Prince Charming in Dress Blues (10 page)

Jordan’s face lit up whenever he came into a room, and Annie had the distinct feeling hers did, too. Just hearing his step on the walk or his voice from the next room was enough to spur her heart into a wild gallop.

And the fact that his kisses set fire to her soul and his hands were absolutely magical wasn’t exactly helping.

But it was so much more than physical want, and that was the really terrifying part. He was fun. He made her laugh. He loved Jordan. And she felt safe with him.

Which probably wasn’t a good thing at all.

It wasn’t so long ago that she’d thought Mike Sinclair was the be-all and end-all of her dreams. She’d felt safe
then, too. She’d felt loved. Wanted. And then he’d left her so fast her head spun for a week. She’d survived Mike leaving.

But she wasn’t at all sure she would survive if she actually counted on John and he walked away. That wouldn’t happen, though. She wouldn’t allow herself to care that much. She would just enjoy his company while she had it and not think about the future. A future that, without John, looked mighty empty, she thought.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Annie muttered, “now is not the time.” She finished packing up the diaper bag, deliberately blanking her mind of all thoughts of the tall, dark, gorgeous man who’d turned her life upside down. Bottles, diapers, a blanket, a pacifier, a sweater and another set of jammies just in case. Good Lord, John probably went out on maneuvers with less equipment.

“And that’s another thing,” Annie said, glancing at her daughter. “He’s not exactly stable right now.” Jordan blew a spit bubble at her. “He doesn’t know if he’s going to stay in the Corps or leave to run his father’s company. And if he doesn’t even know that, how can he know if he wants to be with us or not?” Jordan shook her head and waved her arms.

“Don’t argue with me, young lady,” she said in a mock stern voice that brought a flood of giggles rippling from Jordan.

“What’s so funny?” John stepped through the open front door and came across the room in a few lazy strides.

Annie’s heartbeat skipped crazily for a long minute as she let herself enjoy the sight of him. Long legs encased in worn blue jeans. A red polo shirt with a Marines emblem right above his heart. Her own heart did a
slow roll in her chest despite her best efforts to prevent it. Amazing what that man could do to her simply by walking into a room.

“You ready to go?” John asked as he stepped up behind her and pulled her flush against him.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the hard, thick strength of his body pressing into hers. Annie swallowed hard and reminded herself to breathe. But it wasn’t easy. Not when every time he was near, all she wanted was his hands on her. As if reading her mind, he turned her around in his arms, keeping her close, and slid one hand up to cup her breast.

“Mmmm…” she whispered, and closed her eyes as his thumb and forefinger tweaked and tugged at her nipple. Even through the fabric of her pale-yellow sweater and the bra she wore beneath it, she felt his touch. Right down to her bones.

He bent his head and brushed his lips across hers. “Maybe we don’t have to go after all,” he whispered, dropping kisses across her forehead, her temples, the bridge of her nose. “Maybe we could stay right here and—”

The baby squawked and kicked her feet against the jumper frame, effectively splintering the mood.

John chuckled, looked over Annie’s head at the baby and, smiling, said, “Darlin’, you and I are going to have to have a talk about timing.”

“Oh,” Annie countered, easing back out of his arms and took a deep breath. “I think her timing’s excellent.”

“Coward,” he teased.

“Oh, yeah,” she agreed, then tore her gaze from his and busied herself by gathering up Jordan’s things. “So,”
she said, just a little too loudly, “I still think jeans and a sweater is a little underdressed for Easter dinner.”

“Not for a backyard barbecue,” he told her, stepping around her to pick up the baby.

A barbecue with his family. Well, with his brother Nick and Nick’s wife’s family. Oh, Lord. “Are you sure it’s all right for Jordan and me to come along? I mean, it’s a family dinner and everything and—”

He laughed, reached out with one hand to smooth a stray curl back from her face and said, “I keep telling you, Annie. With Italian family gatherings, the more the merrier.” Then he paused for a long moment and added, “Besides, you two
are
family.”

And thankfully, he turned and headed for the front door before he saw Annie’s reaction to his words written all over her face.

Family?

Is that what the three of them were becoming?

