“And you know that from experience, right?” the psychologist prodded.
Dana Sue nodded.
“But you survived, didn’t you? You got through all the heartache and made a new life for yourself. Seems to me you’ve accomplished a lot you can be proud of.”
“Well, of course I am,” Dana Sue said, looking puzzled.
“Then what makes you think Annie couldn’t be just as strong?”
“She’s anorexic,” Dana Sue said.
“And she’s working on changing that,” the doctor countered. “Anything else?”
“Well, no,” Dana Sue admitted.
“And what about you? Are you likely to be any less strong if you take a risk and it doesn’t work out?” Before Dana Sue could answer, the psychologist held up a hand. “Let me ask that another way. As I understand it, after you and Ronnie split up, you were pretty upset, right?”
“Of course.”
“You thought your life was over?”
“In some ways, yes,” Dana Sue admitted.
“Yet you risked quite a lot to open Sullivan’s,” the doctor reminded her. “Were you prepared for the possibility it might fail?”
Dana Sue nodded.
“But that didn’t stop you from trying, did it? Why?”
“Because I knew I was strong enough to handle it if it did fail,” Dana Sue said.
“Yet you said you were feeling pretty fragile at the time,” Dr. McDaniels said.
Dana Sue met her gaze. “I see your point.”
“Do you? Do you understand that life is filled with risks? Unless you face them head-on and try, you may as well resign yourself to sitting on the sidelines.”
Ronnie waited with bated breath. He had a hunch his entire future hinged on whatever conclusion Dana Sue reached right now.
“You’re right,” she finally said, looking startled by the admission.
“Well, then, there’s no reason I can see not to reach out for whatever it is you want in life,” Dr. McDaniels said.
Dana Sue regarded her warily. “Are you saying I should give Ronnie another chance?”
“Only if that’s what you want to do,” the doctor said neutrally. “Your decision, not mine. Not Annie’s. Any more than it’s your decision whether she puts her heart on the line with this young man she likes.”
Suddenly Annie was grinning at her mom. “Not so easy realizing that your fate’s in your own hands, is it, Mom?”
Dana Sue chuckled. “Basically it sucks,” she confirmed.
“But isn’t it just a little bit empowering?” Dr. McDaniels asked.
Dana Sue finally risked a look in Ronnie’s direction. He thought he saw a spark of the old daredevil in her eyes and took heart.
“You know,” she said at last, “I think it is. In fact, this could turn out to be fun.”
“I’m not entirely sure I like the sound of that,” Ronnie grumbled, mostly in jest.
“Well, get used to it, pal,” Dana Sue said. “A new day is dawning.”
Annie beamed at both of them. “Cool.”
Yeah, Ronnie thought. It was pretty darn cool, and maybe just a little scary knowing that now it might be up to him not to blow the second chance Dana Sue was finally willing to give him.
20
Dana Sue was feeling pretty good about her breakthrough during the family counseling session. She was finally ready to move on, convinced she could handle whatever came next. If she and Ronnie tried and things didn’t work out, well, so be it. She’d gotten over him—sort of, anyway—once before. She could do it again. And after listening to Annie’s mature remarks in the session, she was starting to believe her daughter could weather a failure, as well.
After they’d dropped Annie off at home, she suggested a walk. As she and Ronnie started walking aimlessly, she deliberately slipped her sunglasses on—to shade her eyes from Ronnie’s scrutiny, perhaps—then met his gaze. “So, what now?” she asked.
Ronnie’s crooked smile spread slowly across his face. “I don’t have a plan. Do you?”
She frowned at him. “That is so typical,” she complained. “You’ve been hinting around for weeks now about wanting me back, and when I call you on it, you don’t have any idea where we go next.”
“Sugar, you took me by surprise back there. I’ve gotten so used to you putting up walls between us and me having to use all sorts of sneaky tactics to get around them, I hadn’t considered what I’d do if you decided to flat-out knock them down.”
