Riley rushed into her loft apartment, kicked the door shut and dropped the grocery bag on the first chair she approached. Leaning against the back of the hunter green and maroon sofa, she closed her eyes and wondered if she was winded from the seemingly brief walk from the corner market to her Manhattan loft. Perhaps it was because the little bundle was zapping her energy. Maybe it was because the little bundle’s father was waging war on her nerves and her independence.
Riley shook her head and refused to think about it. All she wanted was to fall into bed and shut out the world. Pushing off the sofa, she shed her dress and under things on her way through the comfortable yet elegant digs. In the bedroom, she slinked into an emerald satin robe.
She set off for the kitchen, knowing sleep would be a long time coming without a fragrant mug of herbal tea. In the time it took for the water to simmer in the chrome kettle, Riley was again pondering her call to Asher. Not telling him about the baby now would agitate things more than they already were. Telling him now would only intensify his demands that she leave New York, thereby making it impossible for her to relieve her stress, which her doctor suggested she rid herself of.
Maybe several hours of sleep would help her to get a better handle on things. Satisfied that the idea was the best she had, Riley prepared the tea to take back to the bedroom. She was turning from the stove when she saw Asher leaning against the kitchen entryway. The mug almost slipped from her weak hand.
“Business,” he explained.
She leaned against the counter for support. “I heard.”
“So much for surprising you.” Asher pushed off the entryway and strolled slowly toward his wife.
Riley could scarcely hear over the pulse throbbing in her ears. “Believe me, I’m surprised.”
He was standing right before her then. “You always make a habit of leaving the paper three hours early?”
She stood blinking up into his probing light brown stare for almost half a minute before words came. “I, um…It’s been a long day.”
“I can tell,” he muttered, brushing his thumb along the corner of her eye and not caring for the weariness plaguing her gaze.
Riley felt her temples vibrate in anticipation of a lecture. “Asher—”
“Later,” he urged and took possession of her mouth seconds later.
Riley’s response was eager and immediate. Her lips weren’t the only energized part of her body as she met the force of his kiss. Of course, this was all to be expected. Her reaction to Asher was always eager and…immediate.
They kissed for the better part of three minutes before another layer was added to the pleasure.
Riley didn’t realize he’d unraveled the silken belt at her waist until she felt his fingertips strumming a tune along her hips and buttocks. This was all it took for her need for him to crest to a perfect pitch of arousal. Shamelessly, she rubbed against his lean, athletic frame. She wasn’t the least bit agitated when Asher murmured a little mmm hmm as if he knew all too well the response his touch would generate.
She could’ve cared less, of course. After all, she’d been craving his touch for over six weeks. She wanted whatever he’d give her. Riley moved to undo his trousers and whined when he stopped her.
“Asher you don’t have to—” she began when he started to kiss his way down her body, but her words caught on a throaty moan.
Asher was on his knees before her. His powerful hands gripped her bottom while simultaneously spreading her thighs to drive his tongue inside her.
The slow, moist lunges had Riley raking her hands across Asher’s head and gripping fistfuls of the worsted fabric of his olive-green suit coat.
“Yes…yes, Asher, that’s it….” The welcoming words as he invaded her with rotating thrusts brought her closer to the ripe thrill of orgasm.
Riley practically sobbed his name when his hold tightened about her dark thighs to prevent her from moving as he cherished the extra-sensitive patch of flesh above her sex. The maddening nibbles made her want to melt onto his tongue as it soothed the place his lips and teeth had ravished.
Easily, he drew both her long legs across his shoulders and supported her with an impressive show of strength. Once again, he took her with his tongue. The relentless yet all-too-delicious stabs made her climax all too soon.
Riley was all but spent as she gripped the edge of the counter, yet her gaze was focused as she watched him rise to his feet. She kept looking for some sign that he’d noticed some change in her body, such as the narrowing of his eyes.
There was no such sign, and Riley put her most innocent look in place when he stood, towering over her.
“Don’t even try it,” he ordered, seeing right through the innocent display. “Sleep. No arguments.”
