“Merry Christmas to you all,” she yelled.
“Merry Christmas, Rose,” Seth and Meghan returned the greeting.
“Looks like fun,” Rose exclaimed.
Seth grinned. “Pull on a coat and join us.”
“Oh my, no!” Rose laughed. “I’m far too old for such nonsense. But when you get finished there, I’ve got hot coffee and freshly baked cinnamon rolls waiting for you.”
“Sounds great,” Seth replied.
Meghan waved and wondered if someday she would be like Rose. Would she end up all alone in the world, depending on the company of neighbors to keep loneliness at bay? Seth would be gone soon, and eventually Kirk would grow up and build his own life and family.
Would there be love after Seth? At the moment she couldn’t imagine loving anyone as much as she did her ex-husband. The idea of being with somebody else, making love to another man, was positively distasteful.
“Are you okay?” Seth asked, obviously realizing she’d grown quiet. He set the center ball of snow atop the base ball, then brushed snow from her cheek and studied her intently.
“I’m fine.” She flashed him a reassuring smile, then added, “I’m just getting a little cold.” It wasn’t the temperature that was making her cold, it was her thoughts of life without Seth.
They finished the snowman, their laughter filling the air. They placed Seth’s hat on his head, Meghan’s scarf around his neck, then Meghan ran inside and got a carrot, a handful of red grapes, and a small orange halved. Seth helped Kirk make the face with orange eyes, the carrot nose and an oversized mouth of grapes.
“It’s an awesome snowman,” Meghan pronounced as they stepped back to admire their work.
“It is, isn’t it?” Seth agreed.
“No man,” Kirk said, then clapped his hands together with excitement.
Meghan laughed. “If he were older, we’d never get away with this.”
“Get away with what?” Seth asked curiously.
“Playing in the snow and building a snowman before opening presents.”
Seth looked at her in mock outrage. “Are you saying eventually my son will grow into one of those hedonistic little gift grubbers who awakens before dawn to see what sort of haul Santa left?”
“If he’s normal, that’s exactly what he’ll become,” Meghan said with another laugh.
“Are you ready for a quick cup of coffee with Rose?” Seth asked as he picked Kirk up in his arms.
“Sure,” she agreed, knowing the day would probably be difficult for the woman all alone.
They traipsed to Rose’s door and she greeted them by kissing them each warmly on the cheeks. “Come in, come in,” she said.
As Seth and Meghan took off their outerwear, Rose took off Kirk’s snowsuit. “I see his chicken pox are scabbing nicely,” she said. “You’re lucky he had such a mild case.”
“He should be able to go back to day care soon,” Meghan said as they followed Rose into the kitchen.
“No point in paying for day care as long as I’m here,” Seth replied.
Meghan didn’t reply. In truth, she wasn’t sure how to reply. On the one hand, she knew he was right. There was no point in taking Kirk to day care while he was home to care take for Kirk.
And yet, she felt the need to get things back to normal. Seth was not a permanent fixture, and they were being foolish in pretending that he was.
Rose gestured them to the table and placed Kirk on the floor in front of her pots and pans cabinet. “What a perfect Christmas day,” she said as she poured them each a cup of coffee. “Nothing like a Christmas Eve snowfall to make everything seem right with the world.”
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Meghan said, looking out the window to Rose’s backyard.
“Of course, you both realize men all over the city are cussing the snow, knowing before the day is out they’ll be outside shoveling the stuff,” Seth said.
“And if one man was really nice, he’d shovel off my walk before the day is out,” Rose said with a sly grin.
Seth looked pained. “I knew there was a price to pay for freshly baked cinnamon rolls.”
Rose laughed and placed the platter of the sweets in the center of the table. “Help yourselves,” she said, then sat down with them.
Meghan took a bite of one of the sticky rolls. “Oh, Rose. These are delicious,” she exclaimed.
