Something Better

by Gail R Delaney

  By the time he said her name, she believed him and knew that not even the most vivid dream could come close to this moment. Andi raised her arms and held his rough cheeks, opening herself up to the rush as his hands pulled her closer and his tongue slowly slipped past her lips. When she looked into his face, she had to blink against the tears that blurred her vision. Andi thought for sure that she had cried enough that there couldn't be any left... but this was a different kind of tear.

  David smoothed away the moisture from her cheek, studying her.

  "I love you, too." She finally found the ability to speak, and smiled beneath his touch. She let a breath go that came from so deep in her soul she thought she must have been holding it forever.

  David hugged her, pressing his face into the curve of her shoulder. He held on so tight she had to toe-up, but she didn't want to let go any more than he did. He kissed the side of her neck, her jaw, her cheek, then her lips again. Then he stepped back and slid his hands down her arms to link their fingers.

  "Well, now that we've got that out of the way--" Andi gasped, trying to look affronted. David just chuckled. "Come on. We both need some sleep."

  As if on cue, Andi yawned and tried to stifle it behind her hand. David chuckled again. He led her toward the stairs, giving her a sidelong glance. "Nice pajamas, by the way."

  "I didn't know I was going to have company."

  "I'm not complaining. Darlin', you are the sexiest woman in flannel I've ever seen."

  Andi stopped half way up the stairs, and David turned to look down at her. The stairwell was dark, and she could barely see his face in the light cast from above. "Are you staying?" she asked.

  He came down a step so they were closer to the same level, and smoothed his hand over her hair. "Is that okay? I just want to hold you."

  Andi moved closer, aligning their bodies so she could run her nose along his rough jaw. "Are you sure?"

  He drew a long breath, letting his mouth hover over hers. When he spoke, his lips brushed hers but he didn't complete the kiss. "I'm sure I love you. And I'm absolutely sure I want to make love to you... but tonight, I need to hold you more."

  He brushed a kiss across her lips and moved up the stairs again. In her bedroom, they moved in silence as Andi pulled back the blankets of the undisturbed bed and slid between the cool sheets. David shucked off his sneakers and shed his jacket and shirt. She turned away when she heard the click of his belt bucket, closing her eyes against the erotic rush that slammed into her. Then he lifted the blankets and lay down beside her, his arm draping her waist to pull her back against him.

  In one moment, in one beat of her heart, she felt all the tension of the day dissipate and her body relaxed into the soft bed. David sighed, and settled into the pillows with his lips hovering near enough to her ear that she felt his warm breath. Her heavy eyelids slid closed, and within moments, Andi was asleep.

  *****

  Andi stood at the top of the driveway, raising her hand in a wave as David backed into the street. He stopped when he'd straightened the car and kissed his fingertips, tossing the kiss to her as he drove away. She waited until he was out of sight before heading into the house, and was greeted by the smell of roasting coffee as she opened the door.

  "About time you came back in. I figured I'd have to brew another pot before the two of you got done saying good-bye." Maggie made kissy-face noises and followed up with a wink and grin.

  Andi smiled and sank into one of the kitchen chairs, hunching over the steaming cup Maggie had already set on the table for her. Maggie sat, humming in satisfaction as she sipped her cup.

  "So," Maggie said after a few companionable minutes. "He stayed the night."

  "Sort of," Andi answered, setting her cup down. "And not the way you think." She chuckled at Maggie's eye roll. Her cheeks hurt from smiling, but she didn't care enough to stop. "He left around midnight." Maggie just arched her eyebrows, in a Maggie-esque way of demanding more information. "He came back." Andi paused. "To tell me something."

  Maggie leaned on her hand. "Had to be good if he couldn't call or text... or wait."

  "He came back to tell me he loved me."

  Maggie broke into a wide grin and slapped the table. "About damn time!"

  Andi drained her cup and stood. "I'm going to work on that chapter this morning. I might even have it done before Jake gets up. What do you want to do today since we're all home?"

