STAY THE NIGHT (The Phillips Family Book 1)

by Vicki Keener

  “He thinks we're crazy,” Cray said.

  “He'll think you're wonderful when you leave him a large tip.”

  “What if I can't afford it?”

  “You can. I googled you this morning. You're worth millions.”

  “Is that why you're going to marry me?”

  “No. I suspect you have hidden talents I've yet to uncover.”

  “What makes you think that and when do you plan to see for yourself?”

  She leaned against him in the cozy curved banquette and said, “Patience is a virtue.”

  “I hate those old bromides.”

  “How about good things come to those who wait?” she asked and snickered.

  “You used the word come. I'm shocked.”

  Angelica's Italian ice cream arrived and she dipped her spoon in the smooth, creamy dessert, took a bite and purred.

  The spoon entering her mouth and her purr went straight to his groin and a vision of her naked in his bed with her legs spread visualized in his mind and he groaned.

  “What's wrong, Cray?” she asked, concern etching her voice.

  He managed a weak smile and said, “Nothing. I had a wayward thought for a second.”

  “Something concerning your work?”

  “No. Are you familiar with the different ballroom dances?”

  “Yes, I dated a guy in college and he taught me. Why, are you knowledgeable about them?”

  “A bit. My family insisted we be proficient in dance so we'd fit in their social set. The place we're going next has a huge dance floor and some good dancers.”

  “Were you afraid I'd embarrass you?”

  “No, Angel, I don't think that's possible.”

  She held her spoon up to his mouth. “Taste, it's wonderful and it cleanses the palate.”

  “That is good.”

  “Want another bite?”

  “No, thank you, I don't want to deprive you.”

  “You aren't. I'm finished. Will you wait while I visit the powder room?”

  “Of course. I'll pay the check and get our coats. I'll be by the front door.”

  “I'll hurry.” She stood when he rose to let her slide out his side.

  “Angel, take your time. Don't hurry on my account.”

  “Thank you, but I won't be long.”

  Chapter 3

  He helped her on with her coat when she joined him and she drew on her gloves. He held the door for her and they stepped outside. “It's snowing,” she said. “May we walk for a while? Will the car follow us?”

  “You're not wearing practical shoes and it's cold.”

  “No more than two blocks. I ate enough to fuel my body and keep it warm and the shoes will be okay for a couple of blocks.”

  Cray stuck his head in the passenger side of the limo and asked the driver to keep pace with them. He moved to the street side of the sidewalk and took her hand. She smiled at him and said, “You're so courteous and treat a lady with respect. I like that about you.”

  He squeezed her hand and said, “Don't forget punctual, too.”

  She laughed and said, “I don't forget that kind of thing. Cray, I realize we've been kidding about getting married, but you are marriage material for the right woman. I suspect you'll be a wonderful husband to a woman you love.”

  “You want to apply?” he asked.

  She laughed and said, “You led me to believe I have pole position. Are you rescinding your offer?”

  “Not a chance. You're stuck with me.”

  “Do you own a tweed jacket with suede or leather elbow patches?”

  He laughed at the sudden change of subject. “Why do you ask?”

  “I want you to fit in tomorrow and that's what the professors wear. Oh and a pipe. Do you own one?”

  “Is this a costume party? I realize that's the stereotypical outfit for a professor, but I don't remember any of my profs dressing that way. Moth-eaten sweaters, yes.”

  “Were you invited to faculty teas?”

  “Well, no. Must I stick my pinkie finger out when I sip from the tiny cup of tea, too?”

  “No, but I hope you like watercress or cucumber sandwiches.”

  “Do you have to attend this soiree?”

  “Yes, the head of my department is retiring plus it's an annual holiday get together. You don't need to go.”

  “Honey, I wouldn't miss it for the world, but I can't come up with a moth-eaten sweater or tweed jacket with suede patches and I tried smoking a pipe and it burns my tongue so do you still want me as your escort?”

  “Yes, and can we go out to dinner afterward? My treat.”

  He noted her shivering and hailed the car. “Come on, that's enough walking. You're cold.”

  She snuggled next to him in the back seat and said, “Tell me a dirty joke.”

  He laughed and said, “Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden and he said.....”

  She laughed and punched his arm. “Is that the only dirty joke you know?”

  “Pretty much, but I promise to get up to speed when I get a spare moment or two.”

  She twisted in the seat and placed her torso across his lap. “Will you kiss me? I'm still cold and that will...........”

  “Make you warm? It makes me hot,” he said, his mouth taking hers in a passionate, lingering kiss.

  She cleared her throat and sat up and away from him. She opened the top button of her winter coat and fanned herself. He watched her and said, “Warm enough now?”

  “Yes, thanks for asking.”

  “You're welcome. Happy to be of service.”

  “Cray, I'm not going to invite you in when you take me home later.”

  “Okay.”

  “That's okay with you?” she asked.

  “It's your call, Angel. It's always the lady's call.”

