I want You Deeper

Heath pulled up to the palatial house in a subdivision well to the north of Chicago, parking next to a luxury SUV. It had been two weeks since Vanessa’s parents had come out to California, and she’d made great strides in her relationship with her parents. Now it was his turn to try to make a good enough impression that they’d want him to become part of the family.

Looking at this house, though, he now knew why Vanessa had never been all that impressed by his wealth. She’d shared with him her upbringing that included a nanny, a personal assistant for her mom, and a full-time housekeeper who lived in the guest house behind the home she grew up in.

This was the house her parents moved into after she graduated high school. They’d “downsized” to this house, which had to be at least three thousand square feet. His instinct had been right. Romancing her with fancy trips and extravagant dinners out was a bad idea. The way to Vanessa’s heart was simply being there for her. Seeing her.

Heath had barely stepped out of his car when he saw Vanessa coming up the sidewalk in front of the house toward him. Uh-oh. Was that a bad sign? She’d come to her parents a couple of days ago to spend some time with them, and so far, his phone calls to her had indicated all was well. But he was here for the weekend, and he didn’t have a good feeling about the look on her face.

“My mom has lost it,” Vanessa whispered as she drew near. “She wants to do everything together. Ev-er-y-thing.”

He frowned. He hated to sound dense, but he had to know.

“Like what?” he asked.

“We just iced cupcakes, and now she wants to shop for a matching outfit. For the women’s lunch.”

“Women’s lunch?” He tried not to look amused, but there was something about this that was undeniably humorous.

“At the country club, tomorrow at noon. Don’t you laugh. You’ll be playing golf with my dad.”

“I have my clubs in my trunk.”

She hadn’t expected that answer. That much was clear. He closed his car door and started walking toward the house, figuring she’d follow. Sure enough, she fell into step beside him.

“This is good, right?” he asked. “You’re spending time with your parents. That’s the point.”

“Too much time. I think the pendulum has swung in the complete opposite direction.”

“We’re leaving out of here on Sunday, so it’s just two more days. We’ll get through this. Together.”

He smiled down at her as they reached the front door of the house. He started to press the doorbell, but Vanessa reached over and pushed the door open.

He resisted the urge to let out a whistle as he entered the house. This was most definitely impressive. He’d seen his fair share of entryways in his time, but this took extravagance to a whole new level. Marble floors, a second floor that overlooked this entryway, the most interesting zigzag light he’d ever seen hanging from the ceiling… Yet at the same time, it felt cold.

He couldn’t put his finger on it. Maybe it was due to what he knew about Vanessa’s family dynamic. But as they headed through the house, toward the gigantic den with large windows overlooking a swimming pool, he realized it was a house, not a home.

The same way his house felt, now that he thought about it.

“Hello!” Vanessa’s mom said, rushing over to hug him. “I have coffee for you.”

Sure enough, there was a fancy tray with three cups of coffee on it, along with a tiny dish filled with creamer and sugar packets in a matching bowl. Heath took his seat next to Vanessa on a sofa that was way too white to be in a place where human beings lived. He looked around and realized everything looked pristine, as though no human hands had ever touched any of it.

“So sorry Edward couldn’t be here.” Vanessa’s mom took a sip of her coffee. “He had a late tee time. So, did you have a safe flight? I hear you have your own plane?”

Heath shook his head. “A buddy of mine is a private pilot. He hooks me up with a flight when I need one. It works out pretty well.”

“On a private jet?”

Heath nodded and searched for a way to quickly change the subject. One thing he’d noticed by being around people with money was that there were two types of people: people who talked about wealth and people who never mentioned it. He was uncomfortable around the former group, and he fell solidly into the latter.

“I started a business,” Vanessa blurted out before Heath could come up with a change of subject. That worked. Her mom seemed to be speechless, and Heath couldn’t say he blamed her. Vanessa hadn’t mentioned anything about a business.

“I was doing some research,” Vanessa continued. She was speaking quickly, as though afraid she’d lose her nerve to talk about it if she didn’t hurry. “There are a bunch of companies that hire promotional models, but I want to do something different. I want to bring value-add to the traditional setup.”

“What’s ‘value-add?'” Vanessa’s mom asked.

“It’s a term we used at the trade show.” Heath smiled over at Vanessa. “You provide one thing and throw another in for free.”

“Free?” Vanessa’s mom said the word in a horrified voice. “Like…a buy one, get one free sale?”

“Not really.” Vanessa looked over at Heath as if trying to think through how to explain it. She turned back to her mom and dove in. “My team of models will specialize in technology. We’ll learn everything we can about how your thingamabob works, then go to the conference and mingle with

attendees, sending them over to the client to seal the deal.” “Just don’t call it a ‘thingamabob,'” Heath teased.

“That’s the thing. We won’t be about bogging people down in technical details. It’s all about how the technology will help them do whatever it is they do. There’s an art to it.”