Riley couldn’t stifle the relieved sigh that fluttered past her lips. Happy to be bullied by him, she nuzzled her face into his neck when he carried her from the kitchen.
She dozed off during the brief trip from the kitchen to the bedroom yet stirred when she felt him settling her in the middle of the bed. She conked out again before he closed the bedroom door.
“Can’t be,” Riley breathed when she stared at the gold-encased bedside clock, which read 9:32 p.m. Sleep had worked its very real magic, and she woke refreshed and feeling as though she could get a sizable chunk of work out of the way.
Of course, there was eating that needed to be done, and Riley’s appetite now screamed to be satisfied. Her nostrils flared in response to the delicious aromas slipping into the room. She didn’t have long to wonder about them, thankfully. The door opened, and there was Asher, carrying in a tray practically overflowing with food.
Keeping her smile soft, Riley leaned back on her elbows and watched him. Who would believe the high-powered sports agent Asher Hudson would perform such humble tasks as bringing his wife dinner in bed, which he had prepared?
“What?” Asher queried when he noticed her smile.
Riley only shrugged. “I’m just not used to this.” She snuggled deeper under the covers, loving the feel of the crisp gold sheets against her bare skin.
Asher bit back the words that scrambled up his throat. He wanted to tell her she could have this every day if she’d come back with him.
“Quite a stash of food you got in there,” he observed instead. “Lotta healthy stuff. I thought you were the junk-food junkie of our dazzling duo.”
Riley sat up in bed. “Do you have something against a person trying to eat well?”
Asher unfolded a napkin and placed it on her lap. “Not a thing.” Silently, he admitted that advising her on her eating habits made him feel as if she, with her strong and independent self, might just need him.
“So what’s up with this health kick?” Asher passed Riley a deep ceramic plate loaded with a helping of the fragrant chicken fettuccine.
Riley accepted the teasing with ease. “Maybe I’ve just been craving all the cooking you’d do when you got to town on…business.”
His playful wince added an adorable element to his expression. “Sorry for not telling you sooner,” he said.
“How long has all this been in the works?” Riley reached for the Parmesan cheese.
Asher claimed his spot on the other side of the bed. “Met Vic about eight months after he went to work for you. I knew about him way before that, though. I followed his college career.” He shrugged. “I told him I was surprised, but that I understood why he didn’t want to pursue the pros further.”
Riley savored another bite of the flavorful chicken and creamy noodles. “And why would you understand that? Most agents can never understand money being a deterrent.”
“Not about the money for Vic.” Asher took a swallow from the Heineken beer bottle he’d set on the nightstand. “He’d seen too many of his boys caught up in ugly lifestyles that brought ’em down quick. Apparently, it scared him to think he could wind up like that.”
“Humph.” Riley’s warm eyes twinkled with mischief. “Most agents would say, ‘Ah, you’re better than that, kid. No way would you be that stupid. Now let’s go make a trillion.’”
Asher graced his wife with a dimpled grin, which turned into something more pensive. “I could never say that. Not when I understand so well where he’s coming from.”
Riley saw the unease darkening his fair features and wanted to ask more. She never had the chance.
“Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Where are you hiding all the junk?”
Laughing, Riley once again prepared to defend her improved eating habits. The phone interrupted their banter, and she looked at Asher. As they normally had so little time together, phone calls in the middle of dinner usually went unanswered.
“Take it,” he urged, with an encouraging smile. He took his plate, intending to grab a third helping, and appeared more than a little stunned when Riley held out her plate to request a refill as she picked up the phone.
Misha was on the other end of the line. “Look alive, girl. We’re being summoned to an eight o’clock breakfast meeting with the bigwigs at the paper.”
Riley halted her appraisal of the sleep pants hugging Asher’s hips and focused on her editor’s words. “Bigwigs?”
“Mmm…In the morning at Red Sun.”
“What about?” Riley swung her legs across the side of the bed.
