"Dinner," he said suddenly, “is going to be delayed."
He turned things down on the stove and then, to her shock, he bent down and scooped her up and into his arms. She felt like Cinderella, Scarlett O'Hara, and Marguerite Chance all rolled into one. He carried her as though she weighed no more than a feather, pounding up the stairs with her even as she clung on with her arms around his neck and a giggle of excitement travelling through her. They’d never made the tour upstairs and she discovered dimly that his room was very simple. Very him. He deposited her on top of his navy blue duvet and then pulled back to look down at her. "This okay?" He asked, suddenly looking uncertain. After his commanding Rhett Butler routine, she loved that moment of doubt.
"Oh it is very much okay." She reached up, grabbed his hands, and pulled him down on top of her. “So very much okay." And then the pair of them discovered how much pleasure two sets of scarred and callused hands could give.
* * *
They ate dinner much later.She wore an old pair of his athletic sweatpants and a T-shirt advertising a Greek restaurant in Chicago. He’d marinated tofu and grilled it with eggplant and tomatoes and the flavors were so sublime she felt like she could hear the waves of the Aegean Sea, and the faint music of a bouzouki. There were potatoes roasted in lemon and spanakopita hand made by his mother, as well as baklava for dessert.
“What?” she asked, raising her brows. “Only one dessert?”
He leaned forward and kissed her swiftly. “When we go to my folks’ place, you’ll eat so much dessert you’ll beg for mercy. My mother thinks we’ll starve to death if we don’t leave the table groaning in pain. Then she sends everybody home with so many leftovers you pretty much have to hire a truck to move them.”
After they'd eaten their fill he said, "I don't want to be too forward, but will you stay the night?”
Seemed like things had roared from ‘Oh, my gosh I'm not even in his league’ to ‘Do you want to stay the night?’ way too fast and yet, when she looked into his eyes, she felt that everything was going to be okay. When he looked at her she didn't feel like a plain, earthy woman with calloused, rough hands. She felt lush and beautiful with battle scarred hands to be proud of.
However, she didn't want to make it too easy for him. She tilted her head and said, "I don't know. Are you as good at cooking breakfast as you are at cooking dinner?"
For answer he gave her a very wolfish grin and advanced on her slowly. "There's only one way to find out. And I should warn you, I cook a very big breakfast. I suggest we build up a good appetite."
Normally, she liked sleeping in her own bed and waking up in her own home. She didn’t expect to sleep much at all and she didn't, but not because of the strange bed. He kept her awake by making love to her over and over again. Each time, she was convinced she couldn’t experience any more pleasure, and each time he proved her wrong. When, at last, they turned over to sleep, she rested so comfortably in the curve of his body behind her. There was something about the heat of his belly against her back and his arm curled over her torso that made her feel cherished.
* * *
They slept latethe next morning. She was lying languorously in his bed and they were drinking their first cup of coffee together.
She wasn't a big coffee drinker, but the way he made it, and served it in his big yellow and blue mugs, she liked the dark brew just fine.
He ran a hand over her breast idly. “What do you like to eat for breakfast? I should stock some things if we’re going to make a regular habit of this.”
She glanced up at him, feeling out of her depth. She wanted to say something sexy and sophisticated, but she was more interested in understanding how he saw their future together—if there was one. "Are we going to make this a regular habit?" She meant to sound provocative but really the words sounded yearning. He leaned over and kissed her softly with coffee flavored lips. "I sure hope so."
His lips moved south and soon he was nuzzling the sensitive slope of her breast when her cellphone rang.
"Ignore it," he mumbled.
She was only too glad to do so. She’d long ago determined that she was not the kind of woman who was going to be ruled by any sort of electronic device. She was one of the last people she knew to even get a cellphone. And, when a man as exciting as Alexei was putting his lips exactly where he was putting his lips right now, her phone took low priority.
When she finally got around to checking the message she saw that it was Iris who had called. She’d also sent a text:CALL ME NOW!!!She related this to Alexei, who was finishing the last of his now cold coffee. He said, "Do you want me to give you some privacy?"
She shook her head. “It's probably Mom driving her crazy. That's what most of our emergencies are."
But when Iris picked up the phone almost before it rang, she started speaking so fast and with such excitement in her voice that Marguerite actually couldn't decipher a single word. She said, "Slow down. What happened?"
She could hear the shuddering breath Iris dragged in and then her sister said, so slowly that it sounded as though she were reminding herself to say each word distinctly, "I had my scan this morning.”
She’d been so caught up with her dinner with Alexei that she’d completely forgotten about the scan. "How did it go?" She reached out and grasped Alexei's hand.
"It went great. There wasn’t one little heartbeat. There were two! We’re having twins!"
She squealed with joy. “You must be so excited. How is Geoff taking the news?"
“He’s pretty stunned, to be honest. We both are. But in a good way.”
“Oh my gosh, I can barely take it in. This is such good news."
"There's more good news."
