Ivorie's Surprise [Golden Dolphin] (Siren Publishing Classic) (25 page)

She looked down. “Your feet must be cold. You’ll get sick. Let’s go into the house, and I’ll make a pot of coffee. I guess we can talk, but I’m not giving any guarantees.”

* * * *

Ivorie was confused. She didn’t know what to think about Drew’s declaration. He loved her? All she knew for sure was that his misstep with Eugenia Cartwright had damaged his confidence in his judgment. She didn’t know if he had enough confidence in her to overcome those feelings of inadequacy. They walked back to the house in silence, and Drew picked up his shoes at the base of the beach stairs. They went into the house through the mudroom entrance. She put Annie down on the floor and turned to Drew. “I’ll put on that coffee. Sit down at the kitchen table. I’ll bump up the heat for a few minutes till you warm up.”

“Thanks. Can I use your bathroom to clean up?”

“Sure, right down that hall.” Ivorie was glad to have a few minutes alone so she could think. What should she do? She wasn’t ready to tell him about the baby. She had to be sure of his feelings for her first. She had to decide if she could gamble not only her own future on trusting him, but her child’s as well. It was a big decision, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to make it.

When Drew returned to the kitchen and sat down at the table, he said, “This is a great little house. It looks like a family home, not just a summer place.” He had a strange look on his face, and she didn’t know what he was thinking.

“I pretty much grew up here. I spent all my summers here with Grammy and Grampy. They raised me. My parents were always going off on some new adventure or trip. Africa, Asia, Tibet, India—anyplace far away appealed to them until one time they just didn’t come home. We don’t know what happened to them.”

Annie was sniffing around Drew’s legs, but every time he looked at her or tried to pet her she barked. “Sorry about Annie. She’s a pocket tiger, very protective and more than a little mouthy.”

“Sort of like her owner?” Drew grinned at her, making her think of all the times she had smart-mouthed him on the ship. She had to admit that after she got to know him, she’d had little mercy in pointing out his many shortcomings. Maybe a little payback was in order. Finally, Annie settled down at his feet and just watched him. She wasn’t won over yet, but she was slowly moving closer and closer to his foot.

Ivorie brought him a cup of black coffee and put one loaded with cream on the table for herself. “Can I get you some cookies or a sandwich?” When he indicated he was fine, she continued. “Okay, here we are. What do you want to talk about?” She wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

She watched him take a mouthful of the hot coffee while he obviously tried to put his thoughts in order. She let him take his time. “I was aware early in our trip that I was developing strong feelings for you that went beyond the ‘amazing sex,’ but I realized after Eugenia and Frank snatched you in the market that it was more than that. Unfortunately, after the mistakes I made with Eugenia, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my own judgment or my feelings anymore. That wasn’t your fault, and I’m sorry I hurt you because of that.”

She could see he was watching her for her reaction to his words. She wasn’t ready to let down her guard or her poker face. “So, all of a sudden I went from Ms. James, the office fixture, who you browbeat mercilessly, to the love of your life? Forgive me if I find that farfetched.”

Drew was distracted and absently reached for Annie, who finally consented to be picked up and lay in his lap, belly up to be scratched and rubbed. Annie was so delighted she actually seemed to grin.
Just like a woman! Rub her belly and she’s yours
. “Annie, you traitor. Are you changing camps?” But she remembered the comfort she had taken from Saltydawg on the
Dolphin
, and she thought she understood Drew at that moment. He needed comfort, and he didn’t feel he could reach to her for it. That made her sad.

