Ready for You (20 page)

“Mmm,” she hummed as she moved up and down, all the while gripping him in her tight wetness. He leant back against the pillows and watched, smiling as she lost herself. Sexy low grunts accompanied her strong movements, faster and harder she rode him, her breasts bounced, her hands clasped his thighs.

He struggled not to lose it too soon and concentrated on her face. A smile replaced the focused frown as her short breaths lengthened into a long, low scream. He lifted himself to meet her, feeling her inside waves, knowing she would need him to take over. But she didn’t. She kissed him and continued her steady rhythm. Holding her, he let himself go into her fire, moaning with her as they came together in a last wet, writhing, total embrace. She amazed him. He took a deep breath as she studied him, letting them fall back onto the bed again.

“Dirty,” he breathed out.

She sat up, her frown returned. Hopping off him in an unsteady leap, she ran into the bathroom. He blinked and tried to sit up. It took a minute, but he rose, threw away the condom, and padded to the bathroom, where Chiara had shut herself in. He hit his palm on the door a few times. She threw it open and pushed past him. He grabbed her and took hold of her arms making her face him.

“I knew you wouldn’t like it. They never do,” she said. Obviously the unappreciative idiots she’d been with before didn’t know a good thing when they felt it.

He chuckled, pawed his foot on the carpet, and snorted. “You can rope and ride this steer any time, my dirty cowgirl,” he said. She laughed. The knots in him untied, his muscles relaxed as a slack cord. He kissed her.

“I should call Isabella,” she said.

“You owe me a night, twice promised. Never leave a man hanging, right?”

Her laugh made him smile. “I did say that, but I’m kind of a tease.”

“A consequence is needed, young lady,” he said authoritatively. “I’m calling.”

“No way,” she said, running for the phone on his nightstand. He let her get there and dial before he snuck behind her, grabbed the phone, and held her with his free arm. She squirmed but didn’t struggle much.

“Hi Isabella.
It’s Rocco.”

“Oh, what’s up? What’s that noise?” Isabella said as Chiara squealed when he tweaked her nipple.

“That’s your sister. Her car ran out of gas. I’m holding her hostage until she fills all my demands. Then I’ll bring her home.”

Isabella laughed.
“Yeah right.
Did she put you up to this? I know I needed a laugh, but--”

“No joke,” he said. “Don’t worry, she’ll be there tomorrow.”

“Wait a minute,” Isabella said.

“Bye,” he said.

“I’ll call your mom,” Isabella shouted as he moved the phone down. He put it back to his ear.

“Better not. I’ll do your bathroom at a discount. No trouble, no questions, no talking about tonight.
Deal?”

“Deal,” she said.

He hung up and pulled Chiara to him. They kissed. More discoveries awaited him. His body tingled in anticipation. Holding hands, they lay in bed and snuggled. He searched his mind for the last time he’d wanted to snuggle with a woman.
Only once, only Chiara.
She twiddled her fingers through his chest hair.

“Stressful time lately?” he said. His mind still jumbled with questions for her.

“Laughed out of job interviews, threatened and scorned by family and friends, and today…Danny and Max refused to talk to me. Phil was home all day. My mom convinced me to have lunch with her.
Turned out to be her misguided attempt to get my father and me to talk.
He yelled, in two languages, before he spit on me, for real this time.” Rocco tightened his hold on her, trying to ignore the sickening lava roiling in his gut.
“So yeah.”

“You can let it out on me,” he said.

She pressed her cheek near his heart. His love for her beat its wings, trapped inside him like an eagle in a cage. But he knew she wasn’t ready for it to be freed.

“Why did you move?” he asked in a quiet voice, not wanting to sound demanding.

“Guilt and exhaustion.”

“You thought about it a lot,” he said. She couldn’t have that good a handle on it.

“It’s all I let myself think about,” she whispered. “Phil makes everything sound so reasonable. He could change his work schedule and be there for the boys. My job search wouldn’t be hampered by the boys’ schedule. The house is in his name, his parents bought it. I owe them. They paid my school loans and credit card debt when Phil and I married. I’ve been so careful since then.”

“What about your boys? Didn’t they--”

“They chose him. We asked and they wanted him to stay, not me. They hate me,” she said. Her tears coursed onto his chest, which tightened.

“No, they’re confused and hurt. It’ll get better, I promise.” He was a fool for making such a pledge, but he had to believe it and she needed to hear it.

She cried as he held her tightly. Soon she quieted, as he hoped. He wanted to tell her to stay, to marry him, that he would take care of her, help her get her boys back, but the words huddled in his throat, fearful.

“I don’t want your promises,” she said in a tired voice.

The words ran and hid.

“What do you want?” he said.

“You,” she said before she kissed him and grabbed the part of him she meant.

He used it to make her feel the unsaid words, the beat of the wings,
the
breath of his needs. She might not understand now, but maybe…for now, sex would be enough. She was worth the wait.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chiara stretched out, the cool cotton sheets luxurious against her warm skin. She smiled as she opened her eyes. That starry blue ceiling had not been an ecstasy-induced hallucination. Lying in Rocco’s bed, taking it in, she basked in her own contentment. The energetic aroma of coffee zinged into the room.

