Mistletoe Magic (18 page)

“I want to go back to Californ’ya!” Gretta chimed in.

“You can go visit your mother again in the summer,” Rafe told her.

“Are you gonna come too? Please, please, Daddy,” she begged.

“Maybe.”

“I wish we could live there,” Hank said with a sly expression. “The least you could do is take us yourself and see if you like it.”

“We might be able to drive out,” Rafe agreed.

Listening silently, Melissa quickly lost her appetite. Placing her fork on her plate, she stared at the veal.

“Oooh!” Gretta said, spitting out food and making a horrible face at her plate.

“What’s the matter, honey?” Rafe asked.

“It has mushrooms in it! They’re ugly! Yuk!”

Rafe looked. “Great. They’re small, but you won’t eat them, will you? Either I didn’t read the menu well enough or they’re not supposed to be there. I’ll get the waitress.”

“Wait a minute,” said Melissa, wanting to avoid attracting attention again. She’d had enough embarrassment for one night. “There are only a few of them,” she told Gretta. “We can pick them out.”

“I don’t want any mushrooms!”

“Scared to try something different?” Melissa asked, trying to challenge the child. “Remember the story I told you about the dragon and his tooth? About how he was scared of changes, of something new?”

“I’m not scared. I just don’t like ’em.”

“Then eat some and show us how brave you are. We don’t know if you can do it.”

“Can too!” Scooping up a large forkful, Gretta crammed the food into her mouth. “See?” she taunted, linguine sticking out of the sides of her mouth as she chewed vigorously.

In the meantime Hank was deliberately sorting through the pasta on his own plate, placing bits and pieces of food on the table. “What’s the matter with
you
now?” Rafe asked him.

“This has got mushrooms too. I hate mushrooms.”

“Come on. You’ve been eating them already,” Rafe said. “They can’t be that bad.”

“Here, Gretta. You can eat this since you like it so much.” With a powerful thrust Hank pushed the plate toward his little sister. But his aim was off. Before Melissa could grab it the heavy plate went over the edge of the table, depositing linguine like a pile of worms into her lap. Feeling like she was living in a nightmare, Melissa watched strands of pasta slither and slide off her corduroy skirt onto the floor.

“Yuk!” she exclaimed, using one of Gretta’s favorite words but wishing she could say something stronger.

“Whew! What a night. Thank God it’s nice and peaceful here.” Sitting in the rocker, Rafe glanced around Melissa’s living room as she served coffee with Amaretto on the side. “I’m glad we dropped Hank and Gretta off at the house. They were especially difficult tonight. But that’s the way kids get sometimes.”

Smiling slightly as she handed him a cup, Melissa said nothing. Did she understand? Living a singles life, she certainly hadn’t had the day-to-day hassles of being a parent. Would his kids’ less appealing behavior turn her off?

“I know I’m a little overindulgent with them. I’ve been thinking about that lately and how I ought to talk to them both. Of course problematic behavior is normal for my kids’ ages. And Hank and Gretta are dealing with the psychological trauma of divorce, as well.”

Melissa seated herself in the sagging director’s chair and sipped her coffee, a serious look on her face.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“What can I say? It sounds like you have it all figured out.”

“Are you being sarcastic?” he asked, wondering what she was getting at.

She sighed. “No, I’m being realistic. I think it’s time you were too—about me. Didn’t you notice how the kids acted toward me tonight? I don’t think they like me and we both should face the fact.”

“Is that why you’ve been so quiet? I told you the kids were tired. They got cranky.” She didn’t reply, merely gazing at him with solemn blue eyes. Rafe assured her, “You can’t take it personally. I’m sure Hank and Gretta like you. They get in their moods, but eventually they’ll come around.”

“You think so? It sounds like they’d rather move and take you to California to be with Nicole.”

“What? Are you worrying about my ex-wife now? I told you I have no interest in her.”

“But you
are
planning to take them to visit?”

