The Bachelor Takes a Wife
Page 14
“So you took care of me. You brought in pans of water and clean towels…you must have sneaked into your house for them…and you kept bathing my face, and I kept heaving. It went on all afternoon and we were scared spitless of what would happen when we had to go in for dinner. But by then I was weak but able to walk into the house without giving anything away. I remember telling my folks some story about getting too much sun and losing my appetite over it. I recall receiving their sympathy instead of their wrath, which made me feel guilty, but not guilty enough to confess the truth.
“The point of all this is that you helped me through a killer hangover one time and tonight I wanted to help you, even though you’re so dead certain you didn’t need it. It was no big deal, Andy, so don’t turn it into one.”
“What we did as children cannot be compared to our behavior as adults.”
“Why not? We’re taller and maybe a little smarter, but we’re basically the same people. When one gets down to hard facts, the only real difference between a man and his childhood is the type of games he plays. I doubt that women are all that different.”
“You certainly have your own way of interpreting things. Speaking for myself, which you cannot do, there are few similarities in the person I am now to the child I was so many years ago.”
“There are more similarities than I can count. You really can’t see them? Or feel them?”
“I’m not overly pleased with every memory, as you seem to be. For one thing I was your shadow as a kid. I’m certainly not that now, nor would I ever be again.”
“Andy, you weren’t my shadow, you were my pal, my best friend, my buddy.”
“Until high school,” she said with an infusion of ice in her voice, for his transformation from best buddy to swaggering, conceited star jock in high school still smarted. “You turned into a complete jerk in high school.”
“Well, hormones do strange things to boys. Girls, too, I suspect. Anyhow, everything evened out in college, didn’t it?”
“To a point,” she grudgingly agreed.
“That point was the bedroom door, wasn’t it? Damn, I wanted you. I ached for you, every damned minute of every damned day. And you kept talking about your wedding night. I sure as hell hope Jerry O’Rourke appreciated your virginity, because you guarded it like something sacred. And maybe it was. Maybe you were right and I was wrong about that. It’s hard to know now. So much has happened since then. You got married, I got married…” Keith’s voice trailed off.
Then he spoke again. “But we’re not married to other people now, Andy,” he said softly. “And neither are we kids. Our connection is still strong, just as it was when we were kids, only it’s even better now because we both have more sense. I do, anyway.”
Her hands were under the table, in her lap, and she couldn’t stop herself from wringing them. It was the perfect opportunity to tell him that he was going to be a father, if she was ever going to do it. That was the problem. Was she going to stand firm on her decision to keep him in the dark?
“Andy,” he said quietly, “don’t you love me even a little bit?”
She’d been wondering just how personal he was going to get with this conversation but never could she have dreamed up a question like that.
“I…Keith…don’t ask me things…like that,” she stammered.
His gaze never lost its directness. “Why not?”
Andrea was sure her face was crimson, because it felt hot as a furnace. It angered her—she couldn’t let something like this, probably just another ploy to get her into bed, influence her decision about the baby—and she spoke harshly. “All right! I suppose some childish part of me will always…I can’t bring myself to use the word love, so I’ll say that because of our intertwined pasts, some part of me will probably always care for some part of you.”
“And that’s the best you can give me?” Keith sat back, shoved his hands into his pants pockets and stared across the table at her with a challenging, unblinking gaze. “I’ve been thinking of a lot more than that, you know.”
“No, I’m afraid I don’t know. What’s more, I don’t want to know.” Shaken, she got up for the coffeepot, which she brought back to the table, and refilled his cup. She’d intended to fill hers, as well, but more coffee suddenly didn’t sound so good.
Returning the pot to the coffeemaker, she was taken completely by surprise when she felt him standing right behind her. In the very next instant his arms moved around her and his face was in her hair.
“No, Keith,” she whispered shakily, but his hands were moving over her breasts, her waist and abdomen. He pressed his body against hers and continued to caress her through her robe. She told herself that she didn’t want this, but her heartbeat had gone wild and an intense craving in the pit of her stomach was torturing her. She felt the way she had that night in the park, all soft and boneless, and she could not stop herself from leaning against him.
“Andy…sweetheart,” he whispered raggedly. “If just touching each other makes us want so much, it has to mean something.”
“You…you’re not just touching me,” she gasped as his hand worked up the front of her robe. “Keith…we can’t keep doing things like this.” How could she maintain a charade about the child in her womb and keep on making love with its completely-in-the-dark father? She groaned.
“We can, damn it, we can!” Keith exclaimed.
“You’re just as…as leery of commitment as…I am.” She was on fire from the gentle but extremely knowledgeable stroking of his fingers between her legs.
“Maybe…I’m not sure anymore. Why do you think I left town? After we made love that night I needed to do some heavy-duty thinking.”
