“Yes, you can.” He squeezed one of her nipples through her shirt and twirled it between his thumb and index finger. “Come for me now.”
“I—”
Everett wasn’t taking no for answer; he wanted her to let go. He grabbed hold of one of her thighs, lifting it to give him better access so he could surge deeper, farther. “Now!” He groaned into her ear as he teased her clitoris with quick flutters of his thumb.
Mariah compiled and her entire body quaked around his fingers. Her head fell back against him as an orgasm overtook her. When the last of the trembles subsided, Everett removed his hands from her jeans and spun her around to face him. He grasped both sides of her face and kissed her deeply, then bent and lifted her off her feet. Mariah wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her from the kitchen to his bedroom.
When they arrived, Everett kicked the door shut with his boot and headed straight for the bed. He lowered Mariah to the mattress, but didn’t release her mouth. She surrendered to his kiss and the torrent of sensations that exploded inside her as he nipped and sucked.
Eventually, he left her lips so he could bury his face in her neck and lick his way from her collarbone to her ear. Then he rose on his knees so he could start stripping. She was as hungry as he was, judging by how their clothes went flying every which way until they were both naked on the bed. He flipped her over onto her stomach and his firm, erect penis found its way to her wet passage.
He thrust inside her in one fluid movement and then began moving. He wanted her so badly and didn’t understand why the need to possess her was so strong, but it was as if they were the only two people on earth and all that existed was the two of them and this moment.
Mariah didn’t shy away from the intensity of his lovemaking. In fact, she seemed to welcome it, especially when he put his hands under her and lifted her so her curvy derriere could meet his thrusts, while the other hand fingered her clitoris.
She moaned, telling him she was enjoying everything he was doing. “Yes, Everett, like that.” Her cries split the air and she repeated his name when her orgasm tore through her. “Everett, Everett, Everett.”
He didn’t hear her, couldn’t, because he was lost in sensation, grinding his hips into her backside until the heat between them hit a fever pitch. And before he knew it, nirvana struck and his body jerked as the full force of his climax hit him. “God, I love you,” he groaned in her ear, holding Mariah close as he collapsed on top of her.
In the aftermath, as they both lay sated on his bed, Everett realized exactly what he’d just said. He’d admitted that he loved Mariah. Had she heard him, since she, too, had been in the midst of euphoria? Although he’d intended to keep his feelings inside, he’d meant those words. He was in love with Mariah. Could she feel the same way?
Chapter 18
Mariah was awake even though her eyes remained closed. How could she sleep after what Everett had just said? He’d told her he loved her. Had it been in the heat of the moment? This wouldn’t be the first time it had happened. Friends had told her that men could say things during the heat of passion that they didn’t intend to. Had Everett meant it? Or did he wish he could take it back?
She was feigning sleep now because she wasn’t sure what to do. She so desperately wanted to say it back to him, but she needed to hear it again to be sure that he’d meant it and hadn’t just been overcome with emotion.
Mariah felt Everett stroking her hair as she lay against his chest, her favorite position when they slept together. “Mariah, are you awake?”
“Hmm...?” She rubbed her eyes and then glanced at him.
His own eyes were fathomless and she couldn’t read what he was thinking, what he was feeling, until he said quickly, “I meant what I said.”
“What?”
“Don’t play coy, Mariah. I know you heard me,” he replied. His dark gaze bored into hers, challenging her to lie and say otherwise.
She scooted upward toward the pillow so she could face him at eye level. Her eyes fluttered closed and then she opened them to look back up at him. “Yes, I heard you.”
Everett reached across the short distance between them and pulled her closer until they were a breath apart. “I love you, Mariah.”
Her voice caught in her throat. He’d repeated it, so he must mean it. She was about to repeat the words when Everett continued speaking.
“I know it may seem fast, but I can see a life with you, Mariah. Me, you and EJ, and maybe adding a little brother or sister one day.”
All the air in the room suddenly seemed to evaporate for Mariah. She’d been dreading this moment. The day when Everett would say something that would ruin all chances of there ever being a future between them. And it had come. Just as she’d predicted it would. Except there wasn’t an easy way for her to extricate herself from the situation without maximum damage.
The man she loved, who’d just said that he loved her back, wanted children, more children with her, which she knew was impossible or damn near. She’d tried unsuccessfully for nearly three years to get pregnant with Rich’s child and couldn’t. It had destroyed their marriage. She couldn’t do it again. She couldn’t, wouldn’t put herself or Everett through that kind of pain, heartbreak and continued disappointment, month after month, year after year. He deserved more. He deserved a woman who could give him babies, lots of babies. He didn’t deserve someone who was damaged goods.
“I—I have to go,” Mariah said abruptly, and threw the covers back. In the darkness, she searched for her clothes, which they’d discarded in a hurry during the heat of the moment.
“What?” The expression on Everett’s face was both hurt and disbelieving.
They’d just made passionate love together as if their lives depended on it, and she was running away. She had no choice. She had to do it now. It was bad enough that she’d allowed their relationship to get this far. She should have known that happiness wasn’t in the cards for her, but she’d so desperately needed this and desired him that she hadn’t wanted to see they were headed for disaster.
