“No big deal, are you kidding me?” Ciara stopped cheerleading. “Don’t tell me. He was lousy in bed.” She slapped her arms to her sides. “I should have known something that fine would have a fault.”
Leila laughed. “No. He wasn’t lousy.”
“Really?” Ciara gasped. “Then how good was he?”
“I’m not going to discuss this with you.”
“Oh, that good?” Ciara grabbed a chair and pulled it up to Leila. “I want details.”
Leila’s laughter quickly dissipated. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“You mean that you don’t want to tell me.”
“That, too.”
Ciara slumped back hard against her chair and folded her arms like a child denied her favorite candy.
Leila tried to refocus her attention on the article, but could feel Ciara’s heavy gaze follow her.
“He’s a dog, isn’t he?” Ciara guessed. “He seduced you and then did the old hit-and-run routine.”
“No. That’s not what happened either.” Leila sighed. “Garrick is a wonderful man…and I wouldn’t wish me on him for nothing in the world.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Forget about it.”
Ciara didn’t move.
“And will you stop that?” Leila snapped.
“Stop what?”
“Staring at me! Don’t you have some work to do or am I paying you just to keep me company?”
Ciara blinked at her, and then finally climbed up from the chair. “Sorry, Ms. Owens. I didn’t mean to intrude.” She paused, and then added, “It’s just that I thought we were friends, too. I won’t make the mistake again.”
She turned and crossed the room to her desk.
Once again, Leila felt like an ass. “Ciara, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Her secretary kept her back toward her. “In what way did you mean it?”
“C’mon. Don’t do this. Of course, we’re friends. It’s just that…I just made a mistake with Garrick, that’s all.”
Ciara turned around. “I’m listening.”
Now she had to tell the whole damn story, which contradicted her desire to just forget about Garrick. However, as she started talking about her New Year’s rendezvous, her blood warmed and she could hardly sit still.
“Let me make sure I understand this,” Ciara said when Leila finished. “You dumped him?”
“We’re totally wrong for each other. It was best to end it before anything got started.”
“Something had already started,” she reminded her.
“We want different things.”
“Sounds to me like you wanted each other.”
“See, this is why I didn’t tell you.” Leila shoved the feature article into her in-box to look at later. “You’re always reading more into things.”
“Me? That sounds like you.”
“That’s not true.” Leila frowned and folded her arms defensively.
“Yes, it is. Every time you get remotely interested in someone, you drag out more baggage than a 757 can carry. This one doesn’t have a good job, that one is a lousy kisser, and XYZ isn’t an intellectual. Now Mr. Fine across the street, who has a good damn job, and can do the New York Times crossword puzzle, and can make your toes curl during sex actually has the nerve to want to settle down and have children. Let me get out my violin so I can play you a sad tune.”
“Very funny.”
“No, it’s not.” Ciara grew serious. “You have to stop pushing people away. Humans are designed to cohabit. We long for companionship and you are no different. You just like to pretend you are.”
Leila vehemently denied Ciara’s words long after she’d gone home for the evening. Leila didn’t push people away. That was Samantha—not her. She had plenty of friends and just because she tended to engage in no-strings-attached types of relationships didn’t mean that she had intimacy issues.
“What do you think?” she asked Emma as she fed her dinner in her high chair.
“Aaah! Baah!” Emma smacked her hands on the tray.
Leila had learned how to maneuver around flailing arms and grabby fingers, and didn’t miss an inch shoveling in the next scoop of baby food. “I knew you would agree with me. Just because I don’t want to date Garrick doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with me. So what if he’s gorgeous?”
Emma cocked her head and batted her long curly lashes at her.
“Oh, so you’re going to turn on me, too. That’s just great.” Leila spooned in the last of the creamed peas when the doorbell rang. “Were you expecting someone?”
“Aaah. Baah!”
“Me, neither.” She wiped her niece’s mouth, swooped her out of the chair, and went to answer the door.
“Roslyn!” Leila blinked. “You’re back.” She reached out and enclosed her sister in a one-arm embrace. “It seems like forever since I’ve seen you. Come in. Come in.”
“Is this little Emma?” Roslyn pinched the baby’s cheeks as she crossed the threshold. “She looks so much like Samantha.”
“I know. It’s eerie, isn’t it?” Leila closed the door while a sliver of anxiety snaked through her. “I wasn’t expecting you tonight.”
“I know. The girls and I came back early. Courtney has missed enough school. I don’t want her to have to repeat the first grade.”
“How’s Patrick’s father?”
“Still in a coma,” she relayed sadly. “It’s pretty much a waiting game. The doctors are skeptical on whether he’s going to pull through.”
“I’m so sorry. How’s your husband holding up?”
“Status quo.” She shrugged. “About as good as expected. And how are you two holding up?” She caressed Emma’s cheek with open longing.
“We’re doing great!” Leila said, perking up. “We just finished up dinner. Next is bath time and then bedtime.”
Roslyn’s eyebrows rose as she shifted her gaze to Leila.
“What?”
“What? You. Ms. Mommy. And here I was worried about you. Seems you have this whole baby thing down pat.”
