by Sharon Sala
If Bennie was willing to marry him, to take him and his kind of love without expecting more, then he was willing to put aside his old dreams.
But had he waited too late? Rene had hinted that there was someone new in Bennie’s life, someone who was going to be around on a permanent basis. And when he’d asked Rene exactly how Bennie felt about this person, she had grinned and said, “Oh, I think love and a lifetime commitment are definitely involved.”
On Monday night after Christmas, Holt drove by Bennie’s apartment. When he saw her Grand Am under the carport, he whipped his Jag into the driveway and parked. But he sat there for a few minutes, garnering enough courage to face her. Get out of this car and go ring her doorbell, he told himself. If she slams the door in your face, you’ll have your answer.
Ten minutes later, his stomach tied in knots, he rang the doorbell and waited.
Bennie opened the door. Her mouth rounded into a startled oval. “Holt!”
“Hi.”
“Hello.”
He nodded to the interior of the apartment. “Mind if I come in?”
“Oh, no…I mean, yes. Of course, come in.” She stepped back to allow him entrance, then closed the door behind him when he walked into the tiny foyer. “Please, go on into the living room.”
“I’m not interrupting anything am I?” He glanced around the room, checking to see if they were alone.
“No, you’re not interrupting anything,” she said. “I just got in from Montgomery about an hour ago. I went home for Christmas.”
“Did you have a nice trip?” He tapped his fingertips on the sides of his thighs.
“Very nice.”
Her warm smile hit him like a hard punch in the stomach. Bennie was so pretty. And tonight she seemed to be glowing. Looks like she hasn’t been pining away for you, he told himself.
“Won’t you sit down?” She waved her hand, motioning towards the sofa. “Would you care for a drink or maybe coffee?”
“Nothing, thanks.” Sitting on the edge of the sofa, he dangled his hands between his spread knees. “How are you doing, Bennie? I’ve been worried about you. But you look great.”
She sat down in a rocker across from the sofa, then placed her folded hands in her lap. The last thing she wanted was for Holt to notice she was trembling. “I’m fine. How about you?”
“I’m doing okay.”
“Did you spend Christmas with—”
Holt shot up off the sofa and began pacing the floor. “I’m not doing okay. As a matter of fact I’m doing lousy.”
“I’m sorry that you’re—”
He rushed toward her. “Don’t lie to me, honey. You’re not sorry at all. You planned it this way. You knew that if you walked out on me, I’d never be able to get along without you.”
Bennie’s heartbeat accelerated at an alarming pace. “Rene told me that you’ve tried three different assistants since I resigned and none of them have worked out. Just give it time. You’ll eventually find someone perfect for the job.”
Holt stood right in front of her, his blue eyes focused on her face. “You were perfect for the job. I want you to come back to Jackson Construction.”
“I can’t. I—”
“I want you to come back to me, Bennie.” He reached down, took her hands and lifted her out of the rocker. “I can’t make it without you, honey.” He pulled her into his arms. “These three months without you have been pure hell.”
“I really am sorry that you’ve found me irreplaceable, but there’s no way I can return to the company. Besides, once you’re married, I’m sure your wife wouldn’t like the idea that one of your former lovers is working as your assistant.”
“What wife?” He tried to kiss her, but she turned her head.
“Your suitable wife,” Bennie said. “You know, the one with the blue blood.”
“I’ve decided that I prefer hot-blooded women over blue-blooded ones.” Cupping her hip with one hand, he brought their bodies intimately together. “And since you’re the most hot-blooded woman I know, I want you.”
Bennie felt confused and bedazzled all at the same time. Was Holt saying that she thought he was saying—or was she, once again, reading him wrong?
“I’m afraid what you want isn’t a top priority in my life anymore,” she said. Our child is what’s important now.
Grabbing her by the shoulders, Holt glared at her. “So, Rene was right, there is someone new in your life, isn’t there?”
“Rene told you that—” She realized Holt thought there was another man in her life. She barely restrained the smile that threatened her lips. “Yes, there is someone new. Someone who means a great deal to me.”
Holt released his hold on her. “I’m not going to let some other man have you,” he said in a deadly calm voice.
“Do you love me?” she asked.
“Is that it? You think this man loves you?” With the utmost tenderness, Holt cupped her face with his hands. “Can he give you the kind of love you want? All the romantic garbage people tell themselves to justify the reason they can’t keep their hands off each other?”
“Do you think you could ever give me the kind of love I want?”
“Probably not, honey,” he admitted. “You know how I feel about all that crazy love stuff. But I can tell you this—I want you and I need you more than anything on earth. And without you, my life isn’t worth a damn. Since you left, all I can think about is you. I never realized how truly important you are to me.”
“Oh, Holt.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “You idiot. Don’t you realize that what you feel for me is love?”
“Maybe it is.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. But will it be enough? Would you marry a guy who can’t say the words?”
“If I loved him and knew that he loved me, I could live without the words. At least I could wait until he was able to say them to me.”