Mariah couldn’t speak, couldn’t look at him as she found her panties and slipped them up her legs.
“Mariah!” Everett sat upright. “What are you doing?”
“I have to go,” she said. “I have an early morning tomorrow and—”
“That’s crap and you know it,” he responded. “You’re running away again. Are you running because I said I love you?” He rose from the bed in all his naked splendor and faced her. “You—you don’t have to say it back, not until you’re ready. It’s just that I...” He paused, as if trying to find the right words. “I was just overcome in the moment.”
Mariah didn’t dare look up at him as she wrangled with her jeans. If she did, she might give in and he’d drag her back to bed and make love to her again and again, not knowing that there was only the slightest chance that she would ever carry his child. She just couldn’t do that to him.
When she didn’t speak, his voice turned cold, “Mariah, please say something. And for God’s sake, look at me.”
Gathering all her inner strength and courage, Mariah took a deep breath and glanced up at Everett. Pain and hurt were etched across his handsome face, a face she loved. She hated that she was the cause of it and tears sprang to her eyes.
Everett softened immediately and he brushed them away with the pads of his thumbs. “Don’t cry, baby. Just come back to bed and talk to me, okay? Whatever it is, we can work through it together.”
Mariah shook her head. “I can’t. I just can’t.” She wrenched away from him and, without a glance behind, ran out of the bedroom. She had to. It was for his sake as well as hers.
As she sat in the taxicab that the shocked doormen had so graciously procured for her at this late hour, Mariah pondered what had occurred. She was no good for Everett and he would only resent her in t
he end, as Rich had. She never wanted to see in Everett’s eyes the same look Rich had given her. So if that meant she was destined to be alone, then that was her lot in life and she was just going to have accept it.
* * *
Everett stared into his coffee mug as he sat in his office at the Myers Hotel the next morning. He’d gone through the motions of getting dressed and having a big Saturday breakfast with EJ, but his heart wasn’t in it. Everett had dropped his son off with his grandparents and made his way to the office, hoping that work would be a distraction. It wasn’t. It had been hours and he’d finally hit a wall. He still couldn’t believe that after they’d shared an idyllic day together with his son, made love as if they were last two humans on earth and he’d said he loved her, Mariah had walked out on him.
She hadn’t given him a reason for her behavior. She’d just stormed out of his bedroom in the middle of the night, for Christ’s sake. Everett ran his hand over his head. He couldn’t understand it. Should he have waited to tell he loved her? Clearly. But her over-the-top reaction had stunned him. She’d completely shut him out, reverting to the Mariah of old, who had brick walls barricaded around her heart. If he was honest, he was not only hurt; he was angry. Was having his love that abhorrent that she’d had to rush out of his bed?
Everett just couldn’t understand and started analyzing those last few moments. That’s when it hit him. If he’d read her expression correctly, perhaps it wasn’t the idea that he loved her that had freaked her out. She’d become silent when he’d mentioned wanting more kids and giving EJ a little brother or sister. Did her reaction mean that she didn’t want kids?
Everett leaned back in his chair. How could that be? Mariah was so great with EJ and clearly adored his son. He could see her as a mother. Had he really been wrong about her? He shook his head.
Darn it! He wanted a big family. Had always wanted one even when he’d been with Sara, but it hadn’t been in the cards. But Mariah? He was in love with her and knew she would be a good mother if she could overcome her fears. But what if she wouldn’t? Didn’t want to? Would he be willing to give up his dream of enlarging his family for Mariah? This whole time he’d been under the assumption that they were on the same page and that she’d be open to starting a family with him. But perhaps they weren’t. Was this a deal breaker?
Or had she run away because he’d said he loved her and she wasn’t ready yet?
He had to know for sure one way or the other.
Rising from his chair, Everett put on his suit jacket and headed toward the door. After everything they’d shared, he deserved answers from Mariah and he wasn’t going to take no for answer until he had them. It shouldn’t surprise her, because that had been his MO from the beginning.
Everett made it to Lillian’s in half an hour. He swung open the door and searched the storefront for Mariah’s honey-blond head.
“Hey, boss,” Amber yelled from the café.
Everett glanced up and started toward her. She was stocking shelves with Myers Coffee Roasters. “Amber, have you seen Mariah?”
“Sorry, I haven’t,” Amber said. “Is there anything I can do?”
He shook his head and without another word to Amber left the café and stalked purposely toward the kitchen. Jackson was coming out with a large silver pan and stopped short when he saw him. “Everett, what’s up?” he asked.
“I’m looking for Mariah.”
Jackson frowned. “She’s not here. Didn’t she tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Everett asked impatiently. He needed to find Mariah and talk to her. He didn’t have time for riddles.
“Mariah called Chase and me early this morning and told us she wouldn’t be in today,” Jackson replied. “Said she was going to Chicago for the weekend.”
“Chicago!” Everett roared.
Jackson took a step backward. “Hey. Listen, man. Perhaps that temper is the reason my sister rushed off to Chicago in the middle of the night.”
Everett dragged in a deep breath, trying to calm his frayed nerves. “I’m sorry for raising my voice, but that’s not the reason Mariah left.”
