Sleeping Arrangements (Silhouette Desire)

by Amy Jo Cousins

  “Thank you for thinking of her,” she said, her voice low.

  When her mother met them at the door alone, Addy understood that her siblings had been instructed not to rush in, and was grateful. She handed the flowers blindly back to Spencer and stepped into her mother’s embrace, was pulled close and held tight. For a few moments, she rested her head on that strong shoulder until she felt herself edging too near the boundary she’d drawn between herself and tears outside the courthouse the morning before.

  She stood up straight and forced a smile. Her mother’s eyes told her she was fooling no one, but Susannah smiled at her, cupped her daughter’s chin in her hands and pressed a kiss to her mouth.

  “All will be well, child of mine,” she said and patted her on the cheek before turning to the man waiting at their side. “Spencer, my dear, welcome to the family.”

  “Thank you, Susannah,” he answered gravely and extended the bouquet, which was ignored for the moment in favor of giving him a hug.

  Addy’s protest spilled out of her mouth without thought.

  “He’s only a part of this family for the next six months. This is just a business arrangement.”

  By the looks on their faces, she knew she’d insulted the one and disappointed the other. Her mother’s stern voice broke in before Spencer could speak.

  “Your ‘arrangement’—” Addy could hear the quotation marks around the word “—with Spencer may end in six months, but we will always welcome him in our family.” Her mother turned to Spencer again. “And not only because of the lengths he’s gone to in order to help you.”

  Watching her mother link an arm through her new husband’s, Addy decided that the wiser course was to shut up and follow them into the living room. After all, did she really want to protest that being married to her for the next six months would be enjoyable?

  Besides, the scent of her mother’s jambalaya, a family favorite, was rich in the air, and a sudden rumble in her stomach reminded her that, other than a bag of potato chips, she’d hardly eaten in the last twenty-four hours. Maybe they could get the congratulations over quickly and settle down to some nice, polite chitchat over dinner.

  She’d apparently forgotten that this was her family she was talking about.

  The moment they stepped into the living room, Maxie bounced up off the couch, where she’d clearly been forcibly restrained by Sarah, and rushed over to them.

  “Congratulations! We’ve been waiting for you for simply ages,” she squealed as she ran over and spun in a whirlwind of hugs and kisses from Spencer to her sister and then back again. She grabbed Spencer’s arms and held them out. “God, you’re such a fox. When can I come and see your guys’ house?”

  “The house belongs to Addy, and anytime,” he answered, without at blink at the flower-strewn hat and Southern-belle dress Maxie wore. “Nice outfit, by the way.”

  “It’s too much, I know. But it seemed like such a brides-maidy kind of day. I mean, how often do you have an excuse to wear a hat with flowers on it?”

  “Not often, I would imagine,” he said, and kissed her on the cheek as she hugged him again.

  Sarah meanwhile had come quietly up to her sister and hugged her without saying a word. Addy knew her arms were tight around her sister’s thin shoulders. She whispered into Sarah’s ear.

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t worry,” Sarah said quietly back, echoing their mother’s words. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

  “You’d better be right about that.” She gave her sister one last squeeze and stepped back. Taller than the rest of the family, her brother stood behind Sarah, waiting his turn with grave eyes. As Sarah turned to offer her congratulations to Spencer, her brother placed his hands on Addy’s shoulders, bent over and kissed her solemnly on the forehead.

  “Here’s to going after what you’ve always wanted,” he said, and she knew he wasn’t speaking of her hasty marriage to a man she’d known for mere weeks. Then he threw his arms around her and wrapped her in a bear hug that had her on the verge of tears again.

  “If you make me cry, Christopher Robin…” she started to warn him before his big hand clapped over her mouth to shut her up and he shot a look at Spencer, who was two feet away and still talking to Sarah and Maxie.

  “Jeez, sis,” he muttered. “You may have brought him into the family, and Mom blessed it, but he doesn’t have to be let in on everything, does he?”