“Morning, beautiful,” Rocco said. She knew he hadn’t been far. Carrying a tray filled with yummy smells, the steam still rising from the food, he walked to the bed.

“What’s this?” she said, eyeing the tray.
Another dream coming true.
This kind of thing didn’t happen to Chiara.

His lopsided grin made her giggle.
“Breakfast in bed.
Are you uninitiated?”

“A BiB virgin,” she said as she sat up, cross-legged, and pulled the sheet around herself. His smile widened. He had the sexiest, kindest, most endearing grin on the planet. “Is this part of your usual services?”

“Only for the dirty girl special,” he said as he set the tray in front of her. “How do you like your coffee?”

“Italian roast?”
He nodded.
“Strong with a little cream and sugar.”

He fixed her a mug and handed it to her. She cradled it in her hands. The heat of it was almost unnoticeable compared
to her own
. Sipping it, she sighed in pleasure. He didn’t disappoint. His prowess extended into the kitchen. She looked him up and down as he stood in his boxers. Tingles tickled all over. He was fine, from his strong weathered face, his workman’s muscles, broad chest, to his slightly crooked toes.

“Join me?” she said. “You made enough,” she added, surveying the heaped scrambled eggs, stacked toast and bowl of cantaloupe. “Besides, I’m not very hungry. The snack I had earlier was very satisfying.” Filling her mouth with his heat, tasting him--satisfying didn’t do justice to that experience.

“Like Italian sausage?”

“Buffone brand is the best.”

Waggling his full eyebrows, he chuckled. A bubble of happiness formed every time she made him laugh or smile. He sat next to her and picked up the other mug of coffee. Taking a bite of eggs, she chewed slowly. Not runny, but not overcooked, and the toast was golden brown, everything just as she liked it. Scooping another bite of eggs, she offered it to Rocco, who slid it off the fork with a little jostle of his tongue. A brief compression of pleasure surprised her. They lounged in bed, feeding each other, soon leaving the napkins unused as they opted to lick stray crumbs and shines of melon juice from lips and chins. At a pause, Rocco rose and moved the tray to the floor. He opened his nightstand drawer, knowing what she had in mind.

She had the idea, but he brought more to the experience than she could ever anticipate. Pressed together, completing each other, caressing, kissing, and rocking in one smooth motion, Chiara lost herself again in him. No, she didn’t lose anything, she found herself, the part she believed was gone, or so altered she thought she would never recognize it again. But Rocco saw, called to her true self. Their eyes met. His look, so tender and intense, frightened her as it had their first time together, yet in the midst of the stomach clenching fear, certainty welled up.

“I, I…” she began, on the edge of a doubly sweet release. She moaned, allowing the physical loosening. The other she gripped back, as if it was an errant child teetering on a cliff top. I love you, her voice screamed into the canyon which separated her from him. She let herself kiss him, let the voice speak from her lips to his, but she couldn’t say the words. In that moment, she felt him come, and she wanted to believe it was because he loved her too.

“Chiara,” he murmured so close to her lips each letter caressed her. She breathed him in, his body slick on hers, but the dark canyon separated them. If he leapt into it, she would follow, but she couldn’t be the first to go, the one to say the words that would change everything.

As he held her, she tried to convince herself she couldn’t love him. But the giddy happiness, the longing to see him, the need to study every inch of him, believing he was the best man in the world, made her know she was in love with Rocco Buffone.

Rocco, who had screwed
he
only knew how many women, including her sister-in-law.
Didn’t say much for his taste.
Rocco, who lied to women, used them, and discarded them like last month’s
Sports Illustrated
. And she would end up in the recycle bin with the rest, hoping someone else would come along and pluck them out of the pile, wishing someone else would make them feel as special and plain good as he had. She wouldn’t let it happen. She would pitch him in the pail first.

Rising, she walked into the bathroom. He whistled at her. Glancing back, she smiled. Surely she could riffle through his pages a few more times before she had to give him up. He was like
Playgirl
when she should be reading
Parents
.
A naughty, secret indulgence.
As long as they kept their activities a secret, maybe she could work around the feelings and just enjoy him. But their secret was already blown. He had messed it up first at her parents’ and again last night by saying that stuff to Isabella. She sighed as she walked back into the bedroom.

“You don’t need to leave, you know,” he said. The serious intent in his tone coupled with his masculine form stretched on the bed made her momentarily forget everything. She crawled back in beside him and laid her head on his chest. He hugged her close. Right here, in his arms, he made it all okay. Her lack of a job, of supportive family and friends, the failure of her marriage and as a mom, faded into a back room, easily ignored in the bright coziness of dwelling in him. She enjoyed the closeness for a long time, until she noticed the clock on his nightstand as she began to take in his room, rather than just him.

“I have to go,” she said. She made no effort to move. “I’m having lunch with the boys and I should get back to Isabella’s to shower and change.”

“Shower here,” he said. “I’ll wash your back.”

Enough time with him and he would fulfill every fantasy, make all her dreams come true. That in itself was a fairy tale, not to be believed in.

