“I would have put odds against it.”
“Hey, cut him some slack,” protested Paige’s boyfriend Zach from the other side of her. “Not all of us are GQ ready.”
“And that’s fine with me,” Paige murmured. Zach reached out to put his arm around her shoulders and give her a squeeze. As low key as Kev, Zach had shown up in linen, his charcoal blue shirt buttoned up to the top.
As to Kev, his suit was the only thing about him that was casual—he shifted on the balls of his feet, bounced one fist against his open hand, turned his gaze from point to point. Next to him, Sabrina’s husband, Stef, leaned over to offer encouragement.
Or maybe a joke, Thea thought when Kev broke into laughter.
Then the harpist began to play and they all stood and looked back to the head of the aisle, where Kelly had appeared in a gorgeous ivory empire gown.
“Okay, I admit it, I’m a sucker for weddings,” Cilla whispered, sniffing. Next to her, her husband, Rand, passed her a packet of Kleenex. And Cilla gave him a bashful, grateful look.
It was being at the wedding, Thea told herself, blinking. Because surely she wouldn’t cry at the sight of Cilla’s husband handing over a tissue. Except it wasn’t the tissue, it was the thoughtfulness, the fact that he’d known to bring one and offered it before she’d asked.
And suddenly Thea understood it, the special glow that surrounded her friends and their men. Not just love, she realized, but connection. Not just passion but comfort, ease. Men who wouldn’t just give them hot-eyed looks from across the room but would take time for the small things. Take time to take care.
Thea looked toward the aisle where Kelly was passing, seeing it everywhere along the row. Cilla and Rand, now holding hands. Trish, standing against her live-in lover, Ty, who no longer seemed like a movie star but just like a man who made her girlfriend happy. Sabrina watching her husband, Stef, up at the altar with Kev. Paige and Zach behind her, still unofficial but so clearly a unit that it wasn’t hard to see where things would go.
They’d all found it. And as Thea saw Kelly and Kev link hands at the altar, joy seemed to permeate the air, as though the world were somehow golden in this moment. Love. Trish had talked about bottling it. Thea had long wondered if it really existed. But now, watching, she understood that it really was what made everything worthwhile. For the first time in her life, she really believed it.
And as Kelly glowed into wife, Kev grew into husband and three became one, Thea never noticed the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
SHE STOOD IN BAGGAGE CLAIM a bit after midnight, waiting for her garment bag to appear. This was what you got when you took the final flight out and arrived at the last minute. It had been too hard to leave.
And who knew, maybe her bag hadn’t.
Most of the other passengers on her flight were gone, the area was deserted. Thea was starting to seriously wonder if she’d won the lost luggage lottery. One or two hardy souls were still waiting with her, though, so she held out hope.
She sighed, and then recognized her bag as it slid from the top of the ramp to meet her.
“Hallelujah,” she muttered and went to reach for it.
“Excuse me, miss, I believe that’s my bag,” a voice said from behind her. A very familiar voice that she recognized down to the marrow in her bones.
And she turned to see Brady.
She’d have sworn later that there had been some kind of a rent in the space-time continuum, that there was no way she could have seen him and been pressed up against him in the same instant. She didn’t remember moving, she didn’t remember conscious choice. One minute she was staring at the carousel and the next she had her face buried in his neck, and some part of her relaxed, finally. She could finally breathe. In some indefinable way, things meshed again in her world.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, even as she squeezed him. “It’s late. I could have taken the shuttle.” It seemed like aeons since she’d held him, aeons since she’d been held. His body against hers was a hard reality.
“I wanted to see you,” Brady murmured. “Oh man, you feel so good.” He tightened his arms around her.
His lips on hers were both familiar and new. It seemed impossible that she should need to relearn him after such a short absence. And yet, the pleasure was fresh, more vivid, perhaps, after the separation, the longing. He was here.
