Vulnerable (12 page)

“And you were going to tell me about that when?”

Elise became defensive. “I was, Ross. I don’t withhold from you anymore. I just heard from her today and was trying to figure out how to manage it before I told you.”

“Elise.” Ross’s tone caught her absolute attention. “You are to let me help you manage things that worry you.”

Elise shook her head and closed her eyes. He must think she was a slow learner. It was so hard to let go of her total independence. She had been working at it, ignoring how vulnerable it made her feel, because she did, in truth, trust Ross. He rarely overstepped, never interfered with her job, although he was interested in any men she spoke about more than once.

He didn’t tell her what to wear despite the fact that he liked to buy her clothes, and Elise was fully aware of the quality of those garments and how they made her look and feel. Her sexuality totally belonged to him, which was fine because she hadn’t been doing anything with it anyhow, and he was a superb custodian. He respected her opinions and often asked for her input, although she rarely talked with him about his job. Ross made money for other people and seemed to be paid handsomely for his services. He and another fellow were working on starting their own company, and their plans were near fruition after a setback in the economy. Elise didn’t really understand the concept of lots of money, as she never had any large amounts, and her career path was unlikely to provide her with it. That was okay, because she had enough for her purposes.

“Elise?”

“I know, Ross. I’m trying. My mom is coming, and she doesn’t know I’m pretty much living here although she knows I disregarded her advice. She’s not reassured by me singing your praises and is coming to check you out. I’m not ready to share you.”

Ross came to her and pushed the papers out of the way in order to sit and face her. “I know you’re not. You’re worried that she will react and get upset and in turn it will put pressure on you. Don’t worry, Elise. Your mom won’t get a hint of what we do together in the bedroom, and if you behave yourself, she won’t know how we work our issues out either. She’ll probably peg me as a bossy male, but she’ll see that what I feel for you simply doesn’t compare to your asshole ex-husband.”

Elise ran her fingers over his five-o’clock shadow and then over his lips. He captured her hand in his and pressed a kiss on her palm. He hadn’t said he loved her, but she knew his feelings for her were indeed strong.

“Do you want to move back into your place while she’s here or have her come stay in my guest room?”

She wavered for a moment and then chose the former. She didn’t miss the flash of disappointment that crossed his face, but having her mom stay down the hall from where she and Ross slept and did other things was too much to cope with. Maybe if they were married. She pushed that thought away. It was too soon to be thinking things like that, and Ross had been casual about the “her not being able to have a baby” issue. If he thought about marriage, it would probably include having a family, and she was still vulnerable on that point, still paying the price of her stupid choice all those years ago.

“When does she arrive?” The question pulled her from her musing, and she and Ross made some plans that would include her mom and help her get to know him and form her own conclusions. It was a good thing her mom could only come for a few days, because Elise didn’t want to sleep away from Ross for any length of time and suspected he felt even more strongly about it.

“What about your family?” she asked.

“My parents will be back in just over a month. They know all about you and are looking forward to meeting you, honey. We usually get together with my sister and brothers and their kids once a year anyhow. Maybe then we can go see your folks. I want to meet your dad, too. Dave, right?”

Elise nodded and he kissed her before returning to his laptop and leaving her to sort through the shuffled term papers. The writing and numbers blurred for a moment before her eyes as she allowed herself to peek cautiously into the future for a happily ever after. They worked in comfortable silence with only the sound of the murmuring gas fireplace and the light jazz emanating from the hidden speakers as background counterpoint.

* * * *

“So when do I meet this young man of yours, Elise?” Marjorie Thompson had just stepped off the bus and into Elise’s waiting hug. Ross could hear the worry and fear underlying the question as Elise squeezed her mom tight and then stood back to motion to him. He had offered to fly her mom out to visit, only to be advised that Mrs. Thompson had never flown and never would, just as she didn’t drive any great distance.

