Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (229 page)

That Kinda Love

Morning looked at her cell phone.  She wondered if she had the guts to call him after all this time.  She had been the one that had walked away.  It had been almost a year since she’d walked away from Parrish.  She wondered if he still thought about her, if he could possibly still love her the way that she loved him.

She had told him that she needed time to think and then ran off.  They’d been involved heavily for a few months.  She’d been terrified because she had never felt for anyone what she felt for Parrish.  She had had what she considered to be way too many boyfriends both in high school and in college.  By the time she met Parrish, she didn’t believe that any man was worth trusting.  But he had proved himself worthy of her trust again and again, and she had run away from him.

Morning sighed.  She closed her eyes and pictured his face.  Parrish was tall and thin with reddish blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.  He wasn’t her type.  She’d told him that over and over when he’d first asked her out.  She considered him to be too darned skinny.  She normally liked her men to be built and preferred both dark hair and eyes.  But he had been so sweet that she’d decided to give him a chance.  And it had been worth it.  The months that she’d spent with him had been the best in her life.  She’d been too afraid to say “I love you, too” when he’d told her that he loved her, but she had felt it.  She still felt it.

Morning opened her eyes.  She took a deep breath and let it out.  She wondered if Parrish would be home.  He didn’t believe in cell phones and still had an answering machine instead of voice mail.  She had teased him about living in the dark ages, but she secretly agreed sometimes that it was a pain to always have a phone on your person.  She understood the need for some people, but she didn’t think that your average person really needed to be connected 24/7.

She dialed his number from memory with a hand that had a slight tremble to it.  She shook her head at herself and listened to the phone ring. After five rings, his answering machine picked up.  She swallowed hard when she heard the familiar voice.

“You’ve reached Parrish.  This is Tuesday night so I am most likely bowling.  If you’re selling something, I’m not interested.  If this is Morning, I still love you.  Leave your name and number after the beep and I’ll get back to you.”

The phone fell out of Morning’s hand.  She looked at it lying on the floor and had the distant thought that she should pick it up.  But she couldn’t move.  She felt as if she could hardly breathe.  She was tempted to dial his number again, just to make sure that she had heard right, but she knew she had.  Parrish still loved her.  She lay back on the couch, not bothering with her phone.  She felt a smile come to her face, even as tears pricked her eyes.  He loved her after all this time.  What kind of man did it take to hang on like that she thought?

She found herself lost in a daydream of the first night they had made love.  It had been incredible.  Parrish was so sweet and so gentle.  He treated her as if she would break.  She’d teased him while secretly she’d been so touched that she could hardly stand it.  No other man had treated her like Parrish did.  He’d waited three months to make love to her.  She hadn’t held out that long since she was in high school.

She sat up on the couch and wondered how long she should wait to call him back.  There was no way she wasn’t calling him back now.  She had to tell him that she loved him too.  Her mind raced as she finished up her work for the evening.  She was lucky enough to work from home, and she made her own hours as long as her work was turned in on time. 

It took hours for her to fall asleep that night.  By the time she fell asleep, she was doubly glad that she made her own hours. 

The next day, she decided that she would wait until Friday to call him.  Wednesday and Thursday seemed to pass painfully slowly to her, and Friday felt like torture.  Finally, at a few minutes after 7 p.m. she picked up her phone and dialed Parrish’s number.  She was disappointed when it rang four times.  But by the time the machine had kicked on, she realized that she hadn’t known what she would say to him anyway.  She had rehearsed over and over in her head what she would say to him, but none of it sounded right.

She listened to his voice.  “You’ve reached Parrish.  This is Friday.  I’m going to be gone all weekend.  Please leave your name and number and I’ll call you when I get back on Sunday.  If this is Morning, I still love you.”

Morning cleared her throat.  When the beep sounded, she left her number and nothing else.  She hoped that he recognized her voice.  She smiled as she pushed end on her phone.  She was pretty sure that he would.

She finished up her work for the week by the end of the night.  Saturday she started packing.  She had decided that if Parrish wanted her to, she was going to go to him.  Her possessions would fit in the trunk of her car.  She had rented a furnished apartment that was month-to-month.  She could work anywhere.  She knew that Parrish was attached to the small town he had grown up in, and she’d liked it more than she usually wanted to admit, being a city girl herself.

