Caught Between an Oops and a Hard Body (Caught Between series Book 2) (29 page)

From the bedroom down the hall, Dora joined the conversation. “Tom, don’t get excited. Remember your blood pressure.”

Stephanie slipped on her bathrobe and opened the door. “Sorry, Dad.”

Dora stepped into the hallway. “Never you mind, honey. Your dad has forgotten what it’s like to share the bathroom.”

As Stephanie skirted around her dad, he motioned Dora ahead of him. “You go first, babycakes.”

It was quite unbelievable how quickly her parents had made up, although really, it had all been for show. Her dad had spent the evening sucking up, and her mom…well, Stephanie suspected Dora had played up the hurt feelings just so she could join her oldest daughter at the Kincaid estate.

And then it happened, that thing Mandy had warned her about—

Dora sent her husband a sultry look. “If we shower together, we could save on water.”

One of Tom’s eyebrows rose, and Stephanie suddenly saw a side to her dad that she’d never noticed before. The rakish, babe magnet that had obviously attracted her mom.

She cleared her throat and hooked a thumb down the hall. “I’ll—uh—just—”

But they were already disappearing into the bathroom, hand in hand.

Stephanie headed toward the guest bedroom, determined not to think about what her parents did when they were alone. She’d barely closed the door when Mandy slipped into the room.

“I’m staying in here until, well, you know,” she said. “My bedroom is right next to the bathroom and I can hear everything.”

Stephanie made a face. “Everything?”

Her sister nodded. “When they’re in the house, never—I repeat,
never
—let them into the bathroom at the same time. I swear, they make more noise than Dane and I do.”

“So how do I keep them from going in together?”

“Sleight of hand.” Mandy grinned, pushed away from the door, and sauntered toward her. “You know.
Dad, I’m out of gas and I don’t have any money
. Or,
Mom, I want to talk to you about this guy I met. I think he could be the one
.”

A laugh escaped. “Seriously, that works?”

“Every time.” Her sister sat down on the bed and crossed her legs under her. “I have news for you.”

“Good new, I hope.”

“Grandma Elvira and Morty are moving to the island so that Grandma can be closer to Grandpa George. They’re going to be living at the Heavenly Estates Retirement Resort.” She lowered her voice. “There’s more. Mom and Dad figured that since everyone is moving to the tropics, they should too.”

“Seriously? I thought you and Dane moved to get away from…well, them.”

“We did.” She sighed and fell back on the bed. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell Dane. What if he decides he doesn’t love me enough to put up with my annoying family for the rest of our lives?”

Stephanie smothered a yawn. “Dane’s crazy about you. He’s not going to leave you because you have a family that doesn’t understand boundaries.”

“I suppose I could help Mom and Dad find a nice condo on the opposite side of the island. Someplace far enough away that they can’t just drop in whenever they feel like it.”

Stephanie smothered another yawn. “Good idea.”

Mandy sat up, hugged her around the shoulders, then pushed off the bed. “You’ve had a busy week, so I’ll let you get some rest. Tomorrow is another busy day.”

“Goodnight, Mandy. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Alone, Stephanie climbed into bed, turned off the light, and stared at the dark ceiling.

And she wondered if Stone was somewhere out there doing the same thing…or if he’d forgotten about her already.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

By the time Stone drove into town and located Mandy and Dane’s house, the revised contract in hand, it was nearly midnight. As he sat in the truck and stared at the dark house, he debated whether or not to wait till morning, then decided this was far more important than a few hours of sleep. For all he knew, Stephanie had a plane ticket off the island first thing in the morning.

He slipped out of the truck and into the yard, careful not to make a sound, wishing now that he’d thought this through while Dane had been out at the estate.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he picked up some pebbles off the road and tossed them at the window. A few moments later, the window slid open, a head popped out, and a voice hissed through the darkness, “Who’s there?”

It wasn’t his cousin. “Sorry, Mrs. G. It’s me, Stone.”

“Heavens, dear, you do have it bad, don’t you?” She lifted her wrist and glanced at her watch. “Shush now, or you’ll wake Tom.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and kept his voice down. “I’m looking for Stephanie. Would you mind pointing out her window?”

