Breathless Secrets (Rose Garden Apartments Book 3) Read online

  She beamed up at him. “Thank you for a wonderful evening.”

  “Time, Molly,” he ground out, stepping forward, then stopping himself and stepping back again. “Tomorrow. Our agreement was for two dinners. I chose tonight’s restaurant. You get to choose tomorrow.”

  He was right. The agreement was for two dinners. It wouldn’t work. She still didn’t think that they were right for each other. This intense, sexual attraction was only a small part of the grand scheme of making a long term relationship work. But she had agreed to two dinners with him.

  “Same time tomorrow. And in jeans.”

  “Fine. Six o’clock,” he agreed, his voice slightly strained. “Now go inside and let me hear you lock the door so I can get out of here before I forget that damn no-kissing idiocy.”

  She giggled, feeling happy and powerful and wonderfully feminine. “Good night, Mr. Morgan,” she said, just to poke the bear. Then she slipped into her apartment and turned the bolt on her door.

  James walked back to his car, his body on edge. He hadn’t kissed her tonight, but he hadn’t promised anything for the second night! Tomorrow, he would kiss her. He was going to discover what the lovely Molly Bradshaw tasted like, how she felt in his arms with all of those lush, wonderful curves pressed against him.

  Twenty-four hours, he promised his aching body. Just twenty-four more hours!

  Chapter 3

  Molly paced across the small expanse of her apartment, shaking her fingers as if that might ease the tension that had taken hold of her.

  She hadn’t slept well last night, too busy wondering what it would be like to be kissed by James Morgan. Would he be gentle and persuasive? Or was he a hard kisser? Demanding?

  Whichever way he kissed her, she was pretty sure that she would like it.

  Perhaps she should have asked him to kiss her last night. Had he done that on purpose? Had he known that holding back would drive her wild with wondering? She’d been so distracted all day today, even the kids had noticed.

  So when the doorbell rang, she yanked it open, glaring up at James.

  “I didn’t do it,” he announced as soon as he saw her mutinous expression. He even held his hands up, as if she were pointing a pistol at him.

  Molly couldn’t help it. After all of the tension, the mental back and forth, and the fifty times she’d decided to call him up and cancel tonight, she couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. How could he have such an effect on her? He just…she was tense and angry and he completely disarmed her with a single comment.

  Stepping into the apartment, James carefully closed the door and took her into his arms. When his lips finally covered hers, she shivered, shocked at the soft texture of his lips against hers. It was a soft, gentle, coaxing kiss, that she felt shimmer all the way down to her toes. The kiss went on and on and Molly felt herself melting into him.

  When he straightened, Molly blinked, suddenly realizing that she was in his arms, her fingers tangled in his hair, and every inch of her body was pressed against him.

  “Oh!” she gasped, pulling away. Carefully, she smoothed her shirt down, wondering how it had gotten so twisted. The skin on her back felt hot, almost burned, and she realized that his hands had been on her bare skin.

  “I wasn’t expecting that,” she whispered, putting a hand on the counter to help support her wobbly legs.

  “I was. Ever since I left last night, I’ve been thinking about kissing you.” He stepped forward, but stopped suddenly, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his khaki slacks. “But perhaps we should get out of here…like, right now.”

  Molly’s dark eyes widen. “What…?” then she realized that he was looking at her bedroom, his jaw clenching. “Right!” she whispered, pushing away from the counter and grabbing the two bags, one a cooler and the other a fabric bag in which she’d packed the nonperishable items.

  “What’s this?” he asked, taking both of the bags from her.

  “Dinner,” she announced after taking a deep breath. Even looking at his hands as they held the bags was turning her on!

  “We’re eating…where?” he asked.

  She grinned, pleased she’d managed to throw him off balance for a change. Lord knows that he’d done that often enough over the short span of time since she’d met him. Was it only two days ago?

