Up All Night (21 page)

Since his heart had all but stopped,
he took a breath. It had taken a lot of guts for her to come to him, lay
herself open. He wanted to reach out to her with equal courage.

 
“I should have told you I’d slept with Amber.
Instead I took the easy way out and kept quiet. I should have told you about
her suggestion, but since it was a harebrained idea and wasn’t going to happen,
I tried to shut it out.” He squeezed his fingers around hers. “Not telling you
was wrong of me and insulting to you. You deserve better.”

She smiled at him and nearly stopped
his heart again.

“I had this one month rule,” he felt
compelled to confess. “After thirty days with a woman I’d move on. That way
there was no chance of things getting too serious. It was like my own safety
barrier. I‘ve got two brothers both divorced and an older sister heading that
way. No way did I intend falling for a woman only to bolster the ranks of
failed Zutini marriages. The parents couldn’t take any more.”

He lifted their joined hands and
kissed her knuckles. When she turned his hand and touched her warm mouth to his
palm, the contact filled that empty place in his chest that no amount of whisky
had managed during the past couple of weeks.

“We’re way past your thirty day rule,”
Beth said softly. “Or shall we start again? From the beginning. Maybe try
another month?”

“A month won’t do it.” He wrapped
his arms around her waist and drew her in. “Not even close.”

She slipped her arms around his
neck, met his mouth. When they eventually came up for air, Beth held his gaze.
“I won’t let anything spoil this for us, Marco. Not this time.”

Again Marco crushed his mouth to
hers, desperate to taste, feel, reacquaint. Her lips met his with equal fervor
and soon they were panting, their sensual breathing filling the silent air.

“There’s no room for anyone else in
bed with us, Beth. Not ever. Physically or mentally. Promise me that whatever
we do it’s because we both want it.”

****

Beth let his words sink into a brain
that was heading toward sensual overload. His touch, his taste, his scent
devoured her. Body and soul. She touched her mouth to his. Again and again. She
couldn’t get enough.

But she knew what he was saying,
what he was demanding. There would only be the two of them. She didn’t have to
agree to anything to prove a point, to erase any memory she thought he might
have. Amber would never again join them in bed. Not in thought and definitely
not in body. Which was fine by her.

She felt the slide of her zip and
the cool air on her back as Marco began to undress her. “Weren’t you going
somewhere when I arrived?”

“It can wait a while.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Amber and Ethan’s wedding preparations
aren’t going anywhere, and what I have in mind won’t wait a damn second.”

As he eased her dress from her
shoulders, his determined fingers brushing her flesh, Beth had to focus.
“There’s one more thing I have to tell you.”

Marco nibbled her neck. “Later.”

With effort, she eased away. “We
need to leave for my cottage. I’ve got lasagna that needs popping in the oven.”

Marco’s eyes widened. “You’re
kidding me.”

Beth smiled at his aghast expression
before glancing at her wristwatch. “If we leave now we can get back, pop the
pasta in, and we’ll have about thirty minutes or so before our guests arrive.”

“I’ve slipped into a fucking
parallel universe.”

Beth kissed his exasperated mouth.
“Amber’s bringing dessert, so at least I don’t have to worry about that.”

Marco just stared at her, open
mouthed.

“I called her. Thought it would be
nice to invite them to my place for supper, seeing as I owe Amber a couple of
invites.”

After a moment, Marco frowned. “I
was on my way to their house. They invited me.”

She smiled at his perplexed
expression, then ran her fingertip along his lower lip. “I asked them not to
tell you. I wanted to come here and try and make things right first. If you
hadn’t wanted me, I would just have texted Amber to tell her, and she would
have made supper for you at her and Ethan’s place.”

Still Marco stared at her as if
she’d lost her mind.

“Amber’s very sweet. She said she
wasn’t even going to make anything as a standby because she knew you and I
would work it out.” She grinned and tightened her arms around his neck. “She
said you were crazy about me.”

Marco’s fingers dug into her hips.
“She happens to be right. You two seem to have formed your own girls’ club.”

“We’re getting there. I like her and
I think, despite my craziness, she seems to like me.” She gave him one final
kiss and started to ease back. “Now, we’d better go, else they’ll arrive before
we do and I want tonight to be special.”

“Tonight will be special as soon as
they leave,” Marco said in a dark tone that made Beth laugh.

As she reluctantly tried to leave
his arms, he tightened his hold. “I’ve got something of my own to say.”

Beth let her fingers linger on his
arm. “What?”

“Hang on a minute.” He sucked in a
breath and let it go on a long sigh. “I’ve never said this before to anyone
other than my mother. I want it to be right.”

He took another breath, fixed his
gaze on hers. “I love you.”

Everything inside her sighed right
back, the final remnants of worry and concern that he wouldn’t want her
dissolving beneath the wonder of the moment. “I love you, too. So much it makes
me dizzy.”

He grinned, touched his lips to
hers. “Then you’d better let me drive. I want you in one piece for what I have
planned later. But before we go there’s something I have to know.”

Beth started to chastise him when
his hands went to the hem of her dress and he raised it up to her hips. His
groan of approval lit her insides and she knew her choice had pleased him, as
she’d hoped it would.

“Red,” he growled, placing the palm
of his hand over her warm, wet mound. “My favorite.”

As the tips of his fingers danced
dangerously close to the panel of her thong, Beth looked up at him through
lowered lashes. “Be a good boy this evening, make nice through the wedding
preparations, and there’ll be a whole night of favorites heading your way. I
hope you’re up to it.”

In retaliation, he pressed his hand
firmer against her pussy. “You know me,
bella
.
With you, all night is not a problem.”

