His Love (20 page)

“For what?” she asked.

“For taking the rest of the week off work so we can spend time together. That’s… it’s fantastic, really.” He pulled back to stare down at her.

“I want to spend as much time with you as I can,” she admitted, her cheeks staining pink. “Yesterday, and today, you were all I could think about. And knowing you were home, and I was there, when I could’ve—should’ve—been here with you? I told them today I needed to take some days.”

“You’re wonderful,” he murmured into her skin. “Magnificent…” His teeth scraped along her skin, making her shiver. “Incredible…”

“Keep going,” she said, and they laughed together before he took her mouth in a passionate, possessive kiss.

The doorbell rang.

Gavin lifted his head and looked up at it, then down at Toni. “To interrupt kissing like this must be illegal,” he said. “We shouldn’t answer it.”

She giggled and patted his ass. “Go see who it is. I’ll wait right here.”

He harrumphed but grinned at her as he climbed off and went to open the door. A nicely dressed, well groomed couple he’d never seen stood before him, probably in their late fifties or early sixties if he had to guess. He was fair-haired and fair-skinned, she was dark-haired and olive skinned, with wide dark eyes that were scrutinizing him intently. “Hello,” he said. “Can I help you?”

“Hi there,” the woman said, studying him with a frown. “Who are you?”

“
Mom?
” Toni’s quickly rolled off the couch and stepped up behind Gavin, wide-eyed. “Dad? What are you two doing here?”

“We were in the neighborhood,” Toni’s mother smiled, her eyes still glued to Gavin. “So we thought we’d drop by and say hello.”

“You’re never in this neighborhood,” Toni said flatly. She looked to her father. “You’ll tell me the truth, won’t you? This is a setup?”

“Nice! Very nice!” Maria cried.

“Ehm, why don’t you both come in,” Gavin suggested, moving aside.

Toni blew out a sigh as her parents came further into the living room and Gavin closed the door behind them. She narrowed her eyes at her mother, who narrowed hers back. “Surprise attack,” Toni whispered hotly. “Nice move.”

“We just missed you,” her father said. “Take it easy.”

At her father’s calm tone, Toni relaxed a little, as she always did. She held out a hand to Gavin, who was standing behind them looking slightly puzzled. He went around them to take her hand as she said, “Mom, Dad, this is Gavin McKinnon. He’s Anna’s brother, he’s been here visiting her for a few weeks.” She tipped her face up to him. “Gavin, these are my parents, Maria and Peter Westmore.”

“Pleasure to meet you both,” Gavin said, extending his hand. “You have quite a lovely daughter.”

“We certainly think so,” Peter smiled, firmly shaking the outstretched hand.

“Oooh, that accent!” Maria smiled. “That’s so charming.”

Gavin grinned and said, “And here I was thinkin’ the same about yours.”

Maria chuckled, and Toni knew her mother was warming to him already. Her whole body relaxed and she leaned into Gavin’s side. His arm slid around her waist. “You’re both doctors, Dad.”

“Really?” Peter looked to Gavin. “What specialty?”

“General now,” Gavin answered, “but I’m switchin’ to pediatrics in the fall.”

“Well, you’ll have plenty to talk about then,” Maria said. She turned her smile on her daughter.

“You’re staying?” Toni asked.

“For a little while. If that’s all right,” Maria said, beaming her smile then to Gavin instead of Toni.

Oooh, you’re smooth, Mom
, Toni thought with twinges of temper and amusement.

“Of course it is!” Gavin said, pleasant as always and seemingly unruffled. “Have you eaten dinner yet? Would you like something to eat, or maybe a glass of wine?”

“We did have dinner already, in town,” Maria said. With a glance to her daughter, she added, “We went to Luigi’s. It was all right. But my sauce is better.”

“No one’s compares to yours, my dear,” Peter said, putting a hand to the small of his wife’s back.

“Smart man,” Toni muttered, tossing a wink at her dad.

“A glass of wine sounds nice,” Maria said.

“Of course,” Toni said, giving up. “Come on in.”

