The Things I Do for You (The Alexanders) (16 page)

“That’s better, my man.”

A blur of motion passed by them and then Jase took off running. They watched as Chris ran across the deck and down into the yard with Jase struggling to catch up. Laura’s little girls were already there, blowing bubbles with a long wand. Before long all four kids were chasing and tagging each other.
 

He turned to look at Raina. “One day ours will be out there, too.”
 

“I hope,” Raina replied.
 

He pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. “It’ll happen. Hopefully tonight.” He leered at her and she poked him in the side.
 

Ridley appeared at her left side. “I’m so glad you came.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“It occurred to me,” Ridley admitted.

She looked toward the other end of the porch where Mark and Julia stood with an unfamiliar man. He was older with pale skin and dark hair, silvered at the temples. He turned slightly and she recognized him from the pictures she’d seen.
 

“There they are!” Julia walked over to them, arms outstretched. Mark trailed behind her with an indulgent smile. She hugged Raina and then kissed Nick on the cheek. “I figured you were on your way.” She turned to Raina with a hesitant smile. “Are you ready to meet your father, honey?”

Raina nodded. Then she changed her mind and shook her head.

“What if he doesn’t like me?”

 
She didn’t want to care what he thought of her but in that moment, when he was only a few feet away, she was overcome with anxiety.
 

“Oh, honey,” Julia exclaimed. “Of course he’ll like you.”

Mark put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “As a father of four I feel completely qualified to say you’re the kind of woman any man would be proud to call his daughter.”

Raina let out the breath she was holding. “Thank you. I guess I’d better go meet him then.”

Ridley took her arm and tugged her over to where William stood, looking extremely uncomfortable. Julia, Mark, and Nick all trailed behind.
Great, just what I need. An audience,
Raina thought.

“William, this is Raina. Raina, William.”

Unsure of what to do, Raina stuck out her hand. He accepted it with a small smile.
 

“Hello, Raina. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Raina smiled but didn’t respond. Was that a criticism for refusing to meet with him earlier? He didn’t seem upset when he said it so she just nodded.

“I want to thank you all for inviting me to dinner. You have a lovely home,” William added.

“Thank you so much. We’re happy to have you here with us.” Julia took control of the conversation and motioned for her father to go inside. “Dinner is ready, everyone.”

The rest of the evening went much the same. Even though dinner was just as lively as the one Julia had hosted at her house, Raina’s eyes kept going to her father seated a few places away. He ate slowly and methodically, one food at a time.
 

Raina looked down at her own plate in astonishment and noticed she’d just finished her corn salad. She hadn’t met too many other people who liked to eat all of one food before moving on to the next.

She noticed that Ridley made an effort to include their father in the conversation. William was perfectly polite but only spoke when spoken to, and though he seemed perfectly composed, there was something about him that was a little… awkward. He didn’t seem all that comfortable socializing.

Like me
, Raina thought. It was odd to see where so many of her own character traits had come from.

After dinner, Ridley shoved a basket at her. “William, why don’t you show Raina the blackberry bushes? She loves them as much as you do. Bring back a lot for me, okay?”
 

Raina gritted her teeth at her sister but it was too late to get out of it. She glanced behind her at Nick. He nodded slightly as if saying
go ahead.

“I remember where it is.” William led the way to the back door. They stepped out into the humid evening air and walked down the deck steps to the backyard. The air was just warm enough to feel like a caress as they walked across the springy green grass. William led the way toward the long wooden fence at the back of the yard.
 

“Here they are.” William gestured to the bush. “You don’t have to pick them if you don’t want to. I can do it. That was just Ridley’s way of throwing us together. Subtle she is not.”

Raina was startled into laughing out loud. She clamped her lips together and handed him the basket. “I’ve been trying really hard not to like you.”

He looked up at her with knowing eyes. “I know. You have every reason not to.”

Before she could stop herself, Raina was asking, “So why did you leave then?”

He pulled a few berries from the bush. They were so juicy they left bright smudges on his fingers.
 

“I was afraid,” he said finally. “I was also selfish. I didn’t want to give up the excitement of being able to run off at the drop of a hat and party all night and do drugs.” He looked over at her. “I’m not going to try to spin some story to make myself look good. I was messed up. All I cared about was sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Not necessarily in that order. The racial difference also played a part. My parents aren’t the most progressive people. When I married your mother, they never really accepted it and I wasn’t strong enough to stand up to them. I’m not proud of that.”

Raina couldn’t imagine your new family ostracizing you just because of the way you looked. What if Julia and Mark had decided not to accept her just because she was biracial? She felt a pang of sympathy for her mother. It was easier to understand why she’d been so bitter.

“Do they even know about us?” Raina moved closer and yanked a berry off the bush. He held out the basket so she could put it on top of the others.

William nodded. “They do. Things have changed a lot in the world over the past two decades. I’m not asking you to meet them. I know I don’t have the right to do that, but I want you to know they regret how they treated your mom. I do, too.”

They worked side by side, filling the basket with the plump berries. Raina looked at him from the corner of her eye. He had a long, straight nose and an angular jaw. It was surreal how many times she’d wondered what her father looked like growing up. Now she was standing here picking berries with him.
 

“So, you’re clean now?” she asked.

He nodded. “Now, yes. But I was only able to get there when I was truly ready. I tried so many times to clean up my act and failed because I wasn’t doing it for the right reasons. Your mother tried to reform me and nearly destroyed herself in the process. That’s the only part I truly regret. I don’t regret leaving, because I think if I’d been there, I would have just passed my problems on to another generation.”

