What a Woman Wants (21 page)

“
Well, it certainly
sounds like the both of you had a wonderful time ,” Faith said, smiling over at Shannon and Monique as she poured glasses of wine.

“Yes, but I feel bad that we left you here all alone,” Monique said.

“Hey, don’t feel bad. It was a lazy weekend for me. I finished one book and began another. This one was a romance novel that came highly recommended. I also practiced my tennis strokes and walked on the beach whenever the mood hit. I missed having you guys around, but it was okay.”

What Faith refused to tell them was that while reading the romance novels and coming across several hot and explicit love scenes, she had reached for the phone ready to take Shane Masters up on his offer to spend some time over at his place, but her willpower had always won out and she hadn’t. There had been times where things had gotten lonely and little too quiet, but her novels had pretty much kept her entertained. She had even gone next door to visit Anna and discovered her neighbor had gone away for the weekend as well. She then remembered Anna mentioning a few days ago that she would be spending the Fourth of July on that island her family owned.

“What do you want to do for the Fourth?” Faith asked. “Have the two of you made any plans?”

“No,” Shannon said quickly, looking into the glass as if studying the contents of her wine. She remembered Adam’s request that she go to a drag race in Savannah with him, and like she’d told him, there was no way she could do that. “I don’t know about Monique, but I haven’t made any. In fact, I plan to just hang around here and get some reading in.”

Faith and Monique glanced over at each other. Since Shannon read so much with her regular job as a college professor, she detested sitting still and reading anything when they were together. They couldn’t help but wonder if there was a particular reason for her wanting to do so now.

“No, I’m free on the Fourth, although Lyle mentioned he would like for us to do something together later that day. There’s going to be fireworks somewhere on the island, and if possible, I’d like the two of you to meet him.”

Shannon eased closer to the edge of her seat, interested. “Why? Are things serious between you two?”

Monique smiled. “No, he’s still just a friend, but since I’m spending a lot of time with him, I want you to meet him.”

Later that night, when Monique slipped into bed, she thought of what Shannon had asked earlier, and what she, in her opinion, had answered truthfully. She and Lyle were friends and nothing more— although she doubted friends had a tendency to lock lips the way they had while in Beaufort. After brunch they’d walked back to the inn to check out, and once they were on the road, they had easily slipped into conversation. When he stopped to gas up the car, she had gotten out to stretch her legs and had been standing by the car when he returned from paying the gas station attendant.

And without any type of warning at all, he’d touched her arm and leaned over and kissed her. And when they reached Hilton Head and he brought her home, he kissed her again before she’d gotten out of the car. He walked her to the door, too.

She couldn’t dismiss from her mind the other thing he’d shared with her, the part about him being attracted to her when she’d been younger, and that the only thing that had kept him from making his move had been the difference in their ages. The five-year age difference didn’t matter anymore, and she couldn’t help wondering how he felt about that now.

Another thing she wondered about was how she was going to react when they jogged together in the morning. As she fluffed her pillow to settle down for the night, she couldn’t wait to find out.

Faith glanced over
at Shannon. “You aren’t sleepy?” Usually of the three of them she was the first to retire for the night.

Shannon leaned back in her chair and smiled. “No, I’m fine,” she said, deciding not to tell her about the long nap she’d taken over at Adam’s place. “I really had fun working on that car with Adam today. I didn’t think I would, but I did.”

Faith nodded as she studied Shannon. “If you thought you weren’t going to enjoy yourself, then why did you go?”

Shannon didn’t say anything at first and then leaning forward, she placed her wineglass on the table. She thought about Adam and felt a gentle tug at her heart. She knew she shouldn’t have gone there. What was there about him that made her mind go topsy-turvy where she threw sense, good common sense, out the window? Was the sex really that good that it should make her lose herself that deep?

“Shannon? What’s going on with you? Do you need to talk?”

Shannon glanced over at Faith and considered her question. She then settled back in her chair, appreciated Faith giving her time to get her thoughts together. “Yes, I need to talk,” she said softly. “I have a question for you. How can something that starts off totally sexual end up in a different way?”

Faith’s brow furrowed, assuming Shannon was asking for a particular reason. “I don’t think it’s hard for physical attraction to be the dominant factor when two people meet for the first time,” Faith said, thinking of her situation with Shane. “It’s natural for a woman to be attracted to a man or vice versa at the first meeting and sometimes it’s the only reason for the meeting. Sexual attraction is a very powerful thing.”

She took a sip of her wine before continuing. “But after the two of you spend time together, you discover it might not be the only thing. Especially if it’s someone you could grow to like.” She thought again of Shane Masters. He was definitely someone she could grow to like if she hung around him, which was the reason she tried to keep their relationship strictly professional.

