by Chris Chegri
“I was teasing.” He pulled her even closer. “I want to be your best friend. I need you to talk to me, share your mind and body with me.” He wiped her cheeks and brushed his lips where her tears left a moist trail. “Trust me, and if you do, neither one of us will ever be sorry. I feel it in my heart.”
“Oh, Steve—” She clung to him, and he silenced her with a kiss.
Kelly welcomed him, her lips parting in eager acceptance. Delirious with love for the first time in her life, she wanted nothing more than to discard her clothes and wrap herself around this man. She wanted to give herself freely, without limits or reservations, a total consummation, an unrestricted commitment to the man she loved.
Steve’s mouth burned along her neck. Using his tongue to part the opening at the neckline of her blouse, he tugged at the top button with his teeth, his hands caught up in their own exploration.
He pulled away, examined the crude bench and the rough planks forming the floor of the dock. He whisked Kelly up into his strong arms and strode back up the dock, across the yard to the house.
The sight of Lacy, still curled in the middle of the hammock, snapped them both back to reality. Steve gently dropped Kelly to her feet, exchanging mother for daughter in his arms. They carried Lacy inside and tucked her into the bed in the guest room then they fell into Steve’s bed, a frenzied tangle of limbs.
Kelly giggled against his chest picturing him fussing over Lacy. She loved watching him with her daughter.
“You’re very special, Steve McCarthy. Impossible to resist.”
“You and Lacy are my girls.”
He rolled on top of her and, straddling her, unbuttoned her blouse. Pinned beneath him, Kelly lay still, scarcely breathing, a heady confusion enveloping her. Button by button, Steve exposed her to his hungry gaze, his eyelids lowered with lust, his eyes glazed over with love. He ran a finger along the upper line of her bra. Kelly’s breath quickened, and she pressed her flattened palm to the swelling inside his jeans, rubbing him with gentle strokes. He groaned and reached down, unzipping his jeans and releasing himself from the restrictive confinement of the fabric. Already moist, the sight and feel of him against her bare stomach was all Kelly needed for his eager entrance.
They shed the remainder of their clothes.
“Do you think we’ll ever do this slowly,” Kelly laughed.
“Slow, fast, upside down, hanging from the chandelier. We’ll do it every way we can until we can’t anymore.” His voice was muffled against her hair.
She couldn’t have denied him, though she did hesitate for a moment, pressing him back with her hands planted against his muscular chest. Their breathing was warm and ragged, swirling between them. The intensity in Steve’s green eyes was her signal to go, and nothing she said now could stop him.
“What about protection?” she whispered, hating to spoil the moment.
Steve lowered himself over her, the soft hair of his chest tickling her breast. He kissed her, a slow, lingering kiss.
“I want to marry you, Kelly. Not necessarily this minute, but someday. Neither of us is getting any younger, and I really want a boy.”
His grin was infectious. The smile Kelly returned radiated with love. “Then a boy you’ll have, Mr. McCarthy,” she murmured against his neck as he slid into her, and they became one.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Making love in the morning was even better than the night before, and like breakfast, he and Kelly went back for seconds. They showered, after which Steve set about cooking bacon and eggs for the three of them while Kelly and Lacy showered. Life was just about perfect for Steve. He was a healed man, and when Lacy and Kelly joined him for breakfast on the back porch he couldn’t have been happier.
“Lacy, don’t move, or you’ll spill your eggs all over Steve’s hammock.”
Lacy’s gaze stuck on Steve with adoration. “I want to sit next to Steve,” the six-year-old protested, eyeing her mother—where she sat beside Steve on the wrought iron swing—with jealousy. She had screamed with delight when she’d awakened in Steve’s guest room.
“All right,” Kelly conceded. “You can sit here if it’s all right with Steve.”
He winked at her. “Sure, Lacy. Come on over here. Your old mom takes up the whole swing anyway. I need some elbow room.”
“Old? You don’t have to overdo it.” Kelly laughed, helping Lacy with her plate.
Steve chuckled. “What are we going to do when you’re no longer Pearson, and we’re both McCarthy?”
“Hmm. Could be a problem.”
“I doubt it.”
Kelly’s skin took on a warm glow. She was even more beautiful when she was in love, Steve marveled, feeling as if he’d slipped on a pair of rose-colored glasses.
***
Kelly helped Lacy up beside Steve, her arm brushing his, triggering memories of last night in his arms. After loving one another all night, they’d swapped temporary vows and agreed to an August wedding. Kelly hoped Jill would be her Maid of Honor. For someone who’d been terrified of commitment, this new sense of completeness astounded her.