“Right now, Mom. He came with me. Ross, this is my mom, Marjorie Thompson. Mom, Ross Lassiter.” There was a slight quaver in Elise’s voice.

Ross offered his hand to the woman who was so obviously related to his beloved. Marjorie wasn’t very tall. Elise must have gotten her stature from the other side of the family, but the heavy, dark-blonde hair and dark-brown eyes were her mom’s. Marjorie was beginning to gray, and her face had some tiny lines and wrinkles, but she was still a very striking woman, and Ross knew he was looking at Elise in twenty years’ time. She took his hand and shook it briskly, reminding him of when he and her daughter had first met.

Marjorie didn’t give him the once-over. Rather, she looked up into his face searchingly, and he thought she might have relaxed a tad. “Mr. Lassiter.”

“I’d appreciate it if you would call me Ross, Mrs. Thompson.”

“Well then, I suppose you need to call me Marjorie, unless you intend to marry my girl, and then it’ll be something else.”

“Mom!” Elise’s voice was a bit shrill, and her face was flushed with embarrassment. Ross reached out and caught her around the waist, pulling her to him.

“It’s fine, Elise,” he said. “I like plain speaking. Your mom is just looking out for you.” He felt her stiffen and drifted a hand down over her buttocks in a mild warning. Elise still resisted anyone caring for her, looking out for her, and he chafed at the fact that she still didn’t trust him 100 percent, even if she thought she did. He was working on it though, and was not intending to fail. Her ass clenched, and then she relaxed and leaned into him.

“Ross is going to take us home, and then we can catch up. I have the three days off, so we’ll have lots of time together before you leave.”

Marjorie looked at him again and said, “I expect we’ll see you after work, Ross.”

He nodded and smiled at her then went to help with the luggage. Elise and his future mother-in-law sat together in the back seat and chattered like children. Ross flexed his shoulders in satisfaction as he drove toward Elise’s apartment. Marjorie had already taken his measure, and he knew he hadn’t come up short. They both cared for his Amazon, albeit in different ways, and Marjorie would become his ally in addressing the rest of Elise’s insecurities, cementing their trust. He hadn’t missed her pain about not being able to have children and knew that they needed to look into that fairly soon, given her age and his.

At thirty-eight, closer to thirty-nine, Ross hadn’t really thought about ever having kids, but now he kept having thoughts of Elise with a big belly, full of his child. He sometimes thought about names, too. It was surreal in some aspects but tangible in others. He had already researched the effects of that STD her asshole ex had given her, and was hopeful that the new medical techniques could address the consequences. He hadn’t mentioned it to Elise simply because he didn’t feel she was ready. He was her Dom and firmly believed he knew what was best.

The rest of the visit went well. Elise and her mom did the things women liked to do, shopping and having coffee in those strange little cafés, making meals together. He limited himself to one phone call with Elise a day before bed, and was able to sleep afterward only because they had talked. He had eaten with them two nights in a row and longed to share her bed, but respected her need for propriety. Marjorie was not naïve, but if it made Elise feel more at ease, Ross was all over it. He knew that Elise was pleasantly surprised by how her mom didn’t grill her incessantly and deluge her with worry and concern. He and Marjorie had had a private conversation the first day of her visit while waiting for Elise to deal with some crisis that had arisen with one of her students. The fact that the discussion had taken place in his car hadn’t taken anything away from it.

“Elise told you about Terry.” Marjorie’s statement was flat and cold.

“She did, Marjorie.” Ross didn’t miss the quick intake of breath.

“Well, you’re the first person outside of family she’s talked to then that I’m aware of, young man. And I’m the only one who knows some of what actually took place, because her dad would have killed the boy if he had known it. And those Coopers would have started some kind of feud and hurt all of us. Her dad thinks she was just too young to be a wife, and it didn’t work out. So Elise took it all on herself, looked like the one at fault to her father, because she married Terry of her own will and never has blamed anybody else for her own doings.”

