by Ann, Natalie
“No, why?” he asked, mesmerized by the emotion in her eyes, emotion she very rarely showed outside the bedroom.
“Because she cared. She cared enough to spend a day with me, someone she had only recently met, and patiently shared with me her love for something.”
Lucas stared at her, watching the expression on her face go from shyness to longing and back to composure when she was done. He thought to himself that she was the most beautiful person in the world. And it bothered him more than he could say, how someone as smart as her missed so much in life.
The little things that he took for granted every day. Things like his parents wanting him to visit. Wanting him to spend the day with them, even if it was just helping out around the house. His family never took advantage of each other. They helped each other because they wanted to, because they enjoyed it, not out of obligation, but out of love.
He was starting to understand more and more about her. He didn’t always like what she told him. He didn’t like to think of that girl who was always trying to be someone that everyone expected and still never getting any approval for it. He was actually sad for her in that respect.
All the money in the world couldn’t buy her the one thing she seemed to have wanted the most. But he was going to try his best to give it to her now. And it wouldn’t cost him a thing.
***
“I think that is your phone ringing,” Lucas said almost an hour later.
Brooke jumped up, opened the screen door, and walked toward the living room where her phone was charging on the coffee table. A quick glance at the caller had her sighing. “Hello, Father.”
“Brooklyn, your mother tells me you haven’t been returning her calls,” Richard Malone stated in his deep, condescending voice.
“Sorry, I’ve been busy. She always seems to call when I’m in the middle of something,” Brooke tried to explain.
“Regardless, your birthday is coming up and your mother wishes for you to come home for the weekend. I expect you to make arrangements and be here no later than midmorning Saturday. We will have a small get together later that night. That should give you plenty of time to mingle and then return home on Sunday,” her father continued to direct her.
Brooke paced around the living room and breakfast room as she listened to her father, berating herself for avoiding her mother’s call. She knew it would come to this. It always did. When her mother didn’t get her way with her or Mac she resorted to sending their father after them.
Richard Malone was very rarely home, and when he was, everything was in perfect order. Her mother always seemed to manage it, and always kept her father happy. Somehow their relationship worked for them. Brooke just didn’t know how.
But anytime Brooke or Mac didn’t concur with her, or fall in line like her mother wanted, Paula would run to their father. Who, in order to keep his life happy, had to make sure his wife was also happy. And if that meant laying the law down to their children to make sure they did what was expected, then that was what he did.
“Yes. I will check my schedule and be there no later than midmorning on Saturday.”
“Very well, Brooklyn. You can make any arrangements with your mother then. I will be back in town late Friday night. I will see you on Saturday.”
And those were the last words she heard before her father had disconnected the call. Placing the phone on the coffee table, she walked back out to the deck where Lucas had remained. She settled into the lounge chair and exhaled a large breath. “I’ve been summoned home next weekend.”
She had been glancing out the glass windows as she moved from room to room but now realized that Lucas had been watching her movements throughout the short call. She had never paced like that around him before.
“Was it bad news? Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Everything is fine. Nothing more than the typical reason I hear from my father. My mother isn’t getting her way. So she runs to my father to fix it for her,” Brooke complained.
“And what is it that your father has to fix this time?”
“I haven’t been returning my mother’s calls,” she said, and then explained, “There was a reason I wasn’t returning them. My birthday is coming up, and I knew she was going to want to throw a party. Last year I was still recovering and she didn’t get to plan her usual dinner party, which I told you she excels at. Anyway, I’m expected to be there no later than Saturday morning for a dinner party, which hopefully isn’t too big.”
“I didn’t realize your birthday was coming up. You should have said something.” She didn’t respond. “Well, thankfully we don’t really have plans next weekend, so it’s easy enough for us to be there Saturday morning.”
She turned with a start. “You want to go?”
“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I? You’ve met my parents. Don’t you think I should meet yours?”
“My parents are nothing like yours. I’m not even sure they will be happy if I bring someone home with me. Frankly, and please don’t take this the wrong way, I haven’t mentioned your name to my mother.”
She hurried on when she saw the hurt in his eyes. “Please don’t take it that way,” she repeated again. “You don’t understand. I don’t want any more lectures right now from her. I’m not keeping you a secret. Obviously, Mac has been here a few times. But even Mac keeps the women he dates away from my parents.”
She got up from her chair and went to sit on his lap, something she had never done before—make a move toward him first. “I want you there, if you want to go. More importantly, I need you there, but I want you there too.” She tried joking with him now. “If you want to risk it.”
“I’ll be there, no worries,” he said, giving her waist a gentle squeeze.
“Thanks. I’m supposed to make arrangements with my mother, but I don’t have it in me to stay at their house. I doubt I can get a decent hotel on this short notice. Besides, Mac would never let me live it down if we didn’t stay with him. At least I can pacify her by staying with family, even if it’s not her.”
