“Drake … ”
How does one tell a man what he wants is not what he’s getting?
“What?” His tone was wary.
“We need to talk.”
“Later.”
“I want to wait until our honeymoon.”
He stopped dead in his tracks and met the determination in her eyes.
“You’re serious?” He must have read the answer in her eyes. “Damn. You are serious. Cold showers and jogging.”
She trailed her fingers down the side of his face to his chest in a light-hearted sensual caress. “Half the fun is getting to that night,” she said.
He gently latched onto her fingers and placed a kiss on each tip. “Just so you know … this will be the shortest engagement.” He carried her into the cabin, reluctantly putting her down when they were inside.
“Since I’ve been banned from going into a certain direction, and not that I mind, because I like challenges as much as the next person — ” he drawled.
“Don’t you mean as much as the next guy?” she asked, raiding his cupboards for a snack. “What are you cooking for dinner?” When he didn’t answer, she turned around.
He was leaning against the counter, studying her. “Come here.”
“Uh-uh.” She pivoted smoothly towards the refrigerator, hoping to stall him. He wouldn’t force her, but those lips and hands sure could change that no to a yes.
He reluctantly moved away. “I need to start dinner before we start something else. If you’ll find some music and pick out a bottle of wine, I’ll do the rest.”
He grabbed the pizza dough and poured olive oil on his hands, imagining her lying on the floor as he massaged every inch of that beautiful body. With slow, caressing movements, he worked the dough, pushing and massaging.
A hiss came from her lips.
He moved to the fireplace. He set the grill over the flames, then came back into the kitchen for the dough, carried it to the grill and arranged it carefully.
She moved behind him.
“Honey, you won’t be able to put the fire out,” he warned, his voice thick with need.
Her hands kneaded his shoulders, gliding to his torso and down his lean abs. She slipped her fingers between skin and the belt area of his jeans, stroking. Her fingers delved lower.
Someone knocked on the door.
She leaned into him, molding her body against him. “Expecting someone?”
“About damn time,” he muttered. He wiped his hands on the towel and pulled her hands away. He kissed her gently. “I made plans to help you realize how much you loved me.”
Even though Drake didn’t show it, Selena knew he was having difficulty in maintaining. She had almost pushed Drake past that point. Part of her wanted him now instead of waiting. It was not that she was totally against making love before their wedding. She just wanted their night to be very special.
Drake opened the door and stepped back.
“It’s about time,” Katrina said, handing Drake a container. “That needs the freezer. And fast. It’s homemade ice cream.” Seeing Selena by the counter, she headed that way.
Drake smiled.
Sandy handed Drake’s free hand an apple pie and headed towards the girls. Drake noticed they were all standing by the counter, chatting. He shut the door with his foot.
“More’s coming,” Tom said from behind the door.
Sherri, Patti, and Cassie filed in and headed over to the counter. John, Henry, and Tom followed.
John rescued the apple pie. “We agreed guys need to band together. After the text messages the girls were sending back and forth, we knew you were in trouble. Besides … we’ve decided it was for the best you ended up with Selena.”
Henry and Tom smirked.
Mrs. Irons strode past them, minus her cane. “How in the hell are we supposed to know who won the bet?”
Soon the cabin had filled.
“The shop is cleaned and locked up,” Josh yelled over everyone, the other kids from Heaven’s Brew following.
Drake walked between the ladies and kissed Selena. “Anything else you need to tell me? Any skeletons in the closet?” he asked.
“No.” The past didn’t need to be revisited. “You?”
“Other than I’ve decided to retire? No.”
• • •
Selena sat in front of the mirror, surprised at how fast this had happened.
She only wished her parents were alive to share in her happiness. In the span of two weeks, Drake’s parents, Katherine and Harold, had flown in, and Drake had surprised her with his grandmother’s ring for her wedding ring. Harold had kindly offered to walk her down the aisle, since her own father couldn’t be there. And now it was her wedding day.
“My son is so in love with you. I have never seen him happier.” Katherine Carpoli, dressed in a simple, but elegant suit, entered the room. She had taken charge of the wedding plans at the church as soon as she realized Selena preferred directing her attention to Drake and Heaven’s Brew.
