Sex for Beginners Box Set(31)

“Maybe for someone with your background, but not mine. No, I’m off to my next adventure. But it has been a pleasure getting to know you.” Lillian winked. “It’s always nice to meet someone who shares particular interests. Good luck, Gemma. Always be true to yourself.”

The woman’s words stayed with her throughout the day. It was difficult to pinpoint the change in her, but as the tours progressed, she felt her mind expand to accept new possibilities for her future…and none of the options included compromise. She only hoped that it didn’t mean she’d be lonely for the rest of her life.

When she arrived home, she marveled at the changes in the Spanish home just since the morning—the yard was newly sodded, with tree plantings and landscaping. The stucco walls of the house had been painted with an aged ochre that was a striking contrast to the red-tiled roof. Even though it was still daylight, the structure was illuminated inside and out. A caterer’s truck sat next to the curb, along with a van from Party Balloons. Gemma smiled at the indulgences that reflected Chev’s affection for his family and acknowledged a pang of regret for turning down his invitation to join them. But considering her last conversation with him, things would be way too awkward between them, and she didn’t want to intrude on his family time.

Setting aside her disappointment, she hit the remote control and opened the garage door. The peacock wasn’t around, but he had uprooted several clumps of daylilies. She sighed, then cut her wheel to pull into the right side of the garage. A split-second later, she frowned. Why was she still leaving room for Jason’s car? Feeling magnanimous toward herself, she pulled into the center of the garage, leaving lots of breathing room on either side.

As the garage door was going down, she spotted the mailbox that still read Jason and Gemma White. “You’re next,” she announced.

She went inside, changed into casual clothes and grabbed the old suitcase containing her paints, then stopped in the garage for her hat and a garden trowel to replant the uprooted lilies. Outside, she inhaled the rich scent of an early summer evening. The sharp sweetness of new soil and grass rode the air from Chev’s yard, tickling her senses.

Not Chev’s yard, she reminded herself. The yard of whoever would buy the house in a couple of weeks. Most likely, a couple with children to enjoy the pool and the large family kitchen. Chev would pocket the money and move on to his next project—Miami, hadn’t he said? And on to his next woman?

Of course he’d have another woman, and another after that. He was, after all, a hot-blooded, great-looking man with a healthy sexual appetite.

Who accepted her exhibitionism.

Who didn’t judge her.

She exhaled, then plopped the hat on her head and walked to the mailbox at the curb. The honeysuckle bush she’d planted around the post was covered with fat buds that would soon burst with little cream-colored flowers and the most beautiful fragrance imaginable.

She remembered the day she’d painted their names on the mailbox. They had been in the house for less than a week. Jason seemed uninterested in anything having to do with the house and yard. She, on the other hand, had been eager to put their stamp on it, to make it theirs. He was working long hours, and she was in a nesting phase. She had bought a small can of black paint for metal surfaces and painstakingly painted on their names. Jason hadn’t noticed and when she’d brought it to his attention, he had told her she could hire someone to do that kind of thing.

She took a deep breath and with a few strokes of a spray can, she obliterated their names with white primer, reducing the mailbox back to a clean, blank surface. She stared at it for a couple of minutes, then nodded. It felt right.

While she waited for it the primer to dry, she replanted the lilies, muttering under her breath about the peacock who seemed to be enamored with her yard. It had left behind two exquisite feathers. She set them on the porch to add to the others she had collected—they were simply too fine to throw away. A keepsake for the time after the bird had flown away.

Then she went back to the mailbox and, using a small brush and black paint, hand-lettered “Gemma Jacobs” on the side. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until the sight of it made her exhale in satisfaction.

She was putting the finishing touches on the paint job when two cars pulled into Chev’s driveway. Doors opened and out came several people who obviously knew one another. When Chev came out to greet them, dressed in slacks and a collared shirt, there were shouts of joy and hugs all around. He shepherded them all into the house, then glanced in her direction.