  “Don’t worry, bro. Your secret’s safe with me.” She reached up a hand and ruffled his hair. He smacked it away, scowling, and put back on his stern look as he faced Spencer. Addy didn’t think she’d ever loved her brother so much as when she watched him turn into “the man of the family” with her new husband.

  “Reed. Thanks for marrying my sister.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The two men shook hands with the firm grasps and serious faces that showed respect for one another while withholding final judgement.

  “As long as you remember that just because you’re married to her doesn’t entitle you to anything more. You’re helping her out and we appreciate it, but that doesn’t mean you automatically get to sleep with her.”

  Addy smacked a hand over her eyes and groaned out loud. A furious blush raced hotly over her as she listened to her brother carry his role too far. Eyes still shut, she heard Spencer’s response.

  “I understand. I’d have the same concerns if I were in your place. But I’m sure you know as well as I do that your sister can take care of herself.”

  She opened her eyes in relief at his calm answer.

  “When she decides to sleep with me, it will be because she’s made the choice to do so.”

  She didn’t know whether to blind herself or gag the both of them. She yanked Spencer’s arm away from where it was still held in her brother’s handshake and dragged him out of the room, limping painfully.

  “Will you please not encourage him to discuss my sex life in public! Or in private, for that matter! You two aren’t to be discussing my sex life at all,” she commanded, lowering her voice from a near shout as she realized that her family was no doubt listening to every word she said. Spencer simply grinned at her.

  “You can’t blame a brother for worrying about his sister,” he began, until she gave him a push that backed him up against a wall. She saw his head bang into the corner of a picture frame, and hoped it stung.

  “And don’t think I didn’t hear you. ‘When she decides to sleep with me’!” She poked him in the chest with a stiff finger. “You can get one thing through your thick head right now, mister,” she began.

  A swift yank had her stumbling off balance from one foot and into his arms. His hands plunged into her hair and his mouth covered hers before she had a chance to protest. And she would have. She knew it. It was just that he tasted so good and his fingers flexing against her scalp made her wish he’d tug on her hair until her head tilted back so he could run a line of kisses straight down her neck. She gave in just for a moment and dove into the kiss, her mouth opening under his, her arms shifting from pushing to pulling him closer. She was dimly aware that she’d been waiting for this kiss from the second they’d signed their marriage license.

  After a minute, Spencer lifted his head, bent back for one last nipping kiss at her bottom lip and looked her straight in the eye.

  “You can lay down whatever rules you like, Addy, and I’ll respect them. But I’ve already told you—you can’t pretend you don’t want me. And I definitely want you.”

  “I can tell,” she muttered and looked away. She was plastered against him like white on rice, wasn’t she? She felt laughter shake him. He pulled a hand from her hair and nudged her chin back up to look at him.

  “We’re going to have to deal with this sooner or later.”

  “No, we’re not.” She’d argue that one until her last breath. A discreet cough from the entrance to the living room had her stepping abruptly away from him and straightening her hair. “And
we’re certainly not going to deal with it in my mother’s hallway,” she hissed.

  Turning, she grinned brightly at her assembled family, who had obviously missed nothing of the entire exchange. There was more than one raised eyebrow.

  “Right. Time for dinner, isn’t it?”

  When they answered her unspoken plea, she could have kissed them one and all.

  “Right, dinner.”

  “Hey, I’m starving. Where’s the food?”

  “What are we waiting for? Let’s eat.”

  She could even forgive her brother the dark look he shot at Spencer on his way past them to the dining room. Addy studied the floor and avoided Tyler’s gaze, sure that her brother had a few things to say to her, too. If she couldn’t explain her inability to stay away from Spencer to herself, she certainly wasn’t going to try and offer her brother a reason for her irrational behavior.

