15 Shades Of Pink (8 page)

“We’ve got time for a drink before we have to leave.” He stood in the hallway, looking me over.

I wanted to break the silence, but couldn’t find the right words; I was too entranced by his gaze, wondering what he saw. I smoothed my hands over the skinny jeans hugging my hips and tried to steady myself on my high-heeled sandals.

Finally, he stepped forward and handed me the wine. “You look great, Kristen.”

“Thanks.”

I walked to the kitchen and pulled out two wine glasses and an opener, exposing my tummy as I reached. I felt him watching me, and wondered what his rough hands would feel like on the soft skin of my belly. I looked over and our eyes locked.

I quickly looked away. “Let’s go outside.” I led him to the deck off my family room.

“Nice place,” he said.

He sat next to me at the picnic table, and our legs brushed up against each other. I didn’t move mine; neither did he. I liked the feel of him against me. “I’ve had the inside scoop on some great deals. Just bought this last year. Do you have a house?” I asked the question before I realized my mistake.

He shook his head with a soft laugh. “No, I live in a crappy apartment across town. And I was lucky to find it. Not many landlords are willing to rent when you’ve got an arrest record.” He pulled the cork out of the bottle and poured us each a drink. “But I’ll have my own place some day.”

I took a swallow and willed myself not to say anything else stupid for the rest of the night. “This is good.”

He swirled the wine in his glass. “I had a girlfriend back in college who was into wine. She thought I was the one, and wanted to be sure I was cultured enough for her standards.”

“Nice.”

“Thing is, it didn’t even bother me. I wanted to be like that for her.”

“Whatever happened?”

“She broke up with me when I got arrested.”

“Sounds about right. At least she gave you an education in wine.” I smiled at him over my glass.

“So, why did you end up breaking things off with your fiancés?”

I set down my glass and stared out over my lawn. The roses crawling up the arbor in back were just starting to bloom.  I loved this time of year. “I was more in love with the idea of getting married than getting married to them.” I shrugged. “It’s hard to explain. I just knew it wasn’t right. Actually, I think I knew that when each one of them proposed, but it was hard to say no. I wanted to believe it could work out. That’s what everyone expected me to be doing. Getting married.” I shook my head, my long crystal earrings grazing my face. “I was young and dumb.”

He spun the wine glass round by its stem. “I think you were smart, not getting into a situation that wasn’t right for you.”

I pressed my eyes shut. My voice came out in a strangled whisper. “You have no idea how embarrassing it is to have three broken engagements to your name.”

He ran his finger down my arm and I shivered. “Probably no worse than an arrest record,” he said.

I nodded, feeling like a jerk complaining about the love landmines from my past. It was nothing compared with what he’d been through. “We should probably go.”

We headed for the driveway and he opened the door of his truck for me. “Winston must’ve been mad he couldn’t come,” I said.

“You have no idea. I expect my couch will be torn up when I get home.”

We had great seats at the concert, and I hated thinking about how much he’d spent on the tickets. I had no idea how much a roofer made, but it probably wasn’t much. Once Aerosmith hit the stage, the teenaged girls seated next to me were up and dancing, and bumping into me, so Tony pulled me in front of him and set his hands on my shoulders.

His hands were big and warm. I could feel the hard, smooth calluses on his palms against my skin. If his fingers traveled up my neck, they’d feel how my pulse had quickened. He was a head taller than me, and I leaned back against him, fitting nicely in his arms.

Despite the thousands of people in the arena and the deafening music, I could only concentrate on the intimate details between the two of us: the way his hands slid down and looped around my waist, how he rested his chin on my head, the way my lips tingled and burned as I thought about kissing him.

I turned my head and looked up at him. I tried to smile, but I could only part my lips. His pupils widened and he bent down and dragged his lips over mine, turning my shoulders so I was facing him. He ran his thumb along my jawline and then pressed my chin, opening my mouth wider.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “That’s better,” I said, taking his mouth in mine.

He pulled me against him and snaked one hand through my hair.

“Get a room,” someone behind us hollered.

