Mara scampered off to the kitchen, and his dad waved him to the loveseat and easy chairs by the window.
Robert noticed his palms were clammy. Wow. His palms never sweat. And what the hell was with the lumpy seat cushion? Wriggling uncomfortably until his butt stopped complaining, Robert swiped his hands on his thighs and cleared the lump in his throat.
Was it hot in here? Shit. He pulled on his collar. A whiff of coffee in the air made him grimace. What he needed was the ice bucket challenge, not a hot cup of caffeine.
He noticed a stack of car magazines teetering too close to the edge of a credenza, and it looked like a good, stiff breeze would send the whole lot crashing to the floor. And then something flashed or blinked in his peripheral vision. His father was having a chuckle about something as he typed on his phone. For no reason other than it fit the surrealness of the moment, a Monty Python sketch exploded in his mind.
His dad chuckled again right before setting the phone aside. Mara’s laughter made it all the way from the kitchen to the study. Robert frowned and wondered what was so funny.
“Robbie,” his dad began. He sounded serious, but there was an amused gleam in his expression. “It’s not easy when two adults with history get together and make a different kind of family. Your mom and I love you and Kristal. We did okay, didn’t we? With the whole blended family thing.”
The most significant part of his father’s statement was acknowledging Mara as his mom. That all-important fact, based on twenty years of closeness, was part of the very reason he and Kristal were nervous.
“We never wanted any of our children to feel different or exist in a separate category. We were lucky that you and Kristal were good kids to begin with. Mara and I went into this with a commitment to be the best damn family we could.”
He nodded and thought, Yeah. That describes the Devin-Peyton marriage perfectly.
Mara’s cheerful voice called out from the end of the hallway. “Wrap up the father-son time, boys! And clear a spot for a tray.”
“She’s a bossy little thing,” his dad muttered with a good-natured smirk. “Learn to recognize the absolutes, son. Every woman has ’em. With your mom, one of her absolutes is this: if she makes it, everyone damn well better enjoy it. Pretending not optional.”
The offhand remark brought Robert out of his nervous daze. He found his laughter and helped make room on the small coffee table. He and Kristal often joked about Mara’s kitchen rules. They liked to re-enact a particularly memorable mom-moment when she sat them down and lectured nonstop for ten whole minutes about a hunk of cheese that got hard on the end because one of them had not put it away properly. In Mara’s book, it was the height of rude to be wasteful or lazy when she was the one who had to slog the grocery shopping.
He wondered if Kristal would be the same with their kids.
“Look, there’s no such thing as mad when it comes to family. I will just say it again ... we love you. And we want both of you to be happy. If that means being happy together, well,” Jeremy Peyton grunted. “We’re behind you 110%. Love does not come along every day. Your mom and I can assure you of that. If this is love and not just a brain fart, go for it.”
“Go for it?” Mara squawked. “Jeremy! Really? Go for it is the advice you offer? I thought we agreed on what you’d say, and G-F-I was not even a possibility.”
She placed a serving tray on the low table and sat next to his dad. Without pause, she began pouring coffee from a fancy china pot into large cups, each with its own saucer. Robert met his father’s amused expression, and they both rolled their eyes. It was a loving eye roll due to another of Mara’s quirks. She insisted that coffee time be civilized. Even for those occasions when she used the polka dot coffee set that made them all groan.
As she handed off the cups, she gave them a mocking sigh. “I better interject some female while I have your attention. Robert, ignore whatever your father said. I’m sure he got it all wrong.”
“I beg to differ, wife,” his father playfully growled. “I got in all that crap about blended families that you wanted me to say.”
Mara tut-tutted, and his dad turned to give him a sly wink.
“Be that as it may, here’s my two cents. Sweetie, don’t be an ass. Some people never find love. Shit or get off the pot. What do you think will happen if you two continue along the path of denial? Hmm? Are you prepared for Kristal to be with someone else? Or be alone and miserable?”
