The Thrill of the Chase (18 page)

"
Bye.
"
Monica tossed her phone and wondered how she
'
d ever make it until Friday.

****

The rest of the week crawled by at a snail
'
s pace. She had no more texts from Kyle, but didn
'
t think there was anything to worry about on any fronts. She knew he was still coming home Friday night. She knew he still meant to come see her. She was sure of it. His voice had been firm; his words adamant that she comply with his demands. That kind of emotion wouldn
'
t have disappeared overnight.

She also knew he was safe. He had to be because she would have heard about it otherwise. His sister would have found out if anything happened to him, and Ashley would have told her. She
'
d also watched the news. The wildfires in Colorado, although bad, were contained and there hadn
'
t been any deaths or bad accidents.

So she knew everything was okay and all she had to do was live until Friday night. That was proving to be the hard part.

She called Julie on Thursday and they met downtown for lunch, at a restaurant close to both of their jobs.

Julie rushed up to her and threw her arms around her and got right to the point.
"
Gibson said Kyle was kissing you.
Was
he kissing you? When are you seeing him again?
"

Monica led the way to a table and the girls sat down before she answered.
"
How can you have so much energy? Aren
'
t you supposed to be having morning sickness or something?
"

"
I
'
m well into my second trimester. You know that. I
'
m good. Quit trying to throw me off the scent. We can talk about this baby during dessert.
"

"
Dessert?
"

"
You think I
'
m not going to have dessert?
"

"
I think you
'
re the prettiest, little pregnant girl I
'
ve ever seen. Is Gibson still keeping you under lock and key?
"

"
He
'
s calmed down a bit now that I
'
m so round I
'
m starting to waddle. I have a feeling he
'
s going to try to keep me this way.
"

"
Well, you look beautiful. And yes, Kyle kissed me.
"

"
Okay, now we
'
re getting somewhere. Was it good?
"

"
Have you seen Kyle?
"
Monica teased.

"
Yeah, and he
'
s not a close enough relative for me not to be able to tell how hot he is. Good going, Monica.
"

"
I haven
'
t done anything yet.
"
Her voice held a note of anxiety.

"
Don
'
t even try to fool me. Gibson told me what he saw. I mean he told me every little tiny detail. And, he told me in guy speak. You know, the way guys talk to other guys.
"
Julie laughed.
"
I get some of that from him now that we
'
re married. He tells me everything. And it
'
s his opinion that Kyle has it bad for you.
"

"
Really? He said that?
"

"
Yep. He said it, and he believes it. He described it to me as
something in his eyes
.
"

"
So, what do you think?
"
Monica asked her.

"
I think you need to be figuring out what month you want the wedding. I
'
m going to be a bridesmaid again, right? It either needs to be really soon, or you need to give me a couple of months to get the baby weight off. Not that I
'
m planning on gaining very much.
"

"
Okay, I
'
m going to tell you just like I told Ashley. Don
'
t jinx it!
"

"
I can
'
t talk about a wedding?
"

"
No. Not yet. If Kyle catches on that you and his sister are planning his wedding already, he
'
ll run for the hills. You know how men are.
"

"
Okay. I
'
m on your side. I
'
ll take my instructions from you,
"
Julie said with a smile.

"
So, how
'
s the little Jones baby doing?
"
Monica asked.

"
He
'
s doing great. We
'
re thinking about actually making his surname Gibson-Jones.
"

"
I don
'
t understand. Why would y
'
all want to do that? Won
'
t it be confusing when he starts school if you have a different last name than your kid? Why not Weldon-Jones?
"

"
Not different, exactly. You know Gibson is my mother-in-law
'
s maiden name?
"

"
No. I
'
ve never heard this story.
"

"
Haven
'
t you ever wondered why his first name is Gibson?
"

"
I guess it
'
s crossed my mind. So, what gives?
"

"
When his parents got married, his mother had an issue with Jones being a common last name. And hyphenated names weren
'
t being done at the time. So she gave him her maiden name for a first name. I don
'
t know, for distinction, I guess.
"

