One Sweet Night Read online

  “About?”

  “You. Tell me everything about you, but start with your marital status.”

  “I’m single.”

  She nodded. “Tia wouldn’t have arranged for us to meet if you were married or engaged or even in a serious relationship with anyone else. I should have asked if you’d ever been married.”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  She sipped her coffee. “Have you ever been engaged?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me about her and that relationship.”

  “There’s not that much to tell.”

  “I want to hear it.”

  “Okay. She was older.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “I’ve always had a thing for older women.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Why does anyone prefer anything? I don’t know why. When I was sixteen, just about every guy in the school had the hots for the senior class president, Kelly Harison. She had long legs, big breasts, blue eyes, and was drop dead gorgeous.”

  “Just about every guy? What about you?”

  “Me? While I knew she was beautiful, she was a little too young for my taste.”

  “But she must have been at least two years older than you.”

  “I know, but I’ve always known I prefer my women older. While my friends dreamed of raunchy sex with Kelly Harison, I had the hots for Janice Wilkers…our thirty-year-old teacher.”

  She smiled. “A male who can appreciate the beauty of an older women?” She pressed her right hand against her chest. “Be still my heart.”

  He laughed.

  “Tell me about your engagement. I know it wasn’t to your teacher.”

  He leered. “Don’t I wish? She was my first real crush and I have fond memories of all the sleepless nights I spent lusting after her. Who was your first love?”

  “My ex-husband was my first real love, but my first substantial crush was on a tall, lanky boy named Brian Jordan. He had the warmest brown eyes I’d ever seen and the sweetest smile imaginable. Unfortunately, he didn’t know I existed.”

  “Foolish boy.”

  “Oh Danny boy, I’m in danger of falling harder than a red brick for you.”

  He reached across the table to brush his hand against hers. “So fall.”

  She shook her head. “Never mind about my falling or not. Tell me about your engagement.”

  “I was twenty-years-old and just about to graduate from college when I fell into lust with this Maggie May type professor.”

  “Twenty? Hmm. Handsome and smart enough to graduate from college early?”

  “Apparently so.”

  “Maggie May? As in Rod Stewart’s Maggie May?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “What did you like most about her?”

  “She was forty, blonde, believed in no holds barred sex and I’d never wanted anyone more.”

  Did he like blondes? “Forty? That was quite an age difference.”

  “I know but I told you I’ve always had a thing for older women.”

  “So maybe you’d want a thirty-year-old, but—”

  “I prefer older women, Jule.”

  “But surely at forty, she must have seemed a little old to your twenty-year-old eyes. I mean her body wouldn’t have been as perfect as a woman closer to your age.”

  He studied her in silence for several moments before he gently squeezed her hand. “If you’re wondering if she had a perfectly flat stomach or perky breasts, she didn’t. But those evidences of her age only increased my desire for her. If you’re worried that any perceived imperfections of yours will turn me off, let me assure you that’s not the case.

  “I don’t expect older women to look as physically perfect as younger women.”

  “That’s hard to believe.”

  “It shouldn’t be. If I wanted older women to remind me of younger women, I’d have a thing for younger women instead of older ones.”

  She released a sigh. “I believe you.”

  “Good. Now about my Maggie May. It was the worst case of lust I’d ever had—up to that point. I was so enthralled with her, I asked her to marry me. Amazingly she said yes.”

  “What went wrong?”

  His lips twitched. “She threw me over for an eighteen-year-old.”

  “That must have been some eighteen-year-old if she preferred him to you.”

  He shrugged. “I believe he had a bigger dick and less appetite for anal sex.”

  Heat rushed up her neck to warm her cheeks. “Yours leaves nothing to be desired, Dan.”

  He smiled. “I’m very glad you think so, but I can’t help noticing that you ignored the anal sex part.” He brushed his fingers against the back of her hand. “Is that going to be a problem for you?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Do you dislike it?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve learned to tolerate it.”

  “So you don’t hate it?”

  “No.”

  “If you don’t dislike it, why are you uncertain when you’re going to ask me to make love to your large, luscious ass? What bothers you about our making backdoor love?”

  She glanced around the dining room. There were several other couples within hearing distance. She lowered her voice. “Your width. The thought of you trying to fit up my…You’re very thick.”

  “Most women enjoy thick cocks.”

  Just how many women had enjoyed his thick shaft? “I like them too—in the front door.”

  “You have a very tight front door, Jule.”

  The corners of her mouth curved in a smile. “This is some conversation. I didn’t even know you twenty-four hours ago and now we’re sitting here discussing thick cocks, tight pussies and anal sex. I must be out of my mind.”

  “Or maybe you’re just learning to enjoy your sexuality.”

  She sipped her coffee. “Oh?”

  His hand closed around hers. “Or possibly falling in love.”

