A Valentine's Day Gift (Clover Park, Book 11)

by Kylie Gilmore

  She’d left the porch light on, and it occurred to her that her neighbors could witness a goodnight kiss. Screw it. That kiss was all she was getting tonight, and she wanted it much more than she cared about the gossips. She fished her key out of her purse and looked up at him. “Thanks for dinner. I had a wonderful time. So…goodnight.”

  He gazed at her for a moment, his eyes gleaming before he closed the distance between them, his hand cupping her jaw, tilting her head up, holding her as he kissed one corner of her mouth, then the other.

  She gripped his shirt, pulling him in for more. And then it changed. His hand slid under her hair, cupping her head, as his mouth became more demanding, deepening the kiss, his tongue thrusting inside. Her stomach dipped, damp between the legs, and she threw her arms around his neck, returning the kiss passionately. His arm banded around her waist, half lifting her as his mouth plundered. She’d never been kissed like this before and she loved it. She ventured to taste, sliding her tongue along his, and he jerked back, breathing hard.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Time to go.”

  “Did I do something wrong?” she asked, mortified.

  He groaned. “No, sweetheart, you do everything too good. Know what I’m sayin’?”

  “I’m slutty?”

  He barked out a laugh, then held her by the chin and gave her a quick kiss. “I’m saying I need to control myself because you are one sexy woman.”

  She smiled. “You’re a good kisser.”

  He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “I’m good at a lot of things.”

  There it was, that sexual-banter thing. She had to say something good in return to keep up with him. “I’m good at blowjobs.”

  He swore, pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “Goodnight.”

  He turned and jogged down the porch steps.

  “Was that too slutty?” she called after him.

  He turned. “That was perfect.” He blew her a kiss.

  She caught it and put it to her lips. He put both hands to his heart, staggering a bit in an exaggerated gesture of you got me before heading off into the night.

  She let herself back into the house and laughed a happy giddy laugh.

  Chapter Seven

  Allie drove to the city on Sunday afternoon to pick up her boys at their dad’s apartment in a dreamy state. She’d been dating Vinny for two months now and was falling fast. It was like her whole life she’d been waiting for Vinny, and now that she’d finally found him, she wanted to see him all the time. Unfortunately, they’d only managed five dates in those two months. So many things went wrong, resulting in cancelling on each other. The babysitter fell through, or one of the kids was down with a stomach virus, or, sadly, his father-in-law passed. They had long phone conversations on those missed-date nights, sometimes talking for hours. They’d kept their kids out of their relationship. She hadn’t even told her boys she was dating again, but lately she’d started to wonder if she should let them know. She felt that strongly about Vinny.

  She’d missed a date with him this weekend because Angel had a high fever and Vinny understandably wanted to stay home and care for him. Too bad because she’d had the whole weekend free, no need for a babysitter when her boys were at their dad’s place.

  She parked in the apartment building’s underground garage, rode the elevator to the lobby, and announced herself to the security guard at the front desk. After the guard checked in with William by phone, she was directed to the elevator and rode it to his luxury apartment.

  The moment the apartment door opened, her chest clutched. William looked agitated, his expression pinched, his blue eyes steely. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “We need to talk about your sons,” he said ominously.

  “Our sons,” she corrected.

  “Hi, Mom,” Gabe said, appearing next to his dad, looking perfectly fine. “We’re all packed and ready to go.”

  “Just a moment. I need to talk to your dad.”

  Gabe’s eyes darted to the side. “I can explain.”

  Uh-oh. “Later,” she told him.

  William stepped out into the hallway with her, shutting the door behind him. “Your sons are running wild. They weren’t like this before. What’s going on at home?”

  She tensed. Wasn’t that just like William to put all the blame at her feet? “Exactly how are they running wild?”

  William looked down his nose at her. “Jared set a fire in my kitchen.”

  She gasped. Jared was seven. “Where’d he get the matches?”