Sunday evening her phone rang.  She felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest when she saw his name on the caller ID.  She picked up the phone, not bothering to say hello.  She was afraid that if she didn’t say what she needed to say, she would lose her courage.

“I love you Parrish. I’m sorry that I couldn’t say it before.  I want to be with you.  If you want me, I’ll come to you right now.  And this is not voicemail you’re talking to.  This is Morning and I will always love you.”

Parrish cleared his throat.  “You’re going to make me cry darlin’.”

Morning laughed.  “Big strong men that hunt and fish and bowl in a league and make their living with their hands don’t cry.”

Parrish chuckled.  “I’ve missed you.  So much.”

“The feeling is mutual Parrish, believe me.  I was chicken.  I ran away from you because I was afraid to feel what I was feeling.  I’ve never felt this way before.  I can’t believe that you’ve hung on for this long.  Any other man would have moved on.”

“I’m not any man.  I had to hang on.  I knew that you were afraid.  I will love you like no other man ever will.  Come back to me baby.  I’ll leave the light on for you.”

Morning smiled.  “How long have you had that message on your answering machine?”

“Since about two days after you left.  I held out hope for that long that you’d change your mind.  Then I realized that I needed to give you your space.  But I needed you to know that I still loved you.  Did you go back to Charleston?”

“No.  I don’t really miss home much.  I’m about six hours away from you.  I can leave right now and be there around midnight.”

“You gonna stick around this time?”  She could hear the smile in his voice. 

“Unless you decide you don’t want me to.”

Parrish chuckled.  “Don’t count on it darlin’.  If you can put up with me, I can sure as hell put up with you.”

Morning smiled.  “I’ll see you in a few hours.  I love you.”

“I love you too Morning.  I’ll be waiting.  Your side of the bed has been really cold without you.  I couldn’t bring myself to wash the sheets or the pillowcase until your scent had faded from them completely.”

Morning laughed.  “I’m not sure whether that’s really romantic or kinda gross.  Maybe a little of both.  I’m gonna let you go now Parrish.  I’ll see you soon.”

“Not soon enough darlin’.  I’ve waited for you for almost a year, don’t make me wait any longer.  Drive safely.  I’ll see you when you get here.”

“Bye Parrish.”

“No goodbyes anymore love.  I prefer ‘til we meet again.”

Morning shook her head.  “Okay Parrish.  Until we meet again.”

“You’d better get your pretty little butt here in the next eight hours or I’m gonna get in my truck and come looking for you.”

“I’ll be there.  I promise.”

“I’m holding you to that Morning.  Oh, you made the happiest man in the universe by the way.  But I’m letting you go now.  I’ve missed the sound of your voice, but I want you here beside me where you belong even more.”

“I’ll be there before you know it.”

“You’d better be baby.  I’ll see you.”

“That you will Parrish.”

Morning pushed end on her phone.  She had her trunk packed and was ready to go in less than half an hour.  She took one last look at the place she had called home for almost a year and smiled.  She wasn’t sad to be saying goodbye.  She had a much better life to say hello to.

The drive seemed to take forever and fly by at the same time.  When she pulled into Crestview, she smiled.  Everything looked just the same as she remembered it.  The small town locally owned businesses and the many churches.  She drove to Parrish’s house on streets that were empty since it was so late on a Sunday night. 

He was waiting on his front porch when she pulled into his driveway.  His grin was so wide that she thought it was going to split his face when he opened the car door for her.  He took her hand and then swept her right into his arms.  He kissed her slow and easy and then pulled back, cupping her face in his hands.

“You are a sight for sore eyes woman.”

She put her hand over his.  “So are you.  You’re even more handsome than I remembered you to be.”  She winked at him.

He shrugged.  “Me?  Handsome?  You gotta be kidding.”  He dropped his hands from her face and twined his fingers through hers.  “Let’s go inside.  We’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for.”

“My bags.”

Parrish shook his head.  “Your bags can wait darlin’.  My bed has been waiting for you for almost a year.”

