It felt wonderful to be able to talk to her father again—the father Tierney had known as a little girl. It felt wonderful to know that he had her cell phone number and was only a text message or phone call away. And as he smiled and nodded at her, she sighed, for she knew he would call—soon.
❦
“So your dad’s going to be around, huh?” Rome asked almost tentatively as he and Tierney slow danced to Ella Fitzgerald’s version of “Laura.” “How much of your time will he be expecting?”
Tierney smiled up at her handsome, handsome, oh-so-handsome Latin lover boyfriend. “Why?” she asked. “Are you worried that my time with my father will interfere with our time together? Our time together, which so far this week has consisted of the very few hours you haven’t been plowing?”
Rome smiled and exhaled a heavy sigh. “Okay…maybe I am a little worried. I’m man enough to admit that I don’t want to share you with anybody, not even your brother, let alone your dad.”
“You’re always my top priority, Romeo Novak,” Tierney giggled. “You know that.”
“Only because I follow you around like a lovesick puppy,” Rome flirted. “And, boy oh boy, am I lovesick over you, baby.”
Tierney bit her lip with delight, and Rome smiled, feeling warm and passionate all over. He couldn’t believe Alec had chosen Christmas Eve to propose to Celeste! As happy as he was for his sister—not to mention his best friend—he hated that he’d instantly felt obligated to wait to propose to Tierney. After all, he’d been planning to propose to her on Christmas Eve ever since Thanksgiving! But he wanted Celeste to have her moment—and Alec. So when Celeste had suddenly burst into tears while she and Alec were dancing earlier that evening—when she’d thrown her arms around Alec next and squealed, “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you, Alec O’Brien!”—Rome had decided to leave the diamond engagement ring in his pocket instead of asking Tierney to marry him that night the way he’d been planning. After all, not only did he want Celeste to have her moment, but also he wanted Tierney to have hers.
And so, as much as it frustrated Rome to do so, he hadn’t proposed to Tierney. But it didn’t mean it wasn’t the most awesome Christmas Eve he’d ever known. It still was—because Tierney was in his arms.
“You don’t know what lovesick is,” Tierney flirted with Rome in return. “I’m the one who’s lovesick. I’m the one who is in love with you.”
Rome grinned with satisfaction. “Only because I’m Latin and can fulfill all your classic Latin lover fantasies.” Tierney giggled, and he continued, “At least I’m in love with you for a good reason.”
“And what reason might that be?” she asked, delighted, as she was every time Rome said he loved her, no matter how he said it.
“Because you look good in this sexy little black dress you’re wearing,” he teased.
Tierney smiled, relishing his flirting. Then she remembered the stockings Celeste had given her and said, “Oh! And did you notice the stockings your sister found for me?”
Rome’s brows puckered. He glanced down at her legs and asked, “What’s so great about them? Other than the dead-sexy legs that are wearing them?”
Tierney giggled, “They have seams, silly boy!” she explained. Pausing their dance, she twisted one foot so Rome could see the vintage-style stocking seams running up the back of her calves. “I mean, do you know how hard it is to get these seams straight? Then you have to fasten the tops to the garter belt and—”
“Garter belt?” Rome interrupted.
Tierney looked up to seem him almost glaring down at her.
“Well…well, yeah,” she stammered. “They’re just like real vintage stockings, Rome—seams up the back, thigh high so that you have to wear a garter belt to—”
“Holy cow, Tierney!” Rome exclaimed in a whisper then. “Don’t tell me things like that! Not on Christmas Eve when I was planning to…and then I couldn’t…and then you show up wearing that dress and tell me your stockings have seams and hook up to a garter belt!”
Tierney was confused, for Rome seemed sincerely rattled. He stepped back from her as the music ended, raked a hand back through his hair, and then reached up to loosen the knot in his tie.
“So…so you don’t like the seams in my stockings?” she ventured. “I don’t understand why you—”
“Dammit, Tierney!” Rome grumbled, raking his hand through his hair again. “Just stop talking about it, okay? You don’t understand.”
“O-okay, Rome,” Tierney mumbled. “Okay. I’m sorry I ever mentioned it.”
