Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) (7 page)

He chuckled. "For a while anyway. Remember,
we have dinner at your brother's house later on."

She sat up abruptly. "He'll know! Sam will
take one look at me and know something is going on with us."

Eric burst out laughing. "Maggie--that's what
you wanted him to think all along."

"Oh. Yeah. Right." She shook her head
and began to laugh.

"No more pretending, okay?"

"Agreed. But I still can't quite believe this
is happening."

He leaned in. "Believe it, darling," he
murmured, right before his lips pressed against hers. She felt herself melt
against him in a very sweet, soft kiss.

They drove back to town about thirty minutes
later, and the whole time, Maggie wondered at how quickly the world had become
such a beautiful, incredible place. Eric took them to his place so she could
get her car. Their good-bye kiss went on for a while, and ended with the
promise of more when they had time later.

Maggie got home and flopped into her brocade
chair. Then she started to giggle. She covered her mouth with her hand, but she
just couldn't stop giggling with delight. Finally she got up and went to the
kitchen to grab a drink of seltzer water from the fridge. She was filled with
nerves, anticipation, excitement, awe, and a lovely sense of confusion at the
thought of that night with Eric. What might happen after dinner?

Deciding to quiet her mind, she pulled out a box
filled with items she was using to make Christmas presents. Ever since high
school she'd loved doing arts and crafts projects. One of her favorites was to
decoupage. This year she planned to give several wooden boxes that she'd
decorated with decoupage to family members. Each was padded inside with velvet.
The outsides were covered in a variety of photographs. For Anna, she had a box
with photos of her son at various ages. She'd done the same for Julia with her
daughter. It had been tricky to sneak the photos out of photo albums, and in
one case off a hard drive, to make copies, but she'd managed it. Sam's decorated
box had photos of Anna, and Cody's had his wife, Julia, on it.

She loved the detail work of making crafts like
this. It gave her busy mind a place to settle and focus. This time as she
worked, she wondered just what to do for Eric for Christmas. He was yet another
person in her life who could afford to buy himself whatever he wanted. Maybe
she could do something like the boxes for him. Something to do with music would
be good.

When it was time to get dressed for her dinner
date, she couldn't decide how fancy to dress. On the one hand, she wanted to
have an effect on Eric, but on the other, it was just Sam and Anna. Eventually,
she broke down and called Anna to ask if it was okay that she dress up a bit.
Anna agreed to the idea, and Maggie took her new dress off the hanger. It was
made of Georgette material, in black with dabs of sparkly color in lime green,
royal blue and silver. Long-sleeved, it had a V-neck and fitted bodice that
flowed into a floaty short skirt. Silver earrings and a silver bangle bracelet
worked well and black high heels gave her three inches in height and made her
legs look longer. She'd smoothed her curls out into waves and done her eye
makeup so that it enhanced their color. Smiling in the mirror with pink lips,
she knew she looked good.

The knock on her front door had her pulse jumping.
She grabbed a heavy wool cape and gloves on her way to open it.

Eric stepped in and said, "You look amazing.
Do we have to go out?"

She laughed, and held out her cape for him to hold
as she put it on. "Yes, we do. If I can get down the stairs in these
heels, we'd better get going."

They held hands the whole way out to the beach
house where Sam and Anna lived. Maggie kept glancing at Eric's profile,
noticing his smile. He'd pulled his hair back again, and was wearing a black
sweater that felt like cashmere to the touch. Black pleated wool pants and a
black jacket completed the look. The black outfit made his eyes stand out even
more than usual.

When they arrived, he turned off the car and faced
her. "Ready?"

She nodded. He squeezed her hand and they got out.
She knocked on the front door and Sam opened it.

"Come in. This must be Eric."

Eric shook his hand and said, "Eric Stanton.
Thanks for having us over for dinner."

Sam laughed. "That should be me thanking you
for coming. Let me take your coats, and then you can head on into the living
room."

Maggie led the way and they ended up standing by
the large window that looked out onto the ocean.

"It's incredible. They have a great
view," Eric said.

"Yes, it's a terrific house. Sam lived here
when he first came to Sully Point. But the house was burned down. After they
got together, he and Anna redesigned it to be exactly what they wanted."

