by Cara Colter
Was she dreaming?
Had she dreamed the whole thing?
She took a breath and let it out with a heavy sigh.
Those hands were back, rubbing her bottom.
Then she thought she felt a warm, slow kiss at the base of her spine, teasing there, all the nerve endings in that region of her body storming to life, tingling, sensations zipping along to her brain.
He kept stroking her, kissing her there.
“Simon,” she gasped.
“Yes,” he said, his voice deep and slow and rumbling through the big, warm body pressed against her side.
He had his tongue teasing the small of her back, and it felt so good she could hardly believe it.
“What are you doing?” she asked. Because no one had ever touched her like that.
“Waiting for you to wake up,” he whispered, as he got on top of her, nudged her legs apart and settled himself heavily between her legs.
She yielded to him, feeling him hot and hard between her legs, nudging until he found her, already wet and aching, and pushed himself inside.
She whimpered, dropped her head down and buried it in the mattress.
“Too much,” he groaned.
“Maybe.” He thrust just a bit, testing. And she gasped. “That … That feels so good.”
At this angle he was so deep inside of her, she felt that if there were any more to him, he wouldn’t fit inside at all.
She felt his hands on her breasts, his mouth open on her neck. It was all just too much. She wriggled beneath him, trying to get away, the sensations just too powerful, but he held her fast with his body, all heat and power, over hers.
He set a slow, steady rhythm, rocking gently back and forth while he was barely inside of her, and then surging fully back to the point where she wasn’t sure she could stand it. Then back out and rocking ever so gently again.
“Simon.” He was going to make her beg. She knew it. “Simon, please.”
“What do you want, Audrey? You know I’ll give you anything you want.”
“I want to be able to touch you.”
“Honey, I’m all over you. We are touching.”
And they were. She could feel the muscles of his thighs, flexing, advancing, withdrawing, against hers, the muscles of his abdomen, pulling his body up and into hers. His arms beneath her, his hands on her breasts.
And that maddening pace he’d set, in, barely, rocking, barely, and then buried inside of her. Giving her just a bit of what she wanted and then pulling back.
Her whole body started to tremble with need. She sobbed once, then again.
His arms tightened around her as he settled himself deep inside of her and rocked hard. She nearly screamed, remembering only at the last moment to press her face against the mattress to muffle the sound. Her whole body throbbed against his, wave after wave of it, and she felt him shudder above her, heard him groaning out her name.
He collapsed heavily on top of her, then rolled to his side, taking her with him, still holding her close, still inside of her, the aftershocks still pulsing through them.
They didn’t move for the longest time.
She knew he nuzzled her cheek, then kissed it, knew at some point he slipped his arm from beneath her and got up. She rolled back onto her belly and drifted back to sleep, limp and satiated.
Audrey woke to the sound of a phone ringing.
Groggy and more than a little confused, she reached for the phone by her bedside—then only, once it was in her hand, remembered that she didn’t have a phone by her bed in her apartment at Simon’s.
Still, there was a phone in her hand, and she whispered, “Hello.”
“Tell me you’re still in my bed?” Simon’s deep, sexy voice asked.
Audrey’s eyes flew open, the night coming back to her in a rush. Simon washing her, stroking her, kissing her, carrying her to his bed and …
She gasped, groaned, just thinking about it.
“No. Don’t … Not that.” He swore. “How the hell am I supposed to work when you sound like that? Audrey, you’re killing me here.”
“I was just … remembering,” she confessed sleepily, rolling over in soft, soft sheets that smelled of him and her bath and sex.
He groaned.
She laughed.
“I will make you pay,” he said.
Feeling adventurous, she asked, “How?”
“I have all day to think about how.”
“Well, I’m not scared,” she said, feeling happier, younger and more carefree than she’d been in years.
Simon Collier was her lover, and a wonderful lover he was. And she was an adult, completely unattached and sober and absolutely free to be with him, to enjoy him.
Free.
“Last night was …”
“Don’t tell me here,” he said. “Just … wait. I’ll be home. I want to hear everything. Just not now. Besides, you have to get up. It’s almost eight. Peyton will be awake soon.”
“Oh,” Audrey said, remembering.
Simon’s daughter didn’t need to know anything about this.
“The dog’s probably right outside the bedroom door,” Simon told her. “I tried to get him back into Peyton’s room, but he seemed to know you were in my room. And he really didn’t understand why he didn’t get to climb into my bed with you. I am not sharing you with the dog.”
“So, you plan on making a habit of having me in your bed?”
“Yes, I do. Please tell me we’re not going to argue about this. It’s pointless anyway. I’ll win.”
He sounded absolutely convinced about that.
“Although,” he added, “Now that I think about it, I really wouldn’t mind persuading you night after night, if that’s what it takes. Remember, I’m a man who knows how to get what he wants.”
“Yes, I think I’ve heard that about you a time or two. That and your modesty—”
“Just saying—”
“Last night was incredible,” she said, because she needed to say it to him, needed for him to know.