She smiled.  “I love you Parrish.”

“I love you Morning.  I hope my boss can live without me for the next few days.  We’ve got a lot of love to make.”

She laughed as he let them into the house.  His dog Werner barked, and then wagged his tail in greeting.  He licked her hand.  “It looks like you’re not the only one that missed me.”

“He wouldn’t eat for almost a week after you left.  He missed his Mama.”

“You silly man.  Take me to bed.”

“That I can handle beautiful.”

They made love for hours.  Morning was so happy she could hardly stand it.  She couldn’t believe that she’d found the love that she was beginning to think didn’t exist anymore.  They were married six months later, and within a year she was pregnant.  Morning was sure that they had the kind of love that would last forever.

The Right Kind of Man

Forever was sitting in her living room alone.  It was Valentine’s Day, but she was thirty and unmarried so it certainly wasn’t the first lovers holiday that she had spent alone.  She sighed, and brushed a strand of dark hair out of her face.  She’d always thought that her hair was her best physical quality.  She certainly didn’t think it was her body.

Forever was overweight.  She hadn’t had a date in a year and a half.  She grown tired of dating men that thought she would put out on the first date because she was desperate.  Sometimes, she did feel a little desperate.  Tonight, she was just depressed.  She felt her mind drift to what she thought of as her untouchable crush at work.

His name was Shiloh and he was gorgeous.  They were both editors for a small book publisher.  Forever loved her job, even if some days she felt like she was being driven to insanity by the work of talented authors that was still riddled with grammar errors and typos.  Their lunch break was at the same time, so she saw him in the break room.  They’d talked, and were friendly, but Forever didn’t think she’d ever have a chance with a man like Shiloh.  Sometimes, she could fool herself into thinking that he was flirting with her.  Like at work that day when he had teasingly asked her if she had a Valentine.

Forever sighed again.  Maybe if she was thin, she could believe that Shiloh thought of her as more than an office buddy.  But Forever had not been thin since she was eight years old.  She had nice hair and pretty dark eyes, but she thought of herself as the girl that people said things about like “Oh she would be so pretty if she was thin” or “She’s cute for a fat girl.”  Forever was tired of it.  She’d tried to lose weight, but even when she did it always seemed to creep back up on her a few weeks or months later.

Shiloh was her age.  He was tall and had dark hair that was buzzed close to his scalp.  She normally preferred guys that had hair that was a least a bit longer, but it looked good on him.  Then again she thought any haircut would probably look good on Shiloh.  He was built like he worked out and had a tattoo on his neck.  He’d laughingly told her that it had hurt like hell to get it when she’d asked him about it.  He had pretty hazel eyes and a voice that she found to be musical. 

She had decided that it was time to retire to the bedroom when there was a knock at her door.  Her cat looked up from his perch on the arm of the couch and gave her a look that might as well have said “Are you going to get that?”

Forever wondered who it could be as she walked towards the door.  She had few friends, and most of them still lived back in their hometown or at least a lot closer than she did anyway.

As she opened the door, her heart started beating fast.  Shiloh was standing on her doorstep, holding a huge bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates.  She blinked at him, thinking that he might be a mirage, though they didn’t live in the desert.

He gave her a grin, showing dimples and straight white teeth.  “Hi.”

Forever couldn’t speak for a moment.  She just stared at him.  Then she cleared her throat, and decided that he felt sorry for her.  She couldn’t believe that he didn’t have a date on Valentine’s Day though.

“Hi.”

His grin faded.  “I’m sorry to bother you.  I’ll leave.”  He shoved the flowers at her.  “I wanted you to have these.”

As the flowers and heart shaped box of chocolates were in her hands, she paused.  She got the feeling that she had offended him.  “Shiloh wait.”

He turned back to her.  “I know that I shouldn’t have shown up on your doorstep on Valentine’s Day.  I got the crazy idea into my head that you might want to be my Valentine since you said you didn’t have one.”

Forever swallowed hard.  “You can come in.”

“Thank you.”

He followed her into the house and then shut the door behind them.  Mittens jumped up off of the couch and disappeared.  Shiloh sat down on the couch.  She cleared her throat again.  Her palms were sweaty and her heart was still pounding.  She couldn’t believe Shiloh was in her living room, especially when she was wearing a ratty pair of pajamas.