"And it turned out just like we wanted it to
be," Anna said from behind them. "Wine anyone?"

Maggie introduced Eric to her, and Sam returned.
They all sat down in the living room. Maggie noticed that Sam and Anna were a
bit more dressed up than normal for a weeknight dinner.

"Eric, we've heard that you used to work with
computers," Sam said. "Do you expect to go back to that?"

Maggie jumped in before Eric could answer.
"Did Julia call you guys? Does everyone know who he is?"

"Well, only the family for right now.
Although, if anyone in town Googles him..."

Eric sucked in a breath. "Good grief! I
didn't even think of that. And here I was, thinking I'd be all incognito."

Sam laughed and Anna looked at him fondly. Sam
said, "I know what you mean. I came here in the beginning without anyone
knowing who I was. Somehow that doesn't end up working too well in Sully
Point."

Anna said, "Sam paved the way for anyone
dealing with fame, celebrity, or money. The town is quite protective of us
now."

"In answer to your question, Sam, I do plan
to go back to computers in a way. I want to explore robotics and artificial
intelligence. That may require my returning to school. I was planning to look
in at MIT as a possibility."

"Fascinating."

"Maggie, what dish are you bringing to
Thanksgiving dinner?" Anna asked.

"One of my specialties--green bean casserole.
There's no way I can screw that up."

"The one with the fried onions on top?"
Eric asked, rather wistfully.

"Yep, it has to have those. You know, Anna,
we should have Eric do lasagna. That's one of the things he cooks."

Anna's eyebrows went up as Eric's face flushed.
"I think this year we'll let Eric just be a guest," she replied.

"Is the kiddie monster in bed?"

"Maggie! Don't call my son a monster,"
Sam said, but with a small smile on his face. "Joshua went to bed
willingly tonight."

"That's because he was exhausted after
destroying my kitchen earlier," his wife said. "And it's all Sam's
fault. Don't even try telling them it was an art project of our little prodigy."

"Who knew he could spread peanut butter
across the cabinets that fast? I swear I only took my eyes off of him for a
minute..."

They all laughed, and then Anna encouraged them to
go into the dining room. Within minutes they were sitting down to a meal of
swordfish with lemon and crabmeat cream sauce, roasted green beans, and dinner
rolls.

"It's a very light cream sauce, Maggie."

"It's fine, Anna," she said hurriedly,
spooning some over her fish.

"I know how important it is to you to eat
healthily."

Eric choked and coughed, and then said, "What
did you say?"

Maggie shook her head at Anna, but she didn't seem
to see it.

"We always try to cook as healthy as possible
with Maggie around. She can be so strict about what she eats."

Eric's eyebrows rose as he turned to stare at
Maggie. She smiled weakly at him. "I thought she loved desserts,"
Eric said.

Sam laughed. "Oh, she does. But she only ever
indulges when she's upset. The rest of the time she is the picture of good
eating. We always know when Maggie has been angry or sad, or emotional in some
way, because she goes for the sugar."

"I see," Eric said thoughtfully.

"You let go of the rules at the holiday
meals, though. Right?" Anna asked.

"Yes, yes, I'll have pumpkin pie. Now let's
change the subject. Sam, how's the latest book going?"

The rest of the meal was filled with light, yet
interesting, conversation. The four of them were comfortable with each other
very quickly, and the evening went by in a flash. As they left, Eric thanked
Anna for a great meal, and reminded Sam of their plan to check out Cody's Bait
and Tackle Shop in the morning.

The car was quiet as they drove back to Maggie's
place. Maggie waited, sure that it was coming, and finally Eric said, "I
have to know. Here I was thinking you were the most irresponsible eater I'd
ever seen and then I find out just the opposite. What's been going on?"

She sighed. "I got so angry at everyone about
all the matchmaking. And I was upset with myself for not standing up to them
all. That was what was going on the night we met. Then I was nervous the next
day--which is what accounts for the two mornings of pastries."

"Are you still nervous?"

"Kinda," she said quietly.

"Pastry nervous?"

She laughed. "Not really."

"Good," he said, and reached over to
caress the side of her face for a moment.

