Janelle Denison: Private Pleasures

Mariah pulled her chin back, her lips pursed. "Absolutely not."

"Okay, okay," Jade said, relenting. "But we'll definitely have to spruce up that wardrobe of yours."

"What's the matter with my clothes?" Mariah reached for the bowl of grapes.

Jade caught her sister's hand midstretch and placed it back in her lap. "Your suits are blase, and the dresses you wear are too conservative. You've got a great figure, Mariah, and lots of cleavage. Display it to your advantage."

Mariah pulled the lapels of her robe higher around her neck.

"And I've seen that dreadful cotton underwear you wear." Jade feigned a loud yawn. "Bor-ing."

"It's comfortable," Mariah said, feeling silly that she had to defend her choice of underwear to her sister.

Jade dismissed her with a wave of her bangled arm. "Trust me, silk feels much better against your skin, and it makes you feel sexy and feminine. It'll boost your sagging spirits."

Mariah was doubtful that a change in lingerie would make her heartache go away but at the moment, looking down at herself in a frumpy robe and socks with holes in them, feeling sexy did hold a certain appeal. "Okay. When do we start this makeover?"

"This weekend. Saturday we'll visit Pierre, my hairdresser, just to trim up the ends of your hair," she assured Mariah when she started to protest. "Then we'll spend the rest of the day getting pampered-facials, manicure, pedicure, massage. The works."

Mariah felt a smile coming on, and gave into the urge to let it spread across her face. "Sounds like an…interesting day."

"Oh, but that isn't all." Sitting back, she rested an arm across the back of the couch and crossed her long legs, her face wreathed in excitement. "Sunday we spend shopping for your new wardrobe, and in between all this we're gonna clean your room of any traces of Grey. Last, but certainly not least, we're going manhunting at Roxy's Nightclub."

" Manhunting ?" Mariah's voice squeaked.

"For a new boyfriend." She leaned closer and gave Mariah a dazzling smile. "For you."

Letting Jade organize her closet and makeup drawer was one thing, but she didn't trust her sister with her personal life. "I don't want a new boyfriend."

"You don't think you do, but hey, life does go on, and as Dad puts it, he's not getting any younger." She pressed a hand with long red nails against her chest. "I certainly don't have any plans to tie the knot any time soon, so that makes you Dad's only hope. Do you remember Richard Sawyer?"

The switch in subjects threw Mariah off-kilter. "You mean the lawyer who came to see you about a consultation on redecorating his office?"

"That's the one. Tall, blond, rich, with a great body," she recited breezily. "Well, when he was in a couple of weeks ago to sign his contract he asked about you," she said, tapping her knee with a fingernail. "He sounded very interested, if you know what I mean."

She'd been so completely Grey's-heart, body and soul-that the thought of another man touching her, even holding her hand, bothered her. "I don't know, Jade-"

"Tell you what," Jade cut her off with a wink. "I'll tell him you're recently uninvolved and very available, and we'll let nature take its course."

Mariah rubbed her forehead. She couldn't mourn Grey forever. There would come a time when she'd have to cut her losses and move on and date other men. Her heart rebelled, but logically she knew that was the only smart thing to do. Because, ultimately, she wanted a husband and children, and she couldn't do that without a mate. She sighed in resignation. "Okay, set me up." Jade clapped her hands gleefully. "Let the new Mariah emerge!"

Standing in the lobby of the huge glass-and-chrome building where Grey's company, Nichols' Security Systems, had its offices, Mariah waited for one of the three elevators to make its way back to the main floor. It was after five on a Wednesday, and except for the guard on duty and an occasional business-suited man, the lobby seemed deserted. She would have preferred a swarm of people and a fast elevator to keep her mind off her final mission to sever all ties with Grey.

Pulling in a deep calming breath, she replayed the pep talk her sister had given her over breakfast. While Jade had eaten two bowls of cereal, a muffin and half a grapefruit, she'd counseled Mariah on how to finalize her split with Grey and get on with her life. At the time her advice sounded so simple and easy to execute. Now she wanted to hightail it out of there, go home, curl up in her ratty old robe-not the new satin-and-lace one Jade had coerced her into buying-and eat a bowl of frozen grapes.

Ping. The elevator doors opened with a soft, welcoming whoosh. Butterflies swarmed in her empty stomach, increasing her nervousness about seeing Grey again after two weeks apart. Two weeks of pure torture-no appetite, sleepless nights and a continual ache near the vicinity of her heart. God, she didn't think the horrible pain would ever ease.

Blinking back a surge of tears, she clutched a 4 X 6 gift-wrapped package in one hand and a paper sack in the other and stepped into the elevator. She pressed the button for the fourteenth floor before she could change her mind. The doors closed silently, cocooning her in the mirrored cubicle.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror across from her. The woman reflected back was still a virtual stranger to Mariah, but she was slowly growing accustomed to her new look. And liking it. With Jade and Pierre's coaxing, she'd allowed the master hairdresser to shear her hair into a sleek, shoulder-length bob that curled under at the ends and softened her features. Wispy bangs flattered the simple style and drew attention to her wide blue eyes and the high cheekbones her sister seemed to envy.

She wondered what Grey would think of her new look and the radical change in her choice of clothing. Not that she cared, she resolutely reminded herself.

The elevator stopped on the seventh floor to pick up an executive who rode the lift to the tenth floor and exited, leaving Mariah alone once again. This time when she caught her reflection, a memory leapt into her mind, vivid and provocative. She'd been alone with Grey in this very elevator, on their way to the ground level after spending a few hours in his office discussing color schemes for the library in his new house. At the ninth floor he'd punched the stop button, bringing the elevator to a whining halt.

Mariah closed her eyes against the erotic recollection, but her mind ruthlessly brought that encounter into sharp focus. In her mind's eye she could see Grey moving toward her, a shameless, sexy gleam in his gaze. He'd pressed her against the mirrored wall and skimmed her skirt up her thighs to her hips, then hooked his fingers into the top of her pantyhose.

She'd gasped as he peeled her pantyhose and panties down her legs in one smooth motion. "Grey, what are you doing?" she asked, even as she obediently stepped from her shoes and lingerie for him.

He tossed the intimate apparel aside, his smile wicked. Unclasping her hair, he dropped the pearl clip onto the plush carpeting and threaded his fingers through the strands, arranging the wavy ends over her shoulders. "I want you."

Her body swelled with heat and desire, but what little modesty Grey hadn't stripped her of kept her from completely surrendering. "We can't do this in here!"

Her shocked tone seemed to amuse him and fire his own passion. He pressed his hips to hers, his erection rock hard and insistent between them. "Sure we can, sweetheart." He brought his mouth to her ear, his tongue touching the sensitive shell as he whispered, "It's late, and there are two other elevators. No one will miss this one for a little while. We don't even have to get undressed all the way."