What a Woman Wants (23 page)

Faith sat in
her car for a few minutes, gathering her courage. She was parked in front of Shane’s house, and she had come to apologize.

After returning home from shopping and having dinner at a restaurant with Shannon and Monique, she knew what she had to do couldn’t wait until she saw him again next week. She needed to do it now and get it over with. The man had been nice to her, a real gentleman, and she didn’t want him to think she wasn’t interested in him—because she was.

And as she’d told Monique, that was the problem.

She hadn’t known how much what Virgil had done had affected her until now. She’d gotten over a lot of it, but there were still issues she had regarding men, and that wasn’t Shane’s fault.

Getting out of the car, she slowly strolled up the long walk to his front door, wondering what she would say. She inhaled deeply, gathered up more courage, and rang the doorbell. It was getting dark, indicating an end to another day, and tomorrow she and Shannon had decided to make it a lazy day. All that shopping had worn them out.

She almost jumped when Shane opened the door. He was wearing reading glasses, and it seemed strange for him to look at her over them. “Faith?” he said with surprise in his voice while he removed his glasses.

“Shane. May I come in?”

“Sure.”

He stepped aside to let her enter, and the moment she walked over the threshold, she turned around while he was closing the door behind her. When he glanced up at her she said, “I owe you an apology.”

“Do you?” He leaned back against the closed door, and she wished he hadn’t done that. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and his feet were bare. He definitely looked comfortable and at home. And it was hard to get past his nicely built chest with rippling muscles, a trim and flat tummy and powerful thighs.

“Yes. I told you a lie, but there was a reason for it.”

He gave her a wry smile. “You had a reason to lie? This should be interesting. I was always taught to believe that it pays to be honest with people.”

She nodded, knowing he wasn’t going to make things easy for her. “I was taught that as well, which is why I’m here. Is there somewhere we can talk?”

He nodded. “Yes, let’s sit in the living room.”

She followed him through the foyer into a huge room that overlooked the ocean. Being in his house reminded her of the last time she was here and what a perfect gentleman he’d been and the fun she’d had with him that afternoon. “I hope I’m not bothering you.”

He glanced back over his shoulder at her. “You aren’t. I was finishing up a novel I’ve been reading over the past couple of days.”

“Oh? What’s the name of it?”

“
The Island Massacre.
”

Faith nodded. It was the one about the serial killer. “I read it this past weekend and enjoyed it. But it kept me looking over my shoulders.”

He motioned her over to the sofa. “I know what you mean. Please have a seat.”

When they sat down, she didn’t say anything, and then he cleared his throat and said, “You wanted to talk.”

Faith nodded. Was it just her imagination, or was Shane looking at her strangely. She shrugged self-consciously and said, “About today. The reason I didn’t want to plan an afternoon with you was because. . .”

When she didn’t complete what she was about to say, Shane asked, “Because what?”

“Because I’m not interested in getting involved with someone, and I think that you are.”

He gazed at her intently, before saying, “I believed we’ve had this conversation before or one pretty close to it and we left with the understanding that you would stop being overly cautious and start trusting me.”

“I do trust you, but I’m not ready for what you want.”

“And what is it that you think I want?”

“The same thing most men want,” she all but snapped. “A willing woman in your bed.”

“And you think that’s all this is about, Faith? Trying to get you to sleep with me?”

Faith stood, angry with herself. Things weren’t going the way she wanted them to. She looked over at Shane. “I don’t know what to think, Shane.”

He nodded slowly. “Is there a reason why you’re so very cautious?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, there is a reason,” she admitted softly. “Remember when I told you that I was divorced after being married nearly three years?”

“Yes, I recall you saying that.”

“Well, what I didn’t tell you is that I found out my husband had been unfaithful.”

Shane frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“With another man.”

His frown deepened. “That’s rough.”

“Tell me about it. I’m the one who found them in bed together. I came back early from one of my business trips. They were in our house, our bed, and had been drinking our wine.”

“I know that must have been hard on you.”

“It was. But he made the divorce easy, since he didn’t want me to air our dirty laundry.”

Shane gave her a cynical chuckle. “I can imagine. And now you don’t trust another living male.”