“I was only humoring them when I said that.” Were there unshed tears glittering in Melissa’s eyes? he wondered. Was she really so insecure about him? Wanting to comfort her, Rafe rose to lift her from the chair into his arms. “You don’t need to be upset. You know I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I love you too.” Her voice was muffled against his chest. Sniffing a few times, she turned her face toward him and said, “I felt so lonely tonight, so left out.”

He stroked her soft hair. “I guess it must be difficult being involved with a man who already has a family and a troubled marital past.” She nodded, nestling into him with an unconsciously sensuous movement that made his heart skip a beat. “Everything will work out if we try hard enough, even dealing with the kids. It’ll take love, time, and lots of patience. We can’t give up so easily—that’s what you’d be doing if you took that teaching job in Pennsylvania.”

“You don’t want me to leave?”

“Of course not, and I don’t know why you’d want to go. Haven’t we got something special here? I want us to be together, Melissa. I want to be with you so much, I’ll take on any obstacle.”

Seeing her eyes light up at his words, Rafe lowered his mouth to kiss her. He wished he could ask Melissa to marry him now, but his better judgment told him to wait. It was too soon for a proposal. Years ago he’d made the mistake of rushing a confused Nicole into marriage. This time he wanted to make sure his new love was ready for long-term commitment—and the task of dealing with his kids. Wasn’t it enough for them to admit they loved each other at the moment, to agree to try to work things out?

“So you’ll forget that job offer?” he asked between kisses. “You’ll stay?”

“I never really wanted to take the job. I wanted you to tell me not to leave because our love is so important to you.”

“How could you doubt it?” he asked fiercely, tightening his hold as she slipped her arms about his neck. “Every little bit of you is important to me. This part…and this one here.” She giggled as he pinched her thigh, then cupped her buttocks with his warm hands. Holding her, he felt his heart beat erratically as his passion caught fire. Walking her slowly backward across the room, he lowered her gently onto the futon.

Melissa shivered as Rafe’s hand slid beneath her skirt and caressed her from knee to thigh. His fingers roamed possessively over her sensitive flesh, leaving burning trails wherever they touched her.

As she reveled in the delicious sensations, she was also aware of the emotions that had caused them to be amplified so greatly. Rafe had said he wanted her to stay in New York. He wanted them to be together and was willing to deal with any obstacles. With such love and determination, he’d surely be willing to recognize the problem with his children someday. Was he planning to ask her to marry him in the near future? She couldn’t help but be excited, although she hoped he’d wait until they’d cleared things up and she felt more comfortable.

Gazing lovingly up at him, she gently stroked his slightly beard-roughened cheek and brushed a lock of dark hair off his forehead. Rafe nibbled at her fingers when they glided over his mouth. Then she moved her hand lower and slid it up beneath his sweater, glorying in his firm muscles, in his smooth skin covered with springy chest hair.

Rafe moaned as her fingers brushed his nipples. “Watch out, little fairy. You’re flying too low. This big, bad elf’s going to get you.”

“You’re a prince,” she corrected him. “And the fairy’s after
you
.” Moving provocatively beneath him, she threw one leg over his hip and felt his arousal pressing hard against her inner thigh.

Quickly—it almost seemed magical—he’d divested them both of their clothing. But the magic didn’t stop there. Side by side, warm skin against skin, Rafe kissed her deeply, using his tongue and lips to coax forth exquisite fire. Melissa’s breasts seemed to swell beneath his erotic touch, her nipples tightening to hardened buds.

Drifting upward with her spiraling feelings, Melissa saw herself flying over a magical realm full of bright colors. When her lover wooed her flesh with his insistent mouth, seducing her with moist kisses scattered across her midriff and belly, she arched toward him, envisioning the curving rainbow on which her magical kingdom rested.

Rafe continued his loving homage, dipping his head ever nearer her feminine core. As his tongue and lips boldly caressed her there, Melissa’s vision began to whirl around them. Like a kaleidoscopic design, dazzling hues whirled and tossed. All of a sudden the rainbow shattered, its colors flaring in a brilliant flash of light.

