“Looks who’s talking about scary. I’m afraid to touch you, Ms. Business Woman,” Shane said.
“I doubt that,” Reesa said tightly, letting Sara pull free of her hand and skip away.
Conversation with Carrie momentarily forgotten, Reesa made herself walk toward Shane until she was standing in front of him gazing up. He looked bigger and more scruffy than even she could tolerate in a man. She didn’t know whether to laugh or chastise him. Her indecision must have shown on her face because Shane’s eyes started twinkling in mischief long before he spoke.
“The good news is that I finished the novel,” Shane said softly, seeing derision in her answering smile, but not commenting on it.
“I’m just glad to hear there’s at least a reasonable explanation for your uncivilized state,” Reesa said dryly, tugging on his shirt until Shane bent his mouth down to hers.
Shane let his lips touch Reesa’s briefly, then raised his head and backed away. It wasn’t what he wanted to do, but it was all he felt he could do in the circumstances. Even Shane had to admit someone looking like him shouldn’t be kissing someone who looked as good as she did. He felt unworthy, and it was the damndest feeling he’d ever had with a woman. Worse, he knew the disparity between them was his fault.
How could he expect to talk to her about being partners in life if they couldn’t be equals in a simple thing like having similar value systems about the way they looked?
Reesa’s gaze dropped from his as Shane backed away from her, but not before Shane saw the flash of hurt. It had him lifting Reesa’s chin and moving her gaze back to his.
“Hey,” he said quickly, his stomach dropping as he had to keep her from forcibly turning away from him. “It’s still me. I’m just embarrassed to touch you.”
Silently swearing at his fumbling because of ego nagging at him, Shane pushed past his reservations and tugged Reesa back to him by her smooth jacket lapels for a genuine kiss that actually communicated how much he’d missed her, even if he did end up keeping his tongue to himself.
“That’s a hell of a serious business look for an accountant,” Shane said against her mouth. “Love the matching heels though. Is that comment too much macho guy for you?”
Reesa laughed and reached up to run manicured fingertips through his beard. “No, but this is too much macho guy. Lose the beard, Larson.”
“It will be gone soon, I swear. By the way, I’m heading to Johns Hopkins next Thursday to defend my dissertation on Friday,” Shane told her. “You won’t even recognize me by the time that happens. I’ll be as yuppie as you.”
Reesa rolled her eyes. “It boggles my mind to think of you dressed up. Don’t strain that much—just lose the beard. Everything else is okay.”
Shane had to believe her because she was using her I-mean-business tone of voice that she usually reserved for the kids when they were misbehaving. It made him smile.
“Are you here to talk to Carrie?” Shane asked.
He hadn’t missed his sister-in-law pretending to be busy when she was really eavesdropping on their entire conversation. Shane hadn’t missed her knowing grin either.
When he looked back at the woman he held by her lapels, Reesa was nodding in answer to his question.
“Yes. I’m here for a job interview to see about some part-time work,” she said.
“Let me watch Sara then, and you two can talk more easily,” Shane said turning loose and thinking the suit made sense now.
Still, Reesa sure had gone to a lot of trouble dressing up for Carrie, and Shane found himself wondering what kind of job Carrie was offering Reesa. Neither Michael nor Carrie had said anything to him about talking to her, much less needing gallery help.
Sara was twirling a few feet away, singing a song as she danced.
“Sara is full of energy today, and I can’t seem to pay enough attention to keep her calm. Just don’t let watching her stop you from what you’re doing,” Reesa said firmly. “Send her to the conference room. She can wait patiently when she has to. Don’t let her fool you.”
Shane nodded, watching Reesa’s legs and hips move very nicely in her skirt as she turned and walked back to Carrie. He sighed with a longing that didn’t stand a chance in hell of being satisfied for at least another four days. He couldn’t make love to her again until Monday morning.
