“I’m going to go for a dip.” She wiggled off him, and with a little reluctance, he let her go.
He propped himself up on his elbows and watched her sashay away from him. “You’re going like that?” he called after her with a grin.
“Why not? No one knows us here. We’re in the middle of the South Pacific.”
“Okay,” he said. “But if you end up on the cover of some rag, don’t bellyache to me.”
She swished her hand in the air as if it was nonsense.
Warmth filled him as he watched his wife cross the bamboo floor toward the deck. “My wife,” he murmured to himself, and the grin grew deeper on his lips.
Moira had warned him she might change if he took her away from her old life, and she did. She’d become even sweeter, softer somehow. She didn’t have to prove anything to anyone, especially not him. Once her body had a chance to recuperate from years of shift work she turned into a tornado with so much energy he had to sit on her to get her to slow down.
She threw herself into volunteer work at two different city shelters in central Los Angeles, one of the worst places to be. She served meals, cooked, cleaned, and cared for those who didn’t have anything. Those people who hadn’t conquered their addictions she helped without question. When Kyle started to go with her, the media caught on, and pretty soon the cat was out of the bag. It turned out not so bad for Moira.
He knew there was a hell of a lot of shallow people in Hollywood, but he found that there was a hell of a lot more good-hearted ones than he ever imagined. She had stars and executive wives taking off their jewelry and fine clothes to serve and cook right beside her. And most weren’t doing it for promotional reasons. She’d turned a critical eye on him as well.
“Just tell me how much, sweetheart,” he’d asked, opening up his checkbook.
With a smile, she tipped the cover closed with one finger, and then held her hand out, wiggling her fingers. “We need help in the kitchen tonight,” she said sweetly.
“The kitchen?”
“Yes, darling, roll up the sleeves on your Dolce and Gabbana and let’s go.”
And he just followed. The truth was he’d follow her to the ends of the earth, and right over the edge, he loved her that much.
Vince made the trip to LA often, and he always dropped by. They’d asked him to be the baby’s godfather, no pun intended, which he accepted gratefully with one condition—only if he could walk Moira down the aisle and give her away. His father wasn’t happy about that, and they actually argued about it one night. Moira broke the standoff by holding two straws out to the two men. Vince won. His father made some offhand remark like, “Hope you never end up in my courtroom.”
Mandy, her maid of honor, and the rest of her crew flew in a few days before the wedding. Kyle and Dane had a great time reminding him it would be the first time he had a house full of women he didn’t screw. But neither of his brothers was laughing when Sasha, Patti, Callie, and Mandy walked in the door.
Dane’s jaw did a quick drop when he saw Mandy, which was no surprise to him. He always thought he saw a lot of Moira in Mandy. Obviously so did Dane. Callie took one look at Kyle and her red locks were flinging over her shoulder, and her perky charm flowing into overdrive. Sasha and Patti, already married, let the single ladies go front and center. They got Mandy good though.
Moira never told Mandy he was a twin, never mind a triplet. Kyle came in first from one end of the kitchen, and then he came from the other.
The response didn’t disappoint when all the ladies gasped with surprise. But Mandy nearly passed out because Dane took it one step further and snuck up behind her, turning her and lavishing her with a long, sultry kiss. She went so red, Moira thought she was going to explode.
Two days ago, when Moira walked down the aisle in a service they held in their own backyard, he knew that he was the luckiest man alive. He had found the only woman he would ever love and who would ever love him for who he was, not what he was. She was so beautiful it took his breath away. Although there were a lot of guests, it felt intimate and warm.
He loved her fiercely. He never wanted her to doubt that she meant everything to him. His desk would certainly never be the same again either, nor any piece of furniture in their house or the backyard. They weren’t sure when they made the baby.
“How does ‘kitchen counter’ sound for a name?” she asked him.
When he gave her a look that said “I don’t think so” she didn’t even blink.
“Okay ‘grass’ or ‘bathtub’ then?”
That cracked him up. It was different now, because when she first found out she was pregnant she’d freaked out—literally. His normally calm, reserved fiancée didn’t want to go through with it, afraid something would go wrong, afraid her body would produce something terrible. When he finally looked into her eyes, and told her it didn’t matter what came out, they would love and care for him or her till their last breath, she finally relaxed. Everything was fine—until the doctor heard the second heartbeat, and then she really spazzed out, which called for bigger guns.
He called his mother and cleared the house. Taking over Hollywood was easy compared to dealing with a distraught Moira—much easier. After several hours of stern talking on his mother’s part, she calmed down and focused on being as good to her body as she could. The twins were due in August.
