Dating A Silver Fox (Never Too Late) (20 page)

He smiled and then laughed softly. “You feeling sick?”

Lydia stopped her rubbing to give him a disgusted look. “Not yet.”

“Good. Can I kiss you now? PG-13, I promise. No probing tongue,” he vowed, laughing at her eye roll.

“It’s not romantic or appealing for a man to laugh at you before he kisses you,” Lydia said stiffly.

“Come on now. I know you’re not that stuffy. You made a joke about my Tall Tommy earlier,” he said.

“Your what?” Lydia asked, making a face and chuckling, her hand tightening on his knee to keep him from leaning on her.

“Tall Tommy. That’s the kind of erection I get every time I look at a beautiful woman like the one I’m holding in my arms,” Morrie said with a grin.

Several seconds went by, and then the ridiculousness of the term hit her. Her hand moved from his knee to his chest as she broke out into loud unrestrained laughter. For one moment she tried to restrain her reaction, thinking she might possibly be hurting his feelings, but Morrie leaned back away from her, giving her that damn-knowing look he always did.

Lydia laughed until she had to use both her hands to wipe tears from her eyes.

When she noticed Morrie’s gaze had dropped to that half-lidded one she was coming to think of as sexy on him, her stomach started doing flip-flops. Her hand automatically went there to rub as her laughter ebbed completely away.

After soothing herself for a few moments, Lydia regretted her outburst and moved her hand back to his knee and rubbed, moving a little higher up his leg without her giving it too much thought.

When Morrie continued to just look at her as she pulled herself back together, she rubbed a little more, clearing her throat as she fought the urge to laugh at his utter silence. Who would have thought her outright laughter would have thrown him off?

“I’m sorry for my—unkind reaction,” Lydia said finally, wrestling with the nervous urge she had to break out into laughing again. “It was a nice compliment—I suppose. I just had never heard that particular term for a man’s—
you know
. And it—well, never mind. It wasn’t that funny I guess.”

“My feelings are officially hurt,” Morrie told her, forcing himself not to grin at her pink face.

“I said I was sorry,” Lydia hissed. “What more do you want?”

“I want my romantic mood back. I want the kiss I didn’t get,” Morrie said firmly, liking the lift of her chin in rebellion.

“Very well,” Lydia said, clearing her throat again. “Tell me what to do.”

“Crawl into my lap and kiss me. I’ll even keep my hands to myself. I just want you to make the move this time. See how you handle rejection when I laugh at you,” Morrie informed her.

“
I didn’t
—I wasn’t rejecting you,” Lydia said, her hand tightening on his leg. “I was laughing at your pet name for your—
you know
.”

At her failure to come up with a term she could actually use when talking to him, Morrie rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Time to go,” he said, amazed when the hand on his leg tightened.

He was going to have a literal hard time hiding what else was happening if she took him up on his dare. A heart attack seemed imminent when Lydia actually crawled into his lap.

“Don’t mind my interest in you, if you can’t avoid it. I can’t help what I feel about you, but I keep my promises,” Morrie said, all but gritting his teeth.

“Okay,” Lydia answered softly, perching on his knees and as far away from his crotch as possible. “Now what.”

Sighing and feeling as hindered in his real goal as any teenage male had ever been, Morrie sighed and leaned forward to her. “Kiss me, woman. Make it good. You owe me.”

Giggling at his earnest demand, Lydia brought trembling hands to Morrie’s face. She dropped one to her stomach as it fluttered, then determinedly raised it again as she took a deep breath.

“I will never cease praying for the day when you stop being worried about this,” Morrie whispered. “Now kiss me quick and get off my lap while I still have control of myself.”

Lydia leaned into him then and put her now trembling mouth on his, shocked to find him sighing in relief against her mouth. She brushed her lips back and forth, and then pulled away to touch his lips with her fingertips. “I don’t think I’ve ever made the first move to kiss a man before. Did I do it right?”