“Hell if I know. Everybody’s lips are tighter than a banker’s ass. Guess we’ll just have to wait till the morning.”
“Asher’s here.”
Misha’s giggle was a mix of delight and naughtiness. “I’ll let you get back to bed then.”
“Wait. How’d you know I—”
“You’ve got Asher Hudson in your apartment. Where else would you be?”
“Good night,” Riley sang. Yet when the call ended, she chewed her thumbnail and pondered.
“Bad news?” Asher had returned with helping number three and took note of her expression.
Riley shared the highlights of the call while devouring the heaping dish of fettuccine. For a time, Asher was speechless, looking on as his slim, nude wife wolfed down the food.
“Sounds mysterious. Keep me posted?” Asher watched her nod and then hooked a thumb over his shoulder as he returned to the bed. “If it won’t put you out too much, I was thinkin’ about working out of the study.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Riley said through a mouthful of noodles. She shook her head in an eager manner. Already it felt so good to have him there—to have him near. “I hardly work out of there, so I’m not sure what supplies you’ll need.”
Asher nodded while feasting on his third helping of fettuccine. “I’ll check it out. Don’t think I’ll need much. I don’t plan on spending much time in there, either.”
“Oh?”
“Gotta keep an eye on the reps in Jersey. Make sure they don’t try to screw the kid.”
Riley set aside her plate. “Are you sure he’s ready for this, Asher?”
“More than,” he replied, without hesitation. “Besides, he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
“Still.” Riley scooted close and tapped her fingers on his thigh. “Good heads go surprisingly airy when dollar signs are involved. Just watch out for him, okay?”
Asher set aside his plate and turned to cup Riley’s face in his wide palms. “I’ll treat him like he’s my very own—which he actually is.”
The way he said it, sounding every bit the overprotective father, had Riley opening her mouth to tell him the news that would forever change their lives. Instead of talking, however, she covered her mouth and bolted from the bed.
Asher left after her. His handsome face was alive with surprise and horror as he watched her vomit into the toilet. When she was done, he helped her to her feet. Once he’d cleaned her up, he carried her back to the bed.
“Are you staying?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“I’ll be up pretty late.” Asher helped her into a T-shirt. “Probably fall asleep in the study.”
Riley’s mouth curved into a pout. “Because I heaved up your dinner? Smell like vomit?” She almost cried.
“Shh…” Asher wanted to laugh, but he could see the despair in her eyes. “Shh…You don’t smell like vomit. You smell good enough to eat.” He nuzzled his nose beneath her ear and then trailed his mouth along her jaw. “You taste even better.” Softly, he thrust his tongue past her parted lips.
“I’m sorry, anyway.”
“No more apologies.” He brushed her nose with his. “I know you enjoyed it. You just overdid it. Only so much you can fit in this little space, you know?”
With his hand resting on her tummy, Riley made an effort to speak again, but Asher stopped her.
“Rest now. No more talking, no more phones.” With that said, he pulled the cord from the handset. “You have an early meeting, and you need sleep.”
“Asher—”
“Trust me, love. I intend to collect on all my good deeds from today.”
He plied her with another sweet kiss. Riley was moaning in seconds. The tingling arrived next, frenzied and maddening. Admirably, she cast it from her mind, knowing the desire would go unsated.
As expected, Asher ended the kiss and finished tucking Riley into bed. When she closed her eyes, he let the concern return to his face.
Red Sun was a Japanese-owned café that served breakfast specialties from around the world. Misha arrived early and focused on heading into the already crowded and lavish establishment to meet with the heads of Cache Media. She was tugging on the cuff of her gray silk blouse when she spotted an old acquaintance.
“Well, well, Red Sun does cater to some sophisticated tastes,” she said in greeting to Talib Mason.
“Sophisticated and exquisite,” Talib replied in a tone and with a look that said he wasn’t referring to his appetite.
Silently, Misha ordered herself not to let her lashes flutter in response to his voice. The regal British accent only added to the man’s provocative appeal. For an instant, she let herself recall the memory of hearing her name swirling in his mouth.
