The Question (23 page)

“If this is how you look with extra weight on your body, you need to keep it.”

Gail was pleased with the compliment but slightly embarrassed as well. She fixed her plate and stuck it in the microwave to warm. “Would you like something to drink? There’s a pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade in the fridge.”

“Sounds good.”

She poured them both a glass of lemonade and brought it to the table. The timer on the microwave went off and she got her food and sat down.

“Have you heard from Greg?”

“No, and I’m starting to worry. I’ve called both his cell and apartment. He’s not answering nor has he returned my calls.”

“Try calling the office.”

“I really hate to bother him at work. He gets so many phone calls as it is. He’s never not returned my calls.”

“When’s the last time you spoke with him?”

“Almost a week now. He told me he was going to be busy and hard to reach, but I didn’t expect this.”

“He still wants you to come out there, doesn’t he? You don’t think he finally lost patience with you?”

That’s what she was afraid of. Greg understood when she told him about Jamilah. He agreed that she needed to be here, but lately, she sensed he was losing patience with the delay. “I don’t know Rashid. The twins are both weaned now. He knows the trouble we’ve been having finding a nanny, but I am worried that he’s getting tired of the delays. We both thought I’d be with him by now.”

“I know we’ve gone round and round on this subject, but I still think you need to reconsider rearranging your whole life for a man unwilling to commit to you.”

“You’re right; we have gone over this time and again. That’s why we agreed to disagree, remember? We’re never going to see eye-to-eye.”

“What if you had another option?”

“What kind of option?”

“I want you to…” The doorbell rang, interrupting him.

Gail laid down her fork. “I wonder who that is? We don’t get many visitors.”

“Probably a salesman. Ignore it. I have something important to discuss with you.”

The doorbell rang again, this time longer. Whoever was at the door was impatient. “We live in a gated community. It can’t be a salesman.” She left the table and went to the door, aware of a disgruntled Rashid trailing behind her.

Gail glanced through the glass pane at the side of the door and then squealed excitedly. “Greg!”

She slung open the door and flung herself into Greg’s open arms. He picked her up and spun her around in a circle before claiming her mouth in a hungry kiss. She lost herself in his embrace, matching his hunger and intensity until a dry voice intruded. “Unless you’d like to continue entertaining the neighbors, I suggest you step inside.”

She pulled away from Greg with a breathless laugh. “Come in.” She took his arm, tugged him across the threshold, and shut the door. “I was just talking about you. Oh my God! I can’t believe you’re here.” She punched him on the arm. “That’s for not returning my calls. I was so worried.”

Greg used the hand she hit him with to pull her back into his arms. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Mission accomplished.” She was pulling his head down for another kiss when a throat cleared behind her. “Where are my manners? Greg, you remember Rashid, don’t you?”

“How you doing, man?” Greg held out a hand to Rashid while holding Gail close to him.

Rashid shook his hand. “Fine. Yourself?”

“Great now that I’ve got my woman in my arms.”

“I’ll give you two some privacy.”

“Thank you,” she said to Rashid’s retreating back.  “Let’s go in the den.” She turned and pulled him by his tie into the den, shutting and locking the door behind them.

Greg dragged her to the couch and tugged until she straddled his lap, her gauzy skirt riding high on her thighs. “Now where were we?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Oh, yes. Now I remember.” He swooped in for another breath-stealing kiss.

Gail moaned and gave herself whole-heartedly. She’d missed this. Missed him. When she was breathless and trembling with desire, he released her mouth and trailed kisses down her neck as his hands slid underneath her bikini bottoms to cup her butt. She arched against him, rubbing her wet crotch against the long length of his erection while she tried to catch her breath. “What are you doing here? I thought you were working an important case.”

“I was. I came back to get my woman.” He nudged the spaghetti strap of her tank aside and licked the tip of her exposed nipple.

Gail clutched his head to her, whimpering when he drew her breast into his mouth and suckled. She groaned in disappointment when he pulled back and blew on the taut peak, only to catch her breath when one of his fingers probed her wet sheath.

“I miss you and don’t want to go another day without you. Marry me. Come to California with me as my wife.”

“What?” She drew back in shock.

He tipped her back onto the couch and came down on top of her. “I said, marry me. Put me out of my misery. These last seven months have been hell without you. We survived six months of dating with no sex then seven months long distance without growing cold. If we handled this, we can handle anything. What do you say? Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” She didn’t need to think twice. She kissed him deep and long. “You know I love you, right?”

“I think you’ve mentioned it a time or two,” he murmured as he nuzzled her exposed breasts.

She wrapped her legs loosely around his thighs as she tunneled her hand between them to get at his straining erection. “I would have come to you without a marriage proposal. I just needed to get the children settled first.” She wanted him to be clear on this. She had not held out for a wedding ring.

He shifted and allowed her to stroke his cock through his pants. Greg rested his forehead against hers, eyes closed in pleasure as she alternately squeezed and rubbed in a manner that she knew he enjoyed. “Your devotion to Rashid and his children is admirable, but I need you too,” he hissed as his hips jerked violently. “Maybe Rashid would try harder to find someone if he didn’t have you to depend upon.”

She paused in her ministrations. “He really has been trying to find a nanny. I know you don’t believe it but it’s true.”

Greg snorted in disbelief. “A man seriously trying to hire someone to care for his children doesn’t take off and leave town for over a month. Did he ever tell you where he was or what important business matter required him being gone for so long?”

Gail frowned and removed her hand completely as she defended Rashid. “No, but I’m sure it was critical. He wouldn’t have left otherwise.”

