Center Stage (The Keller Family Series)

by Marie, Bernadette

  “I am.”

  “You know what sounds good? A steak on your grill.”

  Her eyes opened wide. “I am not a good cook. Your steak is going to end up a burnt brick.”

  He laughed. “I’ll let you buy ‘em. I’ll grill ‘em.”

  “Let’s get this bed together first. Then we can make some deals.”

  She walked past him, leaving her scent in her wake.

  The mattresses were flat on the floor, which he knew would be a bitch to get up especially since they were king-sized mattresses. From the looks of them, she’d spared no expense, just as the heavy oak bed.

  “We’d be best to attack them from one side, lift vertically, and then we can push them out the door.”

  “Once we get over the stupid box springs.” She looked around the room. “I don’t remember this room being so small.”

  “I think your mattresses are just that big.”

  She laughed. “Pretty sad for a single gal, huh?”

  “Space when you sleep is very important.”

  “I sleep on one edge. Only one edge. When I wake up, all I have to do is pull up the cover on that side.”

  This time he laughed. “I nearly have to start from scratch every morning. No wonder my wife left me. I must be a maniac when I sleep.”

  “Hmmmm.” She turned as he looked at her, acknowledging the low hum that had resonated from her.

  “C’mon. That cow ain’t gonna get here on its own. Let’s get this put together.”

  John bent his knees and took his position. Arianna watched him and then bent over at the waist and took her position, after a very obvious butt shake. When he felt the heat rise in his cheeks, he knew she’d seen it by the grin that settled on her lips. Then she bent at the knees, and together they hefted the heavy mattress onto its end.

  They’d managed to clear it from the box springs and push it to her bedroom. They set it up against the wall and repeated the process for the box springs.

  With the box springs in place, they pushed the mattress to the edge of the bed and gave it a hefty push, letting it fall.

  “Now get on that side and pull while I push it into place,” he said.

  Arianna grabbed hold of the edge of the mattress, and John gave it an enormous shove that sent the mattress across the bed and right into Arianna’s gut, causing her to slip and fall to the hardwood floor.

  “God, are you okay?” He hurried around the bed.

  There she was flat on the floor, holding her elbow, and laughing.

  “You’re not hurt, are you?”

  “Just my pride, my ass, and my elbow.”

  He knelt down and took her arm. She winced as he straightened it.

  “Looks okay.”

  She bent her arm and tried to look. “Eh, nothing to write home about.”

  “C’mon.” He stood and held out his hands to help her up. She took hold of his hand and he pulled her up, sending her entire body slamming into him.

  John’s balance shifted and sent him back to the bed, pulling her down with him.

  “We suck at this,” she said laughing. Her dark curls shadowed her face as she looked down at him, pinned beneath her.

  “Huh.” What else could he say when the most beautiful woman he’d ever know had him on her bed, her body pressed against.

  Her eyes changed the longer he was silent. This was no longer just a moment where he was helping her put her home back together. This was a moment he’d thought of a million times and swore he’d never take advantage of, but with her breath growing heavier the longer she stared down at him, he had no choice.

  His hand went to her hair, and his fingers tangled in the curls. He pulled her down until their lips were just a breath apart. She looked into his eyes. A want—a need—glossed over them, and he knew, in that moment, they weren’t leaving to get steak.

  John’s fingers pulled at her hair as his mouth opened to hers. Oh, she’d waited for this moment for months, though she’d never expected him to make the first move.

  His lips, rough from the cold and wind, scraped against hers. His tongue sought hers out, and his hand pressed against the small of her back.

  It had been so long since a man had such an urgency to kiss her that her head spun. Maybe it wasn’t the time frame at all, maybe it was the man. This man.

  John pulled at her shirt until he broke the kiss to pull it over her head. But his lips were back to hers in an instant.

  She began a quick assault on the buttons of his red, flannel shirt. The fabric spread open revealing a white T-shirt beneath.

  Arianna pushed the shirt from his chest, and with her mouth still engaged hungrily in the kiss that was rocking her entire insides, she pulled the shirt from his arms and then yanked the T-shirt over his head.

  Beneath her hands lay muscles sculpted from years of manual labor. Sparse, gray hair shimmered over his chest.

  She ran her hand over his skin and felt his heart beat beneath her fingertips.

  John pushed back on the bed, his hands making quick work of her bra clasp as she tried to manage the button on his jeans.

  No longer could she feel the draft of cold she’d felt in the room earlier. Her skin was heating up under his touch.

  Before she’d managed to release the button on his pants, he’d freed her of hers and she lay there naked, vulnerable, and ready.

  “You’re beautiful.” His eyes skimmed over her body.

  There had been times, in similar situations, where she was uncomfortable and wanted to hide, but not with John. There was something in the way he looked at her—gazed at her—which made her want more.

  His mouth went to her neck and trailed to her breast. She arched against him, and her nails dug into his skin.

  He moved back to her neck and then to her ear. “I’m having a great deal of guilt that I want to make love to you.”

  “Why?” she asked breathlessly.

  “You’re young.”

  She knew she shouldn’t laugh, but there was no way around it. “I’m almost forty.”

