He hoped their intimacy would increase and that she would have no regrets in the days to come.
~*~
“We have to leave immediately!” Willa searched frantically among the hurriedly shed articles of clothing. “We have to go right now. Max might be home any minute and she can’t know any of this.”
Merrick stepped into his cargo pants, a wide grin spread across his face.
“Why aren’t you hurrying?” she demanded.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It’s like going to get your teeth cleaned. You’re not too enthusiastic going into it but afterwards, you feel pretty good.”
He dodged the shoe she hurled at him.
“You’re comparing me to a visit with a dental hygienist?” She paused, hands on hips, to give him a less than favorable glare.
“I’m kidding!” He scooped her up into his arms. “It was much more like a full blown root canal.”
She shoved him away. “Beast! There is such a thing as karma, you know?” Willa had her clothes on and looked around the loft. She took her shoe from Merrick and held on to him as she slipped her foot into it.
He pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss that he hoped expressed what he was feeling. “You know I’m teasing, don’t you?”
She shook her head, her curls bouncing in counterpoint. “Merrick, I don’t understand you at all. We shared a moment that was very special to me and now you’re minimizing it.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Making love to you was the last thing I expected tonight. It was wonderful. I’m not handling it well.”
“Idiot! I’ve been crazy about you for years.” She pulled away from him. “It was a big deal to me and I don’t expect you to feel the same way, but don’t act like it was nothing.” She grabbed her handbag and left the loft. “Lock up,” she directed.
He heard her heels click-clacking down the stairwell. Feeling a sense of loss and confusion, he sighed and pulled on his tee shirt before gathering his tools.
Merrick Foster was now and had always been a little awed by Willa Beth Shaw.
He’d first met Willa when she was five and he was seven. She’d come to Max’s fifth birthday party. She’d been the smallest girl at the party but she’d played like a wild creature, throwing herself into every game.
As they grew, he’d always been aware of her. Willa and Max seemed to be joined at the hip. He remembered when she’d started filling out. He’d teased her about her blossoming figure, but the truth was he’d been well aware of her beauty and intelligence. And that one-two punch he felt when she turned her megawatt grin on him always knocked him out.
Merrick picked up the duvet on Max’s futon and pressed his face into it, relishing the smell of Willa and sex. He didn’t want his baby sister to sleep with the coverlet where he and Willa had been together.
Willa said it was a big deal to her and Merrick was feeling more and more that it was a big deal to him.
~*~
Jon showered with Millie the next morning. He couldn’t stop smiling. He didn’t want to go in to work. He wanted to stay locked in his apartment with Millie. He wanted to be stranded on an island with Millie.
Millie had other ideas.
When she’d awakened, her old demons reappeared.
“Oh,” she’d uttered, sitting bolt upright in bed. No matter what he’d said, she’d been hell-bent on getting out of his apartment as quickly as possible.
Jon insisted on taking a quick shower before dropping her off as he would have to go in to his office. He’d been surprised when she’d joined him.
“Don’t get any ideas,” she’d warned. “You invaded my bath so turn about is fair play.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he’d said, passing the shampoo.
When Max lathered her hair, he helped massage it in and the suds spilled down her neck and shoulders. He took a handful of shampoo and rubbed it over her breasts, then pulled her into his embrace. She grinned in spite of her discomfort with the situation.
He leaned down to kiss her and it deepened. Her arms slid around his neck and he lifted her, held her against the smooth blue glass shower tiles.
She let out a little grunt of acquiescence and kissed him with greater fervor. They made love standing up in the shower. Her thighs formed a vise around him. Her little cries of pleasure resounded in the steamy interior, accompanied by the water pouring over them from the waterfall shower head.
“You are so beautiful,” he said. “A work of art.”
She pulled away, gazing at him with a stricken expression.
He swept her hair back from her face. “Trust me,” he said. “I know all about art and you’re a priceless treasure.”
Jon wrapped a towel around his hips and enveloped her in his voluminous brown velour robe. She dried her hair as he shaved. He handed her a toothbrush covered in plastic.
“You just happen to have spare toothbrushes for overnight guests?” Max’s denim blue eyes glinted with a flash of anger. She squeezed too much toothpaste onto the offending instrument and attacked her teeth.
He let out an apprehensive sigh. “Yes.”
A blaze of color appeared high on Max’s cheeks. She rinsed her mouth. “Glad to know I got the full treatment.”
“It’s not like that,” he said, but she turned and left the bathroom. By the time he’d finished shaving, she was dressed and waiting by the door.
“Millie, I’m not going away,” he said. “You know how I feel about you. Sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with me.”
“Later,” she said.
