wood hugged the wall to my right. They curved up to the second floor, surrounded by a bannister of ornate iron, and swept over my head, ending in a little balcony to my left. The walls were painted in tones of pale gray and seemed to glow from the floor-to-ceiling windows along the front of the house.
“Mercy,” I whispered.
Drinking in each elegant inch of the coffered ceilings, the masculine office, bright and airy dining room, homey family room with thick-padded gray sectionals and accent pillows of charcoal and cream, I followed Angie over the glossy hardwoods and out to the ginormous patio.
Like the bannister, the swimming pool curved and swirled as if cut from a cloud. The shimmering blue water called to me. If it weren’t for the cast on my arm and the brace on my knee, I would have dived in and surrounded myself in buoyant bliss.
Seconds later Ross joined us, and together we sat at a long table beneath a stone gazebo, talking, laughing, and enjoying the scrumptious food Angie had prepared.
“So, when do I get to meet Thomas?” Ross asked.
Angie frowned and waved his question away. “Thomas is a tool. Get this…he’s married.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I did a little research. Though he told me he was divorced, I found a photo of him and his wife, who was still wearing her rock of a wedding ring, together at a benefit dinner.”
“You know the tabloids like to—”
“No. I confronted him. He confessed. I told him to hit the road.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
“I’m not,” Angie scoffed, then locked a sly smile on Ross. “I’m looking forward to seeing the face that goes with the voice of your friend Bernie. He called this morning to tell me he was on his way.” She glanced at her phone sitting on the table. “He should be here in about five more hours.”
“He’s handsome,” I blurted. Ross’s brows arched.
“Oh, he is, is he?”
I laughed at the jealousy in his voice and nodded.
“Forget him,” Angie instructed. “How handsome? Give me details, woman to woman.”
“Medium height, broad shoulders, twinkling green eyes, and snow-white hair. He was wearing a cap, so I don’t know if he’s balding on top or anyth—”
“Balding is fine. Go on,” Angie encouraged.
“He has a warm smile. He’s a kind, caring man with an equally warm heart.”
“I had no idea you were checking Bernie out so…thoroughly,” Ross groused.
The tinges of jealousy were still zinging off him. I clasped his hand and drew it to my lips and pressed a soft kiss to his skin. Then I stared deeply into his eyes, flooding Ross’s system with reassurance. “He’s old enough to be my dad. The only reason I was checking him out was because I knew how important he was to you.”
“Well, I’m going to be checking him out for entirely different reasons. Just saying.” Angie giggled.
In my mind, I caught a flash of Bernie and her together, deliriously happy.
As I stared into Ross’s sexy dark eyes, I knew the universe was finally aligning itself perfectly.
Days spilled into weeks filled with erotic, explosive mornings, nights, and shared showers. Ross taught me how to give him the pleasure I’d been dying to with my mouth. Every time his masculine essence burst over my tongue, my blood boiled. While we continued to heal—the only testament to the accident that remained was the brace on my arm and multiple hours of physical therapy—Ross still hadn’t made a woman of me.
As we lay in bed listening to Angie and Bernie laughing downstairs, I rolled to my side, gazed into Ross’s eyes, and gathered up my courage.
“When are you going to make love to me?” I whispered.
He reared back and blinked, then a slow smile tugged his lips. “I’ll have to check my day planner and get back to you on that.”
I smacked him on the shoulder. “I’m being serious.”
His smile widened as he pulled me against him. “I’m waiting for the perfect moment. Something so monumentally epic that you’ll always remember your first time.”
“Silly man,” I chided. “Every second I spend with you is monumentally more epic than the last.”
“I was actually hoping I could hold off until we made the trip to Kentucky.”
“Why?”
“Because you love the mountain. I wanted to make love to you for the first time there, beneath the stars.”
“I do love it. It’s been my home for twenty-three years. But I love you more. My life is with you; here, there, and in every city you play a concert. You’re my home, now.”
“Aww, princess,”