She couldn’t wait for their lips to meet.
And when they did—wow! The kiss was so good. Better than the last one, which had been spectacular.
“I have a huge crush on you,” she whispered when he let her go.
He gave her his sexiest smile. “So take me to Sunday dinner because you have a crush on me.” He leaned near and whispered in her ear, “Please.”
Oh, really. Why not? “All right.”
“Excellent.”
Two minutes later, she was standing on the step alone, watching him drive away. Her fingers strayed to her lips. They still tingled from kissing him.
In the cottage, she found Harper on the sofa in the living room altering a skirt they’d picked up at the thrift mall. She was watching Stumptown on the forty-two-inch flat-screen Daniel had given them last Christmas. When Hailey walked in, Harper pointed the remote and the screen went dark.
“Hey,” Hailey objected. “You don’t have to turn it off.”
“I’ll catch it later.” She tapped the remote on the cushion beside her. “Sit. Tell all.”
Hailey dropped to the sofa, kicked off her sandals and flopped back against the cushions. She stared up at the white beadboard ceiling. “I’ve just had the strangest, most wonderful evening.”
Harper made a low, thoughtful sound. “That’s good, right?”
“I’m not sure. Roman Marek says he’s going to marry me.”
“That Roman. He doesn’t fool around.”
“I told him I would be open to a fling—and I absolutely meant it.” Hailey rolled her head on the cushion to look at her sister.
Harper’s gaze was waiting. “You like him.”
“I do. But as for the fling, he says I have to wait for the wedding.”
“So then, his plan is to drive you mad with desire until you give in and agree to be his wife just so he’ll have sex with you?”
She laughed. “He’s kind of outrageous, but I like him. I do. He’s domineering and yet somehow vulnerable, you know? And funny and smart and definitely up-front about his intentions.”
Harper lowered her sewing into her lap and leaned her head back, too. The sisters stared at each other. Finally, Harper said, “You look good, Lee-Lee. Happy in that special way, the loved-up way. It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah, well. We’ll see how it goes.”
A tiny frown crinkled Harper’s smooth forehead. “Maybe take it slow, huh?”
“Good advice, thanks—however, I did agree he could come with me to Daniel’s for Sunday dinner.”
“Pushover.” Shaking her head, Harper sat up and bent to her sewing again.
Hailey was never a pushover. She ran the show—at the theater and in her life in general. She had it all under control.
At least, she had until Roman Marek came back to town.
* * *
Sunday right on time, Hailey answered the door to find Roman looking amazing and meet-the-family-ready in a cream-colored waffle-stitch sweater and tan pants. He’d brought Theo with him.
“Ba!” cried the little boy gleefully, grinning at her and drooling.
Roman explained, “Ma wanted to go to lunch with one of the women she used to clean house for back in the day. Somehow, she always ended up becoming best friends with every woman she ever worked for. I hope you don’t mind if Theo comes with us.”
Theo held out the plastic pretzel he’d been chewing on. “Oo-ba?” he asked, still beaming.
Hailey took the pretzel, not even caring that it was covered in drool. “So glad you could make it, Theo.”
“Ah-ga.” Theo grabbed for his pretzel back. Apparently, sharing was one thing, but she shouldn’t be greedy.
“Here you go.” She handed it over. Theo promptly stuck it in his mouth.
Roman was watching her, wearing a look that reminded her of the kisses they’d shared the other night. “Is Harper riding with us?” he asked, scoring thoughtfulness points in Hailey’s book.
“She had to drop by the theater, so she took her own car.”
For a moment, they just stood there, grinning at each other, until Theo crowed, “Da-Da!” and tried to get Roman to take a bite of his plastic pretzel.
Roman gently pushed his little hand away and they turned for a high-end silver SUV. “Where’s the sports car?”
He pulled open the back door and lowered Theo into his car seat. “I call this my Dad Car. I use it when I take Theo somewhere.”
“How many cars do you have?”
“I cut back when we left Vegas. Only three now.” He buckled Theo in. “This one, the Lambo and a six-wheeled Hennessey Raptor F-150 Super Crew pickup.”
“Only three, huh? You really need to give the theater to the community.”
He shut the back seat door and shepherded her around to the passenger door in front. Pulling it wide, he said, “Marry me and you can give the theater to the community.”
She sent him a patient look as she settled into the seat. Did she enjoy all this marriage talk way too much? She was so attracted to him, but really, she hardly knew him. To get married, you should be in love, and being in love took time.
Roman shut her door, crossed around in front of the vehicle and climbed in behind the wheel. She almost said something about marriage and love and how it wasn’t something to joke about—but then she let it go. She’d made her point and he’d come back with his. Enough said for now.
Too bad Roman just couldn’t leave it alone. “What?” he demanded. “No snarky comeback?”
She answered super sweetly. “I never get snarky about something as important as marriage.” From the back seat, Theo let out a string of nonsense syllables. “And see? Theo backs me up, a hundred percent.”
* * *
If anyone was surprised that Hailey had finally brought a guy to Sunday dinner, they didn’t let on. When she arrived with Roman and Theo, Connor and Matt and their wives were already there—Connor and his wife, Aly, had brought their four-month-old, Emelia. Liam, fourth-born of the siblings, arrived a few minutes later with his family.