He drove her to her loft, but before he could turn off the ignition, she’d jumped out of the vehicle and was running into the building. He watched her disappear. This wasn’t how he thought they’d part this morning.
~*~
Max locked herself in her loft and paced around for half an hour before sinking onto the futon.
Something was wrong. She realized her duvet was missing.
She saw Oleg’s painting framed, wrapped and waiting for transport. Several others had been separated but it looked like Willa had stopped mid-way through her selection process. Maybe she would be back later. Maybe she hadn’t found anything else worthy of the show.
Max felt a tidal wave of real pain as she thought of Jon. He’d been so tender in his love making, but she knew it was a mistake.
She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She hadn’t intended for it to happen but she couldn’t help herself. If it had been Jon’s intention to seduce her, then he’d achieved his objective. She suspected that she was yet another easy conquest in a long line of seductions. How could any woman resist?
She’d been such a fool for Malcolm, the first grown man to pay attention to her after graduation. He’d owned a gallery in Austin, where her parents lived and he was a well-known working artist. He’d played Henry Higgins to her Eliza and she’d fallen under his spell, believing he loved her, not dreaming he’d use her...
A knock sounded on the door and Max stopped breathing. She couldn’t face Jon right now.
“Max? Are you in there?”
She exhaled. It was Merrick. She unlocked the door and noticed that he held her duvet in his arms.
“I washed it for you.” He tossed it on the futon. “I was hot and sweaty when I lay on it last night.”
“I could have washed it,” she said.
Merrick gave her his dimpled smile. “I came to finish some of the framing Willa wanted.” He picked up a landscape Willa had chosen.
“Good,” Max said. “I was thinking she might not have found enough good ones for the show.”
“That wasn’t it,” he said, frowning. Abruptly, he turned to the door. “I’m going to bring up my tools.”
She nodded. “I should at least feed you for your labor.”
When Merrick brought his things up in the freight elevator, Max asked for his truck keys, promising to bring him som
ething edible. “When I looked in my refrigerator the milk was out of date and the bread was green.”
Merrick laughed, his dark mood gone. “No science experiments, please.”
~*~
Merrick was deeply engrossed in framing when he heard someone clear their throat. He turned to find a tall, dark haired man standing in the open doorway.
“Are you Foster?” he asked. At Merrick’s nod, he stepped forward to shake hands. “I’m Jon Donnell.”
“I thought so,” Merrick said. “What do you think?” He gestured to the paintings lining the wall.
“These paintings are genius. Amazing talent,” Jon said. “The show should be standing room only. I’ve invited half the city.”
“I’m brand new at this,” Merrick said. “Is there anything else we need to do to make it successful?”
“I have a delivery truck and personnel available for transport. Just make sure these paintings are well prepared for shipment. I noticed some are still wet.”
“That’s what I’m doing today,” Merrick said. “Willa gave me my orders.” He smiled when he said her name.
“Willa knows what to do,” Jon said. “Just show up and let Willa lead you to the big money clients. They’ll want to meet you.”
Merrick looked up from the stained wood he was measuring. “They will?”
“Absolutely,” Jon said. “But you don’t have to do anything except be there.”
“Okay.” Merrick lowered the miter saw, spewing a film of sawdust into the air.
Jon looked around. “It’s obvious that you have better things to do.” He smiled, raised his hand and shouted over the noise. “I’ll see you at the show.”
Merrick nodded and waved.
When Max returned, she brought Willa up with her. They’d met in the parking lot and Willa grabbed one of the grocery bags.
There was a moment when Willa looked at Merrick and he felt as though she’d wrenched the heart right out of him. He’d known it was a mistake, but damn! It had been great. Even now, he ached to touch her.
Willa made skillet toast and bacon and eggs in Max’s electric skillet.
Max poured orange juice into her jelly glasses and set them on the stool beside her futon. She accepted the filled plates Willa handed her and gave one to Merrick.
“I’m glad you came in time to make breakfast, Willa,” Max said. “It wouldn’t have been so good if I’d made it.”
“I have many hidden talents.” Willa swept Merrick with a cool glance.
“Indeed you do,” he said under his breath. Merrick took his plate and juice, sliding to the floor across from the futon where Max and Willa sat. He leaned against the wall, silently poking food in his mouth as he watched the two women in his life interact and ignore him.
Willa pointed out paintings she wanted to include in the show.
Max expressed pleasure that she’d chosen a broad selection of her work ranging from the abstracts Jon liked to her more traditional portraits and landscapes. Merrick’s favorite seascape made the cut.
Merrick put his dishes in the sink and returned to his task. He heard snippets of conversation between Willa and Max but it seemed to him that both women were distracted. He tried to concentrate, but his gaze kept straying to where Willa stood.
