Eternally Yours - Brenda Jackson [28]
“I couldn’t help myself,” he said huskily. “I meant what I said on the card. I want to see you, Syneda. Soon. This weekend. Is that possible?”
Syneda took a deep breath. “Yes.”
“How about if I fly in on Friday afternoon?”
A lump formed in Syneda’s throat. The silkiness of his suggestion touched her everywhere. “I’d like that.”
There was a slight pause before he asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Another pause. “Do you want to go out to dinner when I get there?” he asked.
“If you’d like. Or we can have something delivered. Let’s decide when you get here.”
“Okay. I’ll see you on Friday.”
“Until then, Clayton.”
“Yes, until then.”
Clayton hung up the phone and glanced down at the legal brief he’d been working on before Syneda’s call. He pushed it aside as he sat back in his chair.
He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until the plans had been finalized for his visit to see her. He had been in knots all week at the thought that after returning to New York, she would have had second thoughts about continuing what they had started in Saint Augustine.
He shifted uneasily in his chair, wondering what had actually happened to bring him to such a state over a woman. There had never been a time when a woman had consumed his every thought. There were too many females out there to get hung up on just one. Women had a way of making the most sensible man act foolish. So what in the world was happening to him?
After Justin and Lorren had left to return to Texas, he had tried resting, relaxing and enjoying his time alone. But he hadn’t been able to do any of those things. Instead he had thought of Syneda. He had spent an uncomfortable amount of time thinking about her and had begun feeling resentful. Resentful that any woman’s overpowering allure could bring forth such a need in him.
So he had tried not to think about needing her and wanting her. He had even made up his mind not to contact her when he returned to Texas from Florida. But something had happened to him that he hadn’t counted on, something that had gone beyond any rational thought. It was something that—after taking more showers than he could count—still had him mystified until he had finally faced the truth. Syneda had been able to do something no other woman had done. She had somehow exposed deep feelings within him.
Before the trip to Florida, his relationships with women had been uncomplicated. Over the years he had dated a number of incredibly attractive women, but never did one have him thinking more about passion than winning court cases. Why was this thing with Syneda, of all people, different?
Why had kissing and touching her caused tremors deep within his body days after they’d parted? He shook his head, thinking how in the last couple of days he’d lain in bed thinking about her and wanting her. It didn’t take much for him to close his eyes and visualize her in every outfit she’d worn while they were in Florida. Right at this very moment, he would do just about anything to have her in his arms, with her soft, warm body pressed close to his.
He took a deep breath. It was an effort to breathe. A first for him. His features tightened at the thought that he was losing control. Again.
Clayton stood and moved to one of the windows facing downtown Houston. The only excuse he could come up with for his reactions was that it had been some time, sixty-four days to be exact, since he’d slept with a woman. Why was he putting himself through unnecessary misery? All he had to do was pick up the phone. He knew a number of women who’d be more than willing to take care of his needs. But for some strange reason not just any woman would do.
He wanted Syneda.
He again shook his head. He hoped Syneda was