Waiting for You (21 page)

Karise
stilled
, something in his expression commanding her
attention.

“What you said on the phone last night, you beat me to it. Sometimes
it feels like everything is happening so fast, and then there are times
when every moment I’m not with you seems to last an eternity. I’ve
been trying to respect your need to take things slow, and I know I
shouldn’t rush things for Zoe’s sake, but I can’t look at you without
wanting to tell you I love you. I want to shout it from the rooftops. I want to whisper it against your skin. I love you and I am in love with you. I want to spend every moment of my day loving you.”

She didn’t know what to say. Of all the things he could have said,
she wasn’t expecting that. He was waiting for a response. She could see the fear in his eyes; he was dealing with his own flare of panic now that the words were out there.

Even if her brain couldn’t formulate a response, her body knew what to do. Karise’s arms wrapped around his neck. Her lips sought his. His hands, resting on her waist, pulled her closer. It would be so
simple to let her actions speak where the words were too hard, but
Karise was determined not to let this come down to taking the easy
way out.

When she pulled away, he tried to pull her back. Wanting to say
what she had to before she lost the nerve, Karise placed a hand on his
chest, her eyes rising to meet his. “What I said on the phone, it just
sort of spilled out without thinking. But then I thought about it – really
thought about it – and I realized I meant it. I love you. I’ve been attracted
to you since the moment I laid eyes on you, but that rush of emotion pales in comparison to what I feel for you now. You are an amazing man and a wonderful father. I love that about you. I love that you’ve made this incredible life for you and Zoe. You fascinate me. I could
spend a hundred years studying and still not learn all there is to know
about you. I don’t know what to do about it, but I love you, Aidan.”

He
took her
face
in his hands and drew her in,
kissing
her thoroughly.
“I love you, Karise. Can I tell you that you’ve made me the happiest man alive, or is that too cheesy?”

“That is a lot of cheese, but I’ll let it slide because I like hearing it.”
She kissed him back, her body pressing into his, creating a sweet ache
deep within.

“Will you stay tonight?” The words came in between the kisses he
was brushing on her cheeks, her forehead and her jaw.

Karise nodded, not trusting her voice. Her body was putty; her legs
didn’t want to cooperate as she followed him back to his room, her fingers laced loosely in his. She now understood the phrase “walking on clouds.” That’s exactly what it felt like she was doing.

Behind his closed door, he paused only long enough to secure the
lock before turning his attention back to her. Her head rolled to the side,
resting its weight in his hand as his mouth grazed the side of her neck.
He started at the juncture of her jaw, just below her ear. His breath
fueled her fire. His teeth grazed her flesh.

Moonlight spilled through his window, lending its magic to the
moment. She wanted to be greedy, wanted to grab hold of him to take
her fill, but that wouldn’t fit the reverence of the night. He must have
felt it too, because he gently scooped her up and placed her on the bed,
taking the time to be sure her head was comfortable on his pillow
before he unwrapped her as if she was his most precious gift.

His actions were intentional, his gaze appreciative. She felt a twinge
of embarrassment over
the attentiveness
of his slow, seductive movements.

“You are perfection.” The huskily breathed words emboldened her.
She stroked his cheek with more love than she’d known herself to be capable of. He traced her face with his fingertips then caught her lips again. The kiss began tenderly, building into an inferno.

She tugged his shirt off, admiring every angle as she skimmed her hands along his lean muscles, honed by countless hours of hard work. Karise leaned up to taste him, her teeth grazing his skin as she kissed his chest, then his ribs, then his taut stomach. He sucked in his breath, frozen as she toyed with the V of his hips.

With a growl, he shifted so he could kiss her, reclaiming the
momentum as his own. His hands were both firm and affectionate as
they explored her every curve. He touched her in a way that made her
want to be touched only by him. It was more than a touch, more than a craving. He made her want to know him, all of him, all the way to
his soul. She wrapped him up in her – her arms, her legs, her heart.
As they moved together, she knew this man was the one she’d been
created for. It was their rhythm her heart beat to, theirs and no other.

When they were sated, she lay wrapped in his arms, her legs tangled
with his and her head resting on his chest. Karise had never felt as safe
and warm as she did in that moment. She knew she was fully loved and fully happy. What came next could wait. The now was enough.

Too tired and happy to talk, she let the steady rise and fall of his chest carry her off to sleep. The last thing she remembered was him brushing her hair back and kissing her forehead. It was also the first thing she experienced when sunlight replaced the moonbeams.

Karise wrapped the blanket tighter around herself in a vain attempt
to make up for his absence after he slid out of the bed. “Where are
you going?”

“To get a shower and make Zoe some breakfast. No one has ever
stayed over before. I don’t want it to be too weird for her.” He paused
from gathering his things to give her a lingering kiss. “I love you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that.” She smiled.

“Good, because I’m never going to tire of saying it.” He returned the smile, his eyes drinking in her face one more time.

Karise snuggled back into the pillows, listening to him shower while she reveled in the night before. Now that she’d abandoned the
fear and running, she couldn’t remember why she’d taken that approach
to begin with. She marveled at being so lucky to have found where she
belonged, to have found Aidan and Zoe. Anytime her mind started
kicking into overdrive, she chastised herself with a reminder to simply
enjoy this time.

Aidan emerged from his shower with the occasional water droplet
clinging to his bare chest and his jeans resting loosely on his hips,
exposing the top half of that delightful “V” she’d tormented the night
before. Karise swallowed.

“I love you, Aidan.” She rose from the bed, braver than she’d ever
felt in her life, and walked purposefully across the room to him.

