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  “I do, Ben, and it might surprise you to know that I actually understand your reasons, as they’re logical, but the bigger issue for me is that we’re not living up to our creed. As you said yourself, we’ve reverted back to form, and so quickly and so easily. It bothers me. Never mind the fact that there’s a woman in Chicago who’s been stalked by him for almost two years. I know Jack Winthrop, and not only has he been chasing Brickman for much of his career in law enforcement, but he’s best friends with this woman’s husband. Do you know how priceless this information would be to them?”

  Ben nodded. “Yes, I know Winthrop as well. He was a good agent once upon a time. But come now, you must know it wasn’t an easy decision. We feel it was the best one we could make under the circumstances.”

  “All right,” Coop said. “What’s done is done. By the way, I’ve put in for my vacation.”

  Chapter Eight

  The hotel ballroom was packed almost to capacity Friday night and from her position on the stage, Caroline smiled as she executed a turn in their dance routine. Her eye caught sight of a photographer snapping pictures again and she did her best to maintain the friendliness of the smile. She didn’t have to like it, but she did have to put up with being photographed for the special night. There was also a videographer around somewhere. She would allow neither to temper her joy. They were on the last song, and she could not wait to get off the stage and into fresh clothes. For their actual performance, her friends and she wore a silver flapper mini-dress and every time they performed a dance move, the dresses came alive and shimmered like waterfalls. The dress was gorgeous, and went perfect with the silver boots, but Caroline was dripping with sweat and couldn’t wait to get out of the thing.

  Brian and she had taken a hotel room for the night for this express purpose, and because she knew she’d be exhausted at the end of the night and it would just be easier to stay there. Her parents were sitting front and center and she looked at them now. They’d been smiling from ear to ear since her brother, her friends and she had taken the stage. Her mother had been crying periodically throughout the half hour act, and was doing so again at that moment.

  Caroline blew her a kiss and winked at her. Taking the microphone in her hand, she belted out the last line of Jackie Wilson’s “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher”, and then took hold of her friends’ hands, stepped back in unison from the mike and took her bows with them. Relieved that the whole thing was finally over, she exited the stage. Brian had posted himself offstage during the show, while Jae stayed in front near one of the entrances to the ballroom. A couple of Brian’s off-duty police friends were also there, and they covered the other two doors.

  “Hey,” she said when she saw him.

  “Hey, yourself, pop star,” he said, his eyes lit with a spark she recognized immediately and quite well.

  Keeping a weather eye on him, she took a quick step back and then slid by him. “Don’t even think about it,” she warned over her shoulder as she hurried away.

  Brian chuckled. “If you know what I’m thinking about then you must be thinking about it too. I just don’t see why we can’t think about it -- and then make it happen -- together.”

  Still catching her breath from her stage work and thinking that she hadn’t much time to shower and change, Caroline shook her head. “Beat it,” was all she said in answer.

  Catching up to her, Brian snagged her around the waist from behind, and buried his nose on the side of her neck. “Are you sure about that?”

  Caroline shook her head chidingly and patted his arm. “Yes!” she said laughingly and with exasperation.

  He bit her neck.

  Though her eyes had fallen shut and the shiver that thrilled down her back made her want to give into what he so clearly wanted, she shook her head and practically pleaded, “You’ve got to behave.” She turned in his arms and even though she noticed the photographer, smiled at Brian anyway. “Mom and Dad are waiting for us at the party, and then I have to go change and come back down.” She kissed his cheek, grabbed his hand and turned to drag him behind her. “Come on, let’s go.”

  “It’s those damn wriggles,” he muttered, making her laugh out loud.

  ***

  PATRICIA Singleton smiled happily and raised her glass of wine in a toast to her daughter and son-in-law. “To happy secrets,” she said and chuckled when Caroline, Brian and her own husband looked confused. The light dawned in Caroline’s eyes quick enough, but Brian and Charles, it seemed, were doomed to befuddlement.

  Surprise in her eyes, Caroline asked, “How did you know?”

