Mollie knocked on Jeremiah’s door with a calm that surprised her. She had no intention of changing her mind. He opened up, tilted his head back, his eyes half-closed, his expression unreadable. She thought she saw a twitch of humor but couldn’t be sure. “Forget something?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve been talking to the guys downstairs.”
“Ah, the council of wise old men.”
She smiled, noticing that he hadn’t moved from the doorway. “They observed your abrupt departure with interest.”
“They observe everything I do with interest. I suppose they had opinions on my motives?”
“Of course. They believe you’re being honorable or you’re scared—or a mixture of both—except for the one old guy who thinks you just need to be jerked up short.”
“That would be Albert, and I’m sure he was more colorful in his choice of words. He thinks I have a one-track mind about my work and need a two-by-four upside the head every now and then to get my attention.” He shrugged, the amusement reaching his eyes now. “Which could be true.”
“What about the honor and fear factor?”
“I try to do what I think is right. I don’t know if that’s being honorable. As for fear—” He smiled, leaning in close to her. “I’m not afraid of you, Mollie.”
She folded her arms on her chest in an effort to be cool, collected. “Does that mean I’m invited in?”
He stepped back from the door, motioning her inside with a mock bow and a sweep of his arm. Mollie eased past him. His apartment was silent and still, no television or CD playing, no reptiles stirring in their cages. As stripped down as Jeremiah’s tastes were, she felt comfortable. She remembered waltzing around the pink bedroom in Leonardo’s house, picking out her dress for the ball, caught up in the luxury and temptation of diamonds and rubies and beautiful clothes, all fun, but, somehow, not as real as standing in Jeremiah’s apartment with his books, CDs, videos, newspapers, magazines, simple furnishings, lizard, turtle, and snake.
“As much as I hate to admit it,” he said behind her, “I understand where Bennie, Albert, and Sal were coming from tonight. We’ve gotten to know each other, sitting out whittling, eating bagels in the morning, smoking an occasional cigar. They don’t know about you and our week together, but they know about me. The work I do, my commitment to it—and my determination not to inflict myself on a relationship that can’t last.”
Mollie turned to him, emotion and desire knotting her insides. A seriousness seemed to have enveloped him, darkening his eyes, bringing out the harsh angles of his face. But she didn’t regret her decision to walk back up to his apartment. “Jeremiah, right now I’m not worried about what can last and what can’t last. I’m not here about anything except tonight.”
“I don’t want to hurt you again.”
“That’s the risk we take, isn’t it?”
“Maybe it is.” He moved to her, toe to toe, and curved an arm around her waist, his mouth finding hers as he whispered, “I’m awfully glad I didn’t have to follow you up to Palm Beach tonight.”
“Would you have spied on me?”
“Darlin’, I’d have found some way inside your gates.”
He slipped his hands under her shirt and opened his palms against her warm, bare skin, sending waves of sensation through her as their mouths came together again, and she said between kisses, “I brought a change of clothes, just in case. They’re down in the car.”
His eyes flashed, sending more tremors through her with their blatant desire. “What about my plan for us to steer clear of each other?”
She drew her arms around him, felt the strong muscles of his back. “Did you think even for a half-second that would work?”
“It seemed like a good idea.” Again, the seriousness descended. “Mollie, if I’ve brought trouble down on your head—”
“It’s okay, Jeremiah.” She kissed him softly, easing herself against his chest. “I’m not twenty anymore.”
“No,” he said, smoothing his hands up her back, triggering memories that she thought she’d suppressed forever, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if you still sit on a musical note towel and listen to opera on the beach. Mollie, Mollie…I’ve never known anyone like you.”
She laughed, the rest of her quaking with a yearning that reached her soul. “I haven’t had a lot of Jeremiah Tabaks walking around in my life.”
“We don’t have to figure out our lives tonight.”