Page 59 of Executive Decision
He pulled back, looking down at me. “Oh, shit. If you don’t believe me, I honestly didn’t plan anything?—”
“I’m sorry. I’ve spent the last five years trying togetpregnant. And it’s not like I expected you to show up and do what you just did.”
He chuckled, then kissed me slowly and sweetly. “I will have to suffer the atrocity of waiting until the drugstore opens in the morning. I mean… if I’m allowed to stay.”
“You’re allowed to stay,” I said. “I could?—”
“No. This was about you, Daphne. I wanted to give you what I suspect you haven’t had in years. I will get mine eventually. And it will be sweet… when it happens.”
Cal rolled onto his back, pulling me into his arms. I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as it calmed. I never had a man deny himself an orgasm for me. What was this sorcery? I waited for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. I drifted to sleep to the sound of the waves, cuddled up on Cal’s warm chest.
PARTIII
AGAINST ALL REASON
22INCOGNITO
Cal
Daphne wasasleep when I drove to the local pharmacy, arriving early to avoid a crowd. I may have been out of state, but I was where every well-heeled Chicagoan retreated to on summer weekends. Clad in a Cubs cap and dressed down, I hoped I was sufficiently incognito. My security guy minded the front of the small pharmacy-cum-grocery in this sleepy lakeshore town. I knew he probably judged me, but I didn’t care.
I tried not to think about Daphne’s happy moans as I ducked into the appropriate aisle and grabbed the first acceptable box of condoms. Trying not to make a big deal, I added a pile of snacks and pushed them across the counter towards the clerk. She looked at me as she rang up my purchase, trying to place me. Internally, I melted down.
“Are you…”
I held off finishing the sentence.Play it cool, Cal.
“One of the Vanderveens?” She finished her thought.
“Oh, nope,” I waited for the total. “Sorry. Just visiting a friend here. Not a local.”
“I swore you were Robbie Vanderveen’s kid. Well, you’ve got a doppelganger.”
“Interesting.” I was disinterested.
I tapped my credit card to pay. She handed me the bag, and I raced out, hopping into my car and dashing back to Daphne’s where I found her cracking eggs in the kitchen into a bowl, the smell of bacon tempting me.
“Daph, you didn’t need to make breakfast.”
“I’m in a good mood,” she said. “So, sue me!”
I grinned. I’d never woken up with her before. It was a treat.
I kissed Daphne’s forehead. “You’re too kind. I promise to make up for it.”
“Oh, I’ll take you up on the offer, Cal. If you can make the toast, that would be great.”
“I can handle toast,” I said.
“Can you cook?” Daphne asked.
“I am fully housebroken, and, yes, I can cook,” I chuckled. “My mom cannot. I learned so we had something to eat that wasn’t out of the microwave. Tim is the cook in the family. Chloe would burn the house down.”
Daphne giggled. “That’s sad. Mum doesn’t cook. Dad always did. I’m making his ‘famous’ eggs.”
“What makes them famous?”
“Cheese,” Daphne answered. “But he tried to teach us all to cook. It worked for Davey, Dahlia, and me.”
