That, he realized, was what he’d wanted to hear. His name on her pretty lips. He let himself go.
A few seconds later, sated and cockily proud of himself, he began to come back to earth. But when he looked down into her face he realized he’d done it again. The only permission he’d gotten from her was a response to a kiss.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry!”
She laughed. “For the wall?”
“For taking the decision to make love out of your hands.”
She ran her fingers up his chest and linked her hands behind his neck. “I sort of liked it.”
“I wanted you to have choices.”
She shrugged. “I did. I know I can always say no, and you’ll hear. But I like it when you take…” she caught his gaze, “control.”
Everything male in him stirred to life. “Really?”
She ran one finger along his cheek, down his chin. “You can be bossy in the bedroom.” She glanced behind her and smiled. “Or up against the wall any time you want. As long as we’re equals the rest of the time.”
He kissed her. Long. Deep. Enjoying every sensation.
He’d never before met a woman he liked as much as he liked her. His last coherent thought after he carried her up to her very Zen yellow and gray bedroom was a slight acknowledgement that liking her so much might actually ruin his perfect plan not to have a relationship.
Chapter Six
During the next six weeks, Marney created some of the most spectacular jewelry she’d ever designed. Though she normally worked day and night when she was in creation mode, with Dell coming over for supper every evening, she found it easy to quit when he arrived. Some days he brought food. Some days she made food. Other days they ordered pizza or Chinese food and had it delivered.
She could have given Charlie back to Gabby, but T.J. was still organizing his Chandler’s Cove office. Bonaparte had been overseas since January and didn’t show any signs of coming home, so Gabby was grateful that Marney could keep sweet Charlie for a few more weeks. With Dell sleeping at her house until midnight every night that he didn’t work, she felt totally protected. But, frankly, Charlie was the only one Marney could talk to about Dell.
“Remember how I wondered what sleeping with Dell would make me?”
Charlie barked.
“I’ve finally figured it out.”
He tilted his head.
“It makes me happy.”
Charlie barked twice.
She turned off her computer, grabbed her purse, and tapped her thighs twice. Charlie raced over and she lifted him into her arms. “You’ve been so sweet over the past six weeks that I’m not making you walk ever again.” She kissed the fur between his ears. “I’m carrying you everywhere.”
At her house, she threw together a simple supper of salad, French fries, and thick steaks to be grilled once Dell arrived. At exactly six o’clock, he opened her kitchen door and stepped inside.
He didn’t hesitate. He yanked her to him and kissed her so greedily, her heart about stopped.
Breathless, she pulled away. “Okay. I was going to put the steaks on as soon as you got here, but I’m thinking you might be hungry for something else.”
He nuzzled her neck. “I just might be.”
She laughed.
“How about sex first and steak second?
“Sounds good.”
He kissed her again, then scooped her up and took her to the bedroom.
…
Two hours later, he glanced at his watch and groaned. “Damn.”
She sat up in bed. “Damn what?”
“I have to be in Chicago this weekend. I promised my mom I’d leave tonight and be there on time for a little gathering with a few out-of-town relatives.” He jumped into his jeans then grabbed his tennis shoes and socks and fell to the edge of the bed to put them on. “My niece is making her first communion.” He glanced back at her. “A big deal in my family. So I have to be there from the night the out-of-towners arrive until the last glass of champagne is done Sunday afternoon.”
“Oh.” Conflicting feelings tore her in two. On the one hand, they had a no-strings-attached relationship, and that was working for them. On the other, they were friends as much as lovers. Even if she ignored the slight over his not inviting her, fresh hurt arose over the fact that he’d never mentioned this before now. She told him everything, and she’d thought he told her everything. Apparently, that wasn’t true.
He jumped off the bed, bent down and kissed her, then shot out of the room like a rocket.
She stared at the door he’d left open, her stomach tied in knots, her chest tight and a river of tears backing up behind her eyelids.
He hadn’t even hinted about taking her…or offered an apology for not asking her along.
He didn’t think of her at all.
She slid down on her pillow again, told herself not to cry, and reminded herself that this was their deal, but her heart still shattered. The absolute worst had happened.
She’d fallen in love.
She crawled out of bed, put on a T-shirt and jeans, and called Charlie. With a bark, he bolted into her bedroom. She scooped him up with one hand and wiped away her tears with the other. It was stupid to cry. Really stupid.
After slipping on a hoodie to protect her from the cool May night, she slid into shoes, packed Charlie into her new Mercedes, and drove to her shop. In two minutes, she was inside her office, her computer open, Charlie snoozing at her feet. Work was the only way she knew to avoid the pain, so she would work.
An hour went by, then two. She heard something that sounded like someone trying to open her locked shop door, but she ignored it. Eventually, they’d get the message that her office lights might be on, but she wasn’t open for business.
She turned back to her computer. The noise went away. A few minutes later she heard the rattle again. Her heart popped. What if it was an intruder?
