Do Not Disturb (22 page)

She rested her palm on his jaw, the whiskers
scraping her skin. How she’d missed this face. “I’ll see you at 8:30.”

“Marry me, Allison.”

They were panting, sweaty and naked on their backs
in a tangle of sheets.

“What?”

He rolled to his side, resting his head in an
upturned palm.

“I know this isn’t the most romantic place to
propose. And maybe I should’ve waited until we’ve talked and all, but I don’t
want to wait. The last six weeks without you have been awful.”

He looked so adorable. God how she loved this man.

“I was lonely without you too, Brett.

“So we shouldn’t wait.”

“Well...”

“Just say yes, baby. We’re great together. And I
don’t want to spend the next months or years sneaking around so we can grab a
few hours alone. I want us to be a family. You, me, the girls. Don’t you see?
It’s perfect.”

It was cruel to tease him, but he was so cute
trying to convince her. ”You just want me so I can organize your life.”

“Well, we both know I could use some help there.”
He shrugged his shoulder toward the baskets of clean clothes on his bedroom
floor. “But...” He ran the back of his hand over her cheek. “I love you,
Allison. It’s kind of scary how much I love you. And I admit I never thought
I’d get married again. But I’m positive we can make it together.”

She smiled. “I didn’t plan on getting married
either.”

“But you love me.” He moved over her. “Don’t deny
it.”

“My my, but you’re confident.”

He narrowed his eyes and tried to frown.

“Don’t pretend to pout you big baby.” She touched
his lower lip.

At the doorbell chime, his head shot up. He
glanced over her head to the bedside clock. “Damn, it’s almost ten. That over
organized Mrs. Jones must be here to get me ready for my meeting. Why the hell
did I hire that woman anyway?”

Allison tried to roll away when Brett captured her
and lay on top of her, his arms balanced on either side of her shoulders.

“Oh no you don’t. No interruptions this time.
You’re not going anywhere until I hear something good from those sexy lips.”

“But Mrs. Jones is waiting.”

“Allison,” he warned. “I lay my heart on the line
and you’re teasing?”

Her heart moved into her throat. She was so lucky.

She hooked her arms around his neck and stared
into his eyes. “I love you, Brett Tyler. More than I ever thought possible. I
would be honored to become your wife.” She arched up and kissed his lips.
“How’s that?”

“Yes.” He kissed her soundly. “We’re in for one
hell of a good life.” He rolled off the bed and snagged his jeans and shirt.
“I’ll let Mrs. Jones in my office and be right back.”

Allison tucked her shirt in her pants as he raced
back into the bedroom. Planting a kiss on her forehead, he moved toward the
bathroom. “Come talk to me.”

“But, Brett...”

“Come on. Our bedroom and bath will probably be
the only rooms we can get much privacy after we’re married. May as well get in
practice.”

Sitting on the edge of the tub, Allison watched
Brett through the glass shower walls. He scrubbed his body and shampooed in
less than five minutes. She decided they would never have anything but glass in
their shower. She had waited too long to find Brett and she wasn’t going to
deny herself any opportunity to look at his sexy body.

“I shaved earlier,” he explained as he toweled
off. “Didn’t want to scratch up your delicate skin.” He winked. “I like the
sight of you in here with me. Feels natural.”

She smiled. It did feel right. And she liked the thought
of a lifetime of him running around naked. “You know we still have a lot to
talk about.”

“Yes. But we’ve already covered the important
parts.” He started to toss the towel on the counter, but one glance at her eyes
sent him to the towel rack.

“But we have to decide where we’ll live, when
we’ll get married, of course when we’ll tell the girls, and...”

He left the room, heading for his closet, Allison
trailing behind him. She stood at the door observing the jumble of shoes on the
floor under his clothes. He shoved hangers down the rack.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Sure am, darling.” He smiled as he walked past
her with slacks and a shirt. “We can live here or your place or buy something
new or wait and build something.” He selected underwear and socks from one of
the laundry baskets, leaving the other clothes in a tumble. “We should get
married as soon as possible—“ He paused to look at her. “Unless you want a big
wedding?”