Raina thought about the changes she’d made in her life recently. She didn’t miss the hectic pace of her prior schedule and had started to wonder if going back to modeling after the baby was born was really what she wanted to do. But she’d come to that decision all on her own. No one had forced her to make those changes. Nick probably hadn’t realized before he made his offer just how different his life would be.
 

He came home to her every night and they watched television or relaxed on the couch and read. It was a far cry from the lives they’d both led previously. No wild parties. No traveling. No excitement. But he hadn’t given her any indication that he missed his old life.
 

Yet.

She gave herself a mental shake. Nick wasn’t anything like her father. He was his own man. And he would never leave her to take care of their baby alone.

William continued talking, oblivious to her thoughts. “Trying to go on the straight and narrow for someone else never works. You can’t escape who you really are.”

A WEEK LATER, Nick was ready.
 

He was
R-E-A-D-Y.
 

He’d been wearing his new loose boxers so his boys wouldn’t be squeezed. He’d started drinking raw fruit smoothies and taking his vitamins. His swimmers should be at their fighting best.
 

Because he wasn’t sure he could stand to see Raina disappointed again.
 

This night was going to be about romance, he decided. They’d been focusing too much on the end goal. He didn’t want their child conceived out of worry and stress. Their child should be born to parents who’d made love because of how they felt about each other.
 

He’d ordered a bottle of Raina’s favorite champagne, which was currently on ice in a bucket on his dresser. He’d brought up candles to set the mood. He’d even purchased a pair of silk boxers for himself.

He was lighting the candles on his nightstand when Raina entered the room from the bathroom. His hand stilled when he saw what she was wearing. She leaned against the doorframe and gave him a smoldering look. Her lithe body was encased in a tiny scrap of a black lace bodysuit. It covered everything but managed to somehow make her look even
more
scandalous than if she were just naked, if that was possible.

He groaned when he immediately hardened then sent a mental command to his dick to take a seat. He wasn’t going to be sidetracked by how mouthwatering his wife looked in lingerie. Or without lingerie.

“Come here, sweetheart.” He held out a hand to her and she skipped across the room and launched herself into his arms.

They fell back onto the bed, laughing. Nick pushed her hair back and looked up into her bright, mischievous expression. He’d never laughed so much during sex before. Something he wouldn’t have thought could be such a good thing.
 

“You’re not going to distract me this time, Raina. I want us to go slow. Take our time.” He moved back and pulled the covers down.
 

“Right. Slow and romantic,” Raina breathed. She slipped between the sheets and looked up at him with a naughty expression on her face.
 

Nick got in next to her and stroked his hands over the soft skin of her arms. She decided to return the favor and caressed his chest in slow, sinuous strokes. Then she disappeared beneath the covers.

“Raina, wait a minute.” His mouth fell open when she tongued him through the fabric of his boxers.
“Oh God.”

A giggle floated up from beneath the covers. She was giggling while he was inside her mouth. He reached down and pulled her up before she made him embarrass himself by coming too soon.

Before she could withdraw her hand, he captured one of her fingers in his mouth and laved it with his tongue. She wasn’t giggling anymore, he thought smugly.

“I can see that I need to take control.” He pushed her back gently and then maneuvered her so she was on her stomach. The line of her back and the curve of her ass were the most beautiful scenery he’d ever seen. He blanketed her with his body, his front to her back.
 

“Do you have any idea what you mean to me?” Nick growled, pressing deeper, pinning her to the bed beneath him. The position put him firmly in control, giving her very little room to move.
 

She was helpless to take what he had to give.

The delicate line of her spine was revealed in this position. Nick touched the points of her vertebrae with the tip of his index finger, then trailed his finger firmly down her back.
 

As she arched under the contact, he entered her, gliding slowly through her tight muscles. Her nails clutched at the sheets as he slid home, then pulled out just as slowly. Inch by torturous inch.
 

She tried to push back on him but he held her still, forcing her to wait. After struggling for a moment, she finally accepted it and lay beneath him, moaning and crying out his name.
 

With a firm hand, he urged her up on her knees.
I could look at this view all day
, he thought.

His head fell back on his shoulders as he powered into her, the curves of her ass providing lush padding for him every time their hips met. The sight of his length entering her and then emerging covered with the slick evidence of her arousal was a fuel to his already overhyped libido. She panted and shuddered as he took her with deep strokes. Her skin gleamed with a fine sheen of sweat. He touched his tongue to the middle of her back.
 

That must have set her off because she tightened around him and screamed. “Nick, please! I need,
oh God
, it’s too much.”
 

He leaned forward, pressing deeper. At this angle, her breasts were neglected and he knew she enjoyed it when he played with them. Something he enjoyed just as much.

He pulled out. “Turn over, sweetheart.”
 

She rolled over so she was flat on her back. There were tears on her cheeks but he knew they weren’t from pain. She looked down his chest, her mouth falling open as her eyes stopped between his legs.

“That’s right, sweets. Look how hard I am for you.”
 

She bit her lip as he covered her body with his and entered her again. When she buried her fingers in his hair, Nick knew he couldn’t last much longer. The sensation of her delicate fingers stroking over his scalp while he was surrounded by her tight, wet walls was a double whammy he couldn’t resist. He turned his head and latched on to her breast, tonguing the nipple until he felt her shuddering beneath him again.
 

“Yes, just like that. Come for me just like that.” He came in an explosion of sensation, feeling like he was surrounded by her. Her body, her scent, and her love.

When he finally became aware of himself again, he raised his head to find her watching him with a tender expression.