“I think he is.”
Marissa looked down at her watch. Eleven thirty. The night was flying by.
Mike made sure they had a glass of champagne each to toast in the New Year. Marissa was leaning down with her hand on Tori’s stomach. Those babies were obviously kicking. She was laughing and the look on her face was pure wonder. Did Marissa want kids? Of course she did. Mike felt sweat prick on his back. Was that what he was committing to here? Was that the path his life was about to take?
Then Marissa caught his eye and turned that smile on him and the sweat stopped. He didn’t need to race forward a year or five, he could just enjoy the moment. And if he and Marissa were meant to be together then maybe that would be their path.
She came around the table. “Is that for me?”
“Yep,” he said, handing her the glass, their fingers brushing, sending heat through his body.
“Thanks.”
“It’s almost midnight, I thought it was best to be prepared. Don’t want to have to knock the mayor out of the way in a scramble to get a glass.”
“No. Very undignified.”
“Plus, I think she can take me. So this, was it how you pictured it?” he asked, looking around the room.
“Yeah, it is. Whenever I pictured it, I was here with you. That was the most important part.” She smiled at him.
He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I wish it was midnight so I could kiss you.”
“Who says you can’t kiss me now anyway?”
“Well, no one, I guess.” He leaned in and gave her a sweet, gentle kiss and she sighed into his mouth. A sexy sigh that had him wishing they were somewhere alone and not here in the middle of a ballroom surrounded by the entire town.
Drew came up between them and slung an arm around each shoulder. It was clear he wasn’t the designated driver for his family tonight. “Look at you two! So cute together. Your young love is making everyone else wishing they could go back and start over. Nothing quite like the beginning.”
“I think you guys are in a pretty nice place yourselves,” Marissa said. “And Drew, even though she’s tired, I think your wife would rather you had your arms around her than us.”
“Good suggestion,” he said, weaving around the table to Tori.
“So we’re the envy of all we survey!” Mike said.
“Ah, musical theater references, excellent wooing.” And she gave him a sexy wink.
“I have been putting my heart into the wooing,” he said sincerely.
“I know, and I appreciate that.”
“Seems like I got pretty used to thinking of no one but myself; I’m a tad out of practice.”
“And I, who have spent years only thinking of others, am enjoying having someone else do the heavy lifting for a change. Thank you.”
“Do I get a reward, you know, for effort?”
“Nothing I can give you here,” she said, taking his breath away with the comment and its implications. “Come on, let’s dance.”
“Ten, nine, eight.” It was time. “Five, four, three, two, one. Happy New Year!”
And then Mike’s mouth was on hers in a hungry kiss that tasted like promise and lust and champagne, a delightful combination.
It wasn’t a long drive from the club back to her apartment, but it felt endless as the sexual tension between her and Mike buzzed around the car. Marissa didn’t quite know where to look or what to do with her hands. She smoothed her skirt again. Their midnight kiss had been about as erotic as one could get away with in a room full of people, but the truth was there was a lot of build up between them.
Marissa wanted to peel off every piece of Mike’s clothing and then kiss her way down his fine torso. Still, just because she wanted to do it didn’t mean it was a good idea. There was a lot of sexual tension, but there were also a lot of other things going on here, too. The truth was Marissa wasn’t a prude. In fact, she’d even been a little bit wild back at college, but small-town life wasn’t always kind to wild girls, and girls who lived at home were often not presented with much opportunity, so lately her libido had been resting. She wanted to jump Mike and have her way with him because she’d been in love, and in lust, with him for years. But the truth was champagne, dancing, and fairy lights might have been enough for another guy to win her over at this point.
She wanted to be sure that when she and Mike came together it was because of each other and not because they were both horny.
He parked the car and came around to her side. He took her hand and pulled her up hard against his body.
“You’re home,” he said, pushing her hair back from her neck and kissing her just below the ear. She craned her head to give him better access. It was like magic.
“Mmmm,” she mumbled. “Home.”
He pulled back and took her hand. “I should walk you up.”
She nodded. When they stepped into the elevator, he gave her a slow, sultry kiss that had her thinking she should perhaps throw common sense out the window and let her libido decide how far things went tonight. They only broke apart when the door slid open.
Within minutes, they were in her apartment and he had her pressed against the front door, the firm wood behind her and the hard planes of his chest in front. His mouth was on hers as he held her face in his hands, his tongue searching her mouth. And then he pulled back but kept her face in his hands.
“It was a really great night.”
“It was,” she said, breathing heavily.
“You were easily the most beautiful woman there.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m not just saying that.” One thumb brushed a loose curl back from her cheek.
“Of course not. Although, Mrs. Pollard gave me a run for my money.”
“She did take the most attractive woman over ninety category,” he said with a warm smile.
“I can’t compete with that,” she said, smiling. “Coffee?”
He paused. She could tell he was at a crossroads. To stay or to go, that was the question. “I should . . .”
