He wasn’t in the mood to talk to his mother. He’d had a particularly rough morning in court defending a man who’d been accused of stealing from his business partner. And once the lunch recess was over, he was facing an even rougher afternoon with a hostile witness. For the first time he could ever remember, he honestly wasn’t looking forward to the courtroom sparring between lawyers and judge. He’d rather be home with Sierra and the baby.
“Hello, Mom.”
“Hi, honey. I hope I’m not interrupting. Pauline said you had a minute or two.”
Alex couldn’t deny his mother was a lovely woman. At fifty, Emily Calloway’s face was nearly line free, her reddish-brown hair threaded with only a handful of gray and her figure trim and fit. On the inside, she was equally pretty, and since Alex had grown up and moved away, she’d spent most of her time trying to help the less fortunate people of Dallas.
His father, Dave Calloway, was a successful businessman and had made a fortune in the construction business in and around the Forth Worth-Dallas area. He was a gentle, good-hearted man who’d worked hard to see that his wife had anything she needed, along with his son.
His son. But he wasn’t actually Dave Calloway’s son. Alex’s real father was out there someplace, a man whom he would never see, but someone whose genes and blood ran through his body.
“Alex? Are you there? Hello?”
Shaking his head, Alex pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to concentrate on his mother’s voice. “Yeah. Sorry, Mom. I—I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“Your work?”
Not exactly, he thought. His work was always unpredictable and stressful. He was accustomed to the chaotic schedule. Frankly, he was worried about himself, about Sierra and, last but not least, little Bowie. Spending more time with her and the baby had seemed like the logical thing to do. He wanted to be with them. But he’d not expected staying under the same roof with a woman and a baby would have such an impact on him. He’d not expected to feel so happy, so peaceful and settled. That wasn’t like him at all, and it scared the hell out of him to think that it was all going to end.
But Alex didn’t want to share any of those thoughts with his mother. It was all too fresh, too personal to pour out to anyone.
“Uh—yeah,” he answered. “Tough trial. But it’s nothing to worry about.”
“Well, I won’t keep you long, Alex. I was just wondering when you might be driving up to Dallas? We haven’t seen you in a long time and your dad’s birthday is at the end of the month. We’d love to have you with us for the celebration.”
Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Alex swallowed at the wad of emotions trying to collect in his throat. Damn it, the two people he’d loved so much, whom he’d trusted with all his heart and soul, had lied to him. Over the years, he’d tried to forget and forgive them for the deceit. And he had forgiven them. His parents loved him; he couldn’t doubt that. But the two of them had never realized what their deception had done to him or how it constantly guided his decisions.
“I’d love to be with you, too. But I don’t think I’ll be able to make a hole in my schedule. I’ll have Pauline to see what’s lined up for that date, though,” he added, to soften her disappointment.
“Oh.”
He could hear her sigh and it made him feel awful. Hell, being around Sierra was making him soft; as soft as a pat of warm butter.
“Well, it’s good that your business has picked up that much. Maybe Dad and I could drive down to San Antonio. That way you wouldn’t have to do anything except put up with us for a night or two.”
Oh Lord. He might as well spit out the truth. “Uh—Mom. I don’t—I’m not always living at my apartment.”
“Whaaat? What’s happened?”
Five foot three inches of sugar and spice, Alex thought. Aloud, he said, “Nothing. I still have the apartment. I’m just—spending a lot of time with someone else now.”
“A woman.”
He could hear the excitement rattling her voice.
“Naturally.”
Emily chuckled. “Naturally? You’ve never mentioned staying overnight with a woman before. What does this mean?”
Of course she’d have to ask, he thought wryly. And how did she expect him to answer when he had no idea what it meant? Except that he was crazy about Sierra. And Bowie, too.
“Don’t start jumping the gun, Mom. We’re taking things slowly.” Yeah, right. He’d gone from being her friend to her lover all in the matter of one night. That was a real snail’s pace.