Someone else? Someone else? Oh, lord. He tried to sip the coffee, but his hand shook, so he gave up.
“And how do you think she’ll feel if you settle for a second place wife? Robert. Come on. It would kill Kristal.”
“What she said,” his dad murmured.
“I know all of this, you guys. That’s why we’re having this discussion. Kristal and I want to stop pretending. I’m in love with her, and when she gets over being worried what the gossips will say, she’ll admit she loves me too.”
“Screw the haters, son. Been there, done that, remember? Didn’t we say we’d never let that happen ever again?”
He nodded. “You’re right, Dad. And we’re going for it,” he told Mara with a smile.
She clapped and gave a little loveseat hop. “Do you want us to speak with Kristal?”
He supposed a talk would happen eventually anyway, so he shrugged and nodded at the same time.
“Is it okay for me to make a suggestion?” Mara asked.
“All suggestions welcomed.” It was true. He cared what they had to say.
“It’s Harry you need to have a chat with. I’m sure he’ll be fine, but he needs to hear this from you and Kristal.”
Harry. Ah, crap. He never considered having to discuss birds and bees stuff with his little bro.
The conversation briefly detoured to the birthday planning, but Robert had a question to ask.
“How long have you known?”
Mara smiled. “For me, it was Kristal’s college commencement. All she could think about that day was whether you had found a sub for your classes. It struck me as odd. Then she went on and on about Robbie this and Robbie that. There she was, earning a nursing degree with honors, but for her, it was about you.”
Dad chuckled and patted her hand. “Oh, I remember that. She was nattering on and on about making us proud, but it was easy to see she was speaking about Robbie.”
“What about you, Dad? Didn’t you recently give me a load of grief about being either a torch-carrying celibate, gay, or sleeping with someone’s wife?”
Mara coughed over a giggle with an innocent expression on her face.
“Eh, just yanking your chain. I knew me saying something would shake things up. We were getting tired of waiting. And to answer your question, I knew for sure two Christmases ago.”
Robert felt the heated flush rise up his neck. What his father referred to was a ruby tennis bracelet he had dropped a bundle on because red was Kristal’s color. Her reaction was batshit squared. She let him put the bracelet on her wrist and then spent the rest of the morning holding it up to watch the sparkle and then gush nonstop about how generous he was.
Had he given an over-the-top gift because he hoped she would fawn all over him with hugs and kisses? Yes, yes, he had.
He also remembered Harry giving him a deadeye stare. Even at the ripe age of nine, he knew that Kristal’s’ pretty jewelry cost a shit-ton more than the remote control drone outfitted with a GoPro camera that had been the kid’s big present from Robert.
All of a sudden, he needed to leave. The ruby bracelet had an unfortunate connection to a favorite dirty fantasy. Kristal wearing sexy red lingerie and her ruby jewelry while lying in a seductive pose on white silk sheets. He’d gift her an ankle bracelet with a small ruby heart. After he fastened it around her ankle, he’d run his hands slowly up her leg until …
Abruptly standing, he drawled, “I’m out,” and leaned close to give Mara a cheek kiss.
She patted his face lovingly and whispered, “Love with
your whole heart Robbie. Hold nothing back and you’ll be just fine.”
He shook his dad’s hand and ended with a hug.
“You guys are the shiznit.”
Mara laughed and smacked him on the arm. “Why must you and Harry use that ridiculous term?”
He got serious and started to tear up. “Thank you.”
His dad cleared his throat with a manly but embarrassed sounding cough and added a last-second ha-ha.
“Wedding planning might require special handling. I mean, think about it. It’s not like the bride and groom can each take a side of the church. Tradition be damned! When the time comes, I wanna shake my son’s hand, give my daughter away, and sit with my wife.”
If hearing the word wedding was supposed to make him nervous, it was a miserable fail.
As he backed his car out of the driveway, his parents stood at the front door and waved. He picked his time carefully and waited to drop by when he was sure Harry was at an after-school activity. It was important to him that he get Mara’s support and his dad’s blessing. Now that the deck had been cleared, nothing stood in the way of him and Kristal coming out as a couple.
