“She’s my baby sister. And she never looked lovelier.”
Scott saw Diana blink a couple of times, warding off the tears women sometimes shed when they were happy.
“When the ceremony was over and all the photos had been taken,” she went on, “when the dancing ended and the bouquet was thrown and we’d seen the couple off to their honeymoon and the beginning of their life together, it all seemed worth it.”
She glanced at Scott who was hanging on every word, as if she was telling a timeless story that had been passed from generation to generation for unknown ages. “I know it sounds strange, but I wanted so much to do it again.”
“It doesn’t sound strange.”
“I made up some business cards and went around to bridal and tuxedo shops and left my cards. A few weeks later I got a call, and that’s when it began.”
“Was the second wedding as complicated as your sister’s?”
She shook her head. “I suppose if it had been, I might have changed my mind about a profession. I like doing the weddings, making the bride’s day the most wonderful of her life.”
Scott smiled at her. The expression on her face had a glow to it. She truly loved what she did, but he wondered about her choice. He knew her to be an introvert. It was strange to see this outgoing, afraid-of-no-one woman in front of him.
But as a wedding consultant or even as a business owner, she’d barred herself from the happiness that could be hers. Diana had put herself in a place where everyone she met was taken or about to be taken. Scott wondered if she did that on purpose. Was she intentionally trying to avoid meeting people?
And how much had his actions played into that decision?
* * *
Maine came into view an hour later. Twenty minutes after that Scott was setting the plane down on the airfield about a hundred yards from the house.
Diana stopped as she came through the cockpit door. She walked three steps down and stared at the house. “You said this was a cabin.”
Scott was behind her, but she never took her eyes off the distant house.
Scott glanced at the house and back at Diana. “It is.”
“Look at the size of this place. It’s a small hotel.”
He looked at the timber-log building with its solar-paneled roof, huge windows and wraparound porch. “I suppose it is a little large. Initially it was being built for sales meetings, but after construction began my father decided the location was too remote, so he had it converted to a summer home. Let’s go in.”
Diana went down the stairs to the ground.
“What’s that?”
She looked at the two overnight bags he was carrying. He lifted hers. “Your flight plan.”
“How’d you get that?”
“Teddy. She packed a bag for you. I don’t think you should spend the weekend completely naked.”
They headed for the house.
“How many bedrooms does this place have?”
“I think there are fifteen. I haven’t counted them in years.”
“It is a hotel,” Diana muttered.
They walked the short distance and went up the stairs to the porch. Scott opened the polished wood door.
“Have you been here recently?” Diana asked, when they stepped inside. The smell of furniture polish was evident.
“I hired a caretaker last week. The place has been aired and cleaned, and there should be food in the kitchen.”
“I guess going to the corner store could be a problem.”
The place was warm. But even in July, the air would chill after sundown. Diana walked to the fireplace in the large open room. The fire had been laid, but not lit. On the mantel was a box of long matches. She turned the flue to open, then she lit the paper and the fire began.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. She shook her head. They both headed for the sofa that flanked the fireplace. “Would you like a tour?”
She nodded. Scott reached for her hand. She took it and he pulled her close. They went from room to room on the first level. The place was large enough to hold meetings. Scott had never thought about the size of it, but from Diana’s perspective, someone who’d grown up in a semidetached house in Philadelphia, this place was gargantuan.
“Wow!” Diana said when they went into the kitchen. “It’s a dream.” She turned to Scott. “In my next life I’m going to be a designer. I’ll specialize in kitchens.”
“Does that mean you can cook?”
“I’ve been known to boil water without burning the pot.” She walked over and opened one of the restaurant-size refrigerators. “How many people did you tell this caretaker to plan for?” The place had everything a person could even think of wanting to eat.
Scott reached over her and grabbed a small bottle of orange juice. Twisting off the cap, he drank half of it.
Diana closed the door. “This place is very remote,” she said. “What happens if someone becomes ill or needs assistance?”
Taking her arm, he led her to an outside wall. “This is a satellite phone. It has a solar charger. There are several of them posted around the area. They’re in red boxes and attached to trees. There’s also a shortwave radio in the den.” He looked back toward the other side of the house. “I’ll show you how it works later.”
“I see your father thought of everything.”
“More my mother,” he said. “She insisted that we needed to be able to reach help if he was going to have people here.”
“Who do we call on these satellite phones?”
“The forest service. Numbers are next to each phone. They know we’re here.”
“Again, the flight plan?” she asked.
“Safety first,” he replied.
They continued the tour, finally leaving the first floor and walking through the many bedrooms and bathrooms on the second level. Scott counted as they went. Other than the master suite, there were fifteen other bedrooms and ten bathrooms.
“Which one of these rooms is yours?”
“The one with the dark red bedspread.”
“Maroon,” Diana corrected.
“Yeah, that one.”
“Which one is mine?”
“Anyone you want,” he said. “You have a number to choose from.”
“Maroon,” she said.
“Good choice.”
