It was nearly two hours after opening that the line at the bakery slowed down and Mariah and her brothers had a chance to breathe. They left Kelsey in the storefront to deal with customers while they went to the kitchen.
Once away from the public, Jackson held out his palm. “High five! High five!” he yelled, slapping his siblings’ hands “Was that not an incredible day or what?”
“I can’t believe it, either!” Mariah clasped both hands to her cheeks. “We sold out of every Draynut and have orders for tomorrow.”
“We did it!” Chase pumped his fist in excitement. “The Draynut is on the map and that was a great start.” He leaned against the kitchen counter. “And very encouraging, but we have to think about how we can keep the momentum going.”
“C’mon, Chase,” Jackson said. “Can’t we enjoy our success for a minute before we have to think about the bottom line?”
Mariah nodded. “I’m with Jack on this one. This was no easy feat, so let’s just enjoy today and think about strategy tomorrow.”
Chase shrugged. “If that’s how you guys feel, then I’ll defer to you both. But we can’t rest on our laurels too long, because Sweetness Bakery is an institution just like Myers Coffee Roasters.” He pointed toward the café, which still had a small line. “And we have our work cut out for us if we intend to overtake them.”
“I agree with you,” Mariah said. “But I have a few things I’m working on. I spent years perfecting the Draynut recipe. So all that time I was at home, and you all thought I had nothing but babies on the brain, I was working.”
Jackson walked over and kissed her on the cheek. “We couldn’t thank you enough, sis. And I’ll be right here with you, trying to find the next best thing.”
“Then let’s celebrate,” Chase said. He headed to the large commercial refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of champagne.
“When did you get that?” Mariah asked.
“Yesterday,” he answered, “because I knew we had a winner on our hands. Get some cups,” he said, as he popped the cork.
Jackson and Mariah rushed over with red plastic cups before the champagne could spill on the floor.
“Can we get in on this celebration or is it just for family?” Everett asked from the doorway, with Amber standing behind him.
Mariah warmed inwardly when she saw her man. “C’mon in,” she said, laughing, “We couldn’t have done this without you.”
She handed her cup to Amber, then reached for more for herself, Everett and Nancy and Kelsey. When they all had champagne, Chase toasted, “To teamwork!”
“To teamwork!” they all shouted in unison.
* * *
Everett placed his cup in a nearby trash can. “Well, as much as I’d love to stay, I have to get to the office. But I just want to say great job to everyone. I’m looking forward to our collaboration here.”
“So are we.” Chase walked over to him and shook his hand.
Everett started toward the back door, where he was parked, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. He felt a spark of electricity. It was Mariah. He spun around to face her.
“Can we talk?” she asked. Her face was flushed from the craziness of the last few hours and there was an an almost imperceptible note of pleading in her face. A face he’d come to love, but which in the last couple days had caused him such heartache.
Everett shook his head. “Now isn’t a good time. I have to get to work.”
She eyed him suspiciously, as if she didn’t believe him, but said, “All right. Then later? I could come over to your place?”
He nodded. “That’s fine.”
He watched her shoulders visibly sag in relief, as if she’d thought he would say otherwise. He wouldn’t do that to her or to him. They did have to talk, but without an audience and when they had plenty of time.
And now wasn’t it.
“What time?” Mariah inquired.
“After 7:00 p.m.”
“I’ll be there.”
Everett nodded and headed toward the door. It was so hard to walk away from Mariah, when all he really wanted to do was pull her in his arms and kiss her until the ache went away. But he couldn’t, not until she was honest and bared her heart to him, as he’d done. Until she did, there was no hope for a future together.
Chapter 20
Mariah was nervous as she made her way to Everett’s. Earlier, when she’d tried to speak to him, his implacable expression had been unnerving. She had no idea what his mood would be. It had been nearly seventy-two hours since she’d walked out of his bedroom in the middle of the night after he’d told her he loved her. She’d wanted to tell him she loved him just as much, but she’d been too scared. And now, she risked losing him because of her fear of getting hurt again. She just prayed it wasn’t too late.
After a quick stop home to shower and change into a velour jumpsuit, she made it to his penthouse exactly at 7:00 p.m., as he’d requested. Her legs felt wooden as she approached his door.
Everett opened it wearing drawstring sweats and a dark T-shirt. “Hey.” He gave her a tentative smile. “Come on in.”
Mariah stepped inside and felt as if she was walking on eggshells, unsure of what to do next. Everett certainly wasn’t making it any easier, because he didn’t greet her with a kiss.
The apartment was quiet save for some jazz music playing softly in the background. “Where’s EJ?” she inquired as she followed Everett into the kitchen.
“With my parents,” he responded, pulling two wine goblets out of the cabinets. “I thought it best that we have some privacy. Wouldn’t you agree?”
She nodded as a lump formed in her throat.
“Wine?” he asked, holding up a bottle that had already been uncorked.
“Yes,” she managed to squeak. She supposed some liquid courage wouldn’t hurt.
He poured each of them a glass of wine and handed her one before heading toward the living room. She followed him to the sofa. He sat far away from her on one side, so she took his cue and settled opposite him. He leaned back against the cushions and crossed one leg over the other.
