Surely he wasn't using her. He'd be a good husband. The best husband he could be. He would try his utmost best to be there for her when she needed him, and give her the support and the attention that all women craved. He would not give her any cause to look outside their marriage.
The idea horrified him when he gave it thought. Having deceived Theo with Kelly he had this fear that should he get married there would be some retribution through his own marriage, adultery wise.
He had no idea how he would treat infidelity in his marriage, the very thought made him sick. He sighed when he drove up to her gate. He grimaced at the irony of his thoughts. It was amazing how the human mind could justify wrongdoing but balk at the very same thing when on the receiving end.
There was a large moving truck beside the house that he heard that Phoebe used to live in. Charles was sitting on the gate bare-chested and looking on the proceedings.
"What's going on?" Chris asked him.
"Phoebe is moving out her parent's stuff. Apparently, she is going to renovate the house or something. She moved them to a small estate where her father can farm and her mother can play the lady of the manor."
Chris whistled. "That's good of her. I always got the feeling that her mother was the one who made her into a little monster."
Charles grinned. "She told me how she used to stalk you."
Chris shivered. "With a determination that many private investigators would only dream of."
"Tanya said she's honeymooning in the Seychelles, apparently her husband has a whole island there."
Chris nodded absently. In all of his planning to ask Pinky to marry him the thought of a honeymoon hadn't really been at the forefront of his mind. A week or two of just getting to know her body sounded like a splendid idea. Finally, he would be making love to somebody who was his, who wouldn't leave him because she loved somebody else.
"Where's Pinky?" Chris asked with anticipation lacing his tones.
"In the house titivating for you." Charles looked at him hard. "Don't hurt my sister. I don't understand why you are suddenly paying her so much attention and I don't trust it."
Chris paused. "Well your intuition is wrong. I am not going to hurt her. I am going to ask her to marry me tonight."
Charles inhaled sharply. "Why? I mean a few weeks ago you fired her from her job and now you want to marry her?"
"I need her," Chris said honestly. "I function much better when she's around."
He spun around when he heard footsteps on the veranda and saw Pinky in a bright orange dress, which hit her just above her knee and hugged her in the right places. Chris moaned, a low growl that came from the depths of his throat. Every time he saw her, his body tingled in all the right places.
Charles laughed beside him. "Yes, she's all that. Good genes."
Chris barely glanced at him as Pinky came down the steps, her pink lips glistening with lip-gloss.
He felt like asking her to marry him this minute, and then drag her off to the nearest pastor where they could get the deed done and then hauling her off to his bed.
Instead, he cleared his throat. "You look beautiful as usual."
Pinky laughed. "Thank you, former boss man."
She air kissed Charles and headed to the vehicle.
Chris opened the door for her and couldn't help but look at her legs for a long time. When he looked up Pinky was blushing.
"You really know how to turn on the sexy," she purred.
She gazed into his limpid hazel eyes and then moved forward to kiss him. It was one of those deep soul searching kisses that had both of them panting like dogs in heat.
They tore apart when they heard cheers. The moving men and Charles were whooping and clapping.
Chris put his forehead on hers. "Pinky, you love me, right?"
Pinky's eyes were at half-mast. "Yes, I do."
"Wouldn't it be nice if we did this the right way, get married instead of burning with all of this sexual heat?"
Pinky gasped. "Is that a proposal?"
Chris pulled away from her and then kissed her softly. "I guess."
"Then ask me properly," Pinky said excitedly.
Chris groaned and went around to the driver's side, "I have never felt so sexually aroused in my life." He leaned back in his seat. "Maybe you should change into something else. Something less sexy if we are going to spend the rest of the evening together."
"Are you serious?" Pinky asked.
"Yes I am," Chris looked at her hotly. "That's why I never wanted to take this anywhere when you worked for me. I know my limitations, and you are one sexy woman. I was determined not go down the route of casual sex again. So yes Pinky, I am serious."
