Home for the Baby's Sake Page 6

  He liked the sound of that. “So that’s a yes?”

  “Roman, you need to slow down. It’s much too early to start talking marriage.”

  “For you, maybe. But I’m thirty-two—thirty-two with a little boy who could use a mother. I’ve always wanted a wife. I like the idea of making a good life with the right woman. I was starting to accept that it just wasn’t in the cards for me. I see now I was wrong.”

  She sipped her coffee. “Your forthrightness is disorienting.”

  “That’s okay. I like you on edge.”

  “I’ll bet. And you know what? I’m forthright, too.”

  “Good. Tell me something I don’t know.”

  That sweet mouth of hers softened and her eyes glittered like twin sapphires. “I’m so attracted to you and...”

  This conversation was definitely headed in the right direction. But why had she stalled out? “Say it.”

  “Well, it’s been a long time for me...”

  “Yeah?”

  She leaned closer and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “I would be open to a fling with you.”

  He was half-hard in an instant, and damn glad for the napkin on his lap and the table between them. He quelled the need to reach for her right then and there. Slowly, he shook his head. “Nope. I’ll wait.”

  She sat back. “Um, for what?”

  “For the wedding.”

  She let out a trill of sweet laughter. “Did you propose? Did I say yes? I don’t remember either of those things happening, which means that this conversation has gotten way ahead of me.”

  “I think I should sweeten the deal.”

  She raised both hands and turned them palm-up in a be-my-guest gesture.

  He laid it on her. “When you marry me, I’ll give you that damn theater as a wedding present.”

  She faked a gasp, put a hand to her heart and exclaimed in a cornpone accent, “Why, Roman Marek, I really don’t know what to say!”

  “That’s not all. I’ll even remodel it for you—remodel it exactly to your specifications.”

  “I find I am equally flattered and appalled. You just tried to bribe me to marry you.”

  “Hailey. I know exactly what I did.” Her hand rested on the white tablecloth. He reached across and covered it with his. That she didn’t pull away made him want to surge up out of his chair, scoop her high in his arms and carry her out of there.

  She said, “You should turn over the theater to the arts council and renovate it for community use as a performance space.”

  He looked amused. “Yeah. Well, that’s not going to happen.”

  “And I know you’re just joking, anyway.” Her eyes gleamed even brighter than before and the words came out sounding husky.

  He said nothing. He’d already made his intentions clear. He was going to marry her. And when he did, she could have the theater—if she didn’t make him wait so long that he’d already converted it into a tourist trap by then.

  She turned her hand over and gave his fingers a squeeze. “Say you’re joking, Roman.” It was almost a plea.

  He shook his head. Slowly. For a sweet, endless moment, they just stared at each other.

  Until the waiter returned to offer more coffee.

  * * *

  Hailey said, “No, thank you,” to the waiter.

  As for the gorgeous man across the table from her, she hardly knew what to make of him. He was so certain about things, so self-directed.

  In her life, in almost every situation, she was accustomed to taking the lead, to making her wishes known and setting about accomplishing whatever goals she’d set for herself. Never before had she met someone who was more dominant than she was, who wrested the lead from her and ran with it.

  It had been so different with Nathan. She’d done the pursuing until he surrendered. She’d said what she wanted—him—and he’d eventually given himself to her, though not all the way. He would never come home and meet her family with her. He said his life was one day at a time and meeting the parents just didn’t fit with that. She’d argued how wrong he was, but he wouldn’t budge on that point.

  And oh, he had loved her. She would always have that. Nathan had loved deeply and well, as she had loved him—and their love was made possible because she’d kept after him until he gave her a chance.

  Roman was nothing like Nathan. Nathan was a cozy fire on a cold night. Roman, well, he was fireworks and grand gestures, a man who took on the world and wrestled it into submission.

  She found being around Roman exhilarating. He wasn’t predictable. She didn’t really know what he might do or say next. He made her feel off-balance, swept away by some elemental force. She didn’t trust how strongly she already wanted him.

  But dear God, whatever this was she had going on with him, it was exciting and fresh, uncharted territory. It was also scary.

  And good. Really good.

  When they left the restaurant, he drove straight to the house on Treasure Cove Circle. Stopping the sleek black car in the driveway, he silenced the purring engine.

  Turning toward her in his seat, he caught a lock of her hair and rubbed it between his long fingers. “Silky.” He seemed very intense suddenly.

  She touched the side of his face. “What? Tell me.”

  * * *

  Gently, he guided the strands back over her shoulder. “I want to kiss you, but if I kiss you, I’m not going to want to stop. We’ll end up having sex. You’ll think I’m weak because I said no and then went ahead and took you to bed anyway.”

  She stared in those light green eyes and realized she wouldn’t mind drowning in them. “Not kissing me then, huh?”

  “I’m going to hold off as long as I can stand to.” It came out rough. Low.

  “So you enjoy torturing yourself?” And me, too, she thought but didn’t say.

  He was staring at her mouth. “Every time you speak, I want to bite your lips. They’re so soft and pink...”

