Chapter 4
Chapter Four
“We didn’t get a chance to talk much during the taping today,” Fiona said as the film crew left her home later that afternoon.
The nanny had left with the film crew and Bella Ann was upstairs sleeping in her nursery under the careful eye of Fiona with her video baby monitor handset. “Would you like to stay for dinner?”
“Do you want me to?” he asked. “I know I can be a bit . . .”
“Awkward,” she said. “I was upset when I heard what you said to Jack today, but then I realized that it’s just the way you communicate.”
“In a business setting or on my computer I have no problems,” he explained.
“So, yes, you’ll stay?” she asked. After their sailing date, she realized that she liked Alex.
There was an air of confidence about him in everything he did.
He had mentioned she wasn't what he'd expected in a mate but that hadn't stopped him from treating like she was his dream girl. He made her feel like everything she had to say was important. And though she was used to being the center of attention, people rarely listened to her the way that Alex did. She didn’t want to give up on him just because he lacked a little polish.
“Yes,” he said.
“Great. Let’s go sit on the porch and talk,” she said, leading the way through her house to the back porch. There were four large rockers set at a distance from each other and she’d had her housekeeper, Flo, put a pitcher of lemonade on one of the tables, along with a plate of cookies.
“I see you were ready for me to accept,” he said. “Am I too predictable?”
“Not at all,” she said. “I just figured you want this to work out, too, right?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why? You could have been matched with any woman. Why one with a child?”
He sat down in the chair she indicated. It was a sunny May day, perfect for sitting out on the porch. She placed the baby monitor on the table between her and Alex so she could see and hear if anything disturbed Bella Ann.
“Lemonade?”
“Yes, please,” he said.
“While I pour, tell me why you want a family now,” she said.
“It’s kind of a combo of things,” he said, looking out at the yard and not at her. He rubbed his neck and then glanced back over at her as she handed him his lemonade. He took a long swallow and she watched the muscles in his neck work as he did so.
He was a very physical man, she realized. She was fascinated by how he moved and just about everything he did.
“My parents are getting older and last year my mom had a minor stroke,” he said. “I’m thirty-three and I had always meant to start a family by this time.”
“And this seemed the easiest way?” she asked. She was only 25 so she didn't feel the age pressure to have a family. Bella Ann had just happened along.
“Yes, it did. I’ve tried online dating,” he said. “But that’s hit or miss. I think people don’t feel they have to be honest when a computer is asking them questions.”
“That makes sense. I know I was very careful when I was talking to the matchmaker.”
“Me, too. I had already compiled a list of compatible attributes that I wanted my match to have. But she didn’t ask me for that,” he said.
“Me, either. She asked me a lot of questions about myself,” she said.
“Me, too. I was afraid you’d be a computer programming whiz who never left her desktop,” Alex said with a half grin.
She smiled back at him. “I was afraid you’d be a devastatingly handsome man who only talked about himself.”
“You aren’t like that,” he said. “You want people to think you’re a total diva, but in reality you’re not.”
“What makes you so sure?” she asked.
“I’ve seen you with Bella Ann.”
“She is the game changer,” Fiona admitted. “She completely changed my life. I’d been drifting before.”
“So that’s why you went to a matchmaker?” he asked.
“Yes. I looked at my parents’ relationship and I realized that it was my dad who kept my mom on track. Without him, she’d be a basket case like me.”
“You’re hardly a basket case,” he said. “I think you know that. So am I too plain for you?”
She had to smile because this was Alex at his blunt best. ’“Not at all. You have to know you’re attractive,” she said. “Since we met, I did a little research. I saw some pictures of you with a couple of very sexy women.”
“You googled me?” he asked, looking just a tad arrogant.
She had and she’d been blown away by how much he’d accomplished in his short life. He’d started and sold three different internet companies before beginning his latest venture developing gaming apps. “I did. Did you?”
“Yes. As soon as I left you the first afternoon,” he admitted. “I was very impressed with all you’ve achieved in your career.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I was impressed by you, too. But I see that you’ve dated plenty of sexy women, so why did you go to a matchmaker?”
“Ah, well, I wanted someone who... was interesting and who shared my values.”
“And you didn’t think those women would?” she asked.
“I wasn’t sure. I knew that sometimes . .
. well, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and say you want something.
The women I dated seemed to only be saying what they thought I wanted to hear .
. . Anyway, back to not lying to a matchmaker.
I figured if a woman had gone to one and been honest about what she wanted, ’I’d have a better chance of finding a compatible match. ”
She understood what he was trying to say in that awkward way of his. And those few words helped to allay some of her apprehension about him.
“It was the same for me,” she said. “I wanted a man who wanted kids before he knew me or my daughter. I wanted someone who was family-centric.”
“I don’t know that I am, but I’ll certainly try to be,” he said.
“That’s all I ask,” she said. “Next weekend is Mother’s Day. Would you like to invite your parents to join me and my parents for brunch?”
“I’d like that,” he said. “Would you be willing to do it at my house on Long Island?”
“My parents live in the Hamptons,” she said.
“So do mine,” he noted. “I bought them a house there when my dad retired from teaching. My mom had always admired the mansions out there.”
He put his lemonade glass down and stood up. “I do have one question for you.”
“Yes?” she asked.
He reached out and took her hand in his, lifting her to her feet. “Am I attractive enough for you?”
“Why would you ask me that?” She wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say.
“I saw a picture of you and Bella Ann’s father online,” he said. “I’m no Adonis.”
“You are,” she said. “In your own way.”
“What way?” he asked, pulling her close to him and sliding his arms around her waist.
