He was going to have to tell her he loved her. He was going to explode if he had to keep it inside much longer.
“Reesa, there’s something important we need to talk about tomorrow morning.”
“What would that be?” she asked.
“Can’t tell you right now. By the way, you make the second best banana pancakes in the world,” he told her. “My father makes the best. He says he puts love in them. Do you put love in yours?”
Reesa swallowed the bite in her mouth as the kids looked from Shane to her and back.
“Is there any other way to make them?” she asked, playing along because he hadn’t given her much choice saying such a thing in front of Sara.
“An answer—and yet not an answer,” Shane said, looking accusingly at Brian, who just grinned. “There’s a lot of snarky people in this family.”
“Get used to it, dude,” Brian told him.
“Oh don’t worry,” Shane said, grinning wickedly at Brian. “I’m very adaptable.”
“Is that another way of saying lame?” Brian asked, never ceasing to eat.
Without missing a beat, Shane stood, leaned in Brian’s direction and punched him hard in the arm, sliding him sideways in his chair.
Never dropping his fork, the boy just laughed and rubbed, but went back to his food.
Reesa frowned and pointed her fork at both Shane and Brian.
“No fighting at the table. Brian, watch your mouth. Shane, drink your coffee and stop being so sensitive.”
Brian snickered as he ate. It was the most fun breakfast he’d had in a while.
Sara was shaking her head. “Shaney, you’re always in trouble.”
Brian burst out laughing as Chelsea and Zack rolled their eyes.
Shane sighed and went back to eating his pancakes. There was obviously no winning for him in this crowd this morning.
Chapter 12
After an incredibly productive Sunday afternoon and evening of drawing, Shane pulled his bike into Reesa’s driveway on Monday morning, grateful for the layers of clothing he’d worn and the padded jacket. October was getting almost too cold to ride the bike. He pulled his helmet off and unlocked the luggage compartment to pull out a bag of donuts. They had cost him a trip across town, but the bag was still warm despite the bike ride.
The door swung open as he walked up to it, but with no one there. He heard Reesa yell from behind it, “Stop gawking Larson, and get in here”.
Laughing, Shane came through the screen door. When he closed the main door behind him, he noticed Reesa behind it. She had wet hair and was wearing a towel.
“Do you always answer your door in a towel?” Shane demanded.
“I peeked out the window when I heard the bike. Don’t turn into a dweeb on me,” she ordered.
Shane sighed and held out the bag. “Hot donuts,” he said, hoping his gift sufficed as a peace offering.
“Hot woman,” Reesa countered, tossing the donut bag on an end table before dropping the towel where she stood.
Shane said nothing for a moment as his gaze took in her goose bumps and perky nipples.
“See anything you like yet? You’re looking hard enough,” Reesa said, grinning at the flush climbing his face even as his eyes darkened to the color of chocolate chips.
“I like everything I see. How do you feel about cold donuts?” Shane asked.
“Better than a cold woman,” Reesa said, bringing hands to her hips.
Galvanized by knowing she had undoubtedly planned this, Shane shed his jacket and tossed it into the chair where he’d tossed the helmet just moments before. He peeled his hooded sweatshirt and T-shirt off in a single move, and tossed them on the pile as well.
Bare-chested now, he lunged for Reesa, only to have her evade and run back to the hall entrance, disappearing into the darkness of the hall.
Shane stood there for a moment and let her go, savoring the anticipation of what was waiting for him when he found her again.
By the time his legs cooperated with his brain, he could barely walk for being excited. He unfastened and unzipped his jeans on his way, liberating the three condoms he brought from his pocket and moving them to his hand.
In the bedroom, he found Reesa kneeling on the mattress. She looked like some primitive offering to the gods in the middle of the giant bed.
“What took you so long?” she demanded, laughing loudly when Shane climbed on the bed and knocked flat on her back with no finesse whatsoever.
“How rough do you like it?” Shane asked, reaching down and biting her shoulder lightly. “I’m not feeling very nice this morning.”
“You can trust me to complain when it’s too much,” Reesa told him, dragging his mouth to hers.
Together they wrestled him out of his jeans, and she put a condom on him while he kissed her and touched her everywhere he could, as much as he could.
“Hurry,” he ordered harshly, laughing when her hands shook as she finished rolling the condom into place.
Shane didn’t even touch her intimately to see if she was ready for him. He knew she was from the flush covering her body and the wild look in her eyes. Winding his fingers into her damp hair, he pressed into her warmth, never stopping until he was completely inside her where he damn well belonged.
One night, two weeks, or two months—time had nothing to do with the rightness of this connection, he decided. Call it love at first sight or fate or whatever. Shane didn’t care so long as he could have moments like this with this woman.
“Reesa,” he said, the desperation in his voice scraping his own nerve endings. “I want to do this with you forever.”
Before she could reply or deny or anything else but manage a groan, he unleashed the tidal wave of arousal she had caused in him, kissing her mouth as he did what he wanted to the rest of her. Several strokes had her coming apart under him, but Shane only laughed when she wanted to stop.
“Not yet,” he said, slowing his pace to kiss her neck, but moving—always moving—savoring.