Chapter 12
While Scott made the fire, Diana found her way around the state-of-the-art kitchen. Her mother taught all her children to cook, even the twins. Diana smiled, thinking of how she would tell them, “You always have to eat.” She didn’t require them to learn fancy meals, just basic food. Diana had branched out, and during the lean years of getting her business off the ground, she’d taught herself quite a few recipes.
Tonight she put those lessons to work. She tossed a salad, made glazed carrots, found frozen peas in the freezer and added a thick steak, which she cooked on the smokeless broiler. She even baked some fresh biscuits. The kitchen had a vast amount of spices, and these she used to enhance the steak and the salad. There was a wine cooler near the refrigerator. She found a bottle of red wine, and finding the dining room table formidably long, she opted to set a small circular table in the den.
“Smells good in here,” Scott said, coming through the door. He looked at the wine bottle sitting on the counter. “Shall I open this?”
She nodded. After a few minutes, the food was on the table and they were sitting down to eat.
“I must say I’m surprised. For a woman who owns her own business, I never really expected that you would know how to cook.”
“Reserve your judgment,” she teased. “You haven’t tasted it yet.”
Scott took a spoon and dipped it in the carrots. Diana smacked his hand before he could put it in his mouth.
&nbs
p; “I’ll bet your mom used to do that.”
“And I’ll bet your cook used to do that to you.”
“She did.”
“The steaks are rare at the moment. How do you like yours?”
“Medium,” he replied. Moments later they were seated at the table with the food before them. Scott ate as if this was the best meal he’d ever had.
“Like it?” Diana asked.
“I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I had a home-cooked meal.”
“How long has it been?” she asked, as they moved to the kitchen to clean up.
“I guess the last time was when Piper had Thanksgiving at her house.”
“Thanksgiving was four months ago.”
“Not last Thanksgiving, the one before.”
Diana frowned. “I suppose I’ll have to eat bad food in the morning, right?”
“Why?” he asked.
“I cooked dinner, breakfast is your job. And I want something worthy of the chefs at the Waldorf Astoria.”
“Room service.” Scott grinned at her, and Diana knew that smile had more in it than the discussion of food.
Taking their wine, they moved to the sofa in front of the fire he’d built. “It’s lovely here,” Diana said. She looked up at the high ceiling in the room. “It reminds me of a ski lodge I went to once in Lake Tahoe.”
“Do you ski?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Do you?”
“Never learned. Never wanted to. You can’t ski here, anyway. It’s too secluded. Landing a plane here in the winter is dangerous. The runway has too much snow on it, and no one can get here to clear it.”
Diana lowered her head to his shoulder. “It must be beautiful here in the winter.”
Scott put his arm around her and she cuddled into the crook of it. The fire snapped and crackled.
“Glad you came?” he whispered. She felt his mouth move above her head.
“It’s very relaxing. The scenery is good. And the company can be tolerated.”
He laughed, his body moving against her. “Who knew Brainiac had a sense of humor?” His hands smoothed her hair. “Do you mind me calling you that? I don’t mean it in a sarcastic way.”
She shook her head. “I kind of like it, but only when you say it.”
Scott turned her head up to look at her. His eyes were dark and filled with need. He set his glass on the sofa table behind them. Then took hers and placed it next to his. She twisted in his arms and watched his movements. When his eyes came back to hers, he ran his hand down the back of her head and pulled her mouth to his. The kiss was soft, tender, loving. Diana went willingly into his arms. She could say the wine led her to it, but that wasn’t the truth. She loved this man. She wanted to be here, wanted to be in his arms with him wrapped around her.
The sofa was one of those circular numbers that had been designed to go with the curved well it set in. Scott pushed her back until she was lying under him. He deepened the kiss, and Diana almost lost her breath with the way her body reacted to his. She wanted to devour him, wanted to crawl all over and pull him into her. She wanted the pleasure of lying naked with him and waking with the warmth of his body surrounding her.
She pulled at his clothes, divesting him of his shirt and pants. Her own clothes followed his as Scott touched her. She felt her body tremble beneath his hands. Her breasts were freed and he quickly covered them, first with his hands, then with his mouth. Diana gasped at the wetness of his first touch. Then she reveled in the feel of him, holding his head and arching her back so he could give her more and more of himself.
Her eyes closed as his hands caressed her. He kissed her all over, his mouth touching and tasting every part of her. Diana felt the heat of him. Her hands sought him, roved over his smooth skin. She kissed his shoulders, his pecs, feeling his nipples harden in her mouth. Fire burned in her fingers as they journeyed down his back and over his buttocks. His body was toned, hard from working out. His waist nipped in as she brought her hands around him and took his penis in her palms. Using both her thumbs, she ran them across the hardness, feeling the hard ridge and throb of his need.
Scott groaned at her touch, but didn’t move to stop her. She continued what she knew was an exquisite torture. She watched him. His eyes were closed and his face showed that he enjoyed the feel of her hands. In a lightning-fast movement, he switched positions with her, turning her over on the sofa and beginning the same kind of torture she was inflicting on him. He covered himself with a condom almost at the same time he covered her with his artistic body. Spreading her legs, he entered her. Diana pulled him in, closed around him in a position so tight it said she would keep him there for all time.
