An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [53]
Sunday evening, the day after their venture to the beach, Alek needed to run down to the lab. When he told Julia, she offered to go with him, as if even an hour apart was more than she could bear.
Her willingness had taken him by surprise.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
“Of course. It’ll do me good to get out.”
They listened to classical music on the way across town. Security had been increased at the plant, with extra guards posted; Alek gave them a friendly nod. Julia went with him into his office. He found the notes he needed and brought them home.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked once they’d returned.
“Please.” Her desire to indulge him with small pleasures was something of a surprise, too, a pleasant one.
While he read over his calculations, Julia was content to sit at his side, absorbed in a novel. He couldn’t remember a time when she’d voluntarily sat still. Her body always seemed to be filled with nervous energy. That was gone from her now and in its place had come a restfulness.
“I’m not looking forward to work in the morning,” she said when Alek was finished. Leaning against him, she stretched her legs out along the sofa and heaved a giant sigh. “These past few days have been so wonderful. I don’t feel ready to deal with the office again.”
“Will you always work, Julia?”
“I…don’t know. I hadn’t thought about it. I suppose I will until after the children are born at any rate, but even then I’ll still be involved in the management of the company.”
“Then you wouldn’t mind if we had a family.”
“No, of course I wouldn’t mind. Did you think I would?”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“Then rest assured, Mr. Berinski, I want your children.”
Alek felt his heart expand with eagerness. “So you’d like a family,” he said. “Could we work on this project soon?”
“How soon?” she whispered.
He fiddled with the buttons of her shirt. “Now,” he said, aware of the husky sound of his voice.
Julia sighed that womanly sigh he’d come to recognize as a signal of her eagerness for him. “I think we might be able to arrange that.”
“Julia, my love,” Alek said with a groan, “I’m afraid I’ll never