Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (230 page)

“I don’t think he likes anybody, to tell you the truth.”

He chuckled.  When they had both undressed, Forever moved immediately to turn off the light.  Shiloh put his hand over hers. 

“I want to look at you.”

Forever gave him a half smile as she looked down at her less than perfect body.  “If you insist.”

“You’re beautiful.  Every part of you is beautiful.  If you’ll give me a second time around tonight, I’ll prove to you how beautiful I think you are.  But the first time, you’ll have to forgive me.  I have a feeling it’s going to be quick.”

“It’s okay.”

He took her hand and led her to the bed.  He’d already put a condom, on but it still felt like too long to Forever before he was inside of her.  She closed her eyes as he moved above her.  She’d never been able to keep her eyes open for long during sex.  She’d seen some very strange looks cross the faces of men she’d been with and she had to wonder what her own expressions looked like.

A moment later, Shiloh paused.  “Forever?”

She opened her eyes.  “Yes?”

“Look at me.”

“I am looking at you.”

“Keep your eyes open for just a little while please.  I don’t care if you make weird faces.  I want to know that it’s me you’re thinking of.”

Forever touched his face.  “Why would I need to think of someone else?”

He smiled.  “Thank you.”

He started to move again.  She kept her eyes locked on his as long as she could.  So much crossed his face.  The passion was still there, but then it changed to a dreamy sort of satisfaction.  It made her believe that there was no else he’d rather be with.

She had to close her eyes then, because it made her want to cry.  He came soon after.  He let out a contended sigh and moved off of her.

“I feel so much better now. Now I feel like I could take all night to please you.  And I can do it if you want me to since we don’t have to work tomorrow.”

She looked away from him.

“Are you okay?  You don’t regret it already do you?  I know it was quick but I really wasn’t that bad was I?”

Forever shook her head.  “You were wonderful.  I just. . .”

“Just what babe?”

“The way you looked, it made me want to cry.”

“Why would it make you cry?”

“I’m not used to men looking at me like that.  Their eyes are usually closed too, I guess because they’d rather be with someone else.”

Shiloh squeezed her hand.  “I wouldn’t.  I haven’t been with a lot of big women, but I never understood why a woman would think that she wasn’t beautiful just because she had some extra meat on her bones.  Curves are beautiful.  Yours are spectacular.  I’m surprised you haven’t caught me checking out your butt.  I looked down your shirt one day too.”

Forever laughed.  “Thanks.  I think.”

“Sorry.  Your breasts are gorgeous.”

She smiled.  “Thank you.”

“So what do you say I get started convincing you you’re beautiful?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Shiloh did a very good job of convincing her he thought she was beautiful.  He pleased her over and over again with his hands, and his mouth.  When he made love to her the second time, it was the best sex of her life.  She’d never realized sex could feel that good.  She’d had a boyfriend that had loved her, and treated her well, but he had never made her feel the way that Shiloh made her feel. 

After they had showered together, Shiloh looked at her and gave her another smile that approached shyness.  “Forever?”

“Hmm?”  She was exhausted.  Very content and so happy that she almost couldn’t believe it, but exhausted all the same.

“Would you mind some company tonight?”

She smiled.  “I don’t think I’d mind your company every night to tell you the truth.”

He squeezed her hand and pulled her to him for a kiss that was still as passionate as the first time he’d kissed her.  “Be careful darlin’.  I might just hold you to that.”

“I’ll remember that.” 

She shooed Mittens off of her bed and they lay down together.  Waking up in Shiloh’s arms the next morning was an incredible feeling for Forever.  It made her feel things that she had been beginning to wonder if she’d ever really feel.  He made her feel safe, protected, and special.  The way he looked at her made her feel as if he could love her.  She marveled over that fact for a long time.