Rome exhaled a heavy sigh, casting his gaze to the floor then. Shaking his head, he laughed almost nervously and said, “Oh, great…oh, great. Of course you’re wearing black pumps too.” He sounded almost angry.
Tierney looked down to her simple black pumps. “You…you know what pumps are?”
In a lowered voice, and with a frustrated frown still furrowing his brow, Rome leaned closer to her and nearly growled, “Of course I know what pumps are, Tierney. I’m a guy, aren’t I?”
Tierney was more confused than ever, but if there were one thing she didn’t want, it was for Rome to be unhappy with her on Christmas Eve. After all, with Alec having proposed to Celeste and the beauty of the Novak home all drenched in white lights, poinsettias, holly, and pinecones, she’d never thought anything could go wrong.
“Rome…I’m sorry,” she began. “I-I don’t understand. I thought you liked my dress and…the stockings…”
“Oh my hell, Tierney,” Rome growled. Taking hold of her hand, he began pulling her from the now enclosed patio where a few of the Novak guests still lingered in dancing and into the house itself.
“Rome! What’s wrong? I don’t understand,” Tierney asked as tears filled her eyes.
“Of course you don’t, baby,” he grumbled. “Because you’re a girl.”
Before she knew it, Rome had pulled her into what had once been his bedroom but now served as an extra bedroom for guests. Closing the door behind them, Tierney gasped when, unexpectedly, Rome was at her like a lion that had just taken down a gazelle.
His kiss was ravenous, demanding, and burning with desire! First he seemed to endeavor to feed his hungry passion with kissing Tierney’s mouth, but as his fervor became somewhat more controlled, Rome’s attention moved to Tierney’s neck and throat, weakening her knees and causing her entire body to feel weightless—her mind to empty of anything but her own desire for him.
All of a sudden, Rome swept Tierney up into the cradle of his arms, mumbling, “Kick them off,” against her mouth. “Kick your damn shoes off, Tierney.”
Tierney smiled as she realized Rome was either knowingly or unknowingly fulfilling yet another one of her silly, Hollywood movie fantasies—and she did as he commanded. Wiggling her toes, she giggled as she felt her black pumps loosen, slip from her feet, and tumble to the floor.
She felt Rome exhale a heavy breath as he none too gently laid her down on what had once been his bed. Hovering over her like some handsome Hollywood vampire about to passionately bite her neck, Rome’s smoldering gaze mesmerized her so thoroughly that Tierney couldn’t move when she felt him reach down and take hold of her ankle—not that she wanted to move if she could have. Still holding her gaze with his, Rome’s hand slowly slid up the back of Tierney’s calf until it reached the back of her knee. There his hand stopped.
“I’m a gentleman, you know,” Rome mumbled, still staring at her.
Tierney grinned at him and whispered, “I know.”
“But if you keep talking about what you’re wearing underneath this dress,” he breathed, “I might have a difficult time staying one. Do you understand?”
“I do,” Tierney answered.
It was Rome’s undoing—her answer of, “I do.” For it was what he so badly wanted to hear her answer when she was asked if she would take Rome Novak to be her lawfully wedded husband.
Celeste had had her moment, dammit! Alec had had his. Now it was time for Tierney and Rome to hav
e theirs. Therefore, Rome kissed his lover softly—slowly at first—before claiming her mouth in the kind of kiss he knew she liked best from him—a fiery, demanding, moist kiss filled with desire and expressed passion.
There were no red flags unfurling in Tierney’s mind as Rome kissed her. She was safe in his arms. And so she kissed him back—unreservedly—and as hungrily as he kissed her. It was why she didn’t notice it at first—the fact that one of his hands was caressing one of hers—then fumbling with one of hers. She might not even have noticed he’d slipped the ring onto her finger if it hadn’t been for the fact that the white gold of the band was cooler than his skin.
Gasping as Rome broke the seal of their mouths and stared at her hopefully, Tierney raised her hand to see the most beautiful set of diamonds arranged on a white gold band that she’d ever seen.
Looking back to him as tears filled her eyes, she watched Rome’s mouth speak the words, “Please marry me, Tierney. Marry me and let me be your Latin lover forever…all right?”
