by Pamela Yaye
“Didn’t you hear my mother as we left tonight? She wants me to email her a photo of the ring as soon as I get one.”
“We can do that.”
“Adam, we’re not getting a ring.”
Teddy was working herself into a frenzy. She wished this episode was over. She wished she’d never agreed to this plan. Christmas couldn’t come fast enough for her.
Adam moved from the table to the sofa. He hugged her close. Teddy leaned against him, turning her face into his shoulder. His arms hugged her tighter. Teddy’s head was pounding. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, tried to let the events of the day float away as if they had the substance of dreams. But she knew they didn’t. They were as anchored to the earth as the Empire State Building.
“We can stick to the original plan,” Adam whispered above her head.
“We didn’t account for things well enough,” she said. Her voice was low and sleepy. “From the very beginning we didn’t have all the information we needed.”
“What was that?” Adam asked.
“Our mothers already knew each other.”
“They belong to the same sorority,” Adam said.
“It’s more than that.” Teddy pulled back, out of his embrace. She slipped her feet out of her five-inch heels and tucked them up on the sofa. Hugging her knees she looked at him. God, he was gorgeous. “Things got too complicated. It seemed like a simple plan. That was the problem. It was too simple. We didn’t think about the after.”
“After?” Adam questioned.
“After we broke up. After we told our parents that we were no longer a couple. We didn’t consider their feelings. Who knew the families would get together, that they would bond so quickly or at all. After ten minutes it was like they’d known and liked each other since childhood. But now, when we part...” She stopped, not wanting to think about that, but also not wanting Adam to know the kind of effect he had on her. “When we part, it’s going to cause a rift.”
“I can’t dispute that.” He paused, then stared at Teddy for so long she felt scrutinized, felt he was trying to commit everything about her to memory. Maybe he was thinking of the time when they wouldn’t be constantly together. Teddy admitted she enjoyed being with him. Thinking of not seeing him again was like cutting off her arm. Hugging her knees tighter, Teddy made sure her arm was still intact.
“I have another plan,” Adam said.
Teddy tensed. She looked at him with hard eyes. “Need I remind you that the first plan was your idea? Look where that’s gotten us.”
“It has you sitting in my living room with your shoes off and your feet up, looking every bit the confident woman you are. We’ll get through this,” he continued. “I promise.”
Teddy hoped he could keep that promise. Skepticism must have been on her face, because Adam renewed his promise.
“Come here,” he said.
She lowered her feet to the floor and went into his open arms. Teddy felt safe there. She felt as if he could make everything all right. That he could keep his promise.
“What will your parents think if you don’t come home tonight?”
Teddy sat up straight. “Oh,” she said, her hand going to her breasts. “I never asked if I could spend the night. I don’t want to presume.”
Adam stopped her. “You can spend the night.”
“I’m sure my parents will be okay with this. They might even expect it. After all, we were engaged tonight.”
“That’s very progressive of them.”
Teddy laughed against his chest.
“What?” he asked.
“It’s not that they’re progressive. You’re the one who’s old-fashioned.”
“I am not.” After a second, he added, “Why would you think that?”
“My parents lived together for three years before they got married. I’m sure in that time, they had sex and slept in the same bed.”
“Ah, but did their parents know?”
She smiled. “I don’t think they ever actually walked in on them, but pre–cell phones and pre-email and pre–caller ID, I’m sure one of them answered the phone when the other parent called. And barring all that, Thanksgiving dinner would be a clear giveaway when family comes to stay and finds toothbrushes, shoes and clothes hanging in the closet that don’t belong to their child.”
“We don’t have any of that,” he said.
She looked up at him. “No,” she said, her voice conveying her feelings. “We don’t.”
Adam bent down and kissed her. Teddy should be used to him touching her tenderly. She should also be used to knowing that he could unleash an animal so ferocious it devastated her. That’s what he was doing now. His mouth changed. His lips tantalized, promised, worked magic on her. Teddy could feel the prickly electricity that accompanied his touch.
His hands moved over her, skimming over her arms and finding the zipper at the back of her dress. He didn’t immediately pull it down. His hands played over the fabric as his mouth sought and found the skin of her neck. Teddy gasped at the sensation that pulsed through her at his touch.
Her inner body responded, becoming aroused by the movement of his hands. They captured her curves, running down her body as if it was his and he needed to learn each indentation, every soft contour of the skin that covered her. Skin that was burning with anticipation. Fire burst inside her.
Teddy grew bold. Her hands touched Adam. He was covered. His shirt long-sleeved. His pants over long legs. Teddy began a crusade to remove them. Reaching for the first button, she slid it through its hole. One by one, she released them, freeing the shirt and exposing his chest. Her hands went inside it finger by finger. Skimming them over the skin, she felt the moisture the building heat was rendering. Bowing her head, Teddy pressed her lips to his nipple. It was hot, searing hot. Her tongue came out and she tasted him. He groaned, both holding her and pushing her back. Then, in an immeasurable amount of time, Adam’s hands caught her head and pulled her mouth to his.