“Well, this is wonderful news, son. Maybe I can finally look forward to some grandchildren,” she said with another suggestive chuckle.
Alex wasn’t about to give his mother a hint about Bowie. She’d be on a plane tomorrow to see him. “Mom, I really have to go. I’ve got to be back in court in twenty minutes and I haven’t finished my lunch yet.” He paused, pinched the bridge of his nose, then added, “And as for Dad’s birthday, I’ll try to make it up there somehow.”
“Wonderful, son! I love you. Bye now.”
“I love you, too, Mom.”
Alex tossed the receiver onto the hook and let out a weary sigh. What in hell was happening to him? It wasn’t like him to cave in to someone else’s wants and wishes. He normally put his own needs first. After all, who was going to take care of him if he didn’t? But the whole time his mother had been speaking, he’d been thinking how disappointed Sierra would be with him if he didn’t make an effort to observe his father’s birthday.
Raking both hands through his brown hair, he stared blankly at the view of the street beyond the windows. Did he love Sierra? he wondered. Did he want to marry her? The questions sent something like panic rushing through him, but like a witness facing a judge, he had to at least try to answer honestly.
And the truth was, he couldn’t imagine not having Sierra in his life. He’d known her since he was nineteen years old and through the years he’d never let their relationship drift apart. Even though she drove him batty with frustration at times, he’d always wanted her company. Maybe something had always been trying to tell him that she was supposed to be his woman.
But Alex had never been good with the idea of loving a woman. Hell, he even had trouble keeping a real, true friend around for more than a year or two. Oh, there were Trey, Mario and Gayle, but they were just people to laugh and have a beer with once a week. Sierra was the only one of the bunch he’d ever hung out with outside their lunch meeting.
Sierra. Sierra. Always Sierra.
“Alex! Have you seen a UFO? You’re in a trance!”
The sound of Pauline’s harsh scolding jerked Alex out of his thoughts and caused him to outwardly flinch as though a bomb had gone off in the outer office.
“Pauline, damn it, I’ve got trial in—” he paused long enough to glance down at his wrist “—ten minutes!”
Jumping up from the desk chair, he grabbed his notes, stuffed them into a black leather briefcase and adjusted his tie. “I’ve gotta get going.”
Leaving the desk, he jogged toward the door with Pauline racing right on his heels. “Alex, I’m making you a doctor’s appointment!” she exclaimed. “You’re sick. You’re not yourself!”
With Pauline yelling after him, Alex hurried around the building to his SUV. As he started the vehicle and headed down the street to the courthouse, he wondered if his secretary was right. Maybe he was sick. Lovesick. Maybe that’s the reason he couldn’t get Sierra out of his mind for more than five minutes at a time. Or why every night he couldn’t wait to get home to make love with her.
No. God help him, no. He couldn’t be in love. He didn’t want to feel that close to a woman. If he did, he’d have to start trusting her. He’d have to believe that she would always be honest with him and he wasn’t at all sure that he could ever do that again.
Sierra hummed along to a song on the radio as she set plates onto the table and stirred jambalaya on the gas range. Outside the kitchen, rain poured from the roof of
the porch and splashed onto her boxes of tomato plants.
Darkness had fallen a few short minutes ago and she knew Alex would be arriving home soon. The knowledge filled her heart with joy and she realized that each day she spent with him was more precious than the last.
“Mmm. Mmm. Something smells good.”
As Alex entered the warm kitchen, he spotted Sierra stirring a pot on the range. A pair of worn blue jeans fit snugly against her pert little bottom and shapely legs. A halter made of red bandana material was tied against her smooth brown back and the sexy sight of her was enough to push away his mental fatigue.
With the sound of the rain masking his footsteps, Alex came up behind her and slipped his hands around her bare waist.
Squealing, she whirled around and the second she realized it was him, the shock on her face turned to a happy smile.
Rising on her tiptoes, she reached to hug him. “Hello, Counselor,” she said.
Having Sierra back in his arms was like a long cool drink after a broiling hot day. He bent his head and murmured against her ear. “Hello, yourself. Did you miss me?”