“And?” she whispered thickly while moving her feet farther apart to give him all the space he needed to keep on working his magic. She’d never been so overcome—not even in his SUV—from one rather simple caress from a man. “Did you figure out anything?” Had he? Oh, if he only said the right things right now she would crumple and tell him everything.
“No. A man can’t figure out those kinds of answers all by himself. I should have stayed in town and talked to you. Opened up with you and begged you to do the same with me.”
She moaned with intense pleasure and totally forgot the theme of their conversation.
“Feels good, huh? Andy, we’re almost like one person, don’t you realize that? We were the same way as kids, always together, playing together, getting into trouble together. You must remember at least as much of it as I do.”
“Don’t…don’t talk now,” she mumbled. She couldn’t stand there a moment longer, not even with him doing all the supporting. “Let’s take this…out of the kitchen.”
“Are you inviting me into your bed?” he whispered huskily.
“Don’t put it into words,” she groaned, afraid even to think, let alone talk. “I’m telling you that talking right now will stop…everything.”
He didn’t say another word. Instead, he released his hold on her, took her hand and hurried them both from the kitchen to her bedroom.
Kissing almost frantically, they began undressing each other. Tearing each other’s clothes off was a more accurate description of their haste and hunger. Finally down to bare skin they fell on the bed together, wrapped in each other’s arms. Andrea was so ready that she pleaded, “Do it now. Please, do it now.”
Keith became so excited by her passionate request that he plunged into her at once. “Andy…Andy,” he repeated gruffly as he almost roughly moved in and out of her.
She was in another world, the same one she’d touched on in his SUV, but tonight it was even more mind-boggling. She writhed freely beneath him, giving him everything, following his lead and rhythm, and she wanted it never to stop. This had to be…love.
No! she thought wildly and immediately buried the word beneath layers of sexual pleasure. Love was something else. This was physical sensation and love was…well, it wasn’t this.
Keith too wanted it to go o
Except right where she was, under him and moaning and whimpering from the pleasure he was giving her. In bed, making love, he was the stronger. At least for the time being. Who knew the next time they made love? Andrea might take the initiative. He didn’t doubt that she’d do anything she wanted to do.
There’s the key! He became even more excited because unearthing what Andrea really wanted was the key to any future they might have together. Riding her harder, faster, he brought them both to the brink. She cried out his name…“Keith…oh, Keith”…and he knew the moment had come. In seconds they went over the edge, in perfect harmony again, which completely amazed him.
Supporting himself on his forearms so he could look at her face he said softly, “Do you realize what a rare couple we really are?”
Eleven
“A…couple?” Andrea echoed hoarsely. Out of all the words he’d just said, couple registered with the most impact. She didn’t know to react to it. Could he actually be thinking of them as a couple? A committed couple?
She peered into his velvety dark eyes and realized that she hadn’t seen them looking this soft and shiny since…well, she couldn’t remember when. “Your eyes look like chocolate kisses,” she had teased as a child. And he’d teased back by calling her “blue-color-crayon eyes.” He’d even taken out the cobalt-blue crayon and shown her which one matched her eyes. She had giggled.
She didn’t feel like giggling now. She felt like a puddle of something soft and oozy. He’d done that to her. He was the only man who’d done that so well, and maybe she should tell him that.
“You’re looking awfully serious,” he said with a bit of a grin. “Does the idea of our being a couple scare you?”
Andrea recognized it as his teasing grin. She’d seen it often enough, after all, and it contained exactly the same amount of daring and fun that it had years ago. He wasn’t committed to anything but his own pleasure, same as he’d always been.
She wasn’t angry, just very, very hurt. She showed him nothing of her true feelings and smiled. “We’re a couple, all right,” she quipped. “A couple of nuts. Let me get up, please.” For humorous emphasis she slapped him on his arm.
With a broader grin he rolled onto the bed. “Don’t take your time,” he told her as she picked up her robe and hurried into the bathroom.
“Funny,” she dryly said over her shoulder. “You’re a funny guy.”
“And you’re my sweetheart,” he called out just as she was disappearing behind the closed bathroom door. Locking his hands behind his head, he lay uncovered and let the ceiling fan cool his feverish body. He was positive that he had never felt more contented or satisfied than he did at that moment.
Andrea took a quick shower and thought about his parting shot. She was the mother of his child, but she wasn’t his sweetheart. At least she didn’t feel that particular role.
But if she was so certain about that, why had she let him make love to her again? The first time had taken her by surprise, but today? No, today she’d been fully cognizant of the meaning behind his first touch. And now he was in her bed, waiting for her, probably with all sorts of erotic ideas whirling around in his head.
Trembling from so many emotions warring within her system, Andrea felt tears fill her eyes. This relationship had moved into emotionally dangerous territory. She had tried everything she knew to avoid this very thing, but Keith had kept coming, hot and strong. Then he ran away, then he came back, and then…? Well, who knew what Keith’s next move would be? How could she risk her baby’s future with such an on-again, off-again man for a father?