  She sat silent and he glanced at her, noting her frown when the car passed by the street lamps. “Cray, do you find me attractive?”

  He hid his grin and said, “Very attractive and appealing. That's a bonus.”

  She turned on the seat and faced him. “Do you wish to know me better?”

  “As in the biblical sense?”

  “If you want to put it that way.”

  “I don't want to be coarse.”

  “I understand.”

  “Do you?” he asked. He slid across the seat next to her and whispered in her ear. “Here's what I want you to understand. I'm so hard right now it hurts. When you touch me in any manner, I react. It happened last night and right now. Angel, you'll know when the time is right for you and I'll wait until you're sure it's right for you. This isn't a casual fling for me. I've indulged in casual flings, but I don't want that anymore.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Love with a woman I respect and admire. I'm ready for a relationship that sustains itself beyond sex. That's not to say, I don't want a satisfying and gratifying sexual relationship because I do, but there's got to be more and I'm aware that's possible with the right person.”

  “How are you aware?”

  “My parents and my uncles and aunts taught me by example. I can read the statistics that half of all marriages fail, but it doesn't happen in my family. They don't stay together for propriety's sake or the kids or because they don't want to divide their holdings. They love their spouses, they show it every day and if and when problems arise as they inevitably do, they work it out by finding a solution or by compromising. They choose to be together. I may fault my family for many things, but never about their devotion to their spouse. You can't fake it year after year and I watched them through the years.”

  “Why aren't you married?”

  “I never met a woman I could envision spending the next f
ifty years with as my wife. Until now.”

  “Until now? Me? Do you mean me?”

  “I'm not ready to walk down the aisle with you, but it's tending that way. Do me a favor. If this is a lark to you, tell me now, because you possess the power to hurt me more than you can ever imagine.”

  “And this isn't a ploy to get me in bed?”

  He smiled at her and said, “It's where I want you, but it's not a ploy or a game to me.”

  “It's not a lark to me, Cray, and I feel a strong connection to you and you excite me sexually, but it's more than that, too. I want to explore this further.”

  “Do you want to shake on that or may I kiss you?” He smiled at her and she returned it.

  She fell against his chest and the kiss became more passionate until the limo pulled in front of the ballroom where they'd dance.

  Cray paid the entrance fee, checked their coats and lead her to a table for two. Many couples danced in the huge open space. “What would you like to drink?” Cray asked.

  “A glass of Ginger Ale. No more booze tonight.”

  “Angel, I was remiss by not telling you how beautiful you are tonight. Your dress color matches your eyes and it's stunning. You should never wear anything but sky blue.”

  “Thank you, but that might become a little boring.”

  They danced for the next two hours, stopping only when the band took a break or to grab a drink and hurry back to the dance floor. Cray thought he'd die from the sheer joy of holding Angelica close to him for so long. They fit together so well and her hips swishing gently across his groin during a seductive Tango or slow dance had him wanting her so badly it hurt and yet he wouldn't have it any other way. When they danced the jitterbug, she laughed with abandon at his tricky moves but executed each one to perfection.

  “Do you come here often?” she asked as he escorted her to their table.

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “Angel, do you like it here? If so, we'll come here as often as you want.”

  “I love to dance. The band is good. It's great exercise especially after that big meal. And I'm voting you my best dance partner ever so yes, I want to come back here, but I admit my feet are hurting, so I'm ready to leave if you are.”

  “We'll leave. Must I take you home now?”

  “Are you telling me you don't want the night to end?”

  “That's exactly what I'm telling you. There's a quiet lounge nearby. Will you have a nightcap with me?”

  “I'd like that.”

  Angelica glanced around the dark lounge when they got there, took Cray's hand and pulled him toward the darkest corner. “We can talk in private and kiss, too. Is that all right?”

  “A split of champagne,” Cray called to the bartender on their way to the dark corner.

  She slid in the rounded booth and Cray followed her. She turned her head to face him, their thighs touching, and cupped his face, put her lips against his and caressed the seam of his lips with her tongue. The kiss deepened, their tongues mated, he crushed her to him, their breathing increased and then he pulled away from her.

  “We can't do this here.” He turned and faced the table. “Our champagne is here. I didn't hear the bartender put it on the table.”

  “We were in another dimension,” she said, smiling.

  “Is that what it's called?” he asked, pouring the bubbling champagne in each flute with hands that trembled.

  “Here, let me,” she said, taking the bottle from his hand and finishing the job.

  “Angel, how long must we wait?”

  “I'm not sure, my panties are soaking.”

  He groaned and put his head in his hand.

  She ran her hand over the back of his bent head. “When I arrived in the United States to attend college at SCU, the upperclassman swarmed me. I found it flattering because American men are forward and tell you what they want. I got invited to plenty of parties and had dates every weekend, but I didn't sleep with any of them.

  “I didn't realize it at the time, but Scandinavian girls are thought to be easy. Near the end of my freshman year, I succumbed to a handsome young man and went to bed with him. The next morning he left, told his buddies he fucked me and won the pool they had going to see who would get me first. It humiliated me. I gave him my virginity.