  "Sorry, hun. I've got lunch plans with Phillip."

  "You've given up on Nicco, huh?"

  Maggie took both their cups and headed for the sink, shrugging her shoulder. "Nicco was a child in a man's body. Granted, an amazing man's body. I got sick of feeling like I should be cutting his meat for him." She chuckled. "At least with Phillip I'm not afraid to let him have sharp utensils."

  Three hours later, Maggie had left and Jake had finally rolled out of bed. Andi finished chapter twenty-two and moved on to a healthy beginning on twenty-three before she decided to head downstairs for something to eat. Jake was on the couch where she'd curled up the night before, his handheld game beeping and whirring as he fought for the next level.

  "You hungry, honey?" she asked.

  "Nah," he mumbled, not looking up.

  Before she could try again to pull him into conversation, someone knocked at the door. Andi set down the bowl she'd intended to use for cereal and crossed the foyer, peeking out through the peephole. Her gut clenched and she immediately felt sick. Lawrence stood on the other side, a deep scowl twisting his features. The façade of pleasantness was obviously gone.

  Andi took a step back from the door. "Jake, honey, I need you to go upstairs."

  He looked up. "Why?"

  "Please, just go upstairs. Your father is here."

  He rolled off the couch and bolted up the stairs, his face already blanched a stark white. It was a pathetically sad state of things when a boy got that look on his face at the mention of his father. Lawrence knocked again, harder this time, but Andi waited until she knew Jake was safely in his room before she opened the door.

  "What do you want?" she demanded.

  Lawrence pushed past her, not waiting or obviously expecting an invitation to come inside. "I think I've made that abundantly clear, Andrea."

  "And I've made it abundantly clear you're not getting it. If that's why you're here, leave now and save both of us all that wasted time."

  Lawrence turned to face her, and the coldness in his eyes made her breath hitch. He'd worked hard for the last three months to hide that coldness from her, and the fact that he didn't try anymore frightened her more than she wanted to admit.

  "I agree. With this self-centered attitude of yours, frankly, I don't want you as a wife--"

  "Which is convenient, since you have a wife, Lawrence," she snapped off. "What does Leslie think about you spending so much time away from home?"

  "The sad part is how Jacob will suffer for it," Lawrence continued, as if she hadn't spoken at all. "Unless I do something about it."

  Andi laughed. How so like Lawrence to take her decision and turn it around to make it seem like his idea all along. "My self-centered attitude? Lawrence, having an affair is about as self-centered as you can get. You did what you wanted, took what you wanted, and expected everyone else to just fall into line. Hmmm... kind of like your wife."

  "What you're doing is just as self-centered, Andrea."

  Andi smacked her hand against her forehead. "Part of me wants to tell you to go to hell, and yet, part of me is dying to know what I've done to garner this opinion from you of all people."

  "David Bishop."

  Andi squinted at him, wondering when the second head would spring from his shoulder. "David... I would ask you to explain, but I know you will anyway."

  "He's a bad influence."

  "How?"

  "Oh, come on, Andrea. Don't play naïve with me. We both know it's useless. David Bishop is a Hollywood playboy. Next to Las Vegas, Hollywood is Sin City. His type has no moral
compass, no self restraint, and no discretion."

  "Takes one to know one." Andi almost turned to see if Maggie were in the room, or if she'd actually said the words herself.

  "Damn it, Andrea..." He dropped his voice and his eyes slid back and forth as if he hoped no one else might here. "He's a Jew, for God's sake."

  Andi blinked, staring at him. "You screwed Hannah Berger in her father's office," she said, forcing herself not to clear her throat of the foul taste the words left behind. For just a second, Lawrence's eyebrows shot up. He didn't know she knew his Jewish partner's daughter had been on the list of conquests. "You had sex with almost the entire secretarial pool. You f--" She forced herself to stop, biting down on her lip to keep from saying words that would foul her mouth more than effect him. "You can't even tell me how many women you had sex with before I found out. And you want to judge me based on the faith of the man I love?"

