For her sake.
From violating the no-office-romance policy to playing around on the job, the old guard at the firm would view Mallory’s actions with disdain. They wouldn’t fire Mallory—they couldn’t without risk of a lawsuit—but they could stall her partnership and make her miserable until she left on her own. They wouldn’t mourn the loss of their only female associate. Meanwhile Jack would get a reprimand, a slap on the hand and maybe even a ribald joke about controlling his baser urges. But he’d have his partnership and his career intact. Unfair, but true.
“Jack?”
He rolled to the side, taking her with him. Her flesh pressed against his, warming him. He glanced into her worried face and admitted to himself he cared about her too damn much. “I’m here.”
But he didn’t love her, Mallory thought. Her heart twisted with regret. Even if fate dictated they had no future, she wished he felt the same. But she figured he was too used to the line to take her seriously anyway. No matter how much her pounding heart already belonged to him.
“What happened at home?” she asked, changing the subject.
He visibly winced. “My parents are getting divorced, finally.”
“So your father stood up for himself. You must be pleased.”
“Pleased doesn’t begin to describe it. My mother went home to pack her things—boyfriend by her side.”
Mallory cringed. “That’s insensitive.”
His expression turned shuttered and blank. “That’s my mother.”
And that’s where Jack’s views on long-term relationships and women came from, Mallory realized.
“Onward and upward. She constantly wants more and better and doesn’t care who gets hurt on her way.”
“Why did she stay with him so long then?” she asked of Jack’s father.
“Financial security. And he allowed it.”
“We’re not all like her.” Mallory wasn’t sure where the words came from, only that they were necessary.
“I know you aren’t.” A muscle ticked in his clenched jaw. “But forgive me for not having tested the theory. The divorces and statistics I’ve seen were enough to convince me to steer clear.”
She shut her mouth and nodded. Perhaps he believed she was different, perhaps not. In the end it didn’t matter because he’d bought into a stereotype too difficult for any woman to overcome. Especially Mallory, who’d made her climb up the ladder, her onward and upward, a public one in a male-dominated world.
She placed a hand over his lips. He’d already confided enough to convince her he trusted her with his personal, emotional baggage. She wouldn’t make him dredge up more. “I can think of more fun things to do than get all emotional.”
His dark eyes met hers, and in those depths she saw a wealth of emotion and feeling—and she refused to believe she’d conjured it up in her mind. That he’d fallen for her a little bit was enough considering they each had their own paths to follow, neither allowing for a long-term relationship.
“What’d you have in mind?” he asked.
She forced an easy smile. “I heard from our P.I. and I have a wealth of information about Mrs. Lederman.” But lying naked with Jack, for what might be the last time, she had no wish to discuss work. Especially a topic which pained her more each time she thought about it.
His big hand cupped her hip. “You didn’t have work in mind.”
She shook her head. “And it’s not like there’s anything we can do with the information at midnight.”
“You’re right. Whatever it is can wait.” He covered her mouth with his and drew her into a deep kiss. And when he bit down on her lower lip, she moaned.
She desired more but knew she had other things in store for Jack and forced herself to pull back. She grabbed for the scarf he’d brought with him that lay beside her on the bed, then she rose to a sitting position, settling herself above his stomach.
She wrapped the scarf around her hands and pulled at the opposite ends, teasingly. Enticingly.
His eyes darkened with anticipation. “Exactly what do you plan on doing with that thing?”
“I thought I’d have my wicked way with you again. You see, I’ve heard that if you blindfold a man, his other senses become that much more acute.”
“Interesting theory,” he said.