I tipped my mouth to his ear. “That’s not a bad idea.”

A grin split his face. “Wanna get out of here?”

My throat was too thick to let the words out, so I just nodded.

He took my shaking hand and led me down the row, up the stairs, and out of the arena. We ran through the parking lot. “Where to?” he asked, as we approached his truck.

“My place. It’s close enough.”

We reached his pickup and he pinned me against the side, taking my face in his hands, then swiping his lips across mine with a teasing lick before unlocking my door.

His grin was wicked. “Well, hurry up then.” He helped me in.

He pushed his speed only eight miles over the limit. “Straight as an arrow these days.”

I squeezed his hand, realizing what he’d risked by punching that guy.

He flicked on the radio, but it didn’t ease the tension between us—two people who knew what they were getting into, with time to talk themselves out of it. But there was no question—I wanted Tony.

We were at my house before I knew it. I dashed to the front step, Tony’s fingers wrapped around mine. He rested his hands on my hips as I tried to unlock the door. I dropped my keys, and then fumbled to get the door open.

We tumbled inside, and his arms were around me again, pushing me back until I was against a wall. He braced his hands behind me. “Are you sure about this?” His chest quickly rose and fell, brushing mine.

I looked up and gave him a brisk nod. “And don’t make me take you down. You know I can.”

He lifted the hair off my cheek and curled it around his finger. “Hell, yeah. Incredible turn on.” He gently tugged my hair, pulling my face to his.

I kissed him again, wrapping one leg around his, realizing I’d better get him to my bedroom, because things were moving more quickly than I imagined. I led him down the hall with no idea where this whole thing was headed—besides my bed.

I woke the next morning with a smile and sore limbs. Then I opened my eyes and frowned. Tony wasn’t in my bed. I scrambled out from under the covers and pulled back my curtain. His truck was gone. My heart dropped. After hours of wordless, incredible passion, I’d spent the night in his arms, talking about everything from my first kiss to my favorite foods.

I pulled on my robe. I knew we were different in many ways, but when I was with him, it just didn’t seem to matter. In bed in the dark, with his arms looped around my waist, none of it seemed to matter. Our night together had been amazing; and I wanted more.

But maybe it’d been enough for him.

I sighed and wandered into the kitchen to make coffee when the front door opened. Tony held up a box of donuts and a travel tray with two coffees. “Powdered jelly, right? I wasn’t sure how you took your coffee, so I got black. Forgot to ask you that last night. I parked on the road, so I wouldn’t block you in.”

I ran to him and he set down the food and drinks. I grabbed his arms and looked up at him. “I thought you left,” I whispered in a voice that sounded more scared and hurt than I intended.

“Hey.” He kissed my head. “I’m sorry. I thought I could sneak out and surprise you, and I had to let Winston out.” He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed. “I’m not leaving until you tell me to.”

I nodded and pointed to the food. “Bring that to bed.”

He followed me to my room with the coffee and donuts. I dropped my robe and sat on the bed, patting the spot next to me.

Tony set the coffee and donuts on my nightstand and pulled off his shirt. In a flash, he was back in bed with me. He broke a powdered donut ring in half and held it out. I took a bite, and he popped the rest in his mouth.

I gestured to his lips. “You’ve got a little powder there.” When I reached over to brush the white dusting off his lips, he grabbed my hand midair and kissed my fingertips, while licking off the sugary residue.

“Never thought I’d find something I like more than donuts and coffee first thing in the morning.” His lips made their way down to my mouth, where he paused to lick my lips, goosing a round of shivers in me. He noticed and grinned. “But being here with you like this blows coffee and donuts out of the water.” He laced one hand around the back of my head and drew my mouth to his.

I returned his sweet, sugary kiss, thrilled that the passion we’d shared the night before had meant something to him, too. I glanced at my alarm clock.  It was ten minutes after nine.  I couldn’t hold back my smile. “Morning lasts another three hours if you like it that much.”

After enjoying him, then the rest of the donuts and coffee, we tried to get dressed, making plans to catch an afternoon movie. But we only got as far as underwear and the couch in my family room. “Forget the movie,” I told him between kisses. “I have plenty of DVDs right here.”