She leaned away from him, he was sexy and she wanted him but the last time she just went with her instincts she'd ended up really getting hurt. She didn't want to screw this up with Alex. She had more than just herself to think about now, she had Bella Ann to consider too.
"Don't pull back, Fiona. You can trust me," he said.
She looked down until those blue-grey eyes of his and took a deep breath. She pulled his head closer to hers to whisper in his ear.
“Every way. To me there is something very appealing about you and I don't want to make any mistakes.”
Alex had been thinking of little else since he’d arrived at Fiona’s house in the Hamptons.
He wanted her. He knew that if he had a chance in hell of making a relationship with her work, he had to have her.
But he understood her need to go slow for her caution would seem safer, he guessed.
But for him...well he wanted to get her into his bed.
The lust thing was distracting him and making him say dumb things to her.
He hoped once he'd made love to her, he'd be able to relax and feel more confident that the matchmaker hadn't made a huge mistake by pairing them together.
He’d tried intimate relationships before, but somewhere between the lovemaking and the conversations that women needed, he always had a disconnect. Fiona didn’t seem to mind his awkwardness and for him that was enough.
He pulled her off her feet so that he supported all her weight as he kissed her deeply and passionately. The taste of her mouth was a remembered sweetness and he knew he couldn’t get enough of it. He thrust his tongue past her teeth and rubbed it against hers.
The kiss quickly got out of control. She'd been a little reluctant a moment ago but now she held him as passionately as he held her.
"Shall we take this inside?" he asked.
She looked up at him her lips swollen from his kisses. And then closed her eyes. "I...I'm not sure."
He pulled her back into his arms. "I want you, Fiona. If it doesn't happen today, it will happen soon. But I think deny we are attracted to each other is just going to slow down us really getting to know each other."
"You're right," she said. She picked up the baby monitor and then reached back to take his hand and led him into the house and upstairs to her bedroom.
She put the monitor on the nightstand and then turned back to him.
Her mood seemed to have cooled during the walk but his hadn't.
He had meant what he said about waiting, but he didn't want to wait just because she was afraid of her own passion.
He closed the gap between them and pulled her back into his arms.
He kissed her. She moaned and clung to his shoulders.
He turned and sat down on the edge of the bed, cradling her in his lap.
Sitting down, he cradled her on his lap.
Her eyes were closed and a soft pink flush tinged her skin.
He dropped minute kisses along the line of her jaw and then nibbled his way down her neck, pausing to suckle on the base of her neck where he could feel her pulse beating against his tongue.
Her hands were busy on the buttons of his shirt.
He felt the material open, and then her fingers were on his chest. He flexed his pecs and sat back as she pushed the fabric off his shoulders and down his arms. He was nervous he wouldn't measure up to the beautiful men she'd been surrounded by all of her life.
He tried not to compare himself to anyone else but in the back of his mind, he knew he wasn't anything like her ex.
She nibbled on her bottom lip as she sat back a bit to look at him. She traced her finger over his body toying with the light sprinkling of hair there. “I love your chest.”
He relaxed a little at her words, pulling her closer to him so he could hold her in his arms. He didn't want her to see his relief that she found him pleasing. He knew how to make love to a woman, knew he could please her but it was the aesthetics that worried him. He worked out so that he had more mental stamina for working, but he liked the side benefit of Fiona’s praise.
“I love yours, too,” he said, reaching up to cup her breasts. They weren’t overly huge, but perfectly suited to her svelte frame. She was curvy for someone so small and he enjoyed touching her. He moved on the bed so that he was leaning against the headboard and she straddled his lap.
“I’m glad,” she said with a grin. Then she leaned down to drop a kiss on his sternum as her fingers fanned through the light covering of hair on his body. She traced her way from his nipples down the line of tapering hair to his belt buckle.
He hardened against his zipper and she caressed him through the fabric of his pants. He found the tie at the waist of her blouse and undid it. The fabric fell away, framing her body.
He glanced down at her and saw her pretty breasts encased in a pink lacy material. Her nipples were engorged and he caressed them with his thumb and forefinger. She shivered delicately in his arms and tugged his mouth to hers as she moved over him to straddle his lap.
He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed his hands up and down her back. She was slender and small and he could feel the line of her spine, which he traced with one finger down to her buttocks. Cupping them, he drew her forward to rub her center over his aching erection.
She sighed as he did so and reached between their bodies to lower his zipper.
He shifted underneath her, taking off his pants and his underwear so that she could touch him freely.
He reached up under her skirt to pull her panties down her legs and she shifted to help him. Then she settled back against him.
He leaned down to suckle her nipple through the fabric of her bra.
As she moved her hips back and forth against him, he felt her shifting over him until just the tip of his erection entered her body.
The sensation of her warmth against him was like heaven, but he hesitated before thrusting into her.
“Are you on the pill?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said.
He nodded and thrust up into her body, needing to be buried hilt-deep inside her.
Her mouth found his and she held his head in both her hands as she started to ride him.
Her mouth consumed his and he was consumed by her.
He’d never reacted so powerfully to a woman before, but he didn’t try to analyze that now.
He just let the tide of passion wash over him.
He thrust upward with all his strength, needing to penetrate her more deeply, and when she leaned in close to whisper hot sexy orders in his ear, he came.
It was one long emptying of his body into hers and a second later he felt her tightening around him as she climaxed.
She found his mouth with hers again and he continued thrusting into her until he was empty and she settled against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her.
As the sweat dried on their bodies, he realized he never wanted to let her go.
He'd thought making love would make him feel more secure in their relationship but it had just made him realize how fragile his hold on her was and how desperately he wanted to keep her here forever.