  The meal went better than she could have expected. Congratulations and friendly welcomes were offered again and toasted with a spicy red wine that held its own against her mother’s Cajun meal. They broke crusty sourdough bread together and mopped up smoky-flavored sauce with the pieces as they exchanged stories.

  Maxie had been cast in yet another play but was thinking of giving up her role to the understudy, since the costume designer had dropped out of school and run off to California with her skater boyfriend and Maxie had taken on that responsibility, also.

  Tyler was pretty sure his manager was skimming money off the nightly drop and asked for opinions about the wisdom of telling the owner of the bar where he worked, since Tyler was the newest hire.

  Sarah was researching internships but was concerned that the ones that most appealed to her were located in rural farming communities. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be so far from her family and friends.

  Addy’s mother told a funny story about catching one of the nurses on her staff in a supply closet with one of the doctors. The tale had everyone laughing, although it made Addy wonder what they’d be saying about her lip-lock with Spencer after they left. But she was grateful that an unspoken agreement kept everyone off the topic of her new marriage.

  Occasional questions were directed at Spencer. Friendly inquiries that he answered without any indication of feeling grilled by her family. Yes, construction was coming along nicely on his building, thank you. Everything should be done by summer’s end, right on schedule. His parents were out of the country at the moment, but he’d e-mailed them and they were eager to meet everyone as soon as they returned, the date for which was uncertain. As the meal progressed, it became clear to Addy that her family had had more interaction with Spencer in recent days than she’d imagined. Than she herself had had, it seemed. She was embarrassed to hear him answer questions that it hadn’t occurred to her to ask.

  More, she was distracted by the brush of Spencer’s elbow against hers and the way his thigh seemed to press against hers, even as she scooted to the far side of her chair. When he laid his hand on hers to get her attention before asking her to pass the bread, she wondered if anyone else could see the heat that flashed from his skin into hers.

  “The case is going well. No, thank you, I’m driving,” he said as Sarah asked with a tilt of the wine bottle if she could pour him another glass. “We should probably come to a settlement next week at the latest, which will be a relief to the Coleman family, I’m sure. They’ve been camping out at a relative’s home ever since the mold was found in the walls of their house.”

  “Good,” her mother said as she rose to begin clearing plates from the table. “I’ve been thinking about them ever since you mentioned it to me. Maxie and Christopher, will you clear the table? Sarah, we’ll serve coffee in the living room. I want to take a look at your ankle, Addy. You’ve been limping ever since you got here.”

  “It’s nothing,” she protested as all eyes turned toward her. Damn her incessant blushing. “I slipped on some ice.”

  Spencer paused in the act of stacking her plate on top of his and laughed out loud. “She means to say that she slipped while sprinting for the safety of the house after I trounced her in a snowball fight.”

  “I was looking for cover,” she lied with loud emphasis over her brother’s hooted derision, “from which to continue pelting you with my superior aiming ability. You were just hoping I was going to let up on you.”

  “We can rematch anytime, wife of mine.”

  “Oh, sure, challenge the girl with the sprained ankle.”

  “Now it’s a sprained ankle, is it?”

  “Hey, maybe it’ll slow me down enough to give you a fair chance.”

  Their eyes locked and she found herself grinning at him. She caught herself thinking that this was what she loved about him. The teasing, smart-aleck exchanges that reminded her so much of her banter with her family. Then she heard herself using the word love in reference to the man she’d just married for money, and slammed into the wall of confusion that seemed to surround her now. She dropped her gaze as the room emptied—her brother was giving Spencer tips on her weaknesses—and propped her head up in her hands on the dining room table.

  Would it never let up? This constant roller-coaster ride from laughter to irritation to moments of weepiness. She felt as if emotions were flashing out of her skin in lightning fashion, each one barely bursting into being before another overwhelmed it. She’d always had strong feelings, embracing the passionate highs and gentling herself through the occasional lows, but she’d never felt so out of control of herself before. It was as if every time she turned around she faced another Addy in the mirror, never the same woman twice.