Pinky scrambled out of the car. "I do have a long dress that's a bit slack in the sides."
"And cover your head as well, wear a hat and take off that lip gloss," Chris said wiping the lip-gloss that had transferred to his lips when they kissed.
"You are crazy," Pinky said lovingly. "I am only changing my dress."
She headed into the house. Charles was watching them with a puzzled expression. When she came back out in a long black dress, he busted out laughing.
"Shut up," Pinky said snarling. She got into the car smiling at Chris. "So, am I decent now?"
"No," Chris groaned. "Your lips are bare and juicy. I was going to drive us to a restaurant maybe the caves, after much romantic music and good food, I'd pop the question."
"Oh Chris," Pinky's eyes were wet, "I never dreamed that this would happen. I always thought that you'd be so locked up in your emotions with Kelly and all of that angst over your son that you wouldn't love me for me."
Chris stiffened slightly. "Pinky I never said love but I do need you. I need you so much I can taste it. Will you marry me?"
Pinky didn't hesitate. Later when she was in bed and going over his proposal word for word she would pause, but not now.
"Yes!" she squealed in his ear and hugged him so tight that he was gasping for air.
"Would you mind if we got married next week?" Chris asked looking into her big brown eyes.
"No," Pinky said kissing him all over the face, "next week, today… Any time is fine by me."
*****
It was a small ceremony held on the seaside at Villa Rose in the morning. Daryl Brick, the presiding pastor from Three Rivers Church was not pleased to perform the ceremony, but it wasn’t evident from the wide smile that he wore that last night he had argued with the groom long into the night about getting married without counseling. He didn't agree with Chris rushing to the altar.
The parents looked a little shell-shocked. The Donahues were not as stunned as the Blacks but the general feeling in the air was one of incredulity on both sides.
The bride couldn't care less, she had been proposed to exactly seven days before and she had gotten her dress the very next day; an off-the-shoulder white dress that emphasized her toned arms and cinched in her flat waist.
She had taken out her blonde braids on the third day leading up to the wedding and had dyed her hair a modest chestnut tone with reddish highlights. She looked adorable and sexy and the groom was very pleased with his choice; so much so that he had at times forgotten why he was going through with the ceremony. The lines were being blurred in his head and he forgot everyone and everything else but Pinky while he was staring in her eyes during the ceremony.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Pastor Brick said. There were a few restrained claps heard in the small gathering and a few surprised faces among the group.
"You may kiss your bride," Pastor Brick added a note of jocularity in his voice.
Chris kissed Pinky a brief kiss with a promise of more to come.
She had a smile a mile wide and was laughing when they turned to face her family and a few of her friends who were around before the school semester started.
*****
"Let me get this straight," Hyacinth Donahue said while walking up to Chris, who was sipping orange juice and ta
lking to Camille. Pinky was with her family who still had a dazed expression in their eyes. "You married this girl to get custody of Mark?"
Chris nodded.
"You were avoiding me all week, weren't you?" Hyacinth asked fiercely, "I couldn't get to you all week, until this fiasco. Chris what is the matter with you? First you have an affair, now you get married to get access to the child of that affair. What happens when that poor girl is dumped by you because you still love Kelly?"
Chris had a grin on his lips but it slowly died while his mother was talking. "Mom it's not like that, not even close. I like her and marriages have been built on less."
Hyacinth shook her head furiously. "What did I ever do in raising you that caused you to be like this?"
Camille was standing as silent as a statue. Marie and Fiona had walked up to them as Hyacinth tore into him furiously.
She exhaled roughly. "I wasn't going to come to this shenanigan but your father who must be going soft in his head said he had a feeling this would all work out."
She gripped Chris' hand, tears in her eyes. "I am sorry."
"Sorry for what, Mom?" Chris asked his agitated mother.