Rose smiled in satisfaction. “Thank you, dear. It was my mother’s recipe.” She took a sip of her coffee and eyed first Seth, then Meghan. “I finally figured it out,” she said.
Meghan frowned in confusion. “Figured what out?”
“About you and Steve.”
Seth grinned at Meghan. “She absolutely refuses to believe we’re cousins.”
“If you’re cousins, then I’m Peter Pan,” Rose exclaimed. “And you aren’t about to see me wearing a pair of green tights and flying around the air.” She paused a moment, then continued. “I know you’re lovers, I just can’t figure out why you are trying to keep it a secret.”
Rose directed her gaze at Meghan. “Maybe it’s because you thought I’d think less of you because you and Steve aren’t married?”
She didn’t wait for Meghan’s reply. “I might be old, but I know things are different nowadays, and I’d only think less of you if you weren’t sleeping with a hunk like Steve here.”
Meghan wasn’t sure whose face was more red, hers or Seth’s. “Okay, you found us out,” Seth said. “We’re lovers, but Meghan was afraid you’d think she was a loose woman.”
“I knew it!” Rose slapped the table and cackled with glee. “So, when are you going to marry her and make an honest woman of her?”
“I have no interest in marrying Steve,” Meghan said hurriedly, then felt her blush intensify.
“I’m good enough to sleep with, but not good enough to marry?” Seth looked at her in mock disappointment, his eyes glittering with amusement.
“I don’t think I’d let him get away, Meghan,” Rose added. “He’s definitely a keeper.”
A keeper who didn’t want to be kept, Meghan thought with a touch of bitterness. She was grateful when the topic of conversation changed from her and Seth’s relationship to the forecast for more snow.
By the time they had finished talking about the weather, Meghan and Seth were ready to head back home. They redressed in their coats and gloves, wishing Rose a very merry Christmas.
“Wait,” Rose said before they could get out the door. She disappeared back into the kitchen, then returned with three presents. “It isn’t much,” she said as she handed them all to Seth.
“Rose, you shouldn’t have,” Meghan protested.
“Oh hush,” Rose admonished. “It’s just a little something for each of you. Now go on, get out of here and enjoy the rest of the day.”
Once back at Meghan’s, Seth plugged in the Christmas tree and built a fire in the fireplace while Meghan changed Kirk. Then, together they sat on the floor in front of the tree to watch Kirk open his Christmas presents.
Meghan helped him with the wrapping paper, which seemed to intrigue him far more than whatever was inside. It took most of the morning to get through all the presents and by the time he played a little with each one, his eyes were drooping with the need for a nap.
“Why don’t you go feed him some lunch and put him down, and I’ll take care of the cleanup in here,” Seth offered.
“Okay,” she agreed. As she picked up Kirk and carried him into the kitchen, Seth had already begun stuffing the discarded boxes and bright-colored paper into a garbage bag.
Thirty minutes later, she left the nursery and went back into the living room. The room was picked up, the fire crackled merrily and Seth sat on the sofa, staring into the flames.
He smiled at her as she walked in. “He asleep?”
“Almost before I put him in the bed. Between the time outside playing and the excitement of new toys, he was exhausted.”
He patted the space next to him. “Come and sit with m
e for a minute.”
She sat next to him, fighting the urge to lean against him, close her eyes and pretend that they would have a happy ending.
He put his arm around her shoulder and she gave into half her urge and leaned against him. “There’s nothing better than a fire on a snowy day,” he said softly.
“It is nice, isn’t it,” she agreed. “Last year I don’t think I made a fire more than twice during the whole winter.”
“How come?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It seemed like a lot of work for just me to enjoy a fire.”
“I thought maybe you made a fire and sat like this with baldy.”
Meghan sat up and stared at Seth. “Baldy?”
His cheeks flushed a dull red. “David.”
Meghan relaxed against him, her gaze focused once again on the fire. “I called David the other day and told him I wouldn’t be seeing him again…although we never really started seeing one another. There were just no sparks, nothing happening with him for me.”