  Patricia laughed and felt tears prick her eyes. “Oh, there are tell-tale signs, but the main one is the little pooch of your stomach, and your face is just a teensy bit fuller.” She rose from her chair, walked around the small table and hugged Caroline, who had risen from her chair. “Congratulations, darling.”

  “Thank you, Mom.” Caroline was barely able to respond because of her own tears. “Can you believe it!” she exclaimed.

  Brian had also risen and now, Patricia pulled him into the hug. “Congratulations, son.”

  “Thank you, Mom.”

  “Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?” Charles demanded.

  “They’re pregnant, Charles,” Patricia explained as she sat back down. She waited for her husband to offer his hearty congratulations and hugs and kisses and for everyone to be reseated before leaning across the table to take Caroline’s hand. “How far along are you?”

  “About nine weeks,” Caroline said.

  “Are you eating enough? Sleeping enough? Getting exercise?”

  Her expression wry, Caroline responded. “I try my best with the first one, but morning sickness can sometimes be a major deterrent. The second one, though? It takes me out like Muhammad Ali did his opponents in his heyday, and I am down for the count before I even know what hit me.”

  “And just so you know,” Brian added, “the count can last anywhere from ten minutes to ten hours.” He shook his head. “It worried us at first, but we talked to the doctor and she said it’s perfectly normal.”

  “Yes, but it certainly can be startling to wake up and realize I’ve lost most or all of the day.”

  Patricia nodded in understanding, and then indignantly, “Just when had you planned on telling us?”

  Caroline rolled her eyes teasingly. “Tonight, in fact, but you totally preempted us with your creepy-mom omniscience bit.”

  “Oh, well, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. I started to suspect when you were up there on stage, but it became apparent when you sat down with us. At least I held out until after dinner, right?” The party was winding down, and the live band had been performing for more than an hour. Most of the party’s guests were up dancing from their tables which ringed the dance floor.

  “It’s all right, Mom. As I said, we were going to tell you anyway.”

  “Will you find out the sex of the baby?”

  Frowning in worry, Caroline said, “Gee, I hope so.”

  “No teasing,” Patricia protested. “The moment is too special.”

  “Well, I want to find out as soon as its scientifically possible, but Brian wants to wait until the baby’s born.”

  “So, in answer to your question, yes, in about seven weeks, we’ll know if it’s a boy or a girl,” Brian said wryly.

  Her heart full of happiness, Patricia watched as Caroline fondly blew her husband a kiss, and then as if she couldn’t help herself, gave him an actual one on the cheek.

  “Oh, I’m thrilled!” Patricia said, “and I’ll miss you in Paris in October for spring fashion week, but it will be well worth the sacrifice.”

  Caroline nodded. “Yeah, I thought about that and I was thinking maybe --”

  “Please don’t say you think you’re going to Paris in the fall, because we’ve already had this discussion, and --” Brian began.

  “Hush, Brian,” Caroline said. “I’ll be seven months by then, plus ther
e’s my fall show at the Rutledge. I wasn’t going to say I was going to go. I was going to say maybe Mom could bring back video or photos for me. I’ll bet you Alvarado will let you bring back a video of his collection for me,” she said, turning back to her mother.

  “Yes, I’m sure he would,” Patricia agreed. “He loves you, and says you’re perfect advertising for a new designer trying to make a name. Anyway, why don’t you tell me about the nursery? Do you need any help decorating it? You know I’d love to be involved.”

  “Yes, of course, Mom. We’ll go as soon as we get back from Mackinac Island. Oh, and wait until you see! I’ve already picked some things out at Porthault.”

  “I’m sure they’re all beautiful,” Patricia said. “I look forward to it. Will you be boarding Motley while you’re away?”

  Caroline shook her head. “No, thank God. Tracy agreed to keep her while we’re gone. Not that we don’t trust the kennels, but we’d rather she be around someone she knows.”

  “It’s too bad your father’s allergic, otherwise we’d have taken her. What time are you two taking off in the morning?”