“Where are all your roommates?” Maria asked as they all moved further into the living room.

“Anna and Wren are both working,” Toni said. “They work nights. And Joe went for a bike ride on the boardwalk.”

“So it’s just us four here?”

“Yup,” Toni said.

“Hope we’re not interrupting anything,” Peter said.

“No, it’s fine, Dad. Sit tight, we’ll go grab some wine.”

Peter and Maria made themselves comfortable on the couch. When Toni and Gavin went into the kitchen, she grasped his forearm and whispered, “I’m sorry about this. I had no idea they were coming here tonight. We’ve been ambushed.”

“Why would they ambush you?” Gavin whispered back as he retrieved a bottle of Riesling from the refrigerator.

Toni went to the cabinet for the wine glasses. “Because I haven’t seen them in a few weeks, so my mom must’ve decided to drop by unannounced.”

“Does she do that often?”

“No.” She placed four goblets on the counter. “I think she really wanted to grill me about you.”

He turned to her, brows lifted, and put the bottle beside the glasses. “You told her about me?”

Toni’s cheeks flushed pink. “Yeah. Last week. Just a little bit… is that okay?”

“Of course it is.” He hauled her in for a lingering kiss. “But you didn’t want me to meet them, I’m assumin’?”

Her mouth fell open as she tried to think of the right way to put it. “That’s not it. No, you’re great, they’re great, but it’s just…”

The light left his eyes and his voice pitched low. “You weren’t going to introduce me to them because you only do that with someone you’re serious about, and we’re just a short fling. I understand.”

“Yes,” she said. “But at the same time, no. Let me explain.”

“No need,” he said, pulling away.

She grabbed his arm and repeated firmly, “Let me explain.”

He stilled and waited, going silent.

“Yes, at first, that’s absolutely how it would have been,” Toni began. “I wouldn’t introduce someone I wasn’t seeing seriously to my family. Why do that to the guy, or to them? It gives a false message all around. That’s not right.”

Gavin nodded, his lips flattening into a hard line.

“But with you…” Her eyes held his, wondering how to say enough without saying too much, or if she should even say anything at all. But the wounded look on his face… she had to tell him some of it. “It’s different. You’re special, Gavin. And this—” she gestured between them “—has turned into something I never thought it would. I wasn’t expecting it to… I wasn’t expecting
anything
. Just some fun times, some good sex…” She drew a shaky breath. “I never expected to fall for you. And I have. Big time.”

His eyes warmed and rounded, his set mouth relaxed, and he edged closer.

“I don’t mind you meeting my parents,” she said. “It’s not like I’m embarrassed. I didn’t want
you
to be uncomfortable. Maybe
you
didn’t want to meet any of my family, you know? And now here they are, and you don’t have a choice, and I—”

He silenced her with a long, sumptuous kiss. Then he leaned his forehead against hers and said, “I’ve fallen for you too, Toni. Hard. And from the sound of it, we’re both surprised by it. And confused and conflicted, all of that…”

She laid her head against his chest and held onto him. She could hear the strong, heavy beats of his heart. “And you’re leaving.”

His eyes slipped closed as he enfolded her in his embrace. “Aye,” he whispered. He rested his chin on top of her head. “But we both feel it, right? It’s real. This isn’t some casual fling anymore. You feel more for me, like I do for you?”

“Yes.” Her arms tightened around his waist and she tried to breathe him in. “Hold me.”

They stood that way for a minute, drinking in each other’s presence, letting the game-changing words roll around in their heads.

Then she pulled back. “My parents.”

“They’re waiting.” He smoothed her hair back from her eyes and gazed down at her. “We’re goin’ to talk about this more later. But for now, c’mon. Let me go impress the parents.”

“You don’t have to do anything of the sort,” she insisted softly. “You just be you. That’s more than impressive enough.”

He grinned warmly and ran his hands down the curly curtain of her hair. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he took two of the glasses and the bottle of wine and led her back out to the living room.

*

“I’ll walk you
two out to the car,” Toni said as her parents headed for the door.

