Not Even for Love(56)

“Why? Are you pregnant?”

He playfully jerked her head back by a fistful of hair. “No, but I’ll work very hard at getting you pregnant if that’ll guarantee your marrying me,” he warned. “As a matter of fact, I rather like that idea. Think of all the pictures I could take of you and the babies.”

“Babies?”

“Yes. You know—those tiny little humans who squall and squirm a lot.”

“I’m too old to start having babies,” she argued.

“Then we’d better get started,” he growled as he propelled her toward the bedroom.

“Do you have any reservations about marrying me?” he asked as his lips slowly nibbled the sensitive skin on the underside of her arm.

Their clothes were messily piled on top of half-packed crates and they were nestled in the covers of the bed they had shared once before.

Outside it was raining.

“I have a million reservations,” she murmured against his ribs. Her fingertips were traversing the length of his thigh. “But a wise man once told me not to let my common sense make every decision for me. Sometimes one has to take a gamble. I think you’re a reasonably good risk.”

He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face up. “This wise man wouldn’t be named Helmut Eckherdt by any chance?”

“By chance he was.”

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he chuckled. “Leave it to him to take charge.”

“You mean…”

“Yes, I heard from him, too. I was furiously packing last night when he called my hotel room. He told me in no uncertain terms that I’d better get my ass in gear and marry you before someone much smarter than I did. When I told him I was on my way here to do just that, he said, ‘Good boy,’ and hung up.”

They laughed together softly. “He always did like to take matters into his own hands.”

“I like to take matters into my own hands, too,” Reeves said. Only it wasn’t “matters” that his hands closed over but the lush mounds of her breasts. She eased over onto her back and provided him with unrestricted freedom. He dipped his head and kissed the deep cleft between her breasts. “You’re distracting me,” he said.

Instinctively she arched against him and felt his arousal, hard and hot, against her. “From what?” she asked. Her hand found him and implored him to come nearer.

“From telling you about my new job.” His voice had an edge to it. “Forget it for now.” Instantly he was released and pushed away. He blinked rapidly. “Can’t you do what you were doing and listen at the same time?”

“No. Because you can’t talk if I keep doing what I was doing.”

“Not very articulately anyway. Damn. Well, I’ll hurry.” He lay his head on her breasts and said, “A publishing house in New York has been after me for years to compile a book, a pictorial essay of sorts, on the last decade, which would encompass most of my career. I went to Paris to meet with some of their top editors who were there for some book fair or some such. Anyway, to make a long story as short as I possibly can—I have pressing problems that need to be seen to—we negotiated a contract. How does that sound?”

“Reeves,” Jordan cried enthusiastically. She sat up, dislodging his head from its comfortable pillow. “That’s wonderful. Are you excited?”

“Yeah,” he admitted abashedly. “It will mean a lot of money, but at the same time force me to evaluate how I feel about all the things I’ve seen, heard, and experienced these last years. Some of those experiences have been invaluable and I think they should be shared. Do you think two writers in one family is too absurd to contemplate?”

She ran her fingers lovingly through his mussed hair. “I think I could survive anything with you. The concept of the book is marvelous. I’ll help you all I can.”

“Good. I can’t spell worth a damn. Now that that’s out of the way …” He placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to push her back, but she remained upright.

“I’m not finished yet. Where will we live?”

He muttered a soft curse. “I haven’t really decided. Are you averse to the Washington, D.C., area? Virginia has some lovely spots.” Then, with exaggerated offhandedness, he added, “We have an extremely photogenic First Family. And year after next will be election time again.”

A worried frown creased her brow and darkened the blue rings around the gray irises. “Reeves, you’re not going to miss all the travel and excitement, are you?”

He clasped her to him. “No. With my experience and credentials, I’ll never be without a job, but the younger shooters can have the globe-hopping. I know how much you want stability and a home. I want that, too. I was serious when I said that I want to take pictures of you and the babies from now on.”