  “We’re going to stop by the house one last time to make sure everything is right and tight,” Brian said, “and then we’ll hit the road at about six, after dropping Motley at Tracy’s.”

  “That’s pretty early,” Charles commented.

  “Don’t I know it,” Caroline said. “Which is why,” she began as she stood, “I want one last dance before we say good night.” She looked expectantly at Brian.

  “Good idea,” Brian agreed. “Let’s go. Good night, folks,” he said before taking her hand and leading her onto the dance floor.

  The band had just started in with Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me”, and Caroline smiled up at Brian and wrapped her arms around his neck when he gripped her waist. “Did you ever see the movie Stand by Me?”

  “The one based on Stephen King’s story, The Body? Of course. Why do you ask?”

  “Because whenever I hear this song, I think of that part in the movie where the boys have to cross a swamp, and when they climb out, are all covered in leeches.”

  “Uh huh,” Brian encouraged as he looked down at her. “I remember that scene well.”

  “Well one of them, Gordie, I believe, has to peel one off his penis. I remember being horrified for him, but at the same time wishing the camera would pan in and show us just a bit of it. I was mad with curiosity.”

  Brian laughed disbelievingly. “Really? How old were you? Fourteen? And you were a perv?”

  Caroline only shook her head at him. “Yes, Brian, I was a fourteen-year old pervert,” she said in a tone that implied he was crazy.

  Brian shrugged, still amused. “It’s not as if it’s beyond the realm of possibility, and doesn’t it sound like a great movie title? I,” he said with feigned importance and then paused dramatically, “was a fourteen-year-old pervert. Think of all the possibilities for the content.”

  “Oh, of course. There’s possibility A, and then there’s…let’s see…possibility A,” she said dryly. “No, what I was at fourteen was horribly repressed, a little bit curious and a lot awkward. So this song always brings back poignant memories for me.”

  “I guess it would,” Brian said and took one of her hands in his when she moved her other one to his shoulder. “You didn’t tell your parents about the latest regarding Brickman, did you?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

  She shook her head, looking guilty. “No, I know I said I would, but I didn’t want to ruin the night for them. But since they’re staying at the hotel too, I’ll leave a note at the front desk for them on our way out tomorrow morning.”

  “I guess that will have to do,” Brian said. “We could leave a voicemail message on their house phone as well.”

  “Sounds good,” she said and moved into his arms so she could rest her head against his shoulder as they swayed to the music.

  He bent and kissed her shoulder, which was bared by the halter of the dress she wore. Feeling her shiver, he smiled and did it again, his lips lingering wetly. “Do you know what you do to me in this dress?” he murmured and now pressed a kiss behind her ear.

  “Of course,” she admitted, her voice little more than a low, husky whisper as she accommodated his mouth with a slight turn of her head. “Don’t you realize that that’s why I bought it?”

  Brian thought about the clingy, iridescent, midnight-blue, floor-length dress and concurred with a low moan. “I suspected as much,” he growled against the dip in her neck right before he gently took a tendon between his teeth.

  Caroline sucked in a breath, feeling a fire begin low in her belly and the muscles in her thighs go slack. Lifting her mouth, she caught his in a kiss that was just short of carnal. “I think it’s time to say good night, Gracie.”

  “Good night, Gracie,” Brian muttered and taking her hand, led her off the dance floor.

  ***

  CAROLINE’S back hit the hotel suite’s wall moments after they entered the room, and she clung to Brian when he slid his hands under her dress and bringing the dress with them, slid his hands up her thighs where he gripped her tightly and hitched her up so she could wrap her legs around his hips. She mewled softly as she felt his erection nestle familiarly in the vee of her legs and rub against her clitoris. He pushed forcefully against her and automatically, she took his tongue into her mouth, nipping and sucking at it greedily.

  “Let’s try to make it to the bed this time,” she suggested, and with one hand on his shoulder, began to loosen his tie with the other as she stared at his mouth.

  Balancing her with his hands beneath her thighs, Brian said, “If you say so, ” before gripping her tighter and lifting her so that he was sliding against her again.

