Kissing Under The Mistletoe: The Sullivans (Contemporary Romance) (20 page)

Jack hoped like hell that he was making some
sense, but he’d never been caught up in a storm of emotions like
this before. Only Mary could have unleashed such passion from a man
who had always been so rational.

“I don’t want to push you any faster than
you’re ready to go, and you’ve already given me so much more than I
ever dreamed I’d have, but—”

Mary lifted her hands to touch his as they
rested on her cheeks and, at that exact moment, her mouth covered
his, and her kiss stole the rest of his words. His heart hammered
in his chest as she stroked her tongue over his. Of course, he
loved kissing her, but right now he needed to understand what her
kiss meant. Was she trying to tell him she felt the same way…or was
she trying to stop him before he said anything more?

Gently, he drew her back, but before he could
ask her anything, she was looking at him with such open trust and
so much emotion that his hands would have trembled if she hadn’t
been holding them.

“I love you, too, Jack.”

For the first few seconds after she spoke,
all he could do was stare at the most beautiful woman he’d ever
known and marvel not only that she was here with him but also that
she’d actually said the three sweetest words he’d ever heard.

Finally, when he thought he’d found his voice
again, he said, “You—”

He stopped, more than a little afraid to
repeat the words out of fear that she’d take them back when she
finally realized she’d said them aloud to him.

“I meant what I said earlier tonight,” she
said in a soft but steady voice. “I don’t want to let what happened
with Romain ruin the best thing I’ve ever known.” Her eyes were the
clearest blue he’d ever seen as she said, “I know you told me you’d
wait for me, but I don’t want either of us to wait anymore.
Especially when I knew from the first moment I saw you that you
were special. I feel like I’ve been running my whole life, speeding
from a small town into a big city, jumping from one place to the
next for years until they all blurred together. And right when I
decided it was time to finally stop running and set down some
roots, there you were. My new beginning.” Her eyes filled with
tears as she smiled up at him and slid her arms around his neck to
pull him closer. “My love.”

Jack sank down onto the couch with Mary, her
curves soft beneath his muscles. “I’ll always be yours, Angel.
Forever.”

Jack would never forget their first kiss
under the mistletoe, and he would never forget this one,
either.

Their first kiss after
I
love you
…

The next day Jack was surprisingly full of
energy as he went from meeting to meeting, despite the fact that
neither he nor Mary had gotten much sleep, having spent most of the
night discovering ever new joys of being with each other. Not even
the string of corporate meetings he’d been in today could tax his
strength when he knew Mary would be waiting for him at her house
that evening with open arms.

Jack could still hardly believe he’d been
lucky enough to stumble onto her photo shoot in Union Square that
fateful afternoon, when all hope for his career had almost been
lost. Just as she’d said, it had been a new beginning to something
so much bigger, so much sweeter, than anything he could ever have
imagined.

He’d been looking for a miracle to save his
company…but in Mary he’d found far more than that.

This morning, when the first rays of light
had come in through her bedroom window, he’d awakened with Mary
spooned into his chest and hips, with his hand over her heart, and
hers curled into his palm. Jack had been hit with a fierce need to
keep her love all to himself, just for a little while longer. Soon
he’d shout from the rooftops that Mary was his, but for just a few
extra hours, he didn’t want to have to answer the questions that
would surely come from all quarters—from people who knew them and
journalists who didn’t—when their relationship was revealed.

“I know we’re not hiding anymore,” he’d said
softly as she’d turned into his arms so that her head was in the
crook of his shoulder and her hand was resting over his heart, “but
I don’t think I’m ready to share you just yet.”

She’d smiled up at him, her olive skin and
long, dark hair a beautiful contrast to the ivory sheets. “You know
what they say about secret kisses, don’t you?”