The electric feeling inside the car built as the
silence grew. Maggie felt like she could barely catch her breath by the time
Eric parked the car behind her apartment. They got out and raced up the stairs.
She dropped the keys and Eric picked them up and unlocked the door.

Once inside, she threw off her cape and he tossed
his jacket to one side. His arms were around her pulling her body against his,
and they were kissing passionately. Maggie loved the way he kissed her, so
powerful and firm, like he was taking her over. She felt his kiss down to her
toes.

He began to kiss along her jawline to ear lobe.
"Bedroom?" he whispered, as she shivered with delight. She turned and
led him into her room, which was filled with candlelight.

"You left candles burning?"

"No, they're on a timer--flameless
candles."

"Ah, now that is a good idea. I want to see
you naked in the candlelight. I want you Maggie."

"That works out well, since I want you,
too."

He began to undress her slowly, kissing her
between every piece of clothing. She thought she'd never experienced anything
quite so sensual. Her hands ran across his bare chest after he removed his
sweater. The feel of his muscles under her fingertips was intoxicating.

As he lowered her to the bed, she suddenly was no
longer nervous. The look on his face, full of need, told her how much he wanted
her. But his hands were gentle, and she knew he would care for her.

"Take me, Eric," she whispered.

And he did.

* * * *

She woke up on her back, with his arm across her
waist, one of his legs over hers. It was morning and in the dim light from the
edges of the curtains, she looked at his body, so quiet in sleep. Quite unlike
last night, she thought with a blush. It hadn't been her first time, but in a
way it was--because she'd never had anything happen like last night in her
life.

He had made her feel things she didn't know
existed. The ecstasy was overwhelming. How could it have been so good? They'd
only known each other a few days, and yet their joining had felt so deep and
complete. And she realized, in the space between one breath and the next, she
was falling in love with him. As if she had always been in love with him, as if
the love had been waiting only for him to arrive in her life.

Before she could think more about it, he stirred
and rolled to his side. His hand lightly skimmed the skin on her abdomen,
causing her to squirm.

"Stop that," she said, half-heartedly.

"Really?"

"Not really."

He moved until he could pull her to him. They
started to kiss and then Maggie pushed him away. "The time! Sam is going
to be at your house--"

"Damn, I forgot. He glanced at the clock by
the bed and sighed regretfully. "I need to get dressed and home right now.
But don't forget where we were. I expect to finish this later." He kissed
her lightly and got of bed, searching for his clothes.

Maggie pulled a robe from her closet and put it
on. She walked him to the door where he gave her a big, comforting hug.
"When will I see you?" she asked.

"We have dinner tonight at Julia's?"

"Yes, but that's too long a time."

"I agree. After lunch, I'll meet you here
around two. How's that?"

"Perfect."

He left with her standing at the door, watching
him go. She shut the door, and went to the kitchen to make a protein shake. She
was definitely going to need energy today, she thought with a smug smile.

Her cell phone rang right as she finished drinking
her shake. It was Anna.

"Maggie? Are you alone?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Sam just this minute left for Eric's, and I
thought I'd give you a head's up in case he was with you."

"He'll be at his place...barely...by the time
Sam gets there."

"Maggie!"

"What can I say, Anna?
He's...incredible."

"I'm happy for you. It seems a bit sudden,
though."

"It is, I guess. But it's like we've known
each other already, maybe in another life. You know what I mean?"

"Yes, I do."

"Thanks for the dinner last night, Anna, but
I need to get off the phone. Christmas shopping today."

"Yikes, you're on the ball. I need to look at
my list. Talk to you later."

Maggie grinned as she put the phone away. Her
shopping was not for presents, but was instead for the items she needed to
finish her Christmas craft projects that would end up as gifts. Even the kids
were getting homemade items this year. She'd been working since the spring on a
quilt for each of the two children in the family. Today she was going to buy
the satin she needed to edge each blanket. She knew how important that satiny
trim was to kid's fingers as they held their 'blankie.' She had appliqued
trucks and cars on Joshua's quilt. She knew he would love it. The one for Cody
and Julia's daughter, Jennifer, was covered in butterflies and flowers.