Chapter 20
Twenty
Ted lost twenty minutes when he was stopped for speeding outside Greenwich, Connecticut. He tossed the four-hundred-dollar ticket onto the passenger seat and hit the gas the minute the state trooper was out of sight.
He had convinced Caroline to try to get some sleep and told her he would call her when he got close.
At one thirty he stopped for coffee and called the hospital.
He told them he had strep throat and asked them to call in another attending physician to cover for him for the next two days.
As he got closer to New York City, his heart began to pound with excitement and nerves and anticipation.
Twelve hours hadn’t passed since he had last seen her, but it had been too long.
The city that never sleeps was indeed wide-awake at a quarter to three that Monday morning.
Ted wove between trucks and cabs as he made his way to the Upper East Side.
When he reached the east Fifties, he called her, and the sound of her sleepy voice was enough to arouse him. “I’m five minutes away.”
“I’ll be waiting for you.”
He flipped the phone closed and willed his pounding heart and jittery stomach to chill out. Even though he was accustomed to going without sleep, he wasn’t used to middle-of-the-night road trips and was wired from the caffeine he had relied upon to stay awake.
In a stroke of good luck that he took as a sign of things to come, someone was pulling out of a parking space in front of Caroline’s house, so he grabbed the spot and dashed across the street.
She waited for him at the top of the stairs wearing a pale green silk robe over the same type of short nightgown that had dominated his fantasies since he first saw her in it on Friday night.
He took the stairs two at a time and had her in his arms so quickly neither of them had time to brace themselves for the onslaught of emotion. Her tears were warm against his neck as he held her tightly to him.
Several long minutes later he pulled back to brush the tears off her cheeks with his lips before he tipped her face up to receive his kiss. “Finally,” he whispered against her lips.
Ted felt the punch of the hot, deep kiss everywhere.
He lifted her to him, and she managed, even with her cast, to wrap her legs around his waist. Without breaking the kiss he moved through the open door and into her apartment.
Kicking the door closed behind him, he lowered her onto the sofa and came down on top of her.
Urgent need thrummed through him, but he forced himself to slow down and to remember what had brought him here in the middle of the night.
He kissed her eyelids, the end of her nose, both cheeks, and then her lips again, but this time he was gentle.
She moaned and tightened her arms around him.
“Did he hurt you?” Ted whispered. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. I don’t want you to think about it anymore.”
“If he was anyone else I’d want to kill him for hurting you.”
“He didn’t hurt me so much as scare me.”
Ted trembled at the feel of her fingers on his back. “I love you,” he whispered against her neck. “I love you so much. No one’s ever going to scare you like that again. Ever.” He found her lips and fell into another soulful kiss.
“I love you, too,” she said. “I can’t believe it, but I do.”
“Believe it.” He realized just then that he wanted to kiss her like this every day for the rest of his life. He’d never experienced anything quite as intoxicating as kissing Caroline.
“Did you call work?” she asked when they finally resurfaced.
“Mmm,” he said against her lips. “I took two days because I’m so sick.”
“Two days,” she said with a contented sigh. “What do I need to be afraid of catching?”
“Strep throat.” He dipped his tongue to tangle with hers. “It’s highly contagious.”
She met his teasing tongue with playful nips of her teeth. “I don’t think I’ve been adequately exposed.”
He chuckled. “I can fix that.”
She writhed beneath him, her hips arching against his erection, causing his breath to catch in his throat.
“Caroline, honey, wait.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I want you so much that sometimes I think I’ll go mad from wanting you. But everything’s moved so fast. Will you think I’m crazy if I just want to hold you for a while until I catch my breath? Now that we have all the time in the world I’d like to take my time. Does that make sense?”
She silenced him with a kiss. “I’m kind of relieved to hear that actually. This has been such a crazy, emotional couple of days. I think we both need some sleep more than anything. Before we sleep, though, how about a snack?”