“The bed is moving as much as I am,” Reesa said, shivering around him as he laughed.
Shane pulled her head back to bare her throat to his lips. He put his mouth on her there, biting and licking to her collarbone while she struggled to loosen his hold.
Sliding out of her, Shane moved to her breasts, tugging each hard nipple into his mouth until her hands came to hold his head. He ignored her fingers tugging in his hair because he wasn’t letting her call the shots today.
He kissed his way down the front of her to her stomach and across her hips, rolling her over until he could bite her like he’d wanted to do yesterday morning watching her dance. His mouth was hot on the curve of her back as he held her hips in his hands.
“Can we do it this way?” Shane asked, hovering over the back of her thighs and hoping.
Reesa arched her hips off the bed in reply, hissing when Shane took advantage of her unspoken permission and slid into her from behind. They both groaned at the intense contact. The man fit inside her like no one else ever had, Reesa thought. She could feel Shane pressing the exact spot that needed pressing.
“And I thought it couldn’t get any better,” she said contritely, laughing and putting her hand between them to feel their connection. It rendered her weak to find him completely inside again. “You fit me so well.”
“I know. Would this be a bad time to mention that this is yet another first for me?” Shane teased, his voice breaking as he moved in deeply with every thrust. “You feel so damn perfect, Reesa.”
He slid one hand under her to hold her hips up to better receive his thrusts. Shane put one hand on the headboard to brace himself and the damn bed which was moving just like Reesa had said. How was that even possible? That certainly had to be fixed.
“Reesa? How close are you, baby?” Shane asked.
“Close. Let me show you how to help,” Reesa said, moving Shane’s hand on her stomach down, until his fingers slid across the front of her. “Don’t stop mov
ing, just press gently but firmly—right there. Oh my God—yes, that’s it. Now a little harder. God—Shane. . .”
Then there was another shared climax between them, with Shane following her as he felt her pulsing around him. The pleasure seemed to go on forever for both of them, and there was even a point where Shane felt he might pass out from it. His breathing was ragged when he finally lowered them to the bed, cradling Reesa from behind as he rolled them to their sides. Her heart beat furiously against his arm wrapped solidly around her.
“The only bad thing about this position is that it was so amazing I wish I could see your face now,” she said, laughing and joking with him.
Shane gripped her hair again to turn her head, raising up on his elbow and putting his face as close to hers as he could in their positions.
“Can you see me now, woman?” he asked, peering into her laughing gaze.
Reesa snickered at his demand. “Yes, but I regret asking. You look wild-eyed like a serial killer.”
“That’s shock and awe over what we just did,” Shane said, not the least bit ashamed of admitting how spectacular it had been for him. “Be honest with me. Do you like that position or am I just fooling myself that it was incredible for both of us?”
Reesa arched her hips tighter back into Shane, showing him she was still well aware of their connection. He hadn’t lost his erection completely yet and Reesa was in no hurry to end things until he did.
“Yes. I liked it very much, and what you did with your fingers was outstanding,” she said, praising him. “Tuck that technique away and remember it for next time.”
Shane laughed at the approval in her words and tightened his hold thinking about there being a next time and more after that.
“I’m a quick study on things that matter to me. You’ll never have to ask me for anything in bed more than once,” he promised.
Reesa laughed. “Well, aren’t you a sweetheart of a man. I think I like the idea of training you to please me.”
“Train me to please you in bed—I will do anything,” Shane said, whispering the words across her ear and into her hair.
“Sara was right—you are trouble,” Reesa said breathlessly, heartbeat erratic with nerves more than exertion now.
“Why am I trouble for you?” Shane asked, snickering. “Because I’m insatiable and going to want more of you shortly?”
Reesa laughed. “No. I’m starting to believe you might actually be telling me the truth about your level of interest in me. The more I’m with you, the less opposed I am to the idea.”
“Is that how accountants state their approval? They become less opposed to something?” Shane asked on a laugh, easing out of her body.
He rolled Reesa to her back so he could look into her face.
“I started falling in love with you when we first met. You tease me about other women, but I’m just not interested any more. I’d rather wait to be with you, and what we just shared is why,” he said firmly, ignoring the flickers of panic in her wide-eyed gaze.
“Do you have any idea how overwhelming that is to me? What am I supposed to do about you? I don’t have time or energy to be in love. You’ve seen what my life is like,” Reesa complained.
Shane nodded. “I know you’ve lost a lot and taken full responsibility for what remains. And I know your situation probably makes you think twice about committing to more. Just try to keep an open mind about us.”
“How can you be so sure? Have you been in love before?” Reesa asked.
“When I was twenty, I met a girl in college who I thought I was in love with. We dated for two years. She dumped me when I told her I had to drop out a semester in my senior year to finish my graphic novel. Dad and Mom were fighting then, and I didn’t want my college tuition to be a point of conflict. I finished my novel, sold it, and used the money to finish school. Dad helped me some, but I was able to do most of it on my own,” Shane said.
“Why would she leave you over that? It sounds pretty admirable, especially for a twenty-two-year-old,” Reesa said sincerely.