For Shane, the time constraints on their sexual relationship were quickly becoming an intolerable situation. He wanted to marry Reesa, to be with her every day, sleep with her every night, and to have a relationship sanctioned by whomever she needed to bless it.
So what if it hadn’t even been two months since he met her? He knew who she was, or at least he knew the important things. He knew that inside that expensive suit was a woman who danced in the kitchen with as much abandon as Sara twirling in the gallery. And under that makeup and controlled hair was a woman who moved his hands to show him how to please her in bed.
Okay, the uber professional clothes had thrown him off for a couple of beats, mostly because he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to match her level of maturity in professional clothes. She was dressed for Wall Street instead of downtown Lexington.
Well, he just would find a way, Shane decided. He would be the best dressed research doctor at the university if that’s what it took.
“Hey, Sara—come hold the door open so Michael and I can bring in some heavy furniture,” Shane said.
Sara snorted and took Shane’s hand to walk back across the large open space with him. “I told the lady this place needed some furniture. I was
right
,” she pronounced regally.
Shane laughed. “Yes, princess. I guess you were,” he said, gently squeezing the little hand tucked confidently in his own. “But a gracious princess would never be so rude as to mention it to her loyal subjects. In order words, you still have to talk nice.”
Beside him Sara sighed in resignation.
Chapter 16
Saturday evening was movie night, as Shane had quickly learned in the weeks he and Reesa had been dating.
Zack was out of town at an away ball game and would be dropped off by a friend later. Chelsea and Brian were quibbling over whether to watch a comedy versus an action adventure movie, even though it was Brian’s turn to pick again, just as it had been the first Saturday Shane had spent with them. While her siblings argued, Sara passed the time singing to entertain herself.
Shane laughed at the fact that her singing level proved effective in drowning out most of her brother’s and sister’s fierce statements. That was a pretty good coping mechanism for a five-year-old, Shane decided.
He happily sat at Reesa’s feet again where she played with his still shoulder length hair with one hand while she ate popcorn with the other. Leaning back into her stroking hand, he sighed in pleasure of her touch, dreading having to cut his hair off in the upcoming week.
One thing though was clear in the midst of the domestic scene Shane was so willingly immersed in this evening. He knew he could definitely get used to this family routine. It reminded him of happier times before his mother and father had started having problems.
Shane sighed and reached behind him, pulling one of Reesa’s feet out and down to rub. Like the rest of her compact body, her feet were small and easily swallowed by his large hands. Touching her always reminded him of their size differences and brought out the protector in him. Her quiet moan and sigh at what he was doing had him chuckling. The woman rarely stopped working, but when she did, Shane had learned to massage and rub anything she would let him to help her relax. It calmed her down fastest and sometimes even put her to sleep.
Movie finally chosen at last, Chelsea and Brian took up seats on each side of Sara, who cuddled into Brian’s side without a thought of what he probably thought about it. Shane watched amused as Brian tucked her up and kissed the top of her head while simultaneously reaching and smacking Chelsea on the back of hers for laughing and teasing him about hugging his little sister.
Shane shook his head at the loving rivalry. It hadn’t taken long to figure out Brian was a big softie, but he absolutely hated anyone to point it out to him. The boy kept to himself still a great deal of the time, but frequently came out when Shane was around. Probably because Brian loved to torture him, Shane decided, uncaring of the fact.
Truthfully, the boy was very clever with his mouth and fast with his hands. One day, when Shane was more sure of how it would be taken by the kid, he was going to chase Brian down for his torture and show him what happened when a puppy took on the alpha dog. If Brian wanted to be alpha in the family, he was going to have earn it as far as Shane was concerned.
Smiling at the idea of wrestling the boy into submission, and then hugging him until he literally cried
uncle
, had a wicked smile lighting Shane’s eyes and face. Brian would probably hate the hug worse than being bested because he pretended not to need the love, even as he cuddled his little sister like you would a giant teddy bear.