Gemma couldn’t look away. Even at this distance, she could feel the intensity of his regard.

He lifted his hand in a casual wave.

She waved back.

He hesitated a few seconds, then disappeared into the house.

And there it was…that achy emptiness in her stomach. And she realized in a blinding split second that she was letting something that could be incredible slip through her fingers. Sue was right—she was older now, and wiser. Old enough to recognize a good thing when it crossed her path. Wise enough not to pass up a chance to see a different side of this man she was falling in love with.

Having made up her mind, she couldn’t shower and dress fast enough. For a hospitality gift, she settled on a vase of yellow and gold flowers cut from her garden. At the last minute, she added a peacock feather to the arrangement.

As she crossed her yard to Chev’s, she was racked with nerves over seeing him again and meeting his family.

Funny how she was more comfortable performing as a stranger than as herself.

* * *

“ARE YOU OKAY, son?”

Chev looked up to see his mother walking toward him where he stood by the kitchen window overlooking the newly unveiled pool. Seeing his family again had lifted his spirits considerably, but it also had sharpened his awareness of missing Gemma. It shouldn’t matter so much when he was leaving soon. But seeing her changing the name on her mailbox had left him feeling torn. If she wasn’t going back to her ex…

The concern on his mother’s sweet face made him smile. “I’m fine, Mama.”

“You look sad.”

“I’m just tired.”

“It was nice of you to have this party for Maria, and to invite Juan and his family.”

“I thought it would make you happy.”

“It has. The house is beautiful. It will make someone a lovely home.”

“I’m glad you like it, Mama.”

“It reminds me of the house I grew up in.”

“There’s still plenty to do before the auction, but I think it’s turned out well.”

“So when will I see you settling down in a home of your own?”

He put his arm around his mother’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “Someday. Why don’t we cut the cake? I know that Maria and Jeffrey are dying to get into the pool.”

The sound of the doorbell cut through the air.

“Are you expecting someone else?” his mother asked slyly.

“Maybe,” he said, perplexed. He excused himself and, as he walked toward the entrance, he allowed himself to hope that Gemma had changed her mind.

When he opened the door, her back was to him and she was scolding the peacock, which had apparently followed her over. Her efforts to shoo him away seemed only to provoke the blue bird because it unleashed a torrent of calls and unfurled his tail with a full-body shudder.

She turned back to the door, startled to see him standing there. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he said over the noise of the peacock, unable to mask an amused smile.

“Is there still room for one more? I promise to leave my friend outside.”

“Absolutely,” he said with a happy grin.

“We heard the noise,” his mother said. “Oh, look!”

Everyone in his family came outside, exclaiming over the peacock, which seemed to know he had an audience and strutted like royalty around the colorful tiled walkway. Chev managed to introduce Gemma as the artist of the kitchen mural, and almost felt sorry for her under the onslaught of his boisterous parents, sister, aunt, uncle and cousin. His mother complimented the vase of flowers, then linked arms with Gemma and walked back inside.

His heart expanded in his chest, but he reminded himself that he couldn’t get used to the idea of loving her. She had issues and at least one powerful reason to go back to her ex-husband, if she was afraid of what that reporter might reveal. And there was the little matter that in two weeks, he would be selling this house and leaving for Miami…

Determined to enjoy the day, he rejoined the party in the kitchen where the cake for his sister Maria who had graduated high school was being cut among choruses of cheers and singing. Chev glanced down the table where Gemma sat wedged between his mother and his aunt, and winked at her. She looked a little unsure of herself, but after a few minutes, she was laughing with everyone else.

After the cake had been devoured, his sister and cousin raced to change into their bathing suits. Chev watched for Gemma’s reaction to the pool mosaic. She turned from the window with a look of wonder. “A peacock?”

He joined her there in the warmth of the sun and looked down at the sparkling blue water of the pool, dazzling against the design of a riotous peacock in the tile work of the bottom and sides. “It seemed fitting.”