Nothing except a heart to heart with a ten-year-old.
Chapter Six
The casserole was in the oven, a green salad in the refrigerator, and two bottles of wine chilling. Robbie loved garbage soup and thrown together shepherd’s pie, so when it was time to decide what to make for dinner, some leftover veggies along with a Tupperware container stuffed full of pot roast and gravy made the shepherd’s pie a snap to make.
Kristal peeked into the bakery box one more time and groaned. “The struggle is real,” she complained aloud. She had no willpower around sweets. A fresh cheesecake piled with strawberries tempted her beyond words. Unfortunately, there was no way to sneak a taste without being obvious.
With dinner on lockdown and the table already set, she raced around fluffing pillows and straightening up. Everything had to be perfect. Robbie was on his way, and she could not wait for him to arrive.
For the past week, they’d spent all their evenings together. She cooked, and he made a big deal out of helping with the dishes. Sometimes, she read while he graded papers, and other times, they curled up on the sofa to binge on Netflix shows or watch a movie.
And every night they made out like horny adolescents until Robbie pulled the plug. His insistence that they behave for now was like fingernails on a dirty chalkboard. He liked teasing her when she got grumpy about going slow.
As it turned out, this slow and easy plan had some unexpectedly sexy merits. She thought the way he tried to act normal while an erection appeared to be devouring his pants from the inside out was funny. A soft sigh left her mouth, and she smiled. Because she and Robbie were so comfortable together, Kristal was unable to stop herself from unloading a raft of bad jokes, mimicry, and hand gestures at his expense about Mr. Stiffy paying a lingering visit. It was highly unfair, considering the less obvious situation happening in her panties. He left her in a mess of frustrated wetness every single night.
Robbie did not think her giggling was necessary and taught her a lesson in a rather unique and shockingly erotic way.
A while back, she had scoffed and bagged on Izzy nonstop after the girl admitted a spirited spanking was way sexy. Kristal thought she was nucking futz and acted like Prudence Polly by giving an uptight lecture on giving away one’s power.
Turned out, Izzy was not wrong.
He also wouldn’t take the next step—touching her beneath her clothes—nor would he let her explore his body clothes and all. So when he reacted to her snarky and flirty teasing by sending her over his knee, she’d been shocked into startled silence when he lifted her skirt and pulled her panties down far enough to give him total access to her ass.
She had never been spanked. Ever. Not even by her mom or Pops. The way Robbie caressed each cheek and the surprisingly exciting sting with each smack made her groan with need. That time, he did not linger, and despite her wanting to rip his clothes off and eat him alive, he somehow managed to fend off most of the sexual aspect of the act. Now, all she thought about was taking the sexy activity to the next level. She was dying to find out what spanking felt like while his fingers probed deep. Just thinking about it made her wet and shivery.
Checking her watch, she calculated how much time she had and hurried to her bedroom to change into a pretty dress she had been dying to wear. In no time at all, she was pirouetting in front of a full-length mirror. Even though she had to grit her teeth at the form-fitting silhouette, Kristal was pleased with the red, short-sleeved number with the low-cut scoop neckline. What made the dress awesome was an extra sexy drape to the fabric—a drape that was better than a neon sign pointed at her boobs.
Spritzing her favorite Miss Dior perfume into a cloud, she whirled inside the billow of scent and shook her blond mane. A quick swipe of Seduction Red lipstick and she was good to go.
Oh, no! Wait. Something was missing. Running to her jewelry box, she took the ruby bracelet Robbie had given her for Christmas and slid it on. She added a pair of fake ruby earrings to complete the lady-in-red look. Hell, she even had heeled sandals that skirted the line between casual and seductive.
If everything went as planned, Robbie did not stand a chance.
“Flowers? Big time old school, but check,” he muttered.