“Heavens no. Just something small.” She sat on the
edge of the bed, thinking. “But I do want all our family and maybe a small
party afterwards.”

“Great. That’s settled.” He stuffed his shirt into
his pants and fastened them, then slipped on a belt. “But I want it soon. And
we should go out tonight with the girls to tell them and then tomorrow I want
to buy an engagement ring.”

She shot off the bed. “You don’t have to buy me a
fancy ring, Brett. I’m not a young bride, I’m—“

He grabbed her arms and kissed her. “You’re my
bride, darling, and unless you object to diamonds, I want to buy you a ring.”
He sat down to pull on his socks and shoes.

Wow. An engagement ring. She’d never dreamed of
having an engagement ring.

“I’ll take it. But maybe we should wait a little
while.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Do you want to marry me?”

“Yes.”

“Then what are we waiting for? We’re not
teenagers.” He grinned. “Although I act like one sometimes, when I can’t wait
to get you in bed.”

She rolled her eyes and ignored his last comment.
“I guess I just didn’t expect this. I thought we’d date and then...” she
shrugged. “I had no idea you felt the same way about me that I felt about you.”

He pulled her into a tight hug. “I knew I cared
for you even before we broke up. And I was so miserable while we were apart I
figured I must love you. Nothing else could make me ache like I did when you
were gone.”

She eased back to look into his serious face. “I
was so lonely without you I thought I’d die, Brett.” A tear ran down her cheek.
“When I heard the good news about the lawsuit, I wanted to share it with you,
but you weren’t there. And when I didn’t get the promotion I needed you. I lay
in bed crying, talking to you out loud. I knew you would’ve been able to
comfort me.”

He kissed the tear on her cheek. “I’m so sorry I
wasn’t there for you.”

“But you were, in a way.”

“Oh?”

“I knew what you’d say. You’d said it before. This
time I just had to say it to myself.”

“That’s funny. I could hear you talking to me,
too. Telling me to call my parents. To work it out.” He chuckled. “And I
certainly heard you telling me to get my act together when I messed up that
proposal.”

“I guess we do balance each other out, don’t we?”
She asked, her lips trembling.

“Yes. And now we won’t have to be alone anymore.
Talking to ourselves. In fact, maybe you should come to work with me. I could
really use you and --”

She backed out of his arms. “I’m not sure we
should carry it that far.”

He grabbed her hand. “It’s getting late, we’ll
talk more tonight.” He led her out of the bedroom and toward his office.

“Mrs. Jones.”

“Brett, I placed the...” A fifty-something woman
in a neat turquoise business suit lifted her head from the papers she was
packing in Brett’s briefcase. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”

Allison tried to tug her hand free, but Brett held
on.

“This is Allison, my fiancé.” He motioned into his
office. “Allison, this is my lifesaving assistant, Mrs. Jones.”

Allison held out her free hand to the smiling
woman.

Fiancée. She liked the sound of that.

By Sunday afternoon the house was pared down to
only it’s four permanent inhabitants. The wedding had taken place the first
Saturday night in February, with non-stop mayhem from the moment Brett’s family
had arrived that afternoon. A very late night and a houseful of relatives
depleted the newlywed’s energy. They’d delayed their honeymoon for a few months
to meet Brett’s business obligations and settle in as a family.

Brett lifted Allison onto the island in the
kitchen and kissed her. She looped her arms around his neck.

“Finally.” He moved his mouth to her neck. “I
thought we’d never be alone again.”

“We aren’t really alone. The girls will be back in
here in a few minutes.”

“Hmmm.” He placed a hand on her lower back and
pressed her to his chest, then slanted his face to capture her lips again.

“We’re ready to do Caroline’s science project.”

Allison opened her eyes and saw the girls standing
in the kitchen stifling giggles. She tried to move back, but Brett wouldn’t
release her.

“Brett,” she mumbled in his mouth.

He groaned. Leaving his arms around her, he turned
to the observers and smiled. “Sounds like a good plan. Just be sure to cover
the floor with papers and don’t make a mess.”

