Authors: Ruth Wind
Her Ideal Man (18 page)
For a moment, Louise said nothing. “Well, it's out now. We'll just have to make the best of it.”
Anna raised her head. “Do you really think Tyler won't understand if I explain it to him?”
The cornflower eyes were troubled. “His problem has always been that holier-than-thou attitude. He wants everybody to be honest and true and noble, and he's not very forgiving of human foibles.”
When it was put that way, Anna knew exactly what Louise meant, and her heart plummeted. She wanted to break down and cry, but really, it was her own fault.
Louise put a hand on her shoulder. “I'm here for you, honey.”
Anna gripped her hand fiercely. “Thank you.”
“Come on. Time to face the music.”
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Louise herded everyone to her house and got some coffee started, then called down to the construction yard to get Lance and have him fetch Tyler from the renovation job he was doing. For a moment, she wavered over how to handle things, but then she blurted out, “Lance, you might let Tyler knowâgentlyâthat Anna hadn't told her family about the wedding or the baby.”
“Oh, brother.”
“Yeah, brother. Try and break it easily, will you?”
Lance sighed. “It won't make any difference how I break it. He's going to be upset.”
“Do your best. Maybe he'll get over it before he gets here.”
“Yeah, that's possible. Like he got over Kara being pregnant in a day or two, right?”
“It is what it is. We'll have to just go forward from here.”
“I don't know how such a good-natured woman raised such an uptight man, Mama.”
Louise knew. Tyler clung to his almost impossibly high standards as a way of keeping the world at bay, of keeping his very private self as private as possible. If he held others at arm's length, if they fell short of his expectations, they would never hurt him. The more worried or hurt he was, the more he cloaked himself in the protective code of honor.
That lofty code was both his most admirable virtue and his most devastating character flaw. When he was a boy, Louise had despaired of his righteous indignation over world affairs, over the intrigues of government, the lack of faithfulness and honor in leaders. She'd tried to help him understand that human beings were simply flawedâthey did their best, but they faltered.
But Tyler didn't. Not often, anyway. And when he did stray from the path, he owned up to it. He took responsibility. He did not lie. He did not cheat. He did not take lovers.
Listening to the tone of the voices coming from the other room, Louise sighed. The real reason for Tyler's code went deep. She knew his reasoning was very simple: If he held himself to that knightly standard, he could never be mistaken for his father, whose philosophy could be summed up as “Go and sin some more.” In the end, his excesses had killed him.
For the twentieth time that week, Louise wished Alonzo were here to lean on. But their relationship had cooled after the argument the night Anna found out she was pregnant. Oh, not from Alonzo's side, at least not at first.
He'd hurt her more deeply than he realized that night, and she had retreated. Better to have her simple, calm life than to risk the sorrows she'd known in her first marriage. When she told Alonzo that she thought their relationship had gone as far as it could, he had simply looked at her for a long moment with those luminous Hershey-bar eyes and nodded. Two days later, he'd announced he'd found an apartment in town and would no longer be needing the guest house.
She'd seen him at the wedding, and they'd been excruciatingly polite, but that had been the last time. Through Lance, she heard he was still working at Forrest Construction, and he'd been seen dancing with a woman much younger and prettier than Louise, a divorced teacher who'd come to Red Creek in the fall.
Standing there, staring at the phone, Louise finally admitted to herself that she missed him. Missed his company and his gentle teasing and the way he touched her, as if she were precious, and beautiful, and desirable.
But it was too late for her. She vowed it would not be too late for her son. By all she held holy, she vowed she'd do everything she could to make things right with Anna and Tyler.
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Anna sat on the couch in Louise's living room, half listening for the sound of Tyler's truck in the drive. With the other half of her mind, she filled herself with the chatty gossip of her family, like an arroyo after a rain. Louise brought in coffee and cookies and sandwiches, and although she lit for moments at a time, chuckling over the anecdotes they told, she never sat down for long.
Which meant she was nervous.
About Tyler.
Resolutely, Anna made up her mind to stop worrying and let herself enjoy the moment. Soon enough, one or two of her family would take her aside to some private corner, and the lectures would begin. Another would join in, or maybe they'd do it one at a time, each lecturing about some new angle. Soon enough, Tyler would be here and she would be faced with his reaction.
So she focused on the moment. On her mother, vibrant in her green wool, her nails freshly manicured, the diamonds flashing on her fingers. Her father, looking prosperous and clean in his carefully tailored suit, his hair neatly combed back from his face to show off the gorgeous high forehead and Roman nose. What a handsome couple they were, Anna thought.
She'd forgotten so much about them, about their relationship. Her mother, like Anna, was a talker, while her father was a rather silent man, who only roused himself to make the odd teasing comment or wickedly ironic joke. But always they were quietly attentive to one another. Olive put chocolate cookies on a napkin and passed them to her father without missing a syllable in her tale of another of Mary Frances's displays of prodigious vanity. “Four hundred dollars for a blouse!” she exclaimed. “Imagine!”
“She can afford it, Ma,” Jack said from his corner.
Which wasn't the point. Anna smiled.
In his turn, Salvatore touched his wife's hand, reminded her of a detail she'd forgotten, patted her leg. They knew each other so deeply, so intimately, Anna realized. She wondered with a sense of vague sadness if she and Tyler would ever interact like that. If they would ever know each other that well.
When she heard his truck in the driveway, she started so badly that she almost spilled her tea. “Oh!” she exclaimed, flustered, trying to smooth her hair and her blouse and catch the tea, all at once.
Jack rescued the tea before disaster struck. “He must really be something,” he commented quietly.
She met his curious gaze. “Do I have any food on my mouth?”