* * * *

Drew took a deep breath. Some tact and strategy was called for here. His trip to the bathroom had been an eye-opener. He wasn’t sure what it meant, if it meant anything, but there had been a bottle of prenatal vitamins on the bathroom counter. He definitely needed to think about this. He didn’t want to blunder and say the wrong thing. It could drive her away permanently. He knew some women took prenatals without being pregnant or just because they wanted to become pregnant. But he did not remember seeing Ivorie take any vitamins at all aboard the
Dolphin
.
Could she be pregnant with my baby? I used a condom every time—except for that once
. He wasn’t naïve. He knew that condoms sometimes failed and that it only took one time. The odds that his one lapse happened during her conception window seemed pretty high, actually very unlikely. But what if she was pregnant? Talk about bad luck or maybe good luck? This wasn’t the way he would have chosen to get Ivorie back, but right now he’d take what he could get.

“Ivorie, I want you back. I want you to give us a chance to see if we can make this work. I think we had something special. I had hoped you were beginning to care for me, too. What do you say?” He held his breath, waiting for her response.

“I can’t make a decision on something so important on such short notice, Drew. If you want to, we can have dinner, maybe date for a while and see what happens. I’m not ready to come back to the city right now. We need to slow this down a bit. We were going to do that on the
Dolphin
, but it never happened. It seems you only have one speed—full speed ahead—or zero to sixty in three point two seconds.”

“If that’s your condition, I’ll agree to that. I want to do whatever it takes to repair our relationship. How about dinner tonight?” Drew was a little disappointed. She hadn’t said she cared for him, too, but she hadn’t said she didn’t either. He was happy she had agreed to dinner and to talk. It was a start.

“Okay, how about an early dinner tonight? There’s a great Italian place in the Village. We can go in for a pizza or whatever and talk.”

Drew and Ivorie chatted while Ivorie straightened up the kitchen. She asked about everyone in the office. She seemed to be surprised that he actually knew how they were. Then Ivorie went upstairs to shower and change. The besotted Annie was sprawled over Drew’s lap on the sofa in the living room while he kicked back and watched the news. He was thinking about what he had seen on the bathroom counter.

* * * *

Dinner was delicious. Drew felt they were almost as relaxed and laid back as they had been on the ship, but he knew he wasn’t there yet. When they returned to the cottage, Ivorie turned to him and said, “Good-bye, Drew. I’m not going to invite you in because I really do want to give this a chance to work out, and I know we’d end up right back in bed without having made any progress on the relationship side.”

He was disappointed, of course, but he realized he had been given a chance to fix this and secure his relationship with Ivorie. He wasn’t going to blow it by “thinking with his johnson.” “I understand, but I won’t say I’m not disappointed.” He grinned at her. “When can I see you again?”

“Why don’t you come out for the weekend?” He knew his eyes lit up when she continued quickly, “We have an extra guest bedroom you can use.” His spirits plummeted for a moment, but then he remembered that he hadn’t even been sure he’d ever see Ivorie again this morning. He had to be patient. He wasn’t going to repair this relationship and cement it for a lifetime in just a few hours.

* * * *

Ivorie was bemused. When he had grinned that wicked, dimpled grin that took her breath away, she hadn’t known how to say no to him. She didn’t know exactly what to make of this whole situation. She had to be hopeful that they could work it out. After all, she had not stopped loving Drew just because she had been hurt. In fact, the pain his words had caused just highlighted the depth of her feelings for him. If she hadn’t cared so much, she wouldn’t have been so devastated. She also now had a baby to think of, and he or she would most likely be better off with a daddy in his or her future. She immediately called Donnie and filled her in on the amazing news.

“Ivorie, that’s great. I hope this works out, honey. It sounds like it was all just you jumping to conclusions. Of course, he should have been more forthcoming with his emotions. Take it slow, and see what happens. I want all possible details!”

“You would, you nosey wench. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Ivorie slept really well that night for the first time since she had arrived at the cottage. She didn’t want to fall right in with Drew’s plans. There was too much at stake, but she was optimistic that they could work it out.

