Page 89 of Nothing to Fear

Thinking like that was dangerous. She’d kept an abstract hand firm against him, elbow locked, to save both her heart and her dignity. This was a Breckenridge, a man bold and strong, a man cradling control of her life in the palm of his hand. If she lost her job, if she couldn’t get a reference—

He would never do that to her. Never. The faith she had in him matched that she had in his mother. Alice raised her boys well, she gave them morals, decency—but, God, it was difficult to remember that when his hips moved against hers, when the thick length of him pressed hard against her, teasing her, daring her to beg for more.

And she wanted more than his lips on hers, on her body, tormenting her skin. They’d waited long enough, hadn’t they? They could give into the heat and arousal of endorphins electrifying every pore and hair.

Could Darroch be her forever man? Like the story Alice told, about her certainty over Benedict, had it felt like this? Despite that certainty, Alice held true, stayed strong, followed through to ensure the future was secure.

Grabbing his shoulders, instinct urged him away. “Darroch.”

“What?” he panted. “What’s wrong?”

“I just realized something.”

“What?” With that huffing need in his voice, he couldn’t really be listening or thinking straight. “Baby?”

Pushing him further away, she clambered out from under him to get to her feet. “I have to call your mom.”

“My mom? What are you—my mom?”

“Yes.”

“It’s late.” The couple would still be in the car on their way home. “She’ll panic and turn them around. Why do you need to call my mom?”

“She told me the story of her and your dad. That she loved your dad from the moment they met.”

“Yeah.”

As she paced the length of the bed and back, he sat, knees up to support his loose forearms.

“But she told him she wouldn’t have sex with him until they got married. Her mom warned her about men, about how they lose interest after the chase, after women give it up to them.”

“My grandma’s full of pearls of wisdom like that, why—” his frown relaxed from its confusion and quickly morphed to dread. “No.”

“Don’t you see?” She stopped. “She told me that story so I’d know; so I’d know to do the same. She told me so I wouldn’t be a cheap and easy date.”

He flew off the bed. “That is not why she told you that story.”

“Why else would she tell me that story?”

“To bond, I don’t know, girl talk.”

“Women like your mom, kind, positive women, they advise, pass on their experience, so younger women don’t make the same mistakes. Your grandmother passed that wisdom to her and she gave it to me.”

“That is not why Mom told you that story.” Though from the look on his face, he was coming to terms with the fact it wouldn’t happen for him. “Let’s call her.”

“You said it was too late.”

“When I thought I was getting lucky, this is an emergency situation.”

Valid point, though not the one he was making. “If you call her, you’ll scare her. She’ll think something is wrong.”

“Somethingiswrong.”

“You’re proving your grandmother’s point,” she said, fists rising to her hips.

He scooped them off to loosen her fingers in his. “Things were going so well…” he directed her arms around him to mosey up close. “We were relaxed…” she held the embrace when he let her go and raised her jaw with two loose fists. “Having fun…” he kissed her. “Being together.”

“I have to talk to your mom,” she said after his next kiss.

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