Better Than Before (RightMatch.com Trilogy) (26 page)

o0o

Spence was seething at the family table, waiting for Annie to come back. She’d turned red when she’d seen Kennedy with her friends and it made him livid to think why. He spotted her wending her way toward them, carrying a plate heaped with food, no longer as flushed or upset. Still, her reaction infuriated him.

She sat down as his brothers were making small talk. Cole asked, “So, Joe, how are the dancer and the masseuse?”

“I’m only talking to Dana now. I haven’t gotten the nerve up to ask for a date, though.”

“Losing your touch?”

“I don’t see you with any babe.”

He winked at Annie. “Well, if I could have Annie, I’d never want go anywhere alone. What do you say, doll?”

Annie gave Cole a flirty smile. “You mean ditch Spence for you tonight?”

“There seem to be a lot of men here she’d rather be with than me.”

Conversation stopped dead. Spence scanned the table. His family’s abhorred and surprised expressions made him say, “Excuse me a moment.”

Snapping his napkin onto the table, he stood and strode out of the ballroom to the bar down the hall. He ordered a drink and told himself to calm down. Damn it, he’d upset his family. He tried hard not to make them unhappy, especially his mother, and he’d acted like an ass. Because of the woman who appeared in the bar doorway.

She crossed the room and sat on the stool next to him. “What was that all about?”

“I apologize for my rudeness. I spoke without thinking.”

“I don’t want an apology. I want an explanation.”

He never explained himself. Never. “I…” Her confusion made him madder. “Damn it, Annie, how can you not know?”

“I assume this has to do with Keith.”

“Try how obvious you were in wanting to be at that table with them. Wanting to be with
him
again.”

“I didn’t want to be at that table. And I certainly didn’t want to be with Keith. But I’ve never seen them all together.”

“And it hurt you.”

“Of course it hurt me. Why wouldn’t it?”

How could that admission hurt
him
so much? “Tell me the truth, Annie. If you could have Kennedy back—which I get vibes from him that you could—would you do it? Would you resume your old life with him and your friends?”

“I don’t want Keith back, Spence. And I don’t need him to have my friends.” The exasperation in her tone increased. “I’d never choose that lifestyle again. You know that.”

“He lives in the same world I do. Some of your old life is coming back, whether you like it or not.”

Glancing around, she asked, “Do you really want to have this conversation here?”

“Yes.”

“All right. I’m doing my best to compromise, but that’s all it is. I’m not fitting into your life completely. I don’t want this…” she gestured to the bar, the country club “any more than I want Keith. Is that clear?”

Once again, her rejection of certain pieces of him cut him to the quick. And had him falling into old patterns by withholding a part of himself. He was trying to open up more, but he couldn’t fully do that knowing she didn’t completely accept him. What if he lost her in the end after he’d changed to suit her?

She gave in first and grasped his hands. “Spence, please, let’s not discuss this any further. You’re ruining your own party.”

 “I…” This was hard to admit. “I was jealous.”

“I can tell. You’re going to have to control that for our relationship to work out.”

He fought the urge to tell her no one gave him ultimatums.

She leaned in and whispered, “I’d rather be with you more than any man I know. And I can’t wait till we leave here and I can go to bed with you.”

What remained of his pique subsided. “Me, too, love. Me, too.”

o0o

That night, the lovemaking wasn’t sweet and tender, as it had been the last time. Both Annie and Spence stumbled in the front door and kissed their way through a condo she didn’t even notice, into a bedroom where only the bed was important.

They stripped themselves, then tumbled onto the mattress together. Spence was voracious as he kissed every inch of her. She wouldn’t be still, though. She clutched and clawed and drank her fill of him, too.

When he took her by standing on the side of the bed, her legs draped over his shoulders, she had only a few seconds to think that she’d never made love this way, that she was completely open and vulnerable to him. He plunged into her hard, harder, as hard as he could until they exploded together in a miasma of pleasure and both lost consciousness.

Chapter 14

“When’s he getting here Mommy?” Hope watched out the living room windows from where she knelt on the couch. “He’s late.”

Spence had promised to come over after work, with a surprise, he’d said, the one that he’d planned with her daughter.

