A Bravo Christmas Reunion Read online

  For once, he had the sense not to speak, to let her say what she meant to say in her own time.

  She told him, “I had such a great time this afternoon. Truly. And it’s good to be with you. I…oh, I really have missed you, the past months. I’ve been waiting, to get over you. To not miss you quite so much. But what’s in my heart for you, well, it’s very strong. And now you’re here and you seem to really want to make things work with me….”

  “I do.” He said it firmly, like a vow.

  And she couldn’t help smiling as she gazed into those dear green eyes. “I’m thinking maybe, if we could have some time together, you and me, we might figure out if there’s any chance we could make a go of it….”

  “We can make a go of it, Hayley. Just let me—”

  “Wait.”

  “What?”

  “The time. Do you think you could give me that?”

  He squeezed her hand. “You know I can. Marry me. Tomorrow. Come back with me to Seattle. We’ll—”

  “No. Please. Not Seattle, not yet.”

  “But you just said—”

  “I wasn’t clear. What I meant was, will you take some time off, stay here with me in Sacramento for a while?”

  His face fell. “Hayley…” He said her name with real regret. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

  It was the answer she’d expected. She knew how he felt about being away from his work. But she wasn’t giving up yet. “Just think about it a little.”

  “There’s nothing to think about.”

  “Sure, there is. Look. I know that you never take time off. You’re a driven man and perfectly happy to be so. And I’m sure it’s a bad time to take time off. Because it’s always a bad time, really, isn’t it?”

  He didn’t reply. There was no need. She’d just laid out his own arguments for him.

  She went on, “Just…time. That’s what I want from you. Stay here with me until after Christmas.”

  He let go of her hand. “Christmas is almost two weeks away. It’s impossible. I can’t—”

  She interrupted, “Please. Before you start telling me all the reasons you can’t, let’s just talk it over. Let’s explore the, er, possibilities.”

  “Which are?”

  “There’s a family reunion this weekend.”

  He grunted. “In Las Vegas.”

  She shook her head, but she was smiling. “How did you know that?”

  He swore. But then he admitted, “I got hold of your brother. We had a talk. I asked him to put in a good word for me, with you. He told me about the reunion. Invited me, as a matter of fact.”

  “When was this?”

  “Today, before I picked you up from the caterer’s.”

  She grinned. “Working all the angles, huh?”

  “Hell, yes.”

  She took his hand again in both of hers, turned it over, stroked his palm with her thumbs. “In the bedroom, when you kissed me…”

  “Yeah?” The word was low and rough.

  “I know I said we shouldn’t have kissed, but what I thought was how much I’d missed your kisses. How I’ve longed for you. How I love you….”

  “Then mar—”

  “Don’t.” She touched his lips to stop the words. “Don’t say it. Not now. Please. I don’t want to talk about marriage. Yet. First, I want to have some time with you. I want us to be together without all the pressure and excitement and distraction of Kaffe Central. I want us to get to know each other in a whole new light. I want us to have time do nothing, except be.”

  He looked very worried. “Be. You want us to be.”

  “Tall order, huh?”

  “You know how I am. I don’t do being. I work. Hard. That’s who I am.”

  “You let things just be this afternoon, didn’t you? I think you did pretty well.”

  He reached out. She didn’t duck away, but allowed him to run a finger down the curve of her cheek, to tuck a few strands of sleep-mussed hair behind her ear. To her, that touch was a pure miracle. It set off sparks along the surface of her skin, brought a tempting warmth down low in her belly.

  She found she was glad. Joyous, even. That he had come to find her. That he wouldn’t give up when she told him no.

  His eyes had gone soft as some secret, green glen. He whispered, “Damn it, Hayley…”

  Oh, yeah. Eight months pregnant and she still wanted him. Bad.

  She caught his caressing hand, pressed it to her lips. And then, very gently, she let it go. “I want…honesty, with you, Marcus. And I also want us to be lovers again.”

