He waited for her to finish the sentence, but instead of the two little words he longed to hear, that he’d hoped she was going to utter, she said, “I just wanted to say, you were right, it was plenty big enough.”
She laughed then, and gently ran a finger along his jawline.
It was just the smallest of caresses, but it was enough to stir Nate’s desire.
“Maybe we should go get a shower and then finish discussing how big is big enough,” he said with a chuckle.
“Now, that’s an offer a girl can’t refuse.”
They raced to the shower, laughing like a couple of kids.
Nate knew he’d have to tell her that things had changed for him, that he didn’t want to be boink-buddies, he wanted more.
He wanted it all.
In the morning, he told himself as he ran his soap-filled hands all over her luscious body.
Tomorrow morning he’d tell her everything.
10
“GOOD MORNING,” Nate murmured in her ear.
Shannon wiggled closer to him, not saying anything, mainly because her first impulse was to blurt out those words she’d decided not to blurt—at least not until she could figure out just how to say them right.
If she said them wrong he might leave. After all, love wasn’t what he’d signed on for…uncomplicated was.
Nate was toying with her hair as he held her tight.
She liked the way it felt.
Wrapped in Nate.
Waking up on a Saturday morning with him in her bed.
She’d missed him so much last week, but had stayed away because she was afraid…afraid she’d blurt out the words and ruin everything.
The words were right there on the end of her tongue, but she valiantly held them in, not wanting to scare him off.
“Are you just going to lie there all morning?” he asked with a chuckle.
Pushing the words to the back of her mouth, she managed to squeeze “Maybe” out past them.
She congratulated herself for not saying them.
Maybe she could be with him and not say them, at least not until there was a chance he’d say them back.
If she could just give him more time maybe he’d love her, too.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Aha, she’d managed another word and hadn’t let those three little ones slip.
She was getting good at this.
“Do you feel like taking a chance on my making pancakes?”
“I love—” she bit the words back and filled in “—pancakes. I’m more than willing to take a chance on your cooking.”
Sneaky, sneaky little words.
Almost as sneaky as the feeling that had stolen into her heart and wouldn’t let her shake it.
Nate looked almost disappointed for a split second. Maybe he’d hoped she’d offer to cook them?
The look passed quickly, and in its place, he smiled. “Maybe after we fortify our strength with breakfast we could come back in here and…”
He whispered his plans in her ear. Soft and low, his voice tickled her senses.
She hoped he could make his pancakes fast, because his offer sounded very, very tempting.
She nodded, saying, “I love—”
Darn. There they were again. “—I’d love to.”
How on earth was she going to have breakfast and then make love to Nate again and not say them?
Maybe she could handle not telling him how much she loved him, not telling him how cute he was on the back of his Harley, how much she liked hearing about his day, how much she loved spending an evening arguing about what constituted a chick-flick, and how much she loved the sight of him dressed as a Harley rider or as a pharmacist.
She couldn’t tell him how much she liked watching him with his parents, how much she loved waking up next to him, how much she loved…just how much she loved.
She pushed back the words and the thoughts, and pulled back the blanket. She gave a small yip. “It’s cold in here.”
Nate didn’t yip as he crawled out of bed, but she could see goose bumps covering the skin she’d grown to know so well.
Shannon reached in her closet, pulled out her favorite fleecy robe and wrapped it around herself. It might be a bit ratty, but it was still warm.
“Here,” she said, handing him a second robe, the one her mom had bought her for Christmas and she’d never worn. Her taste didn’t match her mother’s in robes—or much else, for that matter.
She could have offered him something else, but one of the other things she happened to love was teasing Nate.
“It’s pink,” he grumbled, almost on cue, holding it with two fingers as if the color was somehow contagious.
“So?” she countered.
“Real men don’t wear pink.”
“Well…if you’re really that insecure about your masculinity, I’ll find you something else.”
“I’m not insecure.” He slipped it on. “But I mean, if I were really Bull, I’d deal with the chill without resorting to this,” he muttered as he knotted the belt.
What was a huge robe on her, stretched to its limits across Nate’s much broader shoulders.
Looking at him, his hair sleep-mussed, wearing her pink robe, Shannon was awash with the need to say the words.
Just to let them out.
Forget planning.
Forget perfect.
She was going to be brave and simply say them. She loved so many things about Nate, that she simply couldn’t contain it another minute.
Tell him.
That’s all she could do. That and pray he wouldn’t walk right out the door, but would stick around long enough to learn to love her, too.
Ah, but he was wearing a pink bathrobe. He’d never walk out the door in that.
He was trapped.
This was the perfect time.
“Nate, there’s something I have to tell you. I’ve spent the week trying to decide how, and finally have come to the conclusion that there’s no right way. It’s something important…” The words that had been aching to come out, hung back.
“Yes?” he said, when the silence hung in the room a few seconds too long for comfort.
Shannon garnered her strength, and said, “I love—”
The doorbell rang.
