Nothing More Beautiful (33 page)

“She wants a hug,” I told him.

“Sorry, Mrs. Goodwin.”

“At least he has manners,” my mother
laughed, pulling him in for a tight hug. “And please, call me
Nora.” Vince returned her embrace with an awkward pat, quickly
releasing her. “You should’ve seen that last one she brought
around. Good God, he was a prick.”

“Mother!” I cried.

“What? I’m only telling the truth. Would you
rather I lie and say how sweet he was to you?” She looked at Vince.
“Did you know he never got the door for my little darling? Not
once. He’d sooner slam the door in her face.”

“Well, Maci is a strong, independent woman,”
Vince said. “She likes to get her own doors.”

My mother gazed at Vince as if appraising a
new piece of furniture, which she took very seriously. Her brow
scrunched, her mouth pursed, and her eyes squinted, sharpening. I
had always regarded her as a beautiful woman, and age gave her
little problems, her dark red hair full and healthy, her skin
smooth and glowing. In fact, her feminine figure still attracted
wondering looks, and her bright blue eyes still shined with
tenacity.

After what seemed like a minute of silence,
she finally smiled, and said, “That she does. She’s always been a
self-assertive girl, except around boys, as I’m sure you know.”

I blushed. “All right, mom, how about we
introduce Vince to the rest of the family, yeah? Before you go off
on an hour-long tangent describing all the men I’ve dated.”

She touched her hand to her chest and
gasped. “I’d never.”

My brother Dominic, who everyone just called
Donny, saw that we were in trouble and rushed over to rescue us.
Tall, broad-shouldered, with short black hair and a dim brow, my
brother went for the rugged look. For some reason, he always looked
like he was squinting, a subject I knew better to leave alone. He
and his wife were both fitness buffs, and she was slim and curvy
while he was meatier.

Donny reached out his hand. “I’m Donny,
Maci’s brother.”

The two gripped and shook.
“Vince . . . I was told this is an event where
we are supposed to hug,” Vince said, smiling.

“Only if you’re 58 and crazy.” He put his
arm around mom.

She pinched his arm for the remark. “See
what I get for all my love?”

“Is that what that is?” Donny laughed,
waving his wife over. She had bright blond hair with mocha
lowlights. “Vince, this is my wife, Evelyn.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Vince said, shaking
her hand. She returned the greeting, but a second later she ran
after their little blond boy. He was a troublemaker compared to
their younger daughter.

Vince made the rounds, meeting the
twenty-odd gathered relatives, including some closer cousins and
their families. One of Donny’s waiters took our orders, rushing
around like his job depended on how well he performed for this
single event. Dinner and cake went by quickly, and Vince stayed
silent most of the time, listening to my relatives blather on about
this and that. At one point, Donny pulled Vince aside, and it
looked like he was getting a lecture.

When it came time for presents, my mother
let her grandchildren tear them open. Every year she said she
didn’t need anything, and every year she complained that we didn’t
get her what she wanted. She was a hard read that way. I had
thought about making a donation in her name to a charity to see
how’d she react, but I never did, feeling like a bad daughter if I
didn’t show up with something tangible.

All in all, it was a typical Goodwin family
function, with my Uncle Taylor cursing at all the kids, my Aunt
Bethany spilling a glass of beer on the floor, and my Cousin Derik
hitting on my Cousin Tori’s new girlfriend of the week.

As we were about to leave, my mom herded me
into a corner. “I’m glad to see that you’ve grown up enough to stop
chasing those asshole
bad boys
.”

“‘Bad boys,’ mother?” I raised my brows.
“Did you really just say that? I don’t think any of them were bad
boys.”

“What would you call them then? They’ve all
been brash, insensitive, controlling . . . if
that doesn’t spell ‘bad boy,’ I don’t know what does.”

“That’s true. I don’t think you do
either.”

She ignored my comment. “I know that
attraction, darling,” she said with care. “But I’m glad you’ve left
behind that phase of your life. Vince, I can tell he’s something
special. He’s the opposite of all the others. Attentive, caring,
obviously smart—and he’s not too bad looking, either.” She laughed,
nudging me. “If I were—”

“No,” I cut her off. “Don’t say it.” She
heeded my warning. “I’m glad that you approve, mother, but I’m not
dating him for your approval.”