He should have been completely tapped out
from their lovemaking during the night, but when she let the sheets
slip from her shoulders and moved her gorgeous naked curves over
him, then
showed
him exactly how good
secret kisses could be, Jack knew he’d never get enough of Mary.
Their lovemaking had also helped him to ignore the relief that had
flashed across her face when he’d said he wanted to keep things
private between them a little while longer.

Still, he knew they couldn’t keep their love
a secret forever. At some point in the very near future, they’d
have to weather the fascination that was bound to come from an
international celebrity choosing to settle down with an ordinary
man who fiddled with electronics for a living. Jack desperately
hoped Mary would be ready for that when it happened….

With bumper-to-bumper traffic in the city
that afternoon, Jack decided it would be faster to forgo a taxi to
Walter Industries and head there on foot, instead. Allen had asked
to see Jack, Larry and Howie this afternoon so that they could
touch base on the progress they’d made these past two weeks and to
make sure they were all on the same page heading into the big
pre-Christmas launch in a couple of days.

As he walked past a strip of high-end stores,
the glint of light off a ring in a jewelry store window stopped
Jack in his tracks.

He’d often heard it said that the key to
success was never to make the mistake of letting something shiny
along the path pull one’s attention away from the end goal. But, as
an inventor, Jack had learned the enormous value of paying
attention to those little glimmers that arrived and surprised him.
Because sometimes you were so busy looking for answers that you
missed seeing them when they were right in front of you.

He was inside the jewelry store a moment
later asking to see the ring in the window. The diamond at the
center of the slender band had been cut into a perfect circle and
was set with smaller diamonds in a delicate ring all around it.

“This is a traditional Italian engagement
ring from our estate collection,” the slim woman behind the counter
told him. “It’s approximately eighty years old, and the woman who
sold it to us said her grandmother wore it with great love her
whole life. The smaller diamonds surrounding the center diamond
symbolize the eternity of love.”

No wonder he’d been so drawn to the ring. It
was not only from Italy, but it had a history of great love.

The woman discreetly showed him the price,
and he had to blink a couple of times to process the large number
before saying, “I’d appreciate it a great deal if you’d hold this
ring for me. I don’t have the money right now, but I’ll get
it.”

“I can hold it until closing, sir.”

“I’ll be back for it before then,” he
promised.

It had been less than twenty-four hours since
they’d declared their love for each other, but Jack had waited his
whole life to meet Mary. Most people took a while to go from “I
love you” to “Will you marry me?” But just as he couldn’t have held
back that love from her last night, he knew he wouldn’t be able to
wait for their new beginning to be official, either.

This was the ring he would give to Mary when
he asked her to be his forever.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Jack walked into
Allen’s office, barely noticing the spectacular view of the Bay and
the bridge from the chairman’s windows.

“Great news, Jack,” Allen greeted him as he
came around his desk and shook Jack’s hand. “We’ve got nearly all
of the major retailers on board already, and we haven’t even had
our official campaign launch yet.” Allen was as animated—and
pleased—as Jack had ever seen him. “Mary’s face and personal
endorsement of the Pocket Planner have been pure advertising gold.
You were right not to give up hope on your invention. I’ve got a
very good feeling about what the Christmas season is going to bring
for all of us.”

Jack had a good feeling about things, too,
but for different reasons. Because, while he was happy that their
business was going well, solidifying his future with Mary now took
precedence over everything else.

“I’m glad to hear things are going well,”
Jack said, and then in his characteristically direct way, he said,
“I need an advance on my earnings, Allen. This afternoon,
actually.”

“You need money this afternoon?” The other
man raised an eyebrow. “How much?”

Jack told him the number, and Allen stared at
him for a long moment before finally nodding. “Excuse me while I
call my personal banker to let him know to have a cashier’s check
for that amount waiting for you immediately.”

“Thank you.” Jack had never asked anyone for
a loan before, and he’d very rarely asked for a favor, either. But
his pride could take a backseat for a few hours. Mary was more
important.

