Roses & Champagne Kisses

by Stacy Eaton

  “That’s okay, just making sure you are coming over.”

  “Yep, I’ll be on my way shortly. Do you need me to bring anything?”

  “No, I think I’m alright. I’m getting a little stir crazy, so if you have any juicy gossip, bring that with you.”

  I almost burst out laughing but managed to contain it. “Okay, I’ll do that.”

  As soon as I hung up, I did laugh as I turned to Roan. “Robin wants to hear the latest juicy gossip.”

  He sobered immediately, “You aren’t going to mention us, are you?”

  I wasn’t sure if I had planned on telling her or not, but by his reaction, he obviously didn’t want Robin to know. “No, I’m not going to say anything to her about this. It’s not like it’s a big deal, we’ve kissed a little bit, that’s all.”

  He frowned and then turned his attention to operating the vehicle. “Right,” was his clipped response.

  I busied myself in my bag as if I were looking at something so he wouldn’t see my confusion.

  “You asked me earlier if that phone call had been bad; I was talking to my brother.”

  “Oh? Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I guess. Autumn called because she couldn’t get a hold of him, and after I reached out to him he called me back. When we were getting off the phone, I thought I heard a woman talking to him, and I could have sworn he called her baby.”

  “Are you sure you heard him right?”

  “I could have sworn that’s what he said. I mean, I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.”

  “Okay, if that’s what you heard, what do you think it means?” He frowned as he backed out of the space and put the car in drive again. “Do you think your brother is having one last hurrah before he gets married?”

  He barked out a laugh. “You know, I’ve never known my brother to ever have a wandering eye—ever. In fact, when we were growing up, he’d give me shit if I looked at another girl when I was dating someone.”

  “But?”

  He glanced my way. “But if I knew I was going to be stuck with Autumn for the rest of my life, I might want to have a last hurrah myself.”

  I laughed, and a moment later he joined in with me. “So let him have his last bit of fun.”

  He looked thoughtful. “Crap, I forgot to call Autumn.” He pushed a button on the steering wheel and a beep blasted through the car. “Call Crazy Girl,” he commanded his car.

  “Crazy Girl?”

  “Calling Crazy Girl,” the breathy female voice replied.

  Roan grinned my way as the phone began to ring. “It’s how I have Autumn in my contacts.”

  “Does she know that?”

  The phone answered as he shook his head.

  “It’s about time,” she immediately hissed.

  “Sorry, I’ve been busy, Autumn. I got a hold of him; he was in a meeting all day.”

  “Is he coming home tonight?”

  “No, he was heading out to dinner with a client and needed to change his flight information. He said he’ll be home tomorrow.”

  “Okay!” She sounded a little too happy with the news. “Thanks for telling me. Gotta go!” The clack of the disconnection coming through the car speakers was louder than expected, and we both winced.

  “Well, I guess she’s not upset with him for not coming home,” he said as his brow furrowed.

  “Guess not.”

  The two of us settled into a calm silence, and he reached for the radio, turning it on. When a song by Garth Brooks filled the interior, I started laughing. “See, I knew you were a country boy!”

  “Hey, just because I listen to country once in a while does not mean that I’m a country boy. I just happen to like some of the music.”

  “Uh-huh,” I reached forward and started pushing the presets on his radio: country, country, country, oh, and country.

  He laughed. “Okay, so I like country. I’ve only had this car for a few weeks—remember? I don’t have all the satellite stations set up.”

  “You are so full of it!” I joked back with him, and for the rest of the ride, the two of us discussed the pros and cons of country music. I realized as we pulled into Robin’s driveway that I’d never felt so comfortable with any man before, especially one with whom I’d made out.

  As we parked and got out of the car, I really wished I could talk to Robin about what was going on. If only Roan hadn’t made a big deal about it earlier.

  I fretted as we walked to the front door. Did he not want them to know because I was just a waitress and he was a rich model? I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He hadn’t struck me as the stuck-up type, but I’d been seriously wrong about men in the past.

  Chapter 12

  Roan

  The woman drove me wild. All the pent-up sexual frustration that I’d kept buried for the last six years was finally roiling under the surface and ready to explode. Was it Finley that made me feel this way, or had I finally reached a point in my life that I needed something more?

  I pondered that as we approached the Landrys’ front door. Finley had pulled her work shirt out of her bag and put it back on. I suspected that was a good thing; it might keep me from wanting to bury my face in her glorious cleavage, but at the same time, I was saddened that I couldn’t sneak a few peeks of the velvety skin.

  Damn! I was getting hard all over again just remembering how incredible they had felt in my hand, even under the material of her tank. I could imagine how good they were going to feel in my palm, skin to skin.

  “You okay?”

  I glanced at her quickly, “Yeah, why?”

  She laughed. “Because you just moaned like you were in pain.”

  Busted! I cleared my throat. “I was thinking about something I have to do for work, sorry.”

  She tossed me a smile that said she didn’t quite believe me but that she wasn’t going to give me a hard time. Hard time—yeah, I’d like to give her a hard time—deeply and slowly. Shit! This was going to be a long afternoon if I couldn’t get my mind out of the gutter. I was acting like my son right now. My hormones had suddenly turned sixteen again.