“I never said you were.” She feigned
innocence, throwing up her arms. It was a Goodwin family trait to
talk with your hands. “I’m just saying that you actually look happy
for once, that’s all.”

I gave her a slight smile, then regarded
Vince, who was talking with Donny again. “He is different from all
the rest, I’ll give you that.”

“He’s one of the good ones—like your father
was—and that’s what you deserve, Maci. You deserve a man who
respects you, who values your opinions, and shares your good
heart.”

“Mom, you’ve told me all this before,” I
sighed.

“Yes, but this time I’m not telling you to
dump his ass, I’m telling you that you’ve got a keeper.”

“‘Bad boys,’ ‘dump his ass,’ where are you
getting this stuff?” I asked, wondering what she was watching on TV
during the week.

“I’m 58, Maci, not 108. You’d be surprised
what I hear at work, too. It’s always ‘fuck this’ and ‘fuck that’
with those middle school brats. They curse more than your uncle
does.” She pinched my arm like she had a habit of doing, and tugged
on my sleeve hard enough for me to lean into her. “I mean it, Maci,
he’s a keeper.”

I leaned in all the way for a hug and kissed
her cheek. “I know, mom. I know.”

She continued to wave as we headed out the
door. “So that’s what a family is like,” Vince said, amused, but
also pleased.

“Yep. That was the Goodwin experience,” I
replied, going for the driver’s seat.

“I could get used to it.” He was wearing a
shy smile as he talked.

“My mother certainly likes you,” I said,
finding the keyhole. “She thinks you’re a keeper.”

He placed his hand on the door. “Do you mind
if I drive? I have a special place in mind.”

“Another surprise?”

“Too many for the week?” he asked, with mock
incredulity.

I handed over the keys. “So, what do you
think about what my mom said?” I asked when he started driving.

“About being a keeper? I won’t argue with
her.” He rubbed my knee, exposed by my skirt. “What about you? Do
you agree?”

I feigned indifference. “I don’t know. I’m
undecided right now.” I couldn’t hold in my cheesy grin that fought
to the surface.

From Washington, he turned right onto
Abernethy, which turned into Holcomb a few blocks later. He was
heading out into the boonies. “Your brother was sure a delight,”
Vince said, a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

“Yeah? He looked pretty serious. What were
the two of you talking about?”

“Oh, you know, just how if I ever hurt you,
that he’d break my legs, and that he didn’t care how rich I
was . . . stuff like that.”

I nodded, smiling. “Yeah, Donny’s always
been a little overprotective. One thing’s for sure: he’s not
kidding around. After one of my exes hit me, Donny went over to his
place and kicked the shit out of him—really let him have it. He’s a
good brother like that. He’s always been there for me.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing I don’t plan
on hurting you, isn’t it?” He rubbed my leg again.

I only nodded. We drove and drove and drove,
all on Holcomb, until we crossed S. Bradley. We ended up on S.
Timber Ridge Drive. “I’ve never been out here before,” I said, my
fingers feeling the breeze out the window. “What’s out here?”
Without answering, he turned right onto a long paved driveway that
ended in front of a massive house. He parked in front of the first
of the segmented three-car garage. Terrance’s motorcycle sat near
the last garage door. “Is this where Terrance lives when he’s not
protecting you?” I teased, gauging the size of the enormous house
and all the acres around it.

“No, this is where I come to get away from
it all. To get away from the busy streets and all the lights of the
city that never turn off.”

I could hear my mouth parting. “This is
yours?”

He nodded. “Come on, I’ll show you.” He
hopped out of the car, retrieving his keys like this moment wasn’t
really a surprise at all.

Walking up to the front door, I stared at
him, mystified. “How come you never told me about this place? It’s
a
huge
secret.”

“I don’t really think about it until I want
to get away from the city, and lately I haven’t wanted to leave.”
His words were sweet, but underneath them hid something else, an
obstacle to trust—a barrier that kept him from full disclosure.

“I just thought we were at the point where
we shared all our secrets with each other,” I said, remaining
outside as he went in.

“Secret? This place isn’t a secret. I’m
sorry that I didn’t tell you about it. Honestly, it just slipped my
mind. I’ve only been out here once since we met, and that was to
set up the surprise.”

