Never a dull moment in the Caroselli family.
But that had been more that thirteen years ago. His parents had been apart now for more years than they had been married, and had each wed and divorced again—in his dad’s case twice. Terri would think that any issues they’d had back then would be resolved by now. Yet she couldn’t deny worrying about what might happen if she was wrong.
“Everything will be perfect,” she told him, hoping she sounded convincing.
“I hope so,” Nick said. “I unpacked the last box of books and set up your computer system. I checked it and everything seems to be working correctly.”
He had insisted that they get her moved in before the wedding, so the impending task wouldn’t be in the back of their minds during their trip. She’d felt a little weird moving her things in before they were actually married. What if during their honeymoon something went terribly wrong? Sexually they seemed compatible enough, but suppose after four days in close quarters, they realized that they couldn’t stand living together? She would have to fly home and move all her stuff back to her place.
That isn’t going to happen, she told herself, but every now and then she thought about when they were roommates and doubt danced around the edge of her subconscious. There was also the question of sex. Not whether it would be good, but how often they would have it. Would they sleep together once, and hope she conceived, or the entire time she was ovulating? Would he be content to go an entire nine months without sex? The truth was that she liked sex. A lot. Even mediocre sex was better than none at all. And while she was perfectly capable of taking care of things herself, it was so much more fun to have a partner. But for her and Nick to have a full-blown affair would be a mistake. They had to keep this in perspective.
“Thanks for all your help today,” she said, tugging the case off the bed so she could roll it out to the foyer. It weighed a ton.
“Let me get that,” he said, taking it from her. He lifted it with little effort, then carried it to the entranceway and set it beside his own, which she noticed was half the size of hers and not nearly as stuffed. Maybe he really was expecting to spend the majority of their time naked.
This just kept getting better and better.
She looked over at the clock on the mantel, surprised to see that it was already after ten. “I should probably get home.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to sleep here?”
“In two hours it will be our wedding day, and it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride.”
He gazed at her with tired eyes and a wry grin. “You don’t really believe that.”
Not really, but she’d be damned if she was taking any chances. “I think we should stick to tradition. Just in case.”
He laughed. “And how is what we’re doing traditional?”
“How many couples our age do you think still wait until their wedding night to consummate their relationship? That’s a tradition.”
“But we’re only waiting because we have to. And I’d be happy to break that one right now.”
Oh, man, so would she. But as much as she wanted to get him naked and put her hands all over him, she wanted to get pregnant even more, which meant they had to do this by the book.
“Everything that I need for tomorrow is at my place. It’ll be easier if I stay there. But before I go, there is something I wanted to show you.”
His brows rose. “Is it your breasts, because I’d love to see them.”
She folded her arms and glared at him.
“That’s a no, I guess.”
“It’s something I picked up at the doctor’s office.”
He followed into her bedroom and sat down beside her on the bed. She grabbed a manila folder off the nightstand and pulled out printed sheets, handing them to Nick.
He read the first line and his brows rose. “Methods for conceiving a boy?”
“I mentioned to the doctor that we were hoping for a boy and he gave me this. He said it in no way guarantees a baby boy, but there are some parents who swear by it. I highlighted the important parts.”
The first couple pages were about ovulation and cervical conditions, and the differences in the mobility of the X and Y sperm.
“The male sperm are smaller and faster, but not as robust as their larger female counterparts,” he read, giving her a sideways glance. “While trying to conceive a male, deep penetration from your partner will deposit the sperm closer to the cervix giving the quicker moving ‘boy’ sperm a head start to fertilizing the egg first. In addition, female orgasm is important as the contractions which accompany orgasm help move the sperm up and into the cervix. It also makes the vaginal environment more alkaline, which is favorable for the boy sperm.” He turned to her, looking intrigued. “Deep penetration? How deep?”
“The next page has examples, actually.”
Nick turned to the next page, which contained several vividly graphic illustrations depicting the positions they should use for the deepest penetration. His brows rose and he said, “Wow.”
Along with a couple of tried-and-true positions, there were several that she was pretty sure only a contortionist could perform. And they had weird names like The Reverse Cowgirl and The Crab on its Back.
Nick narrowed his eyes, cocking his head to one side, then the other. “Huh, it looks like they’re playing Twister.”
“I admit some of them are a little…adventurous,” she said. And not terribly romantic, if that’s the mood they were going for. But they did look fun, and he had said himself that it should be fun. She liked to experiment and try new things, but maybe he was more conservative. Maybe his idea of fun was the missionary position. “They’re just examples. I understand if you don’t want to try them.”
He looked at her as if she were nuts. “Are you kidding? Of course I want to try them.”
Or maybe he wasn’t conservative.
He pointed to one of the illustrations. “I like this, but do you really think you can get your legs over your head like that?”
She grinned. “I’m very flexible.”
