Instead he spoke in a husky tone to say. “Like I said, I’m a little rusty.”
For a moment, Rose nearly stared at him, and then unexpectedly she released a little laugh. “If that’s how you kiss when you’re rusty, then I hate to be around when you consider yourself fine tuned.”
He tried to smile, but couldn’t. The kiss they’d shared was serious. It had shaken him to the core and he had a feeling it had affected her as well. However, he didn’t want her to get any ideas. Just because they might enjoy kissing each other, that was not a foundation on which to build a relationship . . . and definitely not a marriage. “Ahh, I need to go,” he said backing up. “Mrs. Guthrie will be bringing the girls home shortly.”
He then stopped in the middle of the room and added. “And about the kiss. I hope you don’t think what we just shared changes anything.”
Without waiting for her to answer, he quickly moved to the door. “Goodbye, Rose,” he threw over his shoulder, moving like one of those Siberian tigers they’d seen at the zoo yesterday was right on his heels. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, before opening the door and walking out.
Rose stood in the doorway and watched as he got into his SUV thinking that he was wrong. The kiss had changed everything.
* * *
Late that night Parnell was wide awake in bed staring up at the ceiling, wondering just how much more he could take. The kiss he had shared today with Rose was still so much a part of him, embedded deep within his mind, that he hadn’t been able to close his eyes and get any rest.
The girls, for a little while, had been able to hold his attention after they had come home. Joya and LaToya had been excited about spending time with their playmate, Melody Guthrie, and had a lot of stuff to tell him. He had listened while giving them their baths, and later he had gone over the Spanish words that Rose had taught them that week.
But when they had pretty much quieted down and once he had read them their bedtime story and they had drifted off to sleep, he had experienced something that he hadn’t paid any attention to before.
Loneliness.
And it was then that his mind had shifted to Rose and her proposal and wondered what if he were to take her up on it. What would it mean? He definitely wouldn’t have to worry about the girls’ fate from project to project. They would be able to stay with him no matter where his work took him. And he would leave home and go to work every day with the peace of mind that Joya and LaToya were well cared for by someone they truly liked. That was evident this weekend. In fact it had been evident from the day Rose had set foot into his house.
He shifted in bed thinking of the advantages marrying Rose would bring to him. One sure thing, it would erase his loneliness. He had begun getting used to having her around and would have to admit that he missed seeing her on the weekends when she had no reason to come over.
He would be the first to admit he had enjoyed her presence with him on Saturday when he had taken the girls to the zoo. And more than anything, he had enjoyed the kiss they had shared earlier today. He had feasted on her mouth like a hungry person, a man starving for passion . . . and in a way, he had been. What other reason would he have for focusing so much on her taste, being so in tune to the little moans she had made when his tongue had tangled with hers? And when she had wrapped her arms around his neck and had stretched up against him, where he had felt her from thigh-to-thigh and breast-to-chest, his loins had gotten fueled, his erection had been taunted. He would be the first to admit she had the ability to stir something within him; something that had been pretty damn dormant since he’d lost Becky.
So, now back to his earlier question. What if he were to take Rose up on her offer? Could he handle coming home to her every night, being able to kiss her whenever he liked, have her share a bed with him? Could he give her the child she wanted knowing that doing so would then carve her a permanent place in his life because she would be the mother of his child? Could he finally move on with his life and invite another woman into his arms as well as into his heart?
He rubbed his hand down his face, not certain of the answers to any of those questions. But one thing was for certain, that kiss they’d shared today had started him to thinking. Had commenced him to imagine things.
And the one thought he just couldn’t let go of for some reason was how it would be to have Rose share his bed. To sleep cuddled up to her each night. To wake up with her in his arms every morning. To make love to her before going to sleep.
He closed his eyes and the image of them together intimately took shape in his mind. She was on her back and he was positioning his body on top on her, his erection moving toward her feminine entrance where he would sink into her moist heat.
He snatched opened his eyes. His body was beginning to throb and that wasn’t good. Gritting his teeth, he shifted positions in the bed wondering if he would get any sleep tonight.
Seven
“Good morning, Rose.”
“Good morning, Parnell.”
Rose and Parnell exchanged their usual greeting after she had let herself inside the house the next morning. As the norm, she had parked in the double-car garage and had entered through the kitchen, and as always, Parnell was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee and going over what she always assumed to be some work notes. “Anything special about today?” she asked as she normally did. She had begun keeping up with the girls’ doctor or dentist appointments, but on occasion there would be other things going on that day that he would want her to know about.
“Mr. Fulton will be dropping by around noon to take a look at -”
He stopped talking and stared at her. She had just taken off her coat to hang in the small closet by the kitchen door.
She glanced over at him, saw the way he was looking at her; specifically her outfit. She was wearing a stylish knit dress, which wasn’t what he was used to seeing her wear. Jeans or leggings with a pull-over top or sweater were the usual dress for her; definitely not this clingy number.
“Is anything wrong?” she asked him when he continued to stare.
“No, nothing’s wrong,” he said before glancing back down at the papers in front of him.
“You were saying?” she asked a few moments later.
He looked back at her. He looked at her dress. “Excuse me.”
“You said something about Mr. Fulton.”
He averted his gaze when he said. “I needed to tell you that Mr. Fulton will be coming by around noon to take a look at the torn carpet upstairs.” He glanced back at her. “Are you and the girls going out today?”
She didn’t hesitate in saying. “No, we don’t have any plans.”
She knew he was probably dying to ask her about the dress but probably thought it wasn’t the gentlemanly thing to do. Deciding to follow her regular routine, she began preparing breakfast for the girls. Although it would be a few hours before they got up, she had quickly caught on to the fact that they expected to eat as soon as they did so.
“You look nice today.”
She was standing in front of the refrigerator and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Thanks.”
“Any reason you’re dressed up today?”
She turned to place the milk on the counter. “I’m not dressed up, Parnell. Today I just wanted to dress differently.”
A confused look settled on his face. “Why?”
“No reason.”
She then turned back to the counter to prepare the batter for the pancakes. She heard the sound of him shuffling papers around on the table for a few minutes and then he said. “It’s time for me to leave.”
Without turning around she said, with as much indifference in her voice as she could put there. “Okay, Parnell. Have a good day.”
“You do the same, Rose.”
She waited until she heard the back door close behind him before turning around. She couldn’t help the smile that touched her lips. He had noticed her.
* * *
“Hey Parnell, Gabe’s on the line,” one of the construction linemen said, handing Parnell the phone.
Parnell took off his earmuffs and placed the mobile phone to his ear. “Yeah, Gabe?”
“How are things going?”
“Good. No problems. We’re still on deadline. ”
“That’s what I like to hear. I’ll be back tomorrow. Christopher is flying in too, but on a later flight. We have a dinner meeting with Landmark on Wednesday and would like you present at that meeting to give an update. Mrs. Summers is back, right, so there won’t be a problem with someone watching the girls?”
Parnell appreciated Gabe for being the kind of employer who cared about any issues involving his employees, business or personal. His partner, Christopher Chandler, was the same way. Their thought processes were that a happy employee was a good employee. “Mrs. Summers decided to remain in Florida permanently; however, Rose has agreed to continue to fill in until I find someone.”
“That was nice of her.”
Parnell didn’t have to give it much thought, because Gabe was right. It was nice of her. “Yes, it was, and I doubt she’ll have a problem with staying over a little longer tomorrow. I’ll check to be sure, though, and call you later.”
“That’s fine.”