Cupid's Heart: Western Contemporary Small Town Romance (Return to Cupid Book 6)

by Sylvia McDaniel

  "Chloe," he said, his mouth trailing kisses down her neck, his hands caressing her flesh.

  "Don't stop," she cried. "Please keep going. I want to."

  Desire raged through his blood like snow melt in spring rushing through him, churning and boiling and there was no way he would slow down. Oh, how he longed to continue. Fingers trailed down the front of her blouse as he pushed the garment up, his mouth closed over her hardened kernel as he gently suckled her breast.

  "Drew, please, don't stop," she moaned.

  What the hell? All the while, he was trying his best not to lose control, she wanted him to go on. She wanted to have sex with him. Tonight she planned this seduction for him to take her virginity right here and now. And he would gladly take her up on that offer.

  Gripping her head with one hand, his fingers reached for her pants until he reached the waistband of her panties. As his digits dived inside, seeking her center, his conscious awakened from its nap.

  Wasn't he leading her down the same path as the rest of his girlfriends? Seduce them, have sex with them and then discard them? Wasn't that the actions of the old Drew? Didn't he want to be different? And if pigs could fly, wouldn't he be a rich man? Crap, he had to stop.

  Slowly, he pulled his hands out of her pants and yanked down her shirt, but not before one last lingering glance of her naked breasts.

  "We can't," he groaned "We can wait."

  For a moment, she stilled, their breaths harsh in the darkness. "Don't you desire me?"

  He pressed into her. "Can't you feel how hard you make me? Lately, I dream of you at night. I want you so badly, but I don't want you to be like all the other girls I dated. If this is going to work, it has to be different. Different means, we wait."

  Tears were in the corners of her eyes as she stared up at him in shock. "Oh."

  Suddenly her front door opened and her father strolled into the house. "Chloe, are you here? Saw your car outside and decided to drop in. Why aren't the lights on?"

  Oh, crap it's her father.

  Chloe scrambled to get her clothes rearranged hoping they didn't appear too disheveled.

  "Dad, what are you doing here?" she asked as she switched on the light. Yes, she was an adult, but still to be almost caught by her father at any age was embarrassing.

  "Drew, I didn't know you were here," he said frowning. "Maybe it's a good thing I came when I did. Remember what I told you with regards to my daughter."

  Huh? Drew and her father had talked? What did that mean?

  "Yes, sir, we were sitting here talking. Part of the dating ritual, learning about your partner."

  Embarrassed beyond belief, she just wanted this little scene to end. "Did you need something, Dad? Are you feeling okay?"

  "Better every day. I wanted to come by and talk for a few moments, but it can wait. You've got company."

  Drew stood and offered her father, his seat. "Oh no, sir, I was getting ready to leave. Tomorrow is a big meeting on a divorce I'm working on. The night before I always like to go over my notes about what's best for my client."

  What was going on between her father and Drew. It almost seemed like they were friends. And they never had been before.

  "Understand. See you in church on Sunday," he said, sinking down onto Chloe's couch.

  Standing, she said, "I'll walk you out."

  "Come by the rectory and let's drink coffee sometime," her father called and her head almost swiveled. What? Dad had invited Drew for coffee? The apocalypse should happen any day now.

  "Will do," Drew responded and a tingle of disbelief scurried through her. Since the hospital, the two men appeared to like each other. Odd.

  At the door, she followed Drew outside on the porch.

  Pulling her into his arms, he smiled down at her. "The spaghetti tasted wonderful, the kissing even better."

  Tonight had been the best date of her life and just the thought of it made her smile. "Until we got caught. Thank you for stopping me. If you hadn't my father would have walked in on us and that is not exactly how I pictured my first time."

  Squeezing her tightly, he laughed and then leaned back. "Your first time should be special. Not a rushed event on a sofa. A long, luxurious evening with champagne and chocolate and possibly a bubble bath together."