  She’d still been staring at his mouth and the feel of him, the wonderful pressure, had her moaning and yanking on his tie to pull his mouth to hers where she bit hungrily at his bottom lip before slipping her tongue into his mouth again. When he growled low in his throat, she pressed closer and held his face with both hands, feeling that it was impossible that she’d ever get enough.

  Brian continued the kiss as he carried her through the door that led to the bedroom. Caroline unhooked her ankles and unfurled her legs, moving sensually against him until her feet touched the floor. He was kneeling before her now, and began to take his hands on a slow trek up her dress.

  She shivered as he leisurely smoothed his hard palms over her calves and knees; moaned as he lovingly caressed her thighs and whimpered as his fingers found their way to her --

  “Oh my, God,” Brian exclaimed, his voice full of wonder and slightly accusatory, “You’re not wearing any panties!”

  “I couldn’t wear any,” she said in distraction and with a bit of guilt, “the dress didn’t allow for them. No need to get upset about it.”

  “I’m not upset,” he muttered, “but a man doesn’t like the idea of his wife going around in public without her underwear, and besides, you could have told me! God, when I think of all the good I could have done had I known…”

  The rest of what he was saying was lost as he gripped her behind and pulled her toward his face, pressed it between her thighs and then breathed deeply, making Caroline squeak in feminine delight and squeeze his shoulders.

  “Oh...” she sucked in a breath, sounding like a beginning swimmer trying to get a lungful of air after taking a dip her first time in the water. “Oh…” huge gulp, “…God!”

  He opened his mouth and began to tongue her through the dress. “Oh, God!” Caroline said again, her entire body now suffused with heat. Trying madly to hold onto the feeling, she widened her stance and gripped his hair in her fists.

  He pulled back. “Oh, no,” he murmured, “it’s to the bed with you. I need to see what I’m tasting. Take off that dress.”

  With weak knees and a woozy mind, Caroline obeyed him and unsteadily reached behind her neck to loose the snap that was holding the halter in place. The straps fell to
her waist, exposing her bare breasts before snagging at her hips. Still feeling a bit wobbly, she began to push the dress past her hips, but found Brian’s hands on top of hers. She looked down at him, and found her gaze caught by his. He licked his lips, and finding the move irresistible, she bent at the waist to kiss him, sliding her hair behind her ears and holding it there to keep it out of their faces.

  “Baby, I want to eat you alive,” he growled against her mouth and began to slide the dress down past her hips himself, his lips following steamily in the dress’s wake. The dress spilled around her feet and he took her hand, helping her to step out of it. She stood there naked except for a pair of glittering midnight blue shoes which matched the diamonds shining in her ears, knowing without a doubt that the sight would drive her husband wild.

  She didn’t move, nor did she speak. She only stood there while he drank her in as he rose to his feet. Drawn by the raw need and obvious intent on his face, she took a step towards him, only to have him aggressively crowd her, backing her up until the back of her knees bumped the bed and she sat down on it. Anticipation thrumming through her, she inadvertently widened her thighs and squirmed when the movement drew his gaze to her mound.

  Avarice. The word echoed loudly in her head when Brian looked in her eyes as he once again kneeled before her and placed his hands on her knees, pushing them apart and pulling her forward so she sat on the edge of the bed. Still looking into her eyes, he lifted first one leg and then the other and placed them over his shoulders. She fell back, catching herself on her elbows so that her back arched off the bed. “Please, baby,” she begged when after sliding his hands under her behind as if to lift her, he didn’t, but simply held her like that and stared down between her thighs.

  He finally lowered his head and softly nuzzled his mouth against her lips. She moaned. He licked her from bottom to top… several times. She screamed and fell back against the mattress, her hands gripping the coverlet until her fingers ached. When he tongued the little bundle of nerves and sucked it to the roof of his mouth, she felt sanity begin to leave her and head thrashing back and forth as she screamed her release, she pushed her hips toward his mouth, feeding herself to him in a frenzy of need.