by Cee, DW
“OK!” I sat upright in my seat and put the divider between us. “Becky. Continue with why she doesn’t like me.” We needed to get back to talking because anytime we started talking about anything sexual, the PDA was beyond inappropriate.
“She likes you. Her actions in Vernon had nothing to do with you. She’s badgered me about what happened between me and Jane, and I’ve never told her. Obviously Jane hasn’t told her either so that was her poor attempt at getting some answers from me.”
“I think Jane told me at some point that Becky and Al met in college?”
“They did. They got married after graduate school and five years into being married, she finally got pregnant. Becky worked for the same pharmaceutical company Al works for, but is on a disability leave. This baby is doing a number on her and she’s been in pain the past month. But her OB tells her the baby is fine and everything is moving along, so she tries to be pleasant where she can.”
“And Al? He travels a lot? He’s not home to help her?”
“Al got a promotion recently and has been traveling to Europe more than usual. It’s uncertain if the travels will continue.”
“I like him. He’s got a great sense of humor, and he adores your sister.”
“Of all the brothers-in-law, he and I are the closest. He does have a wicked sense of humor, and after he met you in May, he became one of your biggest fans.”
“Really? How sweet.”
“There was this one night in London when you refused to see me, and I got shit-face drunk with Al. He listened to me drone on like a girl.”
“Drone on like a girl, huh?”
He showed a lot of teeth when he smiled an apologetic smile.
“And last but not least, Rachel. She’s the youngest, but doesn’t act like the youngest.”
“How come I don’t remember her, either? If she’s the youngest, she’s only like a year or so older than I am, where was she all these years?”
“I’m not sure why you and Rachel didn’t strike up a friendship like Jane and Becky. It could be the fact that my parents hung out more with Jake’s parents than yours. You only saw me and my sister because of Jake. Do you remember seeing my parents, much, when you were growing up?”
I shook my head no. “I just remember that Christmas when your mom was in the kitchen while my mom was busting my chops about purchasing a dress with her credit card.”
Donovan started choking on his drink, laughing. “You always had a penchant for being a bad girl, didn’t you?”
The way he said that made me want to be a bad girl!
Shit! And I was such a bad, bad girl. I was cringing in the cab thinking about what we’d just done.
“You’re bright red and it’s dark in this cab,” said the man with the biggest, most satisfied mug on his face. “Could it be because of the call I answered while you were straddling me, banging the life out of me?”
“Oh my gosh! Could you shut up? The cab driver can hear you!” I practically yelled at him.
Now he spoke softly to the backside of my ear while kissing me here and there. “I hope your mother didn’t hear your moans when I told her we were going to be late to dinner.” I shivered with that comment. “The sight of your tits bobbing up and down when you were riding me is now my absolute favorite picture of you. That, and your intoxicated, drunk with pleasure look when you come.”
“Donovan,” I pleaded.
In the course of a few days, I had become a tramp. Never did I think I could act so wanton. With all the foreplay on the plane, we took a cab from Heathrow straight to Donovan’s apartment and practically started having sex in the glass elevator that led up to the twenty-sixth floor of his residence at a very high end hotel. He pulled out the shirt that was neatly tucked into my pencil skirt and began unbuttoning – in public! The front clasp bra got unhooked within seconds and his mouth sucked hungrily on my breast. The floozy that I was, I didn’t stop him in the least. All I could think about was why I wore such a freaking tight skirt where there was no way he could get a hand under it without ripping it, all the while cursing the damn elevator for moving too slowly.
As soon as the elevator dinged, Donovan did up a few buttons and we ran to his place with our rolling suitcases in hand. Comically, Donovan hadn’t been to his place, yet, so we ran left, and of course had to turn around when we realized his apartment was on the opposite side. Once we arrived, Donovan punched in a few numbers and voila, privacy!
Neither of us made note of the luxurious, fully furnished apartment, nor the stunning view. All we wanted to do was rip each other’s clothes off and get busy.
“You know,” he said very faintly, “I had no idea I could go another round after you sucked me off so thoroughly to start. Though once I saw that you wanted to go on top, I couldn’t help but get big again. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought you’d done this a time or two or twenty. Are there any other positions you want to try, tonight?”
After we had sex, our conversations always led to more arousal or gross embarrassment.
“After only having had sex with you once, I can’t believe how forceful I was about what I wanted. Gaawwdd! I’ve become a strumpet!”
“Dominatrix would be the word for tonight.” He had the most complacent smile. “I love how uninhibited you become in and out of bed. I’m going to start calling you my Jezebel from now on.”
“Oh my gosh!” I groaned. “I’m a fallen woman.”
“You’re late.” Jake gave me a knowing smile when he opened the door for us. “But please, spare me any details.” He and Donovan laughed while I cringed some more. “Everyone just sat down to dinner.”
“The twins?”
“...waited and waited for their aunt Ne Ne to show up, but in the end, I had to tell them she had more pressing to-do’s on her agenda and that she would see them another day.”
“Oh my gosh!” I groaned again. “It’s not what you think, Jake.”
“Hell ya it is...and then some!” Donovan declared to his best bud.