“Last bedroom on the far side, but she’s asleep. Quit skulking around in the dark like a divorce lawyer and come back tomorrow.” The window started to slide shut, but then the one a few feet away swung open and a furious looking man poked his head through the opening.

“What’s going on out here?”

Stone gulped. “Hello, Mr. G.”

Silence filled the air between them until finally the older man said, “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my daughter?”

Dora’s voice came from the other window. “You know that thing you like to do on Friday nights—” She glanced at Stone, a pained expression on her face, then shrugged and smiled as she turned her attention toward her husband. “Well, if you ever want to do it again, you’ll start being nice to Stone.”

It was obvious the older man knew where to draw the line. He snapped his mouth closed and resorted to getting his point across with a grumble and a grunt.

Dora smiled at him, at once encouraging and motherly. “There’s no judgment here, Stone. Whatever you have to tell us will stay between us.”

“What has she told you?”

“Nothing. Just that the wedding had been canceled and that she had to be back in the city first thing Monday morning. She doesn’t have to tell us anything. It’s perfectly obvious that for the first time in her life, our oldest daughter fell in love and now she doesn’t know what to do about it.”

There was more, but Stone didn’t think it was his place to tell them about the pregnancy and the loss of the baby. “I’m in love with your daughter, but she doesn’t believe me.

“We can’t tell you what to do,” she said, her voice soothing in the dark and the uncertainty. “You have to make that decision for yourself. But no one goes into marriage knowing whether it will be forever. In fact, there’s sure to be times when you wish you’d never made that choice. But if you’re willing to do the hard work, it’s all worth it.”

Tom stayed where he was, a silent sentinel over his family.

“Thank you, Mrs. G.”

As the moon came out from behind a cloud, he saw her smile and wink his way, then turn toward her husband.

“Tom, I found a Kuma Sutra book on Mandy and Dane’s bookshelf.”

Tom growled, “I don’t want to hear about their sex life.”

“It’s the ultimate guide to the secrets of erotic pleasure. If you promise to leave Stone alone, I’ll light a few candles and we can—ummm—read a few pages together.”

Stone saw the older man struggle between fatherly responsibilities and husbandly duties. But finally, with a grunt he slammed the window shut and disappeared inside.

Dora hummed. “Works every time.” She hooked a thumb toward the room on the other side of the front entrance. “Good luck, dear.”

Stone waited till she shut the window before he tossed some pebbles at the other upstairs window.

This was it, the moment of truth.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Stephanie heard something hit the window. At the same time, a knock on the door sounded, the door swung open, and her mom popped her head through the opening.

“That nice lawyer is here to see you, honey.”

She sat up in bed and pushed the hair away from her face. “What does he want?”

“Why you, of course.” Her mom stepped into the room, shut the door quietly behind her, then came to sit on the edge of the bed and captured her hands. “Do you love him?”

A sob caught in her throat. “He’s an idiot.”

Dora smiled. “All men are idiots. It’s up to us women to keep them in line.”

“Dad’s the exception, right?”

“No, he’s right in line with all of the other men on this planet.” Dora patted her hands. “Honey, what happened in the past doesn’t matter. Today, right now, this is your moment to start fresh. Don’t be afraid. Marriage is wonderful. Even though I sometimes want to throttle your father, most of the time I want to hug him tight.”

A knock sounded on the door and Tom poked his head into the room. “Ummm, sorry to interrupt, babycakes, but that thing you promised…?”

She gave a sultry laugh. “I’ll be right there. Why don’t you get things ready?”

And as he disappeared, she turned back and faced Stephanie. “Even though he’s a divorce lawyer, I kind of like him.” She pushed to her feet, bent at the waist, and placed a kiss on Stephanie’s forehead. “You girls are growing up so fast. And I’m so proud of you both.”

Then she disappeared, leaving Stephanie alone with the pebbles tinkling against the window and an uncertain future.

She climbed out of bed, grabbed a robe, and headed downstairs.