“You really were quite amazing on the show,” Vanessa’s mom said, setting her coffee cup on the glass table between them without even using a coaster.

Heath jumped in there. “She was. And the thing about what Vanessa’s suggesting is that it keeps us from having to make that initial contact. She drops the pitch, we close. That way, at mixers and banquets and cocktail

parties, we can feel free to just mingle and enjoy ourselves.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been so self-involved,” Vanessa’s mom said.

Her serious tone immediately changed the air surrounding them. Heath’s smile faded, and he sat back in his seat. This was between the two of them.

“Both your father and I are really proud of you. I know we didn’t tell you that very often. We were always so busy, we just didn’t take the time we should have. But I want to change that. Your father and I will visit you in California as often as possible, and I want you to fly here. Get Heath to bring you on his plane.”

He didn’t have a plane, but now wasn’t the time to bring that up. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Vanessa, who looked down at her nowempty cup of coffee.

“That means a lot,” Vanessa finally said, her voice cracking a little, giving away the emotion she was holding back. “I really just wanted you to notice me. That was my only goal in life.”

“Oh, honey.” Her mom stood and came to kneel by her side. “We always noticed you. You were the center of our world. I guess we just weren’t very good at showing it. I can’t change the past, but I can do better moving forward.”

They both stood and embraced. Just when Heath started to feel like he was intruding on a family moment, Edward came strolling in, looked

around, and frowned. “Why’s everyone crying?”

EPILOGUE

V

anessa stood on the edge of a platform made to look like the bow of a sailboat. She looked around the mostly empty exhibit hall, taking in the scene. At the entrance, she saw two of the promotional models she’d assigned to this conference, both working for Derek Hughes’s company. He had a new line of sailing yachts he was promoting at this boat and RV show, and Vanessa’s company had been hired to represent him. There were three salespeople in the booth-all men-and almost as soon as she saw them, Vanessa knew it was on her team to make this happen.

“It’s an Audi SQ7,” one of the guys was saying. “Five hundred horsepower engine and all the bells and whistles.”

Rolling her eyes, Vanessa climbed down from the platform and headed out onto the floor. She’d rather have her eyelashes plucked out, one at a time, than listen to one more word out of these guys’ mouths. The good news was, most of their time would be spent talking to other people, sending them over to talk to these guys.

She was walking over to check on her models when Heath came into view. He smiled at her, and her insides immediately turned to mush, as they always did when he looked at her that way. They’d practically spent every minute of the past two months together and that hadn’t lessened in the slightest.

“Hi, I’m Becka.”

One of Vanessa’s promotional models had stepped up to him, not noticing that Heath’s gaze was unwaveringly focused on Vanessa. He winked at Vanessa, then looked at her model.

“Heath.” He held out his hand and shook hers.

“Welcome to the boat show. Are you here looking for anything in particular?”

He shook his head. “Just looking around.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Check this out.” Becka turned and pointed toward Derek’s big display, which had landed a spot right at the entrance. It wasn’t as if anyone could miss it. “Carbon-reinforced hull, retractable propeller, and twin rudders. You’ve never seen a sailboat until you’ve taken a tour of the Dolphin360.”

“You don’t say,” Heath commented. “Is that Derek Hughes’s new sailing yacht?”

Becka’s face lit up. “It is. Are you familiar with his company?”

Heath smiled. “I’ve heard of it. I’ll go check it out. Meanwhile, I’m here to see your boss.”

As Becka followed his gaze to Vanessa, mouth hanging open, Vanessa stepped up to take his hand. “I’ll take it from here,” she said to her model.

“I see your model knows her stuff. Impressive.”

“She was just getting started,” Vanessa said, leading him over to the booth. “If you’re really interested in a sailing yacht, I can show you all the benefits and features.”

“Not really, unless you want to sail the world with me.”

Vanessa stopped and turned to face him, smiling up at him. “I think I’d rather stay on land, if that’s okay with you. I’m not much for roughing it on the ocean for days at a time.”

Heath laughed. “I’d hardly call one of those bad boys ‘roughing it.'” He pointed to the large mock-up of a sailing yacht bow they’d constructed in just hours. “But I do think we should take some time off and travel after this is over.”

“Where are we going?” she asked, smiling up at him.

The thought of going on an adventure with him filled her with warmth.

In fact, she hoped their future was filled with many, many adventures. “Maybe on a honeymoon.”

Now her heart rate had picked up. “I think you have to propose first.”

“Oh, that’s coming, believe me.” He looked around and seemed to decide this might not be the best place for a public display of affection. Instead, he looked down at her, squeezed her hand, and leaned over to whisper in her ear, “I just have to find the perfect moment.”

He stepped back and smiled down at her, leaving her breathless. Then, with another wink, he turned and walked farther into the exhibit hall, leaving her to her work.

Yes, life with him definitely was going to be an adventure.