  Lawrence slammed his hand down on the counter, making the cookie jar lid rattle. Despite herself, Andi jumped and took a step back. But he followed, closing in on her with his finger pointed in her face. "It's being around people like David Bishop and Margaret Connolly that has changed you, Andrea. Your attitude and your focus is wrong for the mother of a young boy."

  "You're deluded, Lawrence. Maggie has been nothing but wonderful for Jake. She loves him. She treats him like her own son."

  "You're proving my point. What kind of family values will he garner from living with two women -- two women, I might add, who consistently have men coming and going. Staying the night. What are you teaching him?"

  "What are you talking about?" she shouted.

  "David Bishop spent the night here last night--"

  "How do you know that!" she demanded. "My God, Lawrence. Are you stalking me?"

  "The point isn't how I know, it's that he was here. And who knows what kind of men Margaret brings through here."

  "She doesn't bring any men through here!"

  "She's just part of the problem, Andrea. I refuse to allow someone like David Bishop to have influence over my son when I can't be here to guide him myself."

  "You don't have any say over the matter. You don't get to dictate whom I spend my time with. You lost that right the first time you went outside our marriage."

  "With you at home, no man would blame me."

  Andi pulled back, clamping down her jaw. It didn't matter how many years had passed, the truth of it was that Lawrence Bonherre was the only man she'd ever been with intimately, and no matter how much she tried to remember the way David looked at her -- or the way he told her he wanted her -- Lawrence's words hurt deep and tore at old wounds.

  "And this is where you're wrong, Andrea." Lawrence moved in on her again, cornering her against the counter edge and the patio door. "I can dictate who is in my son's life, and I fully intend to practice my rights to do so."

  "Why are you so afraid of David?" she demanded, cursing at the weakness in her voice.

  Lawrence smirked. "The only thing I'm afraid of is what influence that golden boy punk will have over my son, and I won't have Jacob turning into a morally corrupt mama's boy because his mother falls for the first wick thrown in her direction. Once the court sees how pitiful you are, I'm certain they'll decide the boy needs proper male guidance, and not the kind some Hollywood hotshot can give him. Not that I expect him to stick around long."

  Andi crossed her arms over her body and gripped her elbows to hide the tremble in her body.

  "If you couldn't keep me, what makes you think Bishop will settle when there's so much more..."He looked her up and down, his eyes lingering at her breasts long enough to make her skin crawl. "...satisfying fish in the sea. You're just a convenient diversion."

  "Do you ever get tired of hearing yourself speak?" Andi hissed.

  "Am I using too many big words, Andrea? Let me make it simple for you. Remove David Bishop from Jacob's life or I remove Jacob from yours."

  Chapter Seventeen

  "I don't know, Ma. I'll ask her tonight."

  "Honestly, Davey. The way you've avoided bringing her out here, you make me think you don't want Andrea to meet your family."

  David wedged his phone between his ear and shoulder so he could lift the pot of pasta off the stove. He chuckled at the astonishment in his mother's voice. "Ma, she's already met Caroline and Sarah. And if Sarah didn't scare her off, no one will."

  His mother made a sound of admonishment that was laced with too much laughter to be effective. He chuckled with her and dumped the pot of angel hair into a colander.

  "We've been wrapping up the film. Makes it tough to get away, and we'd want to come at least overnight."

  "Sounds like you've talked about it..."

  David grinned. He could almost see the gleam in his mother's eyes. "Yes, we've talked about it." He shifted the phone again. "In fact, we were going to come for Yom Kippur, but..." He trailed off, not finishing the excuse. Bonehead had messed up their plans, as usual. "When things are calmer, we'll come. I promise."

  "Davey..." The weight of an unasked question in his mother's voice made him pause before rinsing the pasta.

  "No, Ma. She's not pregnant," he said before she asked. His mother always claimed she didn't believe anything she read, but she almost always asked about it.

  She tsked. "I know. You would have told me."

  David straightened so he could hold the phone, getting it out of the bend of his shoulder. "You're right, Ma. I would. So, what do you want to know?"