Mariah turned to face him and found he was studying her quietly, waiting for her to speak.
She cleared her throat and then took a sip of the delicious vintage before placing her goblet on the cocktail table in front of them. She clasped her hands nervously together in her lap. Apparently, he wasn’t going to make this any easier for her, so she was going to have to speak.
“I’m sorry about the other night,” Mariah began. “I shouldn’t have run out and left you like that.”
He sipped his wine. “No, you shouldn’t have. You left me without an explanation, leaving me to wonder what it all meant. So tell me, Mariah, what does it mean?”
She swallowed. “It means I’m scared.”
“Why?” He sat up and placed his goblet next to hers. “Have I done something wrong?”
She shook her head. “No. No, you didn’t. You did everything right. Just as you’ve always done. You’ve been patient with me, kind, giving, loving...” Her voice trailed off.
“Then why? Why would you leave me?”
Mariah heard the accusatory tone in Everett’s voice and knew that she’d hurt him terribly. She gulped and hot tears began spilling down her cheeks. She shook her head. “I was scared. Scared that you would leave me once you found out.”
“Find out what?” Everett asked. “Jesus, Mariah! Don’t you know that there’s nothing you could ever say that would change my feelings for you? I want to marry you,” he blurted out. “I want you to be EJ’s mom and my wife.”
“What?” Had he really just said he wanted to marry her?
He smiled softly. “You heard me. I said I want to marry you. And I think you want to marry me, too, but there’s something holdin
g you back. What is it? You have to talk to me, baby.”
Mariah wished she could say yes to his marriage proposal with no reservations, but she had to tell him her predicament. “I can’t, because you have to know that I...” She flushed with embarrassment and her cheeks burned at having to tell Everett the secret she’d held on to that had been her shame for years. Gulping, she gazed at him in despair. “I may not be able to have children.”
“What?” Everett left his spot and immediately scooted closer to her on the couch. His large hands grasped hers. “What do you mean?”
“I could be infertile.”
A deep frown etched Everett’s forehead. “How do you know? Have you been tested?”
Mariah nodded. “I’ve been poked and prodded every which way but Sunday.” She attempted a laugh, but instead it turned into a sob, and that’s when Everett’s arms encircled her, pulling her close. He gently rocked her back and forth as she buried her burning face in his shoulder and wept.
When she began to calm, she lifted her head to meet his searching eyes, “My quest to get pregnant broke up my first marriage. I quit my job so I could try fertility treatments and homeopathic remedies, but nothing worked. I tried for three years to conceive. The stress and strain was too much for our young marriage and he began to resent me, until eventually we drifted apart. I don’t want that to happen to you and me. If it did, I—I wouldn’t survive.”
* * *
“So instead you ran?” Everett asked, searching her face. Hearing Mariah’s confession was a surprise, of course, yet it explained so much. Her reluctance to date him so soon after her divorce, and why she’d run the other night when he’d told her he loved her and had brought up having more children.
Mariah nodded. “I was scared, and then you told me you loved me and it was all just too much.”
“Listen, baby...” He reached for her hand. “I am so sorry for all the pain you endured, trying to have a child. I don’t care if you can’t have kids.” He paused and then corrected himself, “Well, that’s not exactly true. I do want more kids. But I won’t put you through that again. That would be your choice. If we’re just meant to be a family of three, I’ll be fine with that. Or maybe someday you might consider adopting?”
He couldn’t lose Mariah. He loved her too much and he would do anything for her, because that’s what you did when you truly loved someone. You made sacrifices and risks for those you loved.
* * *
Mariah stared back at Everett, dumbstruck. He would be willing to adopt? After her ex-husband, she’d thought that wouldn’t be an option for most men, but then again, Everett wasn’t your average man. He was better. And he was hers. “Do you really mean that? You’d be willing to have other children even if they weren’t yours?”
“Of course I would.”
“I—I’m floored,” Mariah admitted. It was beyond anything she had ever expected. “I never thought you’d consider adoption. I know how proud you are of EJ, and so many men have a thing about passing on their heritage. Are you sure, Everett? There are so many women out there who could give you your own biological child. Children.”
“There is no one out there who can give me what I want, because that’s you. Besides which, we could hire a surrogate, perhaps, to carry our biological child. Whatever you want, sweetheart. We have options.”
“And what about Sara?” Mariah knew it was silly to bring his deceased wife up at a time like this, but she had to get all her fears, all her issues, on the table and lay them bare.
He frowned. “What about her?”
“I just know how much you loved her, and you still live here...”
“That’s true, but I firmly believe you can have more than one great love in a lifetime. Mariah, I love you,” Everett continued. “I love you for you, not for what you can give me, or to help me get over my dead wife. I love you.”
Everett loved her so much that he was willing to forgo having another child? He’d adopt or agree to surrogacy? This wonderful, incredible man loved her. And Mariah finally believed it. Her heart soared with joy and she clutched both sides of his face, finally saying what had been in her heart for weeks. “And I love you, too, Everett. I love you with all my heart.”
