An Unforgettable Lady(85)

Grace felt her heart sink as she wondered how she would feel, watching him walk out of her door and never look back. "Haven't you ever wanted to stay?"

He shook his head. "I can't remember the last time I woke up next to a woman."

"Well, actually, that would have been me. Wouldn't it? "

Reluctantly, he nodded. "Yes, I guess it was."

"When I rolled over and looked into your eyes that morning, I knew you wanted me." She spoke softly and looked up.

"Sure, I wanted you then. I want you right now. But I can't change my whole life for you and that's what it would take for us to be together."

She went over to him and touched his face. "You can't protect my heart, John, and neither of us can predict the future. I'm already falling in love with you. If you don't want to be with me, fine. But don't make decisions for me because you're afraid I'll get hurt."

His voice was low, husky. "I never thought I'd meet someone like you."

He took the palm of her hand, pressed his lips to it, and placed it on his thick chest.

Then he stepped back.

"But whether you know it or not, you're looking for love in return, Grace. And I can't give you something I don't have inside of me."

He was out the door before she could respond.





chapter

17





Going downstairs for breakfast, Grace had to pin a smile onto her face. She would rather have eaten alone, but meals were a command performance at Willings and her absence would have led to another confrontation with her mother. Because she was holding herself together with only loose threads of dignity, she wanted to avoid any further upheaval.

Only two more days, she thought, walking into the dining room.

She was surprised to see both Jack and his girlfriend seated at the long table.

"Blair!" she exclaimed. "When did you get here?"

The other woman got to her feet and they embraced.

"Late last night."

Blair, tall and slender with closely cropped blond hair and dazzling gray eyes, was the perfect complement to Jack's sleekness. With their expensive clothes and their classic looks, they were a matched set.

As Grace stepped back, she saw Smith come into the room and became instantly aware of him.



"How's the tooth?"

"A little sore." Blair laughed, rubbing her jaw. "But I was feeling better than I thought I would and came late last night."

"She's a real trooper, all right," Jack said.

The woman looked over at him. "Although I'm going to have to miss today's sailing excursion. I am not strong enough to hit the ocean with you and Alex."

"Funny, you managed to get out of it the last time he asked us." Jack chuckled. "Are you sure you didn't plan the root canal?"

"Alex is in town?" Grace asked, sitting down as Jack pushed her chair in.

Alex Moorehouse was one of the country's best America's Cup sailors and an old friend of Jack's. Grace had met him on a number of occasions and liked the man.

"He is and I wouldn't miss a chance to get out on the open sea with Moorehouse. That man's pure adrenaline."

Carolina entered the room and they all stood up. She was dressed in a fine tweed suit, her hair precisely arranged in the chignon she'd worn it in for years. As her mother's eyes passed over her, Grace touched her own hair, which was down and flowing over her shoulders.

Carolina eyed Smith's blue jeans with disapproval before smiling at her newest guest. "Blair, darling, how are you? Sit, sit, everyone."

Jack helped her with her chair and then she rang the bell. Marta came in with a breakfast of scrambled eggs and cut fruit on a large silver tray. The woman paused by each guest, holding the load with ease.

When it was her turn, Grace didn't take much of either.

"It looks lovely, Marta, thank you," she said. "Mother, today we're going to go to Mr. Blankenbaker's. Would you like to come?"

"No. I'm having lunch with Harrington Wright. First, however, I must go to see Stella Linnaean, who is not feeling well. And then ..."

Grace let her mother's recital of the day's activities pass over her like a mist. She thought instead of John and what he'd said earlier that morning. She was surprised he'd revealed so much of himself, although it was a damn shame that so little of it worked in her favor. She replayed their conversation in her head over and over again, looking for a way to make him see the possibilities instead of the obstacles between them.