“Oh.” The wounded look in her eyes made him feel like a total cad.
“I have an emergency to take care of,” he explained, unable to stop himself from sliding a hand under the sheet and cupping one of her gorgeous breasts, the tip hardening immediately under the caress of his thumb. He watched her eyes darken to that same chocolate-brown, almost-black color they had last night when he’d made love to her. “It’s better you rest and take the later flight.”
She nodded, but the slight wobble in her chin near killed him. He bent his head and brushed his lips over hers. “Thank you for last night.”
But what was meant to serve as a brief kiss that would have secured him an appropriate exit was quickly revealed for the mistake it was, her mouth softening and parting underneath his, the attraction that was electric between them sparking to life. He groaned, unable to help himself from enjoying one more taste of her, it had just been so incredibly sweet last night. Tunneling his hands in her hair, he took the kiss deeper until she curled her hands in his T-shirt and this was only going in one direction...
He pulled back before he lost his head completely. “I have to go.”
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip and she nodded. Brushing a chunk of her thick hair out of her face, he tucked it behind her ear. “I left some clothes for you on the chair. They’re too big for you, but they’re clean.”
“Thanks.”
He held her gaze, refusing to issue false promises. “Keep jumping, Iz. It’s the only way to live.”
She said nothing, those big eyes on him. He finished dressing and grabbed his wallet and watch before he changed his mind. It wasn’t until he was halfway through the door that he stopped and turned around.
“No regrets?”
A wry smile curved her mouth. “No regrets.”
“Good.” He turned around and made himself leave, wondering why it was so hard to walk away. He’d done it a million times. This time felt different.
* * *
Izzie took a deep breath as she heard the front door of the penthouse click shut. Took another, tried to calm herself, and when that didn’t work, picked up the nearest missile, which happened to be Alex’s pillow, and chucked it against the wall, pretending it was him. Had he actually just left her here like that? When he knew she needed to get back to New York? Really? She sank back against the pillows, her breath coming out in a long whoosh. How hard would it have been for him to wait? He could have woken her up and she’d have been ready in five minutes flat, much happier to go with him now than wait for her flight.
Unbelievable. She stared at the pink dawn creeping across the London sky through the floor-to-ceiling windows. She’d just been unceremoniously dropped like a hot potato by a man who couldn’t seem to get out of here fast enough. As if he’d thought she’d make a scene.
Scowling, she hugged her arms around herself. Maybe some of his women did that. But not her. She’d said one night and she’d meant one night. The last thing she needed to do was complicate her life right now. Not when she had a seven-hour flight and a panel of network executives to face on the other end of it, if James did indeed manage to persuade them to stay.
Not when she’d promised herself she’d never let a man rule her emotions the way her mother had her father’s.
But heavens, it’d been worth it. The image of Alex on a dartboard faded to one of him naked on this bed, his beautiful body giving her more pleasure than she’d ever dreamed possible. Warmth flooded her cheeks. How she’d let him do those things to her on the terrace in full view of anyone who’d have cared to look... His husky encouragements to tell him what she wanted releasing a completely wanton side of her she hadn’t even known existed...God. That I’d be incredible in bed tattoo he wore across his chest? Definitely not false advertising.
She threw the covers off, swung her legs over the side of the bed and headed for the shower. There was no way she was going to be able to go back to sleep after that last kiss, which had made her want to turn her one-night plan into a whole lot more. But since he had now dumped her, that wouldn’t be a problem.
She pulled on the huge Boston College athletics T-shirt he’d left her, obviously his, and the pair of jeans that necessitated three roll-ups so she didn’t trip over them. It wasn’t fashionable, but it was necessary with her suitcase in New York without her.
Padding her way into the kitchen, she told herself she was going to be the smart girl she was and relegate Alex to her good—make that hot—memory book. The thing that had made her realize how completely she hadn’t been living her life.
Mouth firm, she settled down on a kitchen bar stool with a cup of coffee she managed to wring out of the high-tech espresso machine, and went over the interview questions James had sent. She was going to give this interview her best shot. Forget about the past, know she’d worked hard and had grown so much, and put her demons aside.
This was the new Izzie. Time to unleash her on the world.
* * *
Sixteen hours later, Izzie exited her interview with the network execs in NYC-TV’s Rockefeller Plaza offices so physically and mentally exhausted she could hardly put one foot in front of the other. A transatlantic flight, a whirlwind cab trip to the studios, and an hour and a half of nonstop grilling by the execs could do that to a person.
Visions of a bergamot-scented bath filled her head. She tucked her portfolio under her arm and stumbled her way through the newsroom, ignoring the envious, almost spiteful, look on Katy Phillip’s face as she passed the entertainment desk. So not going there. She’d had a lot of that since she’d walked in this afternoon as the emerging star and she didn’t have the strength to process it.
She sat down at her desk, thankful she hadn’t been out on assignment today, with a story to edit ahead of her. Tomorrow was soon enough to catch up on email and everything else waiting for her. She yanked off her pumps, pulled her sneakers out of her bottom drawer and had just about laced them up when her boss’s shiny loafers appeared in front of her.
Damn. She’d been so close...
“I heard it went well.”
“I think so.” She finished tying her sneaker and straightened up. “Given I was pretty much comatose.”
James plopped down on the corner of her desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “They loved you. They think you have the young, fresh look that will appeal to the demographic we’re going after.”
She grinned. “Really?”
“Really.” His face lit up. “They think you’re very talented.”
Her stomach muscles relaxed, a wave of relief flooding through her. “And the bad?”
“They’re worried you’re not experienced enough to handle the pressure.”
Go figure. So was she.
“I told them any daughter of Dayla St. James is more than up to it.”
Her mouth dropped open, dismay spreading through her. “What did you do that for?”
He scowled. “We’re in it to win it, Iz. Get with the program.”
The program didn’t include her mother. Ever. “James, you know I want to do this on my own.”
He waved a hand at her. “You want to make it in this business, you use the weapons at your disposal. This is a once-in-a-lifetime shot. Nobody’s going to play nice.”
She nodded. “I know that, I do. And I appreciate the opportunity. I’d just rather keep her out of it.”