Why Not Tonight?

planned to live-other than to know it would no longer be in fast-paced Manhattan.

So, in the meanwhile, he’d do what the doctor ordered. Rest. Relax. Toss off his all-work, no-play persona and embrace the carefree, bachelor lifestyle. Hook up with a bevy of gorgeous women. Not that he’d lived like a monk before-but he’d certainly devoted a hell of a lot more time to his job than to his social life. A few years down the road, after he’d seen the world, made up for lost dating time and had a new career going, then he’d start looking around for Ms. Right.

You found her once, his inner voice chimed in slyly. You had her. But you let her get away…

The mental picture he’d only moments ago successfully blocked now broke through his carefully erected barriers and a vivid image of Mallory Altman rose in his mind, filling him with the same sense of loss and regret the thought of her always brought.

Had ten years really passed since they’d first met? Nine years since that unforgettable summer when their friendship had caught fire and flared into a steaming love affair? Yes, although when he allowed himself to think about that summer, the memories remained so clear, so vivid, it didn’t seem possible it had happened so long ago.

To this day, if he closed his eyes, he could still hear her infectious laugh. See her teasing grin. He’d loved her sense of humor, the magical way she could turn even the dullest chore into something fun. He’d fallen hard…so hard that the depth of his feelings had scared the crap out of him. Yeah, he’d had her, but the timing had been wrong. For both of them.

They’d been too young, his emotions too intense. She’d just turned eighteen and was headed off to a university hundreds of miles away, while he was only twenty-one, a new college grad about to start his Wall Street career. When he’d found himself thinking about forever-about marriage, kids and a mortgage, panic swamped him and he suggested they take a break. See other people. She’d agreed and he’d breathed a huge sigh of relief.

It hadn’t taken him long to realize he’d made a mistake, but it had been long enough for her to find someone else. And to make it clear that Adam was now “just a friend.” Losing her, realizing that her feelings hadn’t run anywhere near as deep as his had hurt like a jagged blade through his heart.

They’d briefly run into each other a few times after that, but each time they’d been involved with other people. He hadn’t seen her in five years. Still, the image of her gorgeous smile and warm, chocolaty brown eyes remained as vibrant as ever. The last he’d heard about her had been three years ago when he’d seen an announcement in the paper that she’d gotten engaged.

An odd, unsettling numbness had invaded his chest at the news, and all the memories he’d so firmly locked away had ambushed him. The first time he’d seen her. First time he’d touched her. Kissed her. Made love to her. The last time he’d touched her…and all those touches in between. He’d tortured himself, letting down his guard to recall those incredible few weeks that had been the happiest of his life. Then he’d mentally wished her well and forced her from his mind-a feat he managed fairly well most of the time.

Now, he roughly shoved aside her image. Mallory was the past. His future was spread before him like a bachelor banquet filled with desirable women, no-strings sex, the European trip he’d always dreamed of, more desirable women and even more no-strings sex. He’d worked hard and now it was time to decompress and reap some benefits.

A bell tinkled, indicating that someone had entered the storefront, yanking him from his reverie. Must be the one o’clock appointment. As Nick had dashed out this morning after Annie’s call announcing she was in labor, he’d asked Adam to reschedule the day’s appointments. He’d been able to contact everyone except the one o’clock and two o’clock slots. Hopefully they’d both be understanding about the lack of photographer. He didn’t want to lose any customers for Nick in his absence.

Exiting the studio, he made his way down the short hallway toward the front of the store. When he entered the main room, he saw a dark-haired woman wearing a sleeveless turquoise dress standing in front of the glass-top counter, her back to Adam.

“Hi,” he said, striding forward with a smile.

She turned and whatever else he’d planned to say drained from his head as his footsteps faltered, then stopped. And damn, it felt as if his heart did the same. Her brown eyes widened and she looked nearly as stunned as he felt. He wouldn’t have believed she could look better than what his memory conjured up, but she did. More beautiful. More desirable. More tempting. And real.

How ironic, since timing had played such a pivotal role in their relationship and its demise, that she should walk through the door just when he’d been thinking about her.

Walking toward her, he cleared his throat to find his voice and spoke words he’d never thought he’d have the opportunity to say again.

“Hi, Mallory.”

“BRING YOUR KNEE up a little higher. Ooooh, yeah. Right there. Mallory…that’s perfect.”

Mallory Altman shifted on the smooth ivory satin sheets, the material cool and slick against her overheated body. She felt like an overripe peach about to burst from its too-tight skin. Certainly not the way she’d anticipated feeling this afternoon. But then, she hadn’t anticipated finding herself in Adam Clayton’s company.

Even after not seeing him for five years, the sound of his deep, husky voice still shivered tingles down her spine. Good thing she was lying down because her knees felt positively mushy. Yet she’d felt mushy since the moment she’d so unexpectedly set eyes on him. She couldn’t deny that over the past five years she’d found herself wondering if or when she might see him again. But never, not even in her wildest fantasies, had it ever occurred to her that it would happen like this.

She’d been so stunned to see him she’d barely managed to ask him what he was doing here, of all places. Left his job on Wall Street, he’d replied, much to her amazement, and was pitching in at Picture This to help out his best friend, Nick, whose wife had gone into labor that morning. There’d been little time for more conversation-she had a client to see in an hour, and he had another appointment. Once she’d changed into her lingerie for her boudoir- pictures photo shoot, everything had just moved so quickly, and talking had been the last thing on her mind.

Still, surely it was only this provocative situation that had her in this aroused state-and nothing to do with Adam himself. After all, what they’d shared together was long over. Besides, what woman wouldn’t find herself aroused by lying on satin sheets, wearing exquisitely expensive silk lingerie while being photographed by a sexy, gorgeous man?

He’d always been attractive-not handsome in a pretty-boy, conventional way-but in a ruggedly masculine way that made it seem as if he spent all his time outdoors rather than on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. With his thick dark hair and deep blue eyes, she’d liked the look of him the instant she’d laid eyes on him ten years ago.

An image flashed in her mind of the first time she’d seen him. She’d been seventeen and sulky, convinced her life was over because she and her mom had just relocated-for the sixth time in twelve years-from Chicago to Long Island, New York, forcing her to attend her upcoming senior year of high school at a new school. She’d prayed that her mother’s position with the orchestra in Chicago would last just one more year, but no such luck.

As a professional cellist and financially strapped single mother, Emily Altman moved to whichever city’s orchestra made her the best offer. Because of their transient lifestyle and the fact that money was forever tight, they’d always lived in apartments-until the move to Long Island where, as a concession to Mallory for leaving her friends and steady boyfriend, her mom had splurged and rented a small house. For Mallory, the profound sense of stability, of permanence, she’d felt at finally living in a house had almost made up for having to move again. She’d actually considered staying in Chicago, living with a girlfriend’s family to finish out her last year of high school, but in the end she just couldn’t let her mom go alone. Since Mallory’s father had walked away before she’d been born rather than accept the responsibility of a pregnant girlfriend, Mallory and her mom had always been the two musketeers. So she’d packed up and moved. Again. And had met Adam.

He’d been twenty and friendly, home for the summer after completing his junior year of college. He’d been mowing the lawn at her house. At the ungodly hour of 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday. She’d been tempted to hurl a shoe out her bedroom window at him, but then he’d looked up and smiled at her and whammo-suddenly New York wasn’t looking so bad. A friendship and easy camaraderie had been born. He’d made her laugh, and had amazed her when he said he’d lived in the same house his entire life. A year later, their friendship caught fire and for a beautiful, brief time, had burned out of control. A decade after that first meeting, his smile still had the power to affect her.