She stared at him disbelievingly, wondering how he figured that. “No, that’s not it. I’ve dated since then.”

“Okay, then it must be me. Do you think I’m one of those down-low brothers or something?”

She shook her head. “No, that hadn’t crossed my mind.”

“Okay, then, what is it? There has to be some reason why you prefer not getting involved with me.”

“There is,” she said, sitting back down.

He stood and crossed the room until he was standing directly in front of her. “Do you want to share that reason?”

Not really,
she thought, but she knew she owed him an explanation. “I feel things with you that I haven’t felt in a long time.”

He met her gaze. “What kind of things?”

She shrugged. “All sorts of things, but especially a funny feeling in my stomach whenever we’re together.”

A smile played at his lips. “It could be indigestion.”

“I doubt it.”

“Okay. You should know your body.”

“Trust me, I do.”

With the mention of her body, the air surrounding them suddenly became charged. She felt it, and knew he felt it as well. “See what I mean. I didn’t want this to happen.”

He sat down in the seat beside her. “Some things are inevitable,” he murmured.

“But I’m not ready.”

His hand came up to cup the side of her face, the tip of his finger tracing over her lip. “Then maybe it’s time for you to get ready.”

He leaned closer, brought his lips closer to hers, but refused to go any further. He wanted her to make the next move.

And she did.

With a strangled sigh, she leaned forward to fit her mouth over his, and the moment she did so, her body went on full sexual release. And when he parted his lips, she slipped her tongue inside and trembled at the sensations swirling around in her body.

The kiss seemed endless, and when he took it over moments later, she heard a moan from deep within her throat. She didn’t come over here for this. She came to apologize. But since this is what she was getting, then .. . oh, well.

She moaned again when she felt his hand moving from her face to reach down between them and cup her breasts through her sundress. “Tell me to stop,” he whispered against her moist lips when he pulled back.

Instead she said, “No, don’t stop.”

He stared at her for a moment, and then as if he’d made up his mind about something, he dropped his hands and stood, stopping anyway. “I want you to be sure, Faith. A few minutes ago you said you didn’t want to become involved with me, and I don’t want to make love to you when there’s a chance you’re going to regret things afterwards. I suggest that you go home and think about it and be sure before we move any further. Whether we share a bed or not isn’t the most important thing with me. I want you to first believe that I would not hurt you the way your husband did.”

“Shane, but—”

“No. Think about things. Think about whether there can be an ‘us.’ I’m not someone who routinely gets involved in flings. If we decide to move forward, that’s what we’ll do, move forward with no time frame or limitations.”

Faith nodded. “All right.”

“And another thing. I need to cancel our lessons. My brother Grey is giving my sister-in-law a surprise birthday party in Orlando and I’m going. I won’t be back until late Sunday night.”

His words echoed in her head, and immediately she latched on to the fact that she wouldn’t be seeing him for a few days. It made her realize how she’d gotten accustomed to his being around. “Thanks for letting me know, Shane. Please have a safe trip, and I’ll see you when you get back.”

And then she quickly turned, not waiting for him to walk her to the door, and left.

Monique smiled as
she gazed upon the beautiful floral arrangement that had been waiting for her when she returned home from shopping. Lyle had said he wanted to capture her heart and he was doing a good job of going about it.

“Your guy definitely has taste,” Shannon said.

She smiled over at Shannon. “
My guy
certainly does.”

Shannon chuckled. “So now you’re going to claim him as yours?”

Monique nodded, remembering everything else Lyle had told her earlier that day over breakfast. “Yes, I’m going to claim him as mine.”

“And no more ‘he’s just a friend’ stuff?”

Monique smiled warmly. “He
is
a friend, but a very special friend.” She wanted to call and thank him for the flowers but recalled that he was meeting with a few of his colleagues tonight to plan the next seminar and wouldn’t return home until late. She would just have to thank him properly when she saw him again.

Later that night when she crawled in bed, she thought it was a blessing to have been loved by two very special men in her lifetime. Not too many women could boast of having that. Paul had been good to her. He had been the best. But now he was gone, and she had to move on as he would have wanted her to do.