“Your son is very persistent,” Selena said.
The door opened and the sounds of the organ drifted in.
Harold poked his head around the door. “They’re starting.”
Selena walked over to Harold and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m ready when you are.”
Katherine handed Selena the bouquet of flowers. “I have one piece of advice.”
“Don’t scare her off, Kate,” Harold said, smiling at both women with affection.
“It needs to be said. I know my son, Selena. He is the spitting image of his father. When they want something … they succeed. They’re both stubborn as hell, but you won’t find two more loyal, protective, loving men.”
Katherine quickly kissed Selena and Harold before leaving.
Selena held onto Harold’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’m not running away.”
Tom walked up to them. “An envelope was delivered with your name on it. We don’t know who left it. Where do you want it?”
“On the table by the mirror is fine. I’ll read it when I change.” It was marked important. Nothing was more important than the man standing at the end of this red carpet. “Thanks, Tom,” she said.
John and Henry opened the doors while Tom hurried past them to sit down.
Selena held Harold’s arm and began walking towards the man she had fallen in love with and would spend forever with. He stood by the pastor, waiting patiently. Or at least everyone would think so, but the storm in his blue eyes told her he had waited long enough in igniting the passion between them.
She placed her hand in the crook of Harold’s arm and received a gentle pat as the wedding march began, taking her closer to her heart’s desire. Everything faded into the distance, except Drake and their love. The music ended and Harold kissed her cheek, stepping away. She slipped her hands into Drake’s and knew there was nothing in the past to pull her back.
Their love would move them forward.
• • •
Selena left Drake talking with their guests and went to her room to change. The look in his eyes said he wouldn’t wait much longer in keeping his hands off of her. Drake hadn’t disclosed their honeymoon site, wanting it to be his secret. She was looking forward to finding out.
She spied the envelope where Tom had left it, thinking it was probably from Martha and Larry, whom she’d invited to the wedding.
Opening the seal, she tipped the envelope and a single picture of an infant boy and a several sheets of paper fell onto the table. It wasn’t from Larry or Martha. She didn’t know where it had come from.
She fumbled with a chair and sat down. The report, which read like the type of reports she’d filed when she was still with the Agency, confirmed that Theresa was dead — but stated that she’d left a son behind.
A son.
A member of the Donovan clan had married Theresa, gotten her pregnant — and now Selena had a nephew. The report further explained there was a contract on the infant but had hit dead ends after that. This wasn’t the norm for hits as babies and women were not targets — just accidentals when their loved ones were taken out.
Her body shook from the emotional onslaught of sorrow and rage tearing at her heart as she forced herself to read the rest of the report.
And it was further discovered that Selena had an older sister — a sister by blood, not marriage, named Lilly.
Disbelief warred through her veins to the point of being unable to breathe.
She had been adopted by Theresa’s parents. Nothing was mentioned about Lilly’s whereabouts. The investigator stated he was in the process of finding out Lilly’s location and the name of their birth mother. It mentioned Drake’s brother as being murdered by the Donovans. The more she read, the less she could feel, until numbness permeated every part of her mind and body. And then she read the part that changed her life.
Oh. My. God.
She was a Donovan.
The patriarch of the Donovan clan was Lilly’s biological father.
Worse, he was Selena’s biological father.
She let the report drop from her nerveless fingers. She couldn’t even begin to understand this.
But who had sent the report? Drake wouldn’t have given this information to her in this manner.
Andrew Donovan was the father of her nephew. The man responsible for the death of her sister. The man she supposed was responsible for Lacey’s abduction.
And the death of Drake’s brother.
Leaving the agency, Selena had left too many ends unraveled. It was her mess and her mess only. She couldn’t involve Drake and risk his life to a past she thought she’d left behind.
A scribbled note would not do justice to explanations on their wedding day. Her heart ached at the decision hanging between the past and a future with Drake. Her heart ached for what she was about to do, but she had no choice. Theresa’s son was in danger. If she didn’t go back to that world to get her nephew out, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. She prayed Drake would someday understand.
She did the only thing she was good at … heading back to the past of betrayals and lies, leaving her own web of deceit at not revealing her past to Drake.