“This isn’t the surprise?”

He gave me a funny look, his bafflement
genuine. “No, like I said, I never intended to keep this place from
you until I had the idea for what I’m about to show you. But that
idea only came to me on Tuesday when I was out of town. I’m sorry
if it’s a big shock. If it matters, I have no other real
estate—just this and my condo.”

His body language told me he wasn’t hiding
anything, and that he had actually just forgotten about the house.
His words and countenance comforted me into forgiving the
unintentional error. I stepped under the entryway. “It’s just weird
that you never mentioned it before, but I guess it’s not like a
secret love nest or anything, so I can’t be too upset, right?” I
laughed awkwardly, feeling a bit foolish for my rash reaction.

He grinned. “No, it’s definitely not a
secret love nest.” His eyes glinted seductively. “Not yet
anyway.”

I raised my eyebrows to be humorous. “What’s
that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I should give you a tour
before I show you the surprise.” He waved me into the kitchen at
his right.

It was even more spectacular than his condo.
“This place is huge,” I exclaimed, skimming the fancy island
countertop with my palm.

“It seems that way, but it’s actually
smaller than the condo.” He sauntered into a huge family room with
a wall entertainment center. A white wall of stone sat opposite the
TV with a decorative window peeking in on a cellar with so much
wine, it could have rivaled a grocery store.

“I didn’t know you were so into wine,” I
commented, nodding at the stocked wooden racks.

“They all came with the place when I bought
it,” he said. “I’ve tried a few, but I like wine better with
company, and I only come out here to be alone. Alma has never even
been out here.”

It really was his sanctuary then. “What
about Terrance?”

“Oh, he’s probably outside running along the
grounds. There are over twenty acres out there. He likes to camp
out when I come down here.”

“He doesn’t stay inside?”

“He understands my need for privacy, and
even though I’ve told him he can stay inside, he chooses a tent
instead.” He pointed to the next room. “Shall we?” The next room
was small with stone floors. He opened the double doors and
revealed a gorgeous fenced-in pool.

“Wow,” was all I could come up with, gazing
at the luxurious pool area.

Adjacent to the house sat a guesthouse. We
entered a long rectangular room with a kitchenette on one end and
beautiful stone flooring. “I call this the pool room,” Vince said,
then led me through the guesthouse.

“Why doesn’t Terrance stay in here?” I
asked. It was bizarre that the bodyguard chose to sleep outside in
the cold when there was a perfectly good guesthouse that provided
privacy for both of them.

“I couldn’t tell you. Come on, there’s
more,” he said, waving me back inside the main house. We traveled
through a hallway to an open great room. Through the double doors
lay a stone courtyard with a four-tiered fountain. Beyond that was
the most impressive view of Mount Hood I had ever seen from a
distance. “You should see it at dusk, when the sky is pink and
orange. It’s pretty crazy.” He grabbed my hand. “Time for the
surprise.”

Leading me to the master bedroom, Vince held
his hands over my eyes, acting as a blindfold. I could hear the
door swing open as we walked forward. He removed his hands, and
said, “Okay, open them!”

In front of me was a long, rectangular piece
of furniture that reminded me of an ottoman, except it stood much
higher and had no hinges for storage. On top of it was a shorter
black rectangle that spanned about three-quarters of the red
ottoman-ish box. The black rectangle had black cuffs on both ends.
“What is this stuff?”

“Well, according to my research, it’s
marketed as ‘bedroom adventure gear,’” he said with a straight
face. “But really it’s just sex furniture.”

“Sex furniture? Like the pillow?”

“Yeah, it’s the same brand as that.” He
strode around it, brushing the black one. “I thought since we both
enjoyed that so much, I’d surprise you with this.” He pushed down a
few times. “It’s sturdy, so it won’t move around, yet”—he pressed
down with both hands—“it’s soft and conforms when needed.”

“And the cuffs?” I reached out and touched
one. A shiver of apprehension shot through me. “For bondage?”

“Yeah, they market it as playful restraint,
so it’s not as hardcore, but yeah, it’s the reason why I bought
this particular model.” He eyed me with anticipation. “I know I
said when we were making the list that we’d research this together,
but in my downtime on my business trip, I gave
Fifty Shades of
Grey
a shot— to see what all the hype was about.”