He rolled me over on top of him and somehow, I didn’t hear the front door open.

“Kristen? Come out and stop sulking. It was just a holdup. Mom and I are here with…” My sister stopped walking when she got into the family room. She dropped a bakery bag. “Oh, my god,” she whispered.

I sat up and fumbled for the blanket draped over the back of the couch. But not before my mother walked in the room, holding a plate of cookies.

“Darling, where are you?” Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my. Oh, my word.” She turned around in a circle, unsure of where to go or where to look.

I wrapped the blanket around myself and stood up. I pulled Tony up from the couch in his boxers. “This is Tony. From the parking lot the other day.”

My mother’s gaze went from the dragon tattoo on his calf to the six-pack abs and bare chest, to his goatee and long hair. “You brought home your attacker?”

I dropped my head back and groaned. “This is the guy who saved me.” The blanket started slipping and I pulled it back in place.

Tony stepped forward and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Gold.”

She gave him a weak smile and didn’t take his hand. “You too,” she whispered. She yanked her sweater closed in front of her. “Thank you for helping our Kristen.” She stared at the floor.

Beth’s eyes bulged. “Can I talk to you? Privately?”

“I’m going to go get dressed,” Tony said, heading for the bedroom.

“Good idea,” my mother said. She looked at her cookies, neatly stacked on a new, silver serving platter under pink cellophane wrap. “I’ll take these into the kitchen.”

With the blanket still wrapped around me, Kristen dragged me into the bathroom. “What are you doing? Are you crazy?”

I yanked my arm out of her grasp. “What?”

“What are you doing hooking up with someone like him?” She shook her head. “You shouldn’t have blown off Rob. He is a catch and a half and you’re lucky he agreed to go out with you after…”

“Three broken engagements?” I pulled a robe off the back of the bathroom door and slipped it on.

She shrugged. “Word gets around, sis.”

I tied the robe’s belt in a tight knot. “I like Tony. And I’m in charge of my love life. Keep your promise and don’t fix me up with anyone else.”

“But you’ll take him out there? He looks like a criminal.”

“You know what? He was. But he’s turning his life around and looks like I’m going to be part of it.” I surprised myself by saying that. But now that I’d been with him, I didn’t see myself leaving anytime soon. “You might as well get used to it now.”

She set her hand on my arm and softened her voice. “I think you’re just a little confused after what happened. You probably just think you owe him something.”

I stepped back from her and knocked my moisturizer off the sink. “I think you and Mom better go. If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve got company. And next time use the doorbell or, better yet, call first.”

I went back to the family room, and Tony came out of the bedroom wearing his jeans and shirt from the night before. “I should get going so you all can visit.”

I grabbed him by the arm. “Actually, they were just leaving. You and I’ve got plans today.”

He arched an eyebrow.

My mother and sister made a quick path for the front door. “Call me later!” Mom said.

I closed the door behind them, and leaned back against it.

“That was fun.” Tony joined me against the door and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“I’m sorry about that. The key was supposed to be for emergencies. I guess they thought not hearing from me since the holdup was an emergency.” I shrugged.

“Hey, they care. Not everyone has that, you know.”

“They care as long as I do what they want me to.”

He stepped away. “And I take it they don’t want you with someone like me.”

I twisted my lips. “They were surprised, that’s all. And I don’t care what they think. Dating their type has only gotten me three broken engagements.”

He took my hands in his and raised them over my head against the door. He nudged his nose against mine. “So, what are these plans you promised?”

“You’re going to have to get undressed again to find out.”

Finally, by dinnertime we decided we needed to go out for food. “Let me take a shower first.”

“I’ll join you,” he said.

I pushed him out of the bathroom. “We’ll never get out of here if that happens. We’ll take turns.”

I tried my best to get ready quickly, but it takes a while to blow out my hair. By the time I was dressed, made up and ready to go, I found Tony on the couch, freshly showered. And asleep.

I leaned over and kissed him. “Wake up, sleeping beauty. I’m ready.”