And that quickly, comfort morphed into heat. Suddenly, holding him, being held wasn’t enough. Not nearly. When their mouths met, she could have sworn she felt his sear into her as though he were putting his brand on her, once again. His mouth was hard, impatient, ravaging hers in a way he never had before.
And it was intoxicating.
Without realizing it, Thea found her fingers clenched in his hair as he ran his hands down her, hard and proprietary. Delicious. Exquisite.
And probably not the best idea in the world.
Breaking away from him, she shook her head. “Time to get a grip here.”
His eyes gleamed. “Good thinking.”
“No. I mean, we’re in public.”
He snorted. “Who’s watching, your bag? There’s no one here.” As if in agreement with him, the baggage carousel shut down. “Come on, let’s go before I decide to take advantage of the quiet.”
The walk across to the parking garage seemed to take forever. The minute the elevator doors closed, Brady pressed her back against the wall. In the dim intimacy of the car, she felt only him. And all the stored up heat began to flow.
“Do you know how much it drove me crazy not having you this weekend,” he muttered against her skin. His lips were hot with desperation, as though he’d devour her. His hands were on her, squeezing her ass, covering her breasts, tormenting the nipples. And oh, she couldn’t get enough air, she was gasping because it was so hot, so arousing, so damned desperate, the way she’d always dreamed of being wanted.
With a ding, the elevator stopped. The doors opened on Brady’s soft oath.
“Come on,” he muttered, taking long-legged strides into the silent garage, almost dragging her in his urgency. Thea’s pulse roared in her ears as they wove their way through the rows of cars until the hood of his Jeep appeared before them. She turned for the passenger side but she didn’t get far. Brady spun her around, pressed her back against the hood of the Jeep, fusing his mouth to hers as though she were his source of oxygen.
Lust exploded through her. She could feel the front bumper behind her calves. She could feel how wet she was as he ran his hand up under her skirt, she could feel how hard he was.
“I want you inside me,” she whispered.
“Not until you come.” And then he was dropping to his knees before her to take her with his mouth, pulling aside the barrier of lace and satin, taking her up so fast she was dizzy with it, until she could only lie back against the still-warm metal of the hood and close her eyes to let the sensation flow through her. And as though the time apart had stored it up, she felt the arousal grow and burn and intensify until it burst through her, leaving her to shudder out her climax.
He was rising, turning her around almost before she’d finished. She felt his warm hands parting her thighs, eager fingers sliding up her skirt and then he was thrusting himself up inside her so hard and so strong that it was all she could do not to cry out.
This, yes, this. It didn’t matter if it didn’t make her come. Orgasm was irrelevant next to this hard, driving reality, this utter saturation of intensity, this sense of being coupled to some raging force. This sense of being coupled to his pleasure. Thea leaned over the hood and Brady covered her with his body, his arms stretching along hers to clasp her hands, their fingers intertwining.
And to Brady it seemed like forever, it seemed like an instant, it seemed like everything. And it seemed like his world in that moment was perfect and complete and sane as he stroked once, twice, three times to explode in an orgasm that felt like it burst from his very bones.
“Welcome home,” he whispered
against her neck, and knew that his home was in her.
“WE WERE LUCKY we didn’t get arrested,” Thea said back at Robyn’s. The lamp on the dresser cast a warm, soft glow over the guest room that she’d made her own.
“Sweetheart, it would have been worth it.” Brady kicked off his shoes and pulled off his shirt.
“Do you think they caught us on camera?”
He considered. “Probably. I’m betting we made some poor security schlep’s night.”
“Mmm. You made my night.” She flowed up against him. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
“My pleasure entirely.”
“Or thanks for getting me to come.”
He kissed her. “My pleasure entirely.”
“Oh, I think it was mine, a little, too.”
“So you never told me how the wedding was.” Brady flopped down on his side on the bed and watched her undress.
“Oh.” The smile spread across Thea’s face as she slipped out of her skirt. “It was great. Kelly looked beautiful and Kev—that’s her husband—was ready to just eat her up. They looked so happy.” She yawned and tossed her shirt on the laundry basket. “They’re going to be great together.”
