CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
After landing in Nashville the following night, Sky accompanied Meg to her cottage. He was startled as he walked through the entry way, seeing the home stripped of its decorative touches. He pointed to the boxes that lined the walls of the living room. “Packing already?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I did a little packing the night before I left for Southampton. I only have so much free time, between work and weekends on the road with you.”
His voice dropped a register, and he looked her in the eyes. “Have you given any thought to my invitation to move in with me?”
She hung her head and shook it from side to side. “No, I haven’t.”
“You should, you know.”
Meg picked her head up and stared at him. “Which? Think about it, or do it?”
He placed his hands on either side of her face, and caressed her cheeks with his thumbs. “Both. It’ll save you a ton of money. There’s no reason to keep two homes, when we hardly ever spend a night apart.”
She closed her eyes and turned away from him. “Please don’t pressure me.”
Sky jumped back and held his hands in the air. “Sorry. No more pressure. But I’ll help you pack, if you want.”
“Thanks. That would be great. But I’m too tired from traveling to think of doing any packing tonight. I’m going in to wash up. I’ve got to get up early for work tomorrow.”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Sky said. He picked up some of the boxes that Meg had previously packed, and carried them into the spare bedroom. “Just want to get these out of the way.”
When he entered the bedroom a few minutes later, he found Meg sound asleep and hugging her pillow. He slipped under the covers without waking her, and kissed her cheek. “Good night, my beautiful angel.”
When Meg arrived at the hospital the following day, she steeled herself for three consecutive days of twelve-hour shifts. She was grateful for the distraction, so she could focus on anything other than the looming paternity test results. The days are dragging while we wait to find out if Sky is the father of Mallory’s baby. Thank God for work.
As the days passed, she refused to address Sky’s unanswered question. I can’t possibly think about moving in with him until we know whether he is the father of that baby, she thought. How could he expect me to move in with him and help raise the child of a woman who tried to kill me?
During her lunch break on the last day of her work week, she went to the hospital chapel and prayed for guidance. If I wait to tell him I’ll move in with him until after the test results come back, does that make me a bad person? And will I be able to handle it if he’s the father? “Dear God, please help me make the right decision,” she whispered as she lowered herself to her knees and made the sign of the cross. While she was saying the rosary, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned.
“I’m sure you’ll make the right decision,” Mercy said, as she took the seat next to Meg. “The man upstairs will give you a sign, and point you in the right direction.”
“Thanks, Mercy. I hope you’re right.”
When Meg arrived at home after work later that day, she found Sky’s Tahoe parked in her driveway. She walked towards her front door, filled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. “I wonder if he got the results today,” she said aloud, as she slipped her key into the lock.
The aroma of garlic and rosemary greeted her as she walked through the door. “Sky? Where are you?”
“Back here, baby.”
She followed the sound of his voice to the kitchen. Her stomach did little flip-flops at the sight of him pulling a roasting pan out of the oven, and a candlelit table on the back porch. “What’s all this?”
He grinned. “Roasted baby potatoes to go with the marinated steaks I’m about to grill up for us.” He handed her a glass of cabernet sauvignon. “Take a sip, then go take a nice warm shower. Dinner should be ready by the time you’re cleaned up and changed.”
She pulled him in for a lingering kiss. “You’re awesome, you know that?”
“Not nearly as awesome as you. Now go clean up,” he said, giving her a pat on her rear. “Otherwise, we’ll never make it to dinner.”
“Okay.”
She walked down the hall to her bedroom, and gasped as she turned on the light. There were dozens of boxes stacked in a row along the wall by her closet. She inspected Sky’s sloppy printing that labeled each sealed box. “He spent the day packing all my boots and shoes,” she said in a soft voice. She moved one of the boxes aside, and looked at the label. “And my winter clothing, coats, scarves and gloves, too.”
A similar scene greeted her in the bathroom, where she found her spare towels and linens boxed up and labeled. She ran her hand over his handwriting, and a feeling of warmth spread throughout her body. What a thoughtful gesture.
She stripped down, piled her hair on top of her head, and stepped into the shower. As the water cascaded over her body, she couldn’t get the picture of Sky spending the day packing her belongings and making dinner for her out of her mind. Is this the sign I’ve been looking for?
When Meg entered the kitchen a few minutes later, she was greeted with a low whistle from Sky. “There’s my gorgeous girlfriend.” His eyes drank in her body, starting with the her hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, down past the curve-hugging camisole and cut-off shorts, to her long legs and bare feet. “If you’re trying to get me to skip dinner and go straight for dessert, you’re doing a good job.”
She picked up a crispy potato from the bowl on the counter, and blew on it before popping it into her mouth. “Not a chance, Johnson. I come from a long line of potato farmers, and these are all I have on my mind right now.” She grabbed the bowl and walked towards the back porch.
Sky laughed and shook his head. He carried the wine bottle and the salad outside, and retrieved the steaks from the grill. When he finally sat down, he proposed a toast. “This reminds me of the first time we had dinner here together. To us, wherever this crazy life takes us.”
