A Man Worth Marrying

by Phyllis Halldorson

  Bambi simply wouldn't understand that she couldn't have everything she wanted, and have it now.

  He parked the car at the curb in front of Bambi's house and walked up to the door, all the while telling himself to calm down and think before he spoke. It was imperative that he get his message across, and he wouldn't accomplish that by yelling at her.

  He knew it would take drastic measures to convince her that he was no longer going to be coerced by apologies, tears or appeals to his love for their daughter.

  He'd tried hard to be fair in the matter of Tinker's custody, but after what happened yesterday, she was going to have to prove to him that she was willing to accept the responsibility that went with it.

  Chapter Eight

  Eve's phone rang at about six o'clock, and much to her delight it was Gray. "I need to talk to you. Any chance you could have supper with me?"

  His tone was brusque and somewhat impersonal.

  "Y-Yes, of course, I'll be happy to," she stammered. "Gray, is something wrong? Is Tinker all right? Is Bambi going to make things difficult?"

  "Nothing's really wrong, honey," he hurried to assure her. "I just want to talk to you, tell you about my conversation with Bambi, but most of all I want to be with you."

  Her misgivings drained away. "I want that, too," she said in a near whisper. "Where do you want me to meet you?"

  He didn't hesitate. "Your apartment, as soon as I can get there. I'll bring food, you just bring yourself. Okay?"

  Eve smiled. "Okay, don't keep me waiting."

  "There's not a hailstorm's chance in Hades of that," he muttered. "See ya!"

  Gray arrived on time, with his arms full of white carryout food sacks. She'd been delighted at the thought of seeing him again, but she was also curious and uneasy. What had happened during his showdown with Bambi?

  "You're feeling hunger pangs?" she teased as she eyed the numerous containers.

  "And hello to you, too," he said with a grin, and gave her a quick kiss. A kiss that warmed her heart. "I got Chinese, but I didn't know which dishes you preferred, so I ordered a little of everything. I figured you could keep what's left over and warm it up for the next few days."

  "Sounds good," she said enthusiastically. "I like anything Asian. Just put everything on the counter in the kitchen, and I'll dish it up. We'd better eat before it gets cold."

  He headed for the small kitchen. "I was afraid you were going to say that," he grumbled in a melodramatic tone of voice.

  "Did you have something better in mind for us to do?" she teased.

  "Damn straight!" he said. He put the sacks on the counter, then turned and encircled her waist with his arms.

  "Kiss me," he whispered, and lowered his face to meet her upturned one. Her lips parted beneath his, and he rimmed them with his tongue. She opened to him, and he invaded her with a passionate intimacy that made her shiver.

  Reluctantly, he raised his head and pressed her face into his chest. "I've waited too long for that," he murmured against her hair. "But much as I'd like to continue this I'm not going to—"

  His voice broke and he kissed the top of her head, then released her. "At least not now. I didn't come here to rush you into bed, although the temptation is almost overwhelming. There's something you have to know before this relationship goes any further. We can talk while we eat."

  Eve was confused. It seemed as if all they ever did was get each other all heated up and then break it off to talk.

  She'd set the table for two and put the containers of food out. Once they'd served themselves, Gray told her about his confrontation that morning with Bambi. Gray had lectured Bambi about not buckling up Tinker in the car, but Bambi had made light of the accident. Gray was forced to tell Bambi he was going to find out if he had grounds to petition the court for custody of Tinker.

  Eve listened, glad to hear that he was finally laying down the law to his ex-wife, and appalled that Bambi could be so blasé about her small daughter's welfare. Was it possible that she really didn't understand the danger to which she'd subjected Tinker?

  "So, I met with my lawyer, Aaron Fox, and he's going to see Bambi tomorrow," Gray concluded as he drained his tea cup.

  Eve picked at her egg roll. "Are you really going to petition for physical custody?" she asked. "You told me once before that you'd threatened her with that, but that you didn't really want to do it."