As she came around the side of the house, she spotted the man she loved and her throat closed up.

What would her future be like without him in it?

Why did she even want to find out?

She must have made a noise, because he suddenly turned and faced her.

He looked good, yummy good, and those female parts that always did the Mambo Jumbo in his presence were doing double-time right now.

“I’m sorry.” He held out a bunch of papers and waited for her to take them. “It’s not a prenup agreement, but it gives you everything you want.”

“Everything?” She glanced down at the papers and blinked back sudden tears. All she wanted was him.

“Yes. The
Eternally Yours
show. My mother’s unconditional support while you’re off on maternity leave.”

Startled, she glanced back up at him. “Maternity leave?”

He gave a self-deprecating grin. “Yes. We made the first baby without even trying. I’m sure that when you decide you’re ready for another one, we’ll make another.”

She placed one hand on her abdomen and glanced back down at the contract, squinting to read the writing in the dim light. Her breath caught. “What’s this?”

And even though she held out the contract and pointed to the hand-written section, his gaze never left her face. “My mother figured that if I really loved you, I’d sign anything.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “She was right.”

“But every Sunday supper with your family? What about my family?”

The tension on his face eased, and he took a step forward. “Sweetheart, if it means you in my future, then we’ll live in a big enough house that all of our parents can come live with us.”

She pulled her attention back to the contract and gnawed on her bottom lip. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

He dropped to one one knee and captured her hand. “Make me the happiest man in the world. Marry me. Make our parents tolerate our company every Sunday night. Have a half dozen children with me. Because if you say yes, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I love you.”

She laughed and tugging him to his feet, threw her arms around his neck. When she heard him choke, she pulled back and looked up into his face. “What’s wrong?”

He pointed to the window above them.

There stood her dad, a glare on his face.

“Go away, Dad,” she yelled so he could hear her through the glass panes. Then she returned her attention to the man holding her so gently in his arms, and pulled his head down for a kiss.

Against her mouth, he murmured, “I’m going to have to make an honest woman out of you or your dad will never like me.”

“Hold that thought,” she murmured back and kissed him again. Finally when they came up for air, she grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the back of the house. This required a special place, someplace romantic like the beach in the moonlight.

“Where are we going?”

“I have something to tell you.” With her heart singing, she sent him a smile. “And I have an idea for mom’s birthday gift.”

Hours later, as Stone steered the truck up in front of Mandy’s house and turned off the motor, Stephanie tried to still the butterflies in her stomach.

She was nervous and excited. How would her parents react to her news? She was pregnant and unmarried, not even engaged yet.

A hand on her belly garnered her attention and she turned her attention from the beach house to the man leaning across the console to kiss her belly.

“It’ll be okay, sweetheart,” he said. “We’ve got it all planned out

The nervousness nearly sucked the air from her lungs. “No it won’t. You don’t know my mother. She likes to control everything. She’ll be arranging our baby’s life before he’s out of the womb.”

“I can’t believe you tried to get rid of me by telling me you lost the baby.”

“I didn’t want you to want me just because I was pregnant.”

Stone laughed and did up the top buttons on her summer coat. “Your dad will probably punch me in the nose for getting his baby girl pregnant.”

She turned her full attention on him and realized that he was probably even more nervous than she was. He wasn’t used to family, and hers could be overbearing. She laid her palm against his cheek and stared into his beautiful eyes. “He’s going to love you. Everyone is going to love you.”

He grunted and sat back up to pull the keys out of the ignition. “Are you ready?”

“Uh huh.” She opened the car door and stepped out into the warm tropical air, her coat buttoned up tight. Stone came around to assist her, closing the car door behind her, holding on to her elbow to steady her. She smiled up at him. “I’m okay. I’m not going to fall or anything. I’m very careful.”

He grinned down at her. “I know, but I like to touch you.”

A wave of longing swept through her. “I like to be touched by you.”

And for just a moment, they stood there and stared at each other, love mingling with desire.

His gaze dropped to her mouth. “Come on. Let’s get this over with so I can take you somewhere private and make love to you until you’re sick and tired of me.”