He froze, his eyes taking in her every movement. She placed her
hands on his chest, running them lightly down to rest on his hips,
pulling him closer as she leaned up to kiss him.

“I love you and I want you to know that I’ll be counting the minutes
until I can get those clothes off you again.”

He responded with a kiss so full of passion it almost swept her away. She clung to him to stay upright, resting her head against his
chest while she regained her breath. Karise knew she had a busy week ahead of her and Aidan needed to dedicate some time to Zoe, so once
she stepped out of their happy little bubble, it would be a while before
she could return to it. That knowledge made letting him go all the
harder, but she mustered the willpower to get a shower so she didn’t look freshly rumpled by the time Zoe made her entrance.

Truth be told, she was exhausted and already looking forward to
an early bedtime. She had no intention of admitting that to Aidan,
though. The three of them enjoyed a breakfast of scrambled eggs,
freshly baked muffins and orange juice without strings in it. After the
plates were cleared away, Karise and Aidan shared a lingering goodbye
at her car before she headed to work, leaving father and daughter to spend a much-needed day together.

Despite the full schedule looming ahead of her, Karise felt empty as she drove away from the farm. The farther away she got, the more her time there felt like a happy dream. Now she was back in reality, and it was rather drab.

NOT SO VERY LONG AGO,
Karise had thrown herself into her job to avoid thinking about Aidan. She found herself doing so yet again,
though this time for entirely different reasons: to give Zoe some much-
needed daddy time, and to give herself and Aidan a chance to catch up
at work. Suddenly there weren’t enough hours in a day for Karise’s job.

As construction at Kate’s house transitioned from one phase to another, Karise’s input was needed more and more. Whether it was
part of the job description or not, she also found herself settling disputes
between contractors. The way Karise saw it, she’d do anything she could
to make the home-building process go smoothly for her clients, even if they weren’t her friends. Since it was Kate, she’d move heaven and earth if she had to. Lately, that’s what it felt like she was doing.

On Wednesday, she was pleasantly surprised by a phone call from
a friend of a friend of Kate’s who’d heard good things about her and wanted to schedule a meeting. Karise agreed to lunch on Thursday,
and then spent Wednesday evening after work putting together a
portfolio that looked more professional than a sketchpad. Other than a few quick texts, she didn’t even talk to Aidan.

The lunch on Thursday went well, and Karise found herself with
another contract. That evening, she had dinner with Kate’s family. Joan
and Mason were traveling again – Karise was beginning to wonder if
their wanderlust had anything to do with the temporary living
arrangements. To her dismay, Jack and Tara were there with their son,
Caleb
. Only
slightly
older than
Jonathan
, the toddler was a force of nature.
His mother was constantly on the move to keep him out of trouble.

Jack, on the other hand, seemed to have plenty of time to ooze
disdain at Karise. For the most part, she tried to avoid him. When that
wasn’t possible, she made polite conversation and pretended not to
notice. Certainly no one else noticed; maybe it was in her head. Karise
wished Aidan had been able to come to dinner so she could have asked
his opinion. She came dangerously close to simply asking Jack what his problem was but didn’t want to ruin Kate’s dinner.

By the time she made it back to her cottage, Karise’s head was
pounding, and she was completely drained of energy. She flopped
down on the couch and tossed an arm over her eyes. She’d intended to
rid herself of the headache and then get some more work done, but she
fell asleep instead.

It was the next morning when she groggily sat up, looking around
for a moment before she realized she was still on the couch. She scowled
at Victoria’s urn. “Don’t judge. I’m sure you’ve looked worse.”

Karise checked the clock on her phone, only to realize she’d missed
two calls from Aidan. She felt like a jerk, but it was already too late to
call him back now. He’d be in the middle of dropping off Zoe, and she
was going to be late for her first meeting if she didn’t hurry. So she
opted for a shower instead of the phone call, barely skidding into place
before the contractor pulled up at the job site.

“Nicely done.” Gary’s compliment was tinged with amusement.

“Thanks.” Karise chose to believe he wasn’t being sarcastic.

“Late night?”

“Surprisingly, no. I fell asleep on the couch pretty early. I’m just so flipping tired lately.” Karise shook her head to clear the cobwebs.

“Are you pregnant?”

“What?” Karise was taken aback. “No!”

Gary chuckled. “Sorry; I didn’t mean anything by it. I just remember
my Beth never could get enough sleep whenever she was pregnant.”

Karise forced herself to smile. “Ah, well, I don’t think that’s my
problem. I’m pretty sure I’m just the garden variety kind of tired.”

For the rest of the morning, her mind kept straying back to Gary’s
words. She wasn’t worried about being pregnant – she was fascinated
by the thought of it. Karise couldn’t help wondering what it would be
like to be a part of Aidan’s family and for that family to be growing.
She also couldn’t help wondering if it was wrong of her to be thinking
along those lines at this stage of the game.

After all the running around she’d done for the first part of the
day, Karise headed back to the cottage in hopes of spending her
afternoon catching up at the computer. She turned on some music,
opting for her favorite playlist – an eclectic mix that included everything
from Pink to the Statler Brothers – hoping to drown out the silent
presence of Victoria’s urn staring at her from the mantle.

She curled up in a chair at the kitchen table, trying to focus on
whittling away at her inbox. When she realized she’d spent five minutes
re-reading the same email, she gave in to her wandering mind. Her eyelids fluttered closed. She couldn’t help resting her hand lightly on her abdomen, a small smile playing on her lips.