Friends & Lovers Trilogy (36 page)

The drive to the restaurant was a short one,
and they were pulling in before she knew it. He’d picked Italian,
which was her favorite.

“
How’d you know that I love
Italian?” Roni asked him as they parked.

“
I’m that good,” Rich said
with a cocky grin. When she looked at him wryly he chuckled and
admitted, “I may have asked your brother.”

A warm feeling spread though her at his
words. He’d taken the time to find out what she liked. That was
nice.

She smiled as he walked around the car to
open her door.

“
Thank you,” she
said.

“
Anytime,” Rich
responded.

They went in and were seated in a quiet
booth in the back corner of the restaurant. Rich asked if she
wanted wine, and she said that she did.

They looked over the menu as they waited for
the server to bring their wine.

“
So,” Rich began, “Are you
ready to tell me what that was about the other day?”

Roni felt her face flush and her stomach
drop at his question. “Really, that’s what you want to start out
with?”

“
Better to get it out of
the way,” he said softly.

“
Okay,” Roni took a deep
breath. “I don’t want to go into the whole sordid story. I’ll just
say that I used to be married, and I’d found out that day that my
divorce was final.”

Rich looked surprised. It was obvious that
no one had told him that she’d been married. She’d wondered if they
would. It almost would have made this easier.

“
Why did you get divorced?”
he asked.

Roni smiled at the waiter as he poured her
wine. She waited for him to finish and to walk away, before she
answered Rich’s question.

“
He wasn’t the person I
thought he was,” Roni explained, not sure how much information she
wanted to divulge. “He was possessive, mean, and cheated any chance
he got. He wouldn’t allow me to do anything he didn’t approve of. I
just couldn’t live that way anymore.”

Rich was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Is
that why you said you hadn’t danced in a while?”

“
Yeah,” Roni answered a sad
look on her face. “Hank hated how much time my dancing took away
from our relationship. He not only made me quit, but he went so far
as to cut up all of my leotards and he broke all of the figurines
I’d collected throughout my life.”

The memory of the day when she’d come home
to see her treasures destroyed and strewn all over her bed brought
back the despair she’d felt. That was the day she’d started to
truly hate her husband.

“
Hey,” Rich said, taking
her hand and bringing her focus back to the present. “You don’t
have to talk about it. I appreciate you telling me.”

“
It doesn’t bother you?”
She asked him bluntly.

“
What?”

“
That I was married,” she
said. “And that I basically used you for sex.”

Rich almost choked on the wine he was
drinking, causing her to laugh. He really was very sexy.

Rich quickly composed himself and shot her a
grin and a wink, “You can use me for sex anytime.”

Roni laughed; relieved that he wasn’t making
a big deal out of anything she’d told him.

“
Seriously,” Rich said. “It
doesn’t bother me that you were married, or that you are divorced.
As for using me… I’m happy to help whenever you need
it.”

He winked at her again, then his face grew
serious.

“
I do hope, though, that
eventually, you may see me as more than that.” He looked down, as
if he was nervous of what her reaction would be, or that he
couldn’t believe he’d just said that.

Roni sure couldn’t believe it. Her belly
fluttered and she squeezed his hand. She hoped he was serious about
not caring that she was married before, but she didn’t think she
was looking for anything other than a casual relationship. At least
not yet. She wanted to be totally honest with him, even if it meant
him backing away.

“
I don’t think that I’m
looking for anything more,” she responded.

He looked back up at her, the disappointment
apparent on his face before he quickly removed it with a smile.

“
So you mean there’s
hope?”

Chapter Thirteen

Rich was disappointed at Roni’s words, but
he understood why she’d look to him for a casual relationship.
Those are the only kind he’d had since he’d had his heartbroken as
a teenager. He knew he would have to prove himself before she would
trust him to be anything more.

He had to admit, he was totally surprised
that she’d been married. He wasn’t sure who knew about it, but he
couldn’t believe that he hadn’t caught wind of it before now. He
was being truthful when he said it didn’t matter to him, it didn’t.
She was single now, and she was here with him. That is what
mattered.

He could only hope that she would begin to
feel for him the way he felt about her. Since the first moment Kent
had introduced them at the Bar & Grill, he’d known that she was
special, and that she stirred something in him that had been
dormant for many years.

He watched her smile absently as she rolled
her pasta around her fork and talked about her plans for the dance
studio. She was absolutely stunning. He didn’t know what kind of
man her ex-husband was, but just from the little bit that she’d
told him, and the look of sadness that had come over her face when
she’d spoken about Hank, he figured the guy was an ass.

Rich hated that anyone could put that look
on her face, and he hoped that she’d tell him more about her life.
For now, he was happy just to be with her. The candlelight lit up
her face, and he would gladly watch her all evening.

“
Well, since you shared, I
guess it’s only fair that I do as well,” Rich began, pushing his
empty plate to the side and picking up his wine glass to take a
drink.

Roni just looked at him and waited patiently
for him to say what he needed to.

“
I fell in love when I was
sixteen,” Rich began, his stomach churning at the memory. “Tara and
I grew up together. Typical girl next door stuff. I think I began
to love her when we were ten and she punched a kid on the
playground who made fun of her skinny legs,” Rich chuckled at the
memory. “Anyway, when we were kids, the three of us were
inseparable: Colin, Tara, and me.” He paused and looked at
her.

Roni smiled her encouragement, urging him to
go on.

