Back to December (Ward Sisters Book 1) (26 page)

“Well, thank you, then.” They were at the limo and as they sat down, she asked, “Has Rob always been insecure?”

“Yeah. I think he still feels like the geek at the cool kids' table.”

“Even though he's been a movie star for almost ten years?”

“He doesn't think of himself that way, Em. It's probably a good thing he doesn't. He could be a total douche like half the guys in Hollywood with a quarter his fame and a tenth of his paycheck. And unlike those guys, he'd probably be worthy of it.”

“He's pretty amazing.”

“He's a good friend. If I say he's amazing, that makes me sound like a fangirl.”

“Well, I wasn't a fangirl before I met him.”

“And that's one of the many reasons he loves you.”

“He told you?”

“I've known him a long time, he didn't have to. Did he say it?”

“On Christmas Eve.” The limo pulled up to the museum. “I didn't tell him yet. Not while he was awake.”

Liam grinned. “Did the old while you were sleeping thing, huh?”

She smiled. “Something like that.”

He opened the car door. “You'll get there, Em. Just enjoy it. Don't worry so much about the details. And don't let his insecurities weigh you down. It helps him stay humble. He's not the jealous type. He just doesn't always feel worthy in the presence of someone he thinks is beautiful inside and out.”

As she stepped out of the car, Emily blushed and said, “Thanks.”

She hoped Liam knew she meant for all of it.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, New Year's Eve...

The week went by so fast, Emily nearly got whiplash. She had half a dozen interviews, photo shoots and final plans for the gala. She had to handle a temperamental DJ, who had been chosen because he was a little avant-garde, which fit in with the whole Fluxus concept. He almost backed out at the last minute, which left her scrambling. Then catering had a problem with a spinach supply for the salad, so they decided to switch to some funky new salad the catering chef suggested.

Thank God this was a Fluxus event; anything that might seem odd or out of place anywhere else would just seem like it was a quirky salute to the movement. Or something. Whinging it was very much a Fluxus thing. And Em was beginning to realize that there had been some latent personality trait within her which had been attracted to Fluxus in undergrad and led her to make it part of her graduate work.

Every night she came home to Rob and she felt like the most cherished person in the world. He was always so thrilled to see her, willing to wait for her to eat, rub her shoulders if she was tense. He made sure she had lunch every day, even on the days when she wasn't in the office. She had a tiny break mid-week and it happened to coincide with a break for Rob. They met for lunch back at the hotel and instead of eating, they made love. The old Emily would never have done something like that. The new Emily would like to do it all the time.

A couple days before the gala, Em got a text from Amy which said they had waxing appointments that afternoon. Apparently, Becky had been consulted on the schedule to make sure it worked. Emily had forgotten that part and dreaded it. At least she could go with Amy, who had  done this many times. She was surprised to see Anja and Kelly also sitting in the limo. The four of them had fun and joked the whole time, which made the entire experience a lot easier for Emily.

By the time New Year's Eve day arrived, Emily was a panicky mess. Every morning that week, Rob woke her early to make love and start her day right. But that morning, she was so nervous about the gala, she got out of bed before he was awake and started making a to-do list for the day. She was running through her list for the sixth time when she felt his hands on her shoulders and she jumped.

“God, Rob, you scared me.”

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I wasn't trying to be stealthy. Are you okay?”

“Just freaking out a little. If I screw this up, not only will I not get promoted, but I probably won't have a job, either.”

He rubbed her shoulders. “Em, relax. You've got everything running smoothly. I'm sure if something goes wonky, people will think it's on purpose.
Not
that I think anything will go wonky.” He turned her around. “Come back to bed.”

“I can't. I've got too much to do.”

“Come back to bed,
please
.”

“But...”

“Please. I only get you for one more week. And you need a stress reliever.”

She nodded. He pulled her from the chair, kissed her lips, then took her hand and led her back to the bedroom. He slowly took off their clothes. Em wanted to just get to it so she could go back to work, but he refused to go faster.

Rob turned her so that she was facing away from him, her back to his front. He swept her hair off her neck and placed slow and sensual kisses right near her ear. She melted. Then he let his hands wander across her shoulders, down along her ribcage, grazing her breasts. When he got to her hips, he let his right hand slide down until he was touching her and his left came up quickly and cupped her breast. She gasped. All the while, he still kissed her neck. Her bones felt like jelly. She allowed herself to sink into him and she could feel him pressing against her. All of a sudden, the lust took over and she wanted him. Now.

“Take me. Please,” she moaned.

“Not yet,” he whispered. He rubbed her vigorously.

“You're going to make me come.”

“I know. That's the idea.”

“I want you to be inside me when I come.”

“I will. I'll make you come again.”

Emily whimpered. Just the idea excited her. “I'm so close, Rob. Make love to me, please.”

“Just let go and let it take you. Stop fighting it, Emily.”

“I can't...”

“You can.” He rubbed her harder, faster. “Come for me,” he whispered.

That sent her over the edge.

She felt it surge through her, and before she could come down, Rob had her on her back on the bed, plunging inside.

Em gasped. It didn't hurt, but she was so swollen with her orgasm that she felt every inch pressing into her. He gave her a moment to enjoy the sensation and then he was thrusting, hard and fast.

Emily found herself making noises she would never imagine could come from her. It was different than it was when he made her come twice in the past. Instead of having a second, less intense orgasm, this time, she came hard, felt it ripple through her whole body, as though she hadn't even come the first time. Barely able to breathe, she couldn't scream.