  Jule’s heartbeat quickened and her hand shook as she set her coffee cup down. “Karl and I dated for months before we discussed love.”

  “Really? Karl a little on the slow side, was he?”

  “Karl was just cautious. We both were.”

  “Well I’m not Karl and I have no desire to be cautious. I know what I want when I see it. I don’t have to spend weeks or months weighing the pros and cons. I know I want you.”

  “Dan…”

  “Do you want to know why I’ve never been married?”

  “No.”

  “Because I’ve never met a woman who I wanted enough to even consider giving up my freedom for.”

  She pushed her coffee cup away. “What about Maggie May? You proposed to her. Remember?”

  He shook his head. “Although I was in big time lust with her, I like to think I wouldn’t have really married her.”

  “Why wouldn’t you have?”

  “I’m not sure. I just know I wouldn’t have married her, but I’d marry you in a New York minute.”

  She closed a hand around her cup. “Are you telling me you’re…”

  “In love with you?”

  The cup rattled from her hand. “Oh don’t, Danny. Please don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  “You’re not in love with me.”

  “Because?”

  “Because you don’t know me.”

  “So I can’t be in love with you?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because real love takes time to grow.”

  “Says who?”

  “Me.”

  He smiled. “So because you’re not in love with me yet I can’t be in love with you?”

  “Put like that you make me sound a little implacable, but yes. You’re not in love with me.”

  “What if I say I am?”

  “I won’t believe you. I can’t. Not after one day. It can’t be real.”

  “Why don’t we decide that together?”
>
  The idea of starting a real relationship with him both excited and scared her. Nevertheless, part of the joy of living was exploring new possibilities. She gazed into his green eyes. She doubted she’d be able to walk away from him without regrets at the end of the weekend. What lonely woman could resist a handsome hunk who thought he’d fallen in love with her at first sight?

  Their physical relationship would only take them so far. If she dared believed him, he was close to being emotionally committed to her. As long as he wanted to get to know her, she was going to take the chance that the two of them could become a couple who had something in common besides great sex.

  “Jule? Are you with me?”

  “I’d like to be.”

  “But?”

  “Before we go any further, there’s something important about me you need to know.”

  “I’m listening.”

  She cast a quick glance around. “It’s not something I want to discuss here.”

  “I’ll take you home.”

  “Okay, but let’s take the long way.”

  “The long way?” He caressed the back of her hand. “You need time to work up your courage first, huh?”

  “Are you clairvoyant?”

  “Clairvoyant? No. In love? Yes.”

  “Oh Dan. Talk like that—”

  “I’ve always heard love makes a man perceptive. It must be true.” He squeezed her hand. “Because I do love you, you don’t ever need to be afraid to tell me anything, Jule.”

  She felt a rush of heat at his words. If she weren’t careful, she’d find herself believing he really was in love with her. It would be a short jump from that belief to the one where she was in love with him as well.

  Why would that be so bad? You’re both single and ready for love or at the very least you’re both interested in exploring the delicious possibilities of a committed relationship. “You were going to show me you could be patient, Dan. It’s great hearing you talk like this, but I need a little time to process everything.”

  “Let me guess. It’s all so sudden. Right?”

  He sounded amused.

  She grinned. “I know it sounds trite, but yes. It’s very sudden. Yesterday I was feeling borderline old and unattractive to the opposite sex. After a night with you I feel sexy and desirable.”

  “You are sexy and desirable.”

  “And no matter what you say, you are smooth. But smooth is good on you.”

  “Then you want me to keep it up?”

  “Yes, but please don’t expect me to respond in kind just yet.”

  He paid their check and they walked out to the parking lot, hand in hand. They didn’t speak again until they were seated in his car.

  “Why not? We’re both adults. Why should we sugarcoat our feelings or pretend we don’t feel what we feel?”

  “Maybe because we’re not sure of what we’re feeling.”

  He cast a quick look in her direction. “Maybe you’re not sure, but I knew you were the woman I’d been waiting for the moment I saw you.”

  “You must have some doubts.”

  “No. I didn’t.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “I don’t know. I just know I am sure. And I know I can be patient until you are—well I can be relatively patient. If you leave it too long, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “No. A promise.”

  “What happens if you have to take matters into your own hands?”

  “Then I’ll have to fuck you until you fall madly in love with me.”

  Lord she loved the sound of that threat. She raised her brows. “That’s not much of a threat—considering I’d love that.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on.”

  Chapter Seven

  She smiled and settled into her seat.

  He started the car and drove out of the bed and breakfast parking lot.

  They made the drive in silence. To her surprise, she felt comfortable with him and the silence.

  In her apartment, she carried coffee into the living room. She sank into the loveseat while he sat opposite her on the only single chair in the room with his gaze trained on her face.

  “So? You had something you wanted to tell me.”

  She wrapped both hands around her coffee cup. “Yes.”

  He smiled. “You have my full attention.”