“I’ll be right back.  Would you like something to drink?”

“Water would be great.  Thank you.  Tap is fine with me.”

“I have bottled.”

Shiloh nodded.  He was starting to look very uncomfortable. 

Forever put the vase of flowers and the chocolates on the counter and then grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge.  She wanted to stay in the kitchen for a minute or two, maybe all night, but she took a deep breath, let it out and then went back to the living room.  She handled him the bottle of water.  She had no idea what to say to him. 

He took his coat off and draped it over the back of the couch.  She wanted to tell him to put it back on.  She could see his muscular arms.  His t-shirt was tight and it clung to his chest.  She looked away from him, feeling her face get hot.

“Forever?”

She licked lips that had gone dry and turned back to him.  “Yes?”

“Was I wrong to come here?  Well, I admit that I was probably wrong to come here.  I had to bribe Treya to give me your address.  I shouldn’t have done that.  But I always thought that you kinda liked me.  I could be wrong.  I’m wrong a lot.”

Forever closed her eyes.  When she opened them, he was still sitting there and he was giving her a concerned look.  “You weren’t wrong.”

“So, I like you and you like me.  I didn’t really want to ask you out at work.  There aren’t any real rules against it, but it’s still a little weird you know, even though the bosses are married.”

“Yeah.”  She paused, because what he’d said had just hit her.  “Wait, what do you mean you like me too?”

Shiloh laughed, though it sounded more than a little uncomfortable to Forever.  “I thought you would have figured that out by now.  I wanted to ask you out the first time I really talked to you.  You’re so pretty and so smart.  And you’re always so calm.  Some days, I want to take up smoking because the job drives me crazy.  You have these really talented writers.  Well, they’re not all talented, but I’m not the one who decides on what gets published so. . .  Anyway, you have these talented writers and you know they self-edit probably a bunch of times before we get handed their material, but sometimes it’s still riddled with stupid errors.  I get it, but it still drives me out my head some days.  You don’t seem to get like that though.”

“I do-believe me.  Why would a guy like you want to go out with a girl like me?”

He gave her a strange look.  “What do you mean a girl like you?”

“I’m fat in case you haven’t noticed.”  Forever looked away from him.  She knew that her face was really on fire now.

“I’ve always thought you were beautiful.”

Forever turned back to him and shook her head.  “Why would you want to go out with a fat girl when you could go out with a skinny girl that looks like a model?  You’re gorgeous.”

“Forever, I don’t choose my dates anymore based on the size of their waists or the size of their breasts or the size of their pocket books.  In high school, I went to bed with a lot of girls for stupid reasons.  In college, I did the same thing.  Hell, I was still screwing around with a bunch of girls two years ago just because I knew I could.  Then I looked at myself in the mirror and asked myself where it was getting me.  And the answer was simple.  It was getting me nowhere.  Or it would have eventually led to a worse place.  I would have gotten some random piece of ass pregnant and had to pay child support.  It’s not that I don’t want children.  But I want children with a woman that I love, that loves me back.  When I met you, I got this stupid idea into my head that you were the woman that would love me for who I am instead of the fact that she thinks I’m hot.”

“You are hot.”

Shiloh sighed.  “I get it.  I’m gonna go now.”

He stood.

“Wait.  I didn’t mean it like that.  You’re smart and you’re kind and you’re really good at your job.  I don’t like you just because I think you’re hot.”

He sat back down, giving her a grin that was almost shy.  “So will you go out with me then?”

“I can’t.”

He gave her a look that was full of confusion.  “Why not?  I like you, you like me.”

“In the last year and a half of being completely without a date, I’ve come to some decisions about my love life.”

“Okay.”  The confusion was still on his face.

