Chapter 12 #2
He held the elevator door and stepped in after her.
“Doesn’t seem to be enough, though. Somehow they keep getting in, despite everything we’re doing to stop them.
” He watched her swallow hard and wanted to shoot himself for being so stupid.
“You don’t need to be worried that he’s going to find you here, Jessie.
I’m sorry I mentioned the vandalism. I wasn’t thinking. ”
“It’s okay.” She looked up at him with those bottomless blue eyes. “I just hate to add to your burden. You’ve got enough going on without having to baby-sit me, too.”
He smiled. “Babysitting you is a real hardship, Ms. Stone.”
Her eyes twinkled with mirth as she dug out the key to her apartment. Sounding just like Scarlet O’Hara herself, Jessie said, “Why you’re just a regular charmer, Mr. Beck.”
Taking the key from her, he opened the door. When he went to give it back to her, she surprised him by wrapping her hand around his.
“Can you come in for a bit?”
Struck dumb, he could only stare at her exquisite face.
“I, ah, I should probably get home. We could both use some sleep.” He had the best of intentions, really he did.
She had come here seeking refuge from a man who was harassing her.
The last thing Beck wanted to do was complicate her life any more than it already was.
But when she looped her arms around his neck and leaned her lush body into his, he did what any man in that situation would have done—he dipped his head and fused his lips to hers.
Everything about that kiss rocked his world.
From the way she pressed herself against him to the timid strokes of her tongue against his, from the mewling sounds that came from the back of her throat to her fingers spooling through his hair, Beck had never experienced anything quite like kissing Jessie Stone.
The fragrance that reminded him of soft summer flowers drifted through his senses as he held her close to him and tried to rein in the overwhelming urge to plunder.
“Mmm,” she sighed against his lips. “You’re good at that.”
He laughed. Damn, she was cute! And young—far too young for him, if he were being honest. The thought sobered him. He drew back from her. “I should get going.”
“Oh.” She released him and stepped back. “I’m sorry. I’m not usually so forward. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You weren’t forward. I wanted that as much as you did—maybe even more.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I’m ten years older than you. You’re here because you’re trying to get away from a guy who’s hassling you. This isn’t what you need right now.”
Her soft blue eyes hardened. “Aren’t you presumptuous to be telling me what I need. Didn’t you just meet me yesterday?”
Surprised to find a hell of a backbone under her genteel Southern exterior, he marveled at the transformation from magnolia to steel magnolia. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Well, that’s not fair,” she huffed. “I was working up a good mad, and you just ruined it.”
“You’re a hell of a woman, Jessie Stone,” he said with a chuckle as he reached out to caress her cheek. “And I’m still too old for you.”
She reached for the hand that caressed her face and tugged him into the apartment, kicking the door closed behind them. Steering him to the sofa, she pushed him down and then sat on the coffee table to face him. “I’ve been on my own since I was fifteen.”
“Why so young?”
She studied him and appeared to be deciding something. “I don’t talk about this. Ever.”
“You don’t have to now.”
“I know, but for some reason I want to.”
Touched by her candor, he reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers.
“My stepfather abused me.”
Beck gasped. “Jessie. . .”
She paused for a long moment, as if she were gathering her thoughts. “He was so nice to me when he and my mother were dating. Brought me presents, took me places I’d never been, and treated me like a princess. He even called me that—princess.”
Riveted by her softly spoken words and filled with anxiety over where this was leading, Beck watched her retreat into herself and her memories.
“I developed early,” she said, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
“That summer, I noticed him watching me with this funny look on his face. I didn’t know what it meant.
” Her voice trailed off. She continued in what was barely more than a whisper.
“The bad stuff started when I was twelve. At first, I remember being shocked and confused and scared. Really, really scared.”
Beck cleared the huge lump from his throat. “You couldn’t tell your mother?”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach eyes that had taken on a dull, flat hue. “She didn’t believe me. She said I was jealous of her.”
“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”
Jessie shrugged, and the helpless gesture tugged at his already over-involved heart. “I’ve come to understand that she needed her marriage to work more than she needed to protect me.”
He reached for her and brought her onto his lap. “She totally failed you.”
Jessie rested her head on his shoulder. “I know, and that’s why I couldn’t fail myself. I was already doing some local modeling. I saved every dime I made. When I was fifteen, I took the bus to New York, and I’ve never looked back.”
So for three years she put up with that monster’s abuse, he thought. “I can’t imagine being alone in that city at fifteen.”
“It was scary, but not as scary as wondering what kind of mood my stepfather would be in when he got home at night. That was much scarier.”
On the verge of vowing to make sure she would never be hurt by anyone ever again, Beck held her close to him.
“I got lucky with a few good modeling jobs early on, despite the fact that I looked even younger than I was. I’m told I still do.”
