When Mom Meets Dad (14 page)

Laying the towels she had found on the counter, she asked gently, "Alex, what's wrong?"

He blew out a long breath.  "I wanted tonight to be right...special."  He might as well not even mention perfect.  "Not something out of a sitcom."

Coming over beside him, she peeked into the container.  "You don't like liver and onions, I take it?"  Her elbow brushed his arm, her soft skin sliding across his hairs, intensifying the heat already in the kitchen.

"Do you?" he murmured.

Turning toward him, her bangs curling in the humidity, her hair waving more than usual around her face, she looked up at him with honest, wide blue eyes.  "Not particularly.  Why don't we see what else we have?"

But he couldn't remember what else he'd ordered, let alone care about it.  Her perfume wound around him, the silkiness of her outfit invited his touch, her pretty pink lips mesmerized him.  He hadn't even had time to finish dressing.  The night was turning into a disaster, and if he didn't kiss her right now...

His hand slid into her hair as his lips met hers.  He loved the feel of it; he loved the feel of her.  Her silk blouse caught against his chest and moved as he did, sliding over her breasts, making him crazy with needing her.  Even before his tongue entered her mouth, he wanted anything and everything she could give him.  But he couldn't take it, not yet, not until he knew her answer.

Hotter than he'd ever been in his life from both the end-of-July heat and the fiery desire inside him, he broke away and swore again.  "I promised myself I wasn't going to push you, that I wasn't going to ask before dinner.  But for God's sake, Amanda..."

The passion they'd stirred up was alive on her face and in her eyes, and suddenly he could see she knew the power she had over him.  And she was going to use it.

With a slow sensual smile, her voice sexy and low, she came as close to him as she possibly could.  "We can still make this evening as special as we want it.  And I think since you've gone to so much trouble, we can improvise a little."

"Improvise what?  It's so damned hot in here," he muttered.

She laughed, and the sound of it swept through him like music he'd needed all his life.  "I think it's going to get dark sooner rather than later.  Why don't we put together whatever dinner we can and take it onto the porch?" she suggested.  "We can have a picnic on the floor.  Light some candles..."

He was beginning to get the idea, and he liked it even better than his.  But as far as her giving him an answer--  "You're going to make me wait, aren't you?"

"The anticipation might be worth the wait," she answered coyly.

Geez.  Getting through dinner was going to require forbearance.  And he didn't know what they were going to eat.  Tipping her chin up, he thought, two can play this game.  Slowly he traced his finger back and forth across her lips.  "I hope you have a magic wand in your pocket, or we might starve."

Playing the game with him, her tongue came out and teased his finger.  Then she nipped the tip and turned back toward the counter, setting aside the liver and onions and opening the other containers.  One held broccoli and cauliflower layered with cheese, another braised new potatoes.  The last box contained large red fresh strawberries and a cup of whipped cream.

"This is going to be easy," she said, going toward the refrigerator.  "I know you have eggs, so all I need is a frying pan.  It's a good thing you have a gas stove."

In amazement, Alex watched Amanda transform a disaster into something very special.

While she worked at the stove, he mopped up the water in the foyer, then went upstairs and pulled out of the closet the down comforter he used in the winter.  He also gathered a few pillows.  Fortunately, the rain had mostly blown in on the front side of the house and the porch was dry.  After he passed through the kitchen and gave Amanda a wink, he spread out the comforter and the pillows on top of the carpet.  Taking the cushions from the furniture out there, he added those to the mix.  Then he lit the candles.  Lowering the roll-up blinds on two sides of the porch, he realized this would be as private as inside the house.  Yet the wind, which had died down to a breeze, gently filtered through the screens, filling the porch with the scent of the now gentle rain.

When Alex returned to the kitchen, he found Amanda had fixed two plates--fluffy omelets filled with the broccoli, cheese and cauliflower accompanied by the potatoes.  She'd mounded the strawberries into a bowl.  After they carried their dinner to the back porch and settled on the floor, he poured two glasses of wine.  At least that was chilled.  He'd stuck it in the refrigerator last night.

And he had the small velvet box in his pocket.