“And they’ve got a kid on the way?”
“Yeah. I’m going to be an aunt, or maybe a fairy godmother, I’m not sure.” She reached back to unfasten her bra and let it slip down her shoulders.
Brady wasn’t a poetic type, but there was something about watching her undress that was almost lyrical, some symmetry of form and motion, as though the poetry of dance that she’d studied her entire life stayed with her even now. He watched her in the soft light, the smooth length of her arms, the fragile-seeming wrists, the slight curves that always seemed to feel so lush when he had his hands on them. She was beautiful, though she never seemed to realize it. Most women would have slathered themselves in cosmetics, worked it to its utmost. Thea seemed to be comfortable with who she was.
He loved her.
And he didn’t see how he could ever stop.
He sat up as she reached for her robe. “Wait.”
“What?” She looked inquiringly back at him.
“Come over here.”
Her eyes widened. “So soon?”
He shook his head and patted the sheet. “Sit.”
Half amused, half puzzled, Thea obeyed, perching on the edge of the bed before him. Across the room, the mirror on the bureau reflected the two of them side by side. Together.
Brady reached out for the long, woven tail of her hair, curling his hands loosely around it, absorbing the feel.
Thea glanced over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Shh. Look forward.” He took the end of her braid and wrapped it around his hand. “You never wear it down, do you? It’s always in a ponytail or a clip or braided. Why is that?”
“It’s a hassle. It gets in the way.”
“You could cut it shorter.”
She moved her shoulders. “I did for a while but it didn’t feel right. I don’t know, I like it long.”
He leaned in to press a kiss on the nape of her neck. “I like it long, too.”
The skin was so soft here, so tenderly girlish. He touched it with the tip of his tongue and he felt her shiver. Sliding the cloth band off of the bottom of her braid, he slowly began to tease apart the cable of hair, feeling the softness, the spring. “Incredible,” he murmured. “There’s so much of it.”
When she started to speak, he shushed her. Gently, almost reverently, he spread the thick mass of it, draping it so that it looked like a dark cloud around her shoulders in the lamp-glow, watching her in the mirror across the room. Their eyes met in the looking glass. Something shifted within him then, something that had been put in motion when he’d found himself without her, when he’d felt her against him, hell, maybe even the first time he’d laid eyes on her.
“Look how beautiful you are,” he whispered, staring. “I can’t get enough of you.” He pressed his lips to her shoulder. So soft, so smooth, so lovely.
His love.
And Thea felt beautiful, for perhaps the first time ever. She felt gorgeous, she felt treasured.
She felt loved, as though that same golden feeling of the wedding had come with her. And for this time, this precious time, she let herself glory in it.
It was a night for magic and they found it in each other. A gentle breeze of evening cool stirred the sheers at the windows, bringing in the midnight song of crickets. Where they had come together in heat and urgency, they now joined in gentleness. Hard caresses gave way to the soft smoothing of hand over skin. It wasn’t about the destination; it was about the journey. They had all the time in the world.
There were moments in life that you knew, even as they were happening, you’d remember forever. When they lay down beside each other, Thea wanted to weep at the pleasure of his naked body against hers. Instead of the flame of passion, theirs was a luminescent warmth, emotion rendered as desire. And somehow the known became fresh, with endless nuances even as they touched one another in all the familiar ways. Hand on breast, body against body. He touched, she shivered. She pressed, he groaned.
And when they found pleasure, it ran through them both as though they were connected. His pleasure matched her own, enhanced her own. His body tightened, but she was the one who trembled. She moaned at the wet slide of his fingers and his were the eyes that darkened almost to black with arousal. Release, when it came, flowed from one of them to the other.
And when they spiraled down into sleep, they did it as one.
