Page 72 of The Playboy and the Widow
“Cliff let me drive his golf cart,” Joan announced proudly as she entered the kitchen. “It’s only a few more years, you realize, till I’ll be old enough for my driver’s permit.”
“All Cliff let me do was steer,” Katie complained, plopping herself down in the seat beside her mother.
“Next year you can drive the cart,” Cliff told her.
Katie responded by folding her arms and pinching her lips together in a pretty pout. “It’s not fair. Joan gets to do everything.”
“The older one always does,” Joan answered with a superior air.
“Are you going to let her talk to me that way?” Katie demanded. “Just what kind of a mother are you?”
“Girls, girls,” Cliff said, without raising his voice. Joan and Katie stopped arguing, but when they didn’t think he could see, Katie stuck her tongue out at Joan, and Joan eagerly reciprocated.
Cliff did his best to disguise a smile. He was smiling a lot lately. Marrying Diana and taking on the responsibility for Joan and Katie had changed him. There’d been so many wasted years when he’d drifted from one meaningless relationship to another, seeking an elusive happiness, finding himself chasing after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But now he’d found real love, experienced it firsthand, and it had altered the course of his life.
That night, Diana fell asleep in her husband’s arms. A loud clap of thunder woke her around midnight. She rolled onto her back and rubbed the sleep from her face.
“I wondered if the storm would wake you,” Cliff whispered, raising himself up on one elbow in order to kiss her.
Diana kissed him back and looped an arm around his neck. “Have you been awake long?”
“About five minutes.” Once more, his mouth tenderly grazed hers. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“Youshowedme a couple of hours ago!”
He nuzzled her neck and the familiar hot sensation raced through Diana, and she sighed her pleasure.
Cliff kissed her in earnest then, wrapping her in his arms. “What have you done to me?” He growled the question in her ear. “I can’t seem to get enough of you.”
“Do you hear me complaining?” Completely at ease now with his body, she touched and kissed him in places she knew would evoke a strong reaction.
“You little devil,” Cliff whispered raggedly.
“Want me to stop?”
“No,” he answered on a low growl. “I’m crazy about you, woman.”
Diana stiffened and turned her head toward the bedroom door.
Cliff was instantly aware of the change in her mood. “What is it?”
“Katie.”
“I didn’t hear her.”
“She’s frightened of storms.” Already Diana was freeing herself from his arms.
Mumbling under his breath, Cliff rolled onto his back and swallowed down the momentary frustration. “I’m beginning to relive a nightmare of my own. When are you going to be back?”
“In a minute.” Diana climbed out of the bed and reached for her robe.
“Give me a kiss before you go,” Cliff insisted, then yawned loudly. “Wake me if I go back to sleep.”
Diana willingly obliged. “I shouldn’t be long.”
“Hurry,” he coaxed, and yawned a second time.
Diana was gone only a matter of minutes, but by the time she returned and slipped between the sheets, Cliff was snoozing.