  He sighed. "I still don't, but Tinker's safety comes before any other consideration. Bambi's dependence on me is annoying, but I can put up with it as long as I feel she's doing a good job of looking after Tinker. That is no longer the case."

  Gray looked and sounded tired and discouraged. He was a kind man, and Eve could see that he didn't relish playing the role of the heartless father trying to take a child away from her mother.

  She reached across the small space of table between them and put her hand on his. "If you think there's any danger to Tinker then you have no choice but to bring it to the attention of the court. What does your lawyer say?"

  Gray turned his hand over and clasped hers. "Pretty much the same thing you just did, but he warned me that taking her away from her mother won't be easy if Bambi fights it. That auto accident by itself isn't really very strong evidence. It was a first-time offense—except for her speeding tickets—and unless we can prove recklessness, a car accident could have happened to anybody. That's why I'm hoping we can impress Bambi enough by talking tough to get her to shape up and let me have Tinker without a battle."

  Gray shook his head. "I've told Aaron what I want if we do have to go to court. That includes physical custody, a reduction in child support payments, and no alimony. That means she'll have to go to work full time. Aaron is going to spell it all out to her. There's no other way. She won't listen to me."

  Eve retrieved her hand and took a sip of her tea. "And what if she agrees to take better care of Tinker? Can you trust her to keep her word?"

  He sighed. "Probably not, but she'll always have the threat of legal action hanging over her. That might keep her in line. She's already lost some of the spousal support, as Aaron will tell her. That wasn't mandated by the court. I've been paying it on my own so she could stay home and take care of our daughter. I'm afraid that left her too much time to meddle in my affairs. But now Tinker spends most of the day in school during the school year, and is old enough to have a baby-sitter in the summer."

  "But will you be able to find a baby-sitter who'll work from four-thirty to seven-thirty in the morning?" Eve asked skeptically.

  Gray shrugged. "I doubt it. Possibly a college girl or an older woman who suffers from insomnia, but I hope it won't come to that. I don't want Tinker caught in the middle of a battle between her mother and father. That's why I've pretty much given in to Bambi over these past three years."

  Eve could sympathize with the bind he was in, and wished there was something she could do to help, but when she tried, all she did was make it worse.

  "You said you were going to take Tinker home with you when she's released from the hospital," Eve reminded him. "Will you be able to find a sitter on such short notice?"

  "I have a cousin who works the night shift at a cafe here in town," he said. "She's agreed to come over to the house when she gets off work and spend the rest of the night and morning there. That won't be for long, though, because she's moving to Sioux Falls in a couple of weeks. But it will give me time to find permanent help."

  "Do you think Bambi will be able to get a job?" Eve asked.

  Gray leaned foreword with his elbows on the table, and rubbed the back of his neck as if trying to iron out some kinks. "I don't see why not. She's a great restaurant hostess. She'll be first in line to take it over full time when there's an opening. Meanwhile, she has a small inheritance from her mother that is invested in stocks and bonds. It will keep her solvent for a while if necessary."

  He looked so uncomfortable as he probed at his nape that Eve couldn't stand it any longer. She got up and walked around the
table to stand behind him. "Let me help," she said as she gently disentangled his hands and replaced them with her own.

  Leaning down, she rubbed her cheek against his temple. "Just relax," she whispered in his ear, and gently kneaded her fingers into the taut muscles of his neck and shoulders. "You're all tied up in knots."

  "Oooh, that feels good," he said. It was more of a sigh than a statement, as she dug her fingers deeper into his aching shoulders.

  "Lean back," she coaxed, and put her hands under his chin to guide his head to rest in the valley between her breasts. Then she resumed massaging the muscles on both sides of his spine.

  He sank into her softness with a tremor. "Sweetheart, if you're trying to relax me, I gotta tell you, this is not the way to go about it."

  She kissed the top of his head. "Oh, I don't know," she teased. "You seem pretty relaxed to me."