"Sorry for introducing you to Geraldine. She was a bit unconventional in her approach, but the truth is, I had a small hope that the two of you would get together. Why on earth did she encourage you to go this far?"
"Because she doesn't respect marriages," Fiona said scornfully. "I blame all of this on you, Mom."
"Hold up," Chris said fiercely to his sisters. "This marriage isn't even a couple minutes old and you all are standing around and mourning its demise. In case you haven't noticed this is supposed to be a happy affair."
"Affair," Camille said scornfully. She was in a burgundy dress with a pearl encrusted bodice. "That word affair. I loathe it. It is the reason for this."
"This marriage will work," Chris said stubbornly, "the deed is done. Pinky is a lovely girl."
"What kind of name is Pinky?" Hyacinth said huffing. "Here comes the blushing bride," she said as Pinky advanced toward them. "I'm not going to act like I'm happy about this," Hyacinth said. "Excuse me." She walked off dabbing her eyes.
Chris' sisters all stared at him with varying levels of reproach and suddenly he felt as if he had done a very bad thing. Why were his choices in life so bad that he had mini crises one after the other?
Pinky walked up to her brand new husband and his sisters with a radiant beam in her eyes. "I love you Christopher Donahue."
Chris kissed her on her forehead and gave his sisters the evil eye. "Ladies excuse me."
They murmured something and walked away.
"What's the matter with everybody here?" Pinky asked impatiently. "They are acting as if this is a funeral and not a wedding. My mother was just crying and my father is only grunting."
Chris looked into her eyes deeply. "This is going to work, Pinky."
"Of course it will, silly." Pinky hit him playfully. "I am going to be the best and only wife you'll ever have."
"I requested that my brother who is acting in the capacity of deejay play this song for us." She looked into his eyes lovingly, when the song 'By Your Side' by Sade began playing.
"Love this song and the sentiments are from me to you."
They danced slowly to the song and Chris wondered uncomfortably if she would mean them in a few months time.
Chapter Eleven
Chris may not be so sure about his marriage but he was sure about his wedding night and all the nights that were to come. They had barely got through the door of their honeymoon suite at Villa Rose when he started to undress his pocket-sized wife. She was eagerly helping him out of his clothes too.
"Aren't you going to change into some night gown or the other?" He asked her panting as he undid the buttons at the back of her dress.
"No," Pinky said a languid look in her eyes. "I am Petrina Donahue and I have waited all year for this." She giggled uncontrollably as he replaced his hand with his mouth.
He took pleasure in exploring her dips and plains and arousing her to fever pitch.
They spent hours in their suite without food just loving each other. When they finally relented in the middle of the night, Chris called down to the kitchen for room service.
"Oh no," Pinky groaned jokingly, "they are going to know that I haven't eaten all day, and that I’ve been up here doing unspeakable things to the boss."
Chris his hair ruffled and a satisfied look in his eyes kissed her. "Now you are Mrs. Boss. Stop acting bashful."
They heard a knock on the door.
"Room service."
Pinky hurriedly put on her diaphanous robe and padded into the bathroom.
Chris opened the door and saw that it was Caleb.
"Caleb Wright, you do not do room service," he said grinning. "What are you doing here?"
Caleb grinned. "I only caught the end of the wedding. Sorry about that. It was so sudden and I had a previous appointment at the doctor's office with Kalice."
"Is she okay?" Chris asked concerned, the baby was almost three months old.
"She's fine," Caleb said, looking around curiously. "I left her there with Erica. It's a long boring domestic story. Where's your new wife?"
"Hiding out in the bathroom."
Caleb laughed and wheeled the tray and started setting the table. "Why the sudden rush to get married?" he lowered his voice. Chris could barely hear him, he was whispering so low. "Is it because Kelly is pregnant again and you just want to prove that you have moved on?"
"What? I didn't know that?" Chris asked, a sudden rush of blood going to his head.
A shaft of jealousy hit him from out of nowhere. She is pregnant again?