“I didn’t knock them down,” she countered. “I created a tiny little crack, but you need to figure out how to wriggle through it. Let me know when you have a strategy.”
She whirled around and walked away. No plan, indeed! The man was impossible. Maybe she’d just been a challenge to him, simply an instance of Ronnie wanting what he couldn’t have. Now that the game was over, he probably didn’t even want her anymore. He had his new business. He had his daughter back in his life. And he had Mary Vaughn fawning all over him. Flirting required a whole lot less commitment than a real relationship. That was probably more than enough to satisfy him.
Dana Sue had made it halfway down the block, her spine stiff and her temper stirring, when he caught up with her, spun her around and captured her mouth in a kiss that was hotter than the South Carolina sun at high noon. It wiped every thought, every trace of anger, right out of her head.
When he finally released her, she had to cling to his shoulders to remain upright. That and the need throbbing through her infuriated her all over again. She immediately lashed out at him.
“Making a public spectacle out of me is not the answer,” she said irritably.
He grinned, his own sunglasses now firmly in place so she couldn’t read the amusement no doubt glinting in his eyes. “That wasn’t a spectacle, darlin’. That was a public declaration that we’re back together.”
Dana Sue bristled. “You’re putting your brand on me like I’m some piece of Grade A beef?” she demanded indignantly.
His lips twitched. “I wouldn’t put it exactly that way.”
“No, it’s not something I’d want to admit to, either,” she said. “But that’s what it amounted to, isn’t it?”
“You know,” he said casually, “it works both ways. You kissed me back, so now all the world knows I’m yours, too.”
“Including Mary Vaughn?” Dana Sue asked, warming to that idea. If he thought she’d tolerate that budding friendship or collaboration or whatever it was, he needed to rethink that right now.
He stared at her blankly. “What does Mary Vaughn have to do with anything?”
“I’ve seen the way she is around you,” Dana Sue said. “She wants you, Ronnie. Everyone in town knows her current relationship is on the skids and she’s looking for a replacement. Seems to me like she’s picked you.”
He continued to look bemused. “Isn’t she living with that guy? I think she said he’s her boss.”
“Technically, yes,” Dana Sue conceded.
“What does that mean, ‘technically’? Either she is or she isn’t.”
“It’s sort of the way you were technically married to me when you went cruising around for someone else to sleep with,” she retorted. “Like I said, the relationship is over, even if he hasn’t moved out yet.”
“Okay, that’s it,” Ronnie said, rising predictably to the bait. “Let’s go.” He latched on to her arm and started half dragging her down the sidewalk.
She tried digging in her heels, but he was bigger and stronger and obviously more irritated. “What is wrong with you?” she asked. “Where are we going?”
“To my motel room,” he told her.
“I am not going to your motel room,” she said, horrified by the prospect of that news spreading around town by lunchtime.
“Do you really want to go back to the house and have this fight in front of Annie?”
“I don’t want to fight with you at all!”
“Well, when we’re finished fighting and
want to make up, I don’t think we should be doing that around Annie, either,” he said.
The heat that shot through Dana Sue had nothing to do with anger and everything to do with anticipation. That was more exasperating than anything else. Surely in two years she ought to have built up more of an immunity to this man.
“What makes you so sure we will make up?” she asked.
“Because it’s what we do,” he said dryly. “We fight. We make up. It’s a cycle, one we might want to consider breaking one of these days. But I’m willing to tackle that notion later, if you are.” His gaze challenged her. “Now, are you coming willingly, or do I have to throw you over my shoulder?”
She stared at him with shock. “You wouldn’t dare,” she began, then shook her head. “No, of course you would. Okay, I’m coming, but just to talk.”
“Right,” he said, his skepticism plain.
At the Serenity Inn, when Dana Sue would have stopped to chat with the owners, Ronnie’s hand in the middle of her back steered her straight past them and toward his room.
“That was rude,” she huffed.