He sat up and took her hand to help her up. “What do you have in mind?”
“I make a mean omelet.”
The word made his stomach rumble. “That sounds great.” When he stood to follow her, he finally looked around at her apartment.
The walls were a dark taupe, the sofas were red, the artwork colorful, and the pillows plump.
One whole wall was a bookshelf filled to overflowing.
Later he would take the time to find out what she liked to read.
He couldn’t wait to know everything about her.
The kitchen was small, but painted in a bright yellow that made it seem bigger. “I love your place.”
“Thanks. Do you want some coffee?” she asked, gathering the ingredients for the omelet.
“Not if I have any plans to sleep in the next twelve hours. I’ve already had a ton.”
She smiled as she chopped a red pepper and dropped a bagel into the toaster on the counter.
Ted sat at the tiny table and watched her move efficiently around the kitchen. When she had poured the egg, pepper, and cheese into the pan he got up to hug her from behind as she stood watch over the stove.
“Do you like to cook or is it just a necessity?” he asked.
She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I love to cook.”
“Oh, lucky me. I love to eat.”
She laughed, and the sound filled his heart.
While his tongue explored her neck, he took his hands on a slow journey from her belly to her breasts, and her breath hitched when he teased her nipples.
“You’re going to make me burn the eggs if you keep that up,” she said even as she pushed back against his erection.
The bagel popped out of the toaster, startling them.
Ted laughed. “Bagel’s ready.”
She turned to kiss him and nudge him back into the chair so she could finish the omelet. But before she could escape, he grabbed her hand and tugged her onto his lap.
“Ted!”
He captured her protesting mouth in a deep kiss and then released her as suddenly as he had taken her.
“You’re very distracting,” she said with mock exasperation.
“You love me.”
She turned to look at him. “Yes, I do.”
He held her gaze for a long moment until the sizzle in the pan forced her to look away.
She brought bright yellow Fiesta plates to the table and went back for silverware. Opening the fridge, she said, “I have OJ, water, and milk. What’s your pleasure?”
“OJ would be great. Thanks.”
She carried two tall glasses of juice to the table and sat across from him. “How is it?”
He groaned with appreciation. “Fabulous.” He took a drink of his juice. “There’s so much about you I don’t know, such as the fact you can cook like a dream.”
“That’s nothing,” she said of the omelet. “What else do you want to know?”
“You’ve met my whole family, but I don’t even know if you have brothers or sisters.”
“One of each. My sister, Courtney, is a trauma nurse in L.A. She’s married to a film animator named Paul, and they have two sons, Jimmy and Justin. My brother, Cooper, is an executive with an insurance company in Chicago. He just got married in April. His wife’s name is Ellen.”
“Who’s the oldest?”
“That’d be me. I’m two years older than Court and four years older than Coop.”
Ted chuckled. “I don’t even know how old you are.”
“Thirty-three. And you’re thirty-seven, right?”
He nodded. “Thirty-eight in September.”
“What day?”
“The fourth.”
“September fourth.” She rested her chin on her hand as she gazed at him. “That day will never be the same now.”
“When’s your birthday?” he asked with a smile.
“January ninth.”
“And that day will never be the same for me.” He drained the last of his juice. “What about your parents?”
“They still live in upstate New York where we grew up.”
“What town?”
“Saratoga Springs.”
“I went to the horse races there with my grandparents when I was a kid,” he said. “A few times, in fact.”
“I wonder if I was there! We used to go all the time.”
He reached for her hand across the table. “Maybe we met decades ago and were fated to find our way back to each other.”
“Maybe so.”
“Do you believe in such things?”
“I do now.”
He kissed her hand. “What I want more than anything at this moment is to take you to bed and make love to you until you forget every other man you’ve ever known.”
“I already have,” she said breathlessly. “There’s only you.”
He kept her hand at his mouth. “But I want it to be perfect, and between driving all night and work and thinking about you and thinking about you being in bed with my friend, I haven’t slept in what feels like a week. I’m so tired.”