***
Early Friday morning, Brooke waited by Lucas’s Range Rover in the parking lot until she saw Cori pull up next to her. Climbing into Cori’s Mini Cooper was always a challenge. After pushing the seat back a little and fastening herself in, Brooke turned to Cori. “Thanks for meeting me here this morning and giving me a lift to work. I know it meant you had to get up earlier than normal.” Brooke had to raise her voice over the sound of the jet taking off in the background.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes while yawning widely, Cori replied grumpily, “Yeah, yeah. You owe me coffee at the very least.”
“You’ve got it. I really appreciate it. This saves me from trying to leave and get to the airport to pick Lucas up today. It’s better to leave his vehicle for him in case he is delayed or can catch an earlier flight, which he was trying to do.”
“So how has this week been without him?” Cori asked.
Baffled by the question, Brooke frowned. “Fine, why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. You two are pretty attached at the hip lately.” Cori grinned when Brooke drew her eyebrows up even further into a frown. “Come on, spending weekends together, dropping off and picking each other up at the airport. How many times a week do you have dinner together?”
“Usually once. We spend the weekends together because outside of work we really don’t spend more than one night together during the week. And this week not at all. I haven’t seen him since I dropped him at the airport on Monday morning.”
“Exactly, you haven’t seen him since Monday morning, not even at work. So that means no hand holding and sweet talk, no coffee grabs or quick hugs when no one is looking,” Cori mocked, with a sickly sweet voice.
“I don’t do any of those things,” Brooke said indignantly.
“Noooooo, Lucas does. But you’re on the receiving end of it all,” Cori said, stating the obvious. “Hence my question—how has this week been without him? Lonely?”
/> “Oh. It is all kind of sweet, isn’t it?” Brooke asked with a dreamy look in her eyes.
“I knew you were a closet romantic!” When Brooke started to blush, Cori laughed out loud.
A loud horn blaring had Brooke grabbing for the dashboard. “Do you mind? One accident was enough for me. I would like to make it to the hospital in one piece. To work that is, not in an ambulance. There are speed limits for a reason. And red lights,” Brooke screeched when Cori blew through one.
“That was yellow, not red,” Cori clarified.
“It turned red when we were under it, so that means it was red.”
“OK, Mom, I’ll slow down. Geez, first you get me up earlier than normal and now you are criticizing my driving. And you still haven’t answered my question.”
“What? About this week without Lucas? It was good. We talked every night. Do you want me to say I miss him? Yes, I do. Even when he’s trying to make me blush at work by doing all those things you mentioned earlier. But the truth is I miss it, and him. It’s a battle every day to keep it separate from work,” Brooke confessed.
Cori gave her a big grin, her head bopping to the music playing on the radio. “Why do you need to keep it separate? I don’t understand that.”
Brooke sighed. “I just do. It’s way too early to be making it public. It’s also not professional to bring your home life to work with you either.”
“What are you, the Morality Police? Let me guess. You put your grocery cart back in the designated bin when you’re done with it too, right?” Cori took her eyes off the road again, smirked at Brooke, and then stuck her tongue out when Brooke rolled her eyes.
“Of course. Don’t you? Or are you one of those people that let the cart bang into someone’s car?”
Cori shook her head. “Never mind. Sometimes there is no getting through to you. And here we are, so let’s go get my coffee.” Cori expertly swerved her car into the tiny parking space.
***
At three o’clock Brooke glanced up at the knock at her door.
“Hey, you,” Lucas said with a bright smile.
“Hi, yourself.” She smiled back, and then frowned when he shut her door and started to walk toward her. “What are you doing?”
“Giving you a proper hello,” he said as he pulled her out of her chair and into his arms for a bone-crushing hug.
“Lucas, we’re at work. Someone might come in,” she protested weakly.
“Don’t care. I haven’t seen you in five long days. I want to hold you for a minute. It’s all I’ve thought about on the flight home,” he confessed. Tilting her face up to his, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Did you miss me?”
She snuggled closer into his arms. “Yes, I did.”
He set her back down and looked his fill. He loved the way she dressed. Today was a short navy pencil skirt with a navy and orange silk blouse tucked into the waistband, finished off with navy blue heels. She even pulled her hair up into some complicated twist. “Wow, you look sexy. Did I ever tell you how much your work clothes turn me on?”
She laughed. “Many times.”
“I saw your bags in the Range Rover, so I know you are packed and ready for the weekend. Can you leave early? Let me take you to my house and slowly get you out of those clothes.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
He saw her hesitate, but then quickly concede. “Can you give me about thirty minutes to finish up what I’m doing?”
“Sure. I’ll run and grab a few things from my office too. I’m going to have to do some work this weekend. I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it. We won’t be spending the entire time with my parents. I wouldn’t want to subject you to that kind of torture.” She said it in a joking tone, but the laughter didn’t reach her eyes.
Birthday Wish
“I can’t believe you’ve never been to Burlington,” Brooke stated when they made their way over the Vermont border the next morning.
“Never had a reason. I’ve been to Vermont before, but never Burlington. That would be Ryan. He’s the skier in the family. So anywhere there are slopes within a three hour radius he is there any chance he can get,” Lucas explained. “Besides, I could say the same thing. I’m surprised you’ve never been to Saratoga.”
