’m impressed you managed to hold out at all.”
“I had a family of young kids I was helping to raise at sixteen. Believe me, it wasn’t all that tough to jerk off rather than risk an unplanned pregnancy.”
“Until Rochelle came along. She couldn’t have children?”
“No. And she also had medical issues where sex was uncomfortable for her, which I didn’t know until later.”
She rubbed his hip, offering comfort in her own quiet way. “Coincidentally she didn’t mention that ahead of time, huh?”
“In all fairness, she never indicated we’d have a full-on sexual relationship. I just assumed after we’d gone on a few dates and we’d…done things that led me to think we were heading that way.”
“Did you find her attractive or was it just because you knew she was loaded?” When he stared, she held up a hand. “Look, no judgment here. You had your reasons. If she wanted companionship and it jived with your needs, there’s nothing wrong with—”
“I had feelings for her. I wouldn’t have moved in otherwise. She was a wonderful woman and even if she hadn’t been loaded, as you put it, I probably would’ve moved in with her when she invited me to anyway. Because I was a frigging kid who didn’t know any better and just wanted to get the hell out of Queens.” He fought to stay still as she went back to rubbing his hip. He’d never told this whole story before. “But I’ll be honest. If she’d only been my friend and wanted us to be lovers, I would’ve gone for it. I didn’t know she was dying. She didn’t tell me until I’d committed to her. I don’t shirk my duty.”
“Sounds like duty is all you’ve ever known. To your family, to a woman who was supposed to be a partner and took advantage.”
He touched her cheek. Here and now mattered more than all the rest. “You’re nothing like her. From the first time I saw you, I could tell you were self-reliant and strong.”
“Whoa, now who’s whipping out pedestals?”
But he wasn’t finished. “I certainly took advantage of the situation with Roch too. Because of her, I had options. My mom needed my help. I was working my ass off but I was a high school dropout. How far was I going to get?”
“You expect me to tell you that you were wrong.”
He shrugged. “You wouldn’t be the first.”
“I’m not your judge and jury. We all need to live our lives as we see fit.” She wriggled closer and looped her arm around his shoulders to toy with his hair. He loved how easily she touched him. As if skin-to-skin contact was the most natural thing in the world. She’d never understand how starved he was for just that little—or that much. “So you’re going to drag me to Queens tonight, huh?”
Pleasure bloomed inside him so swiftly that he didn’t have a chance in hell of steeling his features. “You’ll come?”
“How many of your siblings are going to be there?”
“All eight. The youngest, Tanya, is thirteen. Four more of them are still teenagers. A couple of the older ones have significant others and kids of their own.”
She only grimaced slightly. “And your mom? She’ll be there too?”
“Yes.” He reached up to cup her jaw. “I’ll make you a milkshake when we get home.”
Her laughter gusted across his cheek. “You think I’m easily wooed with cold products?”
He pulled her close and pressed his mouth to her forehead. “And hot.”
“Wise man. I guess I’ll go. But I haven’t finished all my instructional episodes of Sex For Newbies so you might want to take some extra vitamins with your Wheaties.”
“God, such a hard bargain you drive.”
She grinned. “A girl can only hope.”
She’d never been to Queens. She’d definitely never danced until her feet hurt in a sweaty middle school gym-slash-recreation center. She’d never been accepted into a huge family with almost no effort on her part.
And she’d never found herself ridiculously charmed by a man so different from her in almost every way that somehow they ended up being similar in their oddities.
“More punch, dear?”
Kim glanced up at Michael’s mother and tried not to shrink away from the endearing smile she wore. Darlene Montgomery appeared to dote on her children as well as the grands and assorted spouses and significant others. The only problem seemed to be that she liked partnering off her kids a bit too much. So far, she’d attempted to matchmake the nineteen-year-old with one of the catering staff and the twenty-two-year-old with one of the DJs. And she was absolutely elated at the idea of matching Kim to Michael, despite Kim’s increasingly frantic attempts to prove her unsuitability for Darlene’s son.
Too bad Darlene wasn’t having any of it.