Belonging (24 page)

It came again--this time more firmly, a
tender manipulation that seemed to last forever and ended much too
soon. Sharp needles of exquisitely delicious sensations burst to
life within her. Again, she prayed silently, her nipples swelling
tautly against his hand. Again...

The low moan pulled from within her body
echoed in his mouth. He knew a split second of ecstasy as his arms
wrapped around her and drew her full and tight against him. The
feel of her body, so sweetly cradled against the part of him that
swelled with near-painful intensity, made him ache with the need to
join with her, to share himself with her and show her his love once
and for all. Matt felt rich as he'd never felt before.

Angie tensed. But she didn't draw away.

It was Matt who finally pulled back, trying
hard not to let his shoulders slump with resignation.

Angie stared at him. One moment she was safe
and warm and sheltered as she hadn't been in such a long, long
time. The next she was cold and alone and chilled with an icy
numbness that seemed to penetrate clear to her soul. She wanted him
so much that it hurt inside, but she was ashamed of that
wanting.

The raw pain that flashed across his face
hurt her even more. "Matt..." His name emerged as a muffled cry.
Her trembling lips opened, but no further sound came out.

He sensed she wanted to explain the
conflicting emotions warring inside her. The tears that sprang to
her eyes made his heart ache, but until she found it in herself to
trust him with whatever it was that held her back, he could do
nothing to help her.

It was the hardest thing he had ever done,
but somehow he forced himself to rise and move to the doorway.
There he looked back at her, his face carved into harsh, unreadable
lines. "Good night, Angie," he said quietly.

She heard his footsteps on the stairs and the
soft click of his bedroom door closing.

It seemed like hours, but in reality it was
only minutes later that she climbed into bed, her mind still on
the scene that had unfolded downstairs.

She dreaded these next few days with Matt.
Tonight only proved what she had known almost from the start. Her
body was willing, her spirit was weakening... and her heart was
torn in two.

"is she awake?"

The whisper was hushed. It sounded as if it
were muffled behind a small hand.

Angie groaned and squeezed her eyes more
tightly. It was Saturday, Kim didn't have a game, so why couldn't
the girls let her sleep in just a few minutes longer? She buried
her face in the pillow, hoping they would tiptoe quietly out.

There was a giggle and the sound of footsteps
shuffling along the floor.

"She's still asleep." Angie recognized
Casey's disappointed singsong. "Can't we wake her up, Matt?"

"No," she muttered, still caught halfway in a
world between sleep and wakefulness. "Let her sleep just a minute
longer, Ma—"

Matt! Her eyes flew open. Her fingers
clutched the bed sheet and pulled it frantically upward from her
waist to her chin.

"Now she's awake," Matt commented dryly,
grinning at two small faces, one on either side of him. He was
standing at the side of the bed, wearing an old faded pair of jeans
that tightly hugged the muscles of his legs. Bronzed, hairy arms
peeked out from the rolled-up sleeves of his
pale-blue-and-white-striped shirt, their sheen matching that of the
wiry curls at the base of his throat. His strong jawline was dark
with a shadowy growth of beard. But even though he hadn't yet
shaved, he looked damnably good to her. In his hands was a fully
laden tray, complete with coffee, juice and a single red rose.

"Sit up and eat, Mommy. We fixed you
breakfast in bed." Casey beamed proudly.

"You didn't fix it." Kim frowned at her
younger sister. "Matt did. And it was his idea, too."

Casey stuck out her tongue. "Well, I helped,"
she pouted.

"Did not!" Kim's eyes began to flash before
Matt interrupted.

"Ladies, please! Let your mother eat before
everything gets cold."

Miraculously, that seemed to settle the
argument. Angie peeped out from beneath the sheet at the three sets
of eyes fastened on her.

"Come on, Mommy," Kim prompted. "We did this
specially for you."

"Yes, Mommy," Matt echoed mildly. "Sit up and
eat."

It was hard to remain dignified with a sheer
lacy nightgown and a sheet as her only protection against a
knowingly amused pair of gray eyes. Angie didn't even try. Slowly,
nervously, she sat up, pushing tousled blond waves back over her
shoulders.

