Love Is More Than Skin Deep (A Hidden Hearts Novel Book 4) (25 page)

 
“Admittedly, my upbringing has limited the number of times I’ve been invited to a bachelorette party, but I have a pretty good idea of what to expect from one of these parties. This wasn’t it,” I reply.

 
“What’s wrong, Shelby? Were you disappointed that there weren’t any strippers? If that’s the only problem, I can arrange a private show for you later,” Mark teases as he wiggles his eyebrows at me suggestively.

 
Good thing it’s the dark and he can’t see my blush because his words make me turn bright red. Not that I am opposed to a little private show on principle, but the execution of it is a little trickier. I’m not quite as bold as I’d like to pretend to be. I guess a little bit of my quasi-religious upbringing has seeped into these pores after all.

 
“Maybe some other time,” I stammer, sidestepping the issue. “In case you haven’t noticed, your daughter is with us on this trip. Which brings me back to my point, your friends
are
weird. I’ve seen plenty of movies and television shows —this is not what happens at bachelorette parties. I don’t think it’s typical to have boys at the party, let alone to rent out entire trampoline gyms for a horde of teenagers who never met in person.”

 
Mark laughs out loud as he concedes, “No, this has Tristan’s fingerprints written all over it. Actually, if you think about it, it’s probably more about Marcus. Doesn’t Marcus have his little brother from the Big Brother/Big Sister Program here?”

 
“You mean the one who is starting his freshman year at Stanford? I think Marcus has issues saying goodbye,” I joke with a smirk.

 
“Hey, don’t laugh. I sat next to that kid at dinner. He’s exceptionally bright. He puts my current associate to shame. Let’s just say, I hope he doesn’t lose my business card before he finishes college and — knock-on-wood — law school.”

 
“Speaking of bright kids, you didn’t tell me that Ketki is like an Olympic gymnast. She was jumping rings around everyone else out there, including the adults,” I say with pride.

“You know how Ketki feels about feathers and stones?” Mark explains. “She felt that way about trampolines first.”

“Ahh, That explains a lot,” I remark. Some of Ketki’s comments from earlier suddenly make sense in light of this new information. “I’m glad she was able to handle the extra stims in front of her new friends. She’s doing really great around everything new.”

 
“It was really cool of Rosa and Isaac to volunteer to babysit tonight. I hope Isaac is ready to get beat at chess,” Mark frets. “ Ketki doesn’t pull any punches. She plays like every game is her last.”
 

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” I assure him. “I’m sure they can handle whatever comes up. I could see them at dinner and they were off in their own little world. I asked Rogue about it and she said she’d never seen Tristan and Isaac be that thick as thieves with anybody so quickly. I guess Ketki’s eye for detail might actually be helping them on a case or two. Whatever Isaac can’t handle, I’m sure Rosa can.”

 
Mark pulls me into an embrace as he backs up against a brick wall. “So
Immokalee,
we are in California, the land of dreams and fantasies – and without our child for the evening, how would you like to take advantage of that?”

I’m not even sure how to answer that question. Sometimes I wish I could turn the analytical side of my brain off. I’m still a little stuck on the words dreams and fantasies. Do I have fantasies about Mark Littleson?
Oh yes
. I have many. Often. More than I care to admit. Some are unabashedly hot, some sweet and some are far more practical, he has become my favorite fantasy Actually, he has become my favorite subject for dreaming
period
. Mark Littleson is my dream. My smoking hot, hunky, phenomenally good-smelling dream.
 

I’m still lost in my somewhat lusty thoughts when Mark clears his throat and asks, “Well?”

 
I have to focus to drag my attention back to the topic at hand as I answer. I pretend to contemplate the dilemma, but the answer is pretty simple for me. I want to go dancing with all of my new friends. It’s only been during the last couple of weeks that I’ve started to feel human even though my last chemotherapy treatment was weeks ago.
 

I take the time to straighten the collar on Mark’s shirt. He picked it up on his last trip home. One of his mom’s friends hand beads the collars in a manner similar to how she works with the regalia used for formal Cherokee ceremonies. The result is simply stunning. He looks rugged and handsome. Mark smirks at me as he watches me devour him with my eyes. He takes a moment to roll-up the sleeves on his shirt. My mouth goes dry at the sight and I have to struggle to remember what I was going to say. It takes a moment before it all comes back. I stop him from going back into the club and pull him back toward the shadows beside the restaurant as I remark, “This is an unprecedented situation for us. We haven’t had a whole lot of opportunity to spend time together without children present. It’s a good thing we’ve got lots to celebrate today. I didn’t even get a chance to tell you but Dr. Charleston’s office called. They were so impressed with the last round of scans that they wanted to give me a call and let me know that the suspicious spots in my lymph nodes are looking rather unremarkable. As Dr. Charleston said, they are markedly better.”

 
Mark smiles a tight smile but even in the dim light of the entryway, I can tell that it’s his fake polite smile. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the problem is.

I pull his face in and plant a soft kiss on his lips as I say, “Don’t worry, I had them check three times to make sure that the results were actually from me. It’s real.”

 
“For real? Black and white, verifiably real?” Mark questions.

I nod as I confirm, “For real, backed up by pictures and blood work.

Mark leans his forehead against mine as he says, “I’ve never been so glad to hear good news in my whole life. Although, it’s too bad we’re not at Ink’d — it would’ve been so fine to ring that bell loud and clear.”

