Midnight Promises (4 page)

“Not with Mary Vaughn, I hope,” she said, thinking of how Dana Sue didn’t trust her husband anywhere near the Realtor, even now that Mary Vaughn had been happily reunited with her ex-husband and they had a second, late-in-life child together. Mary Vaughn had a bad habit of going after Ronnie whenever she sensed he might be vulnerable. In theory, she’d given up. In practice, who knew?

Elliott smiled at her reaction. “I believe they have been suitably chaperoned on every occasion,” he said. “Between a new baby and trying to train Rory Sue to become a Realtor, Mary Vaughn has plenty on her plate these days without going after Ronnie again.” He shook his head. “You women have really long memories, don’t you?”

“When it comes to the way she pursued him for years, we do,” Karen confirmed. “Something for you to remember in case there are any old flames of yours lurking about that you’ve neglected to mention.”

“None,” he said swiftly.

She patted his cheek. “Good to know.”

Before he could continue to fill her in on the plans for the gym, their pizza arrived from Rosalina’s. Karen put her salad on the table, poured a couple of glasses of wine, and then they sat at the kitchen table. After she’d taken her first bite of pizza, she noticed Elliott’s gaze on her.

“What?” she asked.

“I know the reason for this intimate little dinner wasn’t exactly romantic, but I have to admit, it’s very nice to have my wife entirely to myself for a couple of hours with no little potential interruptions underfoot.”

She smiled at the heat in his voice and the unmistakable desire in his eyes. He’d always been able to make her feel incredibly special and desirable with exactly that look. Even now she let it get to her and take the edge off her earlier anger.

“Then it’s a good thing Frances has offered to give us a night just like this one every week,” she told him. “If we can get your mom on board, too, for another night, maybe we’ll have the time we need to get ourselves back on track.”

“Do you really think we’ve been that far off track?” Elliott asked, clearly thrown by her choice of words.

“Far enough,” she told him candidly, then added, “You know what destroyed my first marriage. Ray got us into terrible debt that I knew nothing about, then bailed on me. He didn’t even stick around long enough to help dig us out of financial ruin. That was all on me. All I could think about when I heard about this gym was that the same thing was happening all over again. I know it was irrational, but it was like this terrible flashback and I couldn’t help panicking, Elliott.”

Though he had every reason to be offended by the unjust comparison, he merely leveled a look into her eyes. “First of all, I will never be irresponsible about our money,” he assured her. “And second, no matter how hard things get or how many disagreements we have, I will never bail on you. When I married you, it was forever,
querida.
”

Karen heard the sincerity behind the promises, knew that he meant them with all his heart, but history had taught her that even the best intentions weren’t always enough. The proof would be in what happened in their relationship from here on out.

* * *

Though he’d seen the anger die in Karen’s eyes and felt certain the worst was over, Elliott also knew his wife well enough to know that he needed more time to make amends. While she was in the kitchen cleaning up, he made a quick call to his mother.

“
Mamacita,
can you keep Daisy and Mack with you for the night?” he asked in an undertone.

“Of course,” she said at once. “And why are you whispering?”

“I’m not sure how Karen will feel about me farming them out with you.”

Immediately on high alert, she said, “Are the two of you fighting about something? I had the sense when she called earlier and asked if I could keep them a few hours longer that she wasn’t hoping for a romantic evening with her husband.”

Elliott knew better than to drag his mother into the middle of any problems he and Karen might be having. The two women had come to an uneasy truce, and it wouldn’t take much for it to be lost. “Will you keep Daisy and Mack, Mama? Please.”

Apparently she understood that she would learn no more about his reasons for asking, because she immediately said, “Of course. Shall I see that they get to school in the morning? They have clothes here. Your sister can pick them up and take them. Adelia’s children go to the same school.”

“If you wouldn’t mind, that would be great,” he said. “
Gracias,
Mama.”

“Da nada.”
She hesitated only a moment before adding, “And, Elliott, whatever is wrong, make it right.”

“I intend to,” he said at once.

He hung up, then went into the kitchen where he took the dish towel from his wife’s hands. “Sit,” he said. “I’ll finish cleaning up.”

She regarded him with amusement. “Let’s see now. The trash has been thrown out. The dishes are washed. Just what is it you intend to do?”

“I’ll finish drying the dishes,” he said at once, backing her up until she was trapped between him and the counter. “And then I plan on having dessert.”

“Dessert?” she asked, her eyes widening, her breath hitching. “What exactly do you have in mind? There’s no ice cream in the freezer. I checked. You and the kids ate the last of it.”