Her father smiled at Gavin and shook his hand. “Nice talking with you. Good luck with everything, and have a safe trip back.”

“Thank you, sir,” Gavin said. “Pleasure meetin’ you both. Truly.”

“I’m so glad we met you, too,” Maria said. “You take care of yourself.”

“Aye, and you, too.” He shook her hand as well, smiling kindly.

“I’ll be back in a few,” Toni said over her shoulder.

“Take your time,” Gavin replied. “I’ll be out on the deck.”

Toni linked one arm through each of her parents’ arms as they went down the front steps. “Nice sneak attack. You’re lucky I love you both so much.”

“It was your mother’s idea,” Peter said.

“I don’t doubt it for a second.”

“I’m not sorry,” Maria said. “I didn’t expect Gavin to be there; that was a lucky bonus. And oh, Toni, what a sweet, charming guy he is.”

“Yeah, he is,” Toni murmured with a little grin.

“And a doctor? You could do much worse,” Maria joked, throwing her husband a wink.

“I can’t do much of anything, Mom,” Toni said. “He’s leaving on Sunday night, remember? Back to Ireland? Across the ocean?”

“So?” Peter said. “What, you’re never going to see each other again? That’s ludicrous. Nowadays there’s email, texting, Skype… and you can see each other a few times a year.”

Toni unlinked herself from her parents to gape at her father. “Really.”

“Sure, why not? He’s clearly crazy about you, it’s written all over his face.”

“Oh, God, yes,” Maria jumped in. “That man is smitten. I’m sure he’ll want to see you. Like your father said, you can—”

“No.” Toni shook her head, her throat thick and her eyes burning. “Long distance relationships rarely work out. Especially this long a distance. I’m letting him go. When he leaves, that’ll be it.”

Maria frowned hard and said, “But, honey—”

“Leave her be,” Peter said, taking his wife by the arm and opening her car door for her. “We’ve intruded enough for one night.”

Toni hugged her father and kissed her cheek. “Thanks,” she whispered.

“I love you, honey.” Peter tweaked her nose playfully. “It was good seeing you. Come to the house soon for dinner or something, all right?”

“I will, Dad. I love you, too.”

He walked around to the driver’s side and got in while Toni leaned down to hug her mother.

“I’m not done with you,” Toni kidded. “That was an ambush. No fair.”

“I’m not done with you either,” Maria said. “I like him. But you love him.”

Toni closed the car door. “Good night, Mom.”

“I’ll call you soon,” Maria warned.

“I’m sure you will.” Toni stepped back and gave a little wave as her parents drove away. A warm breeze blew up the block; it was a splendid night. She looked up briefly at the starry sky, then went back to the house. Gavin had already cleared and washed the four wine glasses and put the empty bottle in the recycling bin. She opened the sliding door to the deck, and he looked up from his lounge chair.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.”

“I like your parents. Lovely people.”

“They liked you too. Very much.”

“That’s good…” He rose from the chair, looking her over, ambivalence coming off him in waves. “Can we talk some more? About the things we said earlier?”

“Sure. But in bed.” Toni gave a crooked grin, hoping to distract him. “I want you naked, next to my naked. All night. I don’t have to go to work tomorrow.”

“We
were
interrupted before…” He smiled as he walked to her, then took her in his arms. “But I want to talk as well.”

“Talk later,” she said. “You were kissing me, and I was swooning, and then the doorbell rang.” She stood on tiptoe to press a kiss to his mouth. He cupped the back of her neck and held her to him, deepening the kiss.

“Toni…” He held her gaze. “I want to talk.”

Something in her chest fluttered anxiously. “I know. But…” She kissed him again, and again. “After.”

“Promise me,” he murmured, his tone serious. “You’ll not distract me from this one, no matter how much I always want you.”

The anxiety rolled up her chest into her throat. Her eyes flickered away, but his arms only tightened around her.

“Let’s go upstairs,” he said. “You mentioned somethin’ about naked. But after that, we’re going to talk.”

‡