  He blinked and slanted a swift glance at her huge belly. “Lovers…when?”

  “Now.” She laughed. “You should see your face. Too strange for you, to be the lover of a pregnant lady?”

  And his eyes went all soft again. He looked almost innocent. Almost…young. “Can you?”

  “Yes. If we’re careful. And imaginative. If you don’t mind taking it slow and easy. And if it doesn’t turn you off, me being so enormous.”

  Again, he reached out. He touched her throat. When she shuddered and sighed, he slid his hand under her hair and caressed the back of her neck. “It doesn’t turn me off. Not in the least. And I can be careful.” The words were a rough caress. “And slow. And imaginative…”

  “Oh, well. I really like all that in a man…”

  He was looking at her mouth. “I want to kiss you.”

  “I want to kiss you, too….”

  He picked up on her hesitation. “Okay. What’s the catch?”

  “Not a catch, really. But I do want honesty, between us. I think we have to start with that.”

  He took his hand away. “Are you saying I’ve lied to you?”

  “Well, last night, you did say you loved me….”

  He craned back from her and his eyes were watchful again—and wary.

  She said, “You don’t love me, do you?”

  “Of course, I love—”

  “Just the truth.” She cut him off before he could lie again. “Please. We have to start from there.”

  An awful pause and then, at last, “No. I’m not in love with you. Whatever the hell that means. I’m not real crazy about the whole love thing, anyway. Love’s brought me nothing but misery—and now you’re mad at me, right?”

  “No. Oh, no.” She gulped to clear her clutching throat. “Okay. It hurts to hear you say it. But really, it’s better. For you to tell me the truth.”

  His expression was doubtful. “If you say so.”

  “I just want to go into this with my eyes open, that’s all. I know you’re still in love with—”

  “No.” The word was sure and deep and final. “I’m not in love with anyone.”

  She didn’t believe him. He was still in love with Adriana, even if he wouldn’t let himself admit it. But she figured she’d pushed him far enough for one night. And in the end, he was an honorable man. No matter the secret yearnings in his heart, if they did get married, she knew she could trust him never to cheat on her.

  And he certainly cared for her. He cared a great deal, as much as his wounded heart could bear. That much she didn’t doubt. Surely, good marriages had been built on less.

  “Can we move on?” he asked gruffly.

  She nodded. “Let’s. Where were we?”

  “I was going to kiss you.” He leaned in a little closer again. “Can we get back to that?”

  “Oh. Kissing….”

  “Objections?”

  “Not a one.”

  “Excellent.” He framed her face with gentle hands. She tipped up her lips to him, welcoming him. He smelled so good, all clean and manly, with a hint of that expensive aftershave he always wore. His mouth descended.

  She felt his lips, again, on hers. At last. Nothing…nothing was as lovely as that. He brushed his mouth back and forth, teasing, tempting. And when she sighed, he took it as an invitation.

  His tongue touched her lower lip. She gave a little moan and he was inside, stroking the edges
of her teeth, sucking a little, making her sigh some more.

  Too soon, he lifted his head. “You taste good,” he said. “Better, even than I remembered…” He wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck again and he rubbed a little, massaging the bumps at the top of her spine. It felt just right, kind of eased out the tension—what was left of it, anyway, which wasn’t a lot after that bone-melting kiss.

  She guided his other hand to her belly. He whispered her name as he touched the high curve, his fingers spreading wide. “It feels so hard….”

  “Like a watermelon, huh?”

  “Is it all right if I…?”

  She held his eyes. “Mmm-hmm.”

  He explored the shape of her, his palm curving out over the front of her, sliding inward again toward her lap.

  The baby gave a nudge. “Oh!” She laughed and caught his wrist, guiding it to the side. “Wait…” She watched his face. “There. Feel that?”