Holding the tray in his other hand, Matt
handed her the robe from the foot of the bed. But not before his
eyes had feasted on the tantalizing glimpse of honey- gold flesh
beneath the sheer white nylon.

Angie felt the heat of that scorching gaze in
every part of her body. She gave a silent prayer of thanks for the
protection of her robe, scanty though it was, as her nipples
responded with an involuntary pout. A tiny smile creased her lips
as Matt carefully placed the tray on her lap.

"This was really very thoughtful of you," she
murmured. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was later than
she'd thought--nearly ten. Knowing that Matt was asleep in the very
next room, she'd lain awake half the night.

The side of the bed sagged beneath Matt's
weight as he seated himself. "I can't take all the credit. Kim went
outside and picked the rose, and she helped me find everything in
the kitchen." The little girl beamed at his praise. "But it would
be nice to know that the effort wasn't wasted." His eyes dropped
meaningfully toward the plate she hadn't yet touched.

Angie automatically picked up her fork and
lifted a bite of perfectly cooked scrambled eggs to her mouth. Matt
chuckled at the look of surprise that darted across her face.

"Don't tell me I've lost my touch," he said
lightly. "Too much cottage cheese?"

Her eyes widened. "Cottage cheese? You put
cottage cheese in these eggs?"

"Family secret. Passed down from mother to
son." He eased back slightly to watch her, enjoying the morning
flush that tinted her cheeks, the unblemished perfection of her
skin. "Overdone?" he asked solicitously as she lifted the fork a
second time.

"They're perfect and you know it." Harboring
a smile, she began to spread thick raspberry jam on a slice of
toast. "You never told me you could cook. Do you have any other
hidden talents I don't know about?"

A lengthy silence followed. She bit into the
toast and glanced at him curiously. There was an extremely
suggestive smile on his face. His eyes were filled with amusement,
and the slightest hint of devilry.

"Let me guess." Even she was a little amazed
that she was teasing him. "Is this where you tell me how great you
are with your hands?"

"It's a thought," Matt murmured. "If nothing
else, I certainly have a very willing pair of hands."

Angie opened her mouth, but the retort poised
on the tip of her tongue never came. Kim and Casey had been
exploring the contents of her dressing table, but now Casey had
returned to the bedside. She and Matt noticed at the same time that
Casey was studying his profile intently. There was a look of utter
consternation on her face.

"Matt," she began worriedly, "how did you get
all those slivers in your chin?"

The startled look on his face was too
precious for words. Angie laughed until tears rolled down her
cheeks. It wasn't until her hand wiped away the last watery trail
that she found herself on the receiving end of an intent gaze.

"What is it?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Matt's eyes suddenly shone with pleasure. "Do
you know," he said softly, "that I've never heard you laugh like
that before?"

Her heart turned over at the warmth reflected
on his lean face. "I can't remember the last time I did," she
admitted. "It... it feels good."

"I'll bet it does." His eyes roved tenderly
over her face. After last night he had promised himself he would
wait to kiss her, wait until she was more certain of her feelings
for him. But she was smiling rather shyly at him, an alluring
combination of innocence and sensuality that sent his control
scattering to the winds.

Unable to resist, he placed one hand flat on
the bed and leaned forward to kiss her, unmindful of the
interested eyes that watched nearby.

It was an achingly sweet kiss, over almost
before it had begun, but it was enough to make Angie's senses swim
dizzily. Matt inwardly rejoiced at her dazed expression, then
stood and lifted Casey high off the floor.

"Come on, squirt." He grinned at her. "Let's
go get rid of those slivers, huh?"

Moments later Angie heard an electric razor
in the bathroom. The sounds of mingled laughter reached her
ears—Matt's, Kim's and Casey's—and she was filled with a poignant
yearning.

At times like this she could almost believe
that Matt was right, that with his help, she could learn to open up
her heart once more.

Almost, but not quite.

