No Strings Attached (The Escort #1) (13 page)

My stomach rumbled at the thought of it. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s cooked for me.”

Her smile changed. All the nervousness was gone, replaced by warmth. We were back on her turf now. I wanted to crawl into the phone and hold her. “I know exactly what I’m going to make for you.” Her finger stayed on the screen. I closed my eyes and pretended she was actually touching me.

I won’t lie. When I suggested Facetime, I was thinking phone sex. But this was so much better.

“I can’t wait, Leah.”

Leah

I Could Barely Drive To The Airport
. I was such a nervous wreck. Usually Kari and I picked each other up at the curb, but I couldn’t do that with Jagger. I’d run someone over because I’d be so distracted when I saw him. An entire butterfly garden had blossomed in my belly as I waited for him at the luggage carousel.

Jagger Holiday was flying up here to see me. Not because I was paying him an insane amount of money to do it, but because he actually wanted to spend time with me. All of the rules we’d established and any safety net I had before had gone out the window. This meant something now.

There was something between the two of us that refused to be ignored, but what if it had happened because there were no expectations? We’d dragged the fantasy into reality and now all its bumps and warts were going to be on display and up for discussion. And I was scared shitless.

It had been a week since I’d called Jagger. Since then we’d talked every night, but we’d both been careful to keep the conversation about this trip and not sexy stuff. I hadn’t had the balls to ask him about work. As long as I didn’t have to deal with it, I was good. But eventually it was going to slap me in the face and it was going to hurt.

Maybe I was fooling myself and this was just sex. But my heart insisted there was more.

Every time someone with long dark hair turned the corner I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

“Are you Leah Godfrey?” A woman approached me timidly. She caught me off-guard, I’d been lost in a Jagger daydream, but I smiled and nodded. It would never not be weird for strangers to know who I was. “I love your segments on Great Start Today. Would you take a picture with me?”

“Of course.” I put my arm around her back and she angled her phone, trying to get both of us into the screen and looking good at the same time. We shifted, not quite there yet.

“These things are the worst,” she laughed.

“I’ll take that for you.” A deep voice came from behind us and it took everything I had to not forget all about this woman as she handed Jagger her phone. He’d pulled the top of his hair back and he was wearing a black leather jacket, dark jeans and the combat boots he wore with everything, even the suit at the reunion. His eyes caught mine and I couldn’t breathe. Of course he had no problem getting the shot perfect.

“Thanks,” the woman said, too wrapped up in the image captured on the screen to care about the way we were ignoring her. At least I knew I’d be smiling in the picture.

Jagger tipped my chin up to meet his eyes with one finger. The magnetism that drew me into his body made everything else in the airport spin wildly around us. That was fine because the rest of the world didn’t matter as his arm slid to the small of my back as he pulled me in for a knee-buckling kiss.

We only parted to breathe. “Hey,” I murmured against his lips, holding onto the lapels of his jacket.

“Fuck, it’s good to see you.” Jagger brushed the back of his fingers along my cheek and took a deep breath. “You’re all I’ve been able to think about.”

“Me too.” I pulled away from him, lacing my hand in his. If we didn’t go now I’d lead him over to the wall and have him take me in the airport terminal. I was unsure of my footing, unsure of everything. This really did change everything and I was scared, but in a good way. I hadn’t been this nervous about being with a man since I was sixteen years old, hoping that Rich would kiss me.

Now Rich could kiss my ass, but that’s beside the point.

A few people did double takes as we left the terminal. I wasn’t sure if it was because they recognized me or if it was because Jagger was show-stoppingly beautiful.

Jagger pulled me back when he stopped, tipping his face up to the night and closing his eyes. “It’s snowing.” Flakes landed on his body as soft as butterfly kisses.

“It is.” Nothing that would shut down the city, although it didn’t take much. Kari and I had a good time laughing about what was considered catastrophic snow south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Tonight was just flurries, setting the stage for something magical. “Did you grow up in Miami? You’ve seen snow before, right?”

He bit his lip and shook his head. “I’m from Houston. And nope, this is the first time.”