She didn't look pregnant in the last set of Thursday pictures he got. So now his son would probably be neglected to make way for their reconciliation baby.
"Baby number four is on the way," Caleb whispered. He finished setting the table and looked at Chris seriously, "I am so happy you have moved on from Kelly. Pinky is a great girl."
He gave Chris' frozen expression an assessing look before wheeling out of the room and then shook his head in resignation before closing the door.
Chris felt a mixture of emotions when he sat down at the table. He felt jealousy and a curious pain. Why couldn't he just cut off the emotions where Kelly was concerned? Thinking of her was like poking a partially healed sore with a knife. He glanced across at a grinning Pinky who had sauntered out of the bathroom in a sexy negligee and had sat down at the table with an impish smile on her face.
She was eating ice cream and licking the spoon suggestively, her antics registered on his anatomy but his emotions were going haywire.
Kelly was pregnant.
He could recall vividly the last time he heard that; he had gone through feverish agony, wondering if the child was his. When she started avoiding him all together he had gone as far as to bribe her doctor to tell him her due date. It hadn't been easy to get the doctor to talk, but he had found out that the doctor patient confidentiality had a price too.
He had ping-ponged between ecstasy and a sense of pending doom. The thoughts had almost crippled him until he was sure that she had his baby. The relief had been intense. He had wanted them to start their own family. Looking back now he realized that he had been quite naive.
Why did this latest pregnancy of hers fill him with such despair? Was he a sucker for punishment?
There was a perfectly good woman sitting across from him. He had been her first lover and she was willing to try anything with him and was ecstatically happy with him, but here he was brooding about a past love.
He tried to push the thoughts to the back of his mind and the old partially healed sores that had Kelly's name on them.
Caleb was being calculating by giving him the news about Kelly—Caleb had deliberately told him about Kelly’s pregnancy to test him and he had failed the test. Chris had stood in the middle of the room like he was made from stone, listening to the figura
tive stitches on his old wounds pinging off one-by-one.
He stared at Pinky not really seeing her, but Pinky, thinking that he was responding to her had a triumphant look in her eyes. Chris smiled at her wickedly. The smile hadn’t reached his eyes—maybe she could help him forget. He crooked his finger at her.
*****
Pinky adjusted her sunglasses on her nose and tried to lose herself in the scenery. She was lounging at the beach with Chris four weeks after their hasty marriage and her mind had just started to process the fact that she was Mrs. Chris Donahue.
It was a whirlwind month. She moved back into Chris' house with a grinning Maud calling her Mrs. Donahue and welcoming her home.
Living with Chris felt a little different. She slept in his room now and he did take pains to include her in conversations but Pinky couldn’t fight the nagging feeling that there was a huge chunk of Chris that was buried and kept out of her reach.
She had been so on top of the world, being married to him that she hadn’t really paused to assess why Chris had married her. She hadn't cared that it was rather sudden and that he didn't seem to be overwhelmed with passion for her.
Each time she asked a question that was remotely important he distracted her with sex. She wasn't complaining, but there was a part of him that was closed off and brooding and she had a sneaky foreboding that it had something to do with Kelly.
He is always this way when it had anything to do with that woman and her child, Pinky thought resentfully. She had wanted to ask him if he still got his weekly correspondence from Cayman but a little part of her was reluctant to hear the answer. She preferred to live in utopia. After all, she was living her fantasy. The man she loved married her in a whirlwind ceremony and they were now living happily ever after. This was the after, and she loved it. She stretched sinuously and glanced at him.
His busybody mother seemed to be everywhere. When she worked for Chris, she couldn’t remember a time when he had to go to Sunday Brunch at his parent’s place every Sunday. Now all of a sudden, Chris' presence was mandatory and she had to tag along to these ridiculous gatherings, so she had countered the Sunday Brunch with Sunday Beach.
If It Ain't Broke Page 8