  She considered taking the lead herself, just leaning in and claiming his mouth.

  But they were moving too fast, anyway. Already, he’d sort of proposed and she’d suggested they jump right into bed.

  Really, they could both stand to show a little restraint.

  “Is your mom home?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I like your mom. Let’s go in.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “She likes you, too. She’ll monopolize you and say things that embarrass me. I’d rather keep you all to myself, at least for tonight.”

  “If we’re not going in, why are we here?”

  “I thought we could go for a walk down on the beach...”

  * * *

  They took the red cedar stairs built into the hillside to get down to the sand. The sun had just set, and the tide was in. At the horizon, a ribbon of orange met the edge of the darkened ocean.

  Hailey slipped off her sandals and left them at the base of the steps.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said. “We have a beach out behind the cottage where I live. But it’s not in its own little cove, all sheltered and private, like this. Local kids hang out there and so do a couple of families who live nearby, and tourists, too.”

  He took her hand, his fingers sliding between hers. She felt so good, like her heart was just flying—high up there in the darkening sky, free.

  Full of life, bursting with joy.

  Hailey loved her work, though she made barely enough money to get by on and now and then people hinted that she ought to find a real job. But H&H Productions was a real job as far as she was concerned. She felt happy and fulfilled, planning the next project, directing any-and everybody in town, pulling a show together on a wing and a prayer.

  As a woman, though, something in her had died along with Nathan. S
he was happy in her life and didn’t really expect to ever feel that something stir again.

  But then, last Monday, she’d knocked Doug Dickerson on his ass and turned to find Roman standing there, stage right. Something had happened for her at that moment, at her first sight of the big man with the chiseled profile.

  A recognition of possibility, maybe. A light going on in the darkness, a match bursting into flame.

  She needed to slow down, she kept reminding herself. But how does a woman slow down when she’s soaring free and high on whatever that thing is that can happen between her and the right guy?

  “Okay, this is about as much as I can take,” he said, stopping in the damp, cold sand at the edge of the shore, pulling on their clasped hands, bringing her in close to his heat and solid strength.

  Her heart pounded faster, and her breath came swift and shallow. Out over the water, seagulls cried. The waves made that whooshing sound, hollow and soft. The wind, smelling cool and fresh and salty, stirred her hair. Roman trailed his fingers lightly up her arms. Even through the cardigan she’d put on over her sleeveless dress, his touch roused shivers in its wake. He cradled her face in his big, warm palms.

  She stared up into those eyes she’d been seeing in her dreams. Conscious thought had pretty much fled. She was all beating heart and trembling sensation.

  And then, at last, his mouth was there, meeting hers. So soft, his lips, so pliant. So hungry.

  With a desperate little moan, she surged up on tiptoe, lifting her arms to wrap them around his neck.

  Chapter Four

  Roman breathed her name against her parted lips.

  She drank in the sound as his tongue found hers, twining. He was so big, engulfing her in his arms, his hard chest hot against her soft breasts, his erection pressing into her belly, reminding her afresh that this was territory she’d left uncharted for three long years.

  He tasted so good and he held her so close. Everything felt magnified—the lovely, cold sifting of damp sand between her toes, the gentle force of the wind against her back. His hands, holding her, stroking her back, were so big and warm. They soothed and aroused her at once.

  When he took her by the shoulders and gently set her away, she opened her eyes and stared up at him, stunned, like a dreamer awakened suddenly in the middle of the night.

  “Don’t stop,” she whispered. Surging up, she pressed her mouth to his again. He froze and she braced for him to push her away.

  But then, with a low growl, he wrapped her in those hot arms once more and gave in to the dangerous beauty of this wild thing between them.

  He kissed her desperately, hungrily, like he would never let her go. Like a storm, he kissed her. She melted into him, her heart crying yes.

  It was disorienting, glorious, perfect.

  And really, he was right. They needed to stop.

  That time, they both pulled back at once. He stared at her, his eyes heavy-lidded, more silver than green. His mouth was swollen from making love to hers. She had no doubt she looked as aroused as he did.

  Neither of them spoke.

  He took her hand again and they continued walking toward the outcropping of rough rocks trailing out into the water that marked off the southern end of his private cove. Still holding his hand, she perched on one of the rocks. He sat beside her on the next rock over.

  They stared out across the water. The few clouds had drifted away, leaving a clear sky—a rarity on this section of coast. Slowly, the stars filled the darkness.

  It was chilly. Her toes were growing numb. When she shivered a little, he tugged her up off her rock and over onto his. Cradling her between his thighs, he wrapped both arms around her and she let herself lean back into the warmth of his broad chest.

  “It’s beautiful tonight,” she said, her toes still cold but the rest of her warmed by his body heat.

  His breath stirred her hair. “This is beautiful—having you, right here in my arms—and you’re shivering.”

  “My feet are freezing.”

  “We should get back.”

  Reluctantly, she agreed.

  * * *

  It was around ten when they reached the cottage where she lived with Harper. He walked her to the front step. Without hesitation, she turned and lifted her face for his kiss.