“But what if you don’t want to like him? What if you know he is all wrong for you?” Shannon asked, frustration deep in her voice.

Faith shrugged. “In that case, you should cut your losses and move on.”

“But what about the chemistry, the great sex, the desire to be with that person in or out of bed?”

“So it’s not only about taking the edge off your sexual neediness?”

Shannon smiled. “No. I’d proved that’s not as big a deal as I thought,” she said. “I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone but Cely, but I took an oath of celibacy more than a year ago and had walked the straight and narrow path until I met Adam Corbain, and then it was like I was making up for lost time. The sex with him is off the chain, hot-hot-hot, crazy and torrid as hell, but then I’m discovering something else.”

“What?”

“It’s not just the Penis Syndrome that has me caught in its grip. I really like him. He’s different.”

“Umm, in what way?”

“Well, he certainly isn’t my usual type, and before you start on me about how I feel about that, just hear me out for a second.”

Faith nodded. “All right.”

“Okay, I might be what one could consider a snob, but that’s just me, okay? I admit it. And I’ve been this way for so long, it’s part of who I am and the way I am. But with Adam, I can still feel naughty in the bedroom and somehow feel like we’re on the same level out of the bedroom—when I know we’re not.”

Faith nodded slowly. “Could it be that levels don’t mean anything with the two of you?”

“But it should!”

“Yes, but it seems it doesn’t. You’re beginning to like him for who he is and not for what he does, and only you can decide if that’s enough. This is just a summer fling, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are you so concerned about it? It’s not like you’re going to see him again once you leave this place.”

“I know, but...”

“But what?”

Shannon shrugged. “But nothing. Maybe I’m getting worked up about it for all the wrong reasons.”

“Or you could be getting all worked up about it for all the
right
reasons.” Faith stood. “Go to bed and sleep on it, and I believe that the answers will eventually come. My advice is that if you like this guy—and I mean really like him—then nothing else matters because fling or no fling, you, Shannon Carmichael, will make things work. I’ve never known you to back down from a challenge, and with that last comment I’m turning in.”

Shannon smiled up at her. “Thanks for listening.”

“Hey, that’s what friends are for. I wished Cely was here. She was the one who was good at giving advice.”

“That might true, but evidently she didn’t take any of her own. She would never have let us contemplate doing what she did,” Shannon said bitterly.

Faith heard the anger in Shannon’s voice and understood it. Cely had been a friend and a confidante to all of them, but to Shannon, Cely had always been her voice of reason, the one who used to give Shannon a good bitch reading when she needed it. “I don’t think we’ll ever fully understand why Cely did what she did without turning to us, and it hurts because the four of us were so close. But it comes a time when we have to accept things as they are, let it go, and move on.”

“It’s hard,” Shannon said, wiping a tear from her eye.

“I know, but I feel her presence, especially here. It’s like she’s missing from our midst physically but not in spirit. I truly believe whenever we gather together like this, she’ll always be with us. Good night.”

After Faith left and Shannon found herself alone, she poured another glass of wine. Faith was right. Cely was there with them in spirit.

“
Good morning.”

Monique glanced up at Lyle’s greeting. Everything appeared as usual for their early-morning jog: the beach was empty except for those individuals wanting to walk or run along its shores, which weren’t too many.

Although the scenery was the same, she and Lyle were different, and she could immediately feel it. This past weekend they had crossed a line in their relationship, and she was still trying to figure out just where that line was . . . and, more important, what were the expectations.

“Good morning,” she replied, smiling.

Then like it was the most natural thing to do, he leaned down and kissed her. And it wasn’t a brotherly kiss, either. It was a replay of the ones from yesterday but this had even more tongue play. When he pulled away, she had to almost fight for breath.

He smiled down at her. “You okay?”

“Kind of. I guess I’ll survive.”

He chuckled. “And I’m going to make sure of it. Ready to start jogging?”

“Yes, but we need to talk.” She was certain she didn’t have to tell him what about.

“Okay. We’re having breakfast together this morning, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then we can talk then. Come on, let’s start our run before it gets too hot out here.”

And as they began jogging together, Monique was sure things would be fine. They just needed to get a few things clarified.

“
Okay, Monique, let’s
talk.”

“All right,” she said after taking a deep swallow of orange juice. It seemed that Lyle didn’t intend for them to waste any time to get down to the business at hand. After their jog she had used his bathroom to shower and change and then had joined him in the kitchen.

On this particular morning, he had prepared sausage and biscuits. They had decided that on Wednesdays she was the one responsible for getting in his kitchen to prepare breakfast. One thing she had discovered was that the two of them worked well together.

