“Mount Hood’s got nothing on you. And just so you know, standing up to your family to defend my daughter is the sexiest thing any woman has ever done. If I wasn’t in love with you before, I fell in love with you right then and there.”
“I thought I was in love with you before. And I was. But now...thank you for saying what you said, for defending me even after I kicked you out of the house. Sorry about that. I went a little scorched earth there.”
“That’s right, you did kick me out. I better go before you call the cops on me.” He started to pull away from her and she grabbed him by the shoulders.
“Don’t you dare leave me. We’re supposed to be having makeup sex, remember? I’ve never had makeup sex.”
“I have a better idea,” Erick said as he picked her up in his arms and carried her up the stairs.
“Better? How better?”
“Much better. Makeup sex is good but there’s one kind of sex that’s better.”
“Which is?”
He sat her on the edge of the bed and knelt on the floor between her knees.
“There’s a kind of sex I haven’t even had and I’ve done everything. It’s the sex you have with the person you want to be with through everything—good and bad. I got married because I got my girlfriend pregnant, not because I wanted to get married. My other relationships never went anywhere. I haven’t dated since Ruthie’s arrest. What I’m saying is... I can imagine spending the rest of my life with you and I’ve never felt that about a woman before. I hope you feel the same.”
Clover put her hands on his face and kissed him.
“Yes,” she said. “I want to have that kind of sex with you. I’ve never been able to imagine spending the rest of my life with someone, either, but if my family disowns me and it’s just you and me and Ruthie for the rest of my life, then that’s not only enough for me, that’s all anyone could ever want.”
Erick kissed her again and started to push her back onto the bed. She stopped him with her hands on his chest.
“Just one thing,” she said.
“Anything.”
“Let’s not get married for a very long time. It would make my parents too happy if we did.”
“You’re wicked,” Erick said. “I love wicked.”
He pushed her onto her back and pulled her shirt up to take it off. They froze when Clover’s cell phone started ringing and beeping from the bedside table.
Erick picked it up and glanced at it.
“It’s your mom,” he said. “And a text message from your sister.” The phone vibrated in his hand again. “And Lisa. What do you want to do?”
“You,” she said.
Erick turned the phone off and jumped onto the bed.
“They can wait.”
14
CLOVER FELT IMPOSSIBLY light even with Erick on top of her. She felt clothed in happiness even as he undressed her. She felt joy even as tears slid down her face. More than anything she felt relief as Erick entered her and she lifted her hips to take all of him. He’d seen her at her worst, seen her family at their worst, and he loved her in spite of it all. And maybe
even loved her a little because of it.
Erick moved in her with an almost unbearable tenderness, and Clover wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, clamped her legs around his lower back and tucked her head against his neck. She’d liked him the day she met him when he came with Ruthie begging for nothing more than a job interview for his teenage daughter. He’d been so humble that day, almost scared, scared for his girl, who was facing real trouble. “Please, Ms. Greene,” he’d said. “She’s a good kid and smart. She’s a real nature lover, and she’ll work hard for you if you give her the chance.” Clover had asked him about Ruthie’s arrest and what he felt about it. When he’d answered by saying, “I don’t believe in using arson or violence to solve your problems, but when I was her age, I spent my Friday nights getting drunk with my friends in someone’s barn, not burning down barns to protest animal abuse. She made a bad choice, but she has guts and a good heart. When I don’t want to kill her, I have to admit I’m proud of her.”
I’m proud of her, Erick had said, and maybe that was the day Clover started to fall in love with him. About a year ago. But she’d loved Ruthie, too, which is why she’d hidden those feelings she had for Erick so well. It took Ruthie to bring them together, Ruthie to put them together, Ruthie to make them deal with their crushes on each other and get on with it.
“What are you laughing at?” Erick said as he braced himself over her and looked down into her eyes.
“Nothing,” she said. “Sorry.”