An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [47]
“When was the last time you ate?” he asked unexpectedly.
Julia shrugged. “I don’t remember.”
“You didn’t have anything this afternoon.”
“I didn’t?” There’d been so much food, it seemed impossible that she hadn’t eaten something.
“No,” Alek informed her. “I was watching. You saw to everyone but yourself. I’ll make you dinner.”
“Alek, please,” she said, trailing him into the kitchen. “That isn’t necessary.”
“It’ll be my pleasure.” Lifting her by the waist, he sat her effortlessly on the stool next to the kitchen counter. “You can stay and observe,” he said. “You might even learn something.”
Relaxed now, Julia smiled.
Alek looked at her for a moment. “You don’t do that often enough,” he said, leaning toward her and dropping a kiss on her lips.
“Do what?” she asked in surprise.
“Smile.”
“There hasn’t been much reason to.”
“That’s about to change, my love.”
She leaned her chin on her hands. The sadness she’d carried with her all these weeks seemed to slide off her back. “You know, I think you’re right.”
Alek, who was beating eggs, looked over at her and grinned. “Anna said something to me the other morning. As her older brother I’m guilty of not listening to my sister as often as I should. This time, I did—and I agree with her.”
“I like Anna very much.”
“She feels the same way about you. She told me you were wise not to let me make love to you.”
Julia lowered her gaze, uncomfortable with the topic.
“When we married I wasn’t in love with you,” Alek confessed. “You weren’t in love with me. This is true?”
Given no option but the truth, Julia nodded.
“My heart tells me differently now.” He put the bowl down and moved to her side. With one finger, he raised her chin so her eyes were level with his own. “I love you, Julia, very much.”
She bit her trembling lower lip. “Oh, Alek…” Tears blurred her vision until his face swam before her.
“This makes you sad?”
“This terrifies me. I want to love you…I think I already do, but I don’t trust myself when it comes to falling in love.”
Alek frowned. “Because of this man you saw today?”
“Roger? Yes, because of Roger.”
“I am not like him. You know that.”
“I do.” Logically, intellectually, she understood, but emotionally—that was harder. That was a risk.…
Alek slipped his arms around her and Julia was struck not for the first time by the incredible beauty she saw in him. Not merely the physical kind. Oh, he was handsome, but that wasn’t what captivated her. She saw the man who’d held and comforted her when her grandmother died. The man who’d sung her to sleep. The man who’d refused to take advantage of her even when she’d asked him to do so.
They stared at each other, and Julia knew the exact moment Alek decided to make love to her. It was the same moment she realized she wanted him to—wanted it more than anything.
His mouth sought hers in a hungry kiss. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips.
“I love you, too,” she echoed, so lost in his kiss that she couldn’t speak anything but the truth. She’d tried to fool herself into believing it wasn’t possible to trust a man again. Alek was different; he had to be. If she couldn’t trust him, there was no hope for her.
He took her by the waist as he lifted her from the stool. Her feet dangling several inches off the floor, he carried her out of the kitchen and into the bedroom, kissing her, nibbling at her lips.
Julia tipped her head back in an effort to gather her scattered wits. Her breath came in short bursts, her lungs empty of air. Feeling seemed more important than breathing. Alek’s touch, which was most important of all, brought back to life the desire that had lain dormant in her for years.
He lay with her on the king-size bed, bringing his mouth to hers, revealing sensual mysteries with his lips and tongue. He was sprawled across her, pinning her to the bed.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “You make me crazy.”
“Love me,” she told him, her arms around his neck. Just as she’d known she would, Julia