He cursed under his breath and handed the papers to her. “I think it would be best if I stopped looking at these. Because now I’m picturing you in all those positions.”
What a coincidence, because so was she. She slid the papers back into the folder.
“I have to say, I’m a bit surprised by how open you are about this,” he said.
“Why?”
“Over the years we’ve both made off-the-cuff comments about people we’ve dated, but we really never talked about our sex lives.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“In my case, I consider it disrespectful to kiss and tell.”
Good answer. While she was aware that he’d dated a lot of women, and assumed he’d slept with the majority of them, she really didn’t have a clue how many. And frankly didn’t want to know.
“In your case,” he said, “I figured you were uncomfortable talking about sex.”
“Repressed, you mean.”
“Just…private. Like it probably took you a while to get to know someone before you would be comfortable being intimate with them. But then the other night, you were so…”
“Slutty?”
He shot her a look. “Aggressive.”
“You don’t like aggressive women?”
“Do I honestly strike you as the type who wouldn’t like an aggressive woman?”
She wouldn’t have thought so. But his perception of her, and reality, were two very different things.
“First you propositioned me,” Nick said, “then you sat me down for a talk about sexual positions. And I’m not suggesting I don’t like it. I think it’s pretty obvious that I do. I’m just surprised. I thought I knew everything about you, but here’s this side of you that I didn’t even know existed.”
It was odd, after all these years, there was still a part of her that he didn’t know. But that was her own fault. “So you’re seeing me differently
than you did before?”
“A little, but in a good way. It makes me feel closer to you.”
What she liked about their friendship was that it had always been very straightforward. There were no overblown expectations, and none of the games men and women played when they were physically involved. She didn’t want that to change, though she couldn’t deny that the idea of someone knowing her that well scared her a little. Especially now that sex was about to be part of the equation.
Six
Though he never thought he would see the day, Nick was a married man.
Legally, anyway.
He gazed down at the polished platinum band on the ring finger of his left hand. It was a brand, a warning to women that he was now taken, a tourniquet placed there to cut off the lifeblood of his single life. And while he’d expected that to bother him on some level, to make him feel caged or smothered, he actually felt okay about it. Maybe because he knew it was only temporary, or he was looking forward to collecting ten million dollars.
Or maybe he was looking forward to the honeymoon.
He’d received a text message from Terri at 6:00 a.m. this morning that read simply: The eagle has landed.
Which he knew was her way of saying that she was ovulating, and right on time.
Aside from the occasional random and fleeting fantasy, he hadn’t really thought about her in a sexual way since high school. The past two weeks, he had barely thought of much else, and after their conversation last night, it was all he’d thought about. Since the ceremony, he’d kept one eye on their guests—who were drinking champagne and expensive scotch, snacking on bacon-wrapped sea scallops, artichoke phyllo tartlets and gorgonzola risotto croquettes—and the other eye on the clock.
He heard Terri laugh, and turned to see her by the bar with his cousins, Megan and Elana. He rarely saw her in anything but casual clothes, but for the occasion she wore a calf-length, off-white dress made of some silky-soft material that flowed with her body every time she moved. Her long, dark hair was up in one of those styles that looked salon-perfect, yet messy at the same time.
His sister Jessica stepped up beside him and propped her hand on his shoulder. In three-inch heels, she was still a good eight inches shorter. She had their father’s olive complexion and naturally curly hair, and took after their mother in height, but she had been struggling with her weight since she’d had her first of four babies. Right now she was on the heavy side, which usually meant she’d been stress eating, a pretty good indication that her marriage was once again on the rocks.
“She looks gorgeous,” Jess said.
“Yes, she does,” he agreed.
As if she sensed him watching, Terri looked over. She glanced up at the clock, then back at him and smiled, and he knew exactly what she was thinking. Soon they would be on their way to the airport, and after a five-hour flight, and a short limo ride, they would reach the resort.
It would be late by then, but he figured they could sleep on the flight, then spend the rest of the night making love in a variety of interesting ways.
“So, how does it feel?” Jess asked him.
“How does what feel?”
“To be a married man.”
He shrugged. “So far so good.”
“I never thought you would do it, but I’m glad you chose Terri.”
“Me, too,” he said. “And thank you again for everything. You and mom and Mags did an amazing job putting this all together.”
With a satisfied smile, she gazed around the room. The decorations were simple yet elegant, and included both the lilies and the roses—even though Terri still insisted that it had been excessively expensive. And in lieu of the typical wedding band or DJ, they’d hired a string quartet.
“Considering you only gave us two weeks to plan it, I think so, too,” she said.
“How are things with you and Eddie?”
Her smile slipped away. “Oh, you know, same ol’ same ol’. We have good days and bad days. The marriage counseling seems to be helping. When I can get him to go.”
Nick heard a screech, then Jessica’s seven-year-old twin boys, Tommy and Alex, tore through the room like two wild animals, bumping furniture and plowing into guests.