After he'd dropped off the girls, he'd stopped at a jewelry store.  He'd told himself maybe he was being premature, that maybe Amanda's answer wouldn't be what he hoped.  But he'd bought the emerald-cut diamond anyway.

They took a sip of their wine, ate, smiled at each other, and now and then talked about something insignificant.  The buildup was tremendous, a sort of foreplay in itself.  Alex watched each forkful of food disappear into Amanda's mouth.  She was a sensual eater, just as she was a sensual kisser, and he wondered if she even knew it.  By the time he sated his hunger for food, he was more than ready to satisfy another appetite.  And he didn't think he could prolong the suspense any longer.

Pouring more wine into both of their glasses, he lifted his.  "We didn't toast."

She lifted her glass, too.  "What should we toast to?"

He said, "You tell me."

Uncurling her legs, she moved closer to him until her glass almost met his.  "I think we should toast our upcoming marriage.  I want to be your wife, Alex.  My answer is yes."

Toasts forgotten, he took her glass from her and set it with his on a table out of the way.  "I think we should save dessert for later," he murmured.

But Amanda just smiled at him as she had in the kitchen, lifted a strawberry from the top of the bowl and dipped it into the whipped cream.  Then she offered it to him.  "Maybe we should have just one."

He was aroused without her touching him, and when she lifted the strawberry to his mouth, he took a bite, held it in his teeth, and then leaned over to her.  She took it from him, their lips brushing only slightly.  They watched each other as they finished their pieces, and then he brought his lips to hers.  She tasted of strawberries and whipped cream and woman.  His heart pounded so loud he couldn't think.  He only wanted to feel...feel her surround him.  As her hands explored his chest, he groaned, and when her fingertips brushed his nipples, he took her down onto the pillows and covered her with his body.

Breaking the kiss, he said in a hoarse voice, "I want this to be perfect for you.  But I need you so much..."

She slid her hand from his shoulder into the hair at the nape of his neck.  "It will be perfect, because I need you, too."

Nothing in the world could have stopped him then.  He was going to make her his in every sense of the word.  Unfastening the buttons of her blouse, he hurried to brush it aside.  The lace bra was champagne-colored, almost the color of her skin.  After he unfastened it, he cupped her breasts in his palms and watched her eyes grow wide with passion, as his fingertips slid over the nipples.  "Do you know how many times I've dreamed of doing this?"

She shook her head, then reached out and unfastened the button on his shorts.  "Do you know how many times I've dreamed of doing this?"

With a deep laugh that was almost a groan, he ridded himself of his shorts and briefs, then stripped her skirt and panties from her.  When he laid her back on the pillows again, he slid down her body until he was kissing the hollow at her neck, the swell of her breasts, the indentation of her navel.  She writhed sensually under him, and he didn't know how long he could last.  When he touched her intimately, her pleasure was evident.

"Are you ready for me?" he asked.

She gazed at him with such tenderness, he thought he'd die.  "Yes."

He intended to take it slow, he intended to be gentle.  But at the first touch of her velvet heat, he couldn't hold back, and he thrust into her with a groan.  She wrapped her legs around him and rocked with him in rhythm with the night and the rain and passion they'd denied themselves for weeks.  Alex's thrusts became long and deep and hard until she cried out, calling his name, clasping his shoulders in cadence with the waves of pleasure sweeping over her.

The sound of his name on her lips catapulted him over the edge, bringing him a release so sweet and euphoric that he lost track of place and time.  There was only Amanda and the ecstasy they'd shared.

And when he rolled to his side and tenderly caressed her face, he saw tears in her eyes.  "Amanda, are you okay?  I didn't mean for it to happen so fast--"

Reaching out, she stroked his jaw.  "It wasn't fast, Alex.  It was perfect...so perfect."

After he kissed her again, he grabbed his shorts and rummaged in the pocket.  Then he brought out the velvet box and held it out to her.

She opened it, and her eyes filled up again.  "It's beautiful," she whispered.

He took the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger.  It fit perfectly.  Then he kissed her again.  Finally pulling away, he said, "Amanda, I didn't even think about protection.  But I want more children.  Do you?"