And if so, how did she stop it?

But more important, she asked herself desperately, did she
want
to stop it?

T
wilight slipped up on the backyard, stretching shadows along the grass. Annie took a long, deep breath of the cool, ocean-scented air and sat down in one of the dozen or so chairs sprinkled across the Santinis’ lawn. It was the first time she’d been alone all day, and though she’d enjoyed herself, it was good to grab at a slice of quiet. If only for a moment or two.

Snatches of conversation and laughter filtered out of the house, where everyone else had gone when Maryann Santini Mazzeo, Gina’s mother, had announced she was serving dessert. The brightly lit kitchen practically glowed with life as Annie watched the people streaming back and forth in front of the windows.

She’d never really been around a big family before. And being a part of their ease with each other, the
teasing, the bickering, and yes, as John had predicted, the shouting, had been more fun than she had expected.

But at the same time her heart ached just a little for all she’d missed. Her own family never spoke at the dinner table. Meals were simply chores to push through as quickly as possible. Here, she thought with a smile, they were celebrations.

Watching the Santini sisters with their husbands, Annie had felt a sharp tug of envy. Heck, there was so much love in the air in that house a person could get drunk on it.

“A little overwhelming, aren’t we?” a deep voice from behind her asked.

Annie turned around in her chair to watch Nick Paretti, John’s older brother, approach. He carried ice cream sundaes and handed one to her when he was close enough.

“Thanks,” she said, flicking a glance toward the house. “But I should really be going in. See to Jordan.”

He chuckled and sat down beside her. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, and dipped up a spoonful of whipped cream. “Jordan’s being passed around like a football in there.”

Her eyes went wide, and her fingers tightened on the ice cream bowl.

“It’s okay,” he said, correctly reading her expression. “The baby’s loving the attention, and Gina’s mom is in hog heaven.”

Maryann Santini Mazzeo, she thought, the older woman’s warmth and wide smile rising up in her mind. So different from her own mother, Annie thought with an inward sigh.

“There’s nothing Maryann likes better than babies,” he was saying, and Annie’s attention shifted back to him. “You’d think being a fairly new bride herself, she’d want some time alone with Sal. But then Sal’s as bad as she is about the kids.”

“It must be nice,” Annie said, before she could stop herself.

“What?” He took a bite of the sundae and waited.

“This,” she said, waving one hand at the toy-laden yard and the crowded house beyond. “Family. A close family.”

“Yeah,” he said after a long pause. “Yeah, it is. Though there are times…”

“What times are those, General?” his wife asked as she slipped up behind him, then plopped onto his lap, narrowly missing upsetting his ice cream.

He laughed and gave Annie a “see what I mean?” look. But to Gina, he said only, “Times when I want you all to myself.”

“Oh,” she retorted, planting a quick kiss on his mouth. “Good answer.” Then she turned on his lap and smiled at Annie. “So, when are you and John gonna get married?”

Annie choked on a mouthful of ice cream, and when she had her breath back, she heard Nick saying, “Geez, Gina. Real subtle.”

“Who needs subtle?” she asked. “You never find out anything being subtle.”

Annie looked around the yard, hoping for a reprieve, but when none came, shifted her gaze back to John’s sister-in-law. “We’re just friends,” she said, and congratulated herself on her quick thinking.

“Uh-huh,” Gina said, apparently not convinced. Her
gaze still locked on Annie, she said, “Tell me something, Nick, how many women has John brought home to meet the family?”

“None. Gina…”

“Shh…” she said, then leaned forward, smiling at Annie. “Look, I know it’s none of my business—”

“But,” her husband provided, knowing more was coming.

She ignored him. “
But
anyone can see you’re nuts about him.”

“You know,” Annie said, desperately reaching for a way out of this, “I’d better go check on Jordan and—”

“And John’s crazy about you,” Gina finished and Annie shut right up and looked at her.

“Gina,” Nick said, “keep out of this.”

“This is family business and Mama always says, ‘Family comes first’.” Then, focusing on Annie again, she lowered her voice and said, “I just wanted to put in a good word for the Paretti men, that’s all. They make good husbands, and they’re really cute.”