“Why did Brentwood leave you when you’re amazing and the most loyal woman on earth?” Shane asked, stroking possessive fingers over her soft belly.
“Their loss—our gain, I suppose,” Reesa said.
“I like to think I’m a smarter dweeb than the dweebs that have come before me,” Shane said, bending to kiss her stomach. “I probably owe that to my father. He’s a really, really good man.”
Reesa reached up and tucked Shane’s hair behind his ears. “You’re a really good man too.”
Shane bent to kiss her lips, tasting the sweetness of her praise with genuine pleasure. “You manage to comfort me and arouse me at the same time. It is a hell of a winning combination, lady. I can see why Brentwood wants you back. Too bad for him. I’ll hurt him if he even tries.”
“You don’t have to be jealous. I’m completely over Brent,” Reesa said.
“But he’s not over you,” Shane said, swinging his legs to the floor and then turning back to drag Reesa to the edge of the bed.
He scooped her up and made her wrap her legs around his waist again.
“Shower,” Shane said, walking around the bed to snag another condom from the night stand.
“You mean shower sex?” Reesa teased. “I saw you grab the condom.”
“I’m going to make you appreciative of our size difference,” Shane said. “And I’m going to help you wash your hair so you don’t look like a zombie bride.”
Reesa caught sight of her hair in the bathroom mirror, and promptly hid her face in Shane’s shoulder as he laughed. “That’s pretty bad. How can you want someone who looks like that?”
“I think ignoring wild appearances during sex is coded in the Y chromosome,” Shane said, turning on the shower and stepping in with a laughing Reesa. “When it comes right down to it for me, hair on a woman is just like the steering wheel on a car.”
“Oh, I know you didn’t just say that to me,” Reesa protested, pushing on his shoulders and glaring. “Do you really think that macho crap is acceptable?”
Laughing, Shane pushed her against the wall, grabbed her by the hair, and turned her until he could put his mouth on the pulse in her neck.
“Do you like this?” he asked, nipping up to her chin.
“Damn you,” she said, goose bumps dotting her arms while her nipples beaded against him.
Shane smiled, and turned them under the spray. “Here. Wet your hair. It looks sexy that way and you’ll feel better about it.”
“Put me down, so I can do this right,” Reesa ordered.
“No—I’m not done with you yet,” Shane said. “Let’s see if you can follow orders as well as I do. Kiss me, and I want tongue—lots of tongue.”
Reesa smacked his shoulders as he laughed, but dived into his mouth until he slammed her against the wall again making her break their kiss on a laugh.
***
“Oh God, Michael. What have I done?” Carrie wailed, swallowing and gripping the keys in her hands.
Standing in the middle of the empty, grungy space that was supposed to be an art gallery someday, Carrie looked around, appalled at the condition it was in. Buyer’s remorse hit really hard as she realized just how far away from being a polished gallery the space was at the moment. It was going to take a lot of work just to get any one task accomplished.
Michael spun around, hands in the pockets of the dress slacks he’d worn to Carrie’s closing. His wife owned a gallery—or what would be a gallery. He was feeling pretty righteous to be her original backer. It was a tiny bit of paying back all the prosperity she’d brought to him over the last three years, and in making up for the loss of her job, which he still believed she’d left prematurely because of him.
He looked around in pleasure already seeing the possibilities. Now they had a chance to make real money without a middle man taking a cut. He had absolute faith in Carrie’s money making abilities, even more in her vision of what could be in this spa
ce.
Her attack of nerves didn’t surprise him much though. Hell, anyone would be overwhelmed at what had to be done to pull it together.
“This is an amazing space,” Michael said, his voice confident and sure. “With the right lighting and some wall work, this place is going to rock as a gallery.”
Carrie looked at her husband hopefully. “You really think so?”
Michael nodded. “It’s going to be a lot better than the convention center downtown for showings.”
He looked around at the giant space, pointing to the longest end with no doors or windows marring any surface.
“I think you need some folding walls so you won’t have to move so much around every time you do an individual showing. It would create dedicated space for that purpose, and allow you to keep the gallery intimate the rest of the time.”
“That’s a great idea,” Carrie said, looking up at the tall ceilings again. “The lighting is going to cost dearly, but I’m going to save money by just painting the concrete floor. I eventually will want a wood floor, but it can wait until we start making real money.”
“What’s real money?” Michael asked, walking to his wife, who still hadn’t budged from her spot. He could see she was still frozen in place with shock.
“I don’t know,” Carrie said. “I need to hire an accountant to help me budget carefully. The money from the university will be available next week. It will be deposited in the account I opened.”
“You can hire Shane’s girlfriend to help. I think he said she was an accountant,” Michael mused, not really serious, but it was at least a suggestion that might soothe Carrie’s worries today.
“That’s right. I think Shane did say Reesa was an accountant. I wonder if she freelances,” Carrie asked. “I bet she’d be cheap because she would work from home.”
“Hey now—I work from home and I’m not cheap,” Michael said, smiling.
Carrie raised a hand to his face. “Not everyone is a talented artist like you,” she said, seeing his eyes soften at her praise. “Some of us are just regular working stiffs.”
Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series) Page 15