"
And now the two of you are thinking of doing the same thing as a surname. That
'
s kind of cool.
"

"
Yeah, we think so. But it will take a generation for it to become normal, I guess. I just don
'
t want to suffer, or my kids to suffer because of it. You know, with all the confusion. But we think they
'
d rather have a distinctive last name. You know, for social media and all. But I tell you what, trying to second guess what your children will want is close to impossible. You just have to take a shot in the dark and hope you do what
'
s best.
"

"
Well, it sounds like a legitimate reason to me. And a good idea. I think it
'
s cool that y
'
all thought of it.
"

"
Thanks.
"

"
You know Ashley
'
s probably going to wind up pregnant pretty quickly too, don
'
t you?
"

"
Are you serious?
"

"
Well, if it
'
s meant to be, I guess. They aren
'
t doing anything to stop it from happening. I hope that wasn
'
t a secret. She didn
'
t tell me not to tell you.
"

Julie laughed.
"
Wow.
"

"
Yeah, I know. Ryan is badgering her about Gibson having one up on him.
"

"
Oh, my gosh!
Men
. They
'
re insane. But it
'
ll be cool if it happens. Think about it. Gibson and Ryan
'
s kids will be cousins. And then when y
'
all have kids, they
'
ll all be cousins!
"

Monica gave her friend an exasperated look.
"
Don
'
t talk about it.
"
Her voice softened.
"
Just make sure you think about me if you see a shooting star.
"

****

Monica was ready and waiting Friday night when her doorbell pealed.

Kyle never called. He never sent a text. He just showed up.

But she was ready anyway.

She opened the door and stood back, allowing him room to enter.

He walked in, ran his eyes over her, shut the door, turned and leaned against it.

She stood on shaky legs as he leaned back against the door and watched her.
"
Hi,
"
she said.

"
Hey.
"
His eyes ran up and down her length.

She bit her lip and took a deep breath.
"
Are you hungry?
"

"
No, are you?
"
His words sounded casual, but she knew they weren
'
t.

"
No,
"
she answered him softly.

Silence.

She tried again.
"
Would you like something to drink?
"

"
Nope.
"
His answer was short, final.

"
Okay.
"

He raised one eyebrow.
"
Is that it? All played out, babe?
"

She shuddered.
"
Yes.
"

He pushed off the door with his boot and came after her. He swung her up into his arms, one brawny arm under her back and one under her legs.

He shouldered his way through the living room and down the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
"
Which one?
"

She directed him with a hand, too stunned to speak.

He dropped her on the bed, and sat on the edge and pulled his boots off. They dropped to the floor one at a time with a loud thump.

He pulled the t-shirt from his shoulders and tossed it to the ground. He sat for a moment with his beautiful, naked back to her and Monica couldn
'
t stand the temptation.

She came to her knees behind him and wrapped herself around him, her front to his back. Her hands slid over his shoulders, and he reached up and took her hands in his and looked at her over his shoulder.

She reached around and touched her lips to his.

He let her take the kiss, then stood to his feet and brought her up with him. He stripped her naked, first her shirt and bra, then her jeans and panties followed.

Her hands went to his zipper, and he helped her with the button. They pushed his jeans and briefs off his hips together.

Finally naked, finally together, they moved back onto the bed.

Their eyes tangled together as he held her face in the palms of his hands.
"
You
'
re like a fever that never goes away.
"

Monica sucked in her breath.
"
Do you want it to go away?
"

His eyes gleamed feral.
"
What do you think?
"

He pushed her to her back. His legs fell between hers and he pushed her knees farther apart until he was exactly where he
'
d always wanted to be.

Fine tremors took hold of her body and he realized they were coming from him, too.

He leaned down and kissed her with all the pent up arousal and blistering heat firing through his system. She was finally in his arms, finally where she belonged. How many years had he ached for her? How many times had he seen her sixteen-year-old legs peaking out below the t-shirt she slept in when she spent the night with Ashley? How many times had he started out taking a cold shower only to give up and turn the water to hot as he slid his soapy hand down and stroked himself to relief while he thought about her?
Too many to count
.