“I’ll be down in a minute,” she called, securing her hat to her head. Then she turned to me, a smile on her lips. “He’s crazy about you.”
I dropped my eyes to my shoes. I’d worn my nicest ones, the black heels, even though they were a bit much for Sunday dinner. “Oh, I don’t know.”
She laughed. “Yes, you do. I could see it last time you were here, but today it’s even more obvious. I think even Uncle Manny could see it, and he’s half-blind!”
A smile took over my face. “Well, maybe we won’t have to hide it anymore.”
“Oh, I hope not. You’d be perfect together. Just don’t let him go running off to Chicago, for heaven’s sake. What’s that boy thinking? He should stay here. Then Ma wouldn’t have to sell this place.”
“We…we haven’t really had a chance to talk about that yet.” And I really wasn’t terribly interested in doing a lot of talking tonight.
Swoosh went my insides.
I crossed my legs at the ankle and stood with my thighs pressed tightly together, as if Marie could read my mind. On a small table to my right, the statue of the Virgin Mary eyed me su
spiciously.
“He’s just always been so stubborn, you know. He gets an idea in his head and thinks he has to follow through with it, even if it’s the dumbest idea ever. And we all know he’s had plenty of those!” She shook her head. “Madonna, the things he put Ma through… Some days I know she’s just glad he’s still here.” She crossed herself and put her hand on my arm. “If he loves you, and I believe he does, then he’ll stop all that gang nonsense and settle down.”
“I don’t know that I’m—”
She waved a hand in the air to stop me. “Forget I said anything. Honestly, my mouth runs away from me sometimes. And I’m terribly emotional these days.” Dropping her hand to her pregnant belly, she laughed. “I fall apart at the drop of a hat. Just you wait and see—oh, for Pete’s sake, I’ll stop pestering you now—”
“Impossible.” Joey appeared at the door. “You’ll never stop pestering. But unless you want to walk home, you better go down and get in the car.”
“I’m going, I’m going. Good night!” She waved and disappeared down the stairs.
Joey shut the door after her and leaned back against it. “They know.”
I smiled. “They know.”
He reached into his trousers and pulled out the handkerchief with my lipstick confession on it. “I left this on the counter by mistake. Joanna found it.”
My eyes went wide, and I clapped my hands to my face. “What!”
Grinning ruefully, he said, “I was just so excited to get you alone, I thought I put it in my pocket, but I guess I didn’t. She gave it to me just now.”
“After showing the rest of your sisters, no doubt.” My cheeks were searing hot under my palms.
“No doubt.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Not at all. I want to tell the entire world I’m in love with you”—and here my breath stopped—“but not tonight.”
My insides went from simmer to full boil. We’re alone.
Inside a heartbeat we lunged for each other, locking together from mouth to hip. Joey lifted me right off my feet, and I twined my legs around him. Walking backward, he tried to move us around the sofa and into the dining room, but since neither of us was willing to break off the kiss and look where we were going, we kept bumping into things. First we pushed the sofa and coffee table out of place. My leg knocked a lamp off an end table and his elbow nudged a painting of Jesus off the wall. We thumped the china cabinet and the contents rattled precariously.
We didn’t care.
Finally, we got through the dining room into the hall and Joey was able to walk forward and get us to his bedroom. He kicked the door shut with his heel as I cupped his jaw in my hands and kissed his top lip, then his bottom lip, running my tongue along them, sucking them into my mouth, rubbing my lips back and forth against them. “God, I love your mouth,” I murmured. “I can’t stop thinking about it. And your hands—I’ve never told you how much I love your hands.”
Heading straight for the bed, he crawled up on it with my arms and legs still wrapped around him. When he finally lowered his weight onto me, kissing me long and deep, I thought I would scream if I couldn’t have him naked, fast.
I tugged at his sleeves and he knelt, one knee on either side of my hips, to free his arms from his braces and wrest his shirt from his body. Then he grabbed his white athletic tank from the back and yanked it over his head as I watched, mesmerized by the rough masculine movements, the twitching muscles in his arms and chest, the way the lines on his abdomen undulated as he breathed. My fingers flew to them and I sat up, running my palms over his hot, tight skin. Grabbing his hips, I brought my mouth to his stomach and brushed my lips across it. Planting soft kisses on hard muscles, I placed a hand between his legs, thrilling at the feel of the bulge there. He sucked in his breath, and I looked up at his dark eyes and tousled hair, my heart pounding.
“Should we draw the curtains?” I asked.