  Chris answered the door a moment after we knocked. “Hey, you two. I didn’t expect you guys to show up here together.”

  “My car broke down,” Finley blurted. “Roan said he was coming this way, so I grabbed a ride with him. Is Robin in the guest room working? I’ll see you guys later.”

  Before either of us could say another word, she was gone, and Chris lifted a brow, “What’s up with her?”

  “Sorry to pop by unannounced. I figured while she was working with Robin, I could catch you up on a few things.”

  “Yeah, let’s go down to my office. I’m waiting for an email that I need to respond to right away. I only came up here because the driveway sensor went off, and I was expecting a package but saw you two on the security monitor.”

  “Anything good?” I asked as I followed him down to his office.

  “Naw, just a contract that needs to be signed with that company I was telling you about. I made them sign something saying that they would update their firewalls, or I was not responsible for what was going to happen or their loss of government contracts if they fail to do so.”

  “Smart idea. Are they still giving you grief about doing it?”

  “They were until I told them I refused to give them the software. They tried to tell me they’d sue me for breach of contract, but I reminded them that the original contract stated they had to have an updated firewall before I gave them the product.”

  I chuckled as I took a seat across from his desk. “Glad to see they came around.”

  “Yeah,” he looked at his monitor, “they realized that they were about to lose over two million dollars on the development if they didn’t upgrade the stupid firewall. I don’t get it.” He clicked a few things on his computer, “Hey, give me a minute, I just got the email. I need to look this over and reply.”

  “Take your time.” I sat back to wait,
but I was antsy and began to bounce my knee as I tapped it with my thumb. Chris glanced at it pointedly then at me. “Sorry.”

  I jumped out of my chair and went to browse a shelf on the side of the room. I stared at a picture of Chris and his family. They all looked so happy, and I was jealous as hell. Man, I wanted that.

  Chris pushed back his keyboard. “Okay, what’s on your mind?”

  I turned and glanced at his computer then him. “Did you finish what you needed to do already?”

  “Kinda, but obviously there is something on your mind.”

  I tried to laugh it off. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because you never fidget, and you don’t wander around my office and then sigh as you stare at a picture of my family—so what’s up, my friend?”

  I grunted as I returned to my seat. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve finally gotten to the point that I’m ready for more in my life.”

  “Do you mean like dating—or are you planning on buying a new sports car?”

  “Funny. I want someone in my life. I want what you have.” I pointed toward his picture, “In fact, I’m jealous as hell of what you and Robin have. I want that—again.”

  “It’s been what, five, six years since Sherry died? It’s good to hear you’re finally ready.”

  “Six years. It’s been six long years, but these last couple of weeks I’ve been thinking that I’m ready to really move on.”

  “Okay, so you know that what Robin and I have is rare, right?”

  “I had it with Sherry, and yeah, I know, and I’m not going to pretend that I can find the perfect love again. I’ll settle for someone who makes me laugh, wants to enjoy life, loves me for who I am, not what I look like in pictures or what’s in my bank account.”

  “I hear that. I used to think about how much it hurt that Robin left and went out on her own to start her company, but then I think about how she needed to do that to prove to both of us that she was with me for the right reasons and to give her something to fall back on if things hadn’t worked out.”

  “Robin is amazing. You know I love her to death.”

  “It’s hard not to,” he replied with a knowing smile. “Okay, so does this mean that you are going to start dating more regularly, or do you already have someone in mind that I don’t know about?”

  My eyes shot to him and then away, and he laughed, “Oh man, you have someone. Who is it? Do I know her? Let me guess, it’s Joanne Miller.”

  “Joanne? Are you kidding me? We went out once, and she wanted me to unbutton my shirt at the restaurant and sit around with it hanging open so women would envy her. She actually told me that, too.”

  “Alright, so if not Joanne, then who?” I found myself tapping my leg again, and Chris laughed. “Damn, this has to be good.”

  “What if I told you that I think I’m going to sleep with Finley Parker?”

  His brows jumped. “Does she know you plan to do this?”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure she does.”

  Chris stared at me straight-faced for a minute then began to smile, “Really? Finley?”

  I chomped on the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning like a fool. “Yeah.”

  “Where did this come from? Is this just like a sexual thing, or do you want to get to know her?”

  “When I was doing her background check, I found her very intriguing, and I was actually really interested in meeting her. The day that I did was the day Robin fell, and ever since that day, I can’t get Finley out of my head. There’s something about her that calls out to me.”

  “Is it because she had a harder life? Maybe your hero complex is coming out.”

  “No, because I don’t see her as someone who needs help,” I frowned, “or maybe I do. Don’t tell Robin this because we don’t want to worry her, but Finley is going to be staying at my place for a few days. I was going to ask you to let Wade stay a little longer.”

  “You don’t want Wade to know you’re seeing Finley?”

  I shook my head, “This is a safety issue. It doesn’t have anything to do with Wade knowing I’m getting to know a woman, and we aren’t really seeing each other, by the way.”