“A snow virgin.” I pulled him along as he opened his mouth to catch a flake on his tongue. “Who woulda thunk it?”

“There’s a first time for everything.” Jagger closed my car door behind me then went over to the passenger’s side and buckled himself in. “Where are we headed?”

“To my house.” My heart was pounding at the thought of it. I started driving, even though it wasn’t going to be easy now that I was under the influence of Jagger. “I almost got us a room at a bed and breakfast, but the more I thought about it, the more it defeated the purpose of what I wanted to do.”

“Are you sure?” He looked just as nervous as I felt. “You said you’d take care of everything on this end. I know you’re worried about Raven.”

“We talked about it.” I took a deep breath. That talk had been almost as awkward as this one. Raven was turning as purple as her hair the whole time, but she wasn’t the only one in for a surprise. “And I think it’s good for her to see me with someone besides Rich. I’ve been so angry about men around her, and that’s not sending the right message, either. Now that she’s got a boyfriend—“

“Having a hard time with that one, aren’t you?” Jagger grinned. He was loving this way too much. “Find out anything you didn’t want to, Mom?”

“Yeah.” I shuddered. “She’s still a virgin. Barely. But I’m glad she can talk to me about this stuff now, as hard as it is for both of us. I’d rather she come to me than rely on her friends who are just as clueless as she is or find God only knows what on the internet.”

Jagger raised an eyebrow. “Like tentacle porn?”

I chuckled. “That’s the least of my worries.”

“You’re handling this well.” He stopped teasing me. “I know you didn’t expect that.”

“Not by a long shot. Even if she was twenty-seven instead of seventeen, I wouldn’t be ready for this.” I made myself laugh. “Anyway, I think it’s important for her to see me as happy in my personal life as in my professional life. Especially now that it means something tangible to her.”

Jagger ran his hand over his face, trying to contain his laugh, and looked out the window as we passed through the city. It was really gorgeous this time of year, snowflakes twinkling in the Christmas lights. “I don’t think I’ve ever been used as an example before.” He turned back to me when I stopped at the red light. “For anything good.”

“It’s all in the eye of the beholder.” I couldn’t get lost in his web. A cacophony of car horns was sure to break out any second. “I think you’d be an excellent teacher.”

The green light lit up his eyes, but I had to turn away. “Depends on what you’re looking to learn.” His voice was lower, husky, and it vibrated low in my belly. “What made you change your mind about this, Leah? It’s pretty drastic.”

We crossed the Potomac, the city sprawled in front of us. “Because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” I took a deep breath. “I was going insane without you.”

**

“It smells so good in here.” Jagger actually moaned when we walked in through the front door. I’d put my nervous energy to good use. It had occurred to me the weekend that we spent together that people didn’t ask Jagger what he wanted very often. He’d said nobody had ever used him as an example before, but they definitely had used him. No one had been very concerned with taking care of Jagger when he so desperately needed someone to care about what he wanted.

“It’s Cuban beef stew.” I took his jacket from him and inhaled his scent deeply before hanging it in the hall closet. “I wanted to make something that would be ready when we got here, because I knew once I picked you up I’d burn whatever I tried to cook to shit; I knew you’d be cold coming from Florida so I wanted to make something warm. And I know you love Cuban food, so I wanted to try to make it.”

Jagger ran his thumb over my lip but didn’t lean into kiss me. His lips moved like he wanted to say something, but no words came. It had also occurred to me that this was going to be just hard for Jagger as it was for me. I went up on my tiptoes and kissed him instead. “Let’s put your suitcase in my room.”

He nodded and followed me up the stairs, holding on to my hand just like the last time I’d snuck him into the house. “Raven!” I called out.

“What?” she answered from behind the door.

“Come say hi to Jagger.” I flipped on the light in the hallway. The single bulb cast eerie shadows over both of us.

Raven cracked the door open and stuck her head out. “He’s here?” Her mouth dropped when her eyes landed on him, but she padded out of her bedroom in her rainbow striped socks, cartoon character flannel pants, and some crazy T-shirt, stopping just short of shaking his hand. “Hi.” Still awkward.