  "I've read a lot about her ex husband. I don't think I've read anything nice."

  "Well, on that..." He turned on the sink to rinse the pasta, swirling it with his fingers. "They are absolutely right. And frankly, Ma, he's part of the reason we haven't come. When I bring Andi to meet you, I want to bring Jake. Her ex husband is making it hard for us to plan anything." He had to fight from grinding his teeth just talking about Bonehead.

  "I guess if you're still trying, she's worth it." There was only the slightest hint of an actual question in her statement.

  "Absolutely, Ma. She's worth it." He smiled when he said it.

  The doorbell chimed, and David glanced at the front entrance. "Ma, someone is here. I gotta go. I love you." He clicked off the phone and set it on the counter. Jogging barefoot across the wood floor, he reached the door just as the chimes rang again. David didn't bother look outside to see who it was since only friends and maintenance people had the code to the front gate.

  Andi stood beneath the overhang of the front door, dark glasses covering her eyes with her arms crossed over her body. With the coming of fall, she'd given up the sexy sundresses he loved so much, but she still managed to flirt with his libido by wearing v-neck sweaters that tended to slide to the side, exposing her collarbone and throat for impromptu kissing, and jeans that hugged her in all the right places.

  "Hey, sweetheart," he said, not even trying to hide his happiness at seeing her. "Were your ears burning? I was just talking about you." He laid his hand on her arm and pulled her inside, kissing her cheek as she moved past him. She turned into him, her lips brushing his cheek, but almost immediately stepped away. David squinted, watching her with a sudden and undeniable sense of dread. "Did I get the plan wrong? I thought I was coming to the house tonight for dinner."

  She nodded but turned her back to him, leaning into the back of the couch. Even with the space between them, he saw the tension in her body. "I needed to talk to you before tonight," she said softly, her voice too rough and too low.

  The dread expanded through his chest.

  "Andi, what's wrong..."

  She sucked in a sharp breath that came out as a bitter laugh. "What gave me away?" she asked, her back still to him.

  David crossed to her and laid his hands on her upper arms. Her entire body tensed and she arched her body away from him to avoid contact. He didn't drop his hands. "Just tell me."

  She turned to face him, but in the same motion moved out of the space between him and the couc
h, walking several feet away before she stopped and crossed her arms over her stomach again. A tremor shifted through her body and she bowed her head. David took a step, but she stumbled back from him as soon as he moved, bumping into the wall leading to the kitchen.

  "Don't. Please," she begged in a painfully low voice.

  "Andi, honey, you've got to tell me what's wrong." What could be wrong to make her move away from him with near panic? "Did something happen?"

  She chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." She wouldn't look right at him, even though the dark glasses hid her eyes, the kind designed to look like sunglasses but slid seamlessly over prescriptions. The problem with those types of glasses was that they were designed to hide everything beneath even more effectively than regular sunglasses. He couldn't see her eyes at all.

  David tried one more time to take a step toward her, and once again the wall stopped her. She made a small, desperate sound, her breath coming in short jerks. He raised his hands and reached for the sunglasses. A similar scene from months before played through his mind... and he remembered what she said.

  "If this were a bad romance novel, then you'd assume that I stepped away from you because I didn't want you to touch me. Which would be wrong, I just stepped back because I need to think, and I don't do that very well when you're touching me."

  "I'm just taking off the glasses. I want to see your face, sweetheart."

  She didn't relax her tense stance, but she didn't try to stop him when he reached again for the glasses. He slipped them off, swallowing hard. Her eyes were closed tight, but he didn't need them to be open to see the results of her tears. Her cheeks were streaked and her skin flushed, her eyes red.

  "Andi, look at me. Please."

  Her eyes fluttered open, and a tear ran free from one, sliding down her cheek to her throat. She made no attempt at wiping it away. David raised his hand to brush the tear away, and she bolted. Before he could turn around she was back to the couch again, bracing herself against the back as if it were the only thing holding her upright.