He threw off the sheet. “Do I pass inspection?”
Startled, she screeched and fell back on her pillow. “One of these days you’re going to give me a heart attack!” Pounding his shoulder she said, “I thought you were asleep.”
“You can look anytime you want to, Danaher. You don’t have to peek at me when I’m sleeping.” He crawled on top of her and kissed her neck, ear, and lips. “I like looking at you too.”
Marla wrapped her legs around him. His quick arousal excited her every time. “Get off me then and have a look.”
“I’m busy right now.” He raised himself on his elbows, stared into her eyes and rocked against her. “How about you?”
By way of an answer, she tugged his head down for another kiss and pushed her hips into his. “You’re insatiable.”
“Me?” He chuckled, slipped inside her, and drove her passion several degrees higher. “It’s not me, honey, it’s us.”
Marveling at how she’d lived to the ripe old age of twenty-seven and was just now discovering her deep needs and desires, she lost herself in him. Lighter than a cloud, her climax took flight and left her breathless. She clung to him, not wanting him to stop.
It’s us.
Dwayne gasped, heart pounding against her breast. “You good?” He brushed his lips against her cheek and tasted tears.
Startled, he raised his head. “Did I hurt you?”
Marla rolled her head on the pillow and touched his cheek. “You moved me, Dempsey.” Another tear trickled down her face. She tightened her grip around his waist. “Don’t go yet.”
What was happening between him and this woman? He’d never thought it possible to be so in sync with someone. So consumed to the point he was unable to think of anything beyond making love to her. Now. Today. Tonight. Tomorrow. The next day. Forever.
He’d thought Donovan was a goner? He’d been so driven with his desire to get Marla into bed he hadn’t noticed he was nearly drowning in her. You moved me, she’d said. No, it was definitely the other way around.
He pressed his forehead against hers. “I’m falling for you, Danaher.” To his shock, she went still and let her arms drop on the bed. He waited a second then looked into her eyes. Her flat expression staggered him like a slap in the face.
She moved beneath him. “I have to go. Let me up.”
What a fool. They weren’t anywhere near on the same page. Why hadn’t he kept his big mouth shut?
He rolled to his side and pulled the sheet up to his shoulders. “No problem.”
“Dwayne.”
He shrugged off her hand. “I said no problem. You have to go. So go.”
In less than five minutes, she was gone. A cold, sick feeling gripped his gut when he heard the sound of her car engine recede down the street. Paralysis took root in his body and mind.
What went wrong?
Marla drove to her parent’s home, realized it was too early to pick up Skipper, and kept going. Without realizing how she’d got there, she found herself in Charlene’s parking spot at the building where they’d briefly shared an apartment years before. She still had a key.
The empty apartment was eerily quiet, dark, and cold with the drapes drawn. She moved to the first window, pulled the wand, and let the morning sun streak across the living room. Without letting go, she pulled them closed again, and lay on her side on Char’s new chintz upholstered couch. Her knees drawn to her waist, she choked on a sob.
She should have been flying high with happiness, but instead she wallowed in grief and let the tears fall. She’d known going in, she was opening herself to a shattered heart. Like a self-fulfilling prophesy, she’d brought it to a head by walking out on him when he’d said, in the heat of their passion, I’m falling for you.
What was she to do? She couldn’t possibly face him again. The building project was nearly finished, but she’d have to do a final inspection and pay him.
Shocked when the door opened, she leaped up from the sofa and faced the door, knees wobbling, heart pounding.
Her mother’s voice called, “Marla? Are you here? I saw your car downstairs.”
“Mom?” She ran to Silvia and threw her arms around her. The floodgates opened.
“Marla, sweetheart, what is it?” Silvia clung to her and patted her back. “Talk to me. What’s happened?” She edged them to the sofa and pulled her down beside her.
Marla sobbed, inconsolable, unable to speak. She’d never been so glad to see her mother in her whole life. She leaned into her and dropped her head in Silvia’s lap.
Her mom rubbed her arm and stroked her hair. “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
Marla placed her hand on top of her mother’s. “I love you, Mom.”
“I know, honey. I love you too, with all my heart.” Her words started the waterworks flowing again. “Shh, all will be well.”
After a while, Silvia murmured, “It’s Dwayne Dempsey, isn’t it?”
“How did you know?” Marla rubbed tears and snot off her face with the sleeve of her blouse, not caring how gross it must look.
“Your father told me you were interested in him and wary of getting involved.” She sighed. “I’m sorry the Dempsey curse has roped in both my daughters. They’re heartbreakers, every one of those magnificent bastards! What did he do to you? I’ll kill him.”
Marla shook her head and giggled. “Thanks, Mom. I needed that. I’m a mess.”
“Did he make love to you then walk out like a total shit heel?”
Was this her mother? The woman she so condescendingly called Silly Silvia? Shame descended on her with a sickening thud.
“No. I walked out on him like a total shit heel.”
Silvia stood and