She did know him, Beth thought as
she moved in for one final kiss before they left for her cottage. And she
didn’t intend to waste one more precious moment dwelling on a past that had
almost cost her what she knew would be a shining future. A future with the man
she loved.

Epilogue

“I didn’t think it was possible for
Amber and Ethan to look happier,” Beth said as she smiled up at Marco. “But
they’ve proved me wrong today.”

Marco’s arm tightened around her
waist as they stood outside the church watching their newlywed friends smile
for the camera. “Getting married suits them. Although that smile on Ethan’s
face is likely to do with the wedding night.” He waggled his eyebrows. “He has
plans.”

Her curiosity piqued, Beth turned to
him. “What plans?”

“Best man, remember? I’m not
permitted to reveal the secrets entrusted to me by the groom.”

“Oh really?” Beth snuggled against
him, deliberately letting her breasts brush his chest. “Not even for a hint of
what
my
plans might be for tonight?”

He gave a low groan. “You play
dirty.”

“I’ve had a good teacher.” Beth
grinned, then ran her tongue along her lower lip. “So spill and I’ll give you a
clue. What does Ethan have in store?”

“Let’s just say it involves melted
candle wax and ice cream.”

“Mmm.” Heat flared at the junction
of Beth’s thighs. “Why haven’t we tried that?”

His arm tightened around her. “It’s
on the list.”

“Not too far down, I hope.”

“I’ll move it up.”

When his name was called for a
photo, Marco touched his mouth lightly to Beth’s. “Be right back.”

Beth lifted her camera and began
snapping photos of the bride and groom and the oh-so-handsome best man. Her man
looked outrageously sexy in his dark gray morning suit, with his glossy black
hair brushing his shoulder and the tiny silver loop flashing in his ear.

Damn it. Now she couldn’t stop
thinking about melted candle wax and ice cream poured all over his glorious
muscular chest and trickling down toward powerfully honed abs. Or how those
large skilful hands would feel as he smoothed it all over her.

As the camera continued to flash,
Beth tried to ignore her lustful thoughts and concentrated on embracing the
beautiful day that belonged to Amber and Ethan.

Amber looked stunning in a
calf-length ivory silk dress and cap-sleeved sheer tulle bolero. Beth thought
it a testament to how far she’d come in rebuilding her confidence that she
hadn’t chosen a dress that completely covered her scars. Not that anyone would
have noticed. Not today. She was a beautiful bride. With her short blonde hair
cut in a sleek bob, her green eyes shining with love and happiness, she was
stunning. With one hand she held her peach rose bouquet while the other grasped
the hand of her new husband.

Beth’s heart glowed for them. In the
two weeks leading up to the wedding, she and Amber had strengthened their
burgeoning friendship over coffee, shopping trips, and a rather raucous hen
night involving a male stripper.

“Excuse me. Are you family?”

Beth turned at the question and found
herself looking into compelling hazel eyes. She glanced down at the identity
badge the woman wore and noticed she was part of the photographer’s crew. “No.
A friend.”

“Sorry. I’m just rounding up
everyone. We’ll be doing a whole group shot in a minute. Maybe you’d like to
stand over there and—”

The woman froze. Her eyes went wide
as she looked over Beth’s shoulder.

When Beth turned she saw Marco
staring back at the woman.

Nobody spoke as Beth looked from
Marco to the woman and back again. “Do you two know each other?”

Marco moved to Beth and slipped his
arm around her. “Yeah.” As he drew her close, she felt the tension in his body.

The woman’s smile trembled as she
glanced at Beth, then looked back at Marco. “I hadn’t realized,” she said
softly. “As soon as I did, I asked Tom if I could stay in the background
supervising the shots. I thought it would be easier all round.”

Marco nodded, but when an uneasy
silence ensued and Beth continued to look between them, he was forced into
introductions. “Beth. This is…”

“Lissa,” the woman offered as Marco
continued to hesitate. Tentatively, she offered her hand to Beth. “Lissa
Delaney.”

An old lover, Beth realized as she
took the woman’s hand and introduced herself. A familiar tension squeezed
around her heart, but quickly diminished when Marco’s fingers dug supportively
against her waist.

“I’m only helping with the outside
shots,” Lissa said to Marco. “Then I have another booking. Tom will stay for
the rest of the function.”

Again Marco nodded. “Thanks.”

When Lissa moved away and toward a
group of people, Beth nudged Marco in the ribs. “You’d forgotten her name.”

He shrugged.

“Why did she think staying in the
background would be easier?”

Marco stared straight into Beth’s
eyes and held her gaze. “Because she was the woman Ethan and I shared that
time.”

While she couldn’t deny the light
punch in her stomach, Beth no longer felt the insecurity she’d battled for so
long. She gave herself a mental pat on the back. It seemed Amber wasn’t the
only one who’d moved on and conquered her fears and anxieties.

“The threesome woman?” She shot the
woman a glance, noting Lissa had all but buried herself in the group.

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Beth looked back at Marco, who
swallowed. “She’s pretty. Sexy.”

Marco drew her closer. “You’re
prettier. Sexier.”

“Good answer.” Beth grinned up at
him. “It’s okay. I’m not going to do the crazy thing again. She was then. I’m
now.”

Marco’s eyes flared with a mixture
of relief and heat. “Damn right.”

He kissed her, a slow lingering kiss
that wasn’t entirely appropriate considering they were standing on the lawn of
a churchyard celebrating another couple’s marriage.

When Beth drew back, she glanced
over at Ethan. “I hope he doesn’t spot Lissa. It would be rotten for anything
to spoil his wedding day.”

“He’s got little hearts in his eyes
and they’re fixed on Amber. Doubt he’d notice if a bulldozer took down half the
church right now.”