“So I see the rumors are true.” She closed a bit of the distance between them. “I take it your presence out here has to do with one of my fact-checkers.”
Talib’s deep-set and slightly slanted eyes were focused solely on Misha. “Keeping tabs on me?”
She glanced down at the gray peekaboo pumps below the cuffs of her slacks. “I may’ve heard your name mentioned somewhere.”
“Ah…” Talib stroked the sleek hair covering his jaw. “A little pillow talk?”
Ouch. Misha wouldn’t let the barb sting enough to remove her cool smile. “I don’t share pillow talk.”
“But wouldn’t that depend on whose pillow it was?”
Ouch again. A change in subjects was definitely in order.
“This restaurant has a great menu.” Misha glanced around at the elegant surroundings.
Talib glanced around as well. “We got a recommendation for it. I’m just checking it out for Asher.”
“Ah, so Asher’s trusting you with his stomach these days?”
The grin made his rich dark eyes twinkle. “You know how he is. New place, and it’s New York…”
Misha pressed her lips together. “Right. I remember….”
Talib’s smile was humor mixed with curiosity then. He took a step closer, slipping a hand into the pocket of his chestnut-brown trousers. “How much have you told your friend about all that?”
Misha’s healthy locks brushed her cheeks when she shook her head. “You never really told me much. Besides…I don’t share pillow talk, remember?”
Humor left his gaze, yet curiosity remained. “Not even mine?”
What would he say if she told him there hadn’t been any since his? Humph, he’d never believe her. She tilted her head in greeting. “Good morning, Talib.”
He stepped back and nodded. “Always a pleasure, Misha.”
“Pleasure’s mine.” She spoke too low for him to hear as she watched him leave. Moments later, she felt a chin rest on her shoulder. “Don’t, okay?” she pleaded while bowing her head.
“Wasn’t that Talib?” Riley asked. “My God,” she breathed, marveling at the man’s appearance.
“Uh-huh…” Misha agreed, allowing herself to melt just a little.
“Sure you wanna join me and a bunch of stuffy old coots for breakfast when you could follow that?”
“Please, Riley,” Misha hissed. “We’ve been down that road, remember?”
“And you’re sure it’s a dead end?”
Misha turned, fanning her blouse away from her chest. “He thinks I slept with him for a story.”
“And did you?”
Misha closed her eyes. “I was working with someone who didn’t care for confirming certain facts before running with the story. When it all came out, it looked like I was involved…I let him believe it.”
“Why?” Riley was intrigued. She’d never been able to extract much information from Misha about her relationship with the man.
Misha groaned. “Because he never would’ve believed I slept with him because I was in love with him. Our old coots are here.” She interrupted Riley’s next question and headed for the dining room.
“Sorry. Thought I saw ’em,” Misha explained five minutes later, when they were seated at a square table set for five.
Riley didn’t spare her editor a glance. “It’s okay. I’ll just take that to mean your love life is off-limits to discussion.”
Misha gave a mock salute. “That’s right, due to the lack of existence. Now yours, on the other hand…”
“To quote your earlier words, ‘don’t, okay?’”
“You’re glowing, you know,” Misha whispered, as if it were a hot secret. “I would say that’s one of pregnancy’s more wonderful side effects, but then I know there could be another reason for that glow….”
Riley rolled her eyes toward a menu. “Yes, there could be….”
“Coffee. Black,” Misha told the waiter who’d approached. “So’d you get around to telling him about the new addition to your club?” she asked once Riley put in her order for hot herbal tea.
“I haven’t told him. Yet. I plan to ASAP. I don’t think I can look at him every day for the next three months without him knowing.”
Only one of Misha’s perfectly arched brows lifted. “So he is in town for Vic’s signing? That’s really a go? Talib didn’t actually confirm it.”
“Yeah, it’s confirmed.” Riley slammed down her menu. “But before you start brainstorming story angles, you should know I already promised Bastian the exclusive on breaking Vic’s news. So it’s completely out of our ballpark—no pun intended.”
