The soft exhalation of her breathing stirred his chest hairs and he felt something close to contentment with her in his arms. She looked peaceful and ethereal in her sleep.
The sheets pooled low on her waist revealing the curves of her breasts and the slope of her hip. He reached out to trace the line of her body. She was a dancer, long and lithe yet still had a feminine curve to her.
What was he going to do with her?
He should be hustling her out of his bed and instead he wanted to draw her closer and lay here until she woke.
Then he wanted to make love to her and spend the day with her.
He stared down at her trying to figure out what it was about Jen that was different. Part of it was the obvious fact that she wasn’t in his crowd and seemed to have no desire to use his connections to get anywhere.
She was the first woman he met that needed nothing from him. To be fair, she worked for him at the club, but that had nothing to do with him personally.
“Why are you staring at me?” she asked, shifting on to her back.
“You are incredibly pretty,” he said.
She seemed to get more beautiful as he spent more time with her. He loved the fuller curve at the bottom of her lip and how she pursed her lips when she thought he was joking with her.
“I’m a real Mona Lisa,” she said.
“You are a very interesting woman, Jen,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “I could look at you all day.”
“I’m not sure—”
“Don’t think about it,” he said, putting his finger over her lips. “Let’s spend the day together and enjoy the time we have.”
“What will we do?” she asked. “I have to be at work at five.”
“Me, too,” he said. He rolled over on his back and reached for his iPhone, which was on the nightstand. He pulled her into the curve of his body. She cuddled close to him the way she had when they’d been sleeping and he liked that.
He opened the weather application on his iPhone and saw that it was going to be a perfect day for sailing. “Want to go out on my yacht?”
She laughed. “Do you say that to all the women you date?”
“Yes. I don’t have etchings to show them so instead I invite them to go boating.”
“I’d love to go out on your yacht. But I don’t have a change of clothes to wear,” she said.
“There’s a boutique in the lobby of this building,” he said. “What size do you wear?”
“Um … six,” she said.
“I’ll order some clothing for you.”
“No, that’s okay. I think I’ll go home and shower and change. I can meet you at the marina later,” she said.
He shook his head. “That won’t do. I want to spend the entire day with you.”
“And you’re used to getting what you want?” she asked.
“I am,” he said. He didn’t always get what he wanted but she didn’t need to know that right now.
“Why should I stay?” she asked.
“I asked you to. I want to get to know you better,” he said.
“I guess I can’t argue with that,” she said. “I’m very glad to hear that. My housekeeper should be here now. What would you like for breakfast?” “I’m a light breakfast eater,” she said. “How about a croissant and fruit?” he suggested.
“That’s fine.”
“Good. You go shower and I’ll take care of every detail for our day. You can use my robe until your clothes arrive.”
“Thank you,” she said. He kissed her before she got up and watched her walk across his bedroom.
As soon as she was gone, he focused on organizing the day for the two of them. He kept himself busy so he wouldn’t think about making love to her again. He felt a bond growing between them. And that was dangerous for him. He should have hustled her out the door when he had the chance but he wasn’t really good with should-haves.
He dressed in a pair of casual pants and a T-shirt and walked out into the main living area of his apartment. The sun shone over Biscayne Bay and glistened on the lap pool on the terrace.
“Good morning, sir,” Mrs. Cushing said as he entered the room.
“Morning, Mrs. Cushing. I have a guest for breakfast and we’d like something light—fruit, croissants, coffee and juice. I think we’ll be ready to dine in about thirty minutes on the patio.”
“Certainly, sir.”
“I’m expecting some packages from the boutique downstairs. Will you check and make sure they are here before breakfast?”
“I will. Anything else, sir?”
“I won’t need you for the rest of the day once you serve breakfast. I hope you will enjoy a free Saturday.”
“I enjoy all the free days you give me,” she said.
“I’m glad. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sir,” she said.
Nate went back into the bedroom and heard the shower running. He was tempted to join her in there but wanted her to have some time to herself. And if he joined her, it would be more than sleeping together. More than a one-night stand. Besides he wasn’t building a relationship with Jen no matter how much it might seem like he wanted to do just that.
While Nate showered, Jen sat on the rooftop patio of his home next to the lap pool looking out at the glittering Biscayne Bay. The view afforded by this condo was breathtaking but to be honest, it wasn’t the stunning vistas that were on her mind. It was Nate Stern.
She knew that yesterday had been tough—the International Ballroom Dancing Federation had denied her appeal. She’d never dance again. But to come home and spend the night with him … why had she done that?
She didn’t regret it. She tried not to have regret in her life because as Marcia said, regret was useless unless a lesson was learned from it.
Her BlackBerry pinged and she glanced down at the screen to see it was a text message from Marcia.
Are you okay?
She took a deep breath and thought about what she was going to say to her sister before she texted her back.
Fine. I’m at Nate’s. Sorry I didn’t call sooner.
There was no reply for what seemed like forever and then her phone rang.
“Hello, Marcia.”
“Jen, what are you thinking?”
Jen had asked herself the same thing more than once and she still had no idea. “I don’t know. I do know that my old life is completely gone and it’s time to try something new.”
Marcia sighed. “Sweetie, just be careful. Deciding to have a different attitude isn’t as painless as you might think.”
“Was it like that for you?” “When Riley was born?” “Yes,” Jen said.
“Sort of. I knew before he was born that I was going to be raising him alone and that wasn’t what you and I were taught was a good family for a child.”
“I know. But Riley has turned out great,” Jen reminded her sister.
“He has, but it was