13
THE LAST CLASS OF the night was a memory when the telephone rang. Thea sat at Robyn’s desk in the studio office, working on the choreography for the theater opening. Making a face, she lifted the receiver. “Rose City Ballroom,” she said automatically.
“G’day, Sheila.”
“Robyn! How are you? How’s ’Strailya?”
“Fabulous,” Robyn said dreamily. “Tall and blond with these great smiles and pecs like you wouldn’t be—”
“I was asking about the country,” Thea said, fighting a smile.
“And I’m giving you the highlights.”
Thea set down her pen. “I take it you’ve been spreading goodwill among the locals?”
“Oh, I’m the goodwill princess. I’ve got so much goodwill, I make Miss Universe look like a piker.”
“No kidding. Boxed any kangaroos yet?”
“No, but I’ve gone a few rounds with some other lads,” Robyn said. “And dived the Great Barrier Reef.”
“Ayers Rock?”
“Big,” she said. “Red. Had dinner with a redhead the other night, by the way…”
“Wait a minute, are you on the outdoor tour of Australia or the sex tour?”
“I have to pick?” she huffed.
Thea grinned. “I’m glad you’re having such a good time.”
“Me too, although I can’t believe that I have to come home in a week. Where did all the days go?”
“It’s all those orgasms. They screw up your time sense.”
“I’ll say. So how’s everything?”
Thea leaned back in Robyn’s desk chair and turned it around to look at the lights glimmering outside. “Oh Robyn, it’s amazing. I’m dancing and teaching all day and I love it. I’m having the best time.”
“You sound happy, hon. Really happy.”
“I am. I had no idea how truly wonderful this would be.”
“That’s great. You know,” she said, her voice elaborately casual, “if you wanted to, you could make it permanent. I couldn’t offer you full-time work or anything, but…”
The offer was surprisingly tempting. “I live in L.A.,” Thea reminded herself as much as Robyn.
“I know. Dumb question. It was just a thought.”
“I can stay until you find a new part-time instructor, though. No rush there.”
“Oh, you say that now. Wait until the Portland mist starts to fall.”
&n
bsp; Thea laughed. “You people can’t scare me with that.”
“So how’s the theater project going? Everything okay? You taking care of the McMillans?”
She couldn’t prevent the satisfied little chuckle. “Oh, I’m taking care of the McMillans.”
There was a pause. “Taking care or taking care?” Robyn asked.
“Taking care,” Thea said smugly.
“Oh, no,” Robyn squealed. “You’re sleeping with him.” She paused. “Aren’t you?”
Thea leaned her head back. “Yes.”
“No wonder you sound so happy. Good sex does that for you, and I’m betting the Love God is even better than the Aussies.”
“He’s rocked my world,” Thea said.
“So how long?” she demanded.
Thea thought about it. “Week before last,” she said, surprised. “Wow. It seems like longer.”
“It’s all those orgasms,” Robyn said dryly. “They screw up your time sense.”
“I guess.”
“And the theater?”
“I’m working on the choreography for the opening right now. Everything’s under control,” Thea assured her. “Don’t worry.”
“I always worry.”
“Hey. Vacation, babe? That means no work, no business, no worries. The studio is cool.”
“For now.”
“Everything’s going to be fine.”
“Sure. And I’ll win the lottery. Or hell, you and Brady’ll get serious, and you’ll move to Portland and we’ll become partners. Perfect.”
Perfect, Thea thought. She lived in L.A., she thought again. “Things will work out somehow.”
“I know. And I know it’s getting late there, so I should let you go. Don’t forget, my return flight info is stuck on the refrigerator. You still going to be able to come get me?”
“I wouldn’t miss it. Oh, hey, by the way, I am going to have to be gone a couple of days after you come back. My mom’s going in for some surgery so I’m going down to be there.”
“Nothing bad, I hope.”
Outside of having to see her father? “It’s a single bypass. They’re pretty routine these days.”
“You aren’t looking forward to it, are you?” asked Robyn, who knew a thing or two about Thea’s family.
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