be young and happy for quite a few more years before we take that step.”
“But if I end up pregnant from this Micah, it’ll be okay.”
“No,” he was shaking his head, “she told us we had a small window, that’s why this is it for unprotected sex. The next time I make love to you, I’m wearing a condom.”
“But Micah, she said four or five days.”
“I don’t want to get you pregnant at eighteen, Leese. That’s too young.”
“And if I am right now?” I questioned, turning his face to me and making sure I had his full attention.
“I still say you’re too young to go through that.”
“Well, I don’t believe in abortion, so I guess you’ll just have to deal with an eighteen-year-old pregnant wife. God does everything-”
“For a reason, I know. I don’t believe in abortion either and I’d never expect you to do something like that, so I guess, to answer your original question, we’d become parents nine months from now. But I’m not taking any more chances with you.”
“Will it change things for us? The condoms, I mean.”
“It’ll change things a little for me, but you should stay happy.”
“But I’m not happy if you aren’t.”
“Trust me, they aren’t going to stop me from being happy with you; it’ll just take me a little longer to reach my orgasm. By the way, any cramps?”
“If there were, they’re gone and all I remember is how fabulous you felt. You were dancing inside me and-”
“Dancing?” he seemed surprised.
“You didn’t realize you were timed to the music?”
He started to laugh, “I’m glad I didn’t accidently have some hard rock mixed in with the CD’s.”
I grinned, “Well, I think you had a little hard rock going through your head at the end, but other than that you were my private dancer and I’ll never hear those songs quite the same way again.”
“How about breakfast and lunch in our room; then we can join some of our guests for dinner tonight?”
I looked at the clock, “That’s about eight or nine hours from now. We’ll have to think of something to keep us entertained,” I said with a sly grin, “I get to wash you in the shower this time.”
We both laughed, knowing the next hours would be just as pleasurable as the last.
Chapter Six
Giorgio, Celeste and Gwen were going down to Emeril’s Miami Beach restaurant, but David and Mom had plans for a quiet evening at the Acqualina’s Beachfront Grill Night, and they were more than willing to have us as company. I was surprised Kimmy wasn’t with them when we arrived downstairs. The tables were arranged on the lawn with torches, lanterns and candles for lighting as the Atlantic lapped steadily at the shoreline.
We ordered our drinks and I tried not to frown when they ordered a bottle of wine. Both of them looked different tonight. Mom looked so young, in her gauzy beach dress, her hair pulled back at the temples in a ponytail and the rest was loose on her shoulders. She had gotten some sunshine today and her skin was slightly red, but I knew she tanned easily and by tomorrow she’d be brown. Her smooth, tanned legs were crossed at the knee and casually swinging her sandaled foot in the night air.
David was impressive. I guess he always was, but I had no reason to notice him before. Now I studied him carefully as he smiled and laughed and occasionally reached over and stroked my mother’s arm. He was slightly taller than Micah, but the closer I inspected, I realized Micah had a bit of a muscular advantage over his brother. What impressed me the most was the fact that David was completely devoid of vulgarity and crudeness. He was proving he could be a gentleman when necessary, and I liked that side of him. My only problem was forgetting his other side.
“Where’s Kimmy,” I finally asked as the appetizers were brought to the table.
“They have a pool-side movie night,” Mom answered, with the slightest hint of a grin, “she’ll be there until about nine or nine thirty.”
“By herself?” I was hoping I was wrong.
“Leese, she’s six years old, of course she has someone with her.”
“The hotel offers babysitting?” Micah asked.
“Yeah, but not this late,” David responded before Mom could answer, “A friend of Leese’s offered, so we decided to take him up on it.”
“Him?” I said, clearly confused as to who was watching my little sister.
“Ryan,” Mom clarified, “We asked him if he’d like to join us for dinner, but he offered to entertain Kimmy instead.”
The conversation around the table continued, but all the while I thought about Ryan’s tall, tattooed, macho persona sitting through a Disney film surrounded by small children, all to provide a quiet evening for my mother and a guy who looked a lot like my husband.
“Did you tell him Micah and I were joining you for dinner?” I asked, completely out of sync with what was being discussed.
Mom took a sip of her wine and put the glass back on the table, “Actually, yes, I think I did mention that to him.”
I could see from the corner of my eye Micah was studying my face, so I looked at him and tried a smile. It still bothered me to think that Ryan, who should be scoping out the cute girls at the resort or on the beach, was instead ‘babysitting.’
Mom and David ordered light from the menu and were soon excusing themselves from our company. I watched David place his arm around her shoulders as she leaned her head against him and they walked away. I felt a light touch on my arm.
“Are you okay?”
“They’re both happy. I don’t know how I couldn’t be okay with that,” I sighed.
He leaned over and kissed my cheek, “Why does Ryan watching Kimmy bother you so much?”
I rolled my eyes, “It doesn’t bother-”
“Leese,” he said, eyebrows rising as if to say to think twice before uttering a lie.
“He should be finding a date, not covering so someone else can have one,” I confessed.
“He’s a big boy. Maybe he wanted to meet a single mom at the pool and Kimmy was his ticket to do that,” he gave a light laugh.
I frowned without thinking, “He’s not that kind of guy.”
“I’m trying hard not to be a jealous person, but you might give me a complex if you spend much more brain power on Ryan instead of me.” There was no teasing to his statement.
I knew he was right. It had only been twenty-four hours since we said I do and the only person on my mind should be him. I gave him a sultry smile, “If I start thinking about you, we might be clearing the table for a little public exhibition.”
“You know a hit man has to be discreet, but you could probably talk me into that one.”
I could tell he was happy the subject was back on the two of us. After our meal, we walked along the shoreline and talked about the future, our future. We discussed houses and neighborhoods, states and relatives. We had been brought and kept together under such unusual circumstances that it was an odd feeling to enter a realm of normalcy.
We stopped and sat on the hard packed sand as the conversation ended and the tender kissing and cuddling began. I think if it hadn’t been for the occasional beach walkers, he would have taken me right there, but instead he had to use some of the restraint that we had once been so good at.
“Are you ready to go back upstairs?” he whispered, his deep green eyes sparkling as the moonlight refracted off the white sand.
I nodded, staring into that perfect face and then suddenly found myself becoming overwhelmed with emotion, and the tears began to course down my cheeks.
