Still the One (9 page)

“Meet them. That‟s easier said than done.”

“No, Creigh, it isn‟t. You‟re upset he‟s jerking off in the shower; well leave

those damn dishes in the sink and climb in there with him and wash his dick

yourself. Put the wow in shower.”

“Wow isn‟t even in shower,” Creigh grumbled as she tried to remember why

she thought for a half a second coming to A-mei with her problem was a good idea in

the first place.

“You‟re arguing semantics because you have nothing else to argue.”

Creigh held her tongue because A-mei was right. She had nothing, but

apparently A-mei did because she kept talking.

“He‟s quickied out; then you make time to make love with your man.”

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“What time?”

“Find it. Your house doesn‟t have to be sparkling clean every night before you

go to bed. I‟m sure Dean would much prefer you polish his balls instead of the

hardwood floors. Get a babysitter. Take a minivacation or a minihoneymoon. It‟s not

like you two actually had time to go on one after you were married the second time.”

“What about the kids?”

“Between the two of you, you have enough family members who would be

willing to chip in and watch them for you for a weekend. His sister, Annabelle, had

like twenty kids. What difference is three more going to make?”

“What about you?” Creigh challenged. “Would you be willing to watch them for

me?”

“Hell no.” A-mei blanched at just the notion. “But I‟ll help you find someone

who will.”

“That‟s better than nothing, I suppose.” Although it would have been amusing

as hell to see her cousin deal with motherhood, even if it were for just one night.

“Either way, this isn‟t anything that can‟t be fixed.”

Creigh let out a heavy sigh. “Being superwoman is tiring.”

“Then stop. You‟re not a comic book character or a fifties housewife,” A-mei

pointed out. “And fortunately you‟re married to a man who loves you and is willing

to jerk his arm into a cast so he doesn‟t become an additional burden on you.”

Creigh bristled. “He‟s not a burden.”

“Does he know that?”

Creigh‟s mind began to go a hundred miles a minute. Last night she had felt

like the victim; tonight she was feeling more like a whiner. She had a wonderful

man whose main complaint was he wanted to spend more time with her, make love

to her, and she was begrudging him a hand job. Leave it to A-mei to point out the

flaws of her “woe is me” monologue. Irritated at herself, Creigh narrowed her gaze

and took it out on the person closest to her. “I hate talking to you.”

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“If I were you, I would too.” A-mei smirked. “Changing the subject to one that

bores me less, do you have any plans for tonight?”

Creigh rolled her eyes. A-mei was such a snot, but she loved her, which was

the only reason she answered. “No, just going home and waiting for Dean. Looks as

if I might owe him an apology or two.”

“He won‟t be home till late?”

“Bar closes at two, so anytime after that.” Creigh narrowed her gaze and

stared at her cousin with distrust. “Why?”

“Well, I was wondering if you would go with me somewhere. I‟m meeting a

blind date in the bar of the Beninato Hotel, and I‟m looking for backup.”

“I thought you didn‟t have any plans.”

“Last minute sort of thing. You don‟t have to stay long. Just go in there with

me to the bar and hang out with me until he shows up. If he‟s a freak, I can use you

as an excuse to go home.”

“And I would do this why?”

“Because I love you and I might be willing to take your little crumb snatchers

out to a movie one night next week so you can have some alone time to atone.”

Creigh jumped on the chance to have A-mei babysit. “If I stay for half an hour,

you have to keep them for three hours.”

“Deal.” The two women shook on it. “Now you can give Dean a belated

Valentine‟s Day gift.”

“Much better than the Spider-Man card I swiped from Hambone that said,

„You‟re making more than my spider-sense tingle.‟”

A-mei‟s eyes widened in surprise. “Did it really?”

“Yes.” She laughed.

“That‟s just nasty.” A-mei shook her head as she turned off the lights. “You

should give it to him anyway.”

Creigh laughed as she gathered her purse. “I just might.”

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“So you‟re going to follow me, right?” A-mei asked as she unlocked the door,

then set the alarm.

“Yes, ma‟am.” The ladies waited until the timer started on the alarm before

exiting the store and then locking up. Together they walked to the parking lot and

made their way to their separate cars, parked next to one another.

On the drive over to the hotel, Creigh made a quick call home to let the

babysitter know she‟d be home an hour later. The sitter said that was fine, then

handed the phone over to Harlow, who went into great detail about all the

valentines she‟d received.

Creigh shook her head as she listened to her daughter. Harlow was in for a

rude awakening once Dean finally figured out his not so little girl was sparking

interest from boys. Harlow was going to be on lockdown with a quickness—because

Dean didn‟t play and he was far too protective of his girls. After speaking with her

daughter, she talked briefly with Hamilton, who was more interested in the candy

he received than the cards. Then it was Halla‟s turn who babbled joyfully into the

phone. All in all, the conversation with the kids put her in a great frame of mind, so

by the time she arrived at the hotel, Creigh was in much better spirits.

After valet parking, the two women walked into the hotel together and headed

straight for the bar. Creigh had come here a time or two for luncheons and

meetings, but she‟d never actually stayed overnight. As they made their way to the

bar through the lobby, she looked around, taking in all the marble floors, hundreds

of flower arrangements, and men in thousand dollar suits, and realized she never

would.

“Same rules as the ones we used to use back in the day.” A-mei spoke softly as

they entered the darkened room. “If you see me crumple up my napkin, it means

give me a call on the phone because this guy is a total loser.”

“And if you wipe imaginary lint off your shoulder…”

“Feel free to leave and I‟ll call you in the morning.”