“Nope.” He grinned. “It's been a long time since I've seen such a happy newlywed.”
Anna nearly choked on that. She was spared the necessity of answering by Curtis, hurtling himself through the front door. “Mommy, do I really have another grandma?”
Thank the saints for children. Anna bent to scoop Curtis into her arms, a shield and a comfort all at once. “Yes, you do. Remember I told you about my mama, how she had eight children? This is her, and look how healthy she is.”
Olive blinked a little, but she immediately moved around to greet Curtis properly. “Well, aren't you a handsome young man!”
“Mama, this is my stepson, Curtis. Curtis, say hello to your grandma Olive.”
To her delight, he stuck out a hand. “Pleathed to meet you, Grandma Olive.”
Olive beamed. “Such nice manners. Oh, you're a sweet boy.” She turned and gestured toward the couch. “That's your grandpa Sal, and Uncle Tony, and Uncle Jack.”
“Jack?” Curtis echoed. “Hey, I have an uncle Jake, too!”
Tyler came in, carefully cleaning mud from his boots on the mat. Anna looked at him, trying to find some sign of his mood. It was so hard to know what he was thinking behind that natural reserve. “Tyler,” she said as calmly as she could, putting Curtis down. “I'd like you to meet my family.”
Next to her, Olive slipped a hand around Anna's upper arm and squeezed. “Anna,” she whispered urgently into her ear, “he's as handsome as a prince!”
“Yes,” she said. Her heart still pounded painfully in fear. She just couldn't see what Tyler thought of all this, if he was angry with her. Anything. He simply moved into the room in his loose-limbed way. “Hello,” he said.
“Mama and Papa, this is my husband, Tyler Forrest.” She realized it was the first time she'd said the words. “Tyler, these are my parents, Olive and Salvatore Passnante.”
Sal stood to shake Tyler's hand, and Anna watched them take each other's measure. Her father looked under-whelmed, but Tyler bore the scrutiny well, with the dignity of a man who had nothing to hide. “It's good to meet you at last, sir,” he said.
Sal relaxed marginally. From the corner of her eye, Anna saw Jack ducking his head to hide his expression, and she knew he was silently laughing. She wanted to throw something at him.
Olive was less suspicious. She moved forward with her trademark charm. “Oh, my Anna's found herself a very handsome husband,” she said, and kissed his cheek. “Welcome to our family, Tyler.”
Tyler smiled. And, with amazement, Anna saw that it was his full, unguarded smile, complete with dimple and twinkling eyes. “It's easy to see where Anna gets her beauty.”
He still had not looked at Anna, and she didn't think her heart would stand the suspense much longer.
At last he turned to her, his eyes opaque, and said, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Anna swallowed. “Sure. We'll be right back.”
He waited for her to navigate the furniture, then took her hand, lacing his fingers between hers. A good sign. To the others he said, “We'll be right back.”
He led her toward the dining room, but then took a turn into the hallway that led to the bedrooms, and Anna's heart plummeted. She tried to think of some excuse, something to blunt his disappointment in her, but for once couldn't even think of anything to babble about. Silently, he led her into the spare bedroom, at the very end of the hall, then reached behind him and closed the door. Quietly.
Anna looked at him. “Tylerâ”
“Later,” he said in a raw voice, and, with a swift gesture, pushed her against the door and kissed her. Not a sweet little kiss, eitherâa deep, hungry, erotic kiss. For a split second, Anna was stunned, but her body quickly recognized the proper course of action, and she flung her arms around his neck, standing on her toes to reach him better.
He pressed his body against hers, all of him against all of her, and she felt the fierceness of his arousal, nudging her stomach. Then his hands slid down her buttocks, holding them even tighter together. His breathing was hurried as he broke the kiss to look at her, and Anna thrilled at his need of her, feeling valued and womanly and as sexy as a Victoria's Secret model.
His eyes were a mercurial color, blazing and unmistakable. “I've been thinking about this all day, Anna,” he breathed, and pulled her skirt up in back. “All day, I've remembered how you felt, how you tasted, and I couldn't wait another second to touch you again.”
She felt his hands against her bottom, felt him slide her panties down, and he kissed her, openmouthed, without closing his eyes. It was insistently intimate and unbearably arousing. Anna felt her knees weaken, thinking of everyone in the house. “Your mother is sure you're yelling at me,” she whispered, and put her hands under his shirt.
He knelt to push her panties down her legs, and lifted one foot then the other. “All the better,” he said, pushing her skirt up, his hands sliding up the front of her thighs, his thumbs making an impossibly erotic trail on the inside, a trail that alarmed and excited her in equal measures.
“Tyler, do you thinkâ”
He tucked her skirt into the elastic waist, holding her still, pressed against the door, and Anna looked down to find him looking at her nakedness, and for some reason, it made her dizzy. She let her head fall back as his mouth fell on her thigh, following the same trail his hands had made, only his tongue rose higher, and plunged into the secret heart of her, and Anna clutched his head. “Stop, Tyler!” she gasped. “I can't do this and goâOh!”
He nudged her legs apart, and with skillful hands and his even more talented mouth, he did things she had never even imagined could feel so good. It ceased to matter that her family was on the other side of the door, or that she would look like a Kewpie doll when they finished, or anything else. It only mattered that it was Tyler giving her such riotous, unbearable pleasure, that he was as out of his mind with need of her as she was with need of him. When she started to shiver uncontrollably, on the verge of release, he stopped. Anna made an involuntary sound of protest.
Wickedly, Tyler untucked her skirt to let it fall around her legs modestly once again and stood up. “I think we've spent too long in here.”
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