She then thought of Lyle. He was good to her, too, by not rushing her into anything and making sure she understood that his feelings were genuine by confessing his love for her. Yes, Lyle was a good man in all the ways that mattered.

And he loves me.

Emotions were swirling inside her. Emotions she hadn’t felt since losing Paul. Could she be falling in love with Lyle as well?

A short while later, as sleep began claiming her, she hugged her pillow thinking that yes, she
was
falling in love with Lyle Montgomery.

Monique wasn’t the
only one snuggled in her bed having thoughts of the man she loved. Across the waterways, Anna lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling, thinking that today had been special.

Her uncle and aunt had arrived early that morning, and everyone else followed shortly thereafter. Zach’s parents would arrive sometime tomorrow, and his sister, Noelle, as well. Whenever there were gatherings such as this, she felt so much a part of the family she had been denied for so long that all she could do was to thank God for uniting her with them.

She always enjoyed the friendship she had developed with Hay-wood. And it was plain for anyone to see just how much in love Trey and Haywood were. They were a beautiful couple with a beautiful little boy, who represented so much of the love they shared.

And Anna knew she wanted that for herself and for Zach. Al-though he hadn’t mentioned marriage, she hoped that one day he would. She truly believed that he loved her, but did he also see her as someone he wanted to marry? What if he wanted to run for political office like the newspaper had claimed during the time she was living in D.C.? Would she be more of a liability to him than an asset? Would his constituents expect him to marry someone American born? Would they be accepting of his marriage to a part Vietnamese, or would they denounce her as Todd’s family and friends had done?

She sighed deeply. Was it wrong to want to be the woman he came home to every day, the one who bore his children?... And she wanted his child something awful. She would be a good mother. The best. Just the way her mother would have been to her had she lived. She would make him a good wife. She knew that she would. But she wouldn’t let him sacrifice a political career for her. She loved him too much for that.

She closed her eyes and decided to have a conversation with her parents. It was moments like these that had helped her during some rough stretches in her life. The belief that, no matter what, her parents were always near gave her the encouragement to go on when she felt like giving up.

“Mom, Dad,” she whispered into the darkness. “It’s me, Adrianna. I’m okay. In fact, I couldn’t be better. Zach loves me, and to me that’s the best thing to ever happen in my life. After reading all those letters you would write to Mom, I know how it feels to have a man love you deeply, Dad, and I feel that same depth of love from him. And you would like him, Dad. He’s just like the man you wrote Mom about in your letters, Noah Wainwright. Zach is so much like his father. He’s honorable, respectful, loving, and caring. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend or a more devoted lover. Be happy for me, please, because I believe I have finally found what the two of you had. A very special kind of love.”

Anna wiped the tears from her eyes and shifted her body in bed. She never knew her parents, but she had always felt their presence and the love they shared for each other and for her, their unborn child, through her father’s letters. Also in those letters he would always speak highly of his best friend, Noah Wainwright, and of his brother, Randolph. And after meeting and getting to know both men, Anna understood why.

Anna blinked when she thought she heard a sound and raised herself up in bed to see her bedroom door opening slightly. “Anna?”

She smiled upon hearing the low tone of Zach’s voice. “Yes, I’m here in the bed,” she whispered back, pulling to sit up.

“Just where I want you,” Zach said, coming toward her.

Anna had hoped he would come. “Where’s Uncle Randolph and Aunt Jenna?” she asked when she felt the weight of the bed shift as he joined her there.

He reached out and took her into his arms. “They aren’t spending the night here. They decided to stay at their cottage and won’t be back until breakfast in the morning.”

“So we’re all alone?”

Zach chuckled again as he reached out and turned on the lamp next to the bed, bringing soft lighting into the room. “In a way, yes. Trey and Jenna are down the hall, and Randi has a bedroom downstairs. But enough about them. I want to concentrate just on us. I love you.”

“And I love you, too.”

Bracing himself on his elbow, he captured her face in his hands and leaned down to kiss her. And then he was touching, thinking how soft she felt through the silky material of her nightgown. But he wanted to be skin to skin with her. He wanted to make love to her tonight in a very special way.