By the time she was ready to leave the bathroom she had decided her most sensible course was to treat Keith and everything going on between them as ordinary adult entertainment—and not tell him anything. If at all possible, she would keep it light and shoot for laughs. Yeah, you’re just a laugh a minute these days. The wry observation of the little voice in her head was somewhat discouraging, but it wasn’t as if she had a week to figure this out. Keith was here now, she had to put on a happy face and act as though going to bed with him was no big deal.
Bracing herself, she walked into the bedroom with a smile. It was phony as a three-dollar bill, but only she knew that.
“Hey, you’re dressed,” Keith exclaimed.
“Hey, you’re not! And I don’t think wearing a robe constitutes being dressed,” she retorted. “What’re you going to do, lie there naked all night in hope of more action? Forget that, sport. I’m totally done in. See you in the kitchen…or wherever.” She walked out with her own erratic but powerful heartbeat nearly choking her.
He was too much for a woman like her to deal with, she thought breathlessly. Lying naked on her bed like that, with every part of him in plain sight. No shame at all, no modesty at all.
In the kitchen she stuffed the half of her toast she hadn’t eaten before into her mouth. Her stomach was as shaky as her legs, and she hoped the small piece of toast would ease that particular ailment. The table was really a mess, she realized, with dirty dishes and newspaper strewn all over it.
But she couldn’t deal with that, either, and she left the kitchen and went to the den. Going to a window she looked outside at Keith’s SUV in her driveway, but her bad nerves wouldn’t permit her to dwell on that big masculine vehicle or the destruction of her reputation it had caused.
Finally she sat down and waited for Keith to show his face. She wasn’t at all comfortable because she couldn’t get past the seriousness of her situation and when Keith did appear she was going to have to act as though going to bed with him was no more than a bit of Saturday-night fun.
Fun.
Groaning quietly, Andrea put her head back. Her mind was swimming with thoughts, all of them disturbing. She was sitting in the same chair and wearing an agonized expression when Keith walked in. “Oh, here you are,” he said.
Startled, she drew a quick breath and composed herself. “I see you got dressed.”
“An easily reversed process, leave us not forget.” There was a devilish twinkle in his eyes, a true reflection of the joyful excitement he was feeling over the evening’s events.
His gist was so apparent that there was no way Andrea could misinterpret it. Remember to keep it light! her little voice reminded.
“I suppose we could always make a contest out of who could get undressed the quickest,” she drawled.
“I would win.”
“You still believe you’re the best, the fastest, the smartest, the absolute cat’s meow, don’t you?”
Keith chuckled. “The cat’s meow? I haven’t heard that in a long time.”
He sat on the end of the sofa closest to her chair and Andrea’s gaze moved from him to the opposite end of the sofa with its stack of photo albums. Her housekeeping, her almost obsessive penchant for having everything in the house clean, tidy and in its place, had obviously gone to hell the same as her moral standards had or else she would have put those albums away once she’d looked through them.
For some reason those albums being on the sofa instead of in the attic made her completely forget her vow to keep things light between her and this overbearing man. This distracting, conceited male who had grown up thinking he was the center of the universe. Why wouldn’t he intrude on her life? On anyone’s life, for that matter. When the entire universe revolved around you, you intruded on anything you wished without once thinking you could possibly be an intrusion. Oh, the gall of him, the bloody, damned gall!
She simply could not hold her tongue, and there was a caustic edge to her voice when she spoke. “I’m going to tell you something, Keith, which, given your massive ego, you won’t want to believe, but when we were kids I let you win our swimming and running races. I let you beat me at checkers, chess and games. I deliberately fumbled the ball when throwing it so that you would throw it a greater distance than me. And I constantly fed your ego with praise for how much better at everything you were.”
He looked first surprised then amused. “Now why would you manufacture a story like that? Anytime I beat you, it was fair and square.”
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Andy, I didn’t always beat you.”
“Only because I figured you’d catch on or even lose interest in our games if you won every time. I didn’t want you losing interest, because you were my best friend and my hero. There was no one to take your place, should you go off and leave me behind.” She paused briefly, then added, “Which is exactly what you did in high school.”
“Well, teenagers can be cruel.”
“Not all teenagers. You were a jerk, and if you had one honest cell in your body you’d admit it.”
Keith grinned. “Since you put it that way, what can I do but admit it? I was a jerk in high school. There, does that make you happy?”
“Don’t be absurd.”
“Andy, I’m trying to be agreeable. What would you like me to say?”
“Well, for one thing you could say that you knew I was letting you win most of the time.”
Keith couldn’t help laughing. “But I didn’t know, and I still don’t. You played your heart out, whether it was a game of checkers or tag. Besides we were really young when we played together. In middle school I was on the softball team and you weren’t. As I remember it, you joined the girl’s volleyball team.”
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