“Okay, Dad.”

“Sure Mr....Brett.” Kelly smiled and corrected
herself.

“Keep your lips ready, I’ll be back.” Brett patted
her butt and headed to the garage.

She hopped down and was sinking into the couch
cushions when he appeared through the door with a grin on his face and a bag in
his hand.

Allison sat up. She recognized that look in his
eye. But it was three o’clock in the afternoon. Surely he wasn’t planning for
them to...”

He sank down next to her and dangled the bag
between his legs.

“What’s that Dad?”

“Something I made.” He patted Allison’s leg and
winked at her.

Oh brother. What was he up to?

“It’s going to be different for all of us now.
Living together as a family. And it’ll take some adjusting. So I thought I’d
make something to help us all out.”

He reached a hand into the bag. “You girls are
growing up and will be wanting more and more privacy.” He cast a wicked look at
Allison. “And Allison and I need our private time too. So...”

He pulled out two wooden signs with “Private”
painted down the front of each. Each one was about six inches long, one orange
with lime green letters and the other purple and yellow, and dangled from a
brown string he had tied in a loop at the top.

“For your rooms.” He held them out. “If you want
some time alone, the other family members will respect it with this on the
door.” He leaned forward to look in their eyes. “Of course, since we’re the
parents, if we feel there’s a valid reason for disturbing you we can, but we’ll
knock first.”

Each girl took a sign. 

“Wow, Dad.” Caroline held hers up, watching it
twirl from the string. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, Brett. This is great.”

This was not the end. Allison knew better.

He drew out a much larger and fancier sign with
“Do Not Disturb” painted in bright blue. “And this is for us, darling.”

Her face was hot with a blush.

“If this is hanging on our door, it means do not
bother us. If you do, there’d better be a real emergency. You know, blood,
guts, earthquakes, that type of thing.”

“Brett...” Allison said, amazed at his planning.

“Sound fair to everyone?”

“Sure.” The girls nodded, seemingly more impressed
with their presents and the possibilities for privacy than with the
implications of Brett and Allison’s sign.

He tugged Allison off the couch. “Come on Mrs.
Tyler, let’s test out our new sign.”

She gasped as he stepped over the pile of papers
on the floor, dragging her with him.

“See you girls later,” he said over his shoulder.

“Bye Dad.”

“Bye Mom.”

Allison tried to slow Brett down, but he towed her
down the hall to the bedroom, placing the sign on the door and locking it.

He moved quickly to Allison. “I’m not waiting any
longer.” He pulled her flush against his body. “Do you realize we’ve been
married for almost a whole day and haven’t made love yet? All these darn people
around staying up to all hours interfering with my married life.”

She grinned. He was almost growling. “Are you sure
you can keep your voice down? We don’t want to scare the innocent children.”

“Do you like my plan, baby?” he asked softly,
unclasping her hair from its clip and spreading it over her shoulders. “See how
I’ve learned planning ahead is good sometimes. When it’s something I want...and
need.”

His hands and voice sent shivers down her spine.

“So what are you waiting for?” she whispered.
“Let’s put that sign to good use.”

He walked her backwards and fell with her on the
bed.

“Oh darling, I do love it when you’re in control.”

Thanks so much for reading “Do Not Disturb”.

If you would like to read another contemporary
romance, please consider one of my other books.

In “A Home for my Heart”, Julia meets Pro Golfer
Adam whose playboy reputation makers her doubt a future with him. But does she
really want to marry Bill? He is reliable and lovers her but… And what about
her dream career? Time for decisions.

In “Follow Your Dreams”, Sophie dreams of being a
photographer and traveling the world but stays close to her needy family. 
Max is not interested in a home and family, instead plans to sail the world
alone. But when he meets Sophie while helping his sister and her family, he is
drawn into her world and finds he may need someone after all.

And I love hear from readers so please join me on
Facebook or email me at
[email protected]

May you and your love have as much fun as Allison
and Brett when they are finally alone,

Lisa Ballenger