But there was no time. Clocks did not exist in this world. They could go on forever, and when they returned not a second would have advanced on any chronometer.
Diana moved beneath Scott. Just the slightest movement causes more pleasure than anyone should be allowed to feel. When Scott pulled back and entered her again, she thought she’d die in the one movement. But he continued. And so sounds came from her. She felt the exertion, felt the pleasure, and she was unable to keep from making a physical sound. Scott’s hands pushed into her hair. His mouth took hers in a devastating kiss. His body didn’t stop the assault on her senses. Erotic pleasure points emerged from unknown sources.
She melted beneath him. Her hands felt uncontrollable. They raced up and down his back, over the curve of his behind and down powerful legs that were moving up and down as he pushed and pulled inside her. Diana’s brain registered no thought. She became only a feeling being. Her body worked with Scott’s, as if the two had become a machine that knew the motion of rapture. Passion spiraled between them. Scott held her tighter, his hands on her waist, as he fit his body into hers and out again.
Over and over she accepted his strokes, giving as good as she got. When she felt she could take it no longer, Scott raised the threshold. He pulled her into a sitting position. Her legs straddled him and he pushed into her at a different angle and into a different pleasurable area inside her. Diana sighed, a sound that was not describable. In seconds she was over the edge, trying to force herself not to shout Scott’s name and finding it impossible to contain.
Gasping for air, they plunged back to earth. Diana was spent. She clung to Scott, squeezing her legs around him and holding on, as if one or both of them would fall into the open abyss they had created.
Even with ragged breath and a body pounding with the energy of sated sex, Scott’s hands roamed Diana’s back. He seemed to need to touch her skin, keep her warm with his hands. She loved the feel of him, loved the way he made her feel. She wanted his hands to stay on her for at least the next century. Pushing his fingers up into her hair, he angled her mouth to his and kissed her breathless.
* * *
Scott wove his fingers through Diana’s hair. She watched his face as he let the strands rain through them, almost as if he was counting them.
Without moving his head or his hand, he turned his eyes to her. Eyes that were soft and hungry. “Promise me you’ll never cut your hair.”
Diana smiled. “Not even when the style changes to short and chic?”
“You can wear it up, but every night I get to take it down.” He bent forward and kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose and her mouth.
“Not even when I’m old and gray and look like Cousin Itt?”
She meant to get a laugh out him, but his features were soft, but serious.
“Not even then.” Again he kissed her. This time deeper, pushing her back into the pillows. “And you’re not going to get old and gray.”
She pushed him a few inches away. “I’m going to get old and gray.”
He shook his head, an impish smile on his mouth. “When we’re old we’ll dye our hair, you can dye m
ine and I’ll do yours.”
“And only our hairdressers will know.” They both laughed at the tagline of a commercial they had watched together on television.
“It’s a promise,” Diana said.
She reached up and pulled Scott’s head down. She kissed his forehead, the tip of his nose and his mouth. At his mouth she lingered, feathering kisses inch by inch from one corner to the other. Her body grew as warm as liquid. She stretched under him, positioning herself so he touched her from breast to knee. His body was hard against her softness. Diana loved the feel of him. She touched his hair, smoothing her hand down his neck and across his shoulder.
Scott’s leg crossed hers, pinning her down. Diana welcomed his weight. She felt his erection against her leg. The feel of him had her moving her leg up and down against his. She felt the roughness of his skin. Small flames caught from him to her.
The room seemed to change. It was bright morning, and they’d spent the night in each other’s arms. Around them she could smell sex, the electric snap of energy that accompanied their coupling. But beneath that was the combined scents they produced. She not only took in the essence of Scott, but reveled in his taste. His mouth devoured hers with a hunger that was deep with need. Diana found it hard to breathe. Yet she was reluctant to let go. She never wanted to be out of Scott’s arms. She was as hungry for him now as she’d been only a few hours ago, before the sun rose, before night turned into a new day, before life began.
He pulled the sheet covering her away and lifted his head to looked at her. His eyes roamed over her breasts. He didn’t touch them, although his mouth was only a kiss away. His breath on her skin burned it. Her nipples peaked, straining forward, trying to reach his mouth of their own accord. Diana’s chest heaved despite her effort to breathe normally. Around Scott there was no normal. Everything with him was fresh and new.
After what seemed like years, his mouth closed over one nipple. Diana groaned at the pleasure that fissured through her. Her body rose off the mattress, pushing her forward toward the pleasure he promised. She wanted more. The need in her ranked up notches. Diana could no longer hold her voice in. Sounds as guttural and primal as the dawn of time came from her. She moved her body, slipped farther under Scott until he covered her totally. She spread her legs, letting his erection settle in the juncture of her thighs. He touched her sweet spot and she nearly toppled them with the writhing that was electrical and shockingly sensational. It was as if he’d found a new erogenous area that had yearned for discovery, but had never been touched. His throbbing body shocked it into being, and she exploded with pent-up pleasure.
His Love Match Page 16