“I’m sorry,” he replied.
“Don’t lie. You aren’t a bit sorry. You didn’t like him.”
He didn’t bother to deny her words. “Should we open our presents from Rose?”
“Okay,” Meghan agreed. Seth picked up the two gifts from the floor. Kirk had opened his earlier, a toy phone that he’d chattered in for several minutes before moving to the next new toy. “You first,” Meghan said.
Seth unwrapped the small package to find a key chain with half a large red heart dangling from the chain. “I’ll bet I can guess what yours is,” he said.
Meghan unwrapped hers to find a key chain with the other half of the heart. “Rose is nothing if not a romantic at heart,” she murmured.
“She’s a nice woman, even if she is incredibly nosy,” Seth said. “I got you something, too.” He leaned over the edge of the sofa and pulled out a large, beautifully wrapped package.
“Oh, Seth. You shouldn’t have,” she protested. “I…I didn’t get you anything.” She’d considered buying him something, but had finally decided against it.
“You’ve opened your house to me. You’ve allowed me to share the holidays with you and my son. I’d say you’ve given me a wonderful present.”
His words caused tears to spring to Meghan’s eyes. She quickly averted her gaze to the gift in her lap. Carefully, she untied the huge gold bow and unfastened the tape that held the gold and scarlet paper together.
“You are the most irritatingly patient gift unwrapper,” Seth said in bemusement. “Most people just tear the hell out of the paper.”
“Half the fun of a gift is the anticipation of revealing it,” she countered.
She unwrapped the box and neatly folded the paper and laid it to the side. Lifting the top of the box, she gasped as the content was revealed.
It was a nightgown. Not just any gown, but a glorious white silk, with tiny seed-button decorations and lacy insets across the bodice.
“I remember on our wedding night you were all upset because things had happened so fast and you didn’t get a chance to buy a nightgown fit for a bride.”
His words, coupled with the unexpected gift, brought on deep emotion that choked her with intensity.
“Excuse me,” she mumbled. Still clutching the gown, she ran to her bedroom, needing some privacy.
She sat on the foot of her bed and allowed the tears that had choked in her throat to escape. They seeped hot and abundant from her eyes and slid down her cheeks.
The fact that Seth had remembered her wish for a pretty nightgown on her wedding night amazed her. The fact that he’d attempted to fulfill that wish, even though it was far too late, touched her beyond measure.
She swiped at her tears and gazed down at the nightgown in her lap. They had married in haste…driven by an incredible need for one another. There had been no time for wedding finery or planning an unforgettable wedding night. However, their wedding night had been memorable despite the lack of planning and forethought.
The silk felt cool and luxurious against her hands and suddenly she wanted it on, skimming her body.
Undressing, she knew exactly what she intended. She wanted the wedding night with Seth now…in the middle of Christmas day while Kirk napped.
Her desire for Seth had simmered for the past week and now it was on the verge of an explosion. She intended to let it explode.
She undressed quickly, her hands trembling slightly with anticipation. She pulled the gown over her head and let it fall against her curves like a cool waterfall of silk.
Turning around, she faced her reflection in the dresser mirror. It fit beautifully. Seth had always been good at buying the correct size for her. The rounded neckline tastefully exposed the swell of her breasts without being overt, and the tapered waist made her appear willow slender.
A fairy princess. She felt like a fairy princess waiting for her prince to join her in the marital bed. Seth. Her prince…her love.
She took off her glasses and placed them on the nightstand, then opened her bedroom door.
He stood there, as if waiting only for her to call his name. For a long moment their gazes locked and held. His eyes called to her, saying everything that was in her own heart. He held out his hand and she drew him into her room and closed the door behind her.
“You look so beautiful,” he said, his voice deep and husky as desire shone from his eyes.
“The gown is beautiful,” she replied, still holding his hand.