His tongue slipped inside, joining her, mating with her, sweeping deep into her mouth and holding her until breath demanded they part.
“I need you,” he said, his voice so deep Teddy could only understand it because she had entered the same private world where the language was known by only the two of them.
“I know,” she said. “I need you, too.”
Pinning her to the sofa, Adam stretched out over her. His body moved over her, working her dress up to her knees and then higher. His mouth devoured hers. Hands raked her sides, slid down her breasts. His mouth moved to her neck and her shoulders. The clothes were too much of a barrier. Teddy needed to, had to, get rid of them.
“Now,” she said.
Adam reached under her dress and removed her stockings and panties. In a flash of speed, he stood, pulling her up. Her zipper was dispensed with, and her dress dropped to the floor. Teddy pushed the shirt over his shoulders and down his arms. It fell away. In the half light, she looked at his form. Her hands sculpted him, created him. First bones, then muscle, sinew, skin. Pouring on the color of dark brandy, she painted his arms, his shoulders, his belly. She angled into his tight waist and followed over the curves of his hips and butt until she reached his strong legs and feet. Then she circled his erection. Not an inch of his frame had been left to chance. She caressed him, covered all of him.
His body was hard and ready. She ran her hands over him, feeling the throb of blood that rushed to her hands. His hands tightened on her, squeezed her back as desire stormed through him. His mouth opened and his hands moved like speed demons over her flesh. The heat generated called for second-degree burns.
Together they fell from the sofa to the soft carpet. Adam pushed the coffee table aside and quickly they removed the last of their clothing. Like the opposite poles of a magnet, they snapped-moved together
, returning to the positions they had before. Adam pulled a condom from his pants pocket and quickly covered himself. Then he reached for her. His massive body covered her as his erection penetrated her.
“Sweet,” Teddy moaned, holding the word for an interminable amount of time. It was the sweetest feeling, the entry point. The center of her being and Adam had found it. He pushed into her until there was no more of him to give. Then he started the race. It was slow and easy, belying the pulsating rapture that it created. Blood raced through her at a pace equal to the sensations rioting within her.
Linking her fingers to his, Adam stretched them over her head. He dragged her upward, pulling her with him as they reached the limit of their horizontal height. He thrust into her, hard and fast. Like a drum, the rhythmic sound of percussion set them off. Teddy heard it in her head. Connecting with the beat, she worked with it, allowed it to lead her, fill her. She worked with the sound, keeping time with it. As the sound roared and the tempo increased, she exerted a greater effort. It was faster and faster, as if some insane drummer was setting the pace. Inside her the world was erupting. Bright rivers of passion pushed her on, egged her forward and upward, taking her to heights previously unreachable.
Hunger led her, forced her to go one more round, then another until she was unable to stop the shattering rhythm they’d set. Teddy thrashed and writhed under Adam, her body working at a demonic pace. Sounds ripped from her as she grunted with each fierce shock wave that seduced her body. The beast was within her, taking over. It was huge, hungry, with an undeniable need. It wanted more. It wanted it all. She wanted it all.
The explosion came. Her voice joined Adam’s in an all-consuming cry of release. They collapsed on each other. The sound of ragged breath filled the room. Neither tried to be quiet. They needed air and each dragged it into their lungs as if they’d been on a planet without oxygen and had quickly returned to the earth.
Adam still lay on Teddy. Both were soaking wet. Both were still trying to get their breath to return to normal. Teddy felt the coolness of the room’s air. The fiery equator of heat was subsiding. Adam shifted off her, a low groan escaping him.
“Each time,” he began, needing to take a breath between each syllable, “each time we’re together, I don’t think it can get any better. And then it does.”
Chapter 8
Adam now had clothes at Teddy’s house. She couldn’t leave his house wearing the dress she’d had on for Thanksgiving. She wore a pair of his shorts and a T-shirt with Invest Now written across the front. Teddy didn’t know what time her family got in, but when she quietly opened the door just after sunrise, the house was still quiet.
She went to her room and quickly changed into jeans and a sweater. After her morning ritual of brushing her teeth and cleaning her face, she made sense of her hair and went to the kitchen to begin breakfast. No one showed up for another hour. Teddy was on her second cup of coffee by then and knew today would be at least a three—if not four—cup day.
“You’re up early,” her father said, coming into the kitchen.”
“Breakfast?” she asked.
“That bacon sure smells good,” he said.
“You can have one slice,” Teddy told him. “Mom said so.”
“I guess she’s been giving orders already.”
“You know Mom,” Teddy teased.
Teddy made breakfast and one by one her family showed up.
“Did you enjoy the party yesterday?” her father asked. He was right in the middle of things, but pretended like the party was news to him.
“I had a wonderful time,” Sienna said.
“Planning to see Galen again?” Teddy asked. She was teasing her sister, hoping they wouldn’t get into any discussion about Adam and her. And the wicked engagement blunder that had set off a hailstorm of fear within her.
“Not sure,” Sienna said. “But I’m sure Mother will let you know.”
Conversation at the table reviewed the uneventful events of Thanksgiving. But then Gemma Granville came to the table and the dynamics changed.