  He rubbed his cheek against her arm. "But not for long, I guarantee you."

  "It must have been sleeping all night scrunched up on the sofa that caused the muscle spasm," she suggested. "Maybe you should get a professional massage."

  "You're doing just fine," he assured her. "Please feel free to continue."

  "If you insist," she said lightly.

  She unbuttoned the top two buttons of his sport shirt so she could slip her hands underneath to massage his bare chest. She was concentrating on the sensation of his flexing pecs under her naked palm when she felt his hand cup her knee. She'd changed from the slacks suit she'd worn earlier into heavy jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, but his touch was as erotic as if her leg had been bare. She stepped forward, bending her knee slightly to make it more accessible, and he moved his hand slowly upward.

  The sinew in her leg twitched, and she had to force herself to stand still as his thumb rubbed up and down a small area on the inside of her thigh. Deciding to play his game, she let her hands slide seductively down his chest until they were stopped by his belt.

  His belly muscles clenched, and he drew in his breath and shifted in his chair. She was aware of his heart pounding as he stroked upward on her leg. She shivered, and without her knowing quite how he did it, he reached back, tumbled her onto his lap, and cradled her in his arms.

  She put her arms around his neck, and he grabbed the gripper on her waistband with his free hand, pulling both it and her zipper open with one yank. He slid his hand inside her jeans and, with a little help from her, pushed them down and off. Her silk panties covered little, and this time when he put his hand on her thigh, it was flesh to pulsating flesh as his unruly fingers crept closer to their goal.

  Her trained inclination was to resist, but her natural instinct was to plead for more, and more, until he finally touched her and set her aflame.

  She clasped his shoulders and squirmed in his lap, eliciting a moan from deep in his throat as he moved to brush his knuckles against her dampness. Stunned, she cried out and shivered with exaltation.

  Quickly he withdrew his hand and blinked. "Eve. What's the matter, sweetheart? Did I hurt you?"

  It took her a moment to come back down to earth, and then she cursed herself for a fool. She should have been on guard and expected something like that after all she'd heard and read about passion.

  "No, not at all," she whispered. "It just felt so…" She decided to go with the truth. "So good! Don't stop now."

  "You know you're driving me crazy, don't you." His voice was raspy with need. "Shall we go in the bedroom?"

  "Yes. Oh, yes," she whispered, and blew into his ear. Her good sense had vanished and so had her resolution not to let this happen.

  He put his arms under her knees and stood, then carried her into her room.

  While he stripped down to his underwear, she took off her shoes and pulled back the covers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him reach into the wallet he'd put on the lamp table and pull out a square foil packet. She silently blessed him for his thoughtfulness—even while her mind also registered the fact that he looked absolutely fantastic in his briefs.

  Had she really done that to him, or was he always this…ready when he was excited? She fervently hoped it was the former.

  Her fingers trembled as she reached up to undo the top button of her blouse, but he stopped her. "No, let me," he said, and set about the task.

  The buttons were small, but even so he seemed unusually clumsy for a man of his age and experience. His hand kept falling to her breast. Finally she put hers over his. "Why don't you let me do it?"

  He slid his out from under hers and looked at her wryly. "I guess you'd better. My hands are shaking so bad, I'll never get the thing off you."

  Him, too? Was he as eager as she was? She hoped so!

  She completed the task and slid the garment off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. But when she felt the cool air on her bare flesh, she was suddenly stricken with shyness. What if he compared her to other women he'd made love to—and found her wanting? She knew she was not nearly as beautiful as Bambi, and she didn't have any idea how to do the things that titillated men and brought them to climax.

  Subconsciously, she averted her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as she felt a crimson flush stain her face. What was the matter with her? She wore bikini bathing suits every summer that were skimpier than the bra and panties she had on now.

  Gray was eyeing her admiringly, and he had no doubt seen many naked women. She'd been told often that she was beautiful, but no man had ever seen her nude.