She stood up and gave his hand a gentle tug to bring him with her.
“We need to clean up in here,” he said.
“Later.”
He followed her into the living room. “Let me run out to the car and get my bag.” He returned a few minutes later with a sheepish grin on his face. “I didn’t even lock my car before.”
“That’s dangerous in this city. Especially a car like yours.”
“I wasn’t thinking clearly when I got here.”
Her smile was coy. “And are you now?”
He shook his head. “I’m beginning to understand that I’ll never think clearly again.”
With her hands on his hips, she brought him close to her. “The honeymoon period will end one day, and you’ll be able to think again. We both will.”
“It’s not going to end.” He brought her close enough to kiss. “It’s never going to end.”
She led him into the hallway where she pointed out the bathroom and her office in the spare bedroom.
Her bedroom walls were painted a pale lilac.
A framed Georgia O’Keefe print in full, glorious red hung over an elaborate wrought iron gate that served as a headboard.
The bed was rumpled from her earlier rest, so she straightened it and turned down the other side for him.
More books were piled on the bedside table next to a framed photo of two blond boys who he assumed were her nephews.
Ted put his bag on the white whicker chair in the corner and dug out his toothbrush.
“Save my place. I’ll be right back.” When he returned, she took her turn in the bathroom.
Ted tugged his T-shirt over his head and kicked off his flip-flops.
When she came back, he was looking out the window as the sun began to rise, casting pale light on the flowers in her tiny backyard.
The rustle of silk told him she had taken off her robe.
She came up behind him, looped her arms around him, and rested her face against his back. “You feel so good.”
He put his hands on top of hers. “I can’t believe I’m here with you like this—in your room, getting ready to go to bed together like we’ve been doing it forever.
” He turned to her and ran his hands over her nightgown.
“This little number has been playing a big part in my fantasies since I first saw it the other night.”
She smiled. “I have a bunch of them.”
“I want to see them one at a time, first on you and then in a heap on the floor.”
She giggled. “That can be arranged. Come on. You need some sleep.”
“I’m wondering if I’m going to be able to sleep with you next to me.”
“You will.”
He dropped his shorts, got in next to her, and reached for her. “Finally,” he sighed. “Finally in bed with you.” With a finger to her jaw he tipped up her face so he could see her eyes. “There’s nowhere on earth I’d rather be, Caroline.”
“I’ve waited so long for you. I thought I’d never find you.”
“Now that you have, I’m never going to let you go.” He kissed her, and for a moment she let him. Then she pulled away to close his eyes with her hand.
“Sleep,” she whispered.
Keeping his eyes closed, he said, “I have more questions.”
“Two more and then sleep.”
“Who’s your best friend?”
“Tiffany Bartlett Wallingbrook.”
He opened one eye to see if she was serious. “Is she as prissy as her name?”
Caroline laughed. “She’s the sweetest girl I’ve ever known, and she’s been my best friend since first grade. I have a picture of us in Brownies together.”
“I’m going to need to see that.”
“After you sleep.”
“Where’s Tiffany Bartlett Wallingbrook now?”
“She went to Emory College in Atlanta and married Brett Wallingbrook, son of the now ex-governor of Georgia. They live in Atlanta with their daughters Savannah and Augusta, and Brett’s on his way to a career in politics, too.”
“They named their daughters Savannah and Augusta?”
“Sure did. If they had a boy he was going to be Macon.”
Ted laughed quietly as sleep closed in on him. “Augusta’s lucky she was a girl,” he said. “Can I ask my second question?”
“Well, technically it’s your third, but only if you promise to sleep after.”
“Mmm,” he mumbled in agreement as his breathing became heavier. “What are you most afraid of?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Losing you now that I’ve finally found you.”
He wrapped his leg around her and pulled her tight against him to let her know he’d meant it when he said he would never let her go.