“Your mom tells me you code video games,” Jagger said.

“I’m learning.” Even in the low light, I could tell she hadn’t turned beet red yet. This was practically a breakthrough. “Do you play?”

“A little bit. I’m sure you can kick my ass.” Jagger smiled. “Maybe you can give me some pointers.”

Raven smiled, too. Holy shit. “Maybe.”

“Are you going to have dinner with us?” I had to at least ask.

“What is it?”

“Beef stew.”

I might as well have offered her rat poison. Raven raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “I already ate.” She headed back into her room.

“That went well,” I said when the door closed. Jagger raised an eyebrow, one side of his mouth raised in a smirk. “No, seriously, it did. She spoke in almost complete sentences.” I put the suitcase in my room.

When I came back out, Jagger held his hand out to me and we headed back to the kitchen. I’d missed the heat of his body near mine, and all it promised to come. “I think you underestimate her,” he said when we got back to the kitchen.

“What do you mean?” I asked as I filled a bowl and handed it to him.

Jagger stopped slicing bread and inhaled deeply, looking at his stew almost as fondly he looked at me. “You still see her as a little kid, and she doesn’t know how to show you that she’s changed, too.” He took a bite and moaned. “This is so good.”

“Thanks.” I sat down, taking a bite of the bread first, chewing more on what he said. “I’ve tried so many times to get her to open up to me and she shuts me down at every turn. I’ve been beside myself trying to figure out how to get her to come out of her shell. Whatever happened the weekend of the reunion changed her. She’s finally willing to talk to me. Before that, I don’t know if she would’ve even come out to say hi to you.” A lump formed in my throat that had nothing to do with the food. “I miss her, and she lives with me.”

“Do you think maybe it was something that happened to you that weekend?” he asked between bites. “You said that you were angry before. And I see it, every time you talk about your ex. Maybe you were finally able to let go and she can see that.”

“So are you saying that it’s me?” I wasn’t pissed. I’d struggled with this so much and Kari was too close to ground zero to be able to give any real advice when it came to Raven. “Or it’s you?” It was him and I knew it. He’d broken down so many of the walls I’d built since the demise of my marriage, it never occurred to me he could be the one to knock down the one separating me from my daughter.

“Maybe a little of both.” That sly smile was back. “I’m getting more of this. It’s amazing.”

“I’m just thrilled someone wants to eat my cooking.” I’d been so flustered by seeing Jagger again and how things went with Raven, I’d forgotten something very important. “I made sangria, too. It’s still in the fridge.” I got up to get it.

“What about Raven?” We clicked our glasses against each other.

“Hell no. All she eats is garbage. And Rich only wanted chicken. Every night, for fourteen years, I cooked chicken. I can cook chicken a thousand ways, but you’ll never find out because I won’t touch it now. He’d even get chicken on his pizza.” I took a sip of my drink and coughed. “Holy crap! This is strong.”

Jagger took a sip and his eyes almost popped out of his head. “What did you put in this?”

“I followed the recipe, I think.” I took another sip. It made my eyes water. “Maybe too much brandy?”

“Maybe.” He brought the glass back up to his lips and shuddered. I laughed. “I’ve been thinking about how much better wine tastes on your lips.”

“Yeah?” I got up and sat on the edge of the table. “Even this?”

Jagger stood up. “Let’s find out.”

He put his hands on my hips and looked down at me for what seemed like an eternity before he leaned in to kiss me. Licking the seam of my lips, he groaned. I caught his tongue before he had a chance to draw back, sucking the taste of the drink from his mouth. He was right, it tasted better on him, too.

I loved the way Jagger kissed me. I loved all the things he did to my body, but kissing was one of my favorites. Slow and confident, like he was singing a love song just by moving his lips against mine. The rhythm was easy to pick up and I added my own melody. It was one of those songs that was forever stuck in my head and I’d find myself humming, thinking about Jagger’s kisses. It always made me feel better.