by Nancy Warren
“What is going—”
“Shh!” Laura said again, and dashed to the radio to turn up the volume.
“Congratulations!” The DJ boomed across his kitchen. “You’re the sixth caller.”
Some girl, who could have been either of his daughters, screamed, “I can’t believe it! You’re kidding!”
“No, I’m not,” the DJ promised her, and she screamed again.
“You and your three best friends will be going to see the Bravo Boys in concert when the Bravo World tour hits Seattle next month.”
“I can’t believe we were so close,” Jessie wailed.
“And that’s not all. Our very special prize package includes a backstage visit with the boys and an autographed CD.”
More screaming from the radio. More groaning from the twins. Seth was getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and his good mood was ebbing. “What was that all about?”
“The Bravo Boys concert. You can win tickets from the radio,” Laura informed him.
“I figured that part out. The bit I don’t get is what you two would do with tickets.” He kept his voice carefully neutral.
A desperately anxious, pleading expression suffused both faces. “Please, Daddy. Please, can we go? If we win the tickets, it won’t cost a thing.”
“You girls are ten. Do you seriously think I’d let you go to a rock concert at ten years old?”
“But Daddy, it’s the Bravo Boys.”
“Maybe when they grow up to be the Bravo Men, you’ll be old enough to go. Finish your breakfast or we’ll be late.”
“Janet Suche’s mother’s letting her go.”
Deliberately, he switched the radio back to his news station. Although he could have saved himself the effort. The world could have ended and he wouldn’t have heard a thing over the commotion in the kitchen. Cajoling turned to pleading turned to shouting, until he finally snapped, “Not one more word. Go upstairs and brush your teeth.”
“I bet Mom would have let us go,” Laura sobbed as she stomped out of the kitchen.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“JAPONICA, I THINK,” Melissa mused aloud, sketching a low bush into her design.
“Apple tree,” Alice murmured gravely, a beat behind her mother, her chubby fingers busy with a green crayon, a look of utter absorption on her face.
It had been a hell of a week. The twins were snarly and miserable because they couldn’t go and see that ridiculous boy band they were so hot for. Matthew was snarly and miserable because he was missing his weekend baseball clinic with Seth—even though Seth had come home from work early on Wednesday—in the rain—so he and Matthew could fit in their practice.
The weather all week had been as miserable as the kids. Rainy and dreary.
Only Alice remained sunny, but at three she hadn’t got the hang of laying on a guilt trip yet. A couple of years and she’d be right up there.
Plus, this landscape design thing was starting to build. She’d been up until midnight almost every night this week working on designs for a second display home by the same company doing another subdivision, and on designs for several of the new homeowners.
All of which was good since it took her mind off the big weekend. The sun had suddenly arrived, which seemed like a good omen, but now there were only hours to go and she was as nervous as she’d ever been. Ridiculous. Seth was a nice man she’d known for months. It was a weekend away to relax.
She almost laughed aloud. Relax? Oh, yeah. That was going to happen.
Maybe she should call it off. Now. Before anyone got hurt.
Or rejected.
Or had to bare their sorry ass in front of a stranger.
She sighed and explained to Alice once again that nice Mrs. Lowenthal, whom the kids had already met and liked, was coming to stay with her. Alice hadn’t been too sure about the arrangement until she’d found out that the twins were staying over, too. This made the weekend a major treat for her.
Melissa was all packed, every muscle sore from her week-long fitness marathon. She was shaved, plucked, exfoliated, manicured and pedicured.
Damn it, she was as ready as she’d ever be.
It was normal to be nervous taking on a new lover, she reassured herself. Once she got that first time out of the way, she’d be fine.
Mrs. Lowenthal got there not long after the kids got home from school and they all shared a snack together. Then Seth arrived and gave everybody a hearty hello. He barely looked at Melissa, but when he did she felt breathless. The gleam in his eyes was unmistakably carnal.