  “We’re having a picnic. You said I could choose my favorite place. So, I chose the airport.”

  He’d already turned towards the doorway, but at her words, he froze and spun around, staring at her in surprise. “Your favorite place to eat, in all of the Washington, D.C. area, is the airport?” He looked stumped for a moment, then chuckled. “You’re teasing me, right?”

  She grinned up at him, shaking her head. “Nope. There’s a place on the edge of the river at the end of one of National Airport’s runways. And the planes are landing today. It’s my favorite place to eat,” she told him.

  He stared at her for a long moment, then shrugged. “Okay, lead the way.”

  Fifteen minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot of a small park right off Route One. It wasn’t an easy place to get to because of the traffic patterns, nor was it a place that many people knew about. Probably because it didn’t look particularly inviting. There wasn’t a whole lot here to look at.

  “Seriously?” he asked, peering around. “This is where you want to eat dinner?”

  She laughed and pushed open the passenger door. “Yep. I promise. You’ll love this.”

  She walked to the back of his Mercedes and waited until he popped the trunk. She started to reach for the bags, but he beat her to them. “Not while I’m around,” he grumbled.

  She grinned, feeling special for some odd reason. She was perfectly capable of carrying the bags. They weren’t heavy, and even if they were, she was strong and could handle them. But she couldn’t deny that it was really nice to have James carry them for her.

  “Where are we going?” he asked, looking around.

  She pointed to her favorite spot. “It isn’t crowded today, so let’s get as close as possible. Over there is the best place,” she said, indicating the spot closest to a bunch of weeds.

  “Is that the runway?” he asked, following her.

  Her reply was drowned out by a plane coming in for a landing. James looked up, startled by the loud noise. The plane was flying so low, it seemed like one could reach up and touch the bottom of the plane!

  His head swiveled, watching as the plane skidded onto the runway on the other side of the water. And Molly felt a sense of pride that she’d surprised him. She suspected that not many people managed to surprise James.

  “Wow!” he muttered, still watching the plane.

  Molly laid out the blanket. “Told ya.” She started pulling things out of the bags. Cheese, crackers, sliced meats, and then she set out the container filled with the cookies that Norma had baked especially for her. They were chocolate on the bottom and caramel on the top and they snapped when you bit into them.

  “This looks fantastic,” he gushed as he settled down and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “What’s to drink?” he asked.

  Molly grinned, pulling the small cooler closer. “I can’t afford the fancy wine that you’re used to, so I didn’t bother.” She held up two bottles of flavored seltzers. “Which would you prefer? I brought different flavors since I had no idea which you’d prefer.”

  “I’m a berry person,” he announced, accepting the raspberry flavored seltzer. “This is really nice, Molly. Thank you!”

  She beamed, warmed by his compliment. “Here,” she said, handing him the cheese knife. “There’s a cutting board in there too.”

  For the next several hours, Molly and James sat on the blanket, nibbling on the cheese and crackers, talking about astronomy, of all things. He loved the space program, the shuttles and the international space station. She sat there, admiring him as he wowed her with his knowledge. Because it was an unusually clear night for August, he pointed to the v
arious constellations that came into view once the sun went down.

  In fact, she enjoyed the evening so much that she was smothering her yawns, wishing the night would never end. The sexual awareness was still there, still thrumming in the background. But it was muted at the moment.

  “Why are you so tired?” he asked, keeping pace with her as they made their way back to her apartment.

  She glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye, and then let her gaze drop back to the sidewalk in front of her. “I didn’t sleep well last night,” she admitted.

  A sense of rightness filled him with her words. “Because I didn’t kiss you?”

  She laughed softly. “That may have had something to do with it.”

  They were at her door now and he set the bags down beside her. “I’m not making that mistake tonight,” he warned. “But I won’t go inside.”

  “You won’t?”

  “No,’ he replied, shaking his head. “That would be too dangerous.”