They spent much time together after that.  Mittens grew to accept Shiloh.  Forever secretly thought that her cat had grown to like her boyfriend more than he’d ever liked her.  Six months later, Shiloh proposed.  It wasn’t the most romantic proposal in the world.  He’d asked her to help him pick out her engagement ring since he’d confessed that he was even worse at picking out jewelry than he was at picking out flowers, but it was more than good enough for Forever.  She lost some weight, since he’d convinced her to start working out with him, but he had her convinced that he’d always love her no matter what she weighed, and he’d told her that he didn’t want her to lose all of her fantastic curves. 

Special Bonus Story: 

Watching you, Watching Me

Carlie’s breath caught in her throat as she stood at her bedroom window.  Her neighbor was standing in front of his bedroom window again.  He was undressing.  He was gorgeous.  She couldn’t believe she hadn’t run into him even once since he’d moved in next door almost three months ago.  She had looked forward to this time of night for weeks now, since she had first caught a glimpse of him undressing.  The first time it had been an accident, but it certainly hadn’t been since then.

Carlie sighed as he walked away.  She didn’t know his name.  He seemed to leave the house rarely and was always getting deliveries.  She’d noticed packages sitting on his front porch several times when she’d returned home from work.  She wondered if he had everything delivered.

Her neighbor on the other side was a notorious gossip and claimed that the good looking man who looked to be in his thirties was some sort of drug dealer or ex con.  Carlie had pretended that what Nat had said made sense and then laughed about it when she’d gone back home.  The only people she’d ever seen leave his house had been delivering something.

There was no car in his driveway.  She hadn’t seen a moving truck when he’d moved in either, though Nat claimed to have seen one late at night.  Nat thought that his name was Trey, but Karen, the woman across the street, had supposedly talked with him one day and claimed that his name was Connor.  Carlie was rather confused, since the names sounded nothing alike, but she wouldn’t have had the courage to ask him even if she had ran into him.

Carlie had been divorced for three years.  She was very self-conscious about the weight she had gained since then.  She thought that it was a little ironic that her ex had once threatened to leave her if she ever got fat, and she’d waited to get what she certainly considered to be fat until after he’d already left her.  Her marriage with Brandt hadn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, but she still missed him sometimes.  Then she’d think about what he had done and she’d realize that
she was actually quite glad that they hadn’t been able to have children together.  She didn’t think she could stand to have to see him on a regular basis.

Carlie glanced at the romantic suspense novel on her night stand and wondered if she was awake enough to read for a while, or if she should just go to bed.  It was after eleven.  She had to be up and at the bake shop that she ran with her childhood best friend by 5 a.m., but Mr. Mysterious as she had been calling him in her head lately, always got undressed in front of his window a few minutes before eleven.  It wasn’t something that she wanted to miss.

Carlie was lonely.  She also got rather horny watching her neighbor.  She felt like a dirty pervert.  The thought that what she was doing was wrong hadn’t stopped her though.  She figured that she justified it in the same way that many people who had watched others undress without their knowledge did.  If he didn’t want anyone to watch him, he shouldn’t undress in front of his windows.  The way he went about the whole thing intrigued her.  There were blinds on his window.  He seemed to lower them after he returned from the shower or whatever else it was that he got naked to do, but he always raised them before he undressed.

Carlie decided against trying to read.  She was too tired tonight she thought.  She felt old and tended to take naps during the afternoon to make sure she wouldn’t miss what had quickly become her favorite show of the day, but today had been an especially busy day at the shop. 

Carlie closed the blinds on her own window and got ready for bed.  Thoughts of Mr. Mysterious drifted through her mind as she fell asleep.

The next morning Carlie woke up before her alarm clock went off.  She turned her alarm off and got out of bed.  She used the bathroom and washed her face and hands and brushed her teeth.  She made a face at herself in the mirror.  She had never liked the color of her eyes.  Her brother and her sister had both inherited their father’s blue eyes but she had inherited their mother’s brown eyes.  She brushed her hair back from her forehead and saw that another pimple had popped up.  And she saw several snowy hairs mixed in with her strawberry blonde. 