No, she thought, relaxed would not describe how she felt.
“How come we can’t come again?” Matthew asked in his best whiny tone.
“Shut up, dork,” Jessie said.
Instead of chastising her, Seth ignored the interruption and spoke to Matthew. “Because it would be boring for you guys. We’re looking at gardens to give your mom some ideas for her work.” He flicked a glance at his watch. “And we should go now, so we can get some good hours in before dark.”
Matthew stared at Seth as though he was completely letting down the guy team. “Gardens? A whole weekend of gardens?”
Mrs. Lowenthal rose with tactful timing. “Have a wonderful time. We’re going to be fine. I’ve got games and books and movies, and the older girls are going to help me take care of the little one, aren’t you girls?” They nodded. “And Matthew, as the man of the house, will have a great deal of responsibility.”
Matthew still looked belligerent, but she could see his chest swell with the implied compliment. Yes, she thought, Mrs. Lowenthal was going to be fine.
Seth was wearing a fine wool shirt, open at the neck, and jeans she hadn’t seen before. She wondered if they were new.
After they’d kissed everybody and got into his car, she said, “I can’t believe you lied to those children. Gardens indeed.”
He pulled smoothly out of the cul-de-sac and headed for I-5. “I did not lie. I have a surprise for you.”
He wouldn’t say any more, and she decided to sit back and enjoy the spring sunshine in the Pacific Northwest—and the fact that she had Seth all to herself.
They headed north, and she realized she didn’t even know where they were going. Nor did she care. They had plenty to talk about, including the kids and her business ideas. One thing about Seth—he was an excellent sounding board, she’d found. He listened to her, and his advice was always sensible. “You know,” she said, turning her head to look at him, “You are my favorite banker.”
He lifted her hand from the seat between them and pressed it to his lips. “And you are my favorite client.”
“Delinquent payments and all?” She was making her payments now that the grace period was up, and managing to scrape by. But she still had middle-of-the-night terrors when she wondered if she was going to make it.
They left the highway and meandered through farmland. It wasn’t until she saw the first sign that she clued in. She laughed. “The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival?”
“Gardens,” he said smugly. “I promised you gardens.”
Soon they saw them. Fields and fields of tulips. Rainbows of tulips in every color. “Do you know, I’ve never been here before?” How odd. It wasn’t far from home and she, who loved flowers, had never made the trip.
“I’m glad,” he said. “I want everything this weekend to be different.”
Her stomach lurched. Everything?
He followed the signs, parked in a slightly muddy lot and they got out of the car.
Then he reached for her hand and the warmth that both soothed and aroused her was in his gaze. He brushed her lips in a quick kiss and walked her into the rainbow of flowers.
She read all the signs and wandered every path. She couldn’t believe the colors. It was almost magical.
He wanted to buy her a bunch of tulips on their way out, and she couldn’t decide between the cheerful yellow, soft pink, brilliant purple and creamy white. So he bought her a bunch of each.
And then they drove on to a resort she’d seen written up in magazines and had always wanted to visit.
Layton Lodge was on a large, wooded property overlooking the ocean. It offered first-class accommodation, a renowned restaurant, golf, tennis, wilderness hiking trails and a spa.
“Tell me you haven’t been here, either,” he said, as they drove through the gates and she voiced her excitement.
“No. I never have.”
He let out a sigh of relief. She understood how he felt. “You?”
“No.” He gripped her hand for a moment, over the colorful riot of tulips. “Fresh start.”
Their room was wonderful. Overlooking the ocean, furnished with modern luxury in mind. Of course, like most hotel rooms, this one was dominated by the bed. A huge bed. A monstrous bed. The king of king-size beds. As though the room were obsessed with sex.
He tipped the bellboy and, as the door shut behind the pimply young man, silence descended.
She knew he was looking at her but felt too shy to return his gaze. She walked over to her suitcase, sitting so neatly on a built-in rack, and unzipped it. The sound was as loud as a scream in the quite room.
