by Marie Force
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I don’t mind at all. I’ll take a run out there every couple of days to check on things. It’ll get me out of the house and out of my wife’s hair for half an hour. She’ll appreciate that.”
Erin wouldn’t have thought it possible to laugh, but Mr. McCarthy always managed to charm her. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem. You give your folks our best and tell your dad to make a speedy recovery.”
“I will, and I’ll let you know when I’ll be back.”
“We’ll look forward to seeing you.”
With that taken care of, she had one less thing to worry about.
Finally, the surgeon came into the room, still wearing operating room scrubs. A strand of her red hair had escaped from her surgical cap, and a mask hung around her neck. The color of her hair reminded Erin of Sydney.
“Mrs. Barton?”
“Yes, I’m Mrs. Barton, and this is my daughter, Erin. How is he?”
“He came through the surgery very well. We were able to clip the bleed and repair the vessel.”
“So he’s going to be all right?” Mary Beth asked.
“We’ll know more when he wakes up, but I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Erin and her mother both broke down with relief at the good news. While Sue hugged Mary Beth, Slim took care of Erin.
“You might want to go home and get some rest,” the doctor said. “He’s going to be in recovery for hours yet.”
“I can’t leave him,” Mary Beth said. “I need to be here, but the rest of you should go. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Sue said.
“We’ll let you know as soon as you can see him,” the doctor said before she left them.
Mary Beth convinced everyone else to go home for the time being, promising to call as soon as Tom was awake—and promising she would get something to eat at some point.
“I don’t feel right leaving you,” Erin said.
“I’m going to curl up on the sofa and try to sleep.” Mary Beth gestured to the small sofa in the waiting room. “You go on home, and I’ll call you the second I hear any news.”
“If you’re sure,” Erin said.
“I’m very sure. You guys must be tired. Let’s sleep while we can.” She handed her keys to Erin and told her where to find the car. “I had to drive because there wasn’t room for me in the rescue wagon.”
Erin’s heart ached at the thought of her mom’s lonely drive to the hospital, not knowing what was happening to her husband on the way.
Slim kept his arm around Erin as they walked out of the hospital into the cold morning air. It took a few minutes to find the car in the crowded parking lot. Erin handed him the keys. “You’d better drive. I’m still groggy from the Xanax.”
“No problem.”
Erin directed him out of the city to I-76 West to Bryn Mawr.
“Am I going to get to see where you grew up?”
“In all its glory.”
“Why have I heard of that town before?”
“There’s a very prestigious women’s college there. Lots of famous graduates.”
“Ahhh, that’s it.”
After a thirty-minute drive, they arrived at Erin’s childhood home, a two-story white colonial with black shutters, a big front porch and a white picket fence that was tricked out with greens for the holiday season. She punched in the code to the cypher lock—her and Toby’s birthday—on the back door and led Slim into the house where the scent of Christmas pine and spices greeted them.
Erin hung their coats in the foyer and led Slim into the kitchen, which had wide knotty-pine floors, white cabinets and stainless appliances that her parents had bought last summer when they renovated the kitchen.
“What a nice house,” Slim said, taking it all in.
“It was a wreck when they bought it. They’ve restored every inch of it over the last thirty-five years.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“What do you want most? Food or sleep?”
“I could eat something, but we can go out, if you want. You don’t have to entertain me.”
“Sure, I do. You’re still my guest, even if we’ve switched locations.”
He came over to her, put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her. “All bets are off. If you’re still feeling groggy, you don’t have to cook or anything.”
“All bets are off? Really?”
“Well, not all bets,” he said, flashing that sexy grin that made her melt, “but the part about you feeling like you have to feed me—that’s off.”
With her hand around his neck, she drew him in for another kiss. “I don’t mind feeding you. I actually kind of like it.”
“In that case, feel free to feed me, cuz I love to eat.”
Raiding her mom’s fridge, Erin whipped up omelets with cheddar, green peppers and tomatoes. She made coffee and toast to go with them.
Slim polished off all of his and half of hers. Worrying about her dad had put a damper on her appetite.
“You’re an amazing cook. You should open a B&B. It’d be a huge hit.”
“I’d love to do something like that someday. I’ve always enjoyed taking care of people.”
“You should do it. Talk the town into turning the lighthouse into a B&B. You’d make a killing.”
“The town might not want that, but it sure would be fun.”
“Can’t hurt to ask.”
“But then where would I live?”
“My place?”
“With Big Bertha, the stubborn furnace?”
“She’s cranky, but she gets the job done.”
It was fun to imagine the sort of possibilities he suggested, but Erin didn’t want to get ahead of herself—or him. “What do you say we grab some sleep while we can?”
“I’d be all for that, as long as I get to sleep with you.”
“Not in my mother’s house. I swear she still has cameras in every room from when we were teenagers.”
“Your mom loves me. She’d want me to watch over you while you sleep.”