  He was careful not to let the contact go too deep, pulling back before she was ready to let him go.

  “Come in,” she invited. “Let’s see where this takes us.”

  “You’re way too tempting.”

  “Why does that sound like a no?”

  He rubbed his big palms down her arms and back up in a slow, continuous caress that made her feel heavy and hot down below. “I always considered your brother Daniel to be a real hero.”

  “Oh, great. You want to talk about my big brother?”

  His eyes gleamed down at her and a ghost of a smile played at the edges of that mouth she wanted to kiss some more. “I really admire Daniel, for the way he took custody of all of you when your parents died so suddenly. He was only, what—eighteen?”

  “Yeah.” Where was he going with this?

  Wherever it was, he seemed in no hurry to get there. “I remember he married Lillie, his high school sweetheart, the next year. Lillie... Ostergard, right?”

  Hailey nodded. “Lillie was wonderful, a real second mom to all of us. I don’t know if you’d heard, but she died.”

  He stuck his hands in his pockets and frowned down at her. “No. I didn’t know.”

  “Yeah. That was four years ago, right after their twins were born. Lillie had lupus. There were complications. It was a hard time—for Daniel, of course. And the rest of us, too. Lillie loved us so much and we adored her. I was nine when she married Daniel and moved into the family house with us. She loved kids and she showered us with attention. She was like a second mom, the best kind of mom. So interested in everything we did and said, staying up all night to make our Halloween costumes and whole wardrobes for our dolls.”

  He was watching her so closely. “You loved her.”

  “We all did. Lillie was the one who taught Harper and me to sew. I never had the patience for it. But Harper, she can whip up something ready for the runway with a few scraps of fabric, a spool of thread and a little rickrack.”

  His eyes were mournful. “I really hadn’t heard that Lillie died. So sorry, that you lost her...”

  “Thank you. The good news is that the twins, Jake and Frannie, are healthy and thriving. Daniel remarried a couple of years ago—his wife is Lillie’s cousin, Keely, as a matter of fact.”

  “Keely Ostergard—cute, with strawberry hair and freckles across her nose?”

  “That’s Keely. She’s as terrific as Lillie was, a good person with a generous heart. They have another daughter together, Marie.”

  “So you’re saying that Daniel is happy now?”

  “Very.”

  “Good.” A faraway smile tugged on the corners of his mouth. “He and your brother Matt used to get into it, right?”

  “How did you know that?”

  “I remember at homecoming my junior year, hanging out under the bleachers with the stoners and the other loners like me. Matt was there...”

  She knew where that story went. “Let me guess. He was smoking a giant blunt.”

  Roman’s white teeth flashed. “Yeah. We passed it back and forth and Matt complained that Daniel was always riding his ass to shape up, get better grades, start planning for the future. He said Daniel was like some fussy old man, constantly after all you Bravo kids to stay focused and work hard. He griped about how Daniel and Lillie expected you all to be there for dinner together every night and that Sunday-afternoon dinner was a major deal that nobody was ever allowed to miss. I was so damn jealous, wanting what Matt didn’t even seem to care about. A big family around the dinner table. Brothers and s
isters. As far back as I can remember, it was always just Ma and me.”

  She stared up at him, still wondering where all this reminiscing about her family was going—and also still longing to kiss him again. “You really should see Matt now. He’s so in love with his wife, Sabra. They have a three-legged husky named Zoya and a baby on the way.”

  “When’s the baby due?”

  “Next April. Sabra’s three months along. Matt’s over the moon about it. They made the announcement last Sunday.”

  “Last Sunday at the family dinner up on Rhinehart Hill?”

  “That’s right.”

  “So you still have a Bravo family dinner every Sunday?”

  “Yeah—not that we all make it every week, but we try.”

  He eased his hand under her hair and cupped the back of her neck, his fingers so warm, possessive in the best kind of way. “Invite me for dinner this Sunday.”

  She pulled back a little to give herself some distance from the seductive heat of him. “Wait. Is this where the trip down memory lane was heading? You wanted an invite to Sunday dinner?”

  “I want to meet the family.”

  She scoffed. “But you know my family. You were in school with Connor. You remember Daniel and Lillie. You just told me all about how you and Matt smoked weed together under the bleachers at homecoming.”

  “Hailey.” He drew her close again. She let him do it, tucking her head under his chin, breathing in his clean scent, feeling beautiful and wanted, just because his arms were around her—even if she still didn’t get exactly what he was after here. “When I say, ‘meet the family,’ I mean I want to meet them all over again, as your fiancé.”

  She snapped her head back to look him square in the eye and scolded, “You are so completely over the top.”

  “It’s part of my charm.”

  “We are not engaged and that means you are not my fiancé. And that means it’s a little early for that kind of ‘meeting the family.’”

  His gaze held her captive. Not that she minded. She could stare into those eyes of his all night long. He was larger than life, a showman at heart if not by profession. She felt that they were kindred spirits, ringmasters in a world full of clock punchers. “I don’t think it’s too early,” he said. “Not too early at all...” He lowered his head to her slowly.