Leila relaxed as she led the way to the living room. “Are you thirsty? Can I get you anything to drink?”
“No. I’m fine.” Roslyn settled on the sofa and looked up at them. “Can I hold her?”
“Uh, sure.” Leila glanced down at her niece before she reluctantly passed her to Roslyn.
Her sister was instantly enamored with her niece. Jealousy entwined with Leila’s anxiety. Had Roslyn come to take Emma home with her?
Leila sat across from the sofa in an easy chair and watched the two bond together. Her mind raced with excuses as to why Emma couldn’t leave tonight—with each one she worried whether it was good enough. Would Roslyn fight her on it?
“Would you like to come and stay with me?” Roslyn asked, bouncing Emma on her knee. “Would you like that? Would ya?”
“Uhm.” Leila cleared her throat and fidgeted with her hands.
Roslyn looked over at her. “Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong.” Leila licked her lips. “There’s just been a slight change in plans.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. See.” Leila drew a deep breath. “I want to keep Emma.”
Chapter 18
“Honey, why do you keep peeking out of the window at that house?” Miranda asked, joining Garrick in the dining room. “Is something wrong?”
“No. I’ve never seen that car over there before,” he said, trying to make out the license plate. “I wonder who it is?” he added under his breath.
“Why don’t you go talk to her? You’re apparently crazy about the woman…or would you rather I pass a note to her? If you like Garrick, please check yes or no,” she said and laughed.
“Very funny.” He pulled away from the window and returned to the table. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“No more complicated than getting me and Mark back together.” Sh
e stretched out a hand to clasp his. “Which I can never thank you enough for.”
He smiled and shook his head. “It was just a bad case of wedding jitters. A lot of men go through it.”
“Did you?”
Garrick’s lips sloped unevenly as he contemplated his answer.
“On second thought, don’t answer that.” She gathered the plates off the table.
“Hey, you don’t have to do that. You cooked, I’ll clean up.”
“Dinner was my thank-you gift. For helping Mark and I…and for you laughing me out of your office that day I asked you to take me back.”
“You have to admit it was pretty funny.” He stood and took the plates out of her hands. “We were a bad match from the beginning. The bad part is I think we knew it all along. You hid behind your job while I thought if we started a family it would fix everything.”
“It would have made things worse.”
“I know that now.”
“But, hey. As crazy as this may sound, I still think you’ll make a wonderful father some day.”
“This is really a warped conversation. You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “But I’m glad we’re friends now.”
He nodded, enjoying the weight lifted from his shoulders. “Me, too.”
The doorbell rang just as he headed off to the kitchen.
“I’ll get it,” Miranda offered, waddling off toward the front door. “It’s probably Mark. I paged him about a half hour ago.” She opened the door, prepared to swing her arms around her fiancé, but stopped short when her brain registered the attractive woman from across the street.
Stunned, Leila’s smile froze on her face, while her eyes traveled over the very beautiful and very pregnant woman.
“Oh, hello,” the woman said.
“Who is it, Miranda?” Garrick’s voice boomed from somewhere in the house.
Miranda—the ex-wife? Leila jerked out of her trance as her grip tightened on the baby-monitor receiver. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you.” She turned.
“No, wait,” the woman called after her.
Leila bolted. No way was she going to stick around to make a fool out of herself. She stepped out in the street and heard the screech of tires. Turning, she placed her hands out, dropping the monitor and her house keys on the hood of a car.
“Hey, watch where you’re going,” the driver yelled out the side of his car.
“Leila!”
Heart pounding, she glanced back at Garrick’s place to see him race through the door. Quickly, she grabbed her things and ran to her house.
“Leila, wait.”
What had she hoped to accomplish by showing up at his door this time of night? Did she honestly think telling him that she was keeping Emma was going to change anything? “I’m such a fool.” She reached the door, slid the key into the lock; but she’d only gotten one foot through the door when Garrick’s strong fingers clamped around her arm.
“Let go of me,” she shouted, snatching her arm.
“It’s not what you think,” he said, ignoring the order.
“I’m not thinking anything,” she lied, still struggling for freedom.
“Then why did you run away?” he barked.
She couldn’t think of an answer, but fought him all the same. “Just go away.”
“Not until you answer me,” he hissed and pushed her through the door, his grip still firm.
“What are you doing?” she asked in startled alarm.
He kicked the door shut with the back of his heel. “I’m talking to you.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. So why don’t you just go back home to your wife.”
“My ex-wife,” he corrected. The corners of his lips curled upward. “I think I told you that before.”
“You also told me that you were no longer on speaking terms and that she was not interested in motherhood. Looks like all that was a lie.”
“Things change.” He released her.
At his words, tears stung the backs of her eyes.
“Is there a problem?” Roslyn’s voice floated from upstairs.
Garrick and Leila sprang apart.
“No.” She cleared her throat and fluttered a smile at her sister. “We were just…talking.”
Slowly, Roslyn descended the staircase. “Talking pretty loudly. You could have awakened the baby.” Her eyes fastened on Garrick as she stopped in front of him. “I’m Roslyn. Leila’s sister.” She extended her hand.