“No,” he countered. “You’re beautiful. You’ve always been able to take my breath away, and nothing has changed. You still take my breath away.” He leaned forward and gently touched his lips to hers.
They remained apart, not touching anywhere except for their lips. But Meghan felt the kiss sizzling through her entire body, as if he were intimately pressed against her.
Then his hands touched her shoulders, caressed across her back, and suddenly she was pressed intimately into him and he deepened the kiss by swirling his tongue against hers.
He broke the kiss and trailed his mouth across her jawline. “Meghan…sweet Meghan…” he whispered against her ear. “I want you. I’ve wanted you every moment of every day for the past week.”
“As I’ve wanted you,” she replied breathlessly. She tugged at the bottom of his sweater, indicating she wanted it off.
He stepped away from her long enough to pull the sweater off over his head and toss it to the floor. When he embraced her again, her hands splayed across his warm back, loving the play of muscles against her fingers and palms.
As his lips found hers again, Meghan realized the love she felt for Seth at this moment in time was different, far more profound than what she’d felt in the seven months they had been married.
When they’d been married, she’d been overwhelmed by Seth’s lust for her, awed by the fact that this intensely handsome, slightly dangerous, highly sexual male was in love with her.
Now, she still felt all those things, but there were additional emotions that played into the whole package. Things like the way Seth’s face lit up when he looked at Kirk, things like the patience he exhibited with his son. Seth as a man left her breathless. Seth as a man and a father had taken utter possession of her heart and soul.
She gasped as without warning he scooped her up in his arms. His gaze burned into hers, speaking volumes of the passion that flamed inside him.
He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down, then, gaze still locked with hers, he tore off his jeans and stretched out beside her.
For a long moment he made no move to touch her, caressing her only with a sweeping gaze that licked tongues of fire along her veins.
Meghan did the same to him, first holding eye contact with him, then moving her gaze to the breadth of his shoulders and across the dark hairs that gave his chest an erotic, masculine appeal. His stomach was lean, without an ounce of spare flesh. Heat washed over her as she stared at his arousal.
“If yo
u keep looking at me like that, we’re going to be finished here before we really get started,” he warned.
She laughed, thrilled that she could affect him by a mere look. Her laughter stopped abruptly as he once again claimed her lips in a fiery kiss that drove all other thoughts out of her head.
The gown that had begun the whole scene was quickly discarded, tossed to the floor along with Seth’s jeans, leaving her naked and vulnerable to his every touch.
His mouth was hot, hungry and demanding, and he used it to love every inch of her body, filling her with an ache she feared might consume her. She thrashed beneath him, her hand grasping him, urging him to take possession of her. But he refused to hurry.
They made love slowly, languidly, as if they owned the hands of time and would not relinquish control until they absolutely had to. Each kiss called for another, every caress had a corresponding reply.
They spoke eloquently of their love, their desire for one another, without words, using only the universal language of touch.
When he finally entered her, Meghan was lost in a sea of sweet sensation, and Seth was her life raft. She clung to him, trapping him between her slender thighs, wanting to hold him there forever.
He slowly eased his hips back, until he was just barely inside her, then he moved forward, filling her up with his warm solidness. He repeated the motion several times, until she was crying out with pleasure.
“Meg…Meg…” His voice, a blend of a soft whisper filled with love and the tortured, naked need of a man for a woman, sent additional shivers through her.
He increased his pace…moving faster into her, his biceps muscles rigid as he worked his hips back and forth, sending her higher and higher on the crests of passion.
She cried out in surrender as wave after wave of pleasure crashed around her, inside her. And with a cry of his own, Seth relinquished his last grasp of control and surrendered to her.
Although Seth shifted his weight to her side, they remained entwined, neither in any hurry to break the sweetness of their intimacy.
A deep fulfillment, an utter contentment flooded through Meghan. She could feel Seth’s heartbeat, strong and vital. The scent of him surrounded her, and she felt more safe, more secure than she’d ever felt in her life.
Strangers When We Married Page 14