After Angie showered and dressed, she went
downstairs. It was in the back of her mind that although Matt
might be far more at home in the kitchen than most men, cleaning up
was probably a different matter entirely.

The kitchen was spotless. The table had been
cleared, the dishes stowed neatly in the dishwasher. Even the stove
had been cleaned.

What was he trying to do? she thought to
herself, not sure if she was pleased or annoyed. Prove himself
indispensable?

She began to wonder if that was exactly what
he had in mind when she saw him emerge from the garage, pulling the
lawn mower along behind him. A second later the motor roared to
life.

But there were some advantages to having
another adult in the house, she conceded as she headed for the den.
Most weekends were spent catching up on various household chores,
both inside and out. When she was able to work on the speech she
was to give at Tuesday's Downtown Merchants Association luncheon
without a single interruption from the girls, it seemed almost a
luxury.

Later that afternoon Matt asked that she come
along while they did some shopping.

"But we don't need anything," she told him,
puzzled at his insistence she join them.

He glanced up the stairway, where the two
youngsters were playing in their room, before his eyes slid back
to her. "How do you feel about a new addition to the family?"

Her heart gave a betraying lurch, as she
thought of the previously unoccupied room next to hers—the room
Matt had slept in last night.

Angie raised a slender eyebrow suspiciously
as a rakish grin edged Matt's mouth. "I'm not sure I want to hear
this," she muttered.

Matt laughed. "Don't look at me like that.
Much as I'd like to, I'm not about to haul you off to the nearest
den of iniquity. In fact, for what I have in mind, we'll have not
one but two chaperons."

His eyes made a slow and leisurely
reconnaissance of her slender body as he spoke. Angie was aware of
a rush of warmth filtering through her. Feminine vanity? For so
long now she'd thought Evan had destroyed that, too.

She couldn't have been more wrong. The
smoldering look in Matt's eyes made her feel surrounded,
possessed. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling; indeed, it made her
feel as if there was a smile in her heart.

Perversely, it bothered her that she didn't
mind him looking at her that way. Not nearly as much as it should
have.

"You still haven't told me what we'll be
shopping for," she reminded him. "Or where we'll be shopping."

"Uh, the pet store. As long as you don't
mind, of course," he added rather sheepishly. "I thought it might
be a nice surprise for the kids. I know how much they miss Spooky,
and I thought...well, maybe they'd like another cat. Or a dog."

At first she looked startled, so startled he
thought she might refuse. Then she smiled, that brilliant,
entrancing smile that made him nearly forget to breathe.

"What are we waiting for, then?" she asked, a
playful lilt to her voice. "You get the car, and I'll get the
girls." Not bothering to hide her excitement, she collected her
purse from the closet and off they went.

To Kim and Casey's delight, there was one
more passenger in the back seat of Matt's car for the return
trip—a-small pure black cocker spaniel puppy.

***

After a light dinner later that evening, Matt
and Angie sat beneath the shade of the huge old elm tree that stood
sentinel near the side of the house. Frothy clouds floated across
the sky, reflecting pastel shades of purple and pink from the
waning summer sun. It seemed a haven of peace and serenity from the
disturbing events of the preceding day. Matt had ordered extra
patrols in the area, and even the occasional glimpse of a police
cruiser didn't bother her as much as when she'd first seen one that
morning.

Worn out from chasing the puppy across the
yard, the two girls dropped beside them. "You know you two still
haven't decided on a name for her," Angie told them. "If you call
her puppy much longer, she'll think that's her name."

Apparently sensing she was the topic of
discussion, the puppy draped both small paws over one of Angie's
outstretched legs and gazed up at her with sorrowful brown eyes.
Angie laughed and ruffled the silky hair around the dog's drooping
ears.

"Any suggestions, Chief Richardson?" she
asked Matt. He was lying on his back nearby, his feet crossed
casually at the ankle. "After all," she reminded him, "you bought
her."

He looked both lazy and relaxed, and at her
question he opened one eye and squinted up at her. "Not for me.
For the three of you."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "The least you
can do, then, is help us come up with a name for this poor
pooch."