She placed her juice glass down and met his gaze. “We were friends.”

He smiled warmly at her across the table. “I hope we still are.”

She nodded. “But we kissed this past weekend. Several times, and not in a way friends would kiss.”

“That’s true,” Lyle agreed.

“Now I’m confused.”

“Don’t be.” He leaned closer to her over the table and captured her hand in his. “I was honest with you in Beaufort when I told you that I was attracted to you that first summer. But I didn’t tell you everything.”

Monique wondered what else was there to tell. What he had told her had taken her by surprise. Was there more? “What didn’t you tell me?”

He held her gaze steady when he said, “That not only was I attracted to you but that I had begun developing feelings for you as well.”

A shiver ran up Monique’s spine. She cleared her throat and asked. “Feelings? What kind of feelings?”

“The kind a man would have for a woman he cared seriously about.”

She had another question. “How serious?”

“Real serious.”

Monique blinked, not sure she comprehended what he was saying. So she decided to ask. “Are you saying that you thought you were in love with me?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. You acted mature for your age, which was one of things that attracted me to you.”

“Okay.” Monique drew in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “So when did you get over those, ahh, feelings toward me?”

He looked at her seriously and said, “Who said I’m over them?”

Monique sighed deeply. “Lyle, be serious.”

“I am serious. I’m as serious as a heart attack. I am also being totally honest with you, Monique, which is only fair. I fell in love with you that summer, and I never stopped loving you. I thought I had after Arnie called to let me know you’d gotten married, since it wasn’t good to yearn for another man’s wife. But when I saw you again a couple of weeks ago, I realized that deep down I still cared for you.”

“But—but there were those summers before I met Paul, and you never came back to visit, not even to call when I got older before leaving for college.”

“Yes,” he said sadly, “and there’s a reason for it.”

Over the next twenty minutes, he told her about his sister Carrie and went into more details with her regarding the situation than he had with Arnie. He wanted to make sure Monique understood that although his time and attention had been given to his sister, his heart still belonged to Monique. But her marrying Paul had made it too late to do anything about it.

“I never knew,” she said sadly, holding her head down. She couldn’t help but admire Lyle, his father, and his brothers for sticking by his sister the way they had and for the role they played in making sure Carrie felt safe and secure. Monique also regretted not knowing about Lyle’s feelings for her.

She then thought of Paul and the five good years they’d shared and said, “I loved Paul, Lyle. I don’t regret any of the years I spent with him.”

“And I wouldn’t want you to, Nicky. I believe he was placed in your life for a particular reason, and I’m sorry for your loss. But you’re alive, and so am I.”

Monique took another huge swallow of her orange juice. Her body suddenly felt tense, nervous. “Why did you decide to tell me all of this?”

“Because you said we needed to talk.”

“B-but—”

“And the reason you wanted for us to talk,” he said, ignoring her interruption, “was because I had started kissing you and you were confused as to why. The reason I’m being so brutally honest with you and telling you everything is because I believe honesty is the best policy. I’m not like my brother Lance used to be. I don’t know how to work a woman or play games with one. I deal with openness and directness. That’s the doctor in me. You ask a question, and I will answer it as sincerely as I can. Whether or not you’re ready for the answers I give is not my decision to make. It’s yours. I just didn’t want you walking around thinking I was coming on to you, kissing you every chance I got, because I couldn’t control any male urges and saw you as an easy and convenient mark. That’s not it at all.”

Monique nodded, knowing she would have eventually assumed that. “Thanks for explaining things to me.”

He leaned back in his chair. “You’re welcome. Now I have a question for you.”

“What?”

“How do you feel knowing that I’m in love with you?”

Monique wasn’t sure
how to answer that. So instead she said, “This is rather complicated.”

“It doesn’t have to be. I’m not rushing you into anything, Nicky. And I can certainly understand if you’re not ready to get seriously involved with anyone just yet. But I am asking that while we’re here on the island together that we continue to spend time together, get to know each other all over again, and go from there. If you decide when your summer here is over that I was just a fond memory, then that’s all well and good and I’ll survive. I’ve done it before where you’re concerned and I’ll do it again if I have to. My work has become my other love, and if it has to be, it will continue to be so.”

He then leaned in and added, “But if you think there’s a chance you might grow to love me back, then I’d like to know that as well. I know my way to Louisiana; in fact, I’m just a few hours from where you are. I can handle a long-distance romance if you can.”

Monique shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything for now. Just let me continue to do what I’ve been doing.”

She lifted a brow. “Which is?”

“Trying like hell to capture your heart.”