  He watched as her tongue darted out, wetting her lips, making his body tighten.

  “Yes. Probably dangerous.”

  He stepped closer, resting his hands on her hips. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  “We should probably–”

  He interrupted her with a kiss. For a long moment, their lips simply brushed together, back and forth, caressing and testing, teasing and tempting. But when Molly inhaled slightly, he deepened the kiss, feeling her fingers tentatively touch his shoulders. He didn’t want tentative. Not with Molly! He wanted all of her. He wanted to pull her against him, hold her tight, and never let go.

  Kissing her now was more of a desperate, aching need than a temptation. When her mouth opened and he felt her trembling reaction, James fought to control himself. But her fingers caressing the back of his neck distracted him. Her touch was his undoing. Ravenous now, he pulled her more firmly against him, needing to touch and feel every inch of her and he silently cursed the clothing between them.

  “Molly, are you okay?” a male voice called out.

  The sound was like a douse of ice water. Startled, he looked up to find an older man glaring at him as if he wanted to shoot him. James debated the possibility of telling the man to go to hell, but Molly pushed against his chest and, before he could do anything, she pulled out of his arms.

  “Hi Mick,” she greeted the man.

  The guy didn’t look happy, even with Molly’s reassuring greeting.

  “You okay, Molls?” he asked again.

  Molly stepped further away from James and it took all of his control not to pull her back into his arms.

  “I’m fine, Mick. Thanks for checking on me.” She smiled at the man who looked to be in his early sixties. His skin was a shade of dark chocolate, and his hair was black, with gray streaks gracing his temples and sideburns. His hands were gnarled, as if his arthritis was too painful for him to straighten his fingers.

  “It’s pretty late,” he commented, staring pointedly at James.

  “Yes,” Molly said. “You’re right. And we all work tomorrow.” She glanced up at James. He couldn’t see her expression clearly, but he saw the sparkle of humor in her eyes. “I’ll see you later, James. Thank you for a wonderful evening.”

  James clenched his hands, wanting to finish that kiss. Hell, he wanted that kiss to go on forever! He didn’t want to leave!

  Still, he knew when he was being dismissed. He might not like it, but he understood. Molly obviously respected this man and didn’t want to upset him. Or was she avoiding disappointment? The man seemed a bit like a father figure to Molly.

  He wasn’t sure. Since he didn’t know who his father was, and his mother had been out of his life since he was very young, he’d never experienced parental disapproval before. It was a foreign concept.

  “I’ll call you later,” he said, and just because he didn’t want to feel dictated to, he bent down and brushed his lips against Molly’s one more time.

  She responded, but he pulled back before they fell back into the haze of lust. With a curt nod to Mick, James turned on his heel and walked back to his car. Forcing himself to drive away, James wondered how many dates it would take before he could take her back to his place where they would have more privacy. Molly’s apartment complex was startlingly lovely, but the courtyard, where all of the other residents could look out and see what was going on, felt a bit too public.

  Chapter 4

  Molly stared at the invitation, printed on heavy paper stock and, as she fanned herself with the elegant envelope, she suspected the address was hand written. “Good grief!” she muttered, wondering how much a calligrapher charges per hour. Or did they charge per envelope?

  After their picnic several days ago, Molly had avoided James’ phone calls. She knew that he wanted to see her again, but deep down, Molly knew that they were from two different worlds. Their lives and their preferences simply wouldn’t work together. How could she mesh her borderline poverty level lifestyle with James’ wealth and political aspirations?

  Stuffing her mail under her arm, but keeping the invitation in hand, Molly made her way towards her apartment. She was tired and cranky, not to mention hot and sweaty from a long day at the community center. Plus, she really missed James! It didn’t matter how many times she convinced herself that he was wrong for her, she still missed him.

  “A shower and a glass of wine,” she muttered as she shoved her key into the lock and pushed the door open. “Is that too much to ask for?”