“
Things started to change
for us when we started high school. We still hung out together, but
not all of the time. She started running with a rough crowd and
Colin and I joined the football team. We were practicing all of the
time, and although she lived next door, we lost touch. We
reconnected the summer we were sixteen. I was on break from
football, and school was out. Tara and I started spending every
waking moment together. I fell completely and totally in love, like
only a teenager can, I guess. I was oblivious to anything but Tara.
I barely saw Colin at all that summer, but I didn’t care. I only
cared about Tara. When practice started back up, I began to hear
things. Things about Tara and other guys. I got in a lot of fights,
but I was afraid to ask her... I didn’t want it to be true.
Finally, Colin pulled me aside and told me that Tara had sex with
over half of the football team,” Rich shook his head and smiled
sadly. “I didn’t care. I loved her, and what she’d done in the past
didn’t matter, but then he told me that she’d been seeing other
guys all summer, the entire time we were together.”

Rich paused and took Roni’s hand in his, “I
know it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. Not now and not
compared to your marriage, but at sixteen, I was absolutely
devastated. When I confronted Tara, she admitted it flat out. She
didn’t think it was a big deal. We both said some nasty things and
I vowed I’d never let another girl get me so wrapped up again.”

Roni squeezed his hand, and he looked up at
her, his grief apparent in his eyes.

“
She died our senior
year.”

“
Oh, my gosh,” Roni
exclaimed. “I’m so sorry.”

“
It’s okay,” he said. “I
hadn’t seen her since we’d had it out that summer.”

“
What happened?” She
asked.

“
Car accident. She was out
with her friends and they’d been drinking. None of them survived,”
Rich took another sip of his wine and said, “Let’s talk about
something else.”

When the waiter cleared their plates and
asked if they’d like dessert, Rich looked at Roni and crooked his
eyebrow.

“
Oh, no, thanks,” she said
patting her stomach. “I’m totally stuffed.”

Rich shook his head at the waiter and put
his hand out to hold hers lightly.

“
Would you like to go to a
movie, or rent one?” He asked, hoping she wasn’t ready for their
date to be over.

“
Nicole and I have a bunch
at the apartment, I’m sure we can find something to watch,” Roni
answered.

His stomach dropped and cock jumped. “Is
Nicole home?”

“
No,” Roni said with a
smile. “She spends most nights at Kent’s. She won’t officially move
over there until after the wedding, but she essentially lives there
already.”

Rich felt a flash of heat as he thought
about being alone with Roni at her place.

Jeez, his body was reacting like he was
fifteen again. He needed to get a grip.

“
Okay, sounds
great.”

Roni chatted about the items she wanted to
get for the resale store while they made the trip to her house.
Rich tried to listen, but his hormones were going haywire.

When they’d had sex before it had been
totally impulsive and unexpected, he hadn’t had time to think, only
to react. Now, it was all he could think about. He realized that
they might not even have sex, at least his mind did. The rest of
him was fully tuned in and ready to go.

Roni’s perfume teased him every time she
shifted in her seat, the timber of her voice rolled over him as she
spoke, and he gripped the steering wheel tighter to keep from
stroking her long blonde hair. His every sense seemed to be on high
alert. It was all he could do not to pull over and ravage her in
the front seat.

Oblivious to Rich’s thoughts, Roni reached
out and touched his bicep as she spoke. Rich bit back a groan and
thanked God when they pulled into the apartment parking lot.

Rich watched the sway of her hips as she
climbed the stairs. She paused to put her key in the lock; he
leaned in and breathed in slightly. Shit, not only did she look
like sunshine, she smelled like it.

Roni opened the door and flipped on the
light. Rich looked around briefly, making sure they were indeed
alone, before walking up behind Roni and pressing his lips on her
shoulder. He felt the shiver run through her body and he lost the
ability to think clearly.

“
Are you okay with this?”
Rich asked breathlessly. He wanted her badly, but he wanted to make
sure she was as into it as he was.

“
Oh, yeah,” Roni said with
a smile, letting her head fall to the side to give him better
access to her neck.

His tongue replaced his lips, causing Roni
to groan. Rich turned her slowly, until her eyes met his.

“
I know
that you want to keep this casual,” Rich said softly. When she
nodded he continued, “But while I’m sleeping with you, I am
sleeping with
only
you. I would appreciate the same from you.”

He didn’t want to scare her or put more
pressure on her than she wanted, but he couldn’t bear the thought
of anyone else touching her.

Roni looked up at him and put her arms
around his neck. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem, since my
ex-husband is the only other man I’ve slept with.”

Rich’s eyes widened slightly and his stomach
coiled with need. He brought his mouth down to hers, kissing her
thoroughly as he lifted her and urged her legs around him. He
carried her back to her bedroom and set her gently on the bed.

He walked over and turned the light on, then
walked back towards the bed, stripping his shirt as he moved.

Roni leaned back on the bed and watched him,
her eyes growing heavy with desire. Rich decided to have a little
fun with it and began to dance slowly as he took his clothes off.
Roni began to giggle at his exaggerated movements.

When he was wearing nothing but a smile, he
went to her and leaned his body into hers.

When he put his mouth to hers she said,
”Leave the dancing to me,” then she laughed out loud.

His muscles strained as he held himself over
her, only their lips touching. He kissed her until she was no
longer laughing.

Her lips felt plump and soft beneath his. He
could kiss her all night and never get tired of the way they felt
against his. He laid his naked body against her, freeing up his
hands to roam over her.

He worked on getting her sweater off, not
wanting to separate his lips from hers, but needing to feel her
skin against his.

Roni pushed up off of the bed to help him
remove her clothes, causing her body to rub him in all the right
places. Rich got up to give her the room she needed and helped her
remove her clothes. By the time they got to her socks, they were
fighting over who got to take it off.

After wrestling with the sock, they were
both laughing so hard they had to stop to catch their breath.

The comic relief had helped to bring him out
of the craze. When he looked down at Roni’s naked form, he was
ready to enjoy every inch of her with a clear mind.