“If you say so. I don’t want to talk about him or the twins. I’m holding my soon-to-be wife in my arms that I haven’t seen in six months. There are more important matters on my mind.” He glanced down at her bare breasts and licked his lips.

“Do tell?” She gave him her sexiest smile.

“Mmm-hmm.” He nuzzled her neck, working his way to her ear. “How soon will you marry me? I hope you don’t want a big wedding. I only have a week before I need to return and I want you on the plane with me. We can stop in Vegas on the way back.”

“A week! I don’t know if I can be ready in a week.” She frowned as her mind busily calculated all that needed done to accomplish this feat.

He drew back to look at her. “What is there to do? Your stuff’s already in storage. The few things you have here we can ship or put with the rest in storage. Hell, I don’t care. Sell all of it and buy new when we get home. Make a fresh start of it all the way around.”

“But what about the babies? I can’t leave Rashid in the lurch,” she protested, her conscious cringing at the thought of leaving before he had someone to replace her.

“Isn’t Angelina on summer break? She and Carmelita can handle things until he finds someone else. It can’t be that difficult. Are you telling me, that out of all the people you interviewed, none of them were suitable?” His eyebrow arched, daring her to disagree with him.

Gail thought about it, mentally reviewing all of the applicants that had come to the house.  “There were a couple that weren’t so bad.”

“See! Problem solved.” He cupped her cheeks. “We love each other. I think we’ve waited long enough to be together. Let’s not wait any longer.”

“You’re right. I’ll talk to Rashid.”

“Thank you.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late. I still need to check into a hotel.”

“I’m sure Rashid wouldn’t mind your staying here.”

Greg kissed her on the nose. “If I stay here, it will be in your bed and I have too much respect for Rashid’s values to do that. When we do finally make love, I want you all to myself, with no babies crying and you not wondering if anyone can hear you screaming.” He kissed her again; this time a lingering one on her lips before slowly rolling off her onto the floor. As he gazed at her still sprawled on the couch, skirt around her waist and top below her breasts, he stated, “I’d better leave before I forget all my noble intentions.”

Gail stood and straightened her clothing, conscious of Greg watching her every move with heated desire. When she was decent, he caught her by the waist and headed for exit.

At the front door, he paused. “I have some errands to run tomorrow, but I’ll come and get you for dinner.”

Gail hugged him and laid her head on his chest. “You just got here. I hate to let you go.”

“It won’t be for long. I’ll call you in the morning.” He claimed one last kiss before leaving.

Gail stood at the door until he turned out of the driveway.  When he was out of sight, she closed the door and turned to find Rashid standing there waiting. “Oh, I didn’t hear you.”

“I need to speak with you. I heard Greg leaving and came out to finish our discussion.”

“Yes, we do need to talk. Did you finish eating?”

“While you were in the den.”

Gail headed to the kitchen to clean up the mess she’d made. “What did you want to talk about? Is this about your trip?”

“In a way. Sit down, please.”

“Okay.” They sat at the table across from each other.

“We’ve become good friend over the last year, wouldn’t you say?”

“Sure.”

“And we work well together, especially when it comes to the children. You’re a good woman, and a wonderful mother. Someone I have a tremendous amount of respect for. I think we have the makings for a good marriage.”

Gail’s eyebrow shot up to her hairline. “Marriage,” she echoed.

“I know we’re not in love with each other, but I think we have enough of a foundation to build a solid marriage. We both love the twins and want what’s best for them. We’re close friends and we already know we can live together peacefully. I know this isn’t the most romantic of proposals, but I’m asking you to marry me.”  Rashid leaned forward, his body visibly vibrating with tension as he waited for her to answer.

Gail’s mouth dropped open and she stuttered, “But…but…you’re already married.”

“Not any longer. That’s what I was doing. I went to Guam and filed for divorce. It was final two days ago.”

“But how is that possible? You don’t know where Crystal is. There’s no way she could have agreed to this. Is the divorce even legal in the US?” Gail was totally blown away.

“Very legal. Guam is a US territory so it’s just like getting a divorce here in the States, only quicker. I filed on the grounds of abandonment. Divorces under those circumstances are harder to obtain, but it you can do it if you have enough documentation. It just takes longer. That’s why I had to stay so long.”

“I hate to see any marriage end in divorce. Are you certain you didn’t act too hasty? Crystal hasn’t even been gone a year.” In Florida, the missing spouse had to be absent for a year before abandonment could be claimed as grounds for divorce.

“My marriage was over the day she walked out the door. Leaving me is the one thing she knew I wouldn’t tolerate or forgive. She knew what would happen when she left.”

Privately, Gail wasn’t so sure. Crystal had always been able to wrap Rashid around her thumb.

“You didn’t answer my question. I really believe we can make this work. You don’t have to make a decision right this minute, but promise me you’ll be thinking about it.”

“I’m sorry, Rashid. I can’t. Greg asked me to marry him tonight and I said yes. That’s what I wanted to discuss with you. When he leaves next week, I’ll be going with him.”

Rashid sat back in his chair. “I see,” he said quietly.

“A couple of the nanny’s we interviewed weren’t so bad, and Angelina is out of school on summer break. I’m sure she would be happy to work more hours. Carmelita and Miguel can both help out with the children until you hire someone.”

Rashid studied her face. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I love him.”

He sighed. “Don’t worry about the twins. I can hire someone from an agency until I find someone permanent. Congratulations on your pending nuptials. Greg’s a lucky man. When’s the wedding?”

“He’s pressed for time and I don’t want another big wedding, so we’re going to layover in Vegas and do the deed there.”