  His eyes held wonder. “A kick. I swear, he kicked me…”

  She slanted him a teasing glance. “Could be a she, you know…”

  “You didn’t…find out?”

  “Nope. A boy or a girl, I don’t care either way. And sometimes, in life, a little mystery is good. I know he or she is healthy. So I can wait.”

  He kept his hand where she’d put it, waiting. “If she’s a girl, she’ll be pretty as her mother.”

  “Flattery. I like it. Tell me more.”

  “A little girl with red hair…”

  “And green eyes,” she added.

  “There.” His stern face seemed suddenly lit from within. “Another kick. She’s athletic, no doubt about it.”

  She caught his hand, twined her fingers with his. “So. What do you say?”

  “About what?”

  “Marcus. Come on.” Now she’d gone and proposed the impossible, she found she was eager to know if he would go for it. “Time. Over Christmas. You and me.”

  “Time?”

  She groaned. “Stop teasing me.”

  He actually laughed, a rough sound. But so good to hear. And he said, “I’d have to fly back to Seattle first, get things in order there as much as possible…”

  She felt warm all over, sparkly and bright. “I can’t believe this. Are you telling me I can have a whole two weeks of you away from Kaffe Central?”

  “Together.”

  “Of course. You make it sound like a warning.”

  “I’m just getting things good and clear about this. I would stay here, with you.”

  “That’s what I was hoping for.”

  “Could have fooled me. Until tonight.”

  “I think it was that kiss in the bedroom that did it.”

  “Damn. One little kiss. How simple is that? I should have tried it sooner.”

  She realized she hadn’t made herself totally clear. “It would still be…I mean, it still might not work out between us. We both have to keep that in mind.”

  “Sorry. No.”

  “But you have to—”

  “Uh-uh. No way. I want to marry you. That’s what I’ll be keeping in mind.”

  “But for the two weeks, you’ll let it alone.”

  He grunted. “I’m not supposed to ask you to marry me again, you mean?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Please. You know how you are when you get focused on something. It’s a little overwhelming. I don’t want to be arguing about marriage all the time.”

  “Right. We’re supposed to just be.”

  “That’s it. Consider it a hiatus. A Christmas vacation.”

  “For two damn weeks.”

  “Well?”

  “Kiss me again. Then we’ll see.”

  Chapter Six

  M arcus stole more kisses before he finally gave in and agreed to try her plan.

  Taking two weeks away from Seattle…

  He had to be stone cold out of his mind.

  But there was Hayley. He would have Hayley. Round, ripe, soft, sweet-smelling Hayley. She would be fully available to him, not pushing him away, no longer denying him.

  She was like a drug. A good drug. The kind that made dreary days bright.

  Two years ago, after Adriana left him, he’d damn well never expected to get involved with another woman—not for a long while, anyway. After all, he’d loved Adriana from some distant time in childhood. He’d always known she was the one for him, the only one. His perfect match. She could be cruel and self-serving. But she understood him, she knew him in some deep and complete way that no one else ever had.

  Or so he’d always believed.

  Their marriage was supposed to have lasted them a lifetime. But Adriana was restless at heart. She resented the long hours he spent at work. She called him stuffy and distant. She wanted more from him—at the same time as she said he stifled her.

  In the end, the union didn’t hold. She ran off to a tiny middle-European principality with a guy named VonKruger. And she filed for divorce.

  He had nothing then, but the company he’d built. His job kept him going.

  Until Hayley.

  She tempted him. She lured him. She offered him everything—her laughter, her sweetness, her pretty, sexy body. She was a sudden warm, healing light in a life that had spiraled down to a flat baseline of hard work and gray loneliness. Because of her, what might have been a slow slide into someplace really ugly became something else altogether. With Hayley, he was as close to happy as he’d ever been.

  But then it ended. He couldn’t give her the love that she wanted, so she left him.