“Can I be McCarthy, too, Steve?” Lacy held her breath with expectation.
Kelly waited for Steve’s reaction.
“If you want. Three McCarthy’s sounds good.” He took a sip of coffee. “Four sounds even better. What do you think, Pearson?”
Kelly nodded and smiled at him, her heart filled with love and adoration. And trust.
Steve looked up from his eggs, his regard shifting to the neighbor’s back yard.
Kelly followed his gaze. Next door, a man left the shade of his screened-in patio and crossed the yard, stopping at the fence. He hung his head over into Steve’s yard.
“Hey Gary!” Steve called out glancing again at Kelly.
When Gary saw Steve, Kelly and Lacy his dull eyes lit with joy. “Steve!” He waved. “Hi, Steve! Hi Lacy!”
Steve hadn’t explained to her about Gary yet, and now that the time had come, he appeared worried, filling Kelly with guilt. Didn’t he know she would accept Gary and love Steve all the more for caring about him? She sighed. They had so much trust to rebuild, so many things to learn about one another, and she looked forward to every moment they would share together.
“That’s Gary Benson,” Steve said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Kelly offered him her warmest smile to reassure him. “I know.”
His face filled with surprise. “How do you know?”
“I saw you two coming out of the theater last night. Lacy told me about Gary’s funny eyes, but until last night I never understood what she meant.” She knew she sounded a little crazy. It was time to come clean about her past and the resulting hang-ups.
“I want to explain my bizarre behavior. It’s time I open up to you—start being honest right now.” She took a deep breath before confessing. “Your relationship with Gary made me jealous. I felt resentful of those times you chose him over me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but my ex-husband left me at home all the time, going out with the boys almost every night. If you’d explained sooner, maybe the incident with the police would never have happened.”
“You’re right. I should have told you in the beginning, but I wasn’t sure what your reaction would be.” He set down his plate. “Come on, I want you to meet Gary, but be prepared, he’ll probably get a big crush on you. Gary has excellent taste when it comes to beautiful woman.”
Kelly melted against him, and Steve encircled her waist with one arm. Together they crossed the yard.
“I love you, McCarthy,” he whispered against her hair.
“It’s a little soon for that.” She loved it anyway.
Gary smiled, his soft face glowing with affection for Steve. “Gary, this is Kelly, Lacy’s mom. The nice lady I told you about.”
“Hi, Kelly. Steve always gets pretty girls.”
“Always?” She raised an eyebrow at Steve.
“You’re the prettiest though,” Gary continued in his slow speech. “She looks li
ke Snow White, doesn’t she, Steve?”
Steve nodded.
“We went to see Snow White, didn’t we, Steve?” Gary spotted Lacy ambling across the yard toward them and hollered, “Hi. Lacy!”
Lacy broke into a run, landing in Steve’s arms, her skinny legs wrapping around his waist. “Hi, Gary.”
“Do you want to go fishing today, Steve?” Gary asked with a hopeful gleam lighting his eyes.
Steve set Lacy down and took Kelly by the arm, turning her around to face him. “I love you, Kelly, but it’s important you understand how much I mean to Gary, and how much he’s come to mean to me. I can’t ever let him down. This is sort of a package deal.”
”You’re such a jerk, McCarthy. I’m not exactly solo myself, or hadn’t you noticed?” She nodded at Lacy. “I’m game if you are.”
“Yeah, Steve,” Lacy wiggled between them. “Me and Gary want to go fishing.”
Steve pulled Kelly closer and dropped a kiss on the end of her nose. “I think we might have our hands full with these two.”
Kelly snuggled closer. “And to think we may have started a boy last night,” she whispered. Steve nuzzled her neck and nodded to Lacy then Gary. “So, are you up to fishing, Pearson?”
Kelly stifled a laugh. “I’ll give it my best shot.” She grinned, dropping one hand to her stomach, wondering.
Gary and Lacy jumped up and down, impatient for an answer.
“Please, please,” Lacy begged.
“Okay, okay. We’ll go fishing,” Steve gave Kelly a teasing glance. “But only if Gary will teach Kelly how to cast.”
About The Author
Married more than once, Chris Chegri knows romance. Keeping the marriage going has been the challenge, so she decided to express her romanticism through writing rather than dating. Her passion for humor, travel and foreign cultures has led her to work on a time travel set in Morocco and an East Texas crime novel, both of them humorous. A past member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America, she mentors several new writers. She lives in Arizona with her current love–her pet cockatoo, Star.
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