“Very true. But my mother was all about leaving the Northeast for vacation. Not exotic enough. And though Saratoga is popular in the summer with horse racing, it definitely wasn’t her cup of tea. Mary Lou Whitney or not.” She looked over and smiled at him.
“OK, so tell me—what should I expect this weekend? With your parents, I mean,” he asked starting a new conversation for the two-and-a-half-hour drive.
“Well, I’ve told you how my mother is. And you know a little bit about my father. I have asked that they keep the dinner party small tonight. I really hope my mother respected my wishes, but I’m afraid she might not have. Birthdays are a big deal to her. Anytime she can plan a dinner party, she goes all out.”
Brooke paused briefly. “Last year I was still in and out of the hospital recovering. She was really upset that she didn’t get to throw me a birthday dinner. Not that I would have been in the mood for one. But it’s all about presentation to her. As far back as I can remember I never had a birthday that I wanted, only what she thought I wanted.”
His eyes grew wide. “Really? Never?”
“Well, no. When I was a child I had tea parties and princess parties. All catered, of course, with hired entertainers and staff to make sure everything went smoothly. My mother and her friends and her friend’s children would all dress up in the theme and play the part. I guess there are plenty of little girls out there who would have loved a party like that. I just wasn’t one of them.” She shrugged and sighed, then stretched her legs out in front of her, crossed her ankles. “Don’t get me wrong. I know there are plenty of kids out there who don’t have any parties at all. I didn’t like to be the center of attention though.”
She hoped he didn’t think she had a sad childhood. She always felt it was sad, but didn’t want others to think so. Maybe he would understand her a bit more if he knew what it was like for her growing up. Though to be honest, she had told him plenty and it probably didn’t come off in a good light for her parents.
“So what was your birthday wish? What would have been your ideal birthday party?” he asked her, taking his eyes off the road and frowning at the concentration on her face.
“You mean when I was a kid?” At his nod she continued with a smile. “Something fun. I know this sounds crazy, but you know those big blow-up castles? I always wanted one of those for the day. I only wanted to run around the yard with my friends, play hide and seek, run under a sprinkler and jump in and out of one of those blow-up castles. Sounds silly I guess. And frivolous. But for one birthday, I would have loved nothing more than a simple party like that. No servers, no dresses or frilly streamers and balloons all over the yard. Just fun. A typical party for a kid.”
Not wanting to dwell on what could have been and start this trip off in a negative mood, she turned the topic back to him. “What about you? Did you always do what you wanted on your birthday? I bet you did. Your parents probably had all sorts of fun parties for you and Ryan.”
“Yeah. We always got what we wanted. Birthdays were our day. Our day for whatever we wanted, and they made sure we got it. Regardless of how big or small it might have been,” he said in a nostalgic tone.
“Your parents are pretty special people. You’re lucky. Don’t ever take it for granted.”
He reached across and squeezed her hand, his eyes looking into hers. “Yeah, I’m pretty lucky. And I don’t take it for granted.”
***
“Pull to the right of the garage door.” Brooke pointed to the space in Mac’s driveway. “That way we won’t be blocking Mac when he gets home.” Brooke had explained that Mac was on call for the day. But he had promised to get out as soon as he could, at least before the dinner party, barring any emergencies.
“I’ve got a key, so we can let ourselves in and get settled.” Pulling out her keychain, she walked to the front door while Lucas gathered their bags. The two-story modern townhouse overlooked Lake Champlain in the near distance.
“He has a nice view of the lake from here.” Lucas was looking out the back windows after he dropped the bags by the kitchen island.
“Yes, he has always loved the water. Which is why I think he was so taken with your house. But he isn’t around enough to care for a house. This suits his needs for the time being.” She walked over to grab the garment bag that Lucas had laid across one of the barstools in the kitchen. “There are three bedrooms upstairs. Let’s put our clothes away and then we can relax a bit before we have to change and go to my parents.”
Once in the bedroom, Lucas set the rest of the bags on the floor by the closet where Brooke had already hung up their dinner clothes. “Come here. You are all tense and worked up. I know just the thing to relax you,” he whispered in her ear as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, then started to back her up.
Her legs hit the side of the bed. Something feral came over her. For the first time, she decided she wanted to take charge. She had all this pent-up energy she needed released.
Running her hands through his close-cropped hair, loving the feel of the silky strands, she gripped his head tighter and deepened the kiss. Then she pushed her body tightly against his and knew he was as aroused as her.
She continued to kiss him deeply, grinding her hips against his, trying to get even closer, wanting to let go for once. His hands came up to grip her hips and held her there.
Breaking the kiss, she started to trail her lips along his cheek to his ear, licking it gently, then bit his lobe not so gently. She trailed more kisses down his neck and back up again. When she felt him shiver against her, she grew bolder and made a split second decision. “Me this time. I need to do this. Let me do this for you,” she whispered into his ear.