Normally, she’d have been terrified. Tonight, she chuckled and grabbed her cell phone and an umbrella. She dialed the 9 and 1 as she crept through her office. If this was an intruder he was going to be sorry he picked tonight to rob her. The mood she was in, she would happily swat him around with her umbrella before she’d let him rob her.
She slowly made her way along the display case toward the door. Streetlights illuminated the faces of her three friends, Gabby, Mia and Jenny, pressed against her front window.
She closed the cell phone without dialing the final 1, dropped the umbrella, and opened the door.
They poured in. Mia reached her first. In an uncharacteristically open move, her hand immediately went to Marney’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
She faked a laugh. “Nothing is wrong.”
“It’s after ten. You’re never here after nine.”
“I’m designing.”
Gabby glanced around. “You usually design at home at night.”
“I didn’t take my laptop home so I had to come back.” She shrugged. Working here was better than facing the memories of Dell in every corner of her house. “Figured I’d stay.”
Gabby found glasses and the wine Marney kept hidden for celebrations. She set the glasses on the display case and poured the wine. “You’ve been weird for over a month. Something’s going on. We’re not leaving until you spill.”
Gabby’s determined voice let her know she wasn’t kidding, but Mia and Jenny’s serious faces sealed the deal.
She sighed. She was tired of hiding this and if anybody could be sworn to secrecy, it was her three friends.
“Promise not to tell.”
Jenny laughed. “You want a blood oath?”
She shook her head. “Just a promise.”
Gabby touched her forearm. “You always have our promise.”
Marney blew her breath out on a tired sigh. “I’ve been seeing someone.”
Jenny gasped. “I knew it!”
“The problem is he doesn’t want a relationship. I knew that when we got involved.”
“Head over heels.”
Jenny squeezed her hand. “Maybe he fell in love, too.”
Remembering Dell’s quick exit, she shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
Gabby handed her a glass of wine. “Have you asked?”
“No, but…”
Gabby sighed. “No buts about it. You have to ask.”
Marney sucked in a breath. She knew her friends were right. She had to ask. She should have known better than to get involved only for a fling, but she hadn’t. Now she had to pay the consequences of admitting she’d fallen hard and letting him decide if their relationship went forward or ended.
…
Dell returned to Chandler’s Cove early. He’d missed Marney so much that he’d bowed out at three on Sunday afternoon. He didn’t even stop at his own house. He drove directly to hers, jumped out of his car and raced to her back door.
It opened on an empty kitchen. “Anybody home?”
She peeked out of her pantry. “Hey.”
He walked over, caught her elbows and kissed her. “Hey.”
“I was going to make soup.”
“Why don’t we go upstairs and make soup?”
She laughed. “Because one of us is seriously hungry.”
He tugged her to him and growled in her ear. “How about a glass of milk to tide you over?” He didn’t like the fact that he’d missed her. But holding her close, he realized he might not have missed her as much as he’d missed this. The easy familiarity. The ability to really be himself with her. Especially sexually. There was no artifice. No game playing. They both enjoyed sex, enjoyed each other. And that’s what he’d longed for all weekend. A little unpretentious fun.
He reached for the hem of her T-shirt.
She skittered away, laughing lightly. “All right. Fine. I won’t make you wait the four hours it takes to make a good pot of soup. But I will have a glass of milk.”
He said, “Good,” but he got a strange feeling that squeezed his stomach. The easy familiarity didn’t quite feel so easy. Something was wrong. “So what did you do while I was away?”
She met his gaze. “I worked.”
He slid onto a stool. “That’s good. Right?”
“Yes. It was very good.” She paused, took a drink of milk, then her gaze meandered to his. “I also spent time with my friends.”
“That’s even better.”
She smiled. “You’re awfully accommodating.”
“I missed you.” Even as the words came out of his mouth, he hated them, if only because they were so easy to misinterpret. But when Marney smiled, he forgot all about regret.
Her milk finished, she put her glass into the dishwasher then sashayed over. She slid onto his lap. “Now, what were you saying when you first arrived?”
He swallowed. He loved her big brown eyes, loved her pert little nose, loved her kissable lips. “As I recall, I wasn’t saying anything.” He bent his head and kissed her and his world suddenly righted again. He smoothed his hand under her T-shirt, up her sleek spine and unhooked her bra.
She giggled. “Kitchen? Really?”
“Why not?”
She bumped her forehead to his. “I’d planned on showering.” Her voice had dropped to a breathy whisper that sent tingles of delight directly to his groin. “And putting on something sexy for your homecoming.”
“I like you in your birthday suit.” His hand trailed down her spine again. “Warm and naked.”
She laughed, and he deepened their kiss. But the intimacy of her smoky whisper finally hit him. He reminded himself that they were lovers, but there was something more in her voice.
He rose from the stool, taking her with him. “You know what? Maybe we should go to the bed.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Sounds good to me.”
He carried her up the back stairway to her master bedroom. The pretty yellow and gray room greeted him like a long, lost friend, filling him with an emotion he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
He slid her to the floor and she reached for his shirt. After wrestling it over his head, she tossed it across the room and pressed both hands to his chest.
He closed his eyes in ecstasy.