“You should have a coffee. It’s just coffee.” She stepped out of her shoes, so she was now two inches shorter. “That feels better.”
“They were very sexy shoes.”
“Excellent, I’d hate to think I went through all that agony for unsexy shoes.”
She padded across the wooden floor to the kitchen and turned on the pot. “I won’t sleep.”
“If you have coffee?” she asked.
“Maybe. Or anyway.”
She smiled at him, taking in the slight shadow that had formed on his chin, the fall of his hair, and the tilt of his head. He looked the same as always, but still, there was something different. He looked relaxed, happy even.
She’d done that and it made her smile.
She was aware of him watching her as she reached up to grab two mugs. Her moves were deliberate because she was still remembering where everything was in her new kitchen and she was aware that she was slightly affected by all the champagne.
“You look good here,” he said as she grabbed cream from the fridge. “This place suits you.”
“That’s good to hear. It feels right. It feels weird not to be out at the house, but then being there alone was odd. If I’m on my own, this is a better fit.”
“And yet you’re not on your own, I’m here.”
“You are. That feels weird, too.”
He furrowed his brow in concern. “Weird?”
“I guess it feels good, but I’m not sure if I should trust that, yet.”
He came around the island and took her hands in his, his thumbs making slow, seductive circles in on the backs of her hands.
“Sorry about that. I want it to feel good, and I want you to trust me.”
“Oh, I trust you. I just don’t know if I trust this, us together.”
“It feels right to me.”
“Me, too. But then I think, if it was so right, why has it been such a long road? You know, why so hard?”
“Really?”
“Sure, I do have a slightly analytical brain, you know. I mean, I haven’t sat around discussing it with my friends or anything . . .”
“Such a shame, that brain trust of single poker-playing men would have had so much insight,” she teased him.
“Anyway, I just think I wasn’t ready for you until now. I was a hot mess of unresolved issues and misplaced ideas. Part of me didn’t want to grow up, but mainly, I just didn’t want to screw up, with you of all people.”
“Oh.”
“Look at you. Smart, kind, funny, and gorgeous. You’re the complete package, and on top of that, we were friends. What if I blew it? Or worse, what if I let you in and you decided I wasn’t really good enough after all?”
“You were worried about that? Mike . . .”
He lifted a finger to her lips. “Look, growing up at our house we knew our mother loved us, but we also knew none of our stepfathers did and we knew they left her because of us, that was made very clear. I mean, we wanted them to leave, every one of them, but we didn’t want it to be because we weren’t good enough. We weren’t enough.”
“That was them, though, grown men who should have known better.”
He shrugged. “Maybe, but our Dad died, we weren’t worth living for, our mother moved away with the latest jerk, presumably so we wouldn’t ruin another relationship for her.”
“Your father couldn’t help dying, and your mom moved for the climate,” she said, aware her voice was a little high-pitched.
“And then I wasn’t enough for Ebony either . . .” His voice was small and quiet.
Marissa sighed, released his hands, and gave him a coffee. “This evening just took a dive south.”
“Sorry.” Mike wasn’t sure how they’d gone from making out to this conversation either.
“Ebony didn’t work out because you two were clearly wrong for each other.” She walked over and sat on the sofa, her dress sliding to show an enticing expanse of her milky thigh.
“I know that, intellectually,” he said, sitting on the sofa, too.
“Look, the truth is, not everything works out for any of us. Everyone, well most people who are alive and engaged in society, have relationships that fail. Sometimes we are responsible and sometimes not. I understand what you’re saying, you didn’t want to risk losing me or screwing it up, but don’t you think maybe I should have had a small say in it? If it was about me, too?”
He nodded. “I was trying to protect you.”
“Yeah, and how’s that been working for me?” she asked, taking a sip of coffee.
“My guess is not so well.”
“Damn right.”
“I hear that, but maybe you weren’t ready either. Maybe you needed to have some time without family commitments just to focus on you. I know you. All you do is give. Maybe you needed a chance to replenish the well.”
“Have you been reading self-help books?”
“The Internet, relationship blogs, there’s way too much information out there.” He smiled at her.
“So you’re saying, now that we’re both ready and open to this, that’s why it feels so right?” she said.
“Yeah, or I’m saying that’s why it felt so right until I ruined it with this heavy conversation,” he corrected, because he was well aware he had.
“Good point.” She sipped her coffee
“So now, back to the wooing?”
“I think so.”
Mike stood to go. “Then wooing it will be.”
She stood, too.
“The thing is, I’m not very good at relationships. I want to be. You make me want to be.”
She smiled at him. “Mike, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but I’ve not been in a relationship myself for quite some time. I think all either of us needs to be is good at this relationship.”
“Good point,” he said, leaning in for a tender kiss.
Chapter 20
It was a new year and Marissa woke up to it feeling more optimistic than she had in ages. Last night hadn’t ended exactly like she imagined, but it had been a magical evening, and maybe, just maybe, her and Mike talking about where they were was better than them kissing each other into oblivion. Still, the kissing had been nice, too, she thought as she brought her fingers to her lips.