“Would you like a glass of wine?” Seth asked her as she removed her toiletry case and headed for the bathroom. She turned and saw a tray with wine and fruit that seemed to have come with the room. “I made a dinner reservation for eight.”
“Yes, please.” At least it would give them something to do before dinner.
The bathroom was marble luxury. She put her bag on the counter and filled drinking glasses with water for the tulips.
She fussed around, putting water glasses full of tulips all over the room. Then, it took all of two minutes to hang her single dress and her robe. She hesitated before deciding to leave her underwear and the silk nightgown where they were.
She rezipped her case and, with nothing left to do, crossed the room to accept the glass of wine Seth had poured. She caught him staring at her and took a big gulp of wine. “Are you as nervous as I am?” she finally asked.
“I don’t think so,” he said, with a shred of humor.
“I’m a wreck.”
“Don’t be.”
She gazed at him. “It’s been so long,” she whispered.
“For me, too.”
“There’s been no one since…?”
A flicker of pain crossed his face. “No.”
She reached for his hand, feeling stronger now that she knew he was struggling, too. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
He squeezed her fingers. “Funny, I thought that was going to be my line.”
Putting her glass down, she reached for him, touching his face. Kissing him, realizing the sex thing was going to be a big issue until they dealt with it. “Maybe we should just go to bed and get it over with.”
She felt his hands run up her back, tangle in her hair. He tumbled her to his lap and deepened the kiss. “No,” he said, when he finally lifted his head, his eyes dark with passion and his lips wet from her mouth. “I’ve wanted you from the first day I saw you.” He kissed her again. “There will be no ‘getting it over with.’ I plan to take my time with you.”
Tremors of desire ran over her skin at his words. And the passion she’d locked away for so long suddenly burst its bounds. She moaned, deep in her throat, and kissed him back.
“Melissa,” he whispered into her hair, his hands unsteady as he reached for her pale blue sweater, pulling it up and over her head with help from her own unsteady hands.
She’d imagined their first time together would be tonight, after dinner, that she’d change in the bathroom and emerge in her full-length nightgown with her hair and teeth brushed. Not that she’d find herself tangled in her sweater and jeans, feverish with need, that she’d be tugging him out of his clothes with abandon, as restlessly and urgently as he was stripping her.
She tasted wine on his tongue and the same need she felt racing through her veins. When she nearly toppled off the chair, she grabbed for the table just in time. He laughed. She’d never heard him sound so carefree. He scooped her up, jeans and all, and carried her to the bed.
He finished undressing her slowly, kissing random parts of her as they emerged. Her shoulder, the slope of her breast, her belly, her hip, her knee. She’d imagined making love with him would be searing and emotional. But it was fun. Maybe there was a strong current of searing emotion underneath what they were doing, but right now she felt like those tulips. Fresh and just coming into bloom.
When they were both naked, he said, “Hang on a second,” and walked, unembarrassed and gorgeous, to his case. He returned with a box of condoms. Thank goodness. Her last anxiety fled. She’d bought a few herself, but she was glad he was taking care of it.
As he placed the box on the bedside table she couldn’t help teasing him, “The jumbo box?”
He grinned down at her. “I bought two of them.”
Then he kissed her slowly, his bare body coming against hers so she felt her entire body taking part in that kiss.
She wrapped herself around him, giving and taking comfort, intimacy and pleasure. Oh, such pleasure. He found her secret places, learned her body as she learned his. When he entered her she had an awful moment when she caught a glimpse of raw pain in his eyes. As though he couldn’t bear to let her see his hurt, he closed his eyes and kissed her fiercely.
She had seen, though, and she even understood. He was making love with another woman. He was pushing his wife a little further away. Even as the knowledge of his emotional pain hurt her, she gave him what solace she could. She was here, and warm and alive. After that first bad minute, she felt him come back to her from that dark place where he’d been. And then he made love to her like she’d never been loved before.
