Perfecting the Odds (40 page)

Shifting her eyes, she saw o
ne wall lined with bookshelves, filled to capacity. She walked toward the shelf and traced the titles with her index finger. Everything from the classics to how-to manuals. Next to the shelves hung a bulletin board, full of pushpin-fastened pictures. She leaned in to investigate. One stood out among the many, and she traced its ragged perimeter with her finger. A boy of maybe four sat on the shoulders of a ruggedly handsome man. The boy grinned wide, his eyes squinting into the sun. The man towered over the woman lovingly tucked into his side.

“M
y father and I.”

Karis
jumped and turned around. Michael stood within door, his arms stretched above his head on the door frame above, looking as delectable as ever.

“I’m sorry. I
went looking for the bathroom. I saw you’re room, and--.”

“You thought you’d snoop,” he retorted, grinning sardonically.

She cringed. “Yeah, sorry.” He walked toward her as she turned toward the picture again. “He’s handsome, Michael. So tall too. You favor him, although you have your mother’s eyes, I think.”

From behind her, Michael wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his chin into her hair
. She heard him inhaling its strawberry essence and tensed, but didn’t move away.

“
Mom says I’m just like him. He was quiet, a thinker. My youngest sister, Lily, is the same. Megan favors my mom’s personality, extroverted and pushy.” Karis laughed and relaxed slightly...until his warm, wet tongue teased a slow path of licks down her neck, and she damn near combusted.

“Michael
, please don’t. Whatever you have in mind won’t fix this.”

“
Then let’s figure out what will fix this, so I can kiss you,” he murmured against her neck. “I miss you so fucking bad.” He pressed his lips just below her ear, sending her entire body into a full-out flush.

“Michael,
you
are
kissing me, and I can
feel
you. Move away,” she said, nudging against his erection.

“I don’t wanna.”
She couldn’t help the chuckle at his boyish whine.

“
I’m serious.”

“Turn around so I can see your serious face.”

“Jesus, Michael, why do you always do this to me when I’m trying to be serious?”

His silence was enough
. Because he can. Michael moved to her other side of her neck, swiped her hair to the side, and trailed kisses from her ear down her neck. “You taste so damn good, Karis. Did you take another honey bath without me?”

“Michael, stop,” she breathed out.

“It’s just a kiss, Karis.”

“
Please stop.”

“
Does stop mean go in this case?” He pushed aside the collar of her shirt and nipped her shoulder.

“Yes—
.” Shit! “I mean no. Definitely no.”

“Definitely no,
” he mocked with a chuckle, moving his hand inside the front dip of her blouse. He kneaded her lace-covered breast, expertly rolling his thumb over her nipple.

“I’
m begging you to stop,” she moaned, and despite wanting to, she shut her eyes to relished his touch, trying to treasure up enough of it for a life time. It still wouldn’t be enough.

Her pussy dripped its need; her clit was already swollen and begging for his hands or mouth.

“Let me give you pleasure. I will always do my best to make sure you’re happy.” She couldn’t stop it. She leaned into body, grinding her ass against his steel-hard cock. They fit so well, her head nestled in the crook of his neck; her ass into the curve of his pelvis. “And you seem damn happy right now, Karis. I can’t stop. It’s against the law.” Her giggle turned into a gasp as his hands slid down to her knees then up and underneath her skirt. He stroked her thighs and moved up around her ass, bunching the skirt at her waist. He hissed as his hards curved beneath her ass. “Christ, Karis, you’re not wearing underwear.”

She shook her head
back and forth. “You know I don’t. God, Michael, please stop.”

“Just let me
...” His fingers caressed her inner thighs, circling his fingers in the evidence of her arousal, now trickling down her leg. “Fuck, I’ve missed you…this.” His fingers crawled their way through her labia, and his thumb tortured along the sides of her very swollen cleft, never quite touching it. Completely vulnerable to his hands, she rolled her hips into his erection over and over. She turned her head to capture his mouth just as he slid two fingers inside her needy pussy. Her head dropped back with a drawn-out moan just as an unintended glance toward the door sent a red light to her brain.

“
Stop! The door’s wide open. My children, your mother! Jesus, anyone could walk in.” She turned, frantically pushing down her skirt. “Tame the beast, Michael. You’ll scare the children.” He chuckled and turned to adjust himself with a nudge/hop move. “I find thinking about chunky yogurt and that bar bathroom does well in those cases.” Karis’s suggestion spurred a full belly laugh from Michael. He hugged her around the waist, lifting her off the floor so that they were face to face.

“
I love you, sweetheart. I’m so sorry I lied to you. I don’t know what more I can do, but, you’re the best part of my life.

“
You must have a pretty shitty life, then,” she muttered, trying to look away, and like Michael always did, he laughed at her.

“
Can’t we just—.”

“
Michael! Where are you? Dinner is ready! Everyone’s here!” His mother’s voice boomed through the house, and he dropped Karis carefully to the floor with a frustrated groan.

He lifted his brows.
“And you asked why I don’t live here?” She laughed, despite herself. “To be continued, sweetheart.”

Karis
straightened her clothes, her head shaking an evident “no” the entire time. “Nothing has changed, Michael. I’m here for dinner. That was the deal.” She turned and walked downstairs with Michael at her heels, shaking his head at her persistent stubbornness and the way her sexy ass bounded down the steps.

After brief introductions with his sisters and their husbands, the entire clan headed into the dining room for dinner. Just as Karis presumed, Charley sat her right next to Michael. At the table for ten, Charley headed one end, to the left sat Grace, Eve, Scott, then Megan and her husband, Chris. To the right sat Robby, Karis, Michael, then Lily and her husband, Jack. Karis glanced at the empty seat at the opposite end. Her chest tightened, bearing the weight of its vacancy. So many nights she sat at tables with empty seats, and each time it reminded her of her parents, of being an orphan, of being alone.