  “It’s not something I want to just blurt out.”

  “Okay. What would you like to talk about while you work your way up to it?”

  “You. I want to know everything about you.”

  “What would you like to know?”

  “What do you want out of life?”

  “You mean besides you?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Besides me.”

  “You.”

  “No. I mean really.”

  “So do I. I have most of what I want already. I’m healthy, I earn a lot of money and I can afford to buy most of the material things I ever wanted. There’re very little limits on where I can live. I have nearly everything a man could want to consider himself successful. The only thing missing to make the picture complete is someone special to share my life with. That’s where you come in, Jule.”

  How did she tell him that if he pursued a serious relationship with her, his picture wouldn’t be complete or perfect? “Wow. You know how to push my buttons, Dan.”

  “I mean everything I say to you. You’re my idea of the perfect woman.”

  Oh, how she wanted to believe him.

  He rose and crossed the room to kneel in front of her. “What do you need to tell me, Jule?”

  She gripped her cup.

  He took her coffee cup from her fingers and placed it on the end table. Still on one knee, he took her right hand in his and placed it over his heart. “You can tell me anything.”

  “I want to, but I’m afraid.”

  “Of what?”

  “That once you know my not so little secret, it’s going to be over for us before it’s really even started.”

  “There’s nothing you can say that will change how I feel about you. So tell me what’s bothering you.”

  The steady beat of his heart against her fingers combined with the guileless look in his eyes encouraged her. She took a deep breath and then spoke in a rush. “You’ve made me want to consider the possibility of a real relationship with you.”

  He squeezed her hand. “What’s so bad about that?”

  “Well…I’m older and—”

  “No. Be honest with me, Jule. Your age is not a secret. I knew how old you were before I came to see you last night. And before you mention it, I also knew you were black. So be straight with me.”

  “I…Oh Danny.”

  He lifted her hand from his chest and brushed his lips against her fingers. “What’s bothering you? I promise you nothing short of your being a serial ax-murderer with several dead lovers in your past will make any difference to me.”

  She smiled. “I’ve never murdered anyone and there are no dead lovers in my past.”

  “Then you have no need to be afraid to share your secret with me.”

  She took a deep breath. “I think you should know that I…I can’t have kids.”

  “You can’t?”

  She could detect no sign that her admission was a problem for him. “No I can’t have kids.”

  “Why? I’ve read of women a lot older than you becoming mothers again. So it can’t be because of your age.”

  “No. It’s because I can’t have kids.”

  “So you mean can’t and not that you don’t want kids?”

  She swallowed hard. “Yes.”

  “You’re physically incapable of having kids?”

  She nodded, studying his face for some sign of dismay. She detected none, but she didn’t know him well enough to know how capable he might be of concealing his real feelings. “Yes. That’s what I mean.”

  He closed his eyes.

&nb
sp; Keeping her eyes tear-free was so difficult. “Open your eyes so I can see what you’re feeling.” As his lids lifted, she touched his cheek. “Dan?”

  “Can you talk about it, Jule?”

  “Yes. I had a rare viral infection in high school. I was told I would probably never be able to conceive, but I held onto the almost microscopic chance I might somehow be able to have a baby.”

  “But you couldn’t?”

  “No.” She bit her lip. “That inability is responsible for the breakup of my marriage. My ex really wanted kids.”

  “When did he know you might not be able to have kids?”

  “I told him after he asked me to marry him.”

  “If having biological kids was so important to him why did he marry you after he knew?”

  She sighed. “We were young and in love and I think my hope that somehow a miracle would happen and I’d be able to have a baby was contagious. We both wanted to believe it so we did.”

  Sitting on the love seat beside her, he slipped an arm around her. “What changed?”

  “I don’t know if anything changed so much as he just decided it was time to face reality.” She shrugged. “Maybe he’d fallen a little out of love with me as well. When it became clear that I really couldn’t conceive, our marriage was basically over.”

  “Were you still in love with him?”

  “I still cared for him and I wanted to work on our marriage.”

  “But he didn’t?”

  “No.” She curled hair around her finger. “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression about him. Karl was—is a good man. He was always honest with me. He gave our marriage a fair chance and he never cheated on me. I can’t blame him for wanting to end our marriage while he was still young enough to remarry and have a family with someone else.”

  He stroked her cheek. “He must be a good man if you can still speak so highly of him. Did the two of you ever consider adoption? There are a lot of kids without parents who need a loving home.”

  “I was more than willing to adopt, but he wasn’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Adoption isn’t for everyone. Some people have a need to have kids of their own. We did discuss adoption. We even went to counseling. He worked hard to accept the idea of it, but in the end he wanted to father his own kids.”

  “Having biological kids was so important to him that he was willing to divorce you?”

  “That might not have been an option had we still been deeply in love. I can’t blame him or you for wanting kids of your own.”