  “For the next three years I didn't party or date, but that didn't stop the men from trying. They branded me with the name: Frigid Norse Goddess. I hated it. When I began my master's degree, I got involved with my adviser. He said we had to be careful because of him being faculty and me being a student. Once a week he came to my apartment and the rest of the time he pretended he hardly knew me.

  “Two months into the relationship, I ran into him at the mall. He was there with his wife and son. I watched from across the food court and heard a little boy call him daddy and saw his wife kiss him. I don't have luck with men. They want my body and that's all.”

  Cray took her hand and said, “We'll wait until you're ready, Angel. I can control myself.”

  “Will you move on to someone else after we have sex?”

  “No, Angel. We agreed to explore an exclusive relationship. I thoroughly enjoy your company and if you enjoy mine, we'll let it build to wherever it's headed.”

  “Suppose we decide we can work and we do get married. You'll want me in bed long before that.”

  “Angel, if you want to wait until our wedding night to consummate our union we'll do that. I can cope.”

  “No, that's not the way it happens in today's world,” she said.

  “We can be that rare couple who does wait.”

  “Is that what you want to do?”

  “Hell, no,” he said in a loud voice and the bartender and other patrons glanced at him.

  She giggled and said, “Guess you told me......and everyone else here.”

  “Let's get out of here.”

  “We didn't finish our champagne.”

  “We'll take it with us. There are glasses in the limo. We'll drink it on the way back to your place. It will keep our hands busy and off each other.”

  She laughed as he held her coat, then walked to the bar to pay the check while Angelica grabbed the bottle and followed him.

  They drank and chatted on the way to her home. They laughed at silly things one or the other said. He walked her to her door. She stuck out her hand to shake and said, “Cray, thank you. I had a wonderful time with you tonight.”

  He pulled her roughly to him and said, “We've gone way beyond shaking hands, Angel. I'm going to kiss you until I can't stand it and then I'll deal with the consequences.” His mouth ravished hers.

  She came up for air and said, “Damn coats.” He watched her unbutton his coat first, then hers. With the coats open she slipped her arms around his waist inside his suit jacket and insinuated her body close to his.

  He backed her against the wall and devoured her mouth. “Let's go inside your apartment,” he said.

  “No, Cray. Kiss me.”

  She wore a wrap-around dress and Cray noticed earlier that it tied on the side. He pulled the tie as he kissed her and found to his disappointment it tied inside, too. Sliding his hand across her stomach, he pulled that one open and his hand shot up her torso and cupped her breast.

  She gasped when his thumb brushed over her erect nipple and then she moaned deep in her throat and Cray feared losing it right there. “Angel, let's go inside, please.”

  “No,” she said and belied her desires by raising her leg next to his hip and pressing her core against his groin.

  His hand went behind her and opened her bra closure. He cupped her full breast, kneaded and teased her nipple. Her breathing grew louder, harsher, her moans driving him crazy. “Cray, make me come.”

  “Take me insi
de your apartment.”

  “No,” she said.

  He sighed, realizing he'd get no relief tonight. He lowered his mouth to her breast and suckled while his hand went under her panties and cupped her wet warmth. He slipped one finger in her and then the second while the heel of his hand stroked her clitoris and his fingers moved in and out of her. Her breath hitched and she rubbed and moved against his hand.

  She dissolved in his arms, her knees weakening. His one arm around her and her arms around his neck held her upright. Her breathing returned to normal and she said, “I'm sorry. Come in my apartment. I'll make it right for you. It's only fair.”

  “It's okay. I watched you come and you're even more beautiful. What time should I pick you up tomorrow?”

  “Cray, I cheated you.”

  “Angel, your pleasure is my pleasure.”

  “Don't you want to be in me?”

  He grinned at her. “Not in the hall and I prefer to be prone. Tell me what time tomorrow.”

  “One. Cray, tell me a dirty joke.”

  He laughed. “I only know the one and besides the joke is on me tonight.” He kissed her softly and said, “Sleep well, Angel.”

  “I'm standing in the hallway almost naked. Anyone could come by.”

  “Now you think about it.” He turned and walked to the elevator and listened to her door close behind her.

  The next morning his phone rang and he saw Mona's number. “What now?” he said answering the phone.

  “You don't sound pleased to hear from me.”

  “How perceptive of you.”

  “How did it go last night with Angelica?”

  “We had dinner, went dancing, stopped for a nightcap and I took her home.”

  “Where are you right now?”

  “At home in my kitchen. Where did you think I'd be?”

  “I didn't expect you to answer the phone. Thought you'd be engaged in other activities.”

  “Why?”

  “You losing your touch? By now you usually have a bed partner.”

  “She's more that a one-night stand to me.”

  “I gathered that when we talked yesterday, but why in the hell are you waiting? There's a chance you won't be compatible.”