When her breathing finally slowed, Melissa reached out for Rafe.

He had only begun. “I love you,” he whispered, moving over her. Enclosing her tenderly, he joined their bodies to thrust toward the inevitable union that was both earthly magic and yet vastly more than physical.

She watched the rainbow reform itself as he moved within her. Clasping him tightly, she wondered if they would scale the multicolored heights together.

But their erotic journey moved slowly, as if neither wanted it to end. Melissa clung to him, slipping her hands over and over along his damp skin, caressing him as she accepted his searching kisses. Time seemed to stop. Melissa was surprised when everything finally changed and the colors began to wheel and spin once more. Then they both cried out together.

Afterward they lay sated in each other’s arms. Holding her closely to him, Rafe growled, “I want a commitment from you.”

“Yes?” With a combination of thrill and dread, Melissa waited for the proposal she was sure would come. What would she say?

“From now on I want you to promise me you’ll discuss your doubts with me. You don’t have to use some out-of-state job offer to get me to tell you how I feel.”

Melissa hadn’t really intended to use the job in that way, but she was silent about it, happy that Rafe wanted to improve their communication.

“And when we have problems between us or with anyone else, we’ll discuss them openly and decide mutually on solutions.”

“That’s fine with me.” Perhaps now was the time to bring up the kids again, she thought.

But he continued, stating, “Then we both agree to making the commitment. In the meantime I promise to keep you warm. It’s getting cold in here.” Raising himself on his elbows, Rafe rearranged the bedclothes, tucking them around her.

Smiling at him outwardly, Melissa repressed a sigh that was a mixture of disappointment and relief. He hadn’t proposed after all. But she believed he would, just as he’d face the problems with his kids eventually. She was certain marriage was what Rafe intended for them. What else would a man want who admitted he liked to nest, loved kids, and had told Melissa he loved her and wanted them to be together? Would they have their own baby together someday? Simply thinking about it made Melissa feel happy. Unconsciously, she arched her hips against him.

“Again?” he asked. “I’m game.”

But the phone rang. “Damn!” cursed Rafe, looking around. “Why are we always being interrupted? Where’s your phone, anyway?”

“I’ll get it,” Melissa told him, scrambling up and stepping over his body. Bare feet chilled by the cold floor, she ran to the living room to pick up the receiver. “Hello?”

“I want to…to speak to my dad,” sobbed Hank.

“What’s wrong?” Melissa thought she could also hear Gretta crying in the background.

“Let me talk to Dad! It’s your fault, Melissa!”

When she motioned to him Rafe took only a few seconds to get to the phone. Feeling shaken by Hank’s tone and his accusation, Melissa listened, hearing something about mushrooms and food poisoning. As Rafe talked she threw on a pair of jeans and a blouse and got his clothes together.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Rafe promised, then hung up the receiver. Grabbing his pants and sweater from Melissa, he dressed quickly. “Come on. Hanks says they have botulism from eating the mushrooms. I’ll have to take them to the hospital.”

“Botulism? That’s caused only by canned foods. I’m sure those mushrooms were fresh,” she said, but Rafe was already racing out the front door. Hurrying out into the night, they jumped into his car to speed toward the Damon house.

“If it isn’t botulism it could be some other kind of food poisoning. Where the hell was Louise?” Rafe muttered, sweat beading on his brow. “Hank said she stepped out. She should have checked on them before she left.”

“How do you know she didn’t? And maybe she had a quick errand.”

“This late?” He checked his watch. “It’s almost midnight.”

As he swerved to miss a pedestrian Melissa held her breath. “Try not to worry. I’m sure we’ll get there on time.” She attempted to soothe him.

“I can’t help but be worried.”

Leaving the car in a no-parking zone, they ran into the town house and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Once there, they found the place in an uproar.