He had decided that he didn’t want to wait any longer. He wanted to ask her to be his wife, and whether he sought a career in politics or not didn’t matter. The most important thing was having her in his life forever.

“We have on too many clothes,” he whispered, and pulled back to remove his. And then moments later he was in the bed removing hers, tossing her gown aside.

He reached out and captured her breasts in his hands. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered softly. “These are beautiful,” he added, running his thumbs over the nipples, loving the way they felt in his hands.

He leaned down and took one deep into his mouth and watched how Anna threw her head back and how her eyes closed. He feasted on one and then the other, liking the sound of her moans while he did so.

He pulled up and gazed deep into her eyes. “Tonight,” he whispered. “We’re going to take this slow and easy.” He grinned. “Might be less noisy that way.”

She smiled at him, remembering the other times he had pushed her over the edge and how the sensations had ripped through her. “Yes, it just might, but I can’t guarantee it.”

He found her smile a total turn-on and needed to kiss her. So he did, slow and easy, making her moan some more. Kissing her felt sensual, and it was a physical pleasure he wanted for the rest of his life.

But it was time to deepen the pleasure, and he lowered his hands to the area between her legs and began stroking her there. When her moans got a little louder, he whispered in her ear, “Shh, remember we aren’t here alone anymore. There are other guests in the house.”

And then he left her mouth and began tracing downward to taste her sweetness. When he got to her belly, he took his tongue and drew circles all around her navel, and just loving her this way made him that much more aroused. And when he got to the area of her he sought, he went in for the gusto, determined to give her the most intimate kiss that a man could give a woman.

Her thighs that cuddled his head began shaking, and he knew it was only a matter of time for her, and he wanted to be inside her when the explosion hit. He pulled up and placed his body over hers and guided himself unerringly to her.

“I love you.” He said the words the moment he entered her and watched her face when she began to reach a climax. He felt her muscles clench him, and when she was about to let out a scream, he leaned down and latched on to her mouth, absorbing the sound deep in his throat. The sensations caused by her orgasm were so profound that he broke off the kiss and threw his head back and squeezed his lips together to kill his own scream.

When the explosion had passed, he shifted their bodies, holding her tight against him. Never had he experienced anything so earth-shatteringly magnificent. When their breathing had slowed and they could talk, he asked her the question that had been burning in his heart for months.

He leaned on his elbows and gazed down at her. “Anna, will you marry me?”

He saw the tears that suddenly sprang to her eyes and said, “Before you answer, I want you to know something. I’m thinking of pursuing a political career, but only if that’s what you want, too. I want you more than a political career, and I want you to know that. If that’s not what you want, too, then I’ll do without it, but I won’t do without you.”

She reached up and cupped his face with her hand. “Oh, Zach, more than anything I want to marry you, but I’m not sure I’d make a good politician’s wife. What if the people don’t like my mixed heritage? There are still those who still remember Vietnam and—”

“You’ll make a wonderful politician’s wife. You are everything I want in a woman, the total package. There are those who admire what you had to endure for all those years and how you grew up to make something of yourself without the Fuller family name. You’re a fighter, Anna. I knew that the first day I met you, and that’s what captured my heart: the fighter in you. And you’re the type of woman I need by my side.”

Another tear fell from her eye. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”

He smiled with all the love in his heart. “Trust me, you won’t, sweetheart. But like I said, I want a political career only if it’s something you want, too. Otherwise, I can continue doing what I’m doing now.”

She nodded, but deep down Anna knew for him even to be considering a political future meant he really wanted one. Could she be the wife he needed?

Suddenly, a particular letter her father had written to her mother came to mind. In that letter he told her that he had ask for leave to bring her to the States where he wanted their child to be born. He didn’t care what anyone thought about his marriage to a Vietnamese. The most important thing was their love for each other because together they would be able to handle anything.

And she believed that in her heart. Together she and Zach would be able to handle anything. Emotions filled her entire being, and she reached out and cupped his chin and said in a soft voice, “Yes, Zach, I will marry you. There’s nothing in this world that I want more than to be your wife and the mother of your children.”