I laugh lightly as I agree, “I’m sure that they’ll allow us to ring it retroactively. We seem to have an ‘in’ with a few members of the management. Do you have your dancing shoes on? I bet they are waiting for us. I didn’t spend the last few months worshiping at the feet of the porcelain God without planning dance in the face of cancer in the end. So, for lack of a better term — let’s party!”

IT’S CRAZY WHEN YOU DISCOVER the things you don’t even realize you’re doing until you stop doing them. In my case, I’ve been holding my breath for months on end. I can’t tell you how much relief I felt when Shelby told me that her scan showed so much improvement. Of course, there’s always a chance for a setback or a relapse, yet I feel like we have finally been given some breathing room.
 

Breathing room. This trip has been all about breathing room. The freedom to be ourselves. Okay, I know that every single parent feels this way to a certain extent, but because of the unique situation with Ketki, I often feel especially stuck. I know that I can ask my sister to watch her, but Leoti has her own children and Ketki can be a handful. Since I sometimes have to be away for work, guilt always seems to get the best of me if I want to leave Ketki just so I can have a social life.

I’ve been so busy providing for Shelby that I’ve failed to notice that my own support system has become much larger as well. Although we had planned for Ketki to stay in our suite, she elected to stay with Isaac and Rosa. This is a welcome development since Ketki was the one who initiated the extended contact. After Mama Rosa offered to teach her how to do embroidery, my daughter grabbed her suitcase and disappeared so quickly my head almost spun. As I watched her leave with little fanfare or drama, I realized that I was having a completely typical, average moment with my soon-to -be ten-year-old daughter and the simple beauty of that almost took my breath away.

I think that Shelby understood what I was feeling, because our lovemaking last night was more connected than it’s ever been. It was as if our lips and fingertips were connected to our hearts and souls. We didn’t have to speak to communicate. It was the most in tune I’ve ever been with anyone. Maybe it’s because I finally feel strong enough to believe that Shelby is going to survive skin cancer. I finally have the breathing room to show her how deeply I really feel.

Instinctively, I pull Shelby closer to me. Her cheek slides across my chest and her eyes pop open. She squints at the alarm clock before complaining, “I still could’ve slept for another eleven minutes. Do you know how late it was last night before we got to bed? We are going to take a bunch of teenagers to a theme-park today. How crazy are we? We totally should have planned this better.”

“Uh-huh,” I answer in a low tone as I remember how the night ended. “Seems like someone I know wanted to dance until dawn.”

“Nobody warned me not to challenge Jade to a dance-off. That was one of the dumbest ideas I’ve had in forever. I should have strategized a little better.”

“Mmm-hmm,” I mumble, as I rub a knot out of her calf.

“Speaking of strategies, what time is Tanyanita coming?” Shelby asks as she stretches and yawns.

“Her flight doesn’t get in until eight-thirty. Tristan said he was going to send one of his body men to go get her.”

Shelby’s eyes sparkle with delight. “Oh, how fun!”

Feeling lost, I ask, “What are you talking about?”

Shelby rolls her eyes and lobs her pillow at me as she inquires with exasperation, “Haven’t you watched any movies made in — I don’t know — the last sixty years?”

“Of course I have, I have a sister,” I answer, still missing the point.

She looks at me like I’m a one of her students who can’t quite grasp the art of finger-painting. “Well, the bodyguard always falls in love with his beautiful charge and as much as it pains me to admit this, your wife is drop dead gorgeous.”

“Shelby, Tanyanita is very pretty, but she will never be as beautiful as you. Furthermore, you were missing a key word in that sentence. Tanyanita is my
ex-wife
. We’ve been divorced for years. She’s only coming to this to support Ketki—you
know
that. You had to talk her into coming.”

“I know, that. It’s just hard sometimes, especially when I look like this,” Shelby confesses as she runs her hand across her head. Her hair has started to grow back, but it’s still quite short and baby-fine.

I narrow my gaze as I ask, “Shel, do you really think I care?”

Shelby shakes her head and whispers, “I know you don’t, but some days I do.”

“Can you try to make this day a day you don’t care?” I suggest carefully. “Everybody and their dog is going to have a baseball cap on today, no one is even going to notice. Everyone is here to see Harry Potter anyway. I’m surprised Ketki isn’t here banging down the door wondering what’s taking us so long.”

Shelby digs through her suitcase and pulls out some clothes. “You’re right. Nobody cares what I look like — except maybe you; you like to look at me naked,” she teases as she chuckles with a low husky laugh which makes me second-guess all of my good intentions. “I guess that takes showering for two off the table for now,” she casually remarks with a sexy wink.

She laughs out loud when I groan audibly.

“There is good news. It seems like sleepovers at Padre Pop and Mama Rosa’s might materialize and we could schedule a rain check,” Shelby teases as she waltzes toward the bathroom with her towel and her clothes draped over her arm.

“Remind me to send Mama Rosa some flowers and Isaac a handwritten thank you note,” I grumble, as I watch her shapely backside disappear.

“Rosa likes those little tiles with inspirational sayings for her garden,” Shelby suggests, barely hiding her bubble of laughter

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I answer slowly as I replay the whole conversation in my head, curious about what I’d overlooked.

Shelby comes back to the bed and kisses me thoroughly before she remarks, “I just thought I’d point it out… considering that Christmas break is coming right up and I’ve never been to Hawaii. I think I love Hawaii. I hear that they’ve got all sorts of great hotels with magnificent showers for two,” she teases.

I grin ear to ear as I respond, “Do you think she needs an underground watering system?”

Shelby winks at me again before she says, “I don’t know, I’ll ask — we could use a really
long
vacation”