“All right,” Tierney breathed as tears escaped her eyes to trickle over her temples.
Taking hold of her shoulders and pulling her off the bed, onto her feet, and into his arms, Rome whispered into her hair, “I love you, Tierney. I started loving you the second I stepped out of that stupid box dressed like an idiot. From that moment on…you’re all I wanted. Maybe it only seems like a few weeks to you…only a couple of months…but it felt like forever for me.”
“It felt like forever to me too,” Tierney confessed through her tears. “I love you, Rome! You have no idea how much I love you!”
“I love you, baby,” he breathed. “Promise you won’t make me wait too long to marry you.” Pulling back from her a moment, he brushed the tears from her cheeks, smiled, and said, “And how about you just skip the whole bridal shower thing this time, okay? Just in case some other guy shows up looking better in a tux than me.”
But Tierney shook her head. “Not possible…not ever.”
Rome kissed her once more. Taking her hands in his then, he began to pull her back toward the door. “Okay then. Let’s go tell Mom and Dad…before I rip that dress off you and—”
Tierney’s giggle and hand over his mouth silenced Rome—but only for a moment before he added, “And don’t mention again tonight the seams in your stockings or that other thing you’re wearing that I can’t see, okay?”
“Okay,” Tierney agreed.
“Okay,” Rome said with a nod. Then opening the door, he swept Tierney up in his arms and strode with her toward the kitchen.
“Oh, Mom?” he called as he carried her.
Sighing with unfathomable joy and contentment, Tierney rested her head on Rome’s strong shoulder. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe Rome loved her—that he wanted to marry her. It was the stuff of dreams—of old Hollywood movies and Ella Fitzgerald songs—a poor little rich girl, swept away to a happily ever after in the arms of her Latin lover.
E pilogue
“This is still my favorite dress you own, you know?” Rome said, sweeping Tierney up into his arms as he stepped into their bedroom.
Tierney giggled. “You know it’s not the same dress, Rome Novak. I only wish I could still wear that dress I wore that Christmas Eve when—”
“When I almost lost it and took you right there in my old bedroom of my parents’ house?” Rome finished.
“You didn’t almost take me,” Tierney said.
But Rome puffed a short laugh. “That shows how much you know, baby.”
Tierney laughed as she wiggled her toes to loosen her shoes. She heard her black pumps fall to the floor.
Rome chuckled and whispered, “You better be quiet, Mommy. If you wake up the baby, we’ll be up all night.” Letting Tierney’s feet drop to the floor, he added, “Of course, then again…maybe we’ll be up all night anyway.”
Tierney blushed and turned her back to Rome. “Unzip me, please,” she said.
“Oh, I’ll unzip you all right,” Rome teased. Tierney felt goose bumps envelop her body when she felt Rome’s breath on the back of her neck—when she felt him take the pull tab of her zipper in his teeth and begin tugging it down. Once he’d unzipped her dress, she sighed when she felt him push open the back of her dress and place a moist and lingering kiss to her back.
“It’s snowing, you know,” Tierney needlessly reminded her husband.
“I know,” Rome affirmed. “But I got your dad to fill in for me tonight…told him it was the anniversary of our engagement and that we had…you know…plans after my parents’ party.”
Tierney’s smile broadened. Three years she and Rome had been married—well, three years on January 15—and every year, Rome made sure they could be together on Christmas Eve—all Christmas Eve. And though sleeping in Rome’s arms was magical every night, there was something about sleeping in them on Christmas Eve that always made Tierney’s heart race with heightened happiness and desire.
“And what if the baby wakes up?” Tierney asked her husband as he stripped his tie from his collar and began unbuttoning his shirt.
“She won’t,” Rome said. “Not for a while anyway. And if she does, we’ll just snuggle her up with us like we always do…being that we’re a couple of weenies when it comes to little Miss Avery Anne Novak.”
“We’ll be tougher on the next one, maybe,” Tierney suggested as Rome’s strong arms encircled her waist, his mouth trailing soft kisses over her shoulder.