She opened the medicine cabinet, wondering if she had time to rid herself of the white hairs.  But she knew that if she did that, she’d probably just find more and still be standing in front of the mirror, deconstructing her appearance when she should be at work.  She sighed and closed the door, trying not to catch another glimpse of herself in the mirror before she turned away.

She dressed quickly and pulled her hair back into its usual loose bun and headed out the door.  She glanced at the house next door, but saw no movement.  She hid another sigh as she backed out of her driveway. 

Tanisha was forever trying to set her up with some friend of her husband’s but Carlie just wasn’t interested.  Brandt was the only man she’d ever been with.  They’d been high school sweethearts.  She was beginning to wonder if she’d ever have sex again.

Tanisha was already at the shop when she arrived.  Her friend looked up and gave her a teasing smile.  “You’re late.”

“I am not.”

Tanisha laughed.  Carlie had always found the sound of her laugh to be almost musical.  “Okay, so maybe you’re not, but we’ve got a lot of work to do today.  Dozens of cookies that need to be made and two cakes that need to be ready by closing time.  Are you ready to work your decorating magic?”

“It’s hardly magic Nish. I learned everything in that class you made me go to.”

“It is magic Car.  Why are you so down on yourself all the time?  I know that it’s been hard for you since Brandt took off with that tramp, but honey the world hasn’t come to an end.  He never loved you the way you deserved anyway.  Get over it and move on.  There are other fish in the sea.”

“This isn’t about a man Nish.  I don’t need a man to make me feel good about myself.  I feel like my life went off the tracks somewhere.”

Tanisha laughed.  “Mine’s done that four or five times already.  And I’m still here to tell the tale.  Garth’s friend Evan was asking about you again.  He really wants to take you out.  He’s a nice guy.  Even if there are no real sparks between you two, you could at least sleep with him.”

Carlie shook her head.  “You sound like a man.  I’m not going to use some poor guy for sex.  I’m obviously not that good at it anyway since Brandt felt the need to sleep with so many other women.  And you told this guy that I was still thin or showed him an old picture of me didn’t you?”

“You’re not that big sweetie.  No one would ever look at you and think you weigh as much as you do.”

“Thanks Nish.  So I don’t look like I’m as fat as I really am.  I don’t want to go out with Evan or any other man for that matter.  I think I was meant to grow old alone.”

“You were not.  And you’ll always have me.  We’ll terrorize the nursing home together.”

“Do you really believe that your kids will stick you in a nursing home?”

“You think I want my kids to take care of me?  Do you not remember who their fathers are?  None of their daddies besides Garth ever bothered to even try to take care of me.”

Tanisha had been married three times.  She had four children with three different fathers, but she’d been married to Garth for six years now and seemed content.

“Why do women think that they need men to take care of them anyway?”

“It’s not about that.  Well, maybe for some women it is.  For me it’s about taking care of each other.  You need a man to take care of you sexually.  Have you heard of friends with benefits?  Maybe you should find yourself one of those.  You’d certainly be less uptight.”

“Oh, the politically correct term for a fuck buddy.  No thank you.  What do you think vibrators are for?”

Tanisha laughed.  “It’s not as good as the real thing.  Sex is a normal part of life Car.  You don’t always have to be in love or expect to spend the rest of your life with someone to have sex with them.  Live a little before you really do get old.”

“Do you know how many white hairs I saw when I looked in the mirror this morning?  We are getting old Nish.  Your daughter is almost grown.  I don’t even have a child.  We’ll have our twentieth high school reunion in three years.”

“So what?  We both look better than we did in high school.  You’re tall.  When you’re really thin you look like a damned skeleton.  Curves look good on you.”

“I just wish I didn’t have so damned many.”

“Maybe you should go to the gym.  Find yourself a guy who’s in great shape or is working to get there.”

“No more talk about men.  As if I don’t think about them enough already.  This guy came in the other day when you went out to get lunch.  He smelled so good.  I wanted to reach over the counter and grab him and pull him closer to me so that I could really smell him.  The sad thing was, I didn’t even find him attractive.  I would still have had sex with him though just because he smelled that good.”