“Yes, it was,” he whispered.
And she was in trouble.
Lots and lots of trouble.
Because she believed every word he said. She was more vulnerable now with him than she’d ever been with Richard, knew all the risks and yet … she wanted to trust him completely. To give him her heart. To believe in all those things she swore she never would again.
As if she’d never had her heart broken or her life torn apart.
“I’ll be home early,” he said.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Your mom came by my house last night,” Jake said. “She saw the For Sale sign and wanted to know what was going on. She was really upset when I told her you were going to Spain.”
Andie looked at him. He’d hardly spoken to her since she’d told him, and she’d missed him. She couldn’t imagine not having him nearby to talk to when she needed someone.
Much as she’d tried to push him away, it had never worked.
Until the whole Spain thing came up.
“She’s still living with that man?” Andie asked, easing into a recessed doorway at their school so they could talk.
“I think so. He was with her last night. He was … he seemed nice, like he was going to take care of her.”
“Of course. That’s what she gets men to do,” Andie fired back.
“No. Not like that,” Jake insisted. “Like he knew she’d be upset, and he was worried about her. That kind of caring.”
Andie shrugged. So, there was a new guy, and maybe he was nicer than that guy from the neighborhood and he wasn’t married. So what?
He was just another guy.
“I can’t believe you’re really going,” Jake said. “And I know it’s not what you really want.”
“It’s Spain,” she said. “A year in Spain.”
“So what? You don’t know anybody in Spain. You don’t have anybody there waiting for you, a
nybody there who cares about you. What good is it, if there isn’t even anybody there who cares about you?”
“Jake—”
“I know your father’s a jerk, and I know you’re still really pissed at your mother. But you don’t fix that by moving to another country. You’ll just be pissed and all alone. Did you even think about that?”
“Of course, I did. But I can’t stay!”
A teacher passing by shushed them, and when Andy turned around, she realized kids were staring, probably listening to every word she and Jake said.
She hated that. People staring, whispering about her, knowing every rotten thing that was happening to her.
“There’s nothing for me here,” she said, turning back to him.
He looked mad enough to breathe fire for a second, then incredulous and then hurt.
“Right,” he said, throwing down the big textbooks he carried so that they landed with a huge bang.
Andie gave a start.
“You’re right. There’s nothing and no one here who gives a damn about you!”
And then he stalked away, with a teacher following and demanding that he stop, come back and pick up his books.
Jake just kept walking, down the hall and out the side door, which he wasn’t allowed to do and which the teacher following him was trying to explain to him.
Jake looked like he didn’t care.
Andie watched him charging off across the school lawn.
It looked as if she’d finally done it.
She’d driven him away.
She was finally, completely alone.
Audrey felt as if she was blushing the entire day and that anyone who looked at her would know instantly she’d spent the night in Simon’s bed.
He was a wonderful lover, generous and at the same time demanding, powerful, intense, patient and then not patient at all. She felt her entire body glowing, and she just couldn’t stop smiling.
Tink looked at her as if he knew she had a secret and he didn’t like it. He really didn’t like knowing she’d slept in Simon’s room last night, but he hadn’t been allowed inside.
“Sorry,” she told him. “Simon is not going to share his bed with you. You’ll have to be happy in Peyton’s.”
Tink whined, looking both sad and offended.
She took him and Peyton to the park that afternoon to play, and when they were walking back home, Audrey had the oddest sensation that they were being watched. She turned around and searched the road and the sidewalk, thinking she might see Simon, but he wasn’t there.
They got back to the house, and she got a phone call from Richard.
Audrey made a face. Calls from Richard were never good. He sounded oddly pleasant on the phone, saying only that he needed to see her right away. Richard’s being pleasant probably meant he wanted something from her, Audrey decided. Probably something she wasn’t going to like.
She told Ms. Bee, Peyton and the dog that she was leaving for a few minutes, then drove to her old house, finding no cars but Richard’s in the driveway. At least, she wouldn’t have to face Barbie. Richard must have been waiting for her, because he opened the door before she could even knock, thanked her for coming and then asked if they could talk in his study.
No way this could be good. She sat, thinking there couldn’t possibly be anything he could do to her now. He’d already done it all. There was nothing left.
She looked up to find him staring at her. “What have you been doing to yourself, Audrey? You look great.”
Which had her thinking again that every delicious thing Simon had done to her was showing clearly on her face today, and that left her grinning like crazy, in front of her ex-husband to boot.
He looked even more puzzled.
“Just happy, Richard. That’s all,” she said.
He didn’t seem to understand that she was saying she was happy without him, but Audrey honestly didn’t care.
“Well, anyway,” he said, “I guess you’ve heard Andie wants to go to Spain for her senior year?”
She nodded, not bothering to question the way he made it sound as if it was Andie’s idea when she knew it had been his.
“Well, I’ve been looking into it, and it’s much more expensive than I first realized. There’s a separate payment for room and board that’s outrageous, then the plane tickets, spending money, books. I just don’t see how I can do it.”