“Maybe,” he mumbled. Tierney heard him sigh as he rested his forehead against the back of her head. “I love you, Tierney,” he mumbled. “More than ever. And I thanked Alec again today for sending me on that errand almost four years ago.”
Tierney smiled. “So did I.”
Rome chuckled and released her. Going to the nightstand, he picked up the remote for the iPod dock.
“Do you tango, Mrs. Novak?” he asked, taking her in dance position as “Assassin’s Tango” began to play.
“Only with handsome strangers that step out of boxes pretending to be Latin lovers,” Tierney answered.
Rome smiled and began to lead Tierney in a light tango. “It’s a good thing I showed up tonight then, huh?”
Tierney rested her head on her husband’s chest, smiled, and sighed, “Yes, it is.”
“And by the way,” Rome added, pausing their dance and taking Tierney’s chin in one hand, “I never pretend to be anything, baby. I am a Latin lover…your Latin lover.”
“I know,” Tierney whispered. “I do know.”
She trembled with overwhelming love and powerful desire when Rome kissed her then—when his mouth claimed hers with just as much passion as ever he had before.
Author’s Note
Okay, so here’s the thing (as my friend Gina always says). The summer I turned twelve, I experienced an epoch in my life—Star Wars! Today Star Wars is old hat. Star Wars, its prequels, and multiple variations of the story have been around for over thirty years, and therefore, some folks may simply shrug their shoulders and think, “So what’s the big deal about Star Wars?” But let me tell you this—if you were lucky enough to be in a theater the summer of 1977, you know what I’m talking about. And if you weren’t that lucky but were lucky enough to have a mom or dad (or preferably both) who were there and then made sure you had the VHS version and DVD version while you were growing up, then you know what I’m talking about.
An epic and incredible telling of a hero’s journey, George Lucas’s masterpiece, Star Wars—its story, cutting-edge special effects (at the time), and characters that planted themselves in your heart instantly—was life-altering to one almost twelve-year-old girl the summer of 1977—moi! I was there for the real thing—the first release. I even stood in line at some big department store at the mall the Christmas following the movie release with my friend Amy for three hours, just to have Darth Vader sign my paperback copy of the book! (Okay, I know now that it wasn’t really Dave Prowse signing books at the mall, but who cares! A
my and I had an adventure of a lifetime anyway. And if I remember correctly, there were some really cute boys—Justin Bieber types—in line near us!)
Now you may be wondering why I’m babbling on nonsensically about my original Star Wars experience. Well, there are a couple of reasons, and they will reveal themselves shortly. First, it’s important to understand that when I was eleven years old (almost twelve), I saw Star Wars and thought Luke Skywalker (a.k.a. Mark Hamill) was the bomb! I couldn’t figure out why in the world Leia didn’t totally go for Luke. (Remember this important fact: in 1977, none of us had a clue that Luke and Leia were siblings. Not a clue. So I wasn’t weird for wanting Leia to fall in love with Luke. Just wanted to make sure that was clear.)
Then, for three years, as I impatiently waited for the second installment (yes, I know, it’s really the fifth) of Star Wars to arrive—The Empire Strikes Back—all I could do was hope that Leia would wise up and fall in love with Luke. But when The Empire Strikes Back finally did arrive and I sat in the theater watching Leia and Han banter back and forth, kiss, and then kiss again as Leia confessed her love for Han right before he’s frozen in carbonite (and believe me, that was traumatizing), I began to understand. I was fourteen almost fifteen by then, after all, and could see how much more of a man Han was compared with Luke. Not that Luke wasn’t a man—I mean, he did eventually become a Jedi, right? It was just that I could see Han as the far more desirable male hero—to women, anyway.
Now, I know you’re still wondering what the whole Star Wars epoch in my life has to do with this book. Well, the second reason is that not only does Rome Novak draw life lessons from Star Wars, but my youngest son, Trent, does too. In fact, just the other day, my oldest son, Mitch, and Trent were sitting in the family room discussing guns, the military, policemen, and so forth when all of a sudden my attention was drawn more alertly to their conversation. The question posed by one or the other of them, or by someone else in the room, was, “What would you be willing to die for?”
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