Misha responded with a secretive smirk, which Riley didn’t have the chance to question. Their breakfast dates had finally arrived, and after settling down and ordering, Shepard Cade, VP of creative development, got to the point.
“We’ve been batting around the idea of spinning off from our very popular columns one new main publication. We’d like for the two of you to head up the works.”
Riley and Misha sat in stunned silence for quite a while. After sharing a knowing smile with her associates, publisher Gloria Reynolds leaned close to the table.
“We understand that this news is quite dazzling.” She cast a pointed look toward Riley. “But even dazzling news has to be weighed and discussed. Especially when one has a new marriage and a husband living halfway across the country.”
Hunching against the chill biting her arms beneath her cashmere sweater, Riley noted that she now had even more to consider.
“We’d like the two of you to delegate tasks to your staff,” Gloria continued. “Take time and think this over. Discuss it with your families.” Another glance toward Riley. “Orly?”
Marketing VP Orlando Tims handed Misha and Riley twin packets. “We’ve put these together to assist in your decision. Should give you a bit more info on the new pub.”
Riley and Misha tore into the packets and were already tossing out questions by the time the breakfast orders arrived. Breakfast was delicious, and the conversation was heavy.
Asher snorted and gave a weary grunt into the pillow and finally managed to crack open an eye. Glancing at the bedside clock, he saw 10 a.m. on the digital pad. Waking up to that sight was about as unfamiliar as the present view of Central Park in the distance.
He let his face drop back into the pillow and contemplated another hour. Negotiation meetings wouldn’t start with the team execs until tomorrow morning. Still, he had a crap load of other work to handle….
What’s wrong with me? Asher questioned the sudden bout of laziness. Of course, it was obvious. He slept so well only when Riley was around him. Though she wasn’t physically there in the apartment just then, having her in the same state, city and zip code was enough.
And the fact that it was New York? Asher smoothed the back of his hand across the wicked scar on his cheek. The question was enough to pull him up from the pillows, which were softly scented with his wife’s fragrance.
Maybe Talib was right; maybe he should just tell her why he wanted her out of there. Easy enough, but how could he admit that to her when he got sick just remembering it? Hell, she’d lived in New York all her life. The last thing he wanted was to scare her. But she wouldn’t leave without a damn good reason. Would knowing that the actual events that transpired during a convenience store holdup still haunted him to distraction be enough?
Virginia Stamper spoke to the tiny boxes of African violets like a mother tending her children. Riley leaned against the brick ledge and watched the woman enjoying her favorite hobby.
“So if you talk sweetly enough, will they respond?”
Hands poised over an empty pot, Virginia looked across her shoulder and then rushed over to envelop her only child in a warm hug. Virginia’s dark face held a resigned look when she glanced back toward her flowers.
“I’ll be moving my flock inside in a few more weeks. This winter promises to be as cold as a frigid bitch.”
Riley chuckled, scratching at her temple while her mother sauntered back to the flowers. “You know, Miss Ginny, you’re gonna have to tamp down that language now that you’re going to be a grandmother.”
Virginia dropped the clay pot she’d just picked up. Whirling around, she regarded Riley with disbelief. Immediately, she rushed over to cup Riley’s face for a kiss and hugged her tight.
“When? How far along are you? What is it? Stupid question, Gin. Of course, you don’t know that yet.” She spoke absently, running her hands over Riley’s arms and shoulders.
“No word yet on whether you’ll have a grandson or granddaughter to spoil, but my doctor says I’m about six weeks along,” Riley shared through her laughter at her mother.
“Oh, that Asher,” Virginia declared, resting one hand on the side of her lovely face. “Not only is he sexy and gorgeous as hell, but he keeps his promises.”
Riley laughed again but tugged at the hem of Virginia’s rust-colored smock. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, he promised to make me a grandmother within two years after the two of you got married.” She patted Riley’s tummy and winked. “I like a man who keeps his promises.”
“He never told me the two of you talked about kids.” Riley sounded captivated.