“Terribly,” she teased. “I cried all day.”
He gave her bottom a playful little pinch, then before she realized his intentions, he stooped down and scooped her up in his arms.
Her gasp of surprise was smothered beneath the hungry kiss he planted on her lips.
“Where’s Bowie?” he finally whispered.
She pointed toward the living room. “In his bassinet. Asleep. Why?”
The half grin on his face was wicked and tempting, the glint in his eyes making all sorts of delicious promises and Sierra’s heart began to chug with heavy, rapid beats.
“Because I can’t wait to make love with you. Turn off the stove. We’ll eat later,” he ordered huskily.
Since they were already standing close to the range, Sierra reached down and switched off the burner beneath the jambalaya. As soon as that was done, Alex carried her to the bedroom and left the door open so they could hear Bowie, just in case he cried.
Shadows darkened the bed and the rain had left the room cooler than normal. Alex placed Sierra in the middle of the mattress, then starting with his loosened tie began to shed his clothing.
Sierra watched him for a few moments until he reached to pull down his trousers and by then she was aching for him so badly she hurried to remove her own clothing.
“Oh, darling,” she whispered as he lowered himself down next to her. “Hurry! I can’t wait.”
Spurred by her pleas, he covered her lips with his and plunged his manhood deep within her. The sudden sensation of being inside her tight, moist folds rocked him like an explosion and his head fell back as a rough groan rumbled up from his chest.
Somewhere in his heated daze, he felt her legs wind around his, her hands clasp his hips. He began to thrust fiercely as the need to possess her, to become a part of her, overrode everything.
Sierra matched the rhythm of his body and soon their skin became slick with sweat, their breathing raspy and uneven. His lips clung to hers as he pushed his tongue past her teeth and tasted the sweet, intimate cavity of her mouth.
Sliding one hand beneath her back, he lifted her slightly from the mattress so that her breasts would touch his chest, her tight nipples would tease his skin. She moaned and slid her hands upward so that she could hold on and keep the contact of their upper bodies.
Outside, rain continued to drum on the roof and, like the rain, Alex wished he could go on and on, making love with Sierra until his mind was blank, his heart content.
But the richness of her body was almost too much for him to bear and before long he felt the pressure in his loins building, building until he couldn’t hold back his release. With a guttural cry, he grabbed her buttocks and lifted her even closer.
Like a vortex of whipping winds, he felt the room around them begin to whirl, the breath being sucked from his lungs. He heard her desperate cries and knew that he could wait no longer.
Burying his face in the side of her neck, he felt the very essence of him pour into her body.
Afterward he rolled away and tried to quickly fill his empty lungs. Inches away, Sierra waited until her own breathing had calmed before she turned on her side to face him.
“Are you all right?” she asked quietly.
He didn’t answer immediately and she passed a hand over his damp chest. The soft hair curled around her fingers and she pulled it gently as she waited for his response.
“Sure. Why do you ask?”
A worried groove appeared between her brows. “I don’t know. You just seem—a little desperate tonight.”
Funny that she should use that word, Alex thought. Because that was exactly how he was feeling: fraught, anxious and desperate to have her.
“I’m okay, Sierra. Don’t worry about me.”
Rolling closer, she snuggled her cheek upon his chest. “You’re not feeling ill, are you?”
He stroked her back and savored the velvet smoothness of her skin. “No. But Pauline thinks I’m sick. I didn’t tell her that making love with you every night is wearing me down.”
She studied him for long moments as she waited for him to say more. When he didn’t, she decided to tell him about the letter she’d received from Mrs. Rollins.
“That’s good,” Alex said once she was finished. “At least now you know the Rollinses won’t be yelling for custody anytime soon.”
Hopefully they would never yell to get custody of Bowie, Sierra thought. But she didn’t say more on the subject. Right now she was more concerned with Alex’s melancholy mood.