  A blush spread across her cheekbones. "Mr. Lawrence, you still have that seductive spirit. That sounds like a splendid evening."

  He grinned at her and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Goodnight, Chloe."

  "Goodnight," she said and watched him walk down the sidewalk to his car. The perfect ending to that conversation would be if he’d said and that's what we'll do on our wedding night, but right now, no promises had been made between them.

  Turning to go into the house, she glanced back at the street. Her father must be blind, not to see Drew's expensive, red sports car parked in front of her house. So why was he here?

  Walking back inside, her father sat sprawled where just a few minutes ago she and Drew were kissing.

  "Drew seems to be changing into a nice man since he moved back."

  Gazing at her father all comfy sitting on her sofa, she stared at him. "What's different? You didn't want me going out with Drew. Why the change of heart? The two of you seem to be great pals."

  For a moment, she wasn't sure her father would answer her, his eyes narrowed.

  "After watching the two of you at the church picnic, I went to Drew and asked him to marry you," he said softly.

  Chloe felt her body go cold. She couldn't breathe as her lungs froze and she tensed. "Why the hell do you continue to interfere in my life? I'm sick of it, Dad. I'm a grown woman capable of finding my own dates and don't need your help."

  So mad, she was shaking, she turned on her father but something in his expression halted her.

  "You're right. But a father wants to make certain his daughter is taken care of before he dies." A long, heavy sigh escaped him sending a chill down her spine. Staring at her, his eyes filled with tears. "I've got pancreatic cancer and have about six months to live."

  The floor tilted and she fell into a chair, tears burning her eyes, her throat tightly squeezed shut as the words reverberated in her head. Her father was dying.

  At nine o'clock the next morning, Chloe went to Drew's office. Later today, he had a trial and she expected him to leave fairly early, but she needed to speak to him. All night she lay in bed awake, tossing and turning, crying one moment and furious the next. Because of her father, Drew decided to date her.

  Not the Cupid statue. Not the superstition. Not the attraction between them, but her father.

  When Drew unlocked the door to his rented office space, he stared at her in surprise. She stood outside waiting. "Chloe? Is everything all right? Your father, is he ill?"

  Pushing past him, she walked into the reception area. Tensing, she turned and glared at him. "How dare you connive with my father. I thought we were dating because you were genuinely interested in me. Not because my father asked you to go out with me."

  Tears bubbled beneath the surface, but she continued. "How can I trust you if you would do something like this."

  "Wait a minute," Drew said stepping toward her. "The only reason we're together is because I'm attracted to you. This has nothing to do with your father."

  Could it be true or was he only saying this to get out of trouble?

  "How am I suppose to believe that? After we ran the Cupid statue, you didn't want to go out with me. Didn't believe in this nonsense. So, when my father asks you to marry me, you suddenly decide now is the right time to ask me out? What kind of bribe did he offer you to date his poor daughter?"

  Drew drug his hand through his hair. "No bribes and I told him I would go out with you with no guarantee of marriage."

  "That's even worse."

  "How? Did you want me to lie to the man?"

  The night had been rough enough dealing with her father's illness, but she hoped this morning she would find clarity here with
Drew. Hurt that Drew didn't start dating her until after her father requested he go out with her, but also enraged that he knew about her dad's cancer and never told her.

  "No, but you can't commit to marriage. You obviously knew the truth about my father's health condition and you wasted what little time we have left for me to find someone to marry."

  Drew tensed.

  "If you had known he was dying, would you go out and find the first man just to make your father happy?" he asked. "All I asked was for some time to see where this connection took us. Woman, can't you see I'm so drawn to you? I can't sleep for dreaming of making love to you. You're the first woman I've dated seriously since high school. Give me a break."

  That made her even madder. Now his lawyer logic kicked in and she needed to vent all the hurt feelings she'd been feeling since last night.

  "According to the Cupid statue, we are each other’s true loves."