Meg touched her glass to Sky’s, and repeated, “To us.” She took a deep sip from her glass before speaking again. “I noticed that you did a lot of packing for me today. Thank you, and thanks for making dinner. It was really nice of you.”
“Well, you’re easy to be nice to,” he said, before turning his attention to his steak.
They ate in silence instead of making idle conversation. There’s too much hanging over our heads right now, Meg thought. So uncomfortable silence is what it is, I guess.
The sound of her cell phone ringing startled her. “I’ll be right back,” she said, as she stood up and dashed into the kitchen.
Sky tried to listen in on Meg’s end of the conversation, but her voice was muffled as she walked towards the front of the house. He heard the words apartment and rent, and surmised that she was on the phone with a real estate agent. He tossed his utensils onto his plate and leaned back in his seat. He crossed his arms tightly against his chest, and waited for her to return to the table.
“Sorry about that,” Meg said, as she sat back down at the table. “That was another real estate agent. She wants to show me an apartment tomorrow night.”
Through gritted teeth, he asked, “And what did you tell her?”
Meg chewed on a piece of steak before answering him. “I told her no.”
“What?” Sky bolted forward in his seat. “Why did you do that?” He held his breath while waiting for her answer.
“Because I got a nice offer to share a log cabin in the woods with a super sexy guy who also happens to be my best friend.” Meg raised one eyebrow while grinning from to ear.
“You’d better mean me,” he countered. “Because if it’s someone else, I’ll have to hunt him down and take him out. I’m very territorial when it comes to you.”
She burst out laughing, and tossed a potato at him. “Caveman.”
“You’d better believe it, baby.” He popped the potato in his mouth. “So your answer is yes?”
“Yes.”
The next morning, Sky woke up full of energy. He slipped out of bed and continued packing boxes while Meg slept. He started with the remaining contents of the linen closet, clearing out the spare sheet sets and towels. After labeling the boxes and sealing them with tape, he carried them into the spare bedroom, where he retrieved more empty boxes and dragged them into the kitchen.
“What are you doing?”
Sky turned around and his heart skipped a beat at the sight of Meg standing before him. Her long hair was disheveled, and she was only wearing a tank top and lacy thong underwear. “Just getting you all packed up. I thought we could take advantage of our free time, and move you into my place.”
“Really?” She opened a cabinet, and found it was empty. “Did you pack all the mugs already?”
“Oh, yeah, I did.” He drained his coffee mug and handed it to her. “We can share, right?”
She filled the mug with coffee. “We’re going to be sharing your house from now on. Why not a mug?” She took a deep sip of the steaming brew, and asked, “So you want me to move in this weekend?”
“Why wait, baby?”
“Yeah, I guess. It just all seems so sudden.”
“You have to be out of here in a couple of weeks anyway. You’re not getting cold feet, are you?”
“Not a chance. When I make my mind up about something, I’m pretty set.”
“Then let’s get this packing finished, and start moving boxes to my place.”
Meg pouted, and wrapped her arms around Sky’s waist. She nestled her head against his shoulder, and began to nibble at his neck. “I was hoping to have a luau this morning.”
He burst out laughing. “Oh, baby, once we’re under the same roof, it’ll be a twenty four-seven luau. And I can’t wait. But there isn’t that much more packing to do, so let’s get it done. You know my life’s motto – work hard, then play hard.”
She reached down and began to caress his crotch through the soft material of his sweatpants. Her voice was soft, low, and full of desire. “Mmm…we’re going to have to tweak that motto a bit.”
His pulse quickened at Meg’s touch. “What are you talking about?”
Her hand slipped inside the waistband of his pants. “Work hard, play hard,” she said, as her fingers reached further down and between his legs. As she began to stroke his manhood, she purred, “And love hard…”
“Oh, baby,” he moaned as her touch brought his erection to full attention. “You’re making me crazy.” He stripped her of her thong, and bent her over the kitchen table. In an instant, his sweatpants were pooled around his ankles. “I can’t wait…can’t make it back to the bedroom,” he said as he grabbed her by the waist, and plunged himself into her from behind.
Meg was barely able to breathe as Sky filled her completely and began to pound away at her body. She gripped the edge of the table for balance, while Sky’s strong arms held her in place. When she felt his fingers reach the pleasure center between her legs, her body shook and she cried out in ecstasy.
When Sky felt her insides contract around him, he grunted and picked up his pace. “Oh, baby,” he shouted as he pounded away at her. His body stiffened and shuddered, and he collapsed on top of her, flattening her against the table top.
Neither of them spoke while they caught their breath, until the sound of creaking of wood broke their silence. “Crap! Sky…”
“Mmm, baby, not yet,” he said, as he nuzzled the stubble on his cheeks against her back.
“The table,” she said. “Get up!”
“Huh?”
Sky shifted his weight, but before he was able to stand, the table collapsed beneath them, and they landed on the floor with a thud. When they untangled their bodies, they looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, baby. Are you?”
“Yeah. The table, on the other hand…”.
Sky gave her a quick kiss. “One less thing to move to my place.”