Morrie let out a groan and put his head on her shoulder. “Yes. And I want to take this as far as I can. It’s really hard not to—and yes, I mean that in a lot of ways.”

Lydia took his face between both hands lifting his gaze to hers. “I’m starting not to be afraid.”

“Then that’s worth the torture,” Morrie said sincerely, closing his eyes in the purest pleasure when her mouth came voluntarily to his once more, but this time she pressed closer and wrapped her arms around his head.

Unsure of what to do, he remained frozen when she ended the kiss but continued to hold him. For a man who dared to do what others feared, for once Morrie was the one afraid to make a wrong move.

“Thank you for keeping your word,” Lydia said finally, letting go and scrambling off his lap as fast as she could.

When he looked sad about her actions, she found herself sighing and holding out her hand. He took it and let her help him to his feet. Lydia looked away from the evidence of the effect she had had on him.

“Come on—I’ll walk you to the door. Thank you for the educational evening,” she said politely.

Morrie nodded, but found he had no reply. At the door, he lifted a hand to her cheek, pleased when Lydia closed her eyes and leaned into his palm.

“Good night, Lydia. I’ll pick you up Tuesday,” he said. “Lock up tight when I leave.”

“Okay,” Lydia said, nodding as she watched him walk quickly down her drive and climb into his navy blue Mercedes.

She locked her door and rubbed her stomach as she walked to bed, surprised to find herself wondering what it would have been like if Morrie hadn’t gone home.

Chapter 15

Jane had the top three offers on North Winds spread across her desk when she heard the rap of a wooden object on her door. She looked up to find Harrison Graham in her doorway.

“Hello, Harrison,” Jane said in greeting. “Run over anyone lately?”

“Not today,” Harrison said. “Have you made a decision yet on an offer?”

Jane shook her head. “The money is pretty equal on all of these,” she said indicating her desk. “I’m leaning towards one, but I have no reason to do so. Been trying to figure it out before I call the realtor.”

Harrison came into the office and looked at the chair. “May I?”

“Of course,” Jane said.

“Can I ask which company you favor?” Harrison asked.

Jane shrugged. “Something called
Evolution Solutions
.”

Harrison smiled and nodded. “I know the owner.”

“Really?” Jane said, intrigued. “You must stay well-informed. Want to share?”

“It’s Walter,” Harrison said without a pause.

“
Walter?
You’re joking with me,” Jane said with a grin.

Harrison shook his head. “Not about business I don’t. Boy’s been saving his inheritance money all along. Got his first withdrawal at twenty-one. He sunk two-thirds into five-year notes and donated the rest to help buy a shiny new fire engine where he works.”

“Why on earth would someone as young as Walter Graham want to buy a retirement community? Why not invest in a piece of land and build a subdivision that would require less? His ROI would be much better too.” Jane said.

“Walter wants it because I’m here. He has big plans to make this place environmentally self-sufficient and get it off the energy grid. And he wants me to see his dreams come into fruition. That boy is going to miss me bad when I’m gone, not that I’m planning to do that any time soon,” Harrison assured her, in case Jane was worried.

Jane pressed her lips together. “Why are you telling me all this, Harrison?”

“So you’ll pick Walter’s offer of course,” Harrison said honestly. “And I’ll get to spend more time with him. I’m being selfish, and I know it. I have no good reason otherwise.”

Jane looked at the other two offers. Nothing appealed anyway. She closed the folders and set them aside. Picking up the phone, she dialed. “Bell? Yes this is Jane Waterfield. I’ve decided to accept the Evolution Solutions offer. If they want inspections just let me know. Okay. Thanks for all your work on this. Sure. Bye.”

When she hung up, Jane looked at Harrison and smiled. “Okay. Done.”

“Lady, I like your style,” Harrison said sincerely. “I hope you decide to marry Walter. I’d love to have you in our family. My great-grandchildren might turn out to have some real brains, not just book smarts.”