Who on earth would be ringing her doorbell at eight o’clock on a Saturday morning, interrupting her perfect moment?
“Mom,” she muttered. Who else could it be? “I’ll get rid of her.”
Shannon Bonnie O’Malley, aka Roxy, had had enough. She wasn’t going to play dodge-the-wedding-bullet with her mom any more.
She wasn’t going to try and find a perfect way to tell the man she loved that she loved him.
She was going to be bold and take charge. She was kicking her mom out and then she was going to talk to Nate. She was going to tell him she loved him and he was just going to have to deal with the complication.
“You want help?” he asked.
“No. You go start the breakfast, I’ll get rid of her.”
He kissed her cheek. “Good luck.”
He went to the kitchen and Shannon marched to the front door.
Enough was enough.
She pulled the door open and just stared.
“Good morning, Shannon, dear,” Mrs. Calder said.
Her mother leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Good morning, sweetheart. Judy and I met in the driveway. You know what they say, great minds think alike. I brought donuts.”
“And I baked some homemade muffins this morning,” Mrs. Calder said.
Shannon decided both moms visiting again was scarier than the thought of Mrs. Calder’s homemade muffins.
She tried to think of something to say, “I…uh…”
Her resolve might have been enough to let her deal with her mother, but no amount of resolve could help her deal with both mothers.
She needed reinforcements.
She needed Nate.
> “Come on in, Judy,” her mom said as she and Mrs. Calder walked past Shannon and into the house.
“Is Nate still in bed?” her mom asked, without waiting for an answer.
Shannon heard Nate say, “Mom,” as the two women walked into the kitchen.
Knowing there was nothing to do but follow, Shannon did just that. She realized that her feet were bare, but she couldn’t even work up any embarrassment about it.
She simply had too much on her mind and three little words just dying to be said, but there was no way to say them with both their mothers here.
“Shannon, your mom brought donuts and mine made us muffins,” Nate said, a grim mock-smile pasted on his lips.
“Yes, they told me.”
“So, what brings you both out this early on a Saturday morning?” he asked both mothers as he poured coffee into four mugs.
“I came to tell Shannon she had to quit her job,” his mom said. “I worry all the time. This can’t go on, and I’m sure her mother agrees with me.”
“Quit her job? Of course I don’t agree with you. At least Shannon has steady work and a steady pay check. While all your son does is ride around on a motorcycle all day.”
“I hate that motorcycle,” his mom confessed.
The phone rang and Shannon automatically picked it up. “Hello?”
“Shannon,” Kate said. “I’m thinking I should come home. Mom says that this Bull guy is trouble and…”
The argument about motorcycles and quitting jobs continued.
Kate poured out her worries across the phone line.
Nate stood there looking as lost as Shannon felt.
Shannon realized that telling Nate she loved him couldn’t possibly get any more complicated than this.
The teacher in her came to life. Shannon put her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle…. Zwwwwwippppp.
Three sets of eyes were immediately focused on her. She’d known they would be. She’d used the whistle for years to get unruly students’ attention.
“Enough!” she said.
She put the phone to her ear and said, “Kate, I’ll call you back later. Don’t come home. Everything’s under control.
“Mom and Mrs. Calder, I’m done playing games. Things aren’t the way they seem. This is…”
She looked to Nate and saw him give a small nod of agreement. “It all started at Mick’s bar, just like we said. It was after one of the horrendous dates you fixed me up on, Mom. I’d had enough.”
“Me, too, Mom,” Nate said. “All that, And I almost died giving birth to you, and all I want is a grandbaby…stuff. And fixing me up with some initial girl.”
“Kay,” his mother supplied.
“Yeah, fixing up,” Shannon echoed. “Remember Shelby, Mom? Shelby and Shannon. At least if someone said Nate and Kay it wouldn’t sound like you were being shushed in a library.”
Nate laughed. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. You aren’t destined for a Shelby.”
“Shannon has definite ideas about what names go together,” her mother said. “Nate and Shannon. Those go well, don’t you think, dear?”
Shannon couldn’t begin to tell her mother just how much she agreed…at least not until she told Nate how much they went together.
“That’s our point. Shannon and Nate do really go together, at least not the way you two think.”
“Or Roxy and Bull,” Mrs. Calder said. “Those two names go well together, too, don’t you think, Brigit?”
“I certainly do, Judy.”
They knew.
Their mothers knew the truth.
Shannon saw it in their eyes.
“But as much as my daughter focuses on names,” her mom continued, “I have to say, I prefer focusing on careers, on personal traits. And I’d say a pharmacist and a teacher go together about as well as—”
“A biker and a stripper—”
“Exotic dancer.” Nate corrected his mom before Shannon could.
Shannon reached out, took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “So you both know this is just an act.”
“Of course we knew. We’re bright, capable women who saw through your little charade,” his mom said.
Shannon’s mom gave her a funny look. “But it’s not all an act.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Why, look at the two of you, united against us. Holding hands, sleeping over. You two are in love,” her mom said, her voice practically cooing. She sounded just the way Patricia had.