  Her mother’s hand stroked her hair with a soft touch.

  “All will be well, I know,” Addy said. She looked up at her mother. “If only you could tell me how to make sure.”

  “There is no making sure, sweetheart. There’s only being kind to each other and trusting in that to get us through. Now let’s take a look at that ankle.”

  In the living room, ankle rewrapped securely with instructions to continue the occasional icing, Addy curled up on the couch next to Sarah. She turned down Maxie’s offer of coffee, not wanting to be kept up with her thoughts, and felt tiredness creep over her.

  It had been quite a weekend.

  She didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until someone shook her gently awake. She opened her eyes to see Spencer crouched next to her, his eyes on a level with hers where her head rested on the arm of the sofa. Her mind stumbled on the thought that the last time he’d woken her up kneeling next to her in a cozy room, he’d kissed her.

  “Hey, there, sleepy one.” He didn’t move as she reached out a sleep-slow hand to push a stray curl off his forehead. But his eyes gleamed. “Let’s get you home.”

  “Home. Right.” She sat up and yawned. Better not to ask herself where that particular tender gesture had come from. The room was empty except for the two of them.

  “They’re in the kitchen, packing up leftovers,” he said, answering her unasked question. “Your sisters have claimed the lot, I’m afraid.”

  “S’okay. Mom can always make more.” Her coat and things were on the couch next to her. She let him pull her up and steady her as she wobbled on one foot and bundled herself up. Told herself that she was just folllowing her mother’s instructions to be kind as she leaned on him and thanked him for helping her.

  “Anytime.” Surely it was okay for a husband to press a kiss to the top of his wife’s head. She smiled, guessing that she must still be half-asleep to be so mellow.

  Goodbyes were quick and filled with love and promises made to come visit her soon at her new residence. Her mother was the last at the door, tugging Spencer down to kiss him on the cheek and then repeating the gesture with her daughter.

  “Safe home,” she said.

  The warmth of the car was surprising, until she realized that Spencer must have gone outside earlier to warm it up for her. She shifted her shoulders until she could watch him unobtrusively, his prof
ile dimming and brightening in the glow of passing streetlights as they drove home. How did he manage it? She gave him little incentive to be nice to her and yet he found ways to be kind to her time after time.

  At a stoplight, he turned and looked at her and smiled for a moment before the light turned green. Turning back to the road, he accelerated.

  She would try to be kind, also, and trust in that.

  “Thank you.” The words didn’t seem to be enough, so she rested her hand lightly on his arm for a moment, wondering if perhaps she could communicate her gratitude by her touch. “For being so kind to my family.” Which wasn’t precisely all she meant, so she forced herself to finish. “To me.” She leaned her head back against the headrest, satisfied that she’d gotten it all out. Her eyes drifted shut in the quiet hiss of tires speeding through slush.

  “They’re easy to be kind to. I like them,” she heard him say as she slipped back into the sleep she’d found in her mother’s house and felt his hand reach over and take hers and squeeze gently. She meant to squeeze back but wasn’t sure her tired limbs obeyed her command. And she was sure she imagined it when she heard him say, “I like you, too.”

  She dozed on the edge of sleep, barely awake to mumble a protest when his hand slid from hers and everything grew quiet. A moment later, the door at her side opened and she felt herself being unbuckled from the seat belt and lifted from the seat with the ease a parent would use on a sleepy toddler. She curled up and tucked her head into the warmth of his neck, knowing there was some reason she should be walking but drowsily breathing in the vanilla-and-leather scent of him as he carried her carefully to their house.

  Only as she felt him mount the steps to the front door did she remember her protests of the day before. She stiffened for a moment as he fumbled with keys at the door until he hushed her.

  “Shh, go back to sleep. It’s not a big deal.”

  But it was. And she was wide awake as her husband of twenty-four hours pushed the door open and carried her over the threshold into their home.