“You do?” His voice rose with joy, as if he was surprised to hear her say so.
She nodded as tears slid down her face. “I do.” She kissed his cheeks, one at a time, before coming to his mouth and brushing her lips across his. In seconds, Everett’s arms was encircling her waist and pulling her forward as he deepened the kiss.
He dropped backward on the couch and she fell atop him happily as they hungrily kissed as if they were starved for the taste of each other. They wildly touched and caressed, and it didn’t take long for clothes to start flying across the room and landing on the floor, they were both so desperate to get closer and join as one. Their bodies felt so good, so right, so made for each other.
Once they were naked, Everett reached down between them to make sure she was ready for him. Mariah’s breasts turned to hardened points. She was so hot and wet for him, just as she always was whenever they were together. That didn’t stop Everett from stroking her core. She tried clenching her thighs, to brace herself for what was to come, but he was having none of it and spread her legs apart to accommodate his searching fingers.
He stroked her damp, trembling sex with one finger and then two, thrusting deep inside her. Mariah felt every pulse-pounding increment of time as he teased her swollen flesh. She clutched at the fabric of the couch as he continued to kiss her passionately, before nuzzling his lips against her cheek, her neck. His breath gusted hard and hot against her ear. When she began to shudder beneath his fingers, Everett removed his hand and instead of settling himself between her thighs, leaned backward on the couch so Mariah could ride him.
She slid on top of his already throbbing manhood. “Everett,” she moaned, as she impaled herself atop him. Slowly, he began rolling underneath her. Having him inside her, moving slowly, rhythmically, was so intense Mariah knew it was just a matter of time before another climax would hit, just as strong as the first.
“Jesus,” Everett groaned beneath her, “I love you so much, Mariah.”
“I love you, too,” she cried as she undulated against him. Everett was stirring her into a frenzy and she could feel the pressure of another orgasm coming.
Everett continued to urge her on, clutching her bare bottom as he helped her slide up and down his hardened shaft. “Yes, like that, Mariah.” His breathing was becoming ragged and the sounds he made caused excitement to ripple through her. “Like that, sweet angel.”
He knew how to find her sexual peak and greedily give her every part of himself, and Mariah knew she would never tire of having him buried to the hilt inside her. She loved this man and would love him to her dying day. That he was willing to make adjustments for them to expand their family told her just how lucky she was to have Everett and EJ in her life.
When Everett flipped her over onto her back and began pounding into her quivering flesh, Mariah heard herself scream and Everett roar as both their bodies erupted. She clutched him to her breasts and whispered over and over, “Everett, Everett, Everett...”
Chapter 21
Early the next morning, Mariah and Everett rolled out of bed much earlier than she would have liked. Last night they’d finally made their way to his bedroom after they’d christened every inch of his penthouse, from the couch to the floor to the kitchen countertop to the terrace outside. There was no place he hadn’t taken her, and Mariah had loved every minute of it, just as much as she loved the man himself.
They’d come up for air and showered early so they could head to Everett’s parents’ home to pick up EJ and take him to school that morning. Everett was excited to tell him the news.
“Are you sure he’s going to be happy ab
out this?” Mariah asked in the SUV. Although they had shared an amazing day at the wildlife park and spent some evenings together, she and Everett had fallen in love rather quickly, in barely two months, and she wasn’t sure that was enough time for EJ to catch up with his feelings toward her.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Everett responded, squeezing her hand. “EJ adores you.”
Mariah sure hoped so.
When they arrived, his parents and EJ were sitting at the kitchen table. Based on the plates and cutlery, it looked as if they’d just finished breakfast. EJ was already dressed for school in chinos and a polo shirt.
“Hey, Mom, Dad,” Everett said as he reached for Mariah’s hand. “I have some news.”
“Morning, son.” His father nodded over his morning cup of coffee. “Mariah.” He smiled warmly at her. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You as well,” she replied. “Mrs. Myers.” She smiled at his mother, who looked questioningly at the two of them, given the time of day.
“Dad!” EJ rushed toward him, nearly tackling him to the ground. He noticed that Everett didn’t release Mariah’s hand, and he glanced up at the two of them. “What’s going on? Are you both here to take me to school?”
Everett gave Mariah a sideways glance and she nodded in approval. “We’re here because I asked Mariah to marry me and she said yes.”
“What?” Shock was evident on his mother’s face. “Really? So soon?”
“Yes, really, Mom.” A grin spread across Everett’s face.
“Congratulations, son, that’s great news.” His father rose to offer his hand, which Everett enthusiastically pumped.
“Thanks, we’re really happy,” he said, and then bent to look down at his son. “But I’m hoping someone else is happy about our news.”
Mariah watched the exchange between father and son. “How do you feel about it, EJ? About having Mariah as your mom?”
EJ’s curly head looked up at Mariah, so she, too, crouched lower so she could face him. She knew what a big deal this was. It had been EJ and his father for the last five years, and this would be a big change, having her in his life, sharing his father’s time. EJ’s response would set the tone for their relationship and could potentially end their short engagement before it had begun.
Cappuccino Kisses Page 19