Ultimately, they cancelled their dinner reservation and ordered room service. Which they ate in bed.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
FOR A BEWILDERED MOMENT, Melissa didn’t know where she was. Soft light filtered through strange curtains, displaying unfamiliar furniture and a room that wasn’t her own. As she reoriented herself in the hotel room, and consciousness returned fully, so did her memory of last night.
Last night…
A smug little smile pulled at her lips while she thought about last night. She snuggled backward a little closer into the warm weight of Seth sleeping beside her in the bed. She heard a rustling movement and then felt his lips on the nape of her neck in a sleepy caress. “How are you feeling this morning?” he whispered.
“If I were a cat, I’d be purring,” she admitted. She turned her head to gaze at Seth, almost unable to believe she could experience so much uncomplicated pleasure in one night. She caught the tail end of a very self-satisfied grin as he tried to swallow it.
“Bet I could make you purr louder,” he challenged, trailing a hand to her breast.
“Ow,” she said, as she felt his stubbled cheek rub against her tender skin. “You need a shave.”
He kissed the place he’d scraped, making her sigh, then he said, “Don’t move,” and bounded out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
Without knowing she was doing it, she snuggled over onto his side of the bed, where it was still warm from his body and smelled faintly of him. Through the open bathroom door came the sounds of water swishing, then Seth’s voice, distorted as though he were talking while shaving. “What do you want to do today?”
She wanted to stay in that bed and make love. She was all keyed up and waiting for him to finish shaving. Had he lost interest so quickly? In a voice that sounded like one of the twins after she’d been told “no” to the Bravo Boys concert for the fiftieth time, she answered, “I don’t know.”
“I thought maybe we’d drive to La Conner for breakfast. A very late breakfast,” he said, striding out of the bathroom and toward the bed with an expression on his face that told her he hadn’t lost interest at all.
“Oh, after.” She flipped up the covers to let him back in the be
d. “That would be good.”
Then he kissed her and she forgot all about La Conner. All about everything but the sensations bubbling through her body. The soapy clean scent of shaving cream and the taste of toothpaste on his lips. With a sigh of utter pleasure, she closed her eyes and began drifting toward the stars.
Some time later, she awoke for the second time.
“They’ll be serving dinner, not breakfast, if we don’t get going soon,” she mumbled against Seth’s ear.
“Room service,” he huffed into the pillow.
“Not again,” she giggled. “Anyhow, I need a break,” she groaned, struggling to a stand. “I’ve found muscles I didn’t know I had.”
The bathroom seemed to have moved four miles farther from when Seth had made the trip earlier. She felt his eyes on her naked back and wanted to cover her drooping posterior and bolt. But pride, and something else—a new-found sense of herself—held her to a slower pace. More a speed walk than a fifty-yard dash.
“Did anybody ever tell you you have a great ass?” His voice stopped her at the bathroom doorway.
“Not in about a hundred years.”
He chuckled. “Bet they were thinking it. I know I was.”
Since she couldn’t think of a thing to say, she shut the door. Had nine days of video workouts done that much for her figure? She twisted around to get a better look at her backside in the mirror. It looked about the same as it had a week ago. But if he didn’t care, why should she?
She made a face at herself in the mirror. Then did a double take. Was that really her? That woman with the tousled hair, swollen lips and bright, sparkling eyes? That was the face of a woman who’d spent the greatest night of her life making love to a considerate, inventive and humorous lover.
She stepped into the shower and let the hot water pummel her naked body. She experienced a new awareness of the way the water felt against her skin, the way the soap slid across the slope of her breasts, the way her flesh glowed pink and healthy as she toweled herself after.
She emerged with the slightest twinge of shyness. It was, after all, full daylight now. No more darkness and closed-eyed caresses. They’d be looking each other in the eye all day. Talking. And all the time, this new sex thing would be between them.