Say You Love Me (Welcome To Redemption #9)

by Donna Marie Rogers

  He pulled back with a deep, masculine groan and looked up at the sky. “Looks like it. Maybe we should head back.”

  “Do we have to?” she purred, working her hand between them, then sliding it down his lean side, exulting in the quiver of his hard flesh. When she reached his naval, he flipped her onto her back again.

  “You sure?”

  In response, she wrapped her calves around his thighs and twined her arms around his neck, plastering herself against his hard length. The solid ridge of his arousal pressed into her thigh, and she ground against him, needing him with an urgency that should frighten her.

  Mike kissed her forehead, her cheek, her neck, nipping and licking his way down her fevered body, paying sweet attention to every single inch of her. He loved her with his hands, his mouth, stroking her back while running his hot tongue over her aching nipples before closing his mouth over one pebbled peak.

  When he left her breasts to travel farther down, she tensed, both eager and anxious for what he planned to do next. At the first touch of his wet tongue against her most sensitive flesh, Bernie cried out and arched into his mouth. He grasped her ass with both hands, kneading and molding her tender flesh as he brought her to the brink of ecstasy with his lips and tongue.

  “Mike,” she murmured on a sigh, tangling her fingers in his hair, her need for him bordering on desperation. “Please…I want to feel you inside me again.”

  With a muttered curse, he leaned back and stared at her, hard, the raw lust emanating from those desire-darkened eyes powerful and intense. He tore the second condom wrapper open and quickly sheathed himself. She grasped his hard length and guided him to her, wrapping her legs around his waist and moaning when he drove into her with one powerful thrust.

  She briefly met his gaze—her love for this man filling every corner of her heart—then grasped his face and sealed their mouths with hungry abandon, their tongues mating in cadence with their bodies as they rocked and surged together. Bernie clutched his back as their movements grew fast and frenzied.

  Mike hooked one arm under her knee, reared up, and shouted his release at the same time a powerful orgasm gripped her. She cried out and rode the wave with him, her heart near to bursting with love for this amazing man.

  Once again, he disposed of the used condom and gathered her in his arms, this time pulling the edge of the blanket over them as the wind had started to pick up.

  “I guess we’d better head back now,” she murmured, though the last thing she wanted to do was leave the warmth and comfort of his arms. A fat raindrop hit her cheek and she squealed in surprise.

  Mike laughed as they both sat up in a rush. “Talk about perfect timing, hey?”

  They were dressed, packed, and in the boat within minutes, but as luck would have it, the light rain quickly morphed into a stormy deluge. They hunkered down in the boat and managed to fasten the tarp over themselves. Mostly dry, they cuddled in pitch blackness as the stormed raged around them, the waves rocking the boat against the rickety, old dock as the wind kicked up.

  Mike slipped his hand into the top of her monokini and cupped her breast.

  She chuckled. “Really?”

  “Hey, I’ve waited a long time to get you back in my life; I’m not above taking advantage of the situation.”

  With a sigh of anticipation, she twined her fingers in his hair as the storm brewing under the tarp rivaled the ferocity of the one outside.

  Chapter 16

  “You hussy!”

  Bernie grinned over Lindy’s whispered declaration. Still craving the Tomato Gnocchi soup at Coffee To Chai For, the pregnant blonde had asked her to meet for lunch Monday after the weekend.

  The weekend she and Mike reconnected in the most wonderful of ways.

  Her skin tingled just thinking about how fast she’d thrown her inhibitions out the window once they were alone on that beach.

  And under the tarp in her step-father’s speed boat.

  “Hey, no judgment. It had been a long time¸ and the spot was beautiful and secluded—”

  “As if you could see anything under that tarp.” Her friend gave her a big, cheesy wink as she crushed more crackers into the rich tomato bisque.

  “That was after we made love on a beach,” she jokingly defended. “And c’mon, you can’t get more romantic than that.”

  “I’m just teasing,” the pregnant blonde admitted with a grin. She scooped up a spoonful of steaming soup and blew on it before adding, “And it does sound romantic. But raunchy, too. I’ve just never thought of you as the ‘on your knees’ type.”

