“Then why do you pull away from me?”
“I don’t want this to go to a point of no return for you, Donna,” he said, knowing he wasn’t communicating the reason very clearly.
“Well, it’s too late. I’m already in love with you, Rich Burke, so I’m past that point,” slipped from her lips, and she immediately wanted to pull those words back. Especially when she saw the shocked look on his face.
“You’re in love with me?”
She tried to sit up, but he still hovered over her. She pushed against his chest. “Let me up.”
Instead of moving out of the way, he softened his arms until his chest lightly rested on hers and his pelvis settled back between her legs. His face was but an inch from hers. His eyes bore into hers. She couldn’t breathe with the physical closeness, and it wasn’t his weight on her causing her breathlessness. He barely pressed her chest.
His lips lightly brushed hers again and then he raised himself slightly, so he floated over her, his eyes searching hers. Hesaw embarrassment he assumed was because she’d declared her feelings and he’d not stated his. He also saw desire in her eyes.
“I’m in love with you too,” he whispered. “But I would never ask you to upend your life or your kids’ lives to move here and be with me, especially because I’m rarely home.”
“How about you let me decide what I want or what I’m willing to do? If I’m going to upend my life or not, that’s for me to decide, not you.”
Burke grinned, amused by her determination. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I just want you to be sure.”
“I am,” she declared.
“Are you ready to do that? Are you ready to uproot your life to be here with someone who’s rarely home and will have to leave with little notice on missions, missions that are potentially dangerous? It’s not fair to you or the kids. And what about your mom? You know you can’t leave her.”
“What if I can get my mom to move here with me? She’d be closer to Laura Lee, too. She just might. There’ll be nothing left for her in Virginia if the kids and I move here. And I can handle your job,” she insisted with determination.
“So, you want to move here? You want to give a real relationship a try?” he asked.
The reality of the conversation hit her. He still had not said that he wanted her to do that. “If you want us here. If you’ll make a commitment to me. I can’t move here without one.”
“How’s this for a commitment? We'll get your mom to sell her house and move in with us. We buy a place with a mother-in-law arrangement, so she’ll have her own space. She’ll be there to help you with the kids while I’m working, and you’ll be there to look after her too. We will start living as a family right away because when I’m home, I won’t be staying anywhere but with you. If we do this, we do it all the way.”
Tears flooded her eyes and warmth spread through her. She nodded, so overcome with intense emotions that she couldn’t speak. She watched a grin pull his lips up.
“I love you, Donna,” he whispered. “I love your kids.”
“You’re an amazing father-figure to them. You’re so patient with them and calm, which calms them right down. The simple fact is that our lives are better with you in it.”
“I want you and them in my life, just as long as you realize what you’re signing up for.”
“I promise I will try as hard as I can to be okay with your job. I’ll talk to whoever you want me to about it.”
Burke stood and reached his hand to her. “I want to sleep in the same bed with you tonight. I want to make love to you, and not on a couch.”
Donna was overjoyed at his declaration. “I want that too.” She took his hand and stood up.
“Is that a problem with your mom in this house?”
Donna laughed. “Seriously, you do realize I have three kids? My mom knows that I’ve had sex.”
Burke chuckled. “I wouldn’t want your mom to feel disrespected if I slept with you with her under the same roof.”
“And I love that that’s a consideration for you. No, it won’t be a problem for my mom. She thinks we’re sleeping together already, even though I’ve told her we’re not.”
Burke made sure the house was locked up. They turned the lights off and then went up the stairs together. The anticipation of an evening together increased with each step. Behind the locked bedroom door, Burke set his gun, wallet containing his badge, and cell phone onto the bedside table, watching her as he did so. Then he took her in his arms and kissed her. They stripped each other’s clothes away with no shyness.
After Burke pulled the bedcovers back, he turned and took in the sight of her, standing naked beside him. He exaggerated his gaze, raking it up and down her curves, and he beamed a lust-filled smile at her. “You are absolutely beautiful,” he said.
Donna forced any self-conscious thought regarding her body away. “And you know, your body is male perfection,” she said.She’d never seen him naked. But when he wore swimming trunks the year before, nothing was left to her imagination.