  Her phone ringing made her groan. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she dug her cell phone out of her backpack and…almost dropped it when she saw who was calling.

  The cell stopped ringing and Molly bit her lip, wondering if…yep! He called right back.

  Knowing that James Morgan wasn’t the kind of man to stop, she pressed the button to answer. It was time to talk to him. She’d avoided his calls and text messages for days. She had to be firm now.

  “Good evening, Mr. Morgan. How are you?” She closed her eyes, cringing at her flirtatious tone. She was supposed to be stopping this insanity. Not encouraging it!

  Molly dumped the rest of her mail onto the counter as he laughed, sending the expected shiver of awareness down her spine. How did he do that every time? Eventually, she hoped to become immune to the soft, sexy sound. Unfortunately, “eventually” wasn’t today.

  “I’m quite well, Molly. Thank you for asking.” She could hear the grin in his voice. “And how are you this fine evening?”

  Reluctantly, Molly smiled at his teasing formality. “I’m fine.” She wondered what he might say next. She didn’t have long to wait.

  “Did you receive the invitation?”

  Molly tapped the thick, expensive paper lightly against her thigh. “Why yes, Mr. Morgan. I did receive the invitation.”

  Another soft chuckle. And another shiver. Darn it!

  “And did you open it?”

  Startled, she stared down at the envelope. “How did you…?”

  Another irritatingly sexy chuckle. “I suspected as much. It’s for this weekend. Friday, actually. I was hoping that you would come to the event as my date.”

  “You need a date?”

  “Not need,” he corrected. “Want. I’d love to escort you to this event.”

  Molly tore open the envelope. It was a black tie event at the Willard Hotel. It was one of the fanciest hotels in the city, situated right across the street from the White House. Molly had been there once before, on a date. She’d met a guy at the hotel bar, and even that had been a startlingly beautiful venue. She could still picture the polished wood walls and the ornate chairs situated “casually” around low tables throughout the space. Molly had a policy of paying for her own drinks, but that place had been completely out of her budget, so she’d allowed her date to pay for the drinks.

  “Um…I don’t think that–”

  “Think of it as work, Molly,” he interrupted.

  “Work?” she repeated, not sure
she understood. Her job didn’t have many…any…work-related events at the Willard Hotel.

  “Yes. There will be several influential and very wealthy people there,” he explained. “It would be a prime opportunity to get more donations for your community center.” He paused, letting his words sink in. “Didn’t you mention a tutoring program that you’d like to start? Think of all the teenagers that you could hire to tutor the elementary school students,” he commented. “And there are several colleges in the city,” James continued. “I know for a fact that students always need cash. You could hire those students to tutor the high school students.”

  He fell silent, letting his suggestions swirl through the line between them.

  “You’re evil,” she mumbled with a groan.

  He laughed again, but this time, the sound wasn’t sexy. It was filled with amusement and the sound made her smile in response. Reluctantly. She could picture him sitting behind a huge, ugly, modern desk, his five thousand dollar shoes propped up as he leaned all the way back in his leather chair.

  “Yes, I suppose that I am just a bit evil. So, I’ll pick you up at six this Friday. It’s black tie. I’ll send over a dress for you.”

  “Don’t you dare!” she hissed, fighting back another smile. He’d trapped her into accepting his escort. But she refused to be passive. Straightening her shoulders, she pushed away from the counter. “And I don’t need you to pick me up, Mr. Morgan. I’ll get there under my own steam.”

  “Don’t you want someone to introduce you around at the event?” he offered.

  Molly gritted her teeth, no longer amused as her normal social anxiety kicked into high gear.

  “What’s worse, Molly?” he asked softly. “Going to a big social event and having to maneuver through the throngs of people on your own?” His voice lowered, turning husky and sensual. “Or standing beside me, pretending that you aren’t affected by my touch?”

  Oh, he was good! He’d completely understood her hesitation. “I don’t know,” she replied honestly.