  "So, you think that because of a superstition, I should agree to marry you and live happily ever after? In my business, I witness the ugliness of marital bliss. Some days I wonder if there is such a thing as true love."

  With a sarcastic nod, she didn't give him any slack. "Of course, you have, but would you ever marry me? Highly doubtful."

  "You don't realize it, but I've committed more to you than any other woman. I need some time before I stand before your father and promise you forever. Is it wrong to want it to be right between us? All I'm asking for is time."

  Again, lawyer logic when all she felt was despair. "My father doesn't have time. How could you keep his illness a secret from me?"

  "I'm a man of my word and I promised him I wouldn't say anything. It was his duty to tell you, not me."

  Cursing, Drew tried to reach out to her and she stepped back. "You agreed to date me while my father was ill, dying and wanted me married before he passed away. Yet you had no intentions of marrying me. You wasted my time and my father's precious time."

  "Not true," he said.

  Chloe paced the reception area, knowing there had to be a way to validate her point. And there was a way to find out his intent. One way for him to make her father happy. "Okay, prove it to me. Let's get married."

  His eyes widened and she could see him looking like a trapped animal. For a moment, he stared at her and her lungs froze, her breath sticking in her throat. "Exactly what I thought. You're wasting my time, Drew."

  The door to his office cracked open and Anna Provinski walked out in her high heels, short mini dress, her makeup perfect. "Drew, honey, we need to leave."

  Stuck in slow motion, her heart seemed to stop then start hammering in her chest. The crazy man was two timing her.

  "Chloe, this is not what it looks like."

  "Damn you, Drew." Turning, she all but ran for the door, furious that he never intended to marry her and now she had proof. Reforming Drew was just talk and nothing more. Drew Lawrence was still the same man whore and she'd become one of his victims.

  Because she loved him.

  Chapter 10

  Drew glanced around at what Chloe created with his grandmother's old house and stared in amazement. She had taken his ideas and turned a sad older home into a comfortable, modern place that fitted his lifestyle and achieved his dreams. But somehow the happiness he expected in this home echoed empty.

  A week had passed since she confronted him, put him on the spot and demanded he marry her. Sometimes he thought it would have been easier just to say I do. When did you know she was the one for you?

  For years, women concocted everything imaginable trying to trap him into marriage. Leaving him with that hated feeling of being cornered.

  Walking through the empty house, he came into his master bedroom and found a glass display case holding what appeared to be a diary.

  Lifting the glass, he picked up the old leather-bound book, opened and recognized his mother's handwriting. Flipping to the last pages, his heart skipped a beat, and he froze as he comprehended the words.

  Dear Diary,

  Last night my friends persuaded me to try the Cupid dance... Coming to the end, a shiver of disbelief, scurried down his spine. His parents bumped into each other at the Cupid statue?

  Engrossed in his mother's words, Drew sank to the floor to relived the tale of his parents’ romance through her eyes.

  Dear Diary,

  James doesn't believe in the superstition or in getting married. After having dated half the high school graduating class, his intent is to remain single. Falling in love is too frightening for this big strong man and he would rather live alone.

  So my plans are to continue on with my life and move to Fort Worth next week. I have a job and will be sharing an apartment with two other girls. Even though according to the legend, he's my true love, I'm done. I'm moving on with my life, and hopefully, eventually, I'll find someone else.

  For the next thirty minutes, he continued reading the diary until he came to the end. Closing the book, he had no idea where Chloe found it, but what a special gift that touched his heart. The diary made him feel close to his mother once again. Helped him witness his father through her eyes and realize he was like his father.

  Stubborn, resistant fool to love - who feared marriage and in the end, it brought him his life's greatest joy. Could that be what Drew was missing by not marrying Chloe?

  His father fought saying I do until his mother finally walked away from her chance of love. It wasn't until later he understood what he lost and hunted her down, promising his love forever and telling her he was a damn fool for questioning their feelings.