Instead, Rob cried out for them both.

He pulled out after a few seconds, flopping onto the bed beside her, feet dangling. “My God, woman, when you fight it like that, you destroy me.”

Emily turned to him, concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I meant that in a good way. You make my orgasms incredibly intense when you do that. It's not bad. It just knocks me off my feet.”

“Mmm. Me too. I needed that. Thanks.” Her lips brushed his.

“Anytime. Think you can stop freaking out now?”

“I think so. I got sucked into the Old Emily for a minute there. New Emily is trying to remember that she can't control everything and in this particular instance, it's not only not a big deal, it's par for the course to have unexpected things happen. If I don't freak out, I can enjoy it and actually get excited. I can't wait for you to see my dress.”

“Yes, you've been surprisingly quiet about it. I'm very curious. I'm sure you'll be fabulous. Christopher always does fabulous.”

“I resisted the urge to look for photos of you online. Charlie said you look good in Armani and I wanted to see for myself. But I waited. I want to see the real thing in person and be surprised.”

“I'm nothing special. Just a guy in a suit. It happens at black tie events everywhere.”

“Yeah, but you're my guy in a tux and I find that idea excites me so that I need a fan.”

“Like men in suits, do you?”

“God, yes. And you're pretty fantastic naked, so I'm sure you look amazing in a tux.”

“Well, I can't wait to see you in the shoes. I asked Christopher which ones he got, but he wouldn't say. Said you had to tell me yourself.”

“Oh, you'll like them. And the dress. Speaking of which, I've got a lot on my plate today before I have to start getting ready, so I should get moving.”

There was a knock at the door and Rob jumped up, tossed the condom and threw on his robe. It made Em think of that first morning, which made her laugh. She looked at the clock. It was only 6:30. He had gotten breakfast earlier, knowing she would want to leave early. How did she ever deserve him?

Rob came back to the bedroom, saying, “Come eat and I'll get out of your way so you can leave early today. And don't forget to skip the hair washing.”

“This isn't my first formal dance, sexy man. But thanks for the reminder.” She kissed him quickly and went to eat breakfast

As she sat to eat, Emily could hear the shower running and she wished she was in there with him. Em shook her head. Less than half an hour earlier, she had been so consumed with work that she couldn't think about anything else. Now she seriously considered taking breakfast with her and just jumping in the shower with Rob. How did he do that? Even when she was first seeing Josh, she never felt compelled to focus on him instead of her studies. And here Rob was, getting her to consider him instead of work when she had the biggest day of her career ahead of her.

And she couldn't even blame him! It wasn't as if he was intentionally trying to make her care more about him than work – he had ordered breakfast earlier, had left her to eat on her own and went to shower so he'd be out of her way – but he still consumed her thoughts.

Emily walked around the living room with her coffee, looking at all of Christin Willow's paintings again, so that she could redirect her focus and have something to discuss with the artist at the gala. Then she went into her room – her walk-in closet, more like – to look at the Dina Hemingway photos.

She'd walked off that plane just over a week ago. Not one minute of her life since then had felt like it was hers. And yet, every minute of her life since then felt like it was hers.

Charlie had been right; some parts of who she was before were Emily and not her mother's creation. The real challenge now was going to be to sort out which ones were which.

It had to be put on hold for today, however. Time was wasting, and it was her turn to shower. She hoped Rob was dressed, because otherwise, she wouldn't make it into work early.

Several hours later, last-minute crises averted and plans in place, Emily returned to the hotel. Everyone was getting ready in the suite, but since the women took a lot more preparation, the men weren't set to arrive until an hour before they were ready to leave. When she got to the suite, it was a bustling hive as a huge team of Christopher's minions attended to each of the Deacon women.

It reminded Emily of her senior prom, when all three Ward girls attended. Charlie had been a freshman and it was the year before she met Dan. Both Emily and Annie were dating seniors and Charlie's boyfriend was a junior. Her mother made an exception to the no dates until you're 16 rule and allowed Charlie to go to the prom.

Charlie had a regional track meet that day, so the early part of the day had been focused on sports. But as soon as she was done, the three girls hurried to salon appointments and then back to their parents' house to get ready. They helped with each other's makeup, did last-minute hair fixes and bubbled with excitement. It was one of the happiest memories from Emily's youth.

This day could have made Em feel like the odd man out, since she was the stranger in the group. After all, Kelly and Rick had been together for sixteen years and she had been a fixture around the Deacon house for years before that. But all three women made her feel like a real part of their family. If anything, the whole experience gave her a closer bond with them.

By the time all the primping and fussing was nearly done, the men had arrived for their turn. While Em felt close to the women and had no trouble stripping down in front of them, she thought it might be a little weird to see the other men in their skivvies, so she went to the kitchen.

Kelly followed her, toting a glass of champagne. “Didn't want to watch the boys strip?” she joked.

Em laughed lightly. “I haven't known them long enough, I guess.”

Kelly waved her off. “They all wear boxers. It's no different than seeing them in swimsuits. When you're here this summer, you'll get to see Raoul in his Speedo. Now
that
is something to see.”

Em laughed harder. “He wears a Speedo?”

Kelly laughed, too. “Not all the time. But he likes to do laps and he insists that it's harder to get a good workout in trunks. Personally, I don't complain. That man has a swimmer's body and if you like that sort of thing – which I do – he's lovely to look at.”