  “Much younger than me.”

  She couldn’t help but pull back. “How much younger?” Not that it mattered. The man had driven her crazy for months, and she wanted this more than anything. “No.” She nipped his lips with her teeth. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve wanted this since Carlos’s first wedding. So don’t stop now.”

  He brushed a kiss down her neck. “I’m not prepared for this. I certainly didn’t think I’d end up with you under me.”

  “John,” she said as she cupped his face in her hands. “Trust me. I’m taken care of. I want this. And bless you, but I’m not young. So if you don’t hurry, I’m liable to roll you over and take control of this situation.”

  The humor was back in his eyes and that made him even sexier, which she didn’t think that was possible.

  His mouth was back on hers, hot, hungry, and tantalizing her skin as he worked his lips and tongue over her body. Somehow his pants had been worked off, and it was just them, skin to skin, on her mattress starting a fire that she could only hope would never burn out.

  Arianna’s heart pounded in her chest. Strands of her hair stuck to her sweaty face, and John’s arms were wrapped around her, his rapid breath warm against her neck.

  They had done it—broke that sacred bond of growing friendship and traded it for hot, sweaty, amazing sex.

  “I don’t know how old you think you are, but,” she said, trying to catch her breath, “you’re absolutely amazing.”

  “I’m glad you think so.”

  She rolled over so they were face to face. He brushed away the strands of hair from her face. “You didn’t want to do this, did you?”

  “Oh, hell, I wanted to do it. I just didn’t think it was the right thing to do. And it kinda puts us in a strange situation, doesn’t it?”

  “Not at all. Your rent just went up. Now you don’t have to feel guilty.”

  He laughed as he interlaced their fingers. “What will your s
ister think?”

  “Are you going to tell her?”

  He adjusted to look at her. “I assumed you would.”

  “Well, of course I will, in time.” She pressed a kiss to his lips. “But I don’t tell her everything.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  She turned away again and pressed against him, wrapping his arm around her. No, he was wrong. She certainly didn’t tell her sister everything. Regan had no idea what had made her come back to Nashville.

  Chapter Six

  Arianna had fallen asleep wrapped in John’s arms, atop her bare mattress with only his flannel shirt draped over both of them. When she’d awaken, he was propped up on his elbow staring down at her.

  “You didn’t run away.” She rolled against him, resting her cheek against his chest.

  “Did you expect me to?”

  “You didn’t want to do this, remember?”

  “No, I just didn’t think it was a good idea. But I’m having second thoughts on that.”

  Arianna tipped her head to look at him. “So you did think it was a good idea?”

  “I was thinking that doing it again would be the good idea.”

  She bit down on her bottom lip to keep from smiling, but she was sure it carried in her eyes.

  “I think we should eat first,” she offered as she brushed her fingertips over the hair on his chest.

  John gave a glance at his watch. “Too late for grilling, I think.”

  Arianna gave a grunt. “I only have the few groceries you bought yesterday.”

  “And I only have Hungry Man dinners.”

  She propped herself back up on her elbow. “Tell me you have Salisbury steak.”

  “All of this getting tangled up and your eyes light up with the thought of a Hungry Man salisbury steak dinner?”

  She nodded and rolled from the bed.

  “Let’s go.”

  “Don’t you think you should get dressed first?”

  “It’s not like we have to drive there.”

  John shook his head. “And how many times have one of your siblings just showed up?”

  She thought about it. Logically, Curtis and Regan were much too busy to just drop by, but then again, she hadn’t talked to Carlos in a day which meant he just might check up on her even at, she glanced down at John’s watch, eight forty-five.

  Arianna crawled back up on the bed and pressed herself up against John. “Maybe we should stay right here for just a little bit longer. You know, at least my clothes are close.”

  “Thought you were hungry.” He brushed his fingers through her hair.

  “I think I could wait a little longer. Couldn’t you?”

  “Oh, hell yeah.”

  He rolled her onto her back and began what would be another hour of thrilling her and causing her mind to go blank.

  Arianna sat at John’s kitchen table and watched as he prepared her dinner in the microwave. She felt bad that her house hadn’t been put together, but she had to admit that rolling around on the mattress that tried to kill her was much more fun. But now what would happen?

  John was quiet again. That was normal, but it was killing her. They had just had mind blowing sex and he wasn’t talking. Did he regret it? She sure didn’t. She’d like to think they’d do it again and again. This man had occupied her mind for almost a year. She didn’t care that he thought he was old. She didn’t care about his ex-wife or his crazy work hours. But she was finding she cared an awful lot about him.

  The beeping of the microwave snapped her out of her daze, and she looked up to see John remove the dinners and set them on the counter.

  “Did you want another beer? I also have soda.”

  “I just want some water. Where are the glasses?”

  He pointed to the cupboard, and Arianna stood to get the glass. There were two.

  She glanced at John who was still fussing with the dinners. This man was an island. Two glasses, two coffee cups, a basement apartment with one chair and a tiny couch. People like this didn’t invite others into their lives. What had she done?

  “You okay?” John touched her arm, and she jumped.

  “Fine.”