  Last week, Chloe had been emotional, almost to the point of irrational. Would things be different if he wrapped his arms around her and held her. First, she found out her father was dying and then Drew's part in her father's attempt at matchmaking and finally she came to a wrongful conclusion that he and Anna were sleeping together again. Why didn't he offer more support? Wouldn't that have soothed her and then they might have talked rationally?

  Now, it was too late.

  Drew loved Chloe, and like his father, was the biggest damn fool for doubting his emotions. Since she walked out, he'd learned first-hand the worst ache of loneliness. Sure, he'd been tempted to call up an old girlfriend to ease his pain, but he wanted Chloe, no one else. Indeed, he loved her and wanted to spend his life loving her.

  Now that he realized he loved her, how could he prove his love enough to get her back?

  Drew glanced up from the case he was working on to see his brothers walking into the house. Boxes were stacked everywhere as he only unpacked the bare necessities until his furniture arrived from his apartment in Dallas. So far, he loved living in a home filled with family history.

  The only missing piece of his life was Chloe.

  His brothers, Jim and Kyle walked in the door. "Drew," Jim said, looking around. "This is perfect. Chloe did a great job refurbishing this old house and making it look nice."

  A beautiful house, an empty home without her there to share it with him, but he was trying his best to learn to adjust.

  "How was the honeymoon?" Drew asked.

  "You should try it sometime. Nothing like escaping for a few days to the mountains to relax and enjoy your wife. So, what's going on with you and Chloe? Haven't seen you two together lately."

  Kyle sank down in a chair next to Drew. "Hey, brother, how's your love life?"

  Leaning back Drew gazed at two most important men in his life. "All right, what's up. Why do I feel like the love police have descended on my home and I'm about to be arrested for failing to yield?"

  Jim looked at Kyle. "Sounds good to me. What do you think?"

  "Convicted as charged. But I think he'll lawyer up before Ryan puts him behind bars."

  The reason for this meeting was clear. Concern for a brother and they heard he and Chloe were no longer dating. The Cupid dance had lost.

  "This feels familiar," Drew said. "Didn't I sit in on both of your ‘come to the altar’ meetings?"

/>   "Is that what we're doing?" Jim inquired.

  "Look, brother, we're happily married. Dancing around the God of Love I believed was a bunch of bunk, but somehow the outcome turned into happiness. What happened between you and your lady?"

  What could Drew say without making it even worse. "Let's just say, I'm like our father. I'm just a nut case."

  Jim frowned. "Our parents were not crazy."

  "Well, I seem to have taken their traits and thrown in a dash of lunacy. Chloe made me realize that since Mom died, my sadness had me going out and sleeping with women, but never wanting a serious relationship.

  “After we talked, I consulted a therapist and she gave it some fancy diagnosis and put me in a grief counseling group. Though Mom's been gone for years, it's helped me understand how to cope better with her loss."

  His brothers stared at him like he had taken a nose dive over the edge of a cliff, but he didn't care. As a lawyer and a human being, he needed to understand his destructive behavior before it destroyed his life. Only his clients were the people he wanted to clean up after making terrible decisions.

  When Chloe first mentioned his promiscuity could be linked to his mother's death, he thought it sounded ridiculous. Dr. Goodman showed him how he searched for comfort in the form of a one-night stand.

  Now the counseling group taught him how to handle her unexpected death. If he had known she would die that day, he would have been by her side, but it happened so suddenly.

  "Wow, that is the last thing I expected to hear from you," Kyle said.

  Promiscuous sex and the death of their parents didn't really go together and his brothers thought he was a playboy out having fun. The family never associated his actions with the overwhelming guilt and anguish of a loved one. How depression could cause you to act irresponsibly.

  "So how does this make you similar to our parents?" Jim asked.

  With an uncomfortable laugh, Drew began to tell their mother's tale. "While Chloe was demolishing the house, she must have found our mother's diary."

  "Mom wondered where that book disappeared to," Jim said sitting up. "What does it say?"