She stepped away from him and opened up her bag, carefully extracted the page from the zipped compartment usually reserved for things like keys or coins. She unfolded it. ‘I found it in his file of important papers.’
It was that old alumni article, the one his mother had read before Jared put the ban on any personal publicity.
‘He saw it. Cut it out and kept it, Jared.’
He took it from her and stared at the picture of himself.
‘No man was ever going to be good enough for me. Not in his eyes,’Amanda said softly, suddenly feeling shy. ‘But you’re the only one he kept a clipping on.’
He looked at it a long time, she felt the rigidity in his muscles, but when he finally looked up at her the tenderness in his eyes made her bones melt. The relief in them turned her heart to mush completely.
‘Why do you have it in your bag with you?’
She looked down and took the paper back from him. Looked at the image: Jared James in the dark jersey, looking like some Hollywood screen rebel—the dark eyes, the hint of that smile on his mouth.
‘Why do you think?’ She sounded as if she’d smoked thirty a day for the last fifteen years.
‘You can do better than that.’ He touched her hair lightly. ‘You can have the real thing.’
His tenderness was laced with desire now. She watched as it grew and hers grew too—going from zero to two hundred in less than a second.
‘I want it now.’ She walked into the darkness, searching out his car.
‘Amanda, we’re in a car park. There are people around.’ But he followed after her, fingers reaching forward to trail across her back.
There wasn’t anyone else outside. They were too busy in the gallery hoovering up the food and drink.
‘Then stay close, they won’t see a thing.’ She found his car mercifully parked away from the streetlights, slipped her knickers down her legs, scrunched them in her hand and put them in his pocket.
‘I always knew you had a wild streak.’ He sounded hoarse, his hands hovering above his fly.
She leaned back against his car. ‘Come on. I won’t need long.’
His laugh was more of a choke. ‘That’s supposed to be my line.’ He stood close to her, body and arms shielding the fact that she’d just pulled up the front of her dress. ‘But the fact is I need for ever.’
‘Give me a taste of it now.’ She grabbed his hips and pulled him home.
‘There’s no denying you, is there, Demanda?’ He groaned, body moving powerfully to claim hers.
‘I’m so glad you finally see that, Jared,’ she gasped.
His smile was smothered as they kissed and connected. She was right: neither needed long for that taste of for ever.
‘Jared.’
He looked down, all the stars were in his eyes and she was soaring through them. She smiled and as his smile burst forth it was as if all the brilliant fireworks in the world exploded in her chest—filling her with colour and light and happiness.
She buried her face in his neck. ‘Take me home.’
‘Sweetheart…’ he tightened his embrace ‘…we’re already there.’
In each other’s arms. For ever.