Which, on the one hand, made her want to jump up and cheer. Andie couldn’t go! Richard wouldn’t pay for it!
“Wait, you’re the one who came up with this whole idea,” Audrey reminded him. “And now that she wants to go, you’re going to tell her she can’t?”
“I just can’t do it,” he said.
“What about the house? The For Sale sign’s still here. Are you still selling the house?”
He nodded. “I’ve bought a business in Florida from a retiring CPA. It’s all set. We’re moving.”
“So, you think you’re going to force Andie to go with you?” Audrey didn’t think that would go over well with Andie, either.
“She doesn’t want to move to Florida with me—”
“You mean with Barbie and you,” Audrey said.
“Bethany. Her name is Bethany—”
“Fine, you and Bethany. So what are you planning to do, Richard? Are you just going to move and leave her here?”
“Look, she’s just not happy with me. We tried and it didn’t work. And you keep saying you want her with you, so … it’s time she was back with you.”
“I would love to have her back with me,” Audrey told him. “You know that. She does, too. But she doesn’t want to be with me.”
“Well, maybe she doesn’t get to decide anymore,” Richard said. “We’ll just sit her down and tell her that we’ve discussed this and have decided she should be with you again.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re ready to walk away from her. Because it’s a little harder than you thought to play daddy, or because Bethany doesn’t like sharing you with your daughter. So you want out, and you want to make it look like it’s our decision. Like you did with the divorce. You left, and then you blamed me for it and I got to stay and deal with our daughter’s anger and hurt and resentment.”
Audrey glared at him.
He looked decidedly uncomfortable and she was glad.
“Nice trick, Richard. But it’s not going to work this time. I’m not going to be the bad guy while you escape from all the hard stuff. If you’re too cheap to send her to Spain, you tell her. And if you aren’t willing to take her to Florida or to stay here for another year so she can finish school, you tell her.”
“We’re both her parents,” he tried.
“When it’s convenient for you, we’re both her parents. You bastard!” And then she got her temper in check enough to think about poor Andie. “Richard, it’s only a year until she graduates. We’ve disrupted her life enough, already. Give her this year.”
“I told you. It’s already done. I have to go. And I don’t understand. I thought you’d be happy about this.”
“I can’t be happy if she’s going to be miserable. She already feels like she can’t count on me. If you do this to her, she’ll feel like she doesn’t have anybody. Can’t you see that?” Audrey was practically begging him. She’d do that for her daughter. “Just give her this year.”
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Richard, who are you?” Audrey asked him. “Because surely I didn’t marry a man who could be so indifferent to his own daughter and her needs—”
“Now you’re just being melodramatic. Are you going to help me explain this to her or not?”
“No. I’m not. If she wants to be with me, I’ll be thrilled to have her. But I won’t force her. I won’t pretend this is part my doing, and I won’t try to pretty up this plan of yours to abandon her for a second time.”
“Abandon!” he yelled. “Audrey, don’t be ridiculous!”
But she was already walking out of the room.
She was walking out the front door when she spotted Andie’s car in the driveway.
It hadn’t been there when Audrey had arrived.
Did that mean Andie had walked in while Audrey and Richard were fighting? Had she heard the whole thing?
Audrey took a breath and went back into the house, searching the first floor for her daughter but finding only Richard.
“So, you’ve come to your senses?” he asked.
Audrey made a disgusted sound. “No. Andie’s here somewhere. Her car’s in the driveway.”
“Fine. Let’s get this over with. Let’s tell her together, that it’s our decision, and we can all move on with our lives.”
But Audrey wasn’t listening to him anymore. Her daughter was slipping out the back door to the deck.
“Andie!” she called after her, then took off to follow her.
Andie was in the driveway, trying to get her car unlocked and having trouble seeing through her tears when her mother found her.
“Oh, honey,” Audrey said, reaching for her, but Andie jumped back away. “I’m so sorry.”
Andie shrugged, trying to make it look as if it didn’t matter in the least, even as the tears fell freely. She couldn’t help it. It was all too overwhelming, too awful.
“Honey, I know this hurts. I know you’re still hurt by what I did to you, too, and it must feel like there’s no one in the world you can turn to right now. I just hate that for you. But I’m here. I’ll always love you, and you’ll always have a place with me. I know there was a time when I let you down, badly, and I can’t erase it. I can’t undo it. I would give anything if I could.”
“Well, like you said, you can’t—”
“But I’m here now. I’m not going to give up, and I’m not going to fall apart again. I’ll be here whenever you’re ready, whenever you need me.”
Andie scoffed at that. “You’re with that man. That man and his daughter. Your own new little family.”
“No, that’s not my family—”
“I see you with them. Him and his daughter.” She’d spied on them, seen her mother looking very happy, which made it even worse. “I know what you’re doing. You’re starting all over again, and that little girl … She’s so cute, and she doesn’t know what you’ve done, so she doesn’t hate you. She’s probably a lot less trouble than I am—”