“You are not allowed to look that wicked until Monday morning,” Reesa said softly, leaning forward to whisper it in his ear. But she couldn’t resist tucking his hair back while she was that close to him, using it as an excuse to touch him. It was all she could do not to dive into him for a kiss when Shane swung his wicked gaze to her.
“I was just thinking about how much fun I’m going to have when I finally get my revenge on Brian for all his torture,” he whispered, smiling back at her hand weaving through his hair as she petted him. He couldn’t even remember what it was like not to be in her life, and he didn’t ever want to be reminded.
Reesa smiled and sighed. “I owe you big for coaxing Brian out of his shell,” she whispered. “He’s informed me that he doesn’t need therapy anymore. Brian told me his art was going to be all he needed. I don’t suppose you know where he got that big idea do you?”
Shane grinned and shook his head. “No idea,” he lied. “But I think you should listen to him.”
Reesa nodded and eased backwards, letting Shane drag the other foot out for a massage. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the quiet moment. She hadn’t enough consciousness to even care what movie was on. She would rather focus her attention on the man thoughtful enough to rub her feet.
Her lovely break from reality lasted until the doorbell rang.
Shane patted her foot and rose. “Stay. Don’t ruin my relaxation work. I’ll get the door.”
He opened it to find his mother standing expectantly on the step, and was rendered speechless.
“Hello, Shane,” Ellen said sharply, narrowing her eyes at her son. “I want to meet your new girlfriend and her family.”
When she heard a strange woman’s voice speaking, Reesa popped up beside Shane to stare open-mouthed at a female version of his face staring back at her with no small amount of interest.
“Hello,” Reesa said finally, finding her composure after several awkward seconds passed with only staring.
“Hello,” Ellen said in return, smiling at the tiny, bright eyed woman who barely cleared her son’s elbow. “I’m sorry to interrupt your evening. I’m Shane’s mother. I would have been here sooner to meet you, but I just found out you existed.”
Reesa laughed at her accusatory, sarcastic statement. She couldn’t help it. It was surreal, and more so when she looked up at Shane, the giant bad-ass who was wide-eyed with shock to be surprised by his mommy.
It was also interesting to Reesa that Shane hadn’t told his mother, but he’d told his father and brother about her the day
after
they’d spent the night together. Men were such big babies about dealing with their mothers.
Of course in her brother-in-law Jackson’s case, it was hard to blame him when his mother nagged him constantly about the wife and mother of his four children. Hopefully, Shane’s mother wouldn’t prove to be that unyielding in her disapproval.
Elbowing Shane, and then shoving him sideways with both hands when the elbow hint wasn’t taken, she pushed open the screen door and held it wide for his mother to walk through.
“Come in please. Excuse the dark room. It’s movie night,” Reesa whispered as the elegant blonde woman slipped inside, wafting expensive perfume and smelling like heaven.
She used to be like that, Reesa remembered, smiling at Shane’s mother’s beautifully maintained appearance. Now she rarely bothered with mascara, much less worried about wearing makeup, keeping nice clothes, or having perfect hair. She’d gotten used to a steady uniform of jeans and T-shirt, but now and again she really missed the ritual of looking and smelling nice.
“Thank you. I would have called first but Shane didn’t give any of his family your phone number,” Ellen whispered, trying to be as quiet as she could despite being so mad at her son that she wanted to grab him by the shirt and shake the shock right out of him.
“No problem—really. Let’s go to the kitchen where we can talk,” Reesa said, leading the way for a now slightly smiling woman who looked at the three siblings leaning together on the couch. Chelsea looked up briefly and waved while Shane’s mother looked back and waved herself in a sort of auto response.
Royalty in England would have been proud of the polite exchange, Reesa thought, ducking her head to hide her grin.
When they got to the kitchen, Reesa motioned to the mostly clean dining table and suggested that Shane’s mother have a seat. After sitting, Reesa put out a hand. “Hi. I’m Reesa Callahan,” she said simply.