All Said and Undone by Angelita Gill Page B

waited at the hotel entrance, saying their good-byes as Jack swung the Lexus around, got out, and opened her door. During the long ride home, she attempted to keep the conversation light and casual, with her eyes always straight ahead. At times she sensed Jack’s gaze upon her profile, her legs, her whole body, until she nearly felt undressed next to him. His demeanor radiated a sensual energy she was having a difficult time ignoring. Way back when, she’d responded with enthusiasm and awe. She’d play with his neck, nuzzle his ear, whisper and laugh softly how much she couldn’t wait to get him home. Sometimes he’d pull over to a remote spot and they’d make out like a couple of teenagers with nowhere else to go. He’d put the seat back and she’d crawl into his lap, kissing until they couldn’t take anymore.
    More than anything, she wished she could let it happen that way again.
    Her sex rule was torture! Pure torture.
    As soon as they walked in the door, she murmured of her need to use the bathroom and cowered in the master bedroom. Methodically, she removed her makeup with cold cream, brushed her teeth, and changed into a nightgown. When she entered the bedroom, she was relieved to find it empty and dark. She’d expected Jack to be in there waiting for her. She walked out to the kitchen for a glass of water.
    She slowed her steps when she saw Jack sitting in a chair in the living room, his feet planted to the floor, arms at rest. He had removed his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his tanned, defined stomach and chest. Her heart skipped a beat. He looked incredible, the picture of elegant masculinity.
    A sexual gleam was in his eye as he surveyed her scrubbed-clean appearance, raking his gaze from her toes on up. She half expected him to be turned off from her transformation away from the glamorous, but she was wrong. It wasn’t until he met her gaze that the twinkle slowly faded from his eyes, and his rakish smile turned grim. Looking away, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, studying the lines on his palms.
    “You don’t want me, do you?” he asked.
    Grace didn’t know what to say. If she was honest and said yes, that she wanted him with all her being, he might never let her go until she gave in. “No, I don’t want you,” she lied, watching him visibly tense. “And you know why.”
    He pursed his lips and nodded, reflective. Then shook his head. “Not really. Why, Grace?”
    Because if you touch any part of me I’ll fall to pieces. Because if we make love time will stand still and we’ll never change . “Because I want to take things slow. That’s my way, Jack. Take it or leave it.” Take it , she begged silently. Please take it .
    “You have to get used to the idea, is that it?” he said. “Me back here inside the house again? Me wanting to make love to you and be close to you every Godforsaken night?”
    She was breathless for a minute as he stared at her. “Nothing’s changed,” she told him, her voice strained. “Things aren’t okay just because we went to one party together. Tonight I realized I barely know anything about the work you do, who you see every day when you leave the house. Before you moved out, we spent any time we had together in our own little world on weekends. We didn’t talk about work or our friends or our problems—”
    An inexplicable look of withdrawal came over his face. “I know.”
    “We always talked about the future. Taking a trip, taking dance lessons, having kids….everything but the present. And we still did none of those things. We didn’t want to talk about the fact we were leading two separate lives and calling it our marriage.”
    “I realize that, but we’re two separate people, Grace,” he commented in a firm, reasonable tone. “I work in the corporate world, you’re in entertainment.” He let out a dry laugh. “Our lives couldn’t be more different than night and day. You went your way, I went mine, and