“Walter is way too young for me, and you know it,” Jane said, tapping the Evolution Solutions folder with her fingers, intrigued that someone as young as Walter was running his own business.

Harrison shrugged. “Walter is too sharp for younger women. They all want babies more than they want him. He keeps them a week at most before tossing them back into the water. His lack of focus on anything that’s not about firefighting makes it easy for them to let go and move on to boys that pay more attention.”

Jane laughed. “I see you’ve given this some thought.”

“Got to look out for my progeny,” Harrison said, grinning when Jane let go a serious belly laugh.

Neither of them was very surprised when the object of their discussion appeared in the doorway. Jane was used to manifesting what she wanted to happen in business. Too bad she had never figured out how to transfer that talent to her personal life until Walter started coming around.

“I admit he’s still good-looking, but Harrison is way too old for you, Jane. Don’t fall for his flirting,” Walter said, eyeing his grandfather’s guilty expression. What had the man done now?

“Hello, Walter. What brings you around so unexpectedly?” Harrison asked.

“I finally vacated Princeton for good. In fact, I rented a condo a couple blocks down the street from North Winds. Thought I’d swing by and see if you wanted to go to lunch to celebrate. I start at the firehouse next Monday,” Walter said.

“Sounds great. I’ll even buy. Would you like to join us, Jane?” Harrison asked, happy to see Jane had trouble pulling her gaze away from Walter as usual, and equally happy to see his grandson shifting in the doorway as she struggled.

“Sorry to refuse such great company, but Dad’s coming to take me for lunch. My uncle died recently, and Dad’s been really busy helping my aunt. We haven’t seen each other much. I don’t want to stand him up,” Jane said.

“You’re a good daughter,” Harrison pronounced, pushing to his feet. “Maybe we can get together and celebrate once you get the details of selling this place worked out. What do you say?”

Jane crossed her arms and narrowed her now laser focused analytical gaze on him. What was Harrison up to?

“We’ll see when the time comes. Have a good lunch, boys.”

***

“Thanks for telling Lydia about your Uncle Kevin. I appreciated it, Jane,” Morrie said.

He scooped up another bite of his ziti at her quiet nod of acknowledgement.

“You’re welcome. Next time, call the woman,” Jane ordered.

“I definitely will. You know, I’m going to have to start working out more if I keep eating all this pasta. My pants are getting snug,” Morrie said before taking the next bite.

“Dad, I don’t think the two times we’ve been here are going to affect you all that much,” Jane replied.

“Actually, I’ve eaten here a lot lately. It’s Lydia’s favorite restaurant,” Morrie said.

Jane calmly laid down her fork and picked up her water. “So…what’s going on? Are you dating her now?”

Morrie shrugged. “Hard to say for sure with that woman, but I think of us as dating. Hung out with her and watched a movie last night.”

Jane’s eyebrows shot up. “You went to her house? I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does.”

“Because Lydia McCarthy doesn’t let anyone into her life,” Morrie said. “I’m going to be the exception.”

“Dad—” Jane began, then stopped, wondering what she intended to say. Don’t see her? Don’t get your hopes up? She could see it was way too late for that. “I don’t get it. What do you see in that woman? And no teasing, I’d really like to know this time.”

Morrie put down his fork, wiping his mouth with his napkin to stall as he thought of how to explain his complicated feelings to his daughter. He didn’t need Jane worrying about him—or him and Lydia together. He was doing enough of that on his own.

“When Lydia hugs me, I feel peaceful and happy in her arms,” Morrie said sincerely.

Despite her father’s serious tone, Jane’s mouth twitched and then she laughed. “You’re such a charmer. I wish some guy would talk about me that way—true or not.”

“My own daughter is scoffing at my feelings. How has it come to this? Alright, I like Lydia’s ass too. Is that more convincing?” Morrie demanded, irritated at Jane’s amusement.