“What did you tell Jake?” I whispered only to Donovan and slapped him on the arm.
“We don’t kiss and tell, Laney.” Jake eyes crinkled with laughter.
“Gaawwdd!” I screamed and ran into the dining room. Even though I was ahead of the two men, their laughter resonated up and down the hallway.
“Laney!” I got a warm greeting from everyone.
“Hi Gram.” I went over and hugged her from behind her seat, and proceeded to greet everyone in the same manner.
“How was your jaunt through Europe? I heard you saw Roland in Amsterdam?”
“Oh, Gram! Grandfather has the most beautiful homes in Europe. I’d just like to stop time and go live in each of these places for a couple of years.”
“What’s stopping you?” Gram wondered. “You’re a young woman, unmarried, and without kids. The world is your oyster. Go. Live. Experience.”
“Don’t give her unnecessary ideas, Gram.” Donovan came in the dining room and greeted everyone. Except for Grandfather and Uncle Robert, everyone got a warm hug and big kisses from this man. “I only just convinced her to break up with this English boyfriend and start a relationship with me. I can’t have her moving from country to country on a whim.”
“And why not?” Gram challenged Donovan.
“Because, my sweet Gram, Delaney and I will settle down somewhere, build a home, build a family, and give Jake and Emily’s kids cousins to play with in the near future.”
“But my granddaughter is still young. I’m told she’s decided to go to med school. If you tie her down now, when will she get to experience life?”
I thought Donovan would get exasperated by Gram’s goading questions and comments, but he answered her with courtesy and affection. “I will promise you and Roland and...” he stopped and looked over at Mom. “What do I call you, now? Aunt Babs seems awfully inappropriate.”
“Well, since your pare
nts have insisted on being called Ma and Pa, I suppose you should call me Mom like my kids call me.”
He let out a brilliant smile. “Mom,” he spoke and she had a brilliant smile of her own, “I promise to aid Delaney in her endeavors to become a doctor, to live life to the fullest, and to experience whatever country her heart desires. But, all of this will be done with me.” He made his statement, staked his claim, and in essence, put a ring on it.
“So you’re telling us that you’ve succeeded in getting Laney to agree to marry you?” Gram first spoke to Donovan, but then asked me, “Is that true Laney? Did you agree to marry Donovan? I think you’re too young and too beautiful to settle down already. You just graduated from college. Date around, love other men, and after you’ve done this for a while, if Donovan Taylor and you are meant to be, you can get married. You’ve been stuck on this man since you were little. You need not marry the first man you loved.”
Gram was doing her best to play devil’s advocate tonight. I held Donovan’s hand before he fell for Gram’s obvious bullying. Everyone at this table knew Gram adored Donovan. She always had, and I knew she was thrilled for me.
“Gram. I thank you for your advice. I respect you and all you’ve accomplished, and would be thrilled if I could be half the woman you are when I am your age. I think everyone here at the dinner table has known about my childhood crush on this man since I met him more than a decade ago. Never in all those years did I see myself with anyone but Donovan. Now that we are finally on the same page, I want to give this a try, Gram. I will love, live, experience—and I’ll do it with Donovan.” I stood my ground and let Gram and everyone at this table know that my life and Donovan’s life would operate as one.
“So the wedding date is set?” Gram smirked at my quiet but forceful statement.
“Nope.” I answered without hesitation. “Love, live and experience do not necessarily lead to forever.”
Gram let out a loud, “Ha!” and cackled. Roland chuckled. Mom shook her head with a quizzical smile. Jake and Emily looked at Donovan with a sympathetic one.
“I can’t believe after the declaration of love I made to your family, you just told them we’re not getting married. What the hell am I still not getting?” He looked at my mother. “Mom? Do you know why she won’t marry me?”
She was baffled too. “Sorry, Donovan. I don’t know.”
“Gram?”
“No idea, but I like the spirit, Laney Reid. I always liked that I don’t give a damn what you think, I’m going to do it my way attitude about you. You give in to a man too easily, he’ll walk all over you.”
Grandfather snorted. “Like you know anything about giving in too easily. Damn woman made me wait sixty years to sleep next to her.”
“But you finally got there, didn’t you?” Gram gave Grandfather a peck on the lips. “Wasn’t it worth the wait?”
Grandfather could only smile. They were adorable together.
“Donovan?” Mom asked. “Where’s your company apartment?”
“In the financial district.”
“Nice place, huh?” I didn’t think Grandfather said this to embarrass me in any way, but I turned red again when Donovan couldn’t answer. Neither of us took the time to check out any part of the apartment. We couldn’t even recall the color of the duvet cover.
“Can I report back to you next time? We were in a bit of a rush, so we didn’t exactly check out the decor.” This idiotic man gave off a silly grin that pretty much confessed our sins.
“What exactly did you do all that time while you were late to dinner?” Grandfather queried with the utmost intent.
That boyfriend of mine was so busted tonight. I could do nothing to wipe off that stupid smirk.
“Is that the baby?” Emily bounced out of her seat. “Laney you want to come and help me?” I would forever be grateful to Emily for this false interruption.