  Bernie laughed at that. “Well, right back at’cha, princess. And I’m not a prude, I just don’t date much. But I’m as red-blooded and horny as the next girl.”

  Crap, she’d said that much louder than she meant to. She took an inconspicuous look around the shop. When her gaze returned to her friend, they both burst out laughing.

  “Okay, so seriously.” Lindy’s voice lowered. “Where did you two leave things? And what about the other cop…John? It looked as if something might be re-budding between you two at the barbecue, which, frankly, surprised me. Isn’t he the one who…got physical with you?”

  She blew out a hard breath. “There’s nothing between John and me. He’d like there to be more, asked if we could try again, but… Even if Mike and I hadn’t reconnected, it wouldn’t have happened. Not after…you know.”

  “Actually, I don’t know,” Lindy reminded, tilting her head slightly. “You’ve never seemed to want to talk about it, and I didn’t want to pry. But…I’m happy to listen.”

  Bernie knew her friend was curious to know what had happened the night she and John broke up. And, well, it might help to get it off her chest. She’d never told anyone exactly what had happened that night, not wanting to cause John any trouble.

  “He’d taken me to his parents’ place for a family cookout,” she began in a low tone. “And it was a lot of fun…at first. John has a pretty big family—three brothers, five sisters, a dozen nieces and nephews ranging in ages from three to twenty-two. And they all seemed to get along great. I noticed John was drinking a little more than usual, but I figured it was just because he was having such a good time. They were trying to finish up a game of cornhole before the sun set when his oldest brother, Greg, came up and started chatting with me. He’s funny, cracked a few jokes, so we were laughing.

  “Out of the blue, John runs over and gets in Greg’s face, tells him to stay the hell away from me, that he’ll be damned if history was going to repeat itself. They started shoving each other, so I tried to get between them, which was a really stupid idea, I know, but I was in shock. Suddenly, John threw a punch at his brother, who ducked, and he ended up clipping me in the jaw.”

  Lindy’s eyes rounded. “My God…were you okay?”

  “I blacked out, woke up in the house on his parent’s couch. John apologized, drove me home. The next day I called to break things off. He didn’t take it well, so I had to hang up on him. He left me several message begging to let him explain, but the truth is, it didn’t matter. I realized it was best for both of us not to return his calls, and he eventually quit calling.”

  Her boss pursed her lips in thoughtful contemplation. “You weren’t in love with him, were you?”

  Surprised by her insightful conclusion, Bernie admitted, “No. I…tried, but my feelings for him never got past the ‘attracted’ stage. I liked him, I wanted him, we were…good together. But my heart wasn’t in it. And I guess the incident at his parent’s house was sort of my wake-up call.”

  “And you’ve never been curious to know what he meant by ‘history repeating itself?’”

  “I know what he meant, found out a couple weeks later when Greg stopped by to explain. Turns out he and John’s ex-wife were having an affair, and John caught them when he came home from work early one day.”

  “No shit? Wow, that sucks.”

  “I know. And I felt even worse for refusing to hear him out. But ag
ain…” She shrugged.

  Lindy was silent for a moment. “Okay, so, back to Mike. Where did you two leave things?”

  Bernie scraped her potato salad around on her plate as she searched for an answer. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure where she and Mike stood. They’d had amazing sex—emotional, intense, carnal. But once they got back to the cabin, between five kids and three other adults, they hadn’t had a chance to exchange more than a longing glance or two. And before she knew it, Sunday morning breakfast was over, and they were all heading home after lots of hugs and invites to return.

  The best thing to come out of the weekend, however, was the truce between Mike and Noah. Once Noah finally let the anger go and enjoyed himself, father and son had a blast together.

  “I’m not sure,” she finally admitted. “He said he’d give me a call, but I haven’t heard from him yet.”

  “It’s only been a day,” Lindy pointed out. “He probably had a lot going on yesterday, mowing and all those other manly things guys do on the weekend. And he’s at the station today, right? I bet you’ll hear from him—well, speak of the naughty devil,” she finished with a delighted lilt to her voice as she looked toward the front of the shop.