After concluding the call, Allen sat back in
his chair. “You don’t strike me as the kind of man who would get
himself into trouble gambling, Jack.” Clearly, he was dying for
more details, but in the end he simply said, “Whatever you’re
planning to use that money for, I hope it’s worth it.”

“I don’t have a single doubt about that.”
Jack decided that Allen’s vote of confidence in him deserved one in
return. “I’m going to ask Mary to marry me. Your generous advance
on profits has just made it possible for me to buy her the ring she
deserves.”

Allen’s eyes grew big. “You’re with Mary? Our
Mary?” When Jack nodded, Allen had to clarify one more time, “Mary
Ferrer?”

“I’m in love with her.”

“Of course, you’re in love with her. Who
isn’t?” Allen replied, but his shock was already shifting to
admiration. “I couldn’t have written the headlines better myself:
An Unexpected Christmas Romance Between Our Brilliant Inventor and
the Gorgeous Model. She was already the golden touch we needed for
this campaign, but if she says yes to your proposal, the two of you
together will be the best story we could ever have—”

Jack cut Allen off. “I appreciate your
cashier’s check, and that you’re so excited about things working
out between Mary and myself. But we’d like to keep things private
between us for as long as we possibly can.” The chairman had just
done him a great favor by issuing the check, but Jack’s gratitude
didn’t extend to selling their “love story” to the press,
especially not given Mary’s past with Romain. “I would
never
exploit our relationship for increased
profits.”

After a long silence, Allen spoke. “Very few
people stand up to me anymore. I’m richer, smarter, and more
powerful than all of them. But you’ve surprised me from the start,
Jack.” Allen suddenly grinned, looking ten years younger as he
waved Jack out of the room. “Go get your ring and the girl. I’d
wish you luck, but I have a feeling you’re not going to need
it.”

Jack thanked Allen again and was just getting
into the elevator when Howie and Larry stepped out of it.

“Where are you going?” Howie asked. “Isn’t
Allen waiting for all of us in his office?”

“You two can take this meeting without me.
I’ll see you all tomorrow at the final shoot.”

Where, hopefully, he’d arrive as a newly
engaged man.

* * *

Mary had really enjoyed the mix of photo
shoots and interviews while working on Jack’s campaign, but tonight
was her favorite moment so far. The ad agency had booked her to be
a part of the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Union Square, and
she would be giving away twenty-five free Pocket Planners as early
Christmas gifts to people in the crowd.

Already, Mary had spotted several people who
she guessed would really benefit from one. A young mother trying to
simultaneously hold the hands of three rambunctious children. A
businessman who had arrived tense and harried but who, when he saw
his kids in the crowd, immediately dropped his briefcase to the
ground to catch their hugs. Even the teenage girl with the heavy
backpack who was clearly dreaming of finishing her classes for the
semester so that she could enjoy winter break with her friends.

The night air was crisp and the sky was clear
and sparkling with stars. The only thing that could make Mary’s
night better was if Jack were here to share it with her.

For the dozenth time that day, she worked to
push back her impatient longing for him…especially when there was
only an hour left to go before she could meet him at her house.

Though the night was cool, remembering their
lovemaking from the night before made Mary warm all over. How sweet
Jack had been as he whispered “I love you” over every bare inch of
her skin, then followed up his words with heated kisses that stole
every last rational thought from her brain. Again and again they’d
loved each other, until they’d finally fallen asleep in each
other’s arms. They’d awakened to tangled sheets and a sensual
hunger that hadn’t even come close to being sated. Mary had never
known pleasure so sweet, so decadent or so overwhelming.

Deep inside, the still-wary part of her heart
kept trying to warn her not to let bliss blind her to the
possibility of future pain. But she refused to listen.

Jack was different. Yes, they were working
together on his campaign, but every step of the way, he’d reassured
her that his feelings for her had nothing to do with business.

And that he loved her.

Still, nothing soothed her lingering fears
better than being in Jack’s arms. Yet again she wished he were—