The Debra Dilemma (The Lone Stars Book 4) (29 page)

In less than two weeks, they would be married. There was so much to do. In addition to the ceremony, which he and Sweet Louise had decided should be here, he needed to plan the honeymoon. And thinking of that, he needed to call Ben at Safe Place and figure out how to get Debra off work for her wedding and honeymoon.

So much to do in such a short time. He’d talked to his groomsmen, who were all thrilled to be in the wedding, and each one of their wives plus CoCo had found a way to congratulate him. He thought the jig was up when Debra had caught him hugging a crying Grace in the dining room, but Grace had come up with something. It was good to have friends who can think on their feet.

“Tonight was fun. Seth and Clint were amazing at furniture placement. I can’t believe how well the living room flows now. I can’t wait for them to rearrange the furniture in the rest of the house.” Debra laced her fingers through his and tugged him gently inside the house. She shut the door.

The guys had moved furniture around, which kept Debra busy while the ladies poked around the house looking for the best place for the ceremony. Both Christmas and New Years were on a Wednesday this year. Maybe he could convince her to take a little post-Christmas-pre-New Year’s trip? That way she would be out of the house for wedding preparations. Maybe skiing? Or to Paris for hot chocolate? He chewed on his bottom lip. Paris would be nice, but it was too far for a short trip. Come to think of it, a trip before or even immediately after Christmas would be impossible. NFC Division playoffs started in January. The Lone Stars were favorites to win especially after the Christmas Day game against the Redskins. Not that he ever took winning a game for granted, but, well, they’d already played the Redskins twice in the regular season and had won both games by double digits.

“It’s a spatial order thing. A great quarterback predicts and throws the ball based on where the receiver will be when the ball lands and not where he was when the ball was thrown. It’s all about spatial order.” Their alone-ness in this great big house settled around them. “Furniture arranging is about spatial order too.”

Tonight and every night until their wedding would be hard…really hard. He’d made up his mind to wait until they were married. It was old fashioned and more than a little bit ridiculous, but it was only ten days away.

The silence turned awkward.

“So, are we going to talk about the pink elephant in the room?” Debra leaned against the closed front door.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He wasn’t so sure that he was going to win this conversation. Honestly, he wasn’t that sure he wanted to.

She loved him and he loved her. Holding her off was going to be hard…really hard. He wanted all of her—not just her body—but explaining that would sound silly unless he also explained that they were getting married soon.

He glanced at her chest. Oh yeah, waiting was a terrible idea.

“Look, I’m getting tired of waiting for you to make your move.” She put her hands on her hips. “I can tell by the way you’re leering at my chest that you’re still attracted to me, so what’s the problem?”

He wasn’t leering, okay, maybe he was. He forced his eyes to her face.

“I don’t want to jump into things too quickly.” He tried for a convincing tone, but he all that convinced himself. Around her he was definitely a jumper-inner. “I know this is stupid, but I want to offer you marriage first. You know, I want all of you, not just your body.”

He was willing to admit that it was lame.

That wasn’t letting too much of the surprise out…he hoped.

“So propose already and we can get naked.” She thought about it for a few beats. “Wow, never thought I’d say those words. Makes me sound more than a little desperate.”

“Ever the romantic.” He gave her a platonic punch to the upper arm. “Didn’t your mother tell you to make him buy the cow before you give away the milk?” It was out before he realized that was laying things on too thick and could very well be making things worse.

“I’m pretty sure you just called me a cow.” She glanced down at his shoes. “Wow, the hole you’re digging is getting deeper by the second.” Her hand went to cover her mouth and then her gaze fastened on the front of his pants. “Oh…you’re cow’s having trouble leaving the barn.”

He hoped that didn’t mean what he thought it meant. He jumped back. “Oh God no. Trust me, everything is in working order.”

Why did everyone assume that he had a physical problem?

For the sake of his manhood, he was going to have to throw her down on the front entryway tile and show her just exactly how well everything worked. After all, his manhood was at stake.

“Then what’s the problem? Why are you holding out on me?” She lowered her eyes and her whole body wilted. She stepped around him. “It’s because of my past.” She nodded. “I can see your reluctance.”

Gently, he touched her upper arm. “That’s not it. It’s just that I want our relationship to be based on more than sex. That’s all we had before.”

He’d been her first, and she’d been starry-eyed in love with him. He’d always told himself that flash-in-the-pan love didn’t last. He wanted the real thing. He wanted what his friends had. In his mind, it meant waiting ten very long days and even longer nights.

“You know, it’s funny. When we broke up all of those years ago, you told me to sleep around—”

“I most certainly did not.” He would have remembered that. Yep, he definitely would have remembered that.

“I guess you don’t remember the kiss-off speech you gave me. It went something like, ‘kiddo, I was your first and for girls that means a lot, but I won’t be your last…yada yada yada.’ Then there was something about I was too young to really know what I wanted—”

“Wait a minute, was that before or after you kicked me in the balls?” He really couldn’t remember a lot after that and then there’d been all of that tequila he’d drowned his broken heart in.

“So you want to wait until after we’re married?” She looked a little shell-shocked, “what should we do tonight?”

He pulled against him and set his lips on hers. Kissing wasn’t sex and they sure as hell hadn’t had enough of it. He pulled back and stared down at her dazed face. He loved that one kiss could put that look on her face.

“I’m sure we’ll think of something.” While he wanted to wait until marriage to have sex with her there were lots of other things that came mighty close, but technically didn’t cross the line. “Monopoly? Parcheesi? Texas Hold’em? You’ve got to have some board games or cards around here somewhere.”

