In the minutes that followed the most extraordinary lovemaking of Mary’s life, Jack remained levered over her, his dark gaze not wavering as he stared into her eyes. What, she wondered, was he thinking as he looked at her the way he was now?
As if he was seeing her anew…
Reaching instinctively to smooth her hair, she realized it was knotted behind her head. She’d loved it when he’d slid his hands into her hair and tangled his fingers in it as he’d made wild love to her. But in the aftermath of that wildness, she knew she didn’t look anywhere near her best.
“I should probably go clean up. And then,” she said with an attempt at an easy smile, “I’ll make us some breakfast. Do you like eggs?”
“Breakfast can wait.” Jack draped an arm and a leg over her and held her where she was beneath him. “I’m not done looking yet.”
Mary tried not to grimace. “I’m sure I look like a mess.”
As if to confirm her statement, he reached out to run a finger through her hair, and it got caught on a tangle as he rolled the lock up around his finger. “You’ve always looked so perfect,” he murmured. “I’ve never seen you like this, rumpled, with lines from the pillow on your cheek.”
Her heart sank to her stomach as she realized her mistake. She’d been so comfortable with Jack, so head over heels for him and his kisses, that she’d forgotten to keep up the mystique of being Mary Ferrer.
Before Jack, she would have worked to glide over it with a laugh and a witty comment. But after the sweet intimacy of lovemaking, her emotions were close enough to the surface that she said, “It’s a good thing then that I have a big bag of model’s tricks to make myself perfect again.”
Surprise jumped into Jack’s eyes at her defensive tone. “What’s wrong? What did I say?”
Her looks had been her ticket to adventures all over the world and a glittering career that had exceeded any expectations she’d had as a girl full of dreams. Even so, sometimes she hated the fact that keeping that ticket valid meant she had to spend so much time on keeping up her appearance. She’d never owned a pair of sweatpants. She’d never gone out for a cup of coffee without at least some mascara and lipstick.
She would never take what she had for granted, but if she had known the price it would come with—not just losing her mother’s love but this endless focus on perfection—she might have walked more slowly through that childhood door into her adult life.
Despite everything they’d shared since last night, did Jack only want to see the perfect version of her? Mary had to close her eyes against a bolt of pain that hit her at the thought.
A moment later she felt Jack’s gentle caress on her cheek.
“Don’t shut me out, Angel. Not now.”
She’d been brave enough to give him her body. Knowing she should have the courage to answer his questions now, she made herself meet his gaze head-on.
“You’re right that almost no one has ever seen me looking like this, or as anything less than the perfect model they’re expecting to see.”
“Then that makes me the luckiest man in the world. Which,” he added with a sexy grin that made her heart skip a beat in her chest, “I already knew.”
But wait—what had he just said?
“Lucky?” she repeated. “But my hair is knotted and my makeup has rubbed off all over the pillowcase.”
“Every time you’ve been in front of a camera, I’ve been stunned by your beauty and by how well you do your job. But getting to see you now, a little messy, all of your stunning features a little out of focus while you’re still catching your breath from making love with me—” He picked up one of her hands and put it over his breastbone. “It does something to me. Right here.”
Feeling his heart beat strong and steady against her palm steadied hers, too.
“You’ll always be beautiful to me, Mary. Especially now.”
His sweet words meant more to her than any jewel, than any expensive gift, than any poetic words possibly could have.
No one but Jack had ever truly wanted her the way she really was.
“You’re right,” she murmured as she wrapped her naked limbs around his, “breakfast can wait.”
* * *
Unlike most models, Mary ate a healthy diet. Part of staying slim enough for the camera was genetics. The other part was that she loved being in motion. Walking, swimming, dancing…making love. Besides, she loved eating too much to ever consider giving up delicious food.
But as she sat at her breakfast table across from Jack an hour later, she couldn’t manage even the tiniest bite of the eggs, crisp bacon and toast he’d just whipped up for them while she’d spoken briefly with Janeen on the telephone. Mary supposed it stood to reason that a bachelor in his early thirties would have to know how to cook or else he might starve, but this was a breakfast that under other circumstances she would have wolfed down.
She’d loved every second in Jack’s arms. He’d made her feel cherished and safe while giving her pleasure she’d never known before. She’d never been with a man like Jack, one who held nothing back, and gave even when he couldn’t guarantee getting anything in return for himself.