She nodded.  "I'd love more children."

With a grin, he suggested, "Then let's get married as soon as possible."

Chapter Eight

Laughter drifted into the kitchen from the back yard on Monday evening, and Amanda went to her door and looked out.  Alex was playing croquette with Heather and Kristy.  The sight of the three of them together made Amanda smile, and she went back to the stove and switched off the pot of corn-on-the-cob that she was fixing.

Saturday night had been so special.  Making love with Alex...  She just never thought she could feel like that about a man...or love so deeply.  Yesterday they'd spent the entire day with the girls, planning, making calls to find a minister who would marry them.  They were getting married in two weeks in Alex's back yard, and there was so much to do.  A real estate agent was coming over tonight to appraise her house before they put it on the market.  Everything was moving so fast, and yet it all felt so right.

When the phone rang, Amanda picked it up, gazing down at her engagement ring, still feeling as if she were dreaming.

"Amanda, is that you?  It's Jeff."

Jeff?  Her ex-husband?  For a moment her heart tripped, and then she told herself there was nothing to be anxious about.  They were no longer married.  He didn't have control over her any longer.  "Jeff, this is a surprise.  How did you find me?"

"I asked around and found out you'd taken a job in Cedar Grove.  I went online.  You're listed, Amanda.  It wasn't hard."

Just like years ago, he was making her feel inferior.  Well, she wouldn't feel inferior--not anymore.  "What do you want, Jeff?"

She thought she heard him sigh.  "Look, Amanda, I'd like to see you.  Could we have lunch or something one day this week?"

"Are you in Cedar Grove?"

"No.  But I'll drive over if that's what you want.  I took a few days off."

Days off?  Jeff had never taken vacations.  As head of the new products division of a company that made medical equipment, he was always getting paged and thought nothing of working until midnight.  But a lot could have happened in three years.  "Can you tell me what this is about?"

"I'd rather wait until I see you."

She was almost afraid to ask her next question, but she did anyway.  "Do you want me to bring Heather?"

"No.  I just need to talk to you about something.  When can we meet?"

Thinking it was best to get it over with, she said, "How about tomorrow?"

"That's fine.  Where do you want me to meet you?"

Cedar Grove wasn't that big, nor were there many choices.  For a moment, she thought about meeting him in Camp Hill, but she didn't have anything to hide.  Choosing the restaurant about a block from the school, she told him its name and gave him directions.  "If you see the elementary school, you've gone too far."

"I'll find it."

"Around one?" she asked.  "Any lunch crowd should be thinning out by then."

"One's good.  I'll see you tomorrow.  Thanks, Amanda."

After she said good-bye, she hung up.  The Jeff she'd known wouldn't have thanked her.  The Jeff she'd known wouldn't have let her set the day or time.  But if he needed something from her...

What could her ex-husband possibly want?

***

The heat was unbearable in Amanda's house, and after the real estate agent left, Alex suggested they all spend the night in the air conditioning at his house.  Amanda told Alex she would sleep in one of his guest bedrooms.  After all, they had two daughters to set an example for now.  He'd given her a patient smile, but she suspected from the glimmer in his eyes that either he wasn't going to be staying in his room for the whole night or she wouldn't be staying in hers.  During supper and their meeting with the real estate agent, she couldn't help but think about her phone conversation with Jeff.  She should tell Alex about it, and yet--

She remembered how he had been jealous of Ted Livingston.  With the wedding two weeks away she didn't want to make any waves.  She didn't want to upset him.  So she rationalized that there was no point telling him about her lunch until she found out what Jeff wanted.

After they gathered a few things and went to Alex's house, they put the girls to bed in Kristy's room.  Alex leaned close to her and whispered in her ear, "I bought some more strawberries.  We could sit on the back porch and feed them to each other."

"Oh, we could?" she teased.

He wrapped his arm around her waist.  "Yep.  And neck a little bit.  Then maybe I can convince you to sneak into my bedroom for the night."

She laughed.  "You think strawberries are going to do that?"

"Nope.  But the necking might."  He pulled her to him and stole a quick kiss.  Draping his arm around her shoulders, they went down the stairs together.