Tanisha shook her head.  “I told you that you needed to get laid.  Has there been anyone since Brandt left?”

“You know there hasn’t been Nish.  We see each other every day.  You would have talked me into telling you even if I’d just had a one night stand.  I certainly heard enough about yours when we were younger.”

Tanisha grinned.  “Some of them were fantastic.  If I managed to have fantastic sex between husbands, you can let go and take some guy from the bar home with you at least once.”

“I can’t stand the taste of alcohol.  The last thing I need is to embarrass myself in public.  Besides, guys don’t come on to me the way they do with you.  You’re gorgeous.”

“You’re oblivious to the fact that men find you attractive, that’s all.”  Tanisha took two sheets of cookies out of the oven and put another two in.  “There was something I wanted to ask you.”

“Okay.”

“I got my kids a dog from the shelter because they’ve been bugging me forever to get one.  He’s a good dog, but Garth says he has to go.  Will you take him?  Please.  I don’t want to take him back to the shelter.  And I don’t like to think of you all alone in that big house.  Why don’t you sell it and move?  Then you’d really be leaving your life with Brandt behind.”

“I love my house.  It’s big enough for a family if I ever get around to having one before it’s too late.  I don’t know about the dog.  I loved them growing up, but as an adult my feelings kind of changed.  They seem to be more trouble than they’re worth.”

“C’mon Car.  My kids are already upset enough as it is that Garth said we had to get rid of Mitty.  If they knew he was with you and that they could still visit him, they’d take it a lot better.” Tanisha gave her a pleading look.

“You named the poor dog Mitty?”

“The kids named him.  Or the older ones were nice enough to let Leela name him.  Please Car.  I’ll be your best friend forever.”

Carlie shook her head.  “You’d better be my best friend forever anyway.  But yes, I will take the dog.”

“Thank you. Now let’s get to work.  Can you start on that birthday cake for the Potters?”

“Sure.”

The rest of the day went quickly.  Tanisha told her she would drop the dog off later that evening.  Carlie went home and took a shower and then a nap.  She made herself a salad for dinner and felt like she hadn’t eaten anything.  She made herself a bowl of low fat yogurt with organic fruit and granola.  She felt a little less hungry after she’d finished.

She was curled up on the couch with her book when Tanisha showed up.  Mitty was a huge dog.  Carlie was suddenly glad that she had a big backyard.  She actually had a doghouse in the shed that the previous owners of the house had left behind.  She reminded herself to dig it out the next day after she got home from work.  Tanisha left her with a leash, dog dishes and a huge bag of dog food.  She assured her that Mitty was house trained and would scratch at the door when he wanted to be let out.

He scratched at the door a few minutes before eleven.  Carlie groaned.  She’d been on her way to the bedroom to watch Mr. Mysterious.  She let the dog out into the backyard and then went to her bedroom.  The blinds were open next door, but he was nowhere to be seen.  She sighed and went back to the living room.

She was half asleep on the couch a few minutes later when the dog scratched at the door.  She opened the door and Mitty came inside.  She had turned and was ready to close the door when a deep voice said “He’s beautiful.”

Carlie turned and looked right into the eyes of her neighbor.  He was standing at the fence that separated their yards, shirtless and barefoot.  He had on a pair of faded jeans that hung low on his hips.  The very edge of his boxers was peeking out.  She had to swallow hard before she could speak.

“Thank you.  My friend’s husband said she couldn’t keep him so I got stuck with him.  Well, not stuck with him exactly.”  She trailed off, feeling like an idiot.

He chuckled.  “I know what you mean.  It’s nice to have a companion sometimes.  I know I certainly get lonely myself. You’re Carlie Cooper aren’t you?  You own the cake shop downtown with Tanisha Landry.”

Carlie licked her lips since they had suddenly gone dry.  “I am.  I don’t think I know who you are.  Well, other than my neighbor that is.”  She laughed, but it felt forced.  Her heart was pounding in her chest and her palms were sweaty.

“Connor Blakely.  It’s nice to formally meet you Carlie.”