“Hey.” Joshie read her mind. “Stop it.”
“It’s okay.” Rachel put on a smile, sliding an arm around Liv’s shoulder. “Ready for your party, beautiful?”
Liv’s smile was so bright, it could have powered a small third-world country. That alone made it worth it. They walked toward the lobby, where Emma was peering out the front glass door, frowning.
“I don’t understand where he could have gone.” Emma turned to Rachel. “Did he say anything to you?”
Rachel shook her head, not trusting her voice.
“There he is.” Liv pointed toward the door and they all looked as Jake walked toward the salon, holding the handles of a small bag swinging at his hip.
“Where did you go?” Emma protested as he opened the door, his eyes widening.
They must have been quite a sight, Rachel realized, the three of them standing there with their bald, painted heads.
“I thought the three of you could use a little bling.” Jake put the bag down on a chair, reaching in and pulling out a blue box Rachel recognized immediately. There was a Tiffany’s right around the corner on North Michigan Avenue. He handed the first one to Liv. Her jaw dropped when she opened the little box to find a pair of heart-shaped diamond earrings inside.
“Mr. Malden…” Her voice shook
“Shh.” He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “You’re like my own daughter. You know I love you.”
Emma squealed when she opened her tear-drop diamond earrings, hugging her father and quickly grabbing Liv’s arm and dragging her over to one of the salon mirrors so the girls could try on their jewelry. Joshie went with them, exclaiming over the sparkly treasures, and Jake pulled out another blue box from the bag, this one long and thin.
“Jake…” Rachel took a step back, swallowing hard as he held the box out in front of him. “No…”
“Yes.” He pressed the box into her hand. “It’s yours. Open it.”
“I can’t.” Her hands were trembling too much. “You do it.” She handed it back to him and he obliged, taking the necklace out and tenting it in his fingers.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s lovely,” she whispered, looking at the bird-shaped diamond pendant. “A dove?”
He shrugged, undoing the clasp. “They didn’t have any hockey sticks.” She laughed. “I really shouldn’t accept this.”
“Yes you should.” He lifted the chain over her head as she turned, doing the clasp up behind her neck. “Beautiful.”
There was no hair to lift out the way as he kissed the nape of her neck, his breath warm, and murmured, “Hope is a thing with feathers…”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” she whispered, her back still to him.
“I’m sorry you had to.” His hands rested on her shoulders, squeezing gently. “But you don’t need to hide anything from me.”
“I just thought you wouldn’t…” She swallowed her words, unable to finish her thought.
“What? Like you? Want you?”
“Stay.”
“I think I used all my rollover minutes just talking to your answering machine in the past two weeks.” He grinned as she turned to face him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thank you, Daddy!” Emma kissed his cheek. “We’re gonna go. Can I have the keys?”
“And just how am I going to get home?” But Jake was already digging into his pocket and producing the desired object.
Emma rolled her eyes. “Can’t you get a taxi?”
Rachel took a subtle step closer to Jake, giving him a quick, heated, side-long glance. “You can come up to my place and call one.”
“Here.” Jake quickly handed the keys over to his daughter. “Call my cell if you need me.”
Emma gave them both a knowing look. “Don’t wait up.”
“You either.” Jake grinned.
“Dad!” The teenager made a face, pulling her friend toward the door, as if he’d crossed some invisible line with his words.
“Bye!” Liv waved as Emma dragged her out.
“Have fun!” Rachel smiled and waved back as the girls practically ran down the corridor, heading for the parking garage. She glanced over at Jake. “Think they’re going to be okay?”
“I think they’re already more than okay.” He took her hand.
“She’s a really special girl, your Emma.” Rachel squeezed his hand. “You should be proud.”
Jake nodded, sounding a little choked up. “I am.”
“You two go on,” Joshie interrupted, waving them out.
“I need my wig,” Rachel protested. “I can’t go out like this.” Joshie and Jake exchanged glances but Rachel ignored them. She found her wig at the station next to Joshie’s. She didn’t have any adhesive left in the salon so she just slipped it on over her newly painted head, straightening and fluffing. It would do until they got upstairs.
“Go already!” Joshie insisted. He had Rachel’s purse and he slung it over her shoulder, practically pushing them out the door. “I’ll close up shop.” Jake was quiet on the way to the elevator. Most shops were closing for the night, although there were still a few people coming out of the all-night grocery. Rachel fiddled with her wig as they got into the elevator and she pressed the button for her floor. There was a mirror on the back wall and she checked it again. It had moved a little.
Jake slipped between her and her mirror image and she looked up, meeting his gaze, although tilting her chin made her wig slide and she grabbed onto it self-consciously with one hand before it could fall to the floor.
“Come on, Rapunzel.” He put a hand over hers on her head, slowly moving her wig back. “Let down your hair.”
“Jake…” She swallowed, feeling it slip further. She knew he’d seen her without it already and yet she was still too afraid to let go when they were here alone together.
He dipped his head down and kissed her, mouth insistent, the hand holding her wig moving to her lower back. The cool air against her neck made her shiver-and so did the way he turned and pressed her back against the mirror, his body a wall of heat as the kiss grew deeper, his tongue drawing hers.
She left her hair puddled on the floor, her scalp bald and naked. It was a strange, backwards equation, but somehow the more exposed she was to him, the better she felt. His thigh slipped between hers and she opened her legs, skirt riding up high as he pressed against her. One of his hands reached around to grab her ass, lifting her more fully to him, the other twisted in front, grabbing her breast and squeezing through her blouse.
Then she remembered they were still in the elevator and it could stop at any time, letting on one of her neighbors, maybe even a client. She broke the kiss, breathless, meeting his own half-lidded gaze.
“Wait,” she pleaded, whimpering as his thigh flexed delightfully between hers. “At least until we get to my apartment.”
“I can’t wait anymore,” he murmured against her neck, licking and sucking at her skin. “I want you. I want you so fucking bad I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I spend all day thinking about you. My clients are beginning to wonder if I’m on drugs or something, I space out so often, daydreaming about you.”
She twined her arms around his neck, hanging on tight, as if she could get closer to him somehow, crawl inside his skin.
“And the nights…” He gave a long, frustrated groan, sliding both hands under her ass and grinding his pelvis against hers. She gave in, wrapping her legs around his waist, feeling the hard press of his cock bent and straining through his trousers. “I feel like a damned teenager. I can’t stop jerking off and thinking about you.” She flushed with pleasure at his words.
“And just when I think it’s over, when I make myself come remembering your hot little pussy or your sweet, gorgeous tits…” He kissed her again, quickly, his breath hot, his words mumbled against her mouth. “You’ve got me under some sort of spell. I swear, I can come like I was fifteen again, over and over. All I have to do is remember the feel of you riding my cock and I’m hard again in an instant.” His admission made them both fill with heat. He met her eyes, his expression pained, hungry, desperate.