“I decided that the men that I’ve been with fall into a few distinct categories.  Not that I’ve been with a lot of men, but anyway.  Some want maids, some think I’m going to be their mother, some are way too clingy and make me feel like I can’t breathe.  Others lie and cheat.  They usually look like you.  Or are really good looking like you.  I decided that I wanted a man that’s a real man.  I’m not a maid as you can probably see by the state of my house.  I don’t know how to be a mother.  I don’t want a man that’s always up my ass.  I’ve lived by myself for almost twelve years now and I need room to breathe.  I’m not going to let a guy lie to me and cheat on me just because I’m not so hot that I can just crook my finger and have another man in my bed.  I also decided that the man I want does not exist.”

Shiloh chuckled.  “You did huh?”

“I did.  Romance movies make me sick, even romantic comedies do.”

Shiloh brushed her hair out of her face.  “If you’ll give me a chance I can be that man for you.  I’m not perfect.  I probably need a maid since I’m not the greatest at housekeeping myself, but I wouldn’t expect you to clean my house for me because you were my woman.  I don’t need a mother.  Mine did just fine and she’s still there when I need her.  I can be a little clingy sometimes but if I get clingy tell me to back off.  I have cheated, I have lied but I’m trying to be a better man.  I’m not some guy out of a romance movie.  It took me a long time to pick out those flowers.  I think the salesgirl finally decided I was hopeless and she picked them out for me.  I want to be your man Forever.”  He chuckled.  “Your name kind of gives it a double meaning.”

Forever smiled.  “I guess it does.”  Her smiled faded.  “Are you sure you don’t have a secret wife or family?”

“I do not.  I promise you.”  He stuck out his left hand.  “See-no white band from where I took my wedding ring off.”

“Maybe you just don’t wear one.”  He gave her a look.  “I’m kidding Shiloh.”

“Can I kiss you?”

Forever bit her lip.  “I don’t know if that would be a good idea.”

“Are you weird about the whole working together thing?  I’ll quit.  I have a job offer at another publisher.  The pay isn’t quite as good since they’re new, but I’ll take it if it makes you feel better.  I really like you.  I haven’t been out on a date in nine months.  I was holding out the hope that you’d decide you wanted to go out with me.”

Forever laughed.  “You never asked me before.”

“I was hoping you’d ask me.  I was pretty sure that you liked me, but I didn’t want to make a fool of myself if you didn’t.  Some girls flirt when they think a guy is safe, I guess so their flirting skills don’t get rusty or something.  Then I decided that I might as well make a fool of myself by showing up on your doorstep and asking you to be my Valentine like we’re in second grade.”

Forever smiled.  “I will be your Valentine.  You don’t have to quit your job.  I love seeing you around the office.  Everybody else that works there seems so old and stuffy.  I would love for you to kiss me, but you’ve made me feel very vulnerable.  I’m afraid that a kiss would lead to something more.  I don’t want to be your one night stand.”

“I couldn’t make love to you and walk away.  I think I’m half in love with you already.  We don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with.  I admit that I haven’t had sex in a while and I have thought about what it would be like to make love to you on many a lonely night, but I don’t want to pressure you.  I want this to be right.”

“You sound too good to be true.”

Shiloh laughed.  “I’m not, believe me.  I snore, I’m terrible about taking the trash out, I spend too much money on stuff that I don’t need.  I steal the covers, and I think that it’s sexy to watch a woman’s panties spinning around in the dryer with my boxers.”

Forever laughed.  “I always knew you were a little weird.  You can kiss me.  But forgive me if I attack you and drag you to my bedroom.  I had a few glasses of wine earlier so my inhibitions are down and my hormones are already screaming at me.”

Shiloh smiled.  “I think I’ll survive if you do.  My hormones are pretty much on overdrive too.”  He winked at her.

Forever closed her eyes when she felt his lips touch hers.  It was an incredible feeling.  She felt like she was floating.  He was so passionate.  There was still a part of her that found it hard to believe that she’d made him feel that way.  But as he pressed her gently back onto the couch several minutes later, his erection was very evident. 

She let out a quiet moan and brought her hand to the crotch of his jeans.  He groaned. 

“Mmm.  Forever, were you serious about taking me to your bedroom?  I feel like I’m going to explode.”

She licked her lips.  “Oh yes.”

She took his hand and led her to her bedroom.  Mittens shot her a feline dirty look and ran out of the room.  Shiloh shook his head.  “I don’t think your cat likes me.”