The next morning, Debra sat at her mother’s old dressing table and brushed her hair. Last night had been eye opening. Not only was her old house becoming a home, but Warren had learned a lot about sex in the last ten years. Then again, so had she. He might be waiting until they were married, but he’d definitely explored the gray area between sex and intercourse. And she’d enjoyed every square inch of that gray area.

Warren walked up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. He was morning-mussed and sexy as hell. “So why don’t we crawl back in bed and I’ll explain to you the finer points of my wait-until-marriage plan. I’m very good with my hands.” He nuzzled her neck. No other man had been able to find the right spot but him.

“You’re very talented, but I have to go to work.” She drew the brush through her hair again. “I’m free after work.”

“I’ll be here.” He kissed her neck and his hands slid away. He straightened and turned to walk away, then turned back around. “Is that okay? I was thinking of moving some of my things over, if that’s okay.”

“Right, so we can live in sin, but not actually sin. That defeats the purpose, don’t you think?” She was willing to follow him down the “old fashioned” road, especially if he pulled out all of the stops like he had last night, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to razz him for it.

He mulled it over for a few beats. “Yes, we should live in sin and get as close to sinning as possible without crossing that line.”

She smiled. “The line got a whole lot thinner last night, but I understand…sort of.” Not really, but she respected his wishes no matter how stupid they were.

“So tonight, I’ll see you…it’s a date?” His voice cracked like he was a tiny bit unsure of himself.

Even after everything, he was still asking instead of assuming. That was a huge boon to the ego. “Tonight and every single night after. It’s a date. Thanks for asking instead of assuming.”

“You’ve heard about what ass and uming do when they get together?” He grinned and the five-o’clock shadow or well, early morning shadow on his jaw gave him a rakishness that was entirely too sexy. And God bless him, he was shirtless. The peaks and valleys of his abs were defined without being overt. She liked him with a little meat on his bones.

“I believe I’ve heard that a time or two.” She chewed on her lower lip. She’d wanted to ask him something for a couple of days, but didn’t know how to start the conversation. Maybe it was best to jump right on in there. “There’s a game on Christmas Day…I was wondering if you’re going to ask me to go with you. I know that it’s awkward, but things between me and the guys seem okay. It seems like… our friends don’t even care about…before.”

She bit back the impulse to apologize again.

Excitement twinkled in his eyes. “I’d love it if you came to the game. I sit in the owner’s box, but the wives all sit second row on the fifty. They like to be close to their men.” He thought about it for a second. “You know, I could break with tradition and sit down there with you. If you wanted to sit with the wives.”

He really wanted her there. “No, while I’d love their company, I know how superstitious professional athletes are. I wouldn’t dream of breaking any routine on game day. I’ll sit with you in the owner’s box. Maybe we could invite Patty and Dave.”

“Great minds think alike. The whole block now has season tickets. They will all be in the owner’s box.” He grinned. “I can’t wait for that party.”

“Me too. It’ll be fun.” She set the brush down. “I’m so glad we met them. Thanks for making me stop by their house.”

“I just want the best for you.” He tipped an imaginary hat.

They were becoming so sweet it was sickening.

“Pancakes and bacon?” He pulled a T-shirt out of his briefcase and pulled it over his head.

“Do you always carry a change of clothes in your briefcase?” Or was spending the night with her a foregone conclusion?

“No, just when I’m hoping the woman I’m in love with will let me spend the night.” He pulled out a pair of running shoes and socks. He sat down on the side of the bed and slipped on the socks. The shoes came next. “Pancakes and bacon before I go for a run?”

“Sure, but this time try not to burn down my kitchen.” Wait, was he expecting her to cook? Besides the occasional grilled cheese, she really didn’t cook. “If you’re hoping I’ll jump in and volunteer to cook, you should know that I only do grilled cheese.”

“No, ma’am. I’ve got breakfast, and I promise no omelets.” He walked out of the room. “Give me fifteen minutes and breakfast will be ready.”

This little slice of domesticity was nice and she hoped for a lifetime full of it.

Five hours later, domestic anything was the last thing on her mind. Today they’d taken in seventeen women, two men, eight kids, and one grandmother. All victims of domestic violence. When she added in the fifteen from yesterday and three the day before, Safe Place was full to bursting. She’d called in everyone she could think of to come help out and they were still short staffed. There would be no going home tonight and she’d texted Warren an hour or so ago with the bad news.

She tunneled her fingers through her hair. Okay, if she put the Daniels mom and her three kids in the attic suite, the Garzas on the third floor with the Kellmers and the Lesters—no, that wouldn’t work. She didn’t have enough space to keep families together. If she did nothing else tonight, she would find a way to keep families together.

There was a knock on her closed office door and she looked up from the list on her computer.

“Come in.” It was all she could do not to cross her fingers hoping they hadn’t just gotten more clients. Not that it would matter much as this point. Even if they had to set up tents in the backyard, she would find a place for everyone.

“Warren said you could use some help.” Sweet Louise stepped into the room followed by Grace, Summer, and Laney. “Patty had to stop off at the bathroom, she’ll be here in a second.”

All of the ladies had gray-taupe paint splattered here and there on their clothes. It was the first time she ever seen Sweet Louise wearing jeans. Even in a ratty red sweatshirt and faded blue jeans, the older woman looked elegant.

“Oh no, y’all were painting the give-away house. I hate to pull you away from that.” She could use the help, but the house needed to be finished tonight because they were giving it away in a couple of days.

“No worries. We finished thirty or so minutes ago.” Sweet Louise glanced over her left shoulder and then whispered, “I have furniture being delivered tomorrow morning. Patty has no idea. The guys will arrange it and then we’ll put the finishing touches on everything.”