He gave Kyle a job at Palm Productions as middle management, and he caught on quickly. What surprised him was how good Kyle was at handling people. He promised Moira he would give him a chance. So far, he hadn’t blown it. They had become a whole family again, and it was because of her.
Kyle and Moira became very close in a short time. It had been bad enough with Dane coming every night for dinner. When Kyle started joining them, he had to stifle his comments. Moira was the perfect sister-in-law. She loved both brothers—from a distance. They had some great times together, and one night Dane and Kyle almost got their wish.
Relaxing after a crazy week, he and his brothers got half cut. Moira wasn’t drinking because of the baby.
She always stayed true to many of the Canadian artists like Nickelback, which was one of her favorite bands. When “How You Remind Me” began to play, she started to dance. His eyes were glued to her, and so were his brothers’. She was out of this world erotic.
With the alcohol dulling his brain, and loosening his brothers', he sensed something was about to happen between them. Luckily so did Moira. His brothers pinned her like a cookie, and she was the soft center. It was then that they received the honor of experiencing the old Moira for the first time. He’d witnessed it out in the desert when she’d turned her anger on him when they argued over him not telling her about the movie rights. Since then he’d done his damndest to keep that Moira at bay.
Moira jumped sideways to escape Dane and Kyle. “What the hell are you two doing?”
“Moira, why don’t we just let things happen,” Dane said, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Let what happen? Are you saying what I think your saying? That’s it,” she shouted, pointing at the same time. “Out!”
Kyle backed up all the way to the kitchen counter looking like his mother had just bawled him out.
“Moira, we won’t hurt you,” Dane said, still trying to convince her.
She poked her finger into Dane’s chest. “You’ve got five seconds to get out. Do you hear me, Dane Porter? You’re going to be an uncle to these babies. Screw your goddamned head on right.” She jabbed him again, and he backed up. “Out, right now.” She jabbed him a third time. “Don’t you—ever—try that again.”
Her glare turned to Steven. His brothers looked helplessly at him. “I’d listen to her if I were you,” he said, tilting his head and laughing at their expressions. Dane and Kyle stood still.
“Out,” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
Both of them winced and put up their hands. “Moira, just calm down,” Kyle said, but he was already backing out of the room. �
��Come on, Dane, I think we’ve overstayed our welcome.”
When his brothers had vacated, he yanked on Moira’s hand, pulling her onto his lap. “Sweetheart, have I told you how much I love you?”
“About three times today,” she said, still fuming.
“Don’t be too hard on them. They’ll be back, and I want you to accept their apology.” She sighed and gave him a look that said, “maybe” but he knew she would.
Neither Dane nor Kyle came back for a whole blissful month. When they did, they brought her flowers and a big apology. He couldn’t be angry at them. He loved his brothers, and so did Moira.
He walked to the railing of the balcony and draped his arms across the ledge. His siren glided beneath the calm water like a creature born from the ocean. The soothing glow of the turquoise sea, illuminated by the moon, made her look mystical as if she truly was Poseidon’s daughter.
He knew in his heart that he would have given up everything to have shared Moira’s life twenty years earlier, but there was still much more life to live together. She was an amazing woman, and he felt like a whole man—a powerful man. He hadn’t known what that truly was no matter who he was or what he’d owned—until Moira loved him.
THE END
NATASZAWATERS.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Natasza Waters grew up on the beautiful West Coast of British Columbia. With the Pacific Ocean on her western doorstep, and thousands of acres of forest on the other, there was plenty to spur on a young mind. After finishing school, her life took a drastic twist, and a lifelong working relationship with the marine industry began.
After a twenty-year hiatus from her creative writing, the stories swirling in her mind began to swim hard to resurface, and she threw them a life ring. Natasza juggles her story writing during her days off, and then gets back down to business, working in the Port of Vancouver. Her life is a mix of creativity vs. black-and-white procedures. With a lifetime of working in the marine community, there’s plenty of stories to tell. It’s a different world, different language, unsung heroes and heroines aplenty, heated moments, and blissful silence when all is well. Reading and writing is the way she turns down the loud hum that her work causes, and after almost thirty years of humming, it’s time to vent.
Natasza’s husband is a patient man who eats a lot of takeout, and does his own laundry. He’s supportive but scared as hell as to what people will think when they read her books. Life is full of surprises! After all, she never would have imagined becoming a stepmother to four very talented, intelligent children, in her late twenties, and twenty years later, a step grandmamma to five.
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Too Grand for Words (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 32