  Her pulse sped up. She forced herself not to spin around like some lovesick school girl.

  Mike walked up to their table and touched her shoulder. “Hey. Hi, Lindy.”

  “Hi, Mike.” Lindy replied, then squinted. “Everything all right?”

  Bernie turned to gaze up at him, surprised to see that handsome face lined with worry, his eyes slightly red, and his mouth pulled taut. She gripped his hand. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “Can I speak to you alone, please?”

  She glanced at her friend, whose eyes now held concern.

  Lindy grabbed her purse and worked her pregnant body out of the booth. “I have to use the restroom anyway.”

  Mike cupped her elbow and helped her to her feet.

  “Thanks.” She gave him a pat on the shoulder and wobbled off.

  He slid into the booth across from Lindy and recaptured her hand. Meeting her gaze, he blew out a hard breath. “I just got a call from Milwaukee Women’s Correctional. Maddie’s mom, Gina…she’s dead.”

  Bernie tightened her grip on his hand, her heart aching for him, and Maddie. She knew very little about his ex, and she certainly had no idea the woman was behind bars. “I’m so sorry. My God, what happened. I mean…you don’t have to tell me.”

  “I want to. Gina…she had a drug problem. Meth. I didn’t know at first, until she was arrested on a DWI with our infant daughter in the car. They searched her and found meth and marijuana. She swore she’d quit then and there, but she was too far gone. A couple months later, she caused a head-on collision, and killed a family of five.”

  He cleared his throat and swallowed. Bernie gave his hand another squeeze.

  “The judge threw the book at her, gave her twenty-five years, not that I blamed him. One of the victims was a little boy around our daughter’s age. I knew she was devastated, wracked with guilt. Which is why she told me she didn’t want Maddie to know about her. Said if I brought her to the prison for a visit, she’d refuse to see us. And I know this is going to sound really awful right now, but I was fine with that. I didn’t think she deserved to know her daughter after what she’d done. Pretty damn judgmental, hey?”

  “Mike,” she murmured, wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and give him the love and support he needed. “Anyone would have felt the same way in your position. I don’t want to sound harsh, but she made her own choices, and the consequences are all on her.”

  He nodded, his eyes bleak. “I told Maddie her mommy lived far, far away, and I didn’t know when she would get to meet her, but that she would someday. Now, that’ll never happen, and I can’t help thinking—”

  “Don’t even go there,” she insisted, reaching out with her other hand to grip his forearm. “She told you she’d refuse to see you if you tried to bring Maddie for a visit. I don’t blame her for feeling that way, and it proves she cared about her daughter enough to do what was best for her. At least, until she was older.”

  “I know, but…I should’ve just taken her down for visits. I should’ve forced—”

  “No, you shouldn’t have. You made the right decision, especially for Maddie’s sake. What if you’d taken her down for visits, and Gina refused to see her, time after time. How would you have explained that to your daughter? That her mother didn’t want to see her? And you are certainly not responsible for…her death.”

  He hung his head for a second and took a couple of deep breaths, then looked back up with a rueful smile. “I had planned to call and ask you to have lunch, but then I got the call about Gina, and it really threw me. All I wanted to do was find you and go somewhere private. Just talking to you calms me.”

  She smiled reassuringly, warmed by his admission. “I’m glad. Anything you need, just let me know.”

  Relief softened the harsh brackets around his mouth, and he turned her hands over, massaging her palms. “This is going to sound silly, maybe, but Maddie’s been begging me for a pet of her own for a while now. I was thinking…my mom has a litter of kittens coming in Wednesday. She said there’s a fluffy gray and white one Maddie would love. I could take her after school and tell her the kitten is a gift from her mother who had to go to heaven.”

  Tears stung her eyes. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. That way, it’ll be like having a part of her mother with her.”