Checking the inner pocket of his suit jacket, he traced the outline of the envelope holding two tickets to a Planetarium show that his lady had expressed an interest in seeing. He’d been carrying it around for days waiting for the right opportunity. If Kristal wanted to take a knitting workshop, he would learn to make shit with yarn and be happy about it if it meant doing something she liked and spending time with her.
Grabbing the strap of a tote bag stuffed with DVDs and a second bag overflowing with birthday decorations, he held the bouquet under his arm while he secured the car, and then headed for Kristal’s place.
Unlike the daily togetherness of the past week, this date night was different. Until things were squared away with Harry, it seemed best to keep things under wraps for now—so they didn’t go out in public. Not yet. Mostly nothing much had really changed. They just hung out together more and performed tonsil exams as often as possible.
However, Kristal wanted to do something special. Something more involved than beer burping contests and yoga pants. In other words, not casual and no bodily function noises. Her insistence that they up their game explained why he was bringing her flowers and wearing a damn suit and tie that was way nicer than anything he wore to work.
His contribution to the evening’s agenda was the bag of DVDs. She wanted him to surprise her, and he intended to do just that. Knowing she expected him to show up with some rare, hard-to-find slasher film, he flipped the script with a totally different plan. She deserved nothing less than a full court press, so he came prepared to crank open the floodgates holding back the tidal wave of their happily ever after. It was time to romance the fuck out of Kristal.
He was eager to see what surprises she had in store for him! Knowing each other as well as they did made every effort seem special. All his plans and grand schemes deserted him in a whoosh when she opened the door and his brain activity, along with all the blood in his body, rushed into his dick.
Speechless and possibly drooling, Robert lost the ability to blink, and stared mutely at the drop-dead sexy vision in red smiling into his shocked face. Did she realize how gorgeous she was? The sly smile with the hint of a smirk suggested that hell, yeah she knew.
While he fixated on her amazing boobs, she let him stand there like a dolt while his dirty mind conjured up a filthy scenario or two involving the luscious looking mounds. He was counting on his lady in red to share at least a couple of his filthier perversions. Robert had no problem imagining stroking his cock on the soft skin in the valley between each globe.
“I take it you like my dress,” she drawled.
Like a kid fi
lled with excitement at seeing his first nudie magazine, he nodded jerkily. He licked his lips too and earned a grinning snicker.
“Are those flowers for me?”
What? He blinked and forced himself to look at her face. Flowers?
She gestured by tipping her head. “They’re pretty.”
He shoved the bouquet in her face, and in doing so, he nearly pushed her to the floor. Kristal’s husky laugh shredded what composure he had left. When it came to her, he was a gawky, bumbling twelve-year-old boy trapped in a thirty-year-old’s life.
When she waved him in, he stepped into her space, watched the door shut, and then her turn toward him. She looked hot as fuck.
“Thank you for the flowers.” She stuck her face into the colorful bunch of blooms and took an audible breath. “Mmm. The roses are lush.”
“So are you,” he croaked. Mentally eye rolling at his awkward attempt to be suave and smooth, he couldn’t think of anything but how her bare ass looked when he spanked her for being a brat. Pulling her panties down to reveal a derrière wonderland had permanently scrambled his common sense. He hoped she liked getting pounded from behind because those hips and that ass begged for the challenge.
Gently stroking his cheek, she leaned in close for a soft kiss. “Aren’t you sweet.”
It was a statement, not a question. He beamed at her praise and made a note to invest in a floral shop. Better yet, maybe they could plant flowers at his place. The empty garden beds needed some TLC.
Remembering the bags that were cutting off the circulation to his fingers, he waved them in her face. “More decorations.”
Anxiety grabbed his balls and squeezed when Kristal frowned. What had he done?
She made a growl of displeasure that came close to putting him on his knees. Pursing lips glistening with shiny red lipstick, she flipped her hair and gave him a look.
“Can we not talk about the party, Robbie? I wanted tonight to be about us. Just us.” She went to the kitchen and put the flowers next to the sink.
Forbidden: A Sinful Shares Romance Page 7