Jess rolled her eyes and mumbled a curse. “Excuse me, I’ve got children to beat.”
Nick knew that, physically, the worst she’d ever done was give them a quick love-tap to the back of the head, which was a long-running Caroselli family tradition. Only according to his father and his uncles, depending on what they’d done, and how angry they’d made Nonni Caroselli, hers were more like whacks, and were anything but loving. Nick still had a hard time picturing his Nonni as anything but sweet and gentle and unfailingly patient.
Terri crossed the room to where he stood, sliding her arm through his and hugging herself close to his side. He knew it was only for show, but he liked it. There was something nice about having the freedom to touch her, and be close to her, without having to worry that she would read into it, or take it the wrong way. She wouldn’t smother him, or demand more than he was willing to give. He would call it friends with benefits, but that seemed to cheapen it somehow. What he and Terri had transcended a typical friendship. They were soul mates, but the platonic kind.
“So, I just had an interesting conversation with your cousins,” she told him.
Uh-oh. “By interesting I take it you mean not good.”
“Well, no one is questioning the validity of our wedding.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Yes, but only because apparently your entire family thinks I’m pregnant.”
He sort of saw that one coming. “Did you tell them that you aren’t?”
“Of course. And the reply I got was, ‘Sure you aren’t,’ wink, wink, nudge, nudge.”
“Let them think what they want, in eight months or so, when you don’t give birth, they’ll know you were telling the truth. Besides, I’m betting not everyone thinks it.” His mom and sisters knew she wasn’t, as did Rob and Tony.
“The limo will be here soon,” she told him. “We should say our goodbyes so we can get upstairs and change.”
Nick heard his dad’s booming laugh, and turned to see that he and Nick’s mom were standing together by the bay window talking. He muttered a curse under his breath.
The last time they had been in the same room, face-to-face, the evening had ended with a 9-1-1 call. And though they seemed to be playing nice, that could change in the span of a heartbeat if tempers flared. At least neither had brought a date, since that was what had set them off last time.
“Brace yourself,” he told Terri. “I think there’s going to be trouble.”
* * *
“What’s wrong?” Terri asked, following his line of vision until she spotted his parents.
Oh, hell.
Up until just then, their wedding had been perfect. So perfect that when Nonno walked her into the great room, and she saw everyone standing there looking so genuinely happy and willing to unconditionally welcome her into the family on a permanent basis, she had never felt so loved and accepted. If she wasn’t careful, she could almost let herself believe it was real, that when Nick spoke his vows, he actually meant them. That when he promised to love and keep her, in sickness and in health, till death parted them, he was sincere. That the love in his eyes as he slipped the ring on her finger was genuine. If she never found Mr. Right, never married anyone for real, she still could say that she’d had the wedding of her dreams.
She didn’t want his parents to ruin it by starting a brawl.
Her first instinct was to shove Nick over there to run interference, but then she noticed that his parents were both…smiling. Okay, that was a little weird.
“Is it me, or do they look as if they’re actually getting along?” she said.
“Yeah, but for how long? All it will take is one snarky comment from either of them and the barbs will start flying.”
Call her selfish, but she hoped t
hey would wait until she and Nick left for the airport before they decided to duke it out.
“Do you think I should go over there?” he asked, but before she could answer, his uncle, Tony Senior, joined his parents, then looked over at Nick and Terri and winked. Clearly they weren’t the only ones concerned. And if anyone could keep hotheaded Leo Caroselli in line, it was his big brother.
“Thank you, Uncle Tony,” Nick muttered under his breath, looking relieved. “Let’s get the heck out of here. If there’s going to be an explosion, I don’t want to be around to see it.”
Neither did she.
They made the rounds to aunts, uncles, cousins and friends from work, most of whom Terri knew on a first-name basis.
When they got to Tony and Rob, who were standing by the bar, Nick shook their hands and said, “Thank you for coming today.”
“Yes, thank you,” Terri said. “It meant so much to us to have you here.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it,” Rob said, giving Terri a hug and a peck on the cheek. He smelled expensive, like scotch and cologne, and as always his suit was tailored to a perfect fit, his dark hair trimmed and neatly combed, and his nails buffed to a shine. She would bet her life that he probably got pedicures, too. He was so serious all the time, so…uptight. Even when they were kids, she had often wondered if he ever relaxed and had fun.
Tony was attractive in a dark, brooding sort of way, with his smoldering eyes and guarded smile. She’d never told Nick, but when they were in high school she’d had a short-lived crush on Tony. She was quite sure that, being six years her senior, he hadn’t even noticed she was alive. But now he kissed her cheek and said, “May you have a long and happy life together.”
“We plan to.” Terri smiled up at Nick and hugged herself close to his side, laying it on thick, since according to Nick, his cousins both had doubts the marriage was real.
“Think you can keep this guy in line?” Rob asked.
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