He saw Willa and Max embrace and Willa headed for the door without telling him goodbye.
He caught up with her in the stairwell. “Wait up, Willa.” He loped down the stairs to stand beside her.
She turned to give him a skeptical look. “Is there something you want?”
“You’re damned right.” He cut her off, barring her path. “I was a jerk. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings last night.”
“Too late.” Her direct gaze held Merrick captive.
He reached for her hand, prying her fingers from the handrail, to brush her palm with his lips. “No, it’s not too late. I’m apologizing to you and I would appreciate it if you can forgive me.”
Willa ducked her head and blinked.
“C’mon, baby,” Merrick said. “Give me another chance to get this right.” He lifted her chin and leaned toward her, connecting for a brief kiss.
She sighed, impaling him with her somber gaze. “Alright. I’ll give you one chance, but don’t take my feelings lightly.”
Merrick felt a wave of relief wash over him. He realized he’d come close to losing something precious. Something he hadn’t known existed. Something he hadn’t known he possessed. “Never again,” he promised. He kissed her more tenderly this time. He linked arms with her. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
When Max looked out her window, she saw Merrick groping Willa in the parking lot. She grinned. At least someone was happy.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jon sat on one of the high stools at his worktable, thinking.
Meeting Max Foster had been unsettling. The guy was handsome by anyone’s standards. He could see why Millie and Willa were so taken with him.
Max hadn’t been much on conversation, but when you’re an artistic genius and look like a sun-bronzed movie star, you didn’t have to be.
Unlike most of the artists Jon had met, this Max guy’s body was ripped. He appeared to be competent with power tools and capable of carrying out whatever he took on. He didn’t seem to have a big ego, totally submitting to the process as dictated by Willa.
Jon stared off into space. He reflected on his love making with Millie the night before. He thought about her sweet and passionate response to his advances. He remembered her body curved into his as she slept and how fiercely she’d clung to him when they coupled in the shower.
And how she’d run away from him in her parking lot. If it was Max Foster she’d been running to, he was going to have a fight on his hands.
I’m not going to lose you, Milli.
“Mr. Donnell?” his intern stood in the doorway.
“Yes Courtney.” Jon pretended to be engrossed in the papers strewn across his work surface.
“Mr. Alonso is here to see you. He said he didn’t have an appointment, but if you have a moment he wants to go over the menu with you.”
“Send him in.”
A few seconds later the doorframe was filled with one of Jon’s fraternity brothers from The University. “Big Jon!” The man displayed a wide expanse of white teeth. “How’s it going, bro?”
“Great, Dean. Just great.” Jon extended his hand across the worktable but the other man came around to deliver a bone-shaking embrace and a series of loud whacks on his shoulder.
“It’s good to see you, Jon. I gotta tell you how much I appreciate this opportunity.”
“It’s nothing. Glad I could help out.”
“No, man,” Dean protested. “When Margie left me, she cleaned me out. I really needed this break. I won’t let you down.”
“I’m kind of busy right now, Dean,” Jon said. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Yeah, man. Here’s the menu all printed out like you asked. Do you have a final head count?”
Jon nodded and called for Courtney. “Can you pull up the list of guests invited to the opening? Dean needs a total number.”
Dean exited with Courtney and left the building after a lengthy conference with her.
Jon drew a little sketch of Millie in the corner of his pad. He started with her eyes, so wide apart and child-like and added her full lips, then the line of her shoulder…
Courtney jarred him out of his trance. “Here are my measurements for the Townsend draperies.”
“Dean left?”
“Yes, he looked at the guest list and I gave him a bottle of water out of the fridge. He said he needed to take a pill.”
Jon nodded and picked up the sheet of paper she’d handed him. The numbers seemed irrelevant. He glanced at them absently.
“Have you selected the fabric? Are you going with the ombre dupioni?” When he didn’t answer she raised one of her pencil thin eyebrows. “Mr. Donnell, is something wrong?”
“No, Courtney.”
“Do you want me to turn them in for production?” She pointed to her drawings.
“That will be fine. Take them to the sewing room.” He sorted through a file. “Here are the fabrics I’ve chosen.”
“Is there anything you want me to do for the art opening?”
“Just be there and help out as needed.”
Courtney walked out, giving him a quizzical glance over her shoulder.
~*~
Merrick returned to the loft with a wide grin on his face. He immediately threw himself into building frames for the selected paintings, whistling a bit as he labored.
Max avoided speaking to him about what she’d seen, but surreptitiously observed him, noting that he seemed happier than she’d seen him in years...Ever.
She assisted by wrapping the smaller dry paintings in plastic bubble wrap. They left the newest ones for last, thinking rightly that allowing them to dry for a couple of extra days might prevent mishaps.