After the meal, Roman handed Theo to Hailey. “I’ll be back.”
She shared a smile with Theo and asked Roman, “Where, exactly, are you going?”
“Daniel’s breaking out the good Scotch in his study. I’m invited—me, and your other brothers.”
When Daniel took people to his study and brought out the Scotch, that usually meant a serious talk was in the offing. About someone’s life choices, about life changes one of them planned to make. “You don’t have to go, you know.”
He looked at her so tenderly. “Relax. I can handle your brothers.”
She watched him walk away with the others and couldn’t stop herself from wondering if her brothers would gang up on him and quiz him about what might be happening between the two of them.
That would be kind of ridiculous. She was twenty-five years old, past the age where a girl’s brothers got overprotective when she showed up with a guy.
Wasn’t she?
Hailey sat on the family room sofa and settled Theo on her lap. “There. Isn’t this comfy?”
Theo gazed up at her, hazel eyes wide and a beautiful smile on his face as he waved a small plastic giraffe at her. He let out a string of happy, meaningless babble, seeming not the least concerned that his dad wasn’t in the room. Already, he seemed to have accepted her as someone he didn’t mind hanging with.
Really, for a little boy who’d lost his mother at the age of one month, he was so outgoing, so happy and trusting. Evidently, he got what he needed from Sasha—and Roman, too.
“Hi, Hailey.”
Hailey turned to find her brother Liam’s eight-year-old stepdaughter, Coco Killigan, standing at the other end of the leather sofa. The little girl had Riley, her half brother and Liam’s son, in her arms. Riley, li
ke Theo, was big for his age. The little girl seemed to be barely holding on to him. Hailey waved her closer. “Coco, come on and have a seat.”
Coco dropped to the cushion next to Hailey and plunked Riley in her lap. She was the cutest kid, with wildly curling dark hair and big blue eyes—and Coco was talented, too. She had parts in several sketches in the Fall Revue, including a brief solo in the finale.
“You know, Hailey,” Coco said in a voice so enthusiastic, it made Hailey want to hug her. “I think Riley and Theo are about the same age.”
“You’re right. Eleven months.”
The two little boys were already making conversation in a language all their own. Theo grunted. Riley let out a crowing sound and bounced on his sister’s lap.
Coco winced. “Sometimes he squishes me. He doesn’t mean it, though. He’s just a baby.” She bent close and kissed his plump cheek.
Across the big family room, Daniel’s three kids were building a Duplo structure under the supervision of Coco’s ten-year-old brother, Ben. Hailey suggested, “How ’bout we take these two over there?”
Coco considered the idea and then announced very seriously, “Riley and Theo are still kind of little for Duplos.”
“Yeah, but we’ll be there to supervise.”
Coco brightened. “And then Riley could be on the floor and stop smashing my legs when he bounces.”
“Exactly.”
So they carried the little ones over there. They sat cross-legged on the floor and chatted with Ben while keeping Riley and Theo from crawling off or snacking on Duplo blocks.
Eventually, Roman reappeared. He crouched next to Hailey. “How’re you holding up?”
She tried her best to ignore the thrill that skittered through her just at the sound of his voice and the sight of him, so large and manly, up close and personal. “We’re having a great time. Your son is a dream.” She leaned into him, getting even closer. He smelled wonderful, as usual. Like the ocean and fresh sheets—and good Scotch, too. “What went down in Daniel’s study?”
Roman gave her a one-shouldered shrug. “I had a drink with your brothers, and we caught up on the last decade and a half. Why?”
“Because I know Daniel. When he breaks out the Scotch, something serious and personal is always discussed.”
He guided a lock of hair back behind her ear. The fond gesture stirred something inside her—something a little painful. Something tender and real. “Picture it—four men, gathered in the study that once belonged to your father...”
“What are you getting at?”
“What are you getting at? There was Scotch. We caught up. Last time I got together with any one of them, we were in high school.”
“Hmm.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “But is catching up serious enough for the good Scotch? I don’t think so. I think there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“Good Scotch can be served when there’s reminiscing, too.”
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“Let it go.” His voice was rough velvet. And he was watching her so closely, his gaze tracking from her eyes to her mouth and back to her eyes again. She imagined him leaning a fraction closer and claiming her lips in a scorching-hot kiss. Even surrounded by all these impressionable kids, she couldn’t help wishing he would make that move.
“Da-Da!” Theo broke the spell as he glanced up from crashing a plastic dump truck into an abandoned Duplo hut and spotted his dad. He plopped back to his butt and held out his arms.
Roman rose, scooped him up and sat down on the floor next to Hailey. “So, what are we building?”
She debated the pluses and minuses of keeping after him about what had gone down in the study.
But hey. If he didn’t want to tell her, he wouldn’t. She let it go and answered his question instead. “Jake, Frannie and Marie are building a Duplo castle,” Hailey explained, tipping her head at Daniel’s three children. “Ben is supervising.” She nodded at Coco’s brother on the other side of the in-progress plastic structure. “Coco and I are observing the construction and keeping an eye on Theo and Riley.”