Rolling her eyes, Erin said, “You’re so full of it.” When she got up to tend to the dishes, he surprised her by tugging on her arm, which knocked her off-balance and straight into his arms. “Very smooth.”
“It’s the circus training.” He nuzzled her neck and made her shiver. “I’m full of it, all right, and it’s all your fault.” To make his point, he pressed his erection against her belly.
“My fault? What did I do?”
“You cooked for me and you were so brave about flying and you’re so very, very nice to look at. Oh, and you’re super sexy, too, especially when you blush like you are right now.” He kissed both of her cheeks. “I really like that.”
Erin sank into his embrace, thrilled by him and the things he said to her and how he’d helped her conquer her greatest fear. Not that she thought she was suddenly over her flying phobia, but he’d made her feel safe enough to take the first big step toward putting it behind her.
He helped her with the dishes, and then they went upstairs, taking turns in the bathroom before ending up in her childhood room, which had been repurposed into a guest room since she moved out. In one corner, her mom had kept the desk Erin had used to do her homework along with some of the trophies she’d earned in gymnastics and dance.
Slim examined every one of them while she watched him from the bed. “I never knew you were so limber.”
“That was twenty years ago. I’m not that limber anymore.”
“I bet your inner gymnast can still do a mean backbend.”
“I’d prefer to not have to prove that.”
Smiling, he pulled his shirt over his head and dropped his jeans into a pile on the floor. He crawled into bed and reached for her, snuggling her in close to him.
“I should go check to make sure I locked the door.”
“I did that.”
It took all the fortitude she could muster
to deny the powerful need to see for herself. “I said we can’t sleep together here.”
“I can’t hear you.”
Smiling at his predictable reply, she said, “I’m getting awfully used to using your chest for a pillow. What’ll I do when you go back to Florida?”
“Come with me?”
“What would I do there while you’re working?”
“Sit by the pool and work on your column or go get a mani-pedi or a massage or go shopping or hit the beach or go to lunch with the amazing group of women I’ll introduce you to.”
“Your harem?” she asked with a touch of annoyance in her tone.
His bark of laughter only added to her annoyance. “Hardly. They’re my friends’ wives and girlfriends, so you can sheath your claws, wildcat.”
“I don’t have claws.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I like it when you’re possessive.”
“I’m not being possessive.”
“Yes, you are, and I like being possessed by you.”
“I don’t have a jealous bone in my body.”
“So does that mean you wouldn’t mind if that group of women had been my harem?” She thought about that just long enough for him to pounce. “Ah-ha. I knew it. You are a jealous little she-cat.”
“You’re going to be a neutered he-cat if you don’t shut up.”
His low chuckle made his chest rumble under her ear. “So is that a yes to coming to Florida?”
“After all that she-cat business, I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”
“I’m very sorry I called you a jealous little she-cat. Will you come home with me now?”
“That apology wasn’t even kind of sincere.”
He surprised her when he rolled them over so he was on top of her, looking down at her with amusement and affection and desire. “You want sincerity? I can show you sincerity.”
“Are we still talking about jealousy?”
“So you admit you were jealous?”
She poked him in the side with her index finger, drawing a grunt of laughter.
“We’re talking about you and me and making a go of this.”
“Oh. We are?”
Nodding, he smiled as he brought his lips down on hers, kissing her with the sweet tenderness she was coming to expect from him. “Aren’t we?” he asked after several kisses.
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes, Erin. That’s what I want.”
“I thought you liked your freedom.”
“Are you planning to shackle me to your bed? Not that I would object.”
She felt her face go hot at the thought of such things. “You know what I mean.”
He kissed the blush that flamed each cheek. “I do know, and I’ve had a lot of years of freedom. I might be ready to try something else.”
“What if you decide you don’t like it?”
“What wouldn’t I like about flying and hanging out with you the rest of the time?”
“I don’t know. What if we don’t get along when we’re together every day?”
“I’m not worried about getting along with you.” He pressed his hard cock against her core. “We get along just fine.”
“Because it’s new and fun and exciting. What happens when it gets boring and routine?”
“Boring and routine? What do you take me for? I’d never let that happen.”
“Be serious. We both know what happens when the blush wears off the rose.”
“Sweetheart, if I got to hold you and kiss you and make love to you every day, my life would never again be boring or routine. And the blush will never wear off our rose.”
“I worry that you’re not being realistic. We’re not idealistic twentysomethings doing this for the first time, expecting everything to be good times and smooth sailing. We both know better.”
“For what it’s worth, I would be doing this for the first time. And do you want to know why that is?”
Erin nodded.
“Because until I found you, I hadn’t met anyone I could imagine spending every day with. And after only a few months with you and the amazing time together this week, I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I’ve waited a long time to take this kind of leap with a woman, Erin, and it’s not something I do lightly. It’s something I’m willing to do because it’s you I’d be leaping with. Does that make sense?”
Overwhelmed by his words as much as the emotion behind them, Erin blinked rapidly but was unable to stop a stray tear from escaping.
