Taking His Hand (Under His Roof #2) (6 page)

I hear David’s parents arrive before I see them. His family is
loud
. Marilyn, Mitchell, Erin, and David rush to greet them with laughter, hugs, and actual hooting. I’m a bit taken aback, but I’m smiling as the Jacobs family closeness is once again demonstrated through hugs and kisses.

I’m surprised at how
young
his parents look. I’ve seen photos of both of them, but the family portrait was from years ago. They haven’t changed a bit. Lily and Garrick are an attractive couple. She has grey hair, cut short. The grey oddly emphasizes her youthful appearance. Maybe it’s the attitude, like,
I’ve got too much of my life to live to worry about my goddamn hair color
. Garrick is tall, taller than David, and has a commanding presence just like his son. His shoulders are broad and he’s wearing a beige jacket, tailored perfectly for his build. He looks like he could be a politician or something, like all we’d need to do is hand him some babies to kiss and he’d be ready to go.

“
Rachel,” Lily says quietly, taking my hands in hers before she pulls me into a tight hug. “It’s so good to finally meet you. It’s more of a squeeze than a hug. She’s genuine.

Releasing me, she walks with me, saying, “I’m so glad you two met. You’ll have to tell me the story. How did it happen? You’ll have to give me details!”

I blush, thinking of the actual reason David and I met: so I could get spanked. As fast as possible I put that thought out of my mind. “We met at Mitchell’s restaurant.”

“
Oh! That’s lovely, dear. Tell me more.”

Focusing on that night at Mitchell’s place, I explain how David and I bumped into each other and soon fell in love. She’s so thrilled about me living with him in what used to be her home.

“
We built this place for raising a family. Then David bought it, and can you imagine? Living here alone for so long.” She shakes her head sadly, as if David’s committed some great travesty.

I introduce everyone. Samantha arrives late, which isn’t surprising, and looks a bit flushed. I don’t have to guess why. Patrick, her date, is completely different than her usual type. She’s normally with clean-cut, polo-shirt wearing guys. Patrick is wearing jeans and a black metal t-shirt with holes around the collar from wear. His entire left arm is covered in an elaborate tattoo of what looks like a page out of
Where the Wild Things Are.
He’s got a brilliant smile, and keeps his hand around her waist while they chat with Mitchell and Erin. Sam seems really happy. I like that.

Grabbing two beers, I join David at the grill. He’s regarding Ryan, who’s still with his girlfriend over by the edge of the yard, with an almost comical look of sternness and I give him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“
It’s all right, you know,” I say, opening a beer and handing it to him.

“
He’s just trying to get in her pants. He should be better than that,” David says with a frown.

“
You don’t know what he’s trying to do. Don’t make assumptions.” I make my voice stern and he laughs.

“
Nice.”

“
What?”

“
Nothing.” He pecks my cheek. “You being all stern. It’s…cute.”

After dinner, we bring out Erin’s cake. I’ve put a few candles on it for fun and David announces that it’s my housewarming cake. Everyone bursts into a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’, replacing ‘Birthday’ with ‘Housewarming’. Ryan’s joined us and sings at the top of his lungs in an over-dramatic way. I’m giggling with Samantha as they all round out the end of the song in unison with a long, “Haaaaaappy Hoooousewarming tooooooo Youuuuuuuuuu!”

I’m a little jealous of David’s family. They’re close, boisterous, and they all seem so happy to be together. My sister and I have never gotten along, and my mom and I barely talk. I never even knew my dad before he left.

“
Is this what family feels like?” I say to David as we observe the conversation and laughter in our backyard.

“
My family is pretty amazing.” He kisses the top of my head. “But hey, we’re not perfect. No one is. Sweetie, I know I’m going to love your sister and your mom, just like you’re going to grow to love my family, imperfections and all. That’s what’s so great about family.”

It’s dusk when Mitchell comes out of the house with a few bottles of champagne. David and I exchange a look, and then turn our attention back to Mitchell. He’s got this twinkle in his eye.

He sets the bottles on the table and pulls Erin up to her feet. She’s grinning, and gives him a quick hug before facing everyone.

“
Attention, please!” Mitchell says loudly.

Almost everyone ignores him.

“
Shut up, Jacobs family!” Erin shouts.

That does the trick.

“
We have an announcement,” says Mitchell.

“
Yeah, no kidding?” Ryan shoots back sarcastically.

Mitchell ignores his younger brother with such ease that can only be accomplished after a lifetime of dealing with someone. “Erin and I are going to be parents!”

Suddenly, everyone is on their feet, women shrieking loudly with happiness, men clapping Mitchell’s back. David pops open two bottles of champagne, and one of sparkling cider, and we all do a toast. I have tears in my eyes, tears of happiness, as I see how thrilled they both are to be pregnant.

They will be amazing parents. I’m sure of it.

“
That will be us some day,” David murmurs into my ear. He’s caught me from behind, and wraps his arm around my waist. His palm presses into my body, right where a baby would grow, and I nearly collapse into him. Why does that feel so good?