Holt closed his eyes and prayed that he wasn’t too late, that whatever Bennie felt for this new guy wasn’t half as strong as what she’d once felt for him. “Do you still love me?” he asked.
“I never stopped loving you for one minute.”
He brought his lips down on hers, passionately, provocatively. When she wrapped her arms around his waist, he grasped the back of her head with one hand and deepened the kiss. The kiss went on and on, until they were both breathless.
Holt lifted her in his arms, then dropped down in the rocker and placed her in his lap. “Will you marry me, Bennie?”
Chapter 8
“I’ll marry you, if…” Bennie smiled mischievously as she draped her arm around Holt’s neck.
“If what?” He frowned, creating worry lines across his brow.
“If you’ll take me to bed and make wild, hot, passionate love to me.” She planted a quick, hard kiss on his lips. “One night with you wasn’t nearly enough. As a matter of fact I’m not sure a lifetime of nights with you will be enough.”
“Honey, you’ve got yourself a deal.” Holt laughed, the sound boisterously happy.
He rose from the rocker, with her in his arms, and glanced around the living room. “Which way to the bedroom?”
“Left and down the hall.”
The door to her bedroom stood open. Her unpacked suitcase lay on the floor by the closet. A table lamp illuminated the room with a soft, creamy radiance.
Holt set her on her feet beside her fancy iron bed, then slowly began undressing her. Her hands reached out for him, her fingers fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. Helping her, he shucked off his sport coat. It fell to the carpeted floor. Then he finished undoing his shirt. She spread the material back to reveal his naked chest. Laying her hands on him, she breathed deeply.
When he pressed his lips to hers, the kiss turned wild within seconds. Overcome with their sexual hunger, Holt and Bennie lost themselves to their desire. In between passionate kisses, they undressed each other. Aroused and ready, Bennie drew Holt into the bed with her.
“I want you,” he murmured. �
��Now!”
“Then don’t wait this time,” she told him. “We have all night for slow loving, don’t we?”
“We have the rest of our lives.”
His mouth worked hers, tasting, licking and probing. She writhed against him, her hands skimming his body. The moment his mouth encompassed one tight nipple, her hips bucked up and Holt entered her quickly. He was hard and hot and filled her completely.
“I love you. I love you,” she chanted as he drove into her with fierce pleasure.
He silenced her cries by covering her mouth with his. And just when he felt he couldn’t hold off any longer, Bennie whimpered, then trembled, as fulfillment claimed her. Her release triggered his. He jetted into her, his big body shaking with the force of his completion.
They lay together on top of the damask cream-colored coverlet, naked and sated, his lips against her temple, her arm draped across his chest.
“When will you marry me?” Holt caressed her hip.
“How about this Saturday?”
“New Year’s Eve?”
“Remember, I wanted to be married by the millennium.”
“But what’s the rush, honey?”
She curled his chest hair around her finger. “I think I’ve waited long enough for you. Five whole years. Besides, I have no intention of giving you time to change your mind.”
“Won’t happen,” he told her. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re mine now. For keeps.” He cupped her chin with his hand, tilting her face toward his. “What are you going to do about this other guy?”
“Other guy? Oh, you mean the new person in my life.” Bennie pursed her lips as if contemplating the situation. “I’m afraid you’ll just have to take both of us—we’re a package deal.”
Holt shot straight up in bed.
“No way!”
Bennie smiled, then giggled and finally burst into laughter. Holt glared at her as if she’d lost her mind. She sat up in bed beside him, but when she reached out to touch him, he pulled away.
“Aren’t you willing to share me with your son or daughter?” she asked innocently.
“No, I won’t share you with—did you say my son or daughter?”
“Mm-hm. You see, I wasn’t totally honest with you about the pregnancy test.”
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Then this new person in your life is—”
“Your son or your daughter.”
Holt grabbed Bennie, crushing her to him. “You really know how to torment a guy, don’t you? Having Rene drop all those hints about your loving and being committed to some new person in your life. And all the while…” His big hand glided down over her rib cage and around to her belly. “When will you start showing?”
“Soon. I already feel like my stomach’s bigger.” She laid her hand over his.
“What if I hadn’t come here tonight? Would you never have let me know about the baby?” The thought that he might have lost not only Bennie, but the child she carried, tied knots in his gut.
“I don’t know what I’d have done,” she admitted. “I didn’t want you to marry me because I was pregnant.”
“I’m sorry that I’ve been such a fool. When I think of all the time I’ve wasted holding on to a stupid idea about the ideal wife, I could kick my own rear end.”
“You don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to do that for you.” Giggling, she hugged and kissed him.
He held her close, grateful that he hadn’t lost her. Thankful that she hadn’t given up on him long ago. She was more than he deserved and he intended to spend the rest of his life showing her just how important she was to him.
“About our wedding,” she said.
“I suppose we could get married at the courthouse or possibly find a minister, but five days is pretty short notice. We can go tomorrow for blood tests and then get our license. I’m sorry we don’t have time for a really nice wedding. I know things like that are important to you women.”