“I can’t show up in the same clothes,” she said. Reaching down, she found her panties and bra. “Can you help with my car?” She edged out of bed as she dressed.

“Yeah, I have a full gas can. Will you be at your sister’s this afternoon?”

“Should be, why?” she asked as she zipped her jeans.

“Planning my day,” he said with a wink. There was no way she could keep away from him unless she just stayed away altogether. She took the tray into the kitchen before he even got out of bed. By the time he entered, she’d done the dishes and wiped the counters.

“Thanks,” he said. As he circled his arms around her waist from behind, she closed her eyes. His fingertips brushed her neck when he held her hair back and kissed her throat. She began to float into the heat and forgetfulness.

She stepped forward, breaking his hold.
“Gotta go.”

He followed her out into the sunny street. She waited while he went into his garage. They walked side by side over to High and up a few blocks in silence. Chiara watched while he poured in the gas then bent to check her tires for her. His ass was so well defined in those
jeans,
she had to grab it, just once. When she squeezed, a thrill raced through her, which sped up as he faced her and drew her in for a fast, deep kiss. He stopped and smiled. Pulling him down, she kissed him with as much excitement and energy as if they hadn’t just spent the night together, but hadn’t seen each other for weeks. The swishing of their clothes and sounds of their enjoyment blotted out all other noise.

Until a familiar voice shrieked.
Chiara broke away and looked. Danny and Max stood close to Phil on the sidewalk. Fury and disgust blotched Phil’s face. The boys were white with horror and confusion. Rocco stayed close behind her but she moved forward and knelt in front of the boys, her throat constricting.

“Mommies and Daddies only kiss like that,” Danny said, accusatory. “You said so.”

“But Daddy and I--”

“He’s a bad man. He hit Daddy! You like him better than us,” Danny said, quiet now. Not as quiet as Max, who was eerily still and
silent.

“No,” Chiara said. “I love you, you’re my boys.”

“I don’t want a new Daddy,” Danny said.
“Especially not him.”
He shot Rocco a hateful look.

Chiara’s body went up in flames before freezing over. “You don’t ever have to see him again,” she said.

“Chiara,” Rocco said. Disbelief laced his tone.

She stood and faced him. “I’ll call you if I need you.” She wanted him to go away but she still wanted him. They would have to be more careful.

His mouth twisted in a scowl. “My services are in high demand. Don’t count on my availability.”

“Fine.
There are plenty of other contractors in the area.”

“Suit yourself.” His voice was as rigid as his body. He grabbed his gas can and walked down the sidewalk.

A small hand clasped Chiara’s. “I missed you, Mommy,” Max said. Chaira lifted him into her arms and hugged him tight.

“I missed you too,” she said. Her stomach exposed her lie to her. She had barely given the boys a thought last night, once she was with Rocco.

She glanced at Phil, whose face told nothing. He had gone into his neutral reasonable stance. They began to walk, the same path Rocco had taken. Holding hands with Danny, still with Max in her arm, Chiara went home. As she walked in the front door, the truth slapped her. This wasn’t home anymore. Her real home was with Rocco. She was homeless.

Phil surprised her by making lunch. She sat with Danny and Max on the sofa and read
Frog and Toad Together.
As they sat around the table eating their tuna sandwiches, Phil’s niceness put Chiara on edge.

“I hoped you could stay with the boys this week,” he finally said after asking about Isabella and how she was settling in there.

“I always want to stay with them,” she said.

“Mary Jennings can’t go to the convention with Suzy, so I thought I could, if you don’t mind.” There was a touch of sarcasm in his tone, but Chiara wasn’t about to antagonize him by sparring with him.

“Not at all.”
Chiara had no idea what he was talking about, but she didn’t care if it meant more time with the boys. “When is it?”

“We’d like to leave Wednesday night. I’ll be
back
Sunday. I’ll leave you all the contact information. It’s in San Diego, so I’ll stay with Mom and Dad since Suzy and Mary were going to share a room.”

“Can’t I go,” Danny asked.

“No, you can’t miss school,” Phil said.

“We’ll do something special,” Chiara said. “The
zoo,
or Children’s Fairyland…”

“A Giants game,” Max said.

“No way,” Danny countered.

“We can decide later.” Chiara smiled. Maybe she could like Suzy after all if she and Phil got something going. That would probably make him less cranky and maybe make him more willing to compromise. Or he and Suzy would try and sue for sole custody.

“Boys, we need to get ready,” Phil said, standing.

“We’re going swimming at Suzy’s,” Danny said.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Chiara whispered to Phil. After what had happened with Max, Chiara was wary.

“Boys, please take your plates to the sink,” Phil said. Once they were out of earshot, Phil responded. “Suzy and I will be in the pool with them. I know these next few days will be difficult, but I think we should let the boys adjust, like we agreed.”

Chiara nodded. Phil had convinced her they should see how the boys would do for a few days alone with him, in case they decided on a split week custody arrangement.

“I’ll call later.”

Phil nodded and saw Chiara out after she kissed and hugged the
boys
goodbye. Four days without them. It would be the longest time they’d ever spent apart.