The following Saturday morning Drew arrived at the cottage with a weekend bag and a sack full of optimism and fresh donuts. He had been so anxious to get to Southampton to see Ivorie that he had awakened at 5:30 a.m., much to his disgust. He’d gotten up, packed his bag, had coffee and a bagel, and then sat and cooled his heels until a reasonable hour to leave. He didn’t want to appear overanxious, not that he wasn’t. Overanxious, that was. He had to laugh at himself. The sophisticated, urbane, nonchalant, slightly acerbic—okay, more than slightly—Drew Blessingame couldn’t wait to see his girlfriend. He hoped she was his girlfriend. He was driving himself nuts. This had to stop. He had to get a grip. He had restrained himself and only called her once since Tuesday, not that his hand had not hovered over his iPhone numerous times since he’d seen her last. He’d stared at the collection of photographs that he and others had taken on the
Dolphin
over the three-week voyage. They had been circulating via e-mail to all the passengers.

When he walked into the sunny but slightly old-fashioned kitchen, Ivorie had a batch of fresh pancake batter waiting and coffee already made. He smiled widely. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“Don’t get overexcited. Pancakes and coffee is not cooking.” She grinned at him. “But I have been known to broil a mean steak and make a fabulous loaded baked potato and Caesar salad.”

Drew sat down at the table and sipped the strong black coffee she had poured into a porcelain mug with a hand-painted golden retriever on the front. He looked at it curiously. “Grampy wouldn’t drink coffee out of anything but porcelain. He said it tasted better. When I was little, he also had me convinced you have to stir the sugar clockwise, or it wouldn’t be sweet. I miss him so much. He was a really great guy who loved jokes and fooling around.”

Drew could see the emotion in her eyes and wanted to hug her, but he held himself back. “What do you want to do today? It’s a gorgeous day.”

“How about a walk on the beach? Later we can go into the Village for lunch and maybe catch a movie. For dinner, I’ll make my famous steak, baked potatoes, and salad. It’s my best company meal. There’s not as much to do here during the colder months, but the Hamptons are hopping in the summer.”

“That sounds fine to me. Tell you what. I’ll make my famous spaghetti with sausage and meatballs for Sunday night.” He put his dishes in the dishwasher and poured another cup of coffee into a to-go cup. They grabbed their jackets, put Annie in her carrier, and left the house. When they got down to the beach, the light sparkling off the water was almost blinding. Drew pulled his shades out of the pocket of his bomber jacket and put them on. He took Ivorie’s hand, and they started down the beach. “It feels so good to hold your hand again and just be with you. I missed you.”

She suddenly turned around and skipped backward. “Last one to the point is a rotten egg.” She took off running. He had to admit she was fast, but he had longer legs. Even though she had taken him by surprise, he caught her easily just as they reached the point.

“That would make you the rotten egg this time.” He smiled into her eyes, pulled her into his arms, and crushed his lips down on hers. She sighed and burrowed under his jacket and into the warmth of his chest while the crisp breeze blew her hair in his face. He loved the smell of her shampoo, a light citrus scent that had stayed in his mind all week.

* * * *

Ivorie looked out to sea so he couldn’t see her eyes.
I missed you, too. More than I’m willing to admit, and probably more than it’s good for you to know
.

Ivorie knew she was a goner as she sank into his kiss. His tongue raided her mouth as she opened for him. She had always thought he was a superior kisser, and now she had no doubt. The natural-colored, hand-knit Irish fisherman’s sweater draped the fabulous shoulders and chest she knew were under there, and she ached to run her hands over the smooth, taut skin that covered his sculpted muscles. His worn blue jeans fit his butt lovingly as they showcased his long legs and muscular thighs. She wanted to get her hands on that butt as well. This time he’d had the sense to wear sturdy running shoes and didn’t have to kick them off and go barefoot in the cold, wet sand.

When he came up for air, he said, “I love you, baby. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable by saying it too often, but I don’t want to make the mistake of not saying it enough, like before.” Suddenly his eyes looked sad. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“I know that some of that was a misunderstanding, but some of it was you not trusting yourself. You’ve got to get over that, Drew. If it takes time, that’s okay. Just don’t take too long.”