Chapter Fourteen
Joe followed his mother into his office and closed the door. He cringed when she turned to him with that mother’s look of disappointment he always hated.
“Tell me what’s going on,” she said as she sat.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Hell, I don’t know. Or I should say I don’t know everything going on in Naomi’s head, but I think it’s the farthest thing from the truth.”
Amazingly, he could feel a blush covering his face. “I guess it started the night we had…”
“Sex?” his mother said with a raised brow. “Honey, I do know what that is. How do you think you got born?”
He pressed his hands to his ears. “God, please stop.”
She rolled her eyes. “Go on.”
“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing … I didn’t plan it, it just happened. I mean, I wanted her but…”
“Spit it out,” she said.
“I made love to her on the kitchen floor.” He turned away, waiting for her to blast him for taking her like an animal. When a minute of silence happened and nothing, he turned back to see his mother smiling. His brows snapped together. “Did you hear me? I took her on the floor like an animal.”
Carolyn snorted. “Honey, what you did was not wrong. I love the fact that you both wanted each other that much. Passion in marriage is very important. Why, when your father was alive…”
He raised a hand. “Stop. Don’t go there.”
She chuckled. “Fine. What happened after that?”
“I apologized several times.”
“You apologized?” she barked.
“Well, yeah. I thought I had disrespected her.”
“And what did she do?”
He thought back to that moment. “She became quiet.”
“What else did you say?”
“I just told her I wouldn’t touch her again before I apologized.”
His mother put her face in her hand and shook her head. “Where did I go so wrong?”
“Wait. What did I do?” he asked in confusion.
“Honey, you turned a beautiful moment into something dirty.”
“Beautiful? I had her on a cold floor.”
“It doesn’t matter to a woman. As long as she sees you’re passionate about her, she won’t care where she is. It being the first time makes it even harder.”
“How?”
“Because she doesn’t know how you’re feeling. I’m guessing she took your apology and comment about touching her to mean you didn’t want her.”
“What!” he yelled. “That’s so not true.”
“Honey, think of it from her side. What if she had gotten off the floor and apologized before saying she wouldn’t touch you again? How would you take that?”
He thought about it for another moment and then cursed. “I screwed up.”
“Yes, you did.”
He rolled his eyes. “Wow. Thanks, Mom.”
“But this is something you can fix. You two just need to sit down and talk.”
“That’s how I get in trouble,” he griped.
Carolyn grinned. “That’s normal for a guy.”
“Were you this hard on Dad?” he asked.
“Oh, I’d say harder because I had been with him for hours a day for years. I wasn’t going to put up with stupidity.”
Joe couldn’t help but grin at that because he remembered the “talks” his parents used to have when they didn’t know he was listening.
“So, what did you go into town for?” she asked.
“I had to go to the feed store and Naomi the drugstore. Why?”
“I just heard you were there, and it was the first time people in town had seen you together. You know how word spreads.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I do.” He’d never gotten away with anything because someone always saw and called his parents.
Joe walked behind his desk and sat. It had already been a long day, and he still had to deal with an emotional woman.
He didn’t know what he was seeing when he turned on the computer. “What the hell?”
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“Naomi must have used the computer today. She was looking for a doctor.”
“What kind of doctor?”
“OB/GYN. Do you think there is something wrong with her?”
“No. I’m pretty sure she’s okay.”
He looked at the history and became even more dumbfounded. “She was looking for a house in the area to buy or rent.”
His mother pressed her hands against her stomach. “Oh, dear.”
“Why would she do that?” It took him a bit, and then he realized what it all meant. “She’s leaving me?” God, the thought was so hurtful he wanted to yell.
“I’d guess she thinks you want her to go.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s bullshit.”
“I’m going to ask you again. Can you remember anything you’ve done that she might have taken the wrong way?”
He lay his head back and closed his eyes. There were a few things that might have made her think he didn’t want her. “A few.”
“Give me an example,” Carolyn said.
“I’d back off when she would touch me.”
His mother’s eyes narrowed. “Now, why would you do that?”
“Because I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, and I was afraid if I touched her, I wouldn’t be able to stop.”
“I’m glad you’re that attracted to her, and I’m guessing she is attracted to you, too.”
“She might have been, but what if I killed any feelings she had for me?”
“You’ll fix it…”
They were interrupted when someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Joe yelled. He tensed when Naomi walked in and wouldn’t look at either one of them.
“What do you need, Sweetheart.” He felt like an idiot when she flinched.
“I’m ready.”
He barely heard her. His brows snapped together. “For what?”
“To go.”
It felt like his body shut down, and the room spun. He couldn’t let her go. She was the only one he’d ever love. God, what if the damage he’d done was worse than he thought? He wouldn’t be able to deal with it, and he knew he’d feel the pain for the rest of his life.