“But you’re here,” he said. “I can’t imagine anything tastier,
querida.
”

His softly spoken words lit a fire in her eyes. “Shouldn’t you be going to pick up Daisy and Mack?” she asked. “They shouldn’t be out too late on a school night.”

“They’re being safely tucked into bed at my mother’s right this minute,” he assured her. “And since it seems we’re past the point when you intend to banish me to spend the night over there with them, I was hoping we could make the most of having the rest of the night to ourselves.” He searched her face. “You have forgiven me, haven’t you?”

“Mostly,” she conceded.

“But not entirely?”

“I’m going to need proof that you’ve learned your lesson,” she said.

“I doubt I can come up with the proof tonight,” he lamented.

“True. Only time will tell.”

He ran a finger along her jaw, felt her pulse scramble. “And until then?”

Slowly, her arms circled his neck, and she molded herself to him. The way they fit together was enough to have his blood pounding.

“Until then,” she said slowly, her lips touching his, “we can try this whole dessert thing and see how it goes.”

He smiled against her lips. “I already know how it’s going to go,” he told her. “I’m going to make love to my wife until she screams and begs for more.”

She leaned back and regarded him with amusement. “I
never
beg.”

“Bet I can change that,” he said, already dipping his hand inside her panties, watching as her eyes drifted closed and her body responded to his touch.

Even when her breathing turned shallow and her skin glowed with a soft sheen of perspiration, to her credit, she didn’t beg.

Instead, she clung to his shoulders, wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him until he was the one ready to beg for mercy.

As he walked to the bedroom with her in his arms, he thought for the thousandth time how lucky he was to have found her. She was sugar to his spice, sweetness to his passion.

And, then, just when he least expected it, she turned the tables on him, showing him unexpected heat that took his breath away. The give-and-take between them, at least in this area, was the kind that every man dreamed of.

As for the other give-and-take, the kind of communication and sharing that kept a marriage solid, he still had work to do on that, as today had shown. But for this, to keep this woman happy and content in his arms forever, he’d do whatever it took.

* * *

Karen still had questions, a lot of them, in fact, but just as she’d noted earlier, Elliott had a way of making her forget everything except the way it felt to be the center of his world.

She’d been terrified of the passion he stirred in her when they’d first met. She hadn’t been ready to let herself fall so completely, head-over-heels in love, not when her experience with marriage had been so disastrous. She’d kept Elliott at arm’s length, had almost lost him because of it, in fact. In the end, though, it had been Frances who’d made her see that he was her second chance.

She’d had a lot of second chances back then. Helen had negotiated one for her at Sullivan’s when Dana Sue had been about to fire her. Helen had also rushed to the rescue when stress had brought Karen close to an emotional breakdown that could have cost her the children. Helen had taken in Daisy and Mack, seen to it that Karen got the support she needed, then reunited them when the time came.

Then, during that terrible time when she’d been at her absolute lowest, she’d met Elliott, a man not only strong, but quietly confident, persistent and with a generous, open heart. While he’d built up her physical strength during workouts at the spa—a gift from Helen, Dana Sue and Maddie—he’d also built up her battered ego whenever she’d let him.

It had been so hard for her back then to trust that what he’d felt for her so quickly could be real. She hadn’t trusted her own feelings at all. And when his mother and sisters had objected strenuously to his involvement with a divorced woman, she’d seized it as the perfect excuse to run.

Thank God, he hadn’t let her run far. Surprisingly, the love between them had given her the confidence to face down his mother, to win her over and make her, if not a friend, at least an ally.

Now, lying beside him in bed, still warm from their lovemaking, she felt his gaze on her.

“What’s on your mind,
querida?
” he asked, studying her intently as his hand rested on the curve of her hip. The touch was gentle, possessive.

“Just thinking about how we got here,” she admitted. “How did you know we belonged together?”

He smiled at the question. “The first time I saw you, you stole my heart,” he said simply. “You were in my blood.”

“Why didn’t I know it that first instant, too?” she wondered. It had always bothered her that he’d been so sure, while she’d been so scared.

“You did,” he corrected.

“Absolutely not,” she argued.

His smile spread. “People only run so hard when they’re afraid,
querida.
And they are only afraid of feelings so powerful they can’t control them.”

She met his gaze, laughing. “Now, you’re just being smug.”

“No, I am being smart and right,” he teased. “Admit it. You were at the very least in lust with me from that first day at the spa. You didn’t want to be, but you were.”

Still chuckling, she nodded. “Okay, I’m like every other woman in there. Maybe I was just a little in lust.” She studied him. “But it was more than that for you, and I still can’t figure out why. What did you see in me? I was a wreck back then.”