He trailed off. She must have been wearing a puzzled look because, no, she didn’t know what it was like. She had barely flown the nest. Her little wings hadn’t carried her far away for very long.
“Well, you know what they say? You can never go home again…”
“Why? What happened to make you feel that way?”
“Nothing traumatic, like having my posters of Britney Spears ripped down and thrown out or anything…”
He poked her with his elbow. It took a moment, but she finally identified his remark as a joke and tried to laugh. Not very convincingly, though.
“I’m sorry. I was trying to be funny. Actually, my old bedroom is now my mother’s quilting room. She left a daybed in there for guests, but the décor is drastically different.
“No, that’s not what I’m talking about at all. It’s just that—things change while you’re gone. You think everything is right where you left it and then you’re shocked that the movie theatre moved from downtown to a multiplex on the outskirts and the wild piece of land you thought of as ‘your favorite view’ gets developed into a condominium community. I guess you’ll know what I mean in a few years.”
Merry’s shoulders slumped. Just because she didn’t move out of her father’s house as soon as she turned eighteen didn’t mean she was… Damn, she couldn’t even think of a word for it.Unworldly, that was it. She had stayed home in Schooner, Rhode Island, taking care of her family. She’d seen the theatre close and reopen in a bigger and better venue, but it hadn’t fazed her at all. And the available land had been developed too. She simply didn’t feel nostalgic or care that much. Or maybe nostalgia hadn’t had a chance to set in.
It was time to let go of her defensiveness. She tamped down her feelings as well as her issues. They were hers alone anddidn’t need to become a burden to Jason. He was in a different place and to recognize it would be the wise thing to do.
“I understand,” she said.
He swept her into his arms and kissed her hair. “You do? Because I wanted you with me so badly. I wanted to show you all my old haunts, and I wanted to share you with my family to show them the part of my life that’s better now than they remembered. I really want to take you home with me for Christmas and already told them to expect you.”
Merry tensed.
“Uh-oh.” He slapped his forehead. “I know you’re close to your family. The words came out before I had a chance to think them through. But seriously, think about it. All I could talk about was you. My family wants to know you. It’s only natural.”
Silence seemed to dare either of them to speak. At last, he simply picked her up off the floor and left her apartment, yanking the door closed with a slam. Too stunned to speak, Merry wrapped her legs around his waist and held onto his neck as he carried her into the elevator.
“Now, I need to get one thing straight between us, Miss MacKenzie…”
“What?” she asked, breathless.
“Do you love me?” He gazed into her eyes. She noted an expectant lift of his eyebrows and something else. Something she’d never imagine a man like Jason Falco would show. Was it fear? Doubt? Did her answer matter enough to make him insecure?
She pulled him to her tighter and held him as close as she could without smothering him. A confession of love followed by CPR wasn’t very romantic.
At last she whispered furiously, “Jason, I love you so much, I can’t see straight.”
Somehow, the two of them wound up on the elevator’s newcarpet, feverishly kissing, stroking, sucking, and nipping. Reality disappeared. The only thing that existed was this moment, the touch of his skin; the taste of his mouth; how dizzy she felt and yet how grounded and right everything seemed when he held her and she inhaled his scent.
They lay side by side. His long legs protruded from the elevator. He didn’t seem to notice the door trying to close, brushing his blue jeans and opening again. Closing and sliding open. Closing and sliding open.
Merry climbed on top of him. Glad she had gone braless that morning, she leaned over and rubbed her hardened nipples back and forth across his chest. An unquenchable fire sprang up and she moaned.
With his abdomen flat against her, his arousal prodded her belly. She scooched lower until seated flush with his hard-on. He didn’t know she wasn’t wearing panties, but he soon would. She ground down in circles on top of his erection.
Jason groaned, but in a good way. “I want you so much. God, I can’t stand to wait another minute.”
The doors stayed open and a strange voice said, “Apparently not.”
Oops.
Whipping her head around, Merry spotted Sly. Wearing his usual all-black attire, he stood just outside the elevator. His hand blocked the door and prevented it from closing again.
“Really, Allison. I’d like to say I raised you better than that, but the truth is I never raised you at all.”
“Um… What do you mean?”
Jason tried to sit up. Merry scrambled off his lap and stood. She smoothed the wrinkles out of her skirt.
