Chapter Five
Cadence
Words escaped me.
They had to be in there somewhere.
But as Marcus held me in his muscular arms against his broad chest, no truly coherent thoughts could form.
He snagged the comforter and dragged it over us. The fabric was chilled, but it’d warm soon enough from our combined body heat. His cum was also cooling against my stomach, and I needed to remove the condom, but I just couldn’t bring myself to give a shit.
As my heart rate returned to normal, I pressed a kiss to his left nipple, right above his heart.
He groaned. “I don’t think I have another one in me.”
I grinned. “Oh, we’re done for the night.”
“Really?”
He sounded disappointed. “You want more?”
I angled my head so my chin pressed his sternum and our gazes locked. His dark-brown eyes mesmerized. He was so unlike the twins with their blonde hair and their father’s silver eyes. Those silver eyes were distinctive and memorable.
Marcus very much favored his mother. Except in height.
Susan Brannigan was definitely on the short side. Yet all the children were tall. The girls were just under six feet and Marcus was over.
When they were young, the girls had been fashion models. Plenty of cute-twins work. Casey’d outgrown that phase, but Shannon had held tight to anything putting her firmly in the spotlight. Dancing, modeling…and she’d planned to add acting to her resumé.
The accident didn’t just rob her of her ability to walk. It demolished her ambition. I tried to tell her she could get work, even in a wheelchair, but that’d been twelve years ago when inclusion hadn’t really been a thing. Things were different now. Not easy, but views were evolving.
“How are the twins?”
He cocked his head.
“Shan shut me out twelve years ago.”
Even today, that still stung. Over the past dozen years, I tried a dozen different ways to contact her. Casey barred my entry at the door. Letters were returned unopened. She wasn’t on social media.
He feathered a hand through my hair. “She’s been through a lot. We all have, but her most of all. And I don’t just mean the wheelchair.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “Macy’s death hit her hard. The four of them were close, but…I don’t know…”
He appeared to flounder. “Something happened that night. Aside from the accident. I’ve never been able to get anyone to talk about it.”
“Maybe they will. When the time is right.”
He tisked. “The time is never right. My parents have moved up to the interior and come home periodically, but it’s not the same. They thought leaving Casey, Shan, and Jae together in that house would force them to mature. To go outside of themselves. Never happened. Shan never leaves the house, Casey barely tolerates the outside world, and Jae…”
He sighed. “More pain that I can’t share.”
I wanted to know, but I wouldn’t push.
“Maybe, if I try to bring you around, then things will be different.”
“As your boyfriend?”
His eyes widened.
Whether in horror or shock, I wasn’t sure. Quickly, I pressed my finger to his lips. “It’s okay—”
He shook his head, dislodging my finger. “It’s not okay. It is so far from okay. I love you. I’ve always loved you. And you’re here, and maybe this is a one-night stand, and maybe we’ll never see each other again, and—”
I pressed my finger to his lips. Firmer this time. “This is so the opposite of a one-night stand. It’s been a very long time since I’ve had a man in my bedroom.”
I winced. “Well, in this bedroom.”
I’d been with a fling just a few weeks ago. It’d ended amicably as we hadn’t been interested in being a significant other during the holidays. I’d thought to ring him after the new year. Yep, not gonna happen. “I think Miss Mabel and Gertie would approve. They knew how I felt about you.”
He nipped my finger. “You never said.”
“We were young. I was Shan’s dance partner. You were, as far as I knew, very straight. Very jock. Very macho. I couldn’t see you wanting a guy like me.”
“Beautiful, lithe, graceful, and with a heart of gold?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, I’d never want that.”
Fair point.
“But I don’t know what to do now.”
I cocked my head.
“I’m not ready to come out, but I’m not ready to lose you either.”
I pulled him in for a deep kiss. Our tongues parried. My body awoke. I’d never tire of this man.
“You don’t have to come out.”
“That’s not fair to you.”
I shook my head. “The right time will come. I believe it in my heart. And if we rekindle our friendship, there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m your realtor. Maybe I’ll feign a knee injury and you’ll have to be my physiotherapist.”
He poked my arm. “Don’t you dare.”
He gave me a long penetrating look. “You’re really okay with this.”
“I am.”
And I was. I was secure enough with myself that I didn’t need external validation. I didn’t need everyone to know my business. I’d once been demanding for the spotlight, but those days were long past. These days, I just wanted to be with the man I loved. “I love you. I think I always have, and I know I always will.”
He swallowed audibly. “Same for me. That I love you. That I have since we were teenagers. I’m so fucking glad my first time was with you.”
“I plan to be your only.”
“Yeah, that works. That definitely works.”
Before I sat up, he caught sight of the snow globe with a little reindeer that I kept on my nightside table. The one Miss Mabel and Gertie gave me the first Christmas I lived here.
“What are you doing for Christmas?”
Aw, crap. “I, uh, am planning a Harry Potter marathon. With Die Hard thrown in for good measure.”
He didn’t look impressed.
“Marcus, I’ll be okay.”
My first Christmas without Gertie, but I’d manage. We’d do a long video chat.
“I, uh, want you to come with me somewhere.”
My ears perked.
“I was planning to go to the animal shelter tomorrow. I’ve picked out a dog. Today they’re cleaning her teeth, and tomorrow she’s mine. I mean, if you don’t like dogs, I’ll understand…”
“Oh my God, I love dogs. How do you not know this about me? And you’re adopting a stray? For Christmas?”
I lunged up to give him a kiss and our noses collided.
He grunted.
I giggled.
“Whenever she’s not with you, I want her with me. It is a she, right?”
“Yeah, Kiki. She’s a malti-poo. Her owners abandoned her when they left town. She’s about six. Aside from the horrible teeth, she’s in good shape.”
“Oh, wow, we’re like, already having children.”
I expected him to balk, but he got a wistful expression. Ah, so kids were on the table. Good to know.
He smiled. “After I spend the day with my family, can I come over? For, you know, Bruce Willis?”
“I happen to have a spare key.”
I waggled my eyebrows. “And by then you’ll be recovered, and we can do this again.”
His cheeks went a deep scarlet.
Adorable. I pulled in my stomach, and the skin stuck. “Now, a shower, and then I need sustenance. I’m thinking pizza or Chinese.”
“We could head to Fifties and grab burgers.”
“You want to be seen in public with me?”
“Yes.”
He nodded solemnly. “We’re buddies hanging out. And, I promise, one day we’ll come out as a couple. Just…”
Another swallow. “The women are going through something right now, and the timing couldn’t be worse.”
“I’ll wait. For you, I’ll wait forever.”
“Not forever.”
His beautiful brow furrowed. “I won’t have you thinking you’re my dirty secret.”
“Well, if we don’t have a shower, I will continue to be dirty.”
Before I could lever myself away, he pulled me in for another toe-curling kiss.
“Forever,”
he whispered.
“Forever,”
I responded.
I planned to hold him to that pledge.
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