“Except for in pictures. You look much older.”
“I’ve decided that being young looking isn’t such a bad thing in my business.
Anyway, I made enough to lease a studio apartment, and I waited tables to fill in the gaps.
Three years ago, I landed Artie as my agent and things really took off.
I got Victoria’s Secret and then Sports Illustrated.
Everything’s been kind of crazy since then, and not necessarily in a good way.
” Her face clouded, and he knew she was thinking of her stalker.
“Be careful what you wish for?”
“Exactly!” She seemed pleased he understood. “I’ve been lucky so far with the media. People don’t recognize me away from work, so I don’t have to deal with the insanity the way Liana does. I don’t know how she can stand it.”
“From what Travis says, she can’t.” He toyed with her fingers. “What about your mother and stepfather?”
“I haven’t spoken to either of them since I left home. I’ve heard they’re still together, but my mother has aged tremendously. She must know that if I was willing to walk away and never look back, that I wasn’t lying to her.”
“And yet she stays with him, knowing what he did to her daughter. It’s disgusting.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re upset. I shouldn’t have told you this.”
“Don’t apologize to me, honey. You’ve got nothing to apologize for. I’d like to go find him and show him what happens to guys who pick on defenseless kids.”
She smiled.
“What’s so amusing?”
“You.” With her hand on his face, she turned him toward her and kissed him. “Thank you for being mad on my behalf.”
“Mad doesn’t begin to describe what I am. Have you ever thought about reporting him? There’s no statute of limitation on child abuse.”
She shook her head. “I’d never want to revisit that chapter of my life.”
“What if he didn’t stop with you? What if there were others?” Beck could tell by her pained expression that she’d considered the possibility.
“I’ve spent a lot of years in therapy and worked really hard to distance myself from it. It’s a big deal for me to even be able to talk about it. I don’t think I could report it, even though I know I probably should.”
“I understand. I’m not trying to make it harder on you. That’s the last thing I want.”
She nuzzled into his neck, rendering him paralyzed when her lips brushed against his skin. “You smell good,” she whispered. “So good.”
“Jessie—”
“Yes?”
He swallowed. “You’re making it really hard for me to remember I’m trying to be a good guy and do the right thing by you.”
Giggling, she squirmed against his erection.
He gasped.
“You weren’t kidding.”
He knew if he didn’t get out of there in the next thirty seconds, he was going to do something he’d regret in the morning. “I should go.” With his hands on her hips, he eased her up and off his lap and stood up.
“I’ve had trouble,” she said, biting on her thumbnail as she looked up at him.
“With?”
“Men. Sex. I get to ‘the moment’ and can’t bring myself to actually go through with it.”
“So, you’ve never. . . With anyone else?”
She shook her head.
“Jessie,” he said on a long exhale.
“I want it to be you.” The words tumbled out fast, as if she was afraid she would chicken out if she didn’t get it said quickly. “I want you to be the one to show me how it’s supposed to be.”
“But you don’t even know me—”
“I know you, Peter.” She rested her hands on his chest. “When I first saw you last night, do you know what I thought?”
Incapable of speech, he shook his head.
“There he is. He’s the one. I’ve never felt anything quite so clearly.”
Astounded that she had experienced the same powerful sensation of acute awareness, Beck placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m honored, honey. You have no idea how honored I am.”
She stepped back from him. “But you don’t want me.”
“Don’t want you?” he asked, incredulous. “Are you serious? Any guy would want you.”
“I don’t want any guy. I want you.”
He scrubbed his fingers through his short blond hair, realizing he was bungling what would no doubt go down as one of the most important moments of his life. Reaching for her, he wrapped his arms around her and propped his chin on the top of her head. “I have a suggestion.”
“I’m listening.”
He wondered if she purposely brushed her lips against his throat. “I propose we see each other for the next week. If you still feel the same way, I’ll consider it.”
“No.”
“Why not?” he asked, startled by her vehemence.
She looked up at him. “We’ll see each other for the next week, I’ll still feel the same way, and you’ll not consider anything. You’ll act.”
“Act?”
“Act,” she said with a coy smile.
“Are you always this bossy?” he asked, amused and more intrigued by her with every passing moment.
“I’ve been running my own show for a long time, buddy. I know what I want, and I know how to get it.”
“I’m a little bit afraid of you right now.” And a whole lot turned on, he thought.
She tossed her head back and laughed.
As he watched her, he saw in her both a carefree girl and a woman wise beyond her years. That she had set her sights on him was nothing short of amazing.
“Will it bother you if I call you Peter? Since we plan to sleep together, I don’t feel right calling you by your last name.”
“Nobody calls me that, but you can if you want to. So we have a deal?”
She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “You bet we do.”