  Yet now, here he was. Sitting in her living room, agreeing to spend two weeks just being, whatever the hell that would entail. Funny, how a woman—the right woman—could make deserting the business he’d built from the ground up, the business that required his hand at the helm, seem like a perfectly reasonable idea.

  But no. He knew what she’d say to that. Not desertion, Marcus. A hiatus. A much-needed Christmas vacation….

  He kissed her some more. And he touched her. All over. It pleased him, aroused him, to feel the changes in her body. To explore the differences his baby had made.

  As in the past, she held nothing back. Smiling, eyes shining, she let him undress her, let him reveal her new roundness. With no embarrassment, with only eagerness and soft sighs, she gave herself.

  He was careful. It was no hardship, to be gentle, even cautious. She needed his care now and he was only too willing to give her what she needed.

  Before, sex with her had been hot and satisfying—and fun, too. Hayley was always fun. And adventurous, as well. Him on top, her on top, whatever. She’d try any position; and she enjoyed variety. Whatever he suggested, she was up for it.

  And she was always ready for a little fantasy, including dress up. She’d played his French maid. And a leather-clad temptress in dangerously high heels….

  He grinned to himself, remembering the fine, sexy times they’d had.

  And she demanded, “Okay, what’s that grin about?”

  They were in her bedroom by then. Naked, together. On her bed. He cradled her breast. Fuller than he remembered, the pale skin soft and pliant, traced now with delicate blue veins, the nipple darker than before. He lowered his head, touched his tongue to the dark red tip.

  She didn’t allow more, but put her hand under his chin and made him look at her again. “That grin?”

  “Just…remembering. You and me. In bed. Before…”

  She giggled like a little girl. “We had some fun, huh?”

  He clasped her shoulder, loving the feel of her skin. Again. At last. “It was good, all right. This is good…”

  “Oh, yeah…”

  She put the pillows where she wanted them and then lay back, propped against them. He stretched out beside her and kissed her, letting his hands go roaming….

  Over those swollen, tender breasts, down between them…

  Again, he felt the baby move.

  And then he went lower. He touched her where she was wet and wa
iting for him. She moaned and he deepened the kiss, as below, he stroked the soft, silky folds.

  She shattered on a keening sigh. He smiled against her mouth.

  “Good…” She stuck out her tongue and traced a wet trail over his lips.

  He caught that tongue of hers, took it inside his mouth, and when he let go, he captured her lower lip between his teeth and bit down—gently. Until she gasped and whispered his name.

  And then she found him, that soft hand of hers closing around him, tightening, holding firm, and then, oh-so-slowly sliding upward.

  She caressed the tip. He moaned. She caught his mouth again and kissed him, deeply. Thoroughly. As that clever hand of hers drove him wild.

  He caught her wrist just at the point where he was about to go over the edge and he trailed kisses over her cheek, giving her earlobe a tender nip before whispering what he wanted. “You. All around me. Is that safe?”

  She turned her head enough to meet his lips again. “Lie down. On your back…” She breathed the words against his mouth.

  And then she pushed him to his back, rising above him, that red hair falling forward over her breasts, gleaming like pure silk in the light from the lamp.

  She held his eyes with hers as she took him inside her—not all the way, but enough.

  Enough. Oh, yeah. More than enough.

  She rode him, a slow, easy, ride, one hand tucked under her heavy stomach, for support. He held himself in check, letting her be in control. It was pure torture, holding back, not lifting his hips to her, not taking all of her, resisting the burning urge to grab her close and push in so hard and tight…

  And still, though his mind whispered warnings to go gently, to take care, he couldn’t resist her body’s call. He felt himself rising, reaching, finding the finish in spite of the way he reined in his desire….

  He let out a low, strangled sound as it took him. Fisting his hands in the sheet to keep from grabbing her, he held on, still holding back at the same time as he lost himself completely.

  She moved above him, making soft sounds of encouragement, as his climax rolled through him. The world flew away. There was only her softness, her wetness, her heat.