On her fourth day in San Francisco, she awoke to hear Mike in the shower, humming an off-key rendition of an old Johnny Cash song. The sound was so familiar, had once been so much a part of her daily life that she had to remind herself sharply that it might be only temporary. Sooner or later they were going to have to talk about something besides what to order from room service and which color of condom to try next. She picked up the box and shook it. There were none left. That pretty much eliminated one of their favorite topics.
She slipped out of bed and crept into the bathroom. When she opened the shower curtain, Mike grinned at her.
“Lonely?”
She nodded. When he beckoned, she stepped under the shower. Mike’s hands, slick with soap, began to explore. It took only a heartbeat for both of them to become as steamed up as the room and thoroughly aroused. Her body was sensitive to the slightest brush of his fingers. In the blink of an eye he was lifting her, guiding her until he was deep inside and her legs were wrapped around his waist, her back pressed against the cool tile.
“Oh, yes,” she murmured, as the hot spiraling need slashed through her yet again.
Mike’s head was thrown back, his muscles tensed as yet another climax tore through them both.
When the aftershocks were over, he released her slowly. Her body slid along his until her feet touched the tile floor. Jane was shaken by how quickly he was able to shatter her, how attuned her body was to his. She had always enjoyed sex with Mike, thrilled to his touch, but in the past few days, they had moved to some new level of neediness. She couldn’t believe what he was able to do to her with little more than a slow, seductive look.
“I can’t believe what you do to me,” Mike said, echoing her thoughts, looking at her with amazement once they were back in the bedroom dressing. “We were always good together, but this…”
“I know. It’s astonishing.”
“Scary, too,” he said.
Jane stilled, gazing at his reflection in the mirror in front of her. “Scary? Why?”
“What will happen when you go home again in a few days? This intensity isn’t something you can just walk away from and forget.” He studied her intently. “Or is it?”
So, she thought, they were going to have this conversation now. She’d hoped to put it off a little longer, hoped to have time to put her own feelings into perspective.
“What are you asking me?”
“I suppose I’m asking what happens next. Do you just go back home and pretend that this was just a romantic interlude, a spring break to remember, something you can tuck away in a mental scrapbook? Or does it mean something to you?”
Hands and knees trembling, Jane sank down on the edge of the bed. “Do you want it to mean something, Mike?”
He came and sat beside her and took her icy hand in his. “Yes, I want it to mean something,” he said fervently. “I want it to mean that this time we’ll figure out a way to make things work. I want our love to last this time. I want it to mean that you’ll stay here and marry me.”
Jane swallowed hard. It was what she wanted, what she’d prayed for…almost. “Here,” she repeated, unable to hide the note of defeat that crept into her voice.
“Yes, here,” he said, the old familiar defensiveness promptly coloring his words. “Why not here? It’s a beautiful city. It’s exciting. There are thousands of people who would give anything to be able to live here, especially in the style I can afford.” He frowned. “But you’re not one of them, are you? You won’t even give it a chance.”
“That’s not true. I came here, didn’t I? It’s not entirely my fault that we’ve barely left the hotel.”
Mike sighed. “You have a point, which is why I’m already dressed, instead of taking you back to bed again. I want you to see the city, see my place. I want you to meet my friends. I want to take you sight-seeing and shopping until you fall in love with it all the way I have.”
Jane’s spirits sagged. Couldn’t he see that she was in love with him? Wasn’t that enough? Why did San Francisco have to be part of the bargain?
“Please,” he said softly, as if he’d read her mind. “Just give it a chance, keep an open mind. That’s all I’m asking.”
It was only fair, she supposed. She reached up and touched his cheek. “I’ll give it a chance,” she promised, then turned away before he could see the tears gathering in her eyes as she saw part of her dream already slipping away.
CHAPTER 3
Jane dedicated herself to getting to know San Francisco, to giving it a fair chance. Mike could see the grim determination in her eyes when she sat down with a guidebook over lunch on Fisherman’s Wharf and chose the spots she wanted to visit. She mapped out a rigorous, dutiful schedule his secretary would have admired.
Once they’d started, though, her attitude began to change. As he’d anticipated, she was entranced with everything, almost despite herself. The transition over the next couple of days was slow, but unmistakable. She peppered him with more questions than he could answer, delighted in the strange and exotic food, the sight-seeing ride on a boat on San Francisco Bay, the opening day ball game he’d committed to attending with clients he couldn’t offend. Jane charmed them and cheered as if she’d been a loyal Giants fan her whole life.
But there was no mistaking the sense that she was on vacation, enjoying an interlude, rather than settling into a new routine. Maybe that was his fault. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken the time off. If he’d left her to her own devices, maybe she would have begun to adapt as if she lived there, instead