She trailed her fingers along his damp abs and up along his rib cage. “Hmm, tomorrow night when you come in, I’m sending you straight to the recliner and I’ll carry your supper to you.”
A soft chuckle shook his chest. “Sounds like you’re going to try to spoil me.”
“You’re worth it,” she said gently. Then, lifting her head, she began to press slow, moist kisses over his shoulder and up the side of his neck.
With a groan, he reached for her and wrapped her body next to his. “Baby, baby. The things you do to me.”
Her lips reached his jaw and she paused long enough to slide her tongue against the faint stubble of his beard. “Well, we could get up and eat jambalaya.”
Turning his face into hers, he whispered against her lips, “The jambalaya can wait.”
The next morning, Sierra drove to San Antonio to shop at Babies Unlimited, a boutique on the river walk that sold everything from clothing and diaper pins, to baby beds and infant swings.
For the past week, she’d been slowly attempting to transform the bedroom next to hers into a nursery. She’d papered the walls with a clown print, dressed the windows with blue-and-white checked curtains and used the same material to skirt the bassinet. All she lacked now to make it usable was a baby bed and she wanted the crib to be a special one.
After the rainstorm that had swept through the night before, the morning had turned clear and gorgeous. Hot sunshine beat down on her arms and neck as she slowly pushed Bowie along the water’s edge in his new stroller.
“Sierra! Sierra, is that you?”
Hearing the female voice some distance behind her, Sierra stopped to look and was surprised to see her sister Gloria waving at her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she sauntered gracefully up to Sierra.
As usual, Gloria was dressed adorably in a snappy green spring suit and her makeup was as perfect as her hair. Compared to her older sister, Sierra felt dowdy in her casual jeans and ponytail. But Alex thought she was beautiful. At least he told her she was and that was all that Sierra needed.
“I’m going to Babies Unlimited. What are you doing?” She glanced at her wristwatch. “Why aren’t you at work?”
Gloria’s nose crinkled playfully. “I am at work. But I had an assistant take over for a few minutes. I wanted to see what sort of nursery furniture Babies Unlimited ha
d to offer. Can you believe the two of us had the same idea this morning?”
Her sister rounded the stroller and squatted down to Bowie’s level. “Aw, Sierra, he’s getting more precious every day.” She picked up his tiny hand and kissed it. “He’s really going to be a handsome guy.”
Sierra’s heart swelled with love and pride. “I think so.”
Rising back to her full height, Gloria motioned toward an empty park bench that was shaded by the drooping limbs of a nearby willow. “Let’s sit down a minute,” she suggested. “Before we walk on to the boutique.”
Sierra followed her sister and once they were settled on the bench, Gloria reached for her hand and squeezed it. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately, sis. How are things going? Has having Bowie around helped you to get Chad out of your system?”
Sierra very nearly laughed. If only Gloria could see how her life had changed since Alex had been spending some of his nights with her. For the first time, she felt like a woman, she felt important to someone.
“Chad Newbern is just a wisp of a memory. I’m doing—great. Really great,” she added with a smile.
“That must be true,” Gloria said as she inspected Sierra’s glowing face. “You must be sleeping better these days.”
Once again, Sierra felt a laugh bubble up in her throat. What would her sister think if she told her about the wickedly delicious nights she’d been spending in Alex’s arms? Sleep had been the last thing on her mind.
“Oh, much better. I can’t understand it, but it’s been days since I’ve had to get up and drink a cup of warm milk or read a book,” she said as normally as she could.
“That’s good to hear. It must be the baby,” she reasoned. “I don’t have to ask. I can see how much you love Bowie. And that’s what I’ve been thinking about—wondering what you plan to do about him.”
Sierra frowned. “Right now, he’s my foster child.”
Gloria nodded with concern. “Yes. But is that enough for you? What if social services wants to place him elsewhere?”
“They could. But I don’t see any reason for them to do that.”
“You’re a single mother,” Gloria reasoned. “They might find a regular family to take him.”
Fortune's Heirs: Reunion Page 46