Ross kept his face impassive and tried to focus on Marjorie’s words, rather than let his imagination consider what Elise must have suffered and accepted as her due for making a poor choice based on immaturity and hormones. And how helpless she would have been against the determined courting of an older, experienced lothario with nefarious intent.

“As it was, I got a city lawyer to draw up something that kept them at bay, or Terry wouldn’t have let her divorce him. We said it was irreconcilable differences, and she didn’t ask for any kind of money, so they let her go. I heard afterward that it was his brother that disagreed the most, and that boy had a wife and four kids by then. Pigs, the lot of them. Elise got her high school diploma in this city, waiting tables the whole time, wouldn’t take a penny from us. We were worried sick about her, and thought she was lost to us. It was like she was punishing herself. And then she did her teaching course so she could help other folks in improving themselves. I worried about the people she took under her wing, but she always knew there was something good in them, even that flighty Emily. She would have made a wonderful mother, Ross, and my heart bleeds for her. She thinks she hid that from me, too, but I knew.

“I also know people think us folk from Kentucky and Tennessee are just a bunch of rednecks and make jokes about sex things and family, but we all aren’t like that, Ross Lassiter, and my girl was raised right. That Terry took advantage of her, seduced her away from us.”

Ross felt a tinge of conscience. “I seduced her, too, Marjorie. I admit it. And you must know I’m a take-charge kind of guy. The big difference is that I would cut my arm off before I was deliberately cruel to our girl. I’m in this for the long run, and Elise is coming to accept that and trust me. I can use your support in that aspect. I know you thought she’d met another asshole, and while I might annoy Elise from time to time, I’m not him.”

Marjorie laid her hand on his forearm, a little weight and a lot of implication in the movement. “I’m in your corner, Ross, but old habits do die hard, and Elise might come undone by something you can’t foresee, like one of them old mortise locks. She is really vulnerable still, and if she gives herself to you, then she’ll be wide open. You take care.”

Ross covered her hand with his, and they exchanged a smile. When Elise ran out to the car a few minutes later, his heart leapt at the sight of her, and even the fact that she looked suspiciously between him and her mom didn’t dampen the moment.

They saw Marjorie off on the bus two days later with promises to come and visit that summer. Elise wept a little and let him comfort her. Ross bundled her into the car and broke the speeding laws getting her home. Her place was closer, and they just made it into the bedroom, grabbing and wrestling with one another’s clothing. It had been too many days without her, and Elise clearly felt the same.

The family reunion wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as Elise had feared. Ross’s parents had returned from Europe a week later than expected, and this changed everyone’s plans, although his siblings were quite accepting of it. Ross, on the other hand, was testy, and Elise realized he had been anxiously awaiting the time when he could introduce her to his family. This had warmed her heart and lessened her anxiety, for it spoke to his long-term investment in their relationship. The eventual meeting place was actually Denver, right smack in the middle of the country, which meant everyone had to travel an equitable distance. For Elise, who had never been to a state with such clear vistas and such clarity of air, the place was in itself a treat.

They stayed in a high-end hotel and primarily shared boisterous meals together and hung out by the pool or a hospitality room, not even leaving to go shopping, although Ross’s mother had hinted at it from time to time. It felt like a luxurious vacation to Elise, and she wondered how well off everyone else was. Ross wouldn’t let her pay for anything, and she gave up when he got his Dom face on.

She was absorbed into the Lassiter family with scarcely a ripple, although Ross’s two brothers checked her out quite blatantly before standing down in the face of his possessive glare, both hiding a smirk. Scott and Andrew were smaller versions of their older brother and clearly looked up to him when they weren’t ribbing him. They had married twin sisters, and Carla and Simone were bubbly blondes who reminded Elise of her own two sisters and made her long to see them again. Carla held a toddler for most of the weekend. The little boy seemed literally attached to her hip, although he had shyly reached for Elise one miraculous time just before everyone packed up to go their separate ways.