She picked up the phone and called her parents. She hoped they’d had a good New Year’s Eve, though she didn’t expect they’d been out partying.
“Hi, Daddy,” she said.
“Hey, sweetie. Happy New Year.”
“Same to you.”
Her father filled her in on the small dinner dance they’d run at the retirement village. “Your mother loved it.”
Of course she would have. “What did you do, sweetie?”
“I went with Mike to the golf club dinner dance.”
“Oh, very nice,” her father said before her mother swooped in and took the phone.
“You went to the club?”
“I did. It was very beautiful. Lots of dancing. They’d really decorated it beautifully,” she said, explaining to her mother about the lights and flowers.
“And Mike took you, like on a date?”
“Yeah, I guess you’d call it that,” she said, considering that for a moment. She and Mike were dating.
“Well, that’s a turn up for the books,” her mother said, clearly surprised by the development. “When did this start?”
“I don’t know, a week or so ago. It’s pretty new.”
Her mother let out an exasperated sigh. “You two have been dancing around each other for years. It’s not new and you don’t have time to waste nor can you be too choosy. You’re not getting any younger. Grab on and hold on tight, Marissa.”
“That’s very romantic, Mother,” she said. Honestly, her mother was ridiculous.
“Romance has nothing to do with it. You need to grow up and get your head out of the clouds.”
“Well, Happy New Year to you, too, Mom.” She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
“Yes, same to you. Here’s your father back.”
“I believe in romance,” her father said. “And fairies.”
“Thanks, Daddy. I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. I think you’re going to have an amazing year.”
Well, the only response to that was coffee. Good strong coffee, and as she had the day off, she fully intended to take that coffee back to bed, read a romantic book, and start the day over, back in the blissful bubble she’d been in before the phone call.
Except there was a knock at the door. She tried to smooth her hair in vain, those curls needed more than a few fingers running through them. She checked through the peephole and there was Chloe. All smiles and freshness. New year, new friends, she thought as she opened the door.
“Hey, am I interrupting?”
Marissa shook her head. “Not at all.”
“Good, I wanted to come see how your fabulous New Year’s was. Mine involved a Real Housewives marathon, so I need something to cleanse my mind.”
“And I was it?”
Her new friend nodded. “I brought donuts and coffee. I’m sure that is the traditional New Year’s offering somewhere, right?”
She stepped aside while Chloe came in, taking the treats from her so she could peel off her coat. “Definitely. Thank you.”
An hour later, she had filled her friend in on the evening before.
“It sounds magical. I’ve never been to anything like that. I never even had a prom,” Chloe said with her eyes downcast.
“No prom, how is that even possible? Were you not invited? I can’t believe you wouldn’t have been asked. Look at you, so gorgeous.”
A pink blush crept up Chloe’s neck. “I grew up in a strict religious community. No dancing. No prom.”
“Did you grow up on the set of Footloose?” Marissa teased.
“A little bit. Though to be honest, th
ose kids had a lot more freedom than I did. That Ariel was wild.”
“Wow, I can’t even imagine what that must have been like,” she said, looking at sweet Chloe with new eyes. “Has it been hard transitioning?”
“I don’t know, I kind of watch and learn; it’s why I’m kind of quiet.”
“I bet.” This was quite a thing to absorb. “So, how was poker night, then? Those guys are . . .”
“They’re sweet, at least to me. I think I give off the little sister vibe maybe.”
She shook her head. “No way. Those guys can tell you’re out of their league. They may seem kind of dopey but they know their limits. What about Todd? He walked you out the other night.”
“I don’t think I’m Todd’s type.”
“You’re Moose’s type.”
“Anyway, I would like to go to a beautiful dance like that one day and feel like a princess. I know it is a cliché, but just for a night, I’d kind of like it.”
“Hell yeah. Just because you want to dress up, be treated well, and dance the night away doesn’t make you weak or a victim. Being weak is not knowing what you want and not asking for it. Going for it, that’s strength.”
“Do you do that?” Her friend’s brow was knotted with the question.
“Not nearly as often as I should, but you know, maybe that can be my New Year’s resolution. Know what I want and go for it.”
“That sounds good,” Chloe said, tearing a piece off a donut. “I better make one, too.”
“Yeah, and what’s yours?”
“Honestly, I just want to be happy and leave the past behind.”
“That’s an excellent one.” She raised her coffee cup in a mock cheer.
They toasted the new year and Marissa really hoped it would be a good one for both of them and that Chloe would get to go to that dance at last.
Mike didn’t know what his next move should be. It was the evening of New Year’s Day and he’d been in working all day. To be fair, he hadn’t had a choice, but now he needed a new plan to do something with Marissa, he just didn’t know what.
The phone rang and it was his brother. “Happy New Year, dude.”
“Same.”
“So you took her to the New Year’s Eve dance?” His voice was a low growl.
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