Virginia shrugged and reached for a brush and dustpan to clean up the broken pot. “I didn’t get too specific, but I heard enough to know that he wants that very much.” Forgetting the pot, Virginia looked up at her daughter. “You haven’t told him, have you? Why?”
Riley felt a chill beneath her blazer. “Had a meeting this morning…They offered me a new job…heading my own publication.”
“Ah.” Virginia’s smoky eyes twinkled in acknowledgement. “Which explains the real reason you’re here. A talk with the devil mother who chose career over family.”
Riley shook her head, sending locks of her chic cut bouncing. “You weren’t that bad. But that is why I’m here.”
“You want to know if you can have both?”
“You did.”
“No, love.” Virginia returned to sweeping up the clay pot. “I had my career and my child. The man didn’t stick around, remember?” Clearing the broken pieces, she tossed aside the brush and dustpan. “Don’t base your decisions on mine, baby. I didn’t really have a choice in the way things turned out.”
Riley went to lean against the brick ledge. “But your career was always there.”
“Because it had to be. Your father was a self-centered jackass. When things got rough, he did what a self-centered man does best. He ran.” Bracing her hands on her thighs, Virginia pushed to her feet. “Honey, is everything all right between you and Asher? Is that why—”
“No, no, no, everything’s good.” Riley winced as the lie touched her ears. “But he did leave me with an ultimatum.”
“Not in his vocabulary,” Virginia replied.
Riley smiled. “Leave New York or leave our marriage.”
Virginia considered the words but a moment before shaking her head. “He could’ve meant anything by that—”
“Ma—”
“And, anyway, I don’t see why it’s a hard choice for you to make.”
“Why? Because writing a column isn’t nearly as important as scoring an extra million for an already overpaid athlete?”
“Riley—”
“Or perhaps not as important as heading up your own medical ward—”
“Love, shh…shh…” Virginia rushed over, pulling her daughter into a rocking embrace.
“I feel so small when you do that, Mama.”
Virginia kissed her temple. “I’m sorry, honey. I know and I’m sorry.”
“Asher makes me feel lower.”
“Because he’s the man you love.” Virginia massaged her daughter’s back. “It always hurts when they don’t support us the way we do them.” She pulled Riley over to stand with her next to the brick railing. “When I told your father I wanted to go after my nursing degree, he just laughed and laughed…The hours were hell, but I succeeded, and then there were more hellish hours. When I actually got a decent position…” Virginia’s eyes misted as the memories took hold. “Thank God for your granny Lil. You know, when I said things got tough, it wasn’t just financially…It was marital, too. Eventually, the money got better and better, but he only got angrier and angrier. I felt more and more powerful, and that power outweighed whatever love I had for him.”
Riley was shaking her head. “Mama, that’s not—”
“Now just wait a minute, all right?”
Virginia placed a finger across Riley’s lips. “I know that’s not what’s going on between you and Asher, which is why I’ll tell you not to base any of your decisions on mine.”
“I need insurance, Ma.”
“Explain.”
Riley closed her eyes. “I’ve never admitted that. Not even to Misha.”
“Honey, don’t you trust him?”
“I do…but…”
“Honey?”
“What?”
Virginia patted Riley’s hands to stop her from wringing them. “There’s no halfway with trust, love.”
“He’s keeping something from me.”
“Something.”
Riley grimaced. “It’s not anything like that. I have no doubt that he loves me, but…I’ve just always felt there was something, something beneath the surface that he’s not saying. At first, I told myself I was just imagining it.”
“And?” Virginia tugged on one of the cuffs of Riley’s blazer.
“Now I’m afraid to just chuck it all, to walk completely away from all that I have.”
“Marriage is full of fears, love. You still have to face ’em, though.”
“Well, until I can—” Riley smiled up at the sky and then down at her mother “—I’ll hang on to my insurance.”
“And once he tells you this secret you think he’s keeping?”
Riley could barely shake her head, and then she practically melted into her mother’s hug.