“Did you really want to stand there and exchange small talk with them so they’ll have even more hot news to report when they go to Wharton’s for lunch?”
“Do you honestly think that rushing past them is going to stop that? Now they’ll just tell everyone that we were so anxious to get to your room, we barely said hello. I’m sure folks will draw their own conclusions about that.”
“Let them,” Ronnie said tersely as he pushed open the door to his room. “Since you’re so convinced that Mary Vaughn is after me, maybe the news of our reunion will call a halt to any wild ideas she might be having.”
“You’re dreaming if you think that,” Dana Sue replied as she followed him inside. “It’ll just make you more of a challenge. Don’t you know her at all?”
He grinned. “Not half as well as I know you.”
She concentrated on surveying the room. To her surprise, it was reasonably tidy. There were no clothes strewn about, no towels left lying on the floor where he’d dropped them after his shower. The decor was a little flowery and feminine, which made Ronnie look all the more masculine by contrast.
Impulsively, Dana Sue sat on the edge of the bed, rather than in the room’s only chair. Since she had a hunch about how this was going to go, she might as well not have far to move.
“Okay, what did you want to talk about?” she asked, her hands folded primly in her lap.
Ronnie looked amazingly uncertain, now that he had her here. His eyes traveled over her slowly, darkening with passion during the journey.
“You want anything to drink?” he asked, his voice oddly choked. “There’s a vending machine just outside.”
She shook her head. “I’m good.”
“Candy? Chips?”
Now she knew he was nervous. Otherwise he would never be suggesting junk food. Ironically, she found that unfamiliar hint of uncertainty charming. Her annoyance began to fade.
“Maybe we should change the agenda,” she suggested.
His gaze narrowed warily. “Oh?”
“You could join me on the bed, instead of hovering by the door, and we could make love. Then we could talk later.” She shrugged. “You know, about whatever you had on your mind when you dragged me over here.”
He shook his head. “No, I am not getting anywhere near that bed until you hear what I have to say. I want to put that betrayal of mine to rest once and for all.”
She regarded him with regret. “That may not be possible.”
“Then maybe we don’t have a future, after all, Dana Sue,” he said, so flatly that it left her shaken. “I won’t go through the rest of our lives having you throw that in my face every time you get mad at me. I won’t have you going into a tail-spin and imagining the worst every single time some woman looks at me twice.”
“I know you’re right,” she said, feeling more scared than she’d been in years. Could they get this close to a reconciliation, only to blow it because of her stubborn inability to forget about the past? “I don’t know why I can’t just let it go.”
“I imagine it’s because I’ve never explained why it happened,” he suggested. “And that’s probably because I can’t. I’ve tried telling you this before, but I’ll do it again. There is no excuse, Dana Sue. I was drifting. I was looking for excitement without even realizing it. Something. I honestly can’t explain it. I loved you with all my heart. I loved our life. I adored Annie, but on that night, when that woman came on to me, I felt a spark of something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Maybe it was the danger, the risk of getting caught. I do know it had nothing to do with her and nothing to do with you. It was like she lit a match and touched it to something I didn’t even know was flammable. It was the first and only time I was even remotely tempted to be unfaithful.”
Dana Sue didn’t know what to say to any of that. None of it made her feel any better. “If you don’t know why that night was so different, how can you be sure it won’t happen again?”
“Because in the last two years I finally learned to value what we had, instead of taking it for granted,” he said candidly. “Practically from the day we met, I knew you were crazy about me. I guess I thought you’d forgive me anything. Or maybe I wanted to find out if you would.” He shrugged. “I just don’t know. I do know that I will never take a chance on ruining our relationship again. I want our life back, Dana Sue. I want you back.”
The sincerity behind his words was real. She believed that’s what he wanted, today, anyway. But what about tomorrow and the day after that? If what they’d had was so fantastic, and still he’d cheated, what would happen when they hit a bump in the road?