“He just got back today from a trip to New York. He probably has a lot to catch up on at the office.”

Hope made an impatient sound.

“I think I’ll go find Alex, honey. Keep an eye out for Spence.”

After checking the play area, she headed to her son’s room. The door was ajar, and she heard him talking on the phone. He’d taken the cordless in there and he was sitting on the floor, against the wall. “I don’t care,” he said, his voice raised. “I’m not gonna pretend it isn’t going on.”

Someone must have spoken on the other end.

“Mike, listen. It’s not right.”

Uh-oh. She recalled what Alex had said about privacy. Though she was dying to listen to the rest of the conversation, to find out more about what was happening to him, she’d promised Alex space. So she knocked.

He glanced up, said, “I gotta go,” and ended the call. His expression was inscrutable.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Annie told him. “I came looking for you and only overheard part of the conversation. To respect your privacy, I let you know I was here.”

Alex only shrugged.

Crossing the room, she sat down next to him and leaned against the same wall. His G.I. Joe collection was eye level on a lower bookshelf. She and Keith had fought about him having war toys. In the end, Keith had won, but Alex hadn’t played with them much.

“Who were you talking to?”

“Mike, but it wasn’t about me. I told you, I’m cool. Please Mom. Leave it alone.”

“Just know your father and I are here for you if you want to talk more.” Annie had said that before but intended to repeat the message until Alex confided in them. She thought of something else. “Did Dad sign you up at the club for self-defense lessons?”

“I don’t need them.”

The doorbell rang and Alex brightened. “That’s Spence.” Bolting up, he rushed out of the room.

For a moment, Annie wondered if she’d done the right thing in telling him she was there but not pushing. Or if she should have found out what was going on by eavesdropping. Yet, he had opened up a little bit and it was probably because he felt he could trust her.

Shouts of glee and excited barking drew her out of Alex’s room. From the top of the stairs, she saw Spence hunkered down on the floor, Hope on one side of him, Alex standing nearby and, of course, Jake nudging his leg. Several brown paper bags and what appeared to be rock salt rested at Spence’s feet.

Annie felt a familiar flash of irritation. What had he done now that he hadn’t asked her about? Damn it, they’d covered this ground. Still, she didn’t want another fight, so when she descended the stairs, she said, “Hi, there. What’s going on with all this stuff?”

Hope leaned over and said in not so much of a whisper, “Can I tell her now?”

“Uh-huh.”

“We’re gonna make homemade ice cream for you, Mommy.”

o0o

Spread out on the kitchen table were the ingredients needed to make ice cream. Spence had stowed the crushed ice in the freezer.

“How come you know how to do this?” Alex asked, obviously impressed, though he seemed to be trying hard for adolescent nonchalance. He reminded Spence a bit of Joey.

“It was in my
HighPoints
magazine,” Hope said. “See, I told you it wasn’t for babies.”

“Dork,” Alex muttered.

“Let’s concentrate on the ice cream, guys.” Spence had ditched his tie, taken off his suit coat and rolled up his shirt sleeves. Propping up
HighPoints
in front of them, he opened to a page he and Hope had found that first day he’d come for lunch.

“Everybody take a quart bag, pour in the milk and either the vanilla extract or chocolate syrup, depending on which kind you want. This recipe makes individual servings. Next time, maybe we can get creative with other flavors or work in larger amounts.”

Annie helped Hope with the measurements and milk, but Alex wanted to do his alone. She kept stealing glances at Spence, which he returned. The warm look of approval from her made his heart swell. For a minute, when she was standing on the steps, he thought she was annoyed, that she was going to criticize this, too. And it pissed him off. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to organize the activity for her daughter. But now, Annie seemed happy about it, so he concentrated on that.

When the kids had followed his instructions, he told them to seal the small bag completely. The ice cream would be ruined if the contents leaked during the next step.

“Alex, would you get the ice out?”

Her son did as he was asked and helped Spence pour rock salt and ice into the gallon bags—lots of it, the directions said. Then Spence told them to put the smaller bag inside the larger one, and he sealed Hope’s himself.