  “He found some in the kitchen drawer.” He lifted a finger, smiling in a smug way like he enjoyed telling her how bad “her” sons were. “Then while I was putting that out, Luke stole the cash from my wallet—two hundred dollars—and the three of them bolted out of the apartment. They were gone for two hours this morning, running around the city.”

  Her heart lodged in her throat. Her three boys—seven, nine, and thirteen years old—running around New York City by themselves? “Why didn’t you call me? Did you look for them? Did you have to get the police involved?”

  “Of course I looked for them. The police wouldn’t get involved since it had only been a short time. And I didn’t call you because there was nothing you could do but freak out just like you’re doing right now.”

  “Damn right I’m freaking out! They’re too young to be running around by themselves. I can’t believe this.”

  “I don’t know what’s come over them, but if this is the way they’re going to act, I’m not sure I want them to be guests in my home.”

  “Jesus, William! They’re not guests! They’re your children. I will talk to them and ensure this doesn’t happen again, but you will be part of their lives. They need to know their dad.”

  He shook his head, his lips pressed together. “Are they acting like this at home?”

  “No, they’ve been fine. Maybe the divorce has shaken them up more than I realized. It’s a new thing for them, visiting you in a different place.”

  “It’s been two months, and they get worse with every visit.”

  “What else have they done?”

  He ran a hand through his thinning light brown hair. “This was definitely the worst of it, but they give me a lot of attitude. I don’t think they want to be here.”

  “I’ll talk to them.”

  He nodded once, turned, and opened the door, holding it for her.

  The moment she walked in, her boys rushed at her, hugging her.

  “Got our stuff!” Jared said, grabbing his backpack.

  “Bye, Dad!” Luke said, rushing out the door.

  “Bye,” Gabe said to his dad sullenly. He probably knew better than the younger two that they were in big trouble.

  She waited until they were out of the city, where she could focus on them better, and they were all trapped in the car so they’d have to listen to her. She turned off the radio. “Boys, your dad told me a hair-raising story of your visit this weekend, and I’m not at all happy.”

  “Sorry, Mom,” Gabe said from the passenger seat next to her. The other two quickly chimed in from the backseat with their sorrys.

  “Is it true?” she asked. “Jared, you set a fire, Luke, you stole money, and the three of you ran around like hoodlums in the city?”

  “What’s a hoodlum?” Jared asked.

  “Shut up, idiot,” Gabe said. “Mom, I kept a close eye on them the whole time and got them back to dad’s apartment no harm done. I memorized the map of the city.”

  She ground her teeth. Gabe at thirteen sounded a little too proud of his supervisory role. He should know better than to run away like that without permission. “I just can’t understand why you would act this way. Were you mad at your dad?”

  Silence.

  “I want answers, you hear me?” she barked. “Jared, why did you start a fire?”

  “Distraction,” he said.

  “Distraction for what?” she asked. It was like pulling teeth, but she’d get to the
bottom of it. “Jared, answer me right now.”

  “Luke told me to make a distraction so he could get the money.”

  “I didn’t say start a fire!” Luke snapped.

  “Ow!” Jared exclaimed. “He hit me!”

  A rustling and grunts started up in the backseat as the two boys smacked each other around.

  “Knock it off!” she hollered at the top of her lungs.

  Silence.

  She took a deep calming breath. “Luke, why would you steal money?”

  Luke responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “If we didn’t have money, we couldn’t ride the subway. And we definitely had to buy hot dogs from the sidewalk cart. Dad never lets us and they smell so good.”

  “I still don’t understand,” she said, barely hanging on to her patience. “Why did you have to run out of his apartment in the first place?”

  “We didn’t like the lady,” Jared said.

  She looked in the rearview mirror at her youngest boys and glanced over at Gabe, all three of them screwing up their faces in disgust. She swallowed hard. William must’ve wanted to introduce his girlfriend (or mistress) to the boys. He might’ve mentioned that glaring fact to her, or better yet, given her a heads-up so she could prepare the boys. Clearly the kids weren’t ready to think of their dad dating someone that wasn’t their mom.