“You wouldn’t mind a fancy affair?’ she asked. “White gown, tuxedo, lots of flowers and a limousine to take us off on our honeymoon?”
“Honeymoon! I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. I can call tonight and book reservations.”
She painted a trail of featherlight kisses down his neck and across his shoulder. “You never answered my question about a fancy wedding.”
Holt arched his neck and shuddered. “Whatever you want, but, honey, on such short notice—”
“Believe me, my mother can perform miracles on short notice,” Bennie assured him, with a deviously satisfied smile on her face. “Why don’t you leave the wedding and the honeymoon plans to me? I’ll call my mother later tonight and tell her to get everything set for us and we’ll come in Friday for a rehearsal before the big day.”
“Aren’t you asking an awful lot of your mother? I mean how can she come up with a dress for you, let alone plan a whole wedding?”
“She’s always wanted me to wear her wedding dress, and considering I’m about the size she was when she and Daddy got married, I’m pretty sure it won’t need alterations.”
“Does your family know you’re pregnant?” Holt asked.
“My mother does, but not my brothers.” She ruffled his short blond hair. “I didn’t want them coming after you with a shotgun.”
“Your mother probably hates me. That’s a fine way to go into a marriage, with a mother-in-law already despising you.”
“If you make an honest woman out of me, she’ll forgive you.”
“Do you suppose we should ask Rene to the wedding?” Holt chuckled.
“As a matter of fact, I’m counting on Rene being my maid of honor and probably godmother to our child.”
“Yeah, I suppose she deserves both honors, considering how hard she’s worked to get us together.”
Before Bennie could respond, Holt slid his hand between her legs. When he touched her intimately, she sighed and wrapped herself around him.
“Let’s save the talking for later,” he said.
And they did.
Mary Bennett was no middle-class housewife living in a split level home built in the fifties. She was, according to Bennie, one of the wealthiest women in the South, having inherited two sizable fortunes—one from her parents and one from her husband. And the home Bennie had grown up in was larger and more elegant than any of the houses where Holt’s mother had worked as a maid.
Yesterday, when the iron gates to Roseland opened for his Jag to enter, Holt had asked Bennie if this was the country club.
“This is where we’ve having our wedding,” she’d told him.
“Can your mother afford a place like this?” He had offered to pay for the wedding, but Bennie had told him her mother insisted on paying for everything.
“The owner is perfectly agreeable to our having the wedding and reception here.”
“Does your mother work for these people?”
“Not exactly.”
“One of your brothers works for them?”
“No.”
About that time the house had come into view and Holt had been temporarily rendered speechless.
The butler, who’d opened the door, had referred to Bennie as Miss Marianne. It was about that time when Holt started having a really peculiar feeling in his gut. Like he was walking into a trap and was powerless to escape.
“Marianne!” Mary Bennett had enfolded her daughter in her arms, then surveyed Holt from head to toe and offered him her hand.
After the introductions to Bennie’s two older brothers—one a banker and the other the CEO of Bennett Industries—and their wives and children, Holt had lost all sense of reality. He did remember that Robert Bennett III had fathered three adorable little boys and his younger brother, Lloyd Bennett, had produced a set of equally adorable twin girls. Other than that, most of last evening was a blur.
But this morning he had awakened in a guest bedroom as big as his entire apartment and realized that not only were
Bennie and the baby going to be his, but so was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. His beautiful, smart, sassy Bennie was an honest-to-goodness blue blood.
She’d brought him breakfast on a silver try and asked him, almost timidly, if he forgave her for neglecting to mention that she was an heiress and was indeed a member of the DAR and could trace her ancestry back to the shores of England.
“I wanted you to love me for myself,” she’d said. “Not my prestigious lineage or my sizable trust fund or—”
He’d tumbled her into his bed and reassured her with a ravishing kiss. But when he’d tried to persuade her to fool around a little on their wedding day, she’d told him he’d just have to wait until tonight.
Mary Bennett had performed a minor miracle in preparing her home for a small, elegant wedding. But then money talks and Bennie’s mother had enough to shout from the rooftops.
Holt’s brothers stood at his side. Bennie had put her foot down when Mary had said only one best man.
“Holt has two brothers. How is he suppose to choose between them?”
That was when Holt learned that his mother-in-law would never interfere in their lives. Bennie wouldn’t allow it!
When he heard the music, performed by piano, harp and string quartet, Holt tensed. Leaning his head to the right, he whispered, “You’ve got the ring, don’t you?”
“I’ve got it,” his brother Jim said. “Just settle down. You’re going to live through this.”
Holt wanted to loosen his collar and take off the bow tie, but instead he stood ramrod straight in his black tuxedo and focused his gaze on the white velvet aisle leading from the enormous front parlor out into the hall. Bennie’s four-year-old twin nieces, decked out in hand-smocked cream dresses, edged in heavy lace, scattered rose petals as they strolled down the aisle. Rene followed the girls. She looked as nervous as Holt felt.