We walked out of the dining room, ran up the stairs and started laughing hard once we got into my room. Emily and her family were on the fourth floor, and there was no way Emily could hear them from where she was sitting. Plus, her kids, once asleep, rarely got up.
“Thank you, Emily! That Donovan Taylor is sleeping by himself tonight after what he did to me!”
“I take it you two have consummated your relationship?”
My eyes quickly looked at everything in my room but Emily. “I’ve become a wanton woman, Emily. I couldn’t hold myself back.”
Emily giggled. “Laney. You and Donovan love each other and you will be married, soon...won’t you?” Even Emily was fooled by my grand speech during dinner. “What’s with you declining Donovan’s proposal?” And now she just downright wondered what the hell was wrong with me.
“There’s nothing to decline since he hasn’t proposed! All this time he’s told me we’re getting married. Never once did he get on his knee and propose.”
“Ah...I see!”
“You got a beautiful and thoughtful proposal in Paris, all of Tuscany witnessed Max’s proposal to Jane and all I get is, ‘we’re getting married.’ Is it wrong of me to expect a little more? I’m not asking for anything but a heartfelt declaration of love and a question asking me to spend the rest of my days with him.”
“You’re not asking for too much, but I don’t think Donovan has any idea what’s bothering you. Do you want to maybe clue him in?”
“No way! And you have to promise me that you and Jake will not clue him in, either. This is something he needs to figure out on his own. I’m not going to beg for a proposal.”
Emily laughed. “I’ll hold back the best I can, as long as he’s good to you.”
“Oh Emily, he’s a dream. I couldn’t be happier.” The severe gushing was over the top. “In all my days of dreaming about Donovan, I never could have imagined this kind of joy.”
“I know, Laney. That’s what I think every morning when I get up and see my husband. He brings that crazy, happy contentment to my heart. Wait till you have kids with Donovan. You’ll see them with facial expressions and little quirks that remind you of your husband and that wonderful sense of love and pride will fill your heart every time. You’ll love that they are mini-me’s of the both of you.”
“I can’t wait. I know Donovan really wants kids. He talks about having a house full of them constantly. Whenever he talks to me about the future, undoubtedly, kids will be at the top of his list.”
“Does this mean you’ll have kids right away? What about med school? Your dad was over the moon when you told him you wanted to be a surgeon.”
“I don’t know.” I bemoaned my dilemma. “Donovan says he doesn’t mind having kids later, but he’s at that age where he wants kids now. All his friends have kids and he’s itching to settle down. I’ve thought of copious options, and I think the best one might be to get married, sooner than later, and have kids right away. I’ll raise them for a few years, and then reapply for med school.”
“Won’t it be hard to get back into school after taking that much time off?”
“Probably, but I feel like this is the best option. I haven’t told Donovan, yet. I’ll let him know once he proposes and we get our life started.”
“I’m sure you’ll come up with a novel idea. Since I used the excuse of the babies, why don’t we go check up on them, before going back?”
When we got back to dinner, everyone was discussing a trip to Scotland this weekend.
“Babies all right?” Jake welcomed his wife back with a loving caress.
“They’re beautiful.” She smiled and surprisingly kissed Jake on the lips in front of all of us.
Donovan reached over, linked his fingers through mine, and whispered, “When are you dropping a note in my pocket to let me know where I’m going wrong? Why don’t you want to marry me?” There was a hint of sadness in that question that I didn’t like.
“I’ll have to come up with some clever way of letting you know. In the meanwhile, we’ll just h
ave to practice the act of having wild, uninhibited sex, so we can get it right on our wedding night.” My comment brought back Donovan’s sexy smile, and he brought his lips close to mine until we heard an ahem from the grandparents for having bad table manners.
“So back to Scotland?” Gram brought the attention to Donovan.
“I wanted to take Delaney golfing this weekend at St. Andrews since there are several courses along the North Sea. Originally, I was going to take Delaney and Mom and stay at the resort, but I thought I’d see if you all wanted to join us? Roland, you still play golf?”
Grandfather chuckled. “Not as well as my granddaughter, but better than you.”
Donovan laughed with him. “You may be my boss, but I won’t go easy. And for the record, Delaney has only beaten me twice.”
“How many times have you played her?” Jake outed his best friend.
“Twice.” We all laughed at his confession. “I plan to bring my A game this weekend. You ready?” he asked me.
“Bring it on.” I shrugged off his challenge.
Donovan squeezed my hand in affection and asked Grandfather, “I assume you’re coming with us?”
“I’ll get the plane ready. Let’s all go and spend a long weekend there. Jake, can you make it?”
“Yes. School doesn’t officially start until next week. I can go.” He then asked Emily, “Are you OK traveling with our babies?”
“With our wonderful family, it’ll be easy,” she agreed.
“Who’s golfing?”
“Dad, did you want to golf?”
Uncle Bobby grinned and confessed, “I haven’t touched a golf club in years. But I suppose I will. I think Henry was thinking of coming back out here. He misses his family.”
Grandfather then asked, “Any of you ladies, aside from Laney, want to golf?”
“Why golf when you can go to the spa?” Mom asked. “We’ll take turns watching the kids and doing spa treatments.”
“I assume you have connections to get us into the Old Course?”