  “Then why is she staying at your place? You two just planning on having a wild fling or something? If you do, I’m going to highly suggest that you not do so.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Because Finley is Robin’s best friend, you’re mine. If you’re screwing Finley and things go bad, then it’s going to be hard for you two to be around each other.”

  “Relax, she is staying at my place is for other reasons. I showed up at the café on my way back into town because I hadn’t stopped to eat on the way, and her ex-boyfriend was there being an ass. He made some threatening remarks to her, and she confided that while he’s never hit her, he has done other things that have frightened or hurt her.”

  “Shit—okay, so she’s going to stay with you for a little while.”

  “Yeah, until we can figure out how to deal with Wallace, and then she can go home.”

  “And you plan on sleeping with her while she’s at your place?”

  “The thought had crossed my mind.”

  He nailed me with a stern look. “Well, don’t. You’re just going to confuse the issue. She is going to look at it as if you are taking advantage of the situation if things don’t work out well.”

  “What if she wants it as much as I do?”

  “You’re an adult, Roan, you can do what you want, but I wouldn’t be falling into bed with her until you know where you both sit on this one.”

  I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms, a cocky smile coming over my lips. “Yeah, because that’s what you did when you met Robin. You all didn’t fall into bed together because you had this incredible chemistry together and couldn’t keep your hands off each other.”

  With the most serious face I’d ever seen on him, he replied, “No, we didn’t fall into bed. We had sex in my pool, it’s different.”

  I laughed out loud, and he quickly joined in. Then he held his hand up, “Okay, I get it. If you two are both feeling the chemistry, then go for it, but make sure you two talk about it. If your point is to get your feet wet in the world again, then make sure she knows you can’t commit to something.”

  “That’s good advice, but I’m not sure that I don’t want more.”

  “Really? I’m not going to tell you not to, but be careful. You don’t want to jump into something and realize that you’re not ready for it. That will just hurt you both.”

  “I get it. I’m not sure what it is about her, but it just feels different. I mean, I’ve gone out a few times in the last two years, but I never felt anything but annoyed. Being around Finley touches something deep inside.”

  “Make sure that it’s not your hero complex she’s stroking.”

  I laughed. “I felt like this before I knew she had a crazy ex.”

  “Speaking of which, what do you think he would do?”

  “I don’t know, but he threatened her. You don’t have any friends in the Middletown Police Department, do you?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Alright, I’m going to reach out to a cop I know in Celebration, see if he has any contacts in Middletown that can help us out.”

  “We’ll keep Wade here with us until you say so.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that.” I paused, “Is there any way to not tell Robin about this? I don’t want her to worry about Finley. She has enough to worry about.”

  “I won’t say anything to her, but I won’t lie if she asks.”

  “Fair enough.”

  I let Chris get back to his work and went to sit upstairs in the living room to wait for Finley. The front door opened, and Geri came bubbling through with a huge smile on her face. “Mr. Waterman, what are you doing here?”

  While Geri closed the front door, a woman began to walk down the stairs carrying a babbling Abigail in her arms.

  “Abby’s awake,” Geri
cried happily and totally dismissed me to say hello to her baby sister. “Hi, Abby, hi Colleen.”

  “Hi, Geri, how was your day?”

  She came to a stop at the bottom of the steps, and I took in the woman. She was young and very beautiful. In my modeling days, I might have been paired with her as an opposites attract kind of thing because where I was dark, she was light: pale-blonde hair, light-blue eyes, fine porcelain skin.

  “Hi,” she said to me as her eyes ran down my physique unabashedly. “I’m Colleen, the new nanny.”

  She approached me and held out her hand. Abigail cooed in her arms as she saw me. “Nice to meet you, Colleen. I’m Roan Waterman.”

  “You’re Wade’s father.” She batted her eyelashes at me.

  I shook her hand quickly and then released it. “Yes, I am.”

  “He’s a sexy, young man. I see where he gets his incredible good looks and sex appeal from.”

  A choking noise behind me caused me to turn, and Finley held her hand over her mouth as if she hadn’t meant to be heard.

  “Yeah, thanks,” I replied absently to Colleen as I locked eyes with Finley. “Hey, baby, you ready to go?”

  A gurgle came from behind me, and I knew it wasn’t Abigail who had made the noise. Obviously, my pet name for Finley had been heard.

  “Yeah, I’m done.”

  “Alright,” I turned to Colleen. “It was nice to meet you, Colleen. Geri, it was good to see you, too, sweetie. Give Mom a kiss for me.”

  “I will,” Geri called as she took off for the hallway that led to Chris and Robin’s bedroom.

  I nodded to Colleen and placed my hand on Finley’s lower back as we walked toward the door.

  She didn’t say anything until we got in the car. “Don’t you ever get tired of that?”

  “Tired of what?”

  “Of women falling all over you?”

  I laughed. “I don’t really pay much attention to it.”

  “How can you not? It’s disgusting.”

  I turned to her. “Are you jealous?”

  “Jealous? No way, I’m disgusted that she made sexual remarks about your son, who is a minor, while she was throwing herself at you.”