“I’ll fix you a plate,” Teddy told her mom.
“It’s all right, I can get it.”
The room was full of happy voices. Teddy’s mom took a place and made her own breakfast. They sat around the table for nearly an hour.
“I have to go or I’m going to miss my plane,” Sienna said.
Traveling activity filled the house with each of her siblings getting their suitcases and travel bags.
“What time is your flight?” Teddy asked Sienna.
“I have a ride,” she said.
“With who?” Teddy asked.
Sienna only smiled. “He’ll be here soon and I need to go put my makeup on.”
Sienna didn’t need any makeup and rarely wore much. Teddy was in no doubt that Galen would be arriving to pick her up.
As it turned out, Teddy didn’t have to take anyone to the airport or train station. Apparently, they’d all made arrangements for themselves. She waved goodbye and hugged her sisters and brother as they climbed into a car that Galen Sullivan was driving and headed to the airport.
Forty minutes later, her parents were climbing into their SUV for the trip home.
“Mom, did I hear you say the painting was wrong?”
Gemma Granville nodded. “You didn’t look at it?”
“When he brought it out, it was already packaged and ready to go. Not that I would know it wasn’t the right one anyway. You never told me what it was a picture of.”
“I’m sorry, but don’t worry about it. I’ve made arrangements to go to the city and do some Christmas shopping. I’ll return it and get the right one.”
Teddy thought she was going to get away without a discussion related to the engagement, but she should have realized that was a fool’s logic.
“Have you and Adam thought about a wedding date?” her mother asked from her seat in the SUV.
“We only got engaged less than twelve hours ago.”
“June is a good month,” her mother said as if Teddy had given her a date.
“You realize it takes a year to plan a wedding. June is an extremely popular month. We could be talking about a year from June.”
“You’re in the business, Teddy. I’m sure you won’t have to wait that long. Call in some favors.” Her mother waved away her argument as if it meant nothing. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll come up in a couple of weeks and we’ll begin planning it.”
“Mom, I have four weddings this month. I won’t have time for another one. Why don’t we make it after Christmas?”
Teddy knew the entire business would be over before any planning was necessary.
Her mother looked as if she was thinking this over. “I suppose that would be better,” she agreed. “I’ll just book the church and the reception. Think I can do that with a couple of phone calls.”
“Don’t, please.” There was pleading in Teddy’s voice. “Adam and I need to discuss it first. Then I promise, we’ll give you a date and you can go crazy with details.”
That seemed to placate her. Her smile was huge. She reached through the window and gave Teddy a tight hug.
“Bye, dear.”
“Bye.” Teddy waved to her father and he backed down the driveway.
She should be angry with Adam for putting her in this predicament, but she couldn’t. She remembered last night. And if an engagement could result in that, they should get engaged more often.
* * *
Teddy loved her family, but she was so glad to see them go. Her mother and sisters extracted a promise from her to send them photos of the engagement ring as soon as she got it.
By Monday, Teddy had spent two days washing sheets, towels, clearing away dishes and restoring her home to the place where she lived. The cit
y was in full shopping mode. Roads were constantly clogged with drivers in pursuit of Christmas bargains. Getting anywhere on time was purely coincidental.
It was also a busy time for Weddings by Diana. Teddy had four weddings in December. And there was the annual winter fashion show that the office sponsored. In the beginning, she and Diana established two shows a year to bring in business. The two had morphed into huge events with SRO attendance and sales to match.
The van was packed and ready for her and Diana. Renee and several other associates left yesterday to get everything set up and ready. Only two people would remain in the office and Teddy should also be gone, but she was still in her office going over the final details, searching for a particular veil that Renee had called and asked her to bring.
“Have we got everything?” Diana asked, coming in. She was holding a dress bag needed for the fashion show.
“I thought everything was in the van.” Teddy indicated the bag.
“This is a surprise,” Diana said. Then noticing Teddy fumbling through things, she asked, “What are you looking for?”
“The clover veil.” Teddy pulled a drawer opened and shuffled the contents aside. Then she closed it and looked in another drawer. It wasn’t there, either. Leaving her office, she went to search Renee’s. She found the veil in the third drawer, already in a box with a label on it. She returned to her office.
“The keys,” she said to herself. “Where did I put the keys?”
“I’ll drive,” Diana said, lifting them from beneath a pile of fabric samples. “You appear to be in no condition.”
Teddy wasn’t. She didn’t argue with her partner. “I’m sorry. I just have a lot of details on my mind.” She knew Diana had seen her stressed before, but not this stressed. It wasn’t the work. It was Adam and their engagement. How could she go and fall in love with him? How could she fake the engagement?
The two headed outside and climbed into the SUV bearing the logo for Weddings by Diana. Diana put the vehicle in gear and drove out of the driveway. The fashion show was taking place in New Brunswick, less than an hour away if traffic didn’t slow them down. Neither woman said a word until Diana pulled onto Route 27 and headed north. At this hour the interstates would take a long time to reach and be packed when they got to them.