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“Sounds good.” Creigh had long gotten over trying to come to grips with her

cousin‟s very active social life. Instead she worked on loving, not judging. “I‟m going

to go get a drink.”

“And I‟m going to run to the restroom. I‟ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Creigh made her way over to the bar. She took a seat, then caught the

bartender‟s gaze to let him know she was ready. It only took a few minutes for him

to make his way down to where she was sitting, much to her delight. There was

nothing she hated more than service people not serving.

“Good evening,” he said with a large “tip me” smile as he placed a napkin right

in front of her. “What can I start you off with?”

“The lady won‟t be ordering anything,” said a deep voice from behind her. The

comment didn‟t even seem to faze the bartender, who just shrugged and walked off.

Startled, Creigh turned around and stared at the last person she‟d expected to

see. “Dean!” Shock turned to pleasure as she stared at her husband in wonder. For

the first time in a long time, he wasn‟t in jeans. He wasn‟t overly dressed up either,

because that wasn‟t his way, but Creigh had never been the type of woman who

swooned over the James Bond sort of guy. To her, Dean looked far sexier in his dark

slacks and charcoal gray button-down shirt than Pierce Bronson did any day of the

week. “What are you doing here?”

Dean moved his hand from behind his back and presented her with a single

red rose. “It‟s Valentine‟s Day. Where else would I be but with you?”

Dazed, she took the flower from him. “But…but how did you know where I‟d

be?”

“I have my sources.” Dean looked toward the entrance. Turning her head,

Creigh followed his gaze and spotted A-mei grinning from ear to ear. Her cousin

winked at her and gave a little wave before slipping out the door.

Amused, Creigh shook her head as she turned her attention back to Dean.

“Why do I have a feeling I‟ve been set up?”

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“Because you have. I‟m kidnapping you for the night.”

“And the kids?” Creigh asked automatically.

“Are being taken care of. The babysitter is staying until nine, and then she‟s

being relieved by Sergio and, believe it or not, A-mei. They‟re going to stay the

night, and in the morning, they‟re going to drop the kids off at school and Halla off

at daycare. Gino will pick them up and keep them at his place until we come and

get them around four.”

Creigh was dumbstruck. “Wow. I‟m speechless.”

“Is that a good wow or a bad wow?”

“Good. For sure.” Creigh might be surprised by Dean‟s sudden actions, but she

was certainly happy about it. “I can‟t believe you went through all of this for me.”

“Cara, I would walk through hell for you. Booking a room and arranging to

have our kids watched for twenty-four hours pales in comparison. I‟m just upset I

didn‟t think of it sooner.”

Her heart jumped at his words. “You thought of it now. And that‟s all that

matters.” Touched beyond belief, Creigh placed her hand around his waist and

pulled him gently to her as she stretched up to him. They met somewhere in the

middle to share a deep yet tender kiss that left Creigh breathless and more than a

little turned on, and she could tell by the heated look in Dean‟s eyes, she wasn‟t the

only one.

“How do you feel about taking this party upstairs to our room?” he whispered

against her lips.

“Room?” This just kept getting better and better. “I thought you‟d never ask.”

“You know me. I like to wait for the right moment with everything I do.”

“That you do.” Creigh laughed. “Since you cut me off, can I assume you have

something to drink upstairs?”

Dean took her hand and helped her off the stool. “A bottle of chardonnay, a

gourmet dinner, and a number of other surprises.”

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“Surprises?” Creigh couldn‟t believe it. He‟d really gone all out. “What

surprises?”

“You‟ll have to wait and see.” Taking her by the hand, he led her out of the bar

and down the hall to the elevators. They waited less than a minute for the polished-

to-a-shine doors to open before they stepped in.

Creigh‟s eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw him slip in a card

key, then press the button for the penthouse suit. Convinced she was dreaming, she

looked to her husband for answers. But when she saw him leaning against the wall,

arms crossed over his chest, with a shit-eating grin on his face, she knew she wasn‟t

imagining things at all. “Stop it.”

“What?”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Creigh couldn‟t have kept the shock out of her

voice if she tried.

“Would I do that, today of all days?”

Creigh shook her head in wonderment. “This is unbelievable. Now I feel really

bad.”

“Why?”

“Because all I got you was a pornographic Spider-Man card,” she admitted

ruefully.

Dean grinned. “You say pornographic like it‟s a bad thing.”

“True. Unfortunately the card is at home.”

He uncrossed his arms and pulled her to him. “I guess you‟ll have to come up

with another gift for me then.”

“I‟m good at thinking on my feet,” she said, smiling up at him.

“Here I was hoping the gift would involve you being on your knees.”

She moistened her lips with her tongue. “I think that can be arranged.”

“I was hoping you‟d say that. I think we should finish the rest of this

conversation in our room, don‟t you?”

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As if on cue, the elevator stopped and the doors begin to open. “Lead the way.

I‟m all yours.”

“Just the way I like it.” Dean took her hand in his and led her out of the

elevator. “Are you prepared to be blown away?”

“Honey, I already am.”

All afternoon Dean had imagined what Creigh‟s expression would look like

when she saw the room. If he had to say so himself, he‟d done good. The presidential

suit was posh to say the least, with a living area, a well-stocked bar, and a plush

bedroom suite that was connected to the biggest bathroom he‟d ever seen. To top it

off, he‟d taken the time to fill the room with her favorite flowers, setting vase after

vase on every available surface he could find.

It was the sweet scent of calla lilies that greeted them as soon as he opened the

door, just as he‟d planned, just as he wanted.

Proudly he pushed the door all the way open and stepped back so Creigh could