  "Eve," Gray said tentatively. "What's the matter? Are you cold?"

  He reached out, gathered her in his arms and held her close. She could hear her teeth chattering.

  "You're shivering," he murmured, and nuzzled her temple as he rubbed the bare flesh of her back and arms to warm her.

  "I—I'm sorry," she apologized, desperate to keep him with her, but not knowing how to explain her strange behavior. She couldn't even explain it to herself. "I guess it's a chill. It is kind of cool in here."

  Now she'd said the wrong thing again. It definitely was not "cool" in here. In fact, not more than a few minutes ago, they'd both been heated to the point of meltdown.

  "Honey, are you afraid of me?" Gray's tone was gentle but probing.

  She cuddled even closer in his arms. "Oh, darling, no! I could never be afraid of you. I love you."

  She bit her lip. No, she mustn't say that. Gray didn't want her to love him.

  "I—I want you," she amended.

  He didn't react to her declaration of love, but asked another question. "Do you trust me?"

  "Implicitly."

  "All right then, here's what we're going to do," he told her. "Do you have a heavy robe?"

  She nodded. "Yes. It's in the closet."

  "I'll get it for you, and I want you to put it on and climb into bed, while I get dressed and go to the kitchen to warm up the tea. Then I'll bring you a cup and we'll talk. Okay?"

  No, it wasn't okay, but it was better than having him walk out and never look back.

  "That's fine," she said, then almost cried out with torment when he released her and walked over to the closet to get her robe.

  He dressed quickly and left the room, while she slipped into her robe and climbed into bed.

  He returned in just a few minutes with a cup of hot tea, which he set on the bedside table. Then he plumped up her pillows and helped her to sit up with her back against the headboard.

  When he had her settled, he sat down on the side of the bed, then picked up the cup and saucer and handed them to her. "Here, try this. It's hot, but I don't think it will burn your mouth. It's more effective to treat a chill from the inside than the outside."

  Eve felt like a wayward child who needed to be taken care of, and she hated it. Gray had all the dependents he could handle; she didn't want to be added to the list. She wanted to take care of him, not the other way around.

  She lowered her gaze and drank the tea all in one gulp, then handed the cup and saucer back to him. "You're right, I do f
eel warmer now."

  He took the dishes and put them back on the night chest. "Good. Do you want to lie back down and cuddle up under the blankets, or—"

  Her heart jumped with joy. "Do you mean cuddle up with you?" The question was out before she could reel it back in.

  For a moment his expression brightened, and she was almost sure he was going to say yes, but then the glow faded and a look of sadness replaced it.

  "Not today, sweetheart," he said tenderly. "There are some things we need to know about each other first. Our feelings have been getting way out of hand."

  Again she felt the crushing blow of disappointment. "I know all I need to about you," she insisted. "What is it about me that's bothering you?"

  A small smile lifted the corners of his mouth. "I don't believe 'bothering' is the right word. Maybe 'concern' is better."

  He picked up one of her hands and held it. "Eve, I'm going to ask you a question, and I want a straight, no-nonsense answer. You mustn't lie to me or evade the issue. Understood?"

  She frowned. "I wouldn't ever lie to you, Gray. You should know that without asking."

  He squeezed her hand. "I do, but I had to ask. Please, don't be mad."

  She squeezed back. "You're forgiven. Now, what do you want to know?"

  He threaded the fingers of his other hand through her tangled curls. "Are you a virgin?"

  Chapter Nine

  Eve knew that she was looking right at Gray, but she didn't see him. She also knew her mouth was open, her jaw slack, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  Well, so much for her attempt at projecting the worldly, sophisticated, suave woman who would be all the things a man of Gray's age and experience expected in a lover. She couldn't lie to him. Not only had she promised not to, but she'd never be able to carry it off. All he had to do was get a little physical with her, and she soared all the way to the stars and back without even waiting for him.