Mother's Day Babies (Holiday Babies Series) by Mona Risk Read Free Book Online Page B

any desire
for commitment. And frankly, she would never consider marrying again. Not when
she’d gotten used to her freedom.
    But darn, she wanted to feel a
man’s warm body against hers.
    Her dry throat hurt. She rubbed
her neck and reached in the small refrigerator for a bottle of water. Still
every part of her body could use a massage, a gentle stroke, a caress.
    Oh God, I’m losing my mind .
    She should try to sleep and
forget her crazy needs. With shaking hands, she removed her clothes and underclothes
and threw everything on a chair. The crisp temperature of the air-condition
setting cooled her overheated flesh. Stark naked, she glared at the mess, she’d
just created, she, the accomplished housewife. Even though no one would see it,
she picked up her things and padded to hang them in the closet.
    A knock on the door startled her.
    “Yes?” Her voice shivered as her
gaze skated over her own nudity.
    “Barbara, it’s me.”
    Panic vibrated through her body.
“Lou, what’s wrong? Has something happened to Roxy?”
    “No. I just need to talk to you.
Please let me in.”
    “Just a minute.” She yanked her
robe from a hanger, knotted the belt at her waist, and wobbled to the door. Her
hand froze on the knob. She couldn’t receive him like this. She needed underwear,
a bra, and more clothes. “Just a minute,” she repeated while twirling around to
face the room.
    Her mind blanked. What to wear
now? She rushed to the dresser, opened the drawers one after the other. Her bra
was in the middle drawer, her undies in the bottom one. She jerked the belted
robe over her head, slipped her undies on and hooked her bra.
    “Barbara, please.”
    “Yes, yes, coming.” She ran back
to the closet, grabbed a dress, and slid it over her head. Darn, it was upside
down. She pulled it up and reached for the next hanger. Her satin nightgown. Oh
what the heck. She donned it and dropped the belted robe over it. “I’m here.
With a deep sigh, she plodded to the door.
    “Barbara.” Lou stepped forward
and squeezed in the room, wearing sleeping shorts. The unbuttoned top revealed
a shag of black hair tapering toward the elastic band of his shorts.
    Her jaw sagged and her cheeks
flamed. Stunned, she stared at him and then glared. “You mind telling me what
this is all about?”
    His mussed hair and haggard face
attested to his unsettled mood. “Barbara, I haven’t slept for four days. I stay
awake in bed thinking of you, yearning for you. Why can’t you come to me? Am I
that awful? Do I scare you?”
     She averted her gaze. “It’s not
you. It’s me. I can’t betray David’s memory.”
    “Your husband loved you. He’d
want you to be happy, with a good man to take care of you.”
     Her eyes widened. “Take care of
me? How?”
    “Let me show you.” He pulled her
against him and covered her face with kisses. His masculine delicious scent
swirled around her and fogged her thoughts.
    “Lou, I’m not a one-night
person.” She struggled to breathe, but a vacuum seemed to engulf her.
    “Not just one night. An eternity
with you.” His heavy breathing burned her neck.
    Trying to be understanding, she
murmured. “Oh Lou, you just miss you latest girlfriend.”
    He backed up and held her at arm’s
length. “Barbara, I haven’t been with any girlfriend since I met you. I kept
comparing every woman to you. None had your class, your kindness, or your
beauty.”
    “Still we’ve been together for
only a week.”
    “I know you better than any woman
I’ve dated for months. My dates never bother to talk to me. We go out, have
dinner, and end in bed.”
    “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?
Only I haven’t agreed to the last part of the deal.”
    “No, Barbara. Don’t compare our
relationship to that. Don’t degrade our special feelings for each other.”
    “Which feelings, Lou?”
    He wiped his forehead with a
tired hand. “I don’t know yet. I’m trying to understand myself.”
    Was he feeling the same