He kissed it away. “Are these good tears?”
“These are holy-cow-you-blow-me-away tears.”
“You do the same for me.”
After that, there were no more words and no more tears as he kissed her and caressed her and made love to her. The thought of being with him every day was almost too good to be true.
He hooked his arms under her legs, opening her to deep, intense thrusts that had her screaming from the nearly unbearable pleasure that overtook her.
“Ah, God, Erin…” He was right behind her, surging into her as he came with a groan.
As they settled after the incredible high, Erin wrapped her arms around him to keep him close for a little while longer. She wanted to bottle the way he made her feel so she could keep it forever. “I can’t believe I just had sex in this room.”
He grunted out a laugh. “If your mom has it bugged, she’s getting a great view of my bare ass.”
Erin pulled the covers over his spectacular ass. “I told you we weren’t going to do what we just did in this sacred room.”
“What can I say? You’re powerless against my charms.”
“Apparently, I am.”
“That’s okay,” he said, flashing a cocky grin before he kissed her. “I like you that way.”
Erin was finding she liked being powerless to resist him. She liked it a whole lot.
“You know,” she said tentatively, “if we’re going to make a go of this, as you say, we might be able to skip the condoms. I’m on long-term birth control, and I’m healthy.”
“I’m kind of skittish about that after what happened way back when.”
“I totally understand. I was only tossing it out there as an FYI. Think about it.”
He pressed his reawakened cock against her hip, making her groan. “Not sure how I’ll think about anything else.”
Erin and Slim returned to the hospital early in the afternoon to find Jenny and Alex sitting with her mother in the waiting room.
“What’re you guys doing here?” Erin asked, shocked to see them.
“We’re on our way to Las Vegas to meet Paul and Hope,” Jenny said. “But I couldn’t go anywhere until I knew that Tom was okay, so we flew through Philly.”
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Erin said tearfully as she hugged them both.
“The second she got your text, she was online changing our flights,” Alex said.
“It means so much that you came,” Mary Beth said to Jenny.
“What’s the latest?” Erin asked her mom.
“He’s still in recovery, but stable and holding his own at last check. They said he should be awake within an hour or two, and we’ll know more then.”
They took Mary Beth to get something to eat in the cafeteria and returned to the waiting room, hoping to be able to see her dad soon. The doctor came in a short time later and said they were moving him to a room in the ICU and that they could visit him two at a time.
“How’s he doing?” Erin asked.
“Better than expected at this point,” the doctor said. “He’s responding to stimuli and squeezing our hands, which are good signs. He has a long road ahead, but I’m feeling optimistic.”
An audible sigh of relief went through the room. The doctor gave them directions to the ICU and said Tom would be there in about thirty minutes.
Erin hugged her mom while Slim rubbed both their backs.
“I’m so relieved,” Mary Beth said, wiping away tears as she
hugged Jenny.
They moved as a group to the ICU waiting room, where Mary Beth and Erin were allowed in to see him first. Erin was overwhelmed by the sheer number of machines attached to him as well as the pasty gray color of his complexion. But when he opened his eyes and looked at them, she could see that the dad she loved was still in there.
“Hey, Dad,” Erin said. “We’re all here, and you’re doing great.” She leaned over to kiss his forehead, working to contain her emotions so he wouldn’t see that she was upset.
On the other side of the bed, Mary Beth held his hand and stared at him intently.
Erin decided to give them a minute alone and left the room to find Slim waiting for her. She stepped into his outstretched arms.
“How is he?”
“He opened his eyes and saw us there.”
“That’s good news.”
“I’m going to give Jenny a turn to see him so they can get going.” Erin left his warm embrace long enough to get Jenny, and then she returned to him, appreciative of his support during another challenging time. It wasn’t lost on her that she was becoming dependent on the tender support he offered so willingly any time she needed him.
Chapter 20
Paul Martinez had planned every detail of their Las Vegas wedding down to the cake so that Hope could enjoy the day without having to obsess about the details. She’d been working three days a week as a private-duty nurse on the mainland, commuting back and forth on the ferry. The arrangement had been working out well, but noticing how tired she’d been, he’d seen to the wedding details so the only thing she had to do was buy a dress and pack for her and Ethan, who was out of his mind with excitement about the trip.
Paul had shown him pictures of the Hoover Dam online, and he couldn’t wait to see it for himself. One of the many things he loved about Ethan was his endless enthusiasm for anything that interested Paul. A man could get hooked on that kind of adoration coming from a boy who’d had more than his share of upheaval in his life.
He’d love to adopt Ethan if that option became possible. That would depend on what happened when his father was released from prison, which was hopefully years in the future. They’d cross that bridge when they got to it, but in his mind, Ethan was already his son in every way that mattered. The two of them were inseparable, to the point that Hope worried endlessly that Ethan was annoying him. He repeatedly assured her that he loved every minute he got to spend with the boy who would soon be his stepson, and he was more than happy to take care of him when Hope was working on the mainland.