“I can’t speak for Nate, but what I feel for him isn’t something I’m going to discuss with the two of you. As a matter of fact, it’s time you both left. You’ve meddled enough. Nate and I will work things out on our own.”
“But, honey, there are just some things that a girl needs her mother for.”
“You’re right, Mom, but this isn’t one of them.” She steered both protesting mothers to the door. “Thank you for stopping by.”
“But—” her mother and Mrs. Calder said in unison.
“But nothing. Nate and I are adults. Whatever is going to happen next in our relationship is up to us.”
“This isn’t about the bet, you know, honey,” her mom said softly. “I want you to be happy. I think Nate’s the man for you.”
“I know that, Mom.” She kissed her mother’s cheek.
Shannon shut the door on both of the moms, then headed back to the kitchen.
She hoped that when she said the words Nate would admit he loved her as well, or that he was willing to give them a chance.
“They’re gone?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Phew,” he wiped his brow. “We may be able to handle keeping things uncomplicated, but our moms certainly try to make things interesting. Do you think they’ll stay off our backs now that they know the truth?”
“No,” she said with a small smile. “They’ll probably both start in again tomorrow.”
“So…” he paused, obviously looking for something to say, “Do you still want those pancakes?” he asked.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“You said you wanted to talk about something?”
“I…” She was chickening out. There he was, standing in the middle of her kitchen, and all she wanted to do was run over to him and shout the words, I love you.
She gathered her courage.
Before she could get the words out he said, “Just because they know doesn’t mean our…” he hesitated, obviously looking for a description of their relationship.
“Our dating-but-not-really relationship?” she asked. “Our boink-buddy-ness? Our uncomplicated thing?”
“Yes. There’s no reason we can’t keep seeing each other. I enjoy being with you. What we have is good.”
Talk about being damned by faint praise.
Here she was ready to spill her heart out to him, to tell him she was finding it hard to breathe when he wasn’t around and he says that he enjoys being with her?
Of course he thought what they had was good. It was uncomplicated.
Shannon hated that word at this point.
She hated this stupid charade.
She’d just say the words, and when he dumped her she’d pick herself up and move on.
Maybe she’d agree to go out with Shelby. After all, he might not be complicated-phobic.
“I don’t think things can continue the way they’ve been going,” she started. “After all, part of our reason for being together is gone. Our moms know.”
“Still, what we have works, Shannon-me-love…”
“Don’t you Shannon-me-love me,” she said. “Here I am, ready to tell you that I love you and you’re still harping on about our stupid deal, our uncomplicated plans.”
This time she was the one shaking a finger, she shook it right in his face as she continued, “Well, I want complicated. I want it all. I want someone who calls me every day, not just when he feels like it. No, I take that back, I want a man who feels lik
e calling me every day. But you don’t want that. That would be messy. Well, that’s fine. Just fine. I’ll go find a man who doesn’t mind a bit of complication.”
“You think you can replace me that easily?” he asked, softly, moving closer.
“Sure.” Which was a big lie. She doubted she’d ever replace Nathan.
“You think you’ll find another guy who doesn’t mind wearing a pink bathrobe and watching chick-flicks, who knows how to pry you out of pleather…who loves you like I do?”
“I’m sure there are men out there who are more than capable of wearing pink and watching chick-flicks. As for pleather—” she stopped, unsure she’d heard what she thought she heard.
“Say it again.”
“I know how to pry you out of pleather,” he said, a big grin on his face.
“Not that part.” She grabbed the fluffy pink material and pulled him close.
“I don’t mind watching chick-flicks if they have at least a bit of blood-and-guts. I may wear pink, but I like blood-and-guts.”
“Nope. Not that part either.” She felt as if she was going to explode with joy.
“Oh. I love you?” he asked with a smile.
“Yep, that’s the part.”
“I do.” He kissed her then and she could feel it.
He did—he loved her.
She broke the kiss and said, “But you were just going on about how you wanted uncomplicated…”
“You didn’t want love, you wanted to be boink-buddies.”
“No, I didn’t. I thought that’s what you wanted. I realized the other day that what I feel for you went further than I ever expected it to. I came by the pharmacy to tell you.”
“But you ran out on me,” he said with a frown.
“You were tired and rattling on about needing things uncomplicated, and I knew saying those words would complicate everything, so I didn’t.”
“Shannon, nothing in my life has been uncomplicated since I met you. As a matter of fact, this is the most complicated, convoluted relationship I’ve ever been in…and I couldn’t be happier. Or rather, I could be if you did one little thing.”
“What’s that?” she asked. She’d do anything for him—for the man she loved.
“Say the words. You still haven’t said them, you know.”
“Really? How negligent of me. Nathan Bull Calder, I love you. I think I loved you from that first time we talked at Mick’s.”
A Baby...Maybe? & How to Hunt a Husband Page 28