Riley, who had pulled himself to his feet using an armchair for support, took a few wobbly steps and then crumpled to the floor again. Undeterred, he got right back up on his hands and knees, crawled toward Roman and Theo—and wriggled into Roman’s lap. Theo thought that was funny and chortled out a goofy laugh. Roman simply readjusted his position to make room for both boys.
Hailey found the moment way too adorable. And sexy.
The man was just too sexy. And she was so ready for the fling she’d offered him.
Three years without a guy in her bed. And until recently, she’d had zero urge to get intimate with anyone.
And now there was Roman, who was all man in the best and most exasperating ways. He’d teased her that she would have to marry him first.
But that was just teasing.
Wasn’t it?
* * *
It was after seven when they left the house on Rhinehart Hill. Theo conked out the moment Roman buckled him into his car seat.
When Roman slid behind the wheel, he turned those silvery eyes on her. “Come to my place, just for an hour or two. Ma will take Theo. We’ll have a little time alone.”
“I’m in,” she replied with zero hesitation.
She’d known him for a week—seven days during which she’d been either annoyed or flat-out furious with him most of the time. Didn’t matter. She wanted to be alone with him and she wanted it tonight. They needed to get started on the passionate love affair they were going to be having.
Okay, yeah. He’d just said Sasha would be home—home and, like the shameless matchmaker she was, grinning in satisfaction at the sight of them together.
Hailey didn’t even care. It was a big house with lots of rooms for her to get Roman alone in.
At Roman’s, they found Sasha on the sofa in the family room off the kitchen, watching a Hallmark movie on the big-screen TV mounted above the fireplace.
Roman’s mom glanced over as they came in. She smiled with a definite gleam in her eyes. “Hailey.” Sasha turned off the TV and stood. “How are you?”
“Really good, thanks—and you didn’t have to turn off your movie.”
“I’ll watch the rest up in my room after I put this angel to bed.” Sasha took the yawning Theo from her son’s arms. “I called your sister and I’m signed up to scout props and paint sets.”
“Thank you.”
“Happy to help.” Sasha pressed a kiss to Theo’s plump cheek. “Roman, give Hailey a nice glass of wine, why don’t you?”
Roman granted her a glance that spoke of great forbearance. “Night, Ma.” He waited until she’d had time to get upstairs before muttering, “Grown men probably shouldn’t let their mothers move in with them.”
“I disagree—in your case, anyway. You need someone around to remind you that you don’t run the world.” She paused to give him a chance to argue the point. He surprised her and let it go. She went on, “Plus, Theo sure seems like a happy guy. That has to be at least partly due to Sasha.”
“It is—and more than partly,” he easily admitted, gesturing her on into the kitchen area.
She stopped near the giant central island and cast an admiring glance around the open room, taking in the dark wood cabinetry, the gorgeous granite-and-wood countertops and the sliding wood-framed doors leading out to a big deck. “This kitchen is as fabulous as the rest of the house.”
He gave her a slow once-over, his gaze skating warmly over her turquoise sweater and white skinny jeans. “Wine?”
“Thank you, yes.” She lingered by the island as he opened a bottle of red and poured them each a glass.
“The weather’s mild. Not much wind. Let’s go out on the deck.” He flipped a switch that turned on decorative lights strung a
long the deck railings.
The warm glow pushed back the gathering shadows. Beyond the glass doors, she saw teak chairs and sofas, each with bright-colored cushions and throw pillows. Not a bad setting for the seduction she had planned. They could move it inside and up to his bedroom when things became too intimate.
Outside, he led her to the railing. They stared out at the ocean beyond the wind-twisted trees.
“It’s beautiful here.” Down below, she saw a cozy backyard area of large rock pavers and grass. “That’s pretty down there.”
“This way...” He took her hand and led her down a set of side stairs to the level below, where more glass doors lead into the house.
He noticed the direction of her gaze. “It’s a whole, smaller living space on this floor. There’s a great room with its own kitchen, two bedrooms, two baths and another big room I’ve set up as a gym. Other than the workout room, I haven’t made much use of the bottom floor. But I figure a separate guest suite never hurts. And maybe when Theo’s older, Ma will want a more private space.”
“Options. I love those.”
Lifting her hand, he pressed his warm lips to her knuckles, causing a flare of heat to burn through her. “Thanks for taking me to the Bravo Sunday dinner.” He really seemed to mean it.
“I guess it must not have been too terrible, whatever was said in Daniel’s study.”
“Not terrible at all. Stop worrying about it.” Lightly, he nipped at her skin, a slow, gentle scrape of his white teeth.
She had to suppress a little moan. And she wanted to get closer, so she took a step toward him, until her breasts brushed his hard chest. He must have read her desire in her eyes, because he gave her what she craved and lowered that hot mouth of his to cover hers.
They kissed, there under cover of the upper deck, wrapped in shadows as the night was falling. It was a long, deep, delicious kiss, one that heated her midsection and had her right on the verge of pulling him back up the stairs, into the house and up to his room.
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