“What then?”
“That’s between me and your sister,” Everett responded. “Should she happen to call you, you can let her know I’m ready to listen when she’s ready to talk.”
Without another word, he strode from the bakery.
Once he reached his car, Everett slammed his fist on the steering wheel. When was Mariah going to get tired of running and instead fight for what they had? Turning on the ignition, he headed back toward the hotel.
* * *
“Not that I’m not excited to see you and all,” Belinda said from the driver’s side of her sports car as she glanced sideways at her cousin. “But an early morning phone call to come get you at the airport wasn’t quite what I expected when I asked you to keep in touch.”
Mariah sighed heavily. “Sorry for the short notice, cuz. I just needed to get away in a hurry.” She’d called Belinda early that morning after she’d booked a spur-of-the-moment flight from Seattle to Chicago.
Belinda glanced at her again. “Is this about you and Everett?”
Mariah was silent and glanced out the window. She had come to Chicago for a sympathetic ear. Although she and Amber were forging a friendship, it was nice to confide in family.
“How about we talk over pastries at Lillian’s?” Belinda inquired. “I bet we can find something there to cheer you up.”
“Sounds good.” But Mariah didn’t look up from the window.
Once they made it to the Magnificent Mile and parked in the garage reserved for Lillian’s, they walked the short distance on Michigan Avenue to the store.
When she entered, the familiarity of her surroundings brought a smile to Mariah’s face, as did the smell of fresh baked goods. The bakery was similar in design to Lillian’s of Seattle, but was bit more ornately decorated than their store due to its prime location on Chicago’s most famous street.
“Mariah, is that you?” Shari Drayson said from behind the counter. “What the heck are you doing here?”
“She’s here for a weekend retreat,” Belinda replied, as Mariah surveyed their storefront displays for a breakfast treat.
“Give me a hug,” Shari said, coming around the corner with her arms open wide.
Mariah turned from the display case and saw Shari’s pregnant belly bump. Her hand flew to her mouth and she cried, “Omigod!” and rushed toward the back of the bakery.
Shari grabbed her pregnant stomach as she watched Mariah flee past her. She turned to her sister. “Was it something I said?”
Belinda shook her head. “No, it’s not you. Let me go talk to her.”
Mariah had found her way to the administrative offices in the back of the bakery and shut the door. She sat down in the conference room and cried. She cried for everything she’d never had and never would. Several minutes later, she heard a soft knock on the door. “Come in.”
Belinda walked in and closed the door behind her. She headed toward Mariah and offered her a handkerchief. Mariah gratefully accepted and blew her nose. “Thank you.”
Her cousin gave her a smile as she sat down beside her. “How you doing?”
Mariah shook her head. “I’m a mess. Shari must think I’m insane. Did you see how she clutched her stomach when I ran by? I must have scared the living daylights out of her.”
Belinda chuckled. “More like startled her by your reaction.”
“I’ll apologize to her.”
“You’re just one raw nerve, Mariah, if seeing Shari’s pregnancy can affect you this way. What’s going on?”
Mariah nodded in agreement. “I know I am. And I can tell that I overreacted just now. I guess the timing of seeing Shari, after last night with Everett, was just too much.”
&n
bsp; “What happened?”
Mariah looked upward and blinked several times. “Everything.”
“How about we get those pastries to go and talk at my place?” Belinda suggested.
Mariah gave a weak smile. “Sounds great.”
Their talk didn’t happen until later that evening, because as soon as they arrived at Belinda and Malik’s condominium on Lake Shore Drive, Mariah begged off for a nap. When she awoke, it was dark out. She hadn’t meant to sleep the day away, but the strain and exhaustion of the last twenty-four hours had caught up to her. She’d traveled to the wildlife park and back to Seattle after zip-lining, she and Everett had made incredible love, then she’d run back to her apartment.
She’d been unable to sleep and had gotten on her computer to make travel arrangements to Chicago. She’d needed to get away and think. Figure out what she was going to do next. She knew that running out of Everett’s apartment had been wrong. She also knew she would have to face him soon, but in that moment she hadn’t been able to. And knowing Everett, he wasn’t going to accept her leaving him with no explanation and would hunt her down until they hashed things out.
She’d been right. As she looked down at her cell phone, which she’d silenced while she napped, she could see that she’d missed several calls and texts from Everett. The last one from him said Fight for us. She knew he was right. She’d done the exact opposite by running away to Chicago.
There’d been another from Jackson telling her that Everett had stopped by the bakery and left him with a message: He’s ready to listen when you’re ready to talk. She wasn’t going to be able to stay away forever. They needed her at the bakery and the café was opening on Monday. But she was going to take this weekend for herself to figure some things out.
After a quick shower, Mariah slid into a velour jumpsuit and headed to the kitchen. She found Belinda standing over the stove, stirring contents in a pot, what looked like the makings of dinner.
“Smells good,” Mariah commented.
“Thanks,” she said. “It’s just pasta primavera. I can manage that much. Isn’t it funny that I’m a great baker, but a terrible cook?”
Cappuccino Kisses Page 17