Life was all about taking risks, she reminded herself. She didn’t have to take a giant leap of faith, just one small risk today and another tomorrow, until the days added up to something she could trust. Maybe she could do that much. She’d told Dr. McDaniels she could less than an hour ago. Was she already willing to make a liar of herself?
She held out her hand. “Come here,” she said softly.
Ronnie stood where he was, regarding her worriedly. “Are we through talking?”
She smiled. Maybe he was no more of a risk-taker than she was, after all. “You’ll have to take a chance,” she told him, her hand still extended. “Come here and find out.”
The mattress sank down when he lowered himself beside her, careful to keep some space between them.
She lifted the hand he’d ignored to his cheek, felt the quick rise of heat, the tense tic of a muscle working in his jaw.
“If you don’t kiss me right now, Ronnie Sullivan, I think I’ll explode,” she said, her breath hitching.
“I’m afraid I’ll explode if I do, especially if you change your mind.”
“Not going to happen,” she said with certainty. Not today, anyway. She realized she couldn’t promise tomorrow yet any more than he could. And that was okay. Right now was all anyone really had.
“I love you,” she whispered.
His smile was tinged with relief. “I love you, too,” he said.
Then his mouth was on hers, his hands were sliding under her blouse, and the whole world went spinning.
Ronnie remembered now why Dana Sue was etched in his heart forever. No woman could possibly be more unselfish in bed, more passionate, more exuberant. Once she’d reached this point, she wasn’t holding back. She was as eager a participant as he was, her hands wandering, her mouth a wicked tease against his skin.
Now that they were here, still clothed, but tangled together in his bed, their bodies fitting together so perfectly it took his breath away, he couldn’t imagine why he’d ever sought out anything else. Not even the thrill of the unknown was any match for this.
Dana Sue seemed to hesitate when he reached for the buttons on her blouse. He lifted a brow. “Changing your mind?”
She shook her head, and this time he recognized that the color in her cheeks
was from embarrassment, not passion. It was her weight again. He could see it in her eyes, the faint fear that he wouldn’t like the body she had now.
His gaze locked with hers as he reached again for the top button on her blouse. This time he skimmed a finger along the bare skin at the base of her throat, felt her pulse jump. “One button?” he suggested.
“You never stop with just one,” she said, her breath a little ragged.
Ronnie grinned. “Then let me get on with this,” he said. “I love you, Dana Sue, every inch, every pound. If I wanted some skinny young thing, I’d be with her now, instead of here with you.”
Still, she brushed his hands away from her blouse. “I should never have let my weight get so out of control,” she said. “Especially when I know it’s not good for my health.”
Ronnie tucked a hand under her chin and forced her to face him. “If you’re not happy about the way you look, then you can do something to change it. I’ll stand behind you all the way. But don’t make it about me, darlin’. I love looking at you. I love touching you and watching you come apart. You were a sexy, desirable girl when I met you, you were a sexy, desirable woman when I married you, and nothing about that has changed in the past twenty years. Nothing!”
There was so much hope in her eyes as she listened to him, it broke Ronnie’s heart. “If you don’t believe what I’m saying, let me show you,” he pleaded.
At last she nodded, and this time when he slowly undid the buttons on her blouse and pushed the fabric aside, she shivered, but she didn’t try to stop him. Ronnie couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away. If anything, her body was lusher and more womanly than before. He traced the curves with his scarred and work-roughened fingers, feeling her skin burn beneath his touch. The faint scent of lavender filled his head, as familiar and intoxicating as the texture of her skin.
She was wearing an unadorned white bra, and her nipples were already hardened peaks beneath the material. He closed his mouth over one and heard her cry out in pleasure, then moan as he sampled the other one. She didn’t protest when he unhooked the front closure and removed the bra, then gave her full breasts more attention. There’d been a time when she could come just from that—from his mouth teasing and taunting her sensitive nipples. Even now, her hips bucked against the mattress.
A Slice of Heaven Page 28