  “Good, okay.” He sat up, blew out a quick breath, as if he’d been holding it in anticipation of her response, and gave his hair a quick finger comb. “I was hoping you and Noah might join us. I know it’s still fresh for Noah, losing his parents. But he seemed to take a liking to Maddie, and he’s pretty much all she’s talked about since we got home. Maybe he could help her get through it. Maybe they could help each other.”

  Like siblings should. “I think that would be great. And, I don’t know if you overheard our conversation on the weekend, but apparently, Jeff teased Maddie a bit Saturday while we were gone, and Noah stuck up for her. Mom said he got pretty heated, and Missy had to step in, explain to Jeff that while it might be okay to tease his sisters, he shouldn’t tease young ladies he doesn’t know. I guess things calmed down fairly quickly after that, and the boys went back to playing video games as if nothing happened.”

  A slight smile curved his lips. “Yeah, Maddie said Noah was her hero, and Jeff was a poophead.”

  Bernie chuckled softly. “I’m glad, though I do worry about Noah’s temper sometimes.”

  “He’ll grow out of it, don’t worry. He’s a good kid. I have no doubt of that. And he’s obviously a champion of women. That’s a definite plus.”

  She nodded, though a sharp pang of guilt and regret—something becoming all too familiar lately—cramped her stomach. “I agree. I was happy to hear he’d protected his…new friend.”

  “Me, too.”

  She smiled and took a sip of her strawberry lemonade. “Noah and I will be happy to meet you at your mom’s pet shop. But…would you and Maddie like to have dinner with us tonight? Though, maybe tomorrow would work better. I’m sure you’ll want to be with your family when you tell Maddie about…her mother.”

  “Actually, tonight would be perfect. My mom won’t be home from the shop until late, and Grace headed back to Chicago to pick up some of her things. She won’t get back until tomorrow.”

  “Great. I have a nice, big pot roast in the slow cooker. Six o’clock?”

  “Sounds good, we’ll be there.” He cocked a brow. “Wait…you cook?”

  “Um, I’m a very good cook, thank you very much,” she informed him, feigning offense.

  He grinned. “Sorry. I remember it wasn’t exactly your forte back in the day.”

  “I was fifteen,” she countered with a laugh. “And watch it or I’ll make liver for dinner instead.”

  Chapter 17

 
“Wow, that sucks,” Noah said in his fourteen-year-old succinct way after Bernie explained about Maddie’s mom, and why they were going to meet them at the pet shop Wednesday after school.

  “It’s sad to think she’ll never get to know her mother,” she said in agreement.

  “Yeah. And I guess it’s pretty cool of her dad to buy her a pet and say it’s from her mom, like a gift from heaven.” He filled a glass with water from the tap and gulped it down before adding. “Sounds like something my dad would’ve done.”

  Several emotions hit her at once, but she struggled to keep her face expressionless. “Yes, it does. And please don’t mention it to her. I don’t know if Mike told her yet.”

  “I won’t say anything.”

  “Also, I was hoping, since you know how she’s feeling, you might talk to her tonight, make sure she’s all right?”

  He shrugged and headed for the stairs. “I can do that.”

  Bernie walked into the kitchen and glanced at the clock, feeling somewhat anxious. Ten to six. They should be here any minute.

  She moved to the counter, lifted the stack of plates, and started setting the table. The pot roast, she knew, was falling-apart tender, and surrounded by beautifully roasted carrots. A big bowl of fluffy mashed potatoes sat on the stove, along with a boatful of rich gravy, fresh-baked brown and serve rolls were keeping warm in a covered basket, and a large pan of cherry cobbler sat cooling on the counter. She’d just finished putting out the silverware when the doorbell rang. After a quick look in the hall mirror, she hurried off to answer it.

  She took a quick breath, then swung the door open. Mike held his daughter’s hand, and when he met her gaze, a smile of relief erased the pensive lines from around his mouth. “Hi.”

  “Hi. Come on in.” She moved aside and waved them in. “I’m really glad you could make it.”

  They stepped into the foyer, and that’s when she realized Maddie’s face bore signs of crying, from the red-rimmed eyes, to the damp cheeks. Her heart ached for the little munchkin.