Well, duh, Annie thought but didn’t say. Of course they were cute. Gorgeous, even. But she wasn’t in the market for a husband, and John hadn’t exactly applied for the job.

“Oh for—” Nick stood up, dragging his buttinski wife with him. “Annie, pay no attention to her. She’s studying for finals, and the pressure’s getting to her.”

The screen door swung open, and John stepped onto the porch, with Jeremy Mahoney, Angela’s son, and Gina’s nephew, right behind him. Nick took a moment to set his ice cream down on the picnic table, then picked up his wife and swung her over his shoulder. Giving her behind a sharp smack with the palm of his hand,
he ignored her outraged shriek and said, “We’re leaving now. Say goodbye, Gina.”

She pushed herself up and grinned. “Goodbye, Gina.”

And as her husband started for the house, she called out, “Let’s do lunch, okay?”

“Sure,” Annie called back as John came up beside her.

He laughed and shook his head as his brother and his wife left the yard and headed for the garage apartment where they were living until Gina graduated from college. “What was that all about?” he asked.

“I’m not really sure,” she said, and smiled up at him. It had been a good day. For the first time ever, Annie had felt like part of a family. Sharing baby talk with Marie, though her son Alec was plump and happy and her husband Davis was the picture of a proud father. She’d watched Jeremy scrounge for Easter eggs hidden all over the yard. Laughed at Gina’s stories about college and trying to fit in as a Marine wife. She’d been there when Angela had announced to her family that she and Dan were expecting a baby. And she’d realized, as she watched John care for Jordan, that she was, quite hopelessly, in love.

“Are you okay?” John asked, reaching over to touch her cheek gently.

Swirls of wonder rippled along her spine, and Annie had to nod since she couldn’t speak with her heart lodged in her throat. Then she did the next best thing. Lifting her hands, she cupped his face and rose up on her toes to plant a quick, hard kiss on his mouth.

He grinned, licked his lips and asked, “What was that for?”

She took a breath and blew it out again, knowing just what she wanted now more than anything else in the world. “It was my way of telling you that I saw the doctor today.”

A frown wrinkled his brow.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said quickly. “In fact, everything’s great. She says I can go back to my regular…activities,” she finished, staring into his eyes, willing him to understand.

He did. Comprehension dawned on his features, and as it did, she sensed the tension between them stir to life.

“So,” he said tightly, his gaze locked with hers. “You ready to go home now?”

A shiver of anticipation rolled through her with all the subtlety of a Sherman tank. “Oh, yeah.”

With the baby asleep in the back seat, John tried like hell to concentrate on his driving. But that wasn’t easy. Not with Annie sitting beside him all but vibrating with the same needs crashing through him.

He reached across the gearshift console and laid one hand on her leg. She jumped, then eased back into the seat. John swallowed hard and stroked his palm up and down her thigh, teasing them both with promises of what was to come. And he wished to hell she was wearing a skirt.

The signal up ahead switched from yellow to red, and he brought the car to a stop when everything in him was telling him to hurry.

She laid her hand atop his. He felt her tremble, and the slight sensation swept through him, too. He turned his head to look at her in the weird glow of headlights
and traffic lights and he hoped he wasn’t reading her expression wrong. She looked so…hungry for him. So eager. His blood pumped ferociously, and when the light turned green again, he didn’t notice until the guy behind him laid on the horn.

Nearly growling, he turned his gaze forward, watching the road, steering with one hand while with the other, he explored what he could of her body. Up, up, the length of her thigh to the soft, warm heart of her.

She groaned tightly as he caressed her, and even through the fabric of her jeans, he felt her heat. Felt her need and shared it. Annie lifted her hips into his touch, fighting against the restraint of the seat belt and the confining clothes.

“Damn,” he muttered thickly as the car sped on across town, “I never realized how far away your place is.”

“Me, neither,” she whispered, and sighed heavily when the next red light stopped them. “Oh, John…”

“Soon, baby,” he crooned and slid his hand up to the band of her jeans, knowing he had to touch her. Feel her skin. And he couldn’t wait another minute. When she realized what he was up to, she reached to help him. Quickly she undid the snap and zipper, then lifted a bit in her seat to tug her jeans a bit further down.