“I’m happy you’re home.”
His eyes popped open. Why had that sounded different?
Her hands moved down the length of his chest and opened the snap of his trousers. Without finishing the job, they glided back up as her lips met his chest. She sprinkled warm, wet kisses across his pecs, down his abs, and along the waistband of his jeans.
His control snapped. He unzipped his pants, and jumped out of them. He got rid of her T-shirt and jeans, her red bra and her panties and was inside her so quickly the only response he got was breathy moan.
There. That was better.
…
He awoke the next morning totally confused. The silken sheets caressing his naked body reminded him that he was at Marney’s. He glanced at the clock, saw it was after six and bolted up in bed.
He’d slept over.
He bounced out of bed, yanked on his trousers and shirt, and ran downstairs. No harm done. He could quickly make himself some breakfast to eat as he checked his texts and voice mails, and race home, and get into his uniform before his seven o’clock starting time. All without waking Marney.
In five minutes he had eggs, bacon, toast sitting on the countertop.
“You made me breakfast.”
His gaze swung to the kitchen entryway. Dressed in a T-shirt and panties, with her dark hair tousled and her eyes sleepily sexy, she nearly coaxed him back to bed, but her comment confused him. When he looked down at the mountain of bacon, and four eggs, instead of two, four pieces of toast, instead of two, he came back to the real world.
He had made her breakfast.
“I didn’t mean to.”
She ambled over to him. “Didn’t mean to?”
He looked at the toast and bacon again. Why four eggs? Why so much toast? Where the hell was his head? “Seriously, I don’t know why I did this.”
She set her hand on the hand he had leaning on the granite top of the center island. “You don’t know what’s happening here, do you?”
“Not a clue.” But the breathy, uncertain whisper of her voice told him what she was about to say.
“I think we’ve fallen in love.”
And from the wobble in her words, she wasn’t any happier about it that he was. Except, it didn’t matter what she thought. Or what he thought. He had rules. Standing by those rules kept him grounded, safe. And if he had broken a few of them, that could only mean he was comfortable. Maybe too comfortable?
“Marney, this isn’t about love. This is about me getting accustomed to you. Too accustomed.”
She stepped back.
An arrow shot into his heart at the pain that exploded in her sexy dark eyes. But that wasn’t his fault. “Hey, I told you. I don’t want to be in love. I like the fact that we’re friends. I like that we can talk to each other about anything. But if you think you’re in love, I’m out that door.”
…
Marney licked her lips. Her throat ached with the need to cry. Her heart ached with the pain of realizing she’d never see him again if she told him the truth.
All she had to do was laugh, say she was teasing, pretend she didn’t love him…and he’d be back tonight. Heck, they’d probably eat breakfast together.
All she had to do was pretend.
And spend the rest of their relationship longing for him to love her? Controlled by a love she felt but he didn’t?
That wasn’t how she lived. It wasn’t who she was.
Her gaze slowly rose. When it connected with his blue-gray eyes, eyes she could stare into forever, her heart splintered. But she knew what she had to do.
She swallowed. “I love you enough to know that if I let you stay you will really, really hurt me someday.”
She turne
d and walked out of her kitchen.
Chapter Seven
That afternoon, Dell sat at his desk, trying to forget the sad look on Marney’s face before she’d turned and walked out on him. With the May sunshine brightening everything, he’d left the main office door open to let in some fresh air, hoping to dispel his mood.
He was not wrong. She was. He’d made his intentions known. She’d agreed to his terms. He wouldn’t be upset.
Suddenly, something cold hit the little space between the cuff of his trouser leg and the top of his sock. He glanced down, and there sat Charlie.
He lifted the furry pup and scratched behind his ears. “What are you doing here?”
Charlie barked.
Dell shook his head. “I’m not taking you back.” He set him on the floor. “Go. Go back to Marney’s.”
The dog sat and—if dogs could grin—Dell swore the little beast grinned at him.
He tried taking him to the door. He tried shooing him up the sidewalk. Each time, Charlie plopped on his butt and grinned at him. Annoyed, he picked up the dog and headed to Marney’s shop.
Two doors away, he bumped into Laura Jennings, the first-grade teacher. From her soft yellow hair to her pretty blue eyes, she was the vision of the kind of woman Dell usually liked to woo. In fact, he’d considered asking her out.
Take that Charlie.
She caught his hand. “Dell! I’m so glad I ran into you. I’m having career day right after lunch and I need a solid closing speaker. After the way you saved Mrs. Baker a few weeks ago, I know the kids would love to hear from you.”
Dell frowned. He hadn’t had a reaction to Laura’s touch. Nothing.
Charlie barked. Laura patted his head. “See, even your dog thinks you’d be a perfect speaker.”
He might have been attracted before, but he wasn’t now. As for speaking to the first graders…Well, he was the chief and these kids were his responsibility. Teaching them was the serve part of protect and serve.
“All right. I’ll be there. What time?”
The Billionaire's Matchmaker: An Indulgence Anthology (Entangled Indulgence) Page 11