“
Maybe,” I whisper. Isn’t it too soon to talk about this?

He rests his head on top of mine and we watch everyone quietly. It’s getting late and I’m tired and want to be alone again with my love. His hand hasn’t left my belly and his touch fills me with a fiery need.

When everyone has their fill of cake and champagne, Garrick starts gathering his family for the ride back to the city. Samantha and Patrick leave with some of David’s friends, asking first if we want to come back with them to go out for some more drinks. I politely decline.

We clean up a little, more to wind down than anything else. It’s nearly eleven when I hear a car pull into the driveway. I look at David curiously and he shrugs.

“
Someone must’ve forgotten something,” he says, going to the front door.

I continue washing dishes, letting my mind wander. I think about Erin and Mitchell and family. My mother should really come for a visit soon, to meet David and the Jacobs crew. I haven’t seen her in over a year.

It’s been nearly ten minutes when I realize David hasn’t come back yet. I go to check on him, and as I get to the door, I hear his soft voice murmuring something to someone out on the porch.

“
Hey, who forgot what?” I ask, stepping outside.

Holy shit
.

“
Rachel?” Aria says, tears running down her face.

David’s face falls and I look back and forth from him to her.

“
What are you doing here?” I manage to say. Is she stalking me? Getting back at me for firing her?

“
I…I…” She’s stuttering, and she looks desperately up at David.

Why is David talking to her? I, too, look to David for an explanation.

He rests his fingers on his closed eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath. Opening his eyes, he says in a flat, even tone, “Rachel, please go wait for me inside. I’ll be in soon.”

“
But—”

“
Rachel, go inside
now
.”

I swallow hard, take one last look at my crying ex-secretary, and stumble back inside.

I’m back in the kitchen when it hits me. Aria is one of David’s clients! She must be. But what was she doing coming around so late at night? Doesn’t she know how inappropriate that is?

It is nearly thirty agonizing minutes before I hear her car start and David come back inside. I’ve been waiting anxiously at the table, but I shoot up and pretend to have been busy washing dishes the entire time.

“
You ready to go to bed?” David asks.

I turn to face him and can tell by the look on his face that he’s upset. “Is she a client?”

“
Yes.”

“
Oh.”

“
I don’t want to talk about this tonight. We’ll talk in the morning. Let’s go to bed.”

“
Okay,” I reply, even though I’d really
really
rather talk about this immediately.

I shuffle to the bedroom behind David, and we dress for bed in silence.

“
Is she all right?” I ask, crawling in beside him.

“
She’ll be all right.”

He holds me, but not sexually. I can feel his sadness, and that in turn makes me feel guilty.

But why should I be guilty?

How long has Aria been seeing David? Did he know all along she was my secretary?

I hear David softly snoring and can’t help but get a little annoyed. It was already a big deal to have my boyfriend be a professional disciplinarian. But to find that one of his clients knows me personally? From my job, no less?

She’s a sweet person, but even
with
her sweetness, she’s not the brightest person I’ve ever met. She could inadvertently slip up and say something. What would my boss think if he found out I was dating a disciplinarian?

I put my hands over my face, ashamed to even let the darkness see me. Curling up, facing away from David, I will myself to fall asleep. Maybe tomorrow things will make more sense.

~4~

David

When I wake up, I linger next to Rachel, soaking in her sleeping beauty. I love watching her sleep. Hell, I love watching her do anything. Eat, sleep…Even watching her work out to some stupid aerobics video the other night made me happy, until she saw me watching and threw a pillow at my face.

I resist the urge to kiss her forehead. I don’t want to wake her—it’s not even six in the morning and I’m afraid she might’ve slept poorly last night. I’m kicking myself as I go over in my mind how I behaved after Aria left. I should have been comforting to Rachel, or at least opened up for a discussion. She must have so many questions.

Since Rachel is still sleeping and won’t be able to roll her eyes at me, I heat up a burger from last night and pair it with a slice of leftover chocolate cake. It’s funny how I’ve changed since she moved in. There are things bachelors can do by themselves that don’t feel right doing around a girlfriend.

I like it, though. I like how I am with her. She makes me a better man. As I take a huge bite of the burger, I look at the whole wheat bread and know I should be making toast for breakfast, like a normal human being. Something about having Rachel around, and knowing she, in some sense, has started to rely on me, makes me behave differently. Every situation I encounter, I consider with a different light than I would have before.

Especially my current dilemma. Which is, of course, spanking Aria.

Rachel knew she’d be up late with the barbecue, so she told her boss she’d work from home today. But Aria needs a spanking badly, and I don’t want to make her wait. I also
really
don’t want to kick Rachel out of the house for the second day in a row so I can take care of a client. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t see this coming. It’s part of my job, my responsibility, to make sure nothing like this happens.

Frowning, I get up and stand at the back porch door, staring out toward my new office building. If I could snap my fingers and have the thing instantly build itself, I would. Life will be so much easier once I have my own space to work.