“Ahh…” He slid his hand down across her abdomen to the very edge of her center and she groaned, trying to move into his touch, trying to feel what they’d both been needing for so long. But the jeans stopped him, and shared frustration shimmered in the air.

“I have to touch you,” he whispered, keeping his eyes fixed on the traffic streaming back and forth in front of them.

“I have to feel you,” she said just as breathlessly.

He glanced at her. “Take ‘em off,” he said through gritted teeth.

“My jeans?” she asked, and though she sounded shocked at the thought, he saw a flicker of excitement sparkle in her eyes.

“Yeah. Slide ‘em off, Annie.”

She shot a hesitant look at the cars alongside them, but no one was paying any attention to them. Turning her gaze back to him, she nodded and unhooked her seat belt.

His mouth went dry as she lifted partially off the seat and tugged her jeans and panties down off her hips. Then, rehooking her seat belt, she used her feet to pull them the rest of the way off.

John looked over at her, half-naked on the seat beside him and he thought he’d die from sheer excitement. It pulsed through him like something alive and fierce inside him.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said, and licked dry lips.

“I can’t believe we didn’t think of this sooner,” he said and reached across the seat to touch her.

“Oh, John,” she called on a moan, and tipped her head back against the headrest.

Hot and damp and so damn good, he thought, his fingers caressing, exploring. She parted her legs for him, and when the light turned green again, he took off slowly, concentrating on driving, keeping his mind on the flow of traffic while his body was centered on her.

Again and again, he touched her. And Annie stopped worrying about what they were doing. She stopped being
shocked. The ripples of excitement fluttering along her spine only sharpened the sensations she experienced. She lifted her hips into his touch and stared blindly out the window, wondering if there were others out there on the road doing the same thing. Wondering if anyone anywhere had
ever
felt what she was feeling. And feeling sorry for everyone who hadn’t.

She hardly noticed when he pulled onto her street. Darkness crowded around the car, and the occasional flashes of streetlights ran together in a blurred yellow stream as she concentrated instead on what was happening to her body.

Then he drove the car into her driveway and pulled up alongside her car in the garage. When he shut the engine off and turned to her, she unhooked her seat belt and moved into his embrace. Now, in the shadows, in the darkness, he took her the rest of the way up that peak, and dipping his fingers into her depths, he pushed her over the edge and held her while she fell.

“Get dressed,” John said tightly. “And give me your keys. I’ll take Jordan in and put her to bed.”

Numbly Annie nodded.

John moved quickly, like a man on a mission. And damned if he wasn’t. Heavy petting was all well and good, but it was high time they finished what they started.

Carrying the baby into her room, he slipped off her sweater, kissed her forehead, then laid her down gently. Pausing for a moment, he ran his hand along the back of her head and whispered, “I love you, too, you know. Not just your mommy.” And as the words slipped out,
he knew them for truth. He’d never expected to find love in a mountain cabin. But blast if he hadn’t.

Then, smiling to himself, he quietly left Jordan’s room, pulling the door to, but not quite closed. Annie came through the front door looking like a refugee. Her pants undone, her sweater wrinkled and her curls standing out in wild array around her head, she only looked at him and said, “Well, are we going to finish this or not?”

“Right after I get back from the drugstore,” he told her, already starting for the door.

“No need,” she said, stopping him as he walked past her. “I, uh, bought some condoms myself. In case we…you…well—”

He pulled her into his arms and grinned. “After what we just did—in public, mind you—you’re embarrassed?”

Annie planted her hands on her hips and cocked her head at him. “Are you going to talk all night or are you going to—”

Then he kissed her and everything else was forgotten in the renewed rush of need pulsing between them. Annie lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, and John bent down, scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom. Holding onto her tightly, he freed one arm long enough to swipe all of the pillows off the bed and onto the floor. Then he tossed the quilt to the edge of the bed and laid her down on the mattress.

Her fingers were already tugging at the hem of her sweater when he yanked it off for her. Then as he quickly shucked his clothes, she undid her bra and slid out of her jeans again.