  “Boys, your dad and I are divorced now. He’s single and free to date another woman. I want him to be happy.”

  “She reeks of flowers,” Luke said.

  “She called me a cute little boy,” Jared said. “I’m not little!”

  She looked to Gabe. “Who was this woman?”

  “Dad said she was his friend, but we all saw her kiss him on the mouth.” Someone made a retching sound from the backseat. “And he was so busy talking to her, we didn’t think he’d even miss us.”

  She took a deep breath. “Okay, first of all, your behavior this weekend is unacceptable both to me and your dad. You’ll be writing him a letter apologizing. I expect you to act just like you would at home when you’re at his apartment. You all know the rules.”

  “Are we grounded?” Gabe asked.

  She ignored that because she needed to make her point before they all moaned and groaned about their punishment. “I’m okay with your dad dating, and I hope he would be okay with me dating too.”

  “Does this mean you and Dad are never getting back together?” Gabe asked.

  She glanced over at him, surprised. “Is that what you guys hoped?”

  No answer.

  “The divorce is final,” she said. “When two people agree to legally end the marriage, that means they’re not getting back together.”

  “Sometimes they do,” Gabe said. “I saw it in a movie.”

  “Yeah,” Luke and Jared chimed in.

  Allie shook her head. “Not this time. Listen, I don’t want you to be mad at your dad. This divorce was something we both wanted. We’re happier now and are moving on with our lives. It was nobody’s fault.” Her throat tightened with all she felt for them. “You boys will always be just as loved by both of us.”

  The boys were quiet.

  She needed to tell them about her dating, to prepare them a little, even if they didn’t actually meet Vinny. “I’ve also recently started dating a very nice man. His name is Vinny, and I hope one day soon you’ll get to meet him.”

  “We already got a dad,” Luke said belligerently.

  “And he will never replace your dad,” she responded patiently. “I just want you boys to understand how both me and your dad are moving forward with other people, but like I said, that doesn’t change how we feel about you. I love you guys. You’ll always be the most important people in my life.”

  “Love you too,” Gabe mumbled.

  “I love you, Mommy,” Jared said, sounding like his sweet little-boy self again.

  Her heart squeezed.

  “I love you too,” Luke grumbled. “Just don’t go marrying some stranger.”

  “No plans for that,” she said. “We’re still getting to know each other.”

  She waited, prepared to reassure them about whatever they might be worried about or answer any questions, but it seemed like the dating conversation was over. “Jared, we’re going to be talking about fire safety when we get home.”

  “I know it,” he replied cheerfully. “I visited the firehouse on a field trip. Stop, drop, and roll.”

  She gritted her teeth. “We’re still going to talk. What you did was very dangerous. Got it?”

  “Okay,” he said.

  She blew out a breath. “Okay, now that we cleared that up, you’re all grounded for two weeks. And no video games for a month.”

  The car exploded with protests. Video games were their favorite.

  She turned the radio back on, tuning them out.

  ~ ~ ~

  Later that night, after the boys were in bed, and after an exhausting talk about fire safety with Jared, she collapsed on the living room sofa. She’d definitely have to follow up with Jared. His initial defense, “I wasn’t playing with matches, I was using them,” did not fly. She still wasn’t convinced he understood just how dangerous the situation could’ve been. She thought about a glass of wine, but then she thought calling Vinny would be even better. Even when he spoke plainly or laced his speech with colorful swear words, she loved to hear his deep melodious voice in her ear.

  She grabbed the phone and called him. “Hey, it’s me. How’s Angel doing?” She remembered he’d been sick.

  “His fever finally broke,” Vinny told her. “He’s sleeping now. Poor kid. I can only talk for a bit because I got to get the Lysol out. Last thing I want is for the other two to get it.”

  “Yup, been there.”