Michael placed his hand on
Karis’s knee and squeezed lightly, acknowledging the ache that he, too, felt. She smiled and scanned the beaming faces. Again, Karis was taken aback by the portrait-like image before her. Everyone was genuinely happy, salivating over the mounds of sweet and savory foods trimming the table. A huge turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with a butter brown sugar coating, every kind of vegetable imaginable, bread, rolls, cranberry sauce, and the list went on.  Karis was suddenly in awe of Charley: how she’d raised her children after her husband passed, how together she seemed after the tragedy….and that just made Karis realize how
not
together she, herself, was.

Truth be told,
Karis was a few hours away from falling to pieces.

“Everything looks delicious,
Charley. Thank you again for the invitation,” Karis said, breaking the silence.

“
You’re quite welcome. I, for one, plan to save plenty of room for the pies you baked, though. I hear you are quite the baker.” Karis blushed in response to her praise and gave Michael a shy smile but remained silent. After a standard Thanksgiving grace, Charley passed the food as mumbled praises about the smells and flavors filled the room.

“So,
Karis, besides baking pies, my brother tells me you’re a teacher?” Megan’s abrupt question earned her a cautionary look from Michael.

Karis
touched his hand as if to say,
I’ve got this
. “Yes, a high school English teacher.”

“
And you enjoy it? Any desire to be an administrator, a professor, perhaps,” she asked in between bites, ignoring the
look
her husband Chris gave her.

“
Yes, I love teaching. At my level, an administrator’s main purpose is discipline. As for professorship…it is something to which I’ve never aspired. I believe Michael’s passion lies with unraveling the complexity of John Donne for his students. I, too, love John Donne’s poetry and prose, but the text is secondary to the passion I have for teaching students
how
to understand literature, whatever text it may be.” She suddenly felt Michael’s hand snake beneath her skirt and pinch her inner thigh. She gasped, a bit too loudly, then narrowed her eyes at him with a look of,
what the fuck was that for.
But then she hoped he didn’t see the sparkle in her eye, the one that flashed the words,
you dare mess with someone as spiteful as I am
? Karis gently rested her hand on his thigh. He threw her a questioning look, but she ignored it.

Megan
tilted her head as she watched their exchange, unaware of the below-the-table Spitefest. She lifted her brows. “So, Michael tells students
what
to think, and you teach them
how
to think?” Michael scoffed at Megan’s insult, and everyone at the table laughed.

“Precisely, Megan,” Karis said and met Michael’s eyes. “
I think I’ve found another friend,” she teased before cupping his balls and giving a less than gentle squeeze. He grunted low enough so that only Karis heard. She threw him a saccharin smile that said,
oh, it’s on like Donkey Kong, asshat.

“You’d be an excellent professor,
sweetheart
,” Michael said, moving his hand farther up her leg, into dangerous territory. In response, she thumbed the length of him, feeling him harden instantly. She smiled to herself. If her children weren’t here, she’d find any excuse to have him stand and embarrass himself.

“She
would be an awesome professor,”--Eve piped in—“She can be such a bi-..I mean battle ax sometimes. I’ve never eaten so many green foods than when she was taking care of me after my accident.”

“Thanks,
Eve,” Karis said sarcastically and a little breathy, trying to ignore the finger play beneath the table.

“I w
ant to be a teacher like Mommy,” Grace interrupted, as always. The sound of her daughter’s voice stopped both their hands, halting both the arousal and the playful spite. The precocious child took pride in her ability to gather every pair of adult eyes at any moment
.
But, admittedly, Karis was thankful for her blatant disturbance.

“You don’t say, Grace, and why is that”
Charley asked her with genuine interest.

“Well, mommy
, as you know, is super smart. And, she gets to use a red pen, which happens to be my favorite color. I watch her grade tons of papers every night with that red pen. Mommy says most teachers don’t use red because it offends the students, but she told me it shouldn’t be the pen deemed offensive but rather the bad writing.”

“Grace!”
Karis scolded as everyone burst into laughter. Karis’s face felt the color of that said red pen. “I’m sorry. I forget how much she listens to me jabber on.”

Charlotte
met her eyes. “Your children adore you, Karis. Don’t apologize.” She turned to Robby. “And what about you, Robby? Do you have a dream profession?”

Robby
cleared his throat. “Um yes, Mrs. Finn. I’m not one hundred percent sure, but—.” He glanced at his mother warily. “I’d love to fly…Apache helicopters…for the Army.”

Karis
choked on her wine just as she Eve whispered, “Shit.” Karis clasped a hand across her mouth. “I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, taking a sip from her water. She then met each pair of interested eyes one set at a time. Michael’s were the ones that intrigued her, but she was too distracted by her shock. “Robby, sweetie, I know you love military aircraft, but I had no idea you wanted to go into such a…a dangerous field.”

Robby shifted his attention to his half eaten plate of food.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while, mom.” he replied quietly.

“You’re thirtee
n, Robby, how could you possibly know what you want to do for the rest of your life.” Karis’s tone was light but still icy. She regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth.
Hypocrite
, she argued within. Karis had known she wanted to be a teacher at the age of six...maybe younger. And besides, Charley had asked the question. He was only being honest. But just as she was about to ease down and change the subject, he uttered words that tornadoed through the chilly atmosphere of the room.

“Dad knew
what I wanted to do, and he was fine with it.” The words hit her like a punch to the gut.
Breathe, Karis
. But she could stop the thought:
He kept this from me?