The Marriage Wish (21 page)

He nibbled along her jaw before finding her mouth. “Let’s go to bed.” His husky request got a blush, an intimate smile and a nod. “I like that idea.” She thought about the gifts and whether to mention them but decided against it when her hand found its way inside his shirt as he carried her toward the steps. The agenda for the night was not going to need help. She let her hand play across his chest as he reached the
first landing and watched his eyes turn dark with passion. She smiled and slid her hand lower. “Jen, I need thirty seconds of good behavior here, or you’re going to get dropped on your tush,” he warned. She chuckled and kissed his jaw. She had missed being married.

“Which side of the bed do you prefer?” he asked as he carried her into the guest bedroom.

“Yours,” she replied with a smile.

He claimed a kiss as he very gently lowered her to the bed. “I love you,” he whispered.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you more,” she said with a smile.

He was laughing as she tugged him down.

It was sometime before dawn when Jennifer awoke, tucked beside Scott, held safe and secure by his arms, her head resting against his shoulder. She moved to restore circulation in her left hand and felt his arms tighten.

“Hey, you’re awake,” he whispered drowsily, awakened by her movements.

She kissed his jaw. “Told you I liked your side of the bed,” she murmured.

Even half-asleep, he smiled at her comment. “You can have it every night. I like sleeping with you,” he replied, enjoying immensely waking up with a wife instead of alone. She chuckled at where his hands moved and leaned over to kiss him. “It’s mutual.”

“D
o you think something might have happened? He’s late.”

“Twenty minutes,” Scott replied, folding his arms around Jennifer’s shoulders as she stood watching out the front window.

“His first night on his own with the car. Are you sure he was ready for this?”

Scott smiled. “He’ll be fine. And there will be a good reason he’s late. He’s been a model of good behavior since we put the possibility of a car before him. He’s not going to lose the privilege he’s worked months to achieve by doing something stupid the first time he gets the keys. Let’s wait and see what he says.”

“Well, I worry about him.”

“Of course you do, you’re his mom,” Scott replied, leaning over to kiss her.

She leaned back, letting him take her weight. “How are our other two? Asleep?”

“Hopefully,” Scott replied, having been the one to get soaked giving the twins their bath. Not that he minded. The three-year-olds both looked like their mom and they loved to flirt. “Kay wanted Quigley to sleep in their room and April practically pleaded with me to say yes, so I let the shaggy beast have the rug.”

Jennifer grinned. “What did April do, flutter her eyelashes at you?”

Scott smiled. “She likes to think it makes a difference, and who am I to dissuade her? April is easier to resist than Kay. Kay has that Daddy smile.” He slid his hands around to link with hers. “Come on, it’s not the in thing for parents to stand at the window and watch for their kids. You have to do it with some class. Like sit on the couch.” Jennifer reluctantly let herself be pulled away from the window. Their adopted son, Paul, had just got his license, and it was tough to let go, accept the fact he was growing up, would turn seventeen in a few weeks. After five years, the first two of which had been marked by incredible battles of will, their son was now pushing straight A’s in school, lettering in track and able to wipe the table with both of them at pool. She loved him with a passion. Add Kay and April who formed Paul’s personal adoring fan club, and Scott who thought his son should be a fighter jock or president, and Paul had the deck firmly stacked in his favor.

“It’s a chaperoned date, you don’t have to worry about him. Kevin won’t let him get into any trouble,” Scott reminded her.

Jennifer smiled as she leaned her head back against Scott’s arm. “I know. Kevin has turned into a great youth minister.”

He stole a kiss. “Are we ready for Morgan?” Their lawyer was coming out in the morning to discuss a fourteen-year-old runaway who desperately needed a home.

“I think so. Are you sure we’re ready to do this again?”

“I think it’s the mission God dropped in our laps,” Scott replied seriously. “I love being a dad. You’re not having any reservations, are you?”

Jennifer shook her head. “No.”

The lights of a car came through the living room window. “Thirty minutes. Not too bad,” Scott commented, glancing at his watch.

Paul swooped in the front door, dropping his jacket across the banister. “You know, one of these days I’m going to catch you two more than just smooching on that couch,” he remarked, dropping into the leather chair across from them with a grin. “I’m in love,” he said dramatically.

“Really?” Jennifer asked, sitting up. He and Tiffany had been spending a lot of time together, and tonight wasn’t their first date.

He rolled his eyes. “No…the car. Even Kevin says it’s cool.” Praise from his idol. “Tiff’s not too bad, either,” he told his mom, amused at her look. “I was late because Kevin had to pop the hood of the car and take a look. Oh, and he wants me to be the junior high social director this summer. I told him I would ask you.”

Scott grinned. “Do you want to?”

“Me? Have lots of munchkins around looking up to me and hanging on every word I say? Now who would like that?” he replied, grinning.

“You,” Scott replied. He glanced at Jennifer. “Sure, it’s fine with us. You might want to ask Tiffany if she’d like to help out.”

“I kind of planned on doing that,” Paul replied with a grin.

Jennifer settled herself into the crook of Scott’s arm with a smile. She loved being a mom.