  “I’m sorry we had to miss our date again this weekend.”

  She sighed. “Me too. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I guess between us we’ve got six people to work around.”

  “Yeah.”

  She frowned. It sucked that she’d finally found someone she was crazy about, yet she hardly got to see him. And they hadn’t had enough alone time to get intimate either. His kisses made her crave so much more. She was beginning to feel desperate.

  Then he asked the one question guaranteed to cool her lust. “What if we start spending time together with the kids? Then we don’t have to work around them.”

  After the harrowing ordeal with her boys today, she knew that was out of the question. “My kids aren’t ready for that.”

  “How do you know? Maybe they’ll have fun hanging out with my kids. They’re all pretty close in age.”

  “The divorce just went through, and they’ve been acting out with their dad.”

  “Nip that behavior in the bud. They have to show respect.”

  And that respect needed to be earned. William didn’t show a lot of love, and her boys felt that lack. Still, she knew the kids had to act much more responsibly. “I did, but still. It’s too soon for them.”

  “Your divorce was two months ago. And he moved out months before that. I’m just saying—”

  “No.”

  “Okay, just an idea.”

  She let out a breath, reaching for calm. No one, not even Vinny, could get between her and her kids. She knew what was best for them, and she absolutely knew they weren’t ready to meet him. She had to take it slow; they’d only just found out today that she was dating again.

  “I miss you,” Vinny said.

  She melted. He spoke openly from the heart and it got her every time. “I miss you too, so much.”

  “How about you and I go someplace just the two of us, check into a hotel for the weekend?”

  Pure adrenaline shot through her, half excited, half nervous. It was what she’d been hoping for, but she’d be lying if she said it would be easy for her. It had been so very long. She lowered her voice. “Is hotel code for sex?”

  He laughed. He got a real kick out of her speaking frankly. It was sti
ll new for her, but she liked it too. “We’ll do whatever feels comfortable for both of us, okay? If that’s just watching a TV show for people above twelve years old with some frigging peace and quiet, I’d like that too.”

  She laughed.

  “As long as I’m with you,” he added.

  She wanted to reach through the phone, wrap her arms around him, and hug him. How could she resist his invitation? She missed him so very much. “We could watch TV and have a picnic. Raid the minibar.”

  “That’s cool with me too.”

  “Minibar could get expensive,” she said.

  “So we’ll bring our own stuff for a picnic. Whatever you like.”

  She smiled. “It feels like it should be champagne. A celebration.”

  “Absolutely. Ya know, I was so tired when I got on the phone, but now I’m energized. This’ll be good.”

  “How’s next weekend?” she asked. “I’ll see if my parents can stay with them.”

  “I’ll check if my mother-in-law can stay the weekend here and let you know tomorrow.”

  She held the phone closer, smiling so big her cheeks hurt. “Perfect.”

  “I’ll make the hotel reservations.”

  “We’ll split the cost, okay?” She was doing just fine with alimony, child support, and her own money from her picture-book illustrations. William had done right by her and the boys, though her lawyer said she could’ve gotten a lot more. She’d let it slide, not wanting to drag out the divorce or cause any more acrimony between them. After all, she still had to see him regularly because of the boys.

  “When ya gonna get it?” Vinny huffed. “I invite, I pay.”

  “Okay, but next time I’m inviting you to something and I’m paying.”

  “Gotta be quicker, then.”

  She heard a little-boy voice in the background.

  “Gotta go. Angel’s up and needs a glass of water. Talk to you tomorrow.” He hung up.

  She hung up too, staring at nothing. Had she really just agreed to shack up in a hotel with Vinny? It sounded so sordid, so unlike her. Would sex ruin what they had? What if they weren’t compatible? Or what if they were? This could catapult them to a whole new level in their relationship. One that could involve the kids. And what kind of reaction would she get from her ex or, for Vinny, from his mother-in-law, who looked after Vinny and his family. She blew out a harsh breath. This could get real complicated real fast.