my way of having my cake and eating it, too, if you will.”
“Maybe we could put you to work on some of our projects.”
“Don’t tempt me,” David said with a chuckle as they rolled out the latest plans for the hotel.
Jack pointed out the recent updates, most of which had been made to appease the coastal resources council.
“We should be set now with the coastal requirements, but we’ll know for sure next week.
If everything goes according to plan and the weather cooperates, we should be on schedule to open a year from December. ”
“That’s good. I wanted a winter opening, so we could work out any kinks before the high season. I particularly like the new veranda on the south side. I can’t wait to see it finished.” David rolled up the plans. “Andi and her team were very impressed with Newport.”
Jack sat down across from him. “We enjoyed having them.”
David leaned forward to rest his arms on the table. “Jack, may I be frank?”
“Of course.”
“I know you didn’t come to Chicago to show me these plans.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“Andi hasn’t said much about what’s going on, but I’ve heard a few rumors. Let me just say this—Andi and Eric mean a lot to me. They’re family.” He signed the word “family,” to make it clear he spent a lot of time with the boy.
“I appreciate your concern, and I’m aware of what she’s been through. I hope it makes you feel better to know I love her.”
“It does. She deserves some happiness. That bastard she was married to left some serious wreckage behind. I don’t want to see her hurt like that again.”
“I’ll never hurt her intentionally, David. I can promise you that.”
“I guess that’ll have to be good enough.”
Jen was away from her desk when Jack arrived at Andi’s office. Through the open door, he could see her working at her desk, lost in concentration as she pored over fabric swatches. He watched her smother a yawn and then cleared his throat to let her know he was there.
“Hey,” she said, welcoming him with a warm smile.
“Am I disturbing you?”
“Please come disturb me.” She got up to close the door. “How do you manage to look so good with no sleep? I’m a wreck.”
He sat and drew her onto his lap. “If that’s what you look like when you’re a wreck, I can’t wait to get you really tired.”
Today she wore a fashionable black pantsuit with a fuchsia silk blouse. She’d left her hair down the way he liked it. When he put his arms around her, she rested her head on his shoulder.
“I couldn’t wait to see you this morning,” she whispered in his ear.
“Me either.” He kissed her forehead. “I just had an interesting conversation with your friend David.”
She raised her head to look at him. “Interesting how?”
“He more or less asked my intentions.”
Groaning, she said, “I’m sorry. He’s very protective. We go back to college, and he and his wife Lauren were so good to me after Alec left.”
“I’m glad you have someone like him looking out for you. I like him.”
“I thought you would. You two have a lot in common.” She paused, dropped her eyes, and added, “So what are your intentions?”
He raised her chin to compel her to look at him. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. I love you, and I’ll never hurt you on purpose.”
“When will we see each other?”
“Weekends, holidays, whenever we can. For now.”
“For now?”
“Let’s just take it a week at a time and see how it goes, okay?”
“I suppose that’ll work. For now.” She pressed her lips to his. “When do you have to leave?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“So soon?”
“I want to stay longer, but Jill’s playing in a big lacrosse tournament this week, and I need be there. I missed too much last year.”
She stood up and went over to her desk to check her calendar. “What about next weekend?”
They went back and forth and ended up at Columbus Day—the weekend of Quinn’s wedding.
“Why don’t you and Eric come with us?”
“Are you sure she won’t mind?”
“I’m positive.”
“What about the girls?”
“I’ll talk to them before you come. Don’t worry. We’ll take the boat, since I gave Quinn the Block Island house for the wedding.”
“You’re a good guy, Jack Harrington.” Andi returned to his lap. “But now that you’ve come and swept me off my feet, how am I supposed to live without you for almost a month?”
“I was just wondering the same thing.” He checked his watch and found it was five after noon. “We need to leave soon to see a boy about a ballgame.”
She got up, straightened her desk, and shut off her computer.
He took her briefcase and put his arm around her. “There’s a defect in my suite I wanted to bring to your attention,” he said in a serious tone. “It’s something the chief decorator should probably tend to personally.”
She laughed. “You’re shameless.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He held her close during the elevator ride to the fifteenth floor. “Ever done it in an elevator?”
“Shameful.”
Flashing her a dirty grin, he pulled off his tie and released his top button.
The elevator doors opened, and he led her to his suite where they spent an hour checking the “defects” before the game.
After the game and dinner, they rode the elevator to Andi’s apartment. Eric was asleep on Jack’s shoulder, clutching a new Cubs pennant in one hand, his baseball glove in the other. Jack helped Andi undress the boy and get him into bed.
“Whew,” she said as they tiptoed out of Eric’s room and closed the door halfway. “He’s done for.”
Jack yawned and followed her to the living room. “I know how he feels.”
“He had a wonderful time, Jack. Thanks again for getting the tickets.”
“I loved it when he crawled into my lap at the game. He’s adorable.”
“I’ve decided to keep him.”
Jack stretched out on the sofa and invited her to join him. “Are you still upset about your mom? She seemed pretty pissed.”
Andi snuggled into his embrace. “I’m disappointed. It’s not like her to be so rude.”
“She’s worried about you. I can understand that.”
“It’s funny, really, because she loved Alec, and look at how that worked out.”
“She doesn’t want you hurt like that again.”
“This is different.” She turned to face him. “It’s different.”
With his hands on her face, he kissed her gently, a charge of excitement coursing through him as it did every time he touched her. It was different. He felt it, too. “Are you sure your mother is staying at her sister’s?”
“Yep.”
He worked his way free of the sofa, held out a hand to help her up, and swept her into his arms. “Which way to your room?”
She laughed and pointed the way.