He politely accepted it. “Garrick Grayson. I’m trying to date your neurotic sister.”
“What?” Leila rounded on him. “You were just with…you can’t just blab that out to her!”
“Why not?”
“Pleased to meet you,” Roslyn butted in, and then winked at her sister. “I’m going to go ahead and go now. Emma is asleep. Are you sure you’re all right?”
Jaws clenched, Leila nodded.
“All right then.” Roslyn settled her purse strap on her shoulder, bent down to pick up the child monitor, and handed it back to Leila. “I’ll let you two finish your conversation.” She opened the door. “Walk me to the car, Leila?”
Leila tilted up her chin, shoved the monitor in his hands, and stepped around him. “Listen out for the baby.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She rolled her eyes and followed her sister out the door. The minute they were alone, her mind crowded with explanations to tell her sister. “Look, about what happened in there.”
Roslyn reached her car and turned with her hands pressed against her mouth.
It took Leila a moment to realize that her sister was actually laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. Him.” Roslyn’s shoulders quaked as her laughter filled the night air. “I couldn’t have dreamed of a better match.”
“You just met him.”
“True, but he obviously knows how to handle you—that alone is impressive. Plus, I think he cares a lot for you.” She walked over to Leila and threw her arms around her. “And something tells me that you feel the same way about him.”
Denial crested Leila’s tongue but never fell from her lips.
“Call me in the morning to tell me how it went. I’d love to have some good news.” Roslyn got into her car and waved as she pulled out of the driveway.
Across the street, Garrick’s ex-wife waddled out with her arm entwined with a tall, handsome stranger. After he opened the car door for her, he took Miranda in his arms and delivered a long kiss before helping her into the car.
“I wish someone would just stamp the word ass on my forehead and just get it over with,” Leila mumbled under her breath and then slunk back toward the house.
Garrick waited for her in the foyer. “I like your sister.”
Leila shut the door behind her. “She seems to like you, too.” An awkward silence flowed between them. “Look, about what happened earlier—”
“Yes?”
“I—I, uhm, I might owe you an apology.”
“Might?”
“Yes.” She shifted nervously on her feet. “I might have overreacted…when I saw you with your ex-wife.”
Garrick crossed his arms. “Uh-huh.”
“It’s just when I saw her…and then I saw you…”
“Yes?”
“You’re not making this easy.” She dropped her arms at her sides. “You could let me off the hook here.”
“I’m waiting for you to admit it.”
Leila grew uneasy. “Admit what?”
He walked over to her. “That you were jealous.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes and shied away. However, his soft chuckle told her he hadn’t bought the act.
“You’re a beautiful liar.” He placed his finger beneath her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “You’re also my beautiful liar.” He gathered her into his arms and absorbed her body heat.
Before Leila could draw a breath, he captured her l
ips in a long exploratory kiss. Time either melted away or stood still, Leila couldn’t tell which. She only knew the taste of him was the sweetest homecoming she’d ever known.
Mindless, she fumbled with his shirt buttons until he took control and snapped them open with a forceful jerk. He broke the kiss just long enough to pull his T-shirt off in one fluid swish.
A groan escaped his throat as their lips reunited. Slowly, deliberately, he slid his body against hers and elicited a submissive moan. “You know. You never did tell me why you came over to see me,” he whispered, and then resumed kissing.
“Huh—what?”
“Why did you come to see me? Was it for more of this?” He eased back a bit and snatched her shirt over her head. Tonight’s lingerie was good ol’ fashioned U.S.A. cotton.
“Sorry. No silk or lace tonight.”
“No apologies needed. It’s still getting the job done. Trust me on that.”
His strong hands glided up her toned abs and slid beneath the elastic band of her bra. Leila gasped, but then tried to will her pulse to slow down. She didn’t want to rush. She wanted to savor every moment so she would have it branded forever in her memory.
No matter what she did, she had no control over her body, heart, or mind. He ruled over everything and by the time her panties hit the floor, she no longer cared.
“I’m still waiting for you to answer my question.” He propped her up against the foyer table.
Leila blinked and tried to think. “Uh, it’s not important.”
“Sure it is.” He slid a hand into her as his mouth closed around a jutted nipple.
Everything turned into a kaleidoscope of color behind her eyelids as she gave into the feeling of free-falling into an unknown abyss. At first, his hand’s slow measured rhythm felt as if he were caressing her soul; but as the tempo accelerated, and she could hardly catch her breath, she felt like a woman dancing on top of hot coals—and loving every minute of it.
Her hips joined in on the dance, just as Garrick exchanged one oversensitive breast for the other. At the feel of her first orgasm surfacing, Leila’s breathing became shallow and a cry clogged in her throat.
She slammed her head back against the wall at the force of her release, but she didn’t care. She was ready for more.
Willing to oblige, Garrick selected a few more positions that became instant favorites for Leila. After each one, her appetite for him only grew. With a few intermittent breaks, the night soon morphed into morning. Soon after, Emma’s cry for breakfast came just as exhaustion kicked in.
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