“Now the hardest part.” He read from the magazine. “Agitate, massage and shake the bag for ten to fifteen minutes. You’re mixing the contents of the smaller bag, but be careful you’re not too rough. Both bags have to stay intact.”

It started off easy enough. All of them were intent on their task, making comments, joking. Annie’s smile never dimmed, which pleased him to no end. But soon, Hope said, “My hands are cold.”

Spence picked up one of the four dish towels he’d asked for. “Use this, honey.”

Annie said, “You too, Alex.”

They all wrapped their bags in towels, as the contents really were uncomfortably cold.

A few minutes later, Hope whined, “My hands are too tired.” Spence saw the shaky pout start in her lower lip. “I wanna finish, but I can’t.”

He dragged Hope’s chair close to his. “We’ll work together.”

She let him do the massaging, with a little help from her now and again. In fifteen minutes, everybody had ice cream to eat but Spence.

“Hope can share hers with me, then I’ll finish up mine, and we can have that if we’re still hungry.”

“You like your surprise, Mommy?” Hope asked when they were putting the dessert into bowls.

“Yes, sweetheart, I love my surprise.” She was staring at Spence as she said the words, her face filled with gratitude and maybe even a bit of love mixed in. He’d never felt more of a hero.

Once they cleaned up and Annie got the kids settled upstairs, she joined Spence in the living room, where he was reading a newspaper, the dog next to him on the cushion. Her expression was even more soft and tender, and he felt himself respond physically to it. She crossed to him and sprawled on his lap. Mischief lit her face when his erection pressed into her bottom. Into his ear, she said, “Who knew ice cream could be so sexy? I’m ready to make love, too.”

He groaned. “We could sneak out to my car and take care of this in the backseat.”

She giggled. “You do love those car sessions.”

Drawing back, she gently touched his cheek. He kissed her palm. “Thank you for what you did for the kids. They loved it, even Alex.”

“I didn’t do it only for them.”

“I know, and I appreciate it.”

“Do you? At first you seemed wary.”

“I have to confess I was. I’m not used to decisions being made about my kids without my knowledge.”

“It was ice cream, Annie.” He was annoyed by her comment.

“I know. I didn’t say my reaction was right. I’ve been thinking a lot about this and figured out I’ve never shared my children with a man other than Keith. I’m working on being more low key with them. Mostly for you. For us.”

He sighed. “Oh, hell. Maybe I’m not being patient enough.” He met her forehead with his. “I’ve never had anybody before be so critical of what I do.”

“Is that how you see me? As critical?”

“Sometimes. And it’s hard for me. I need to have some amount of trust from you. I’m constantly on edge that I’m going to do something wrong and I despise that.”

Drawing back, she searched his face. Then she slid off his lap, went to the bookcase and pulled out another
HighPoints
magazine. She flipped through it and tore a page out, then returned to the couch. She shooed Jake away, sat and gave Spence half of the paper. He recognized the content immediately. “Free passes? Hope showed me these.”

“I’m giving you four free passes to let me down.” She held up the rest of the sheet. “And I get them, too. Now we can work these inevitable bumps out.”

He grasped her neck and brought her close. “That’s a sweet thought.”

“I want this to work between us, Spence. More and more every day. I’m willing to do my part.”

And that, he thought as he kissed her again, was enough progress for today.

o0o

Annie flew into Spence’s office and threw herself into his arms. “I got it!”

“Oh, honey, that’s wonderful. Though I’m not surprised.” He held her tightly, even twirled her around once.

“It’s for kindergarten like I wanted, maximum class-size sixteen. And it’s in a suburban school ten minutes from our house.” She hugged him hard. “I’m so happy. I waited so long to have my career again, and now I’m going to get it.”

His assistant, who’d shown her in, was still at the door, her expression bewildered. “Spence,” she said, “you’re expected at the partners’ meeting now.”

“Tell them I’ll be a few minutes late and to start without me.”

When the woman left, Annie drew back. “Sorry I’m interrupting. But I came right here after the interview. You were the first person I wanted to tell.”

“That makes my day.” His gaze was dark and sensual. “I want to be the first person you tell everything to.”