  He moved in closer to her and rested his hands on her hips. “You’re not feeling bad about what we did upstairs, are you?”

  “God, no.”

  “Good.”

  She cleared her throat. “Are you?”

  John shook his head and raised his hand to her cheek. His warm, rough hand on her skin sent a surge through her that nearly made her knees give out.

  He bent slightly and gently brushed her lips with his. “I’m not going to lie. I’m still not sure this is the right thing, but I’d say we are two, very mature individuals. We will handle it.”

  That stopped the warmth that had coursed through her veins. “Handle it? What’s to handle. We kissed. We had sex. Great, amazing sex.”

  “And you are Regan’s sister, and Zach is my boss. I watched him grow up. Now I’m sleeping with you and…”

  “Had sex with me,” she snapped out. “You’re not sleeping with me.”

  He pulled her in tighter. “So I can’t convince you to stay down here tonight? My heat works really well, my bed is made, and my coffeemaker is plugged in.”

  Arianna dropped her shoulders. “John, what are we doing?”

  He kissed her again. “It looks like we’re letting our dinner get cold.”

  “I didn’t come back to get into a relationship. I…” She stopped and gathered her thoughts. “I don’t want you to hate me.”

  “I don’t think that is possible.”

  “And you still want to spend time with me? You don’t think we made a mistake?”

  “Oh, I think it was a big mistake, but honey, I’d been thinking about it for a long time.”

  “Okay, before this goes any further, we have an agreement. If this having sex in the same house we both live in doesn’t work out, we can’t be awkward around each other. I mean, you can’t go quitting your job over it or never being part of my sister’s life. I can’t be responsible for you not being around the people who are family to you too. Does that make sense?”

  “It means we have to act like grownups?”

  “Right,” the words squeaked out of her throat.

  “So, asking you to be my girlfriend would be childish?”

  He was grinning at her, and she was standing there wondering what was wrong with this man. “Girlfriend? I just told you I didn’t come home to get involved with someone.”

  “Well, I don’t sleep around.” He let his hand drop, and then he walked back to their dinners. “I expect that if a woman is sleeping with me, she’s not sleeping elsewhere.”

  “Are you a possessive man?”

  “Over the women I care about, I am.” He hadn’t had to think about that.

  “So, what do you want out of this?”

  He picked up the trays and held them in his hands. “I want to enjoy my time with you as I always have. It just happens that I didn’t do so well keeping my hands off of you. I’d like to think if we’re going to be having sex that we’d have some kind of agreement to have sex with each other and not just when one of us isn’t busy with someone else. I’d like to think you’ll eat your cold dinner and climb into bed with me. Maybe we could have a little more of what we had upstairs before we fall asleep. Tomorrow I’d like to wake with you in my arms, have a cup of coffee, read the paper on my day off, and watch a playoff game. But I’d like you to be here for it.”

  He walked to the table and set down their dinners. “That’s what I want, Arianna. I’m not going to ask you to marry me. I’m not even going to ask you to stay more than this one time. I’m too old to start over, but I’d sure like to make my time worthwhile. And, since I haven’t stopped thinking about you since Carlos’s wedding, I figure you must mean something to me.”

  He pulled out a chair and motioned to it as if he wanted her to sit.

  She did so, with the empty glass st
ill in her hand.

  “Honey, that’s all I got.”

  She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard the man talk that much ever.

  Now she was speechless. She nodded her head and sat down.

  They ate in silence, and with John, that was comfortable.

  And the more that she wanted to hate the fact that she’d crossed the line that she’d hope she wouldn’t cross because now things were a bit awkward, she couldn’t help but want to say she was his girlfriend. Was it completely crazy to think that perhaps she’d already fallen in love with him?

  Chapter Seven

  Monday mornings didn’t bother John, but this one had him itchy.

  He didn’t want to be on edge. After all, he’d spent a great deal of Sunday lounging in his recliner with Arianna either on his lap or very nearby. They’d made love multiple times and eaten the last of his Hungry Man meals. The only thing that should have been making him so antsy was that he’d had to leave.

  But now he had to face Zach.

  John paced in front of Mary Ellen’s desk. He was too early. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t open the door and wait on Zach’s couch. He did own a key to Zach’s elevator, but it wasn’t right. The whole thing wasn’t right.

  Production meetings on Monday mornings were supposed to be about the build, not about how he’d produced with Zach’s sister-in-law. To make matters worse, he was about to ask Zach for something that meant commitment—all for a woman.

  He loosened the button on his shirt. The air seemed to be restricted from his head.

  Zach’s office door opened from the inside, and Mary Ellen stepped out.

  “John, you’re early.” She smiled as she sat down at her desk. “You can go in. He’d never mind having you early.”

  “Is he in a good mood?”

  “A little sleep deprived, but that’s to be expected.”

  John nodded. “He should have taken more time off.”

  Mary Ellen shook her head and opened the file on her desk. “Right. And when was the last time you took off?”

  He couldn’t even remember, but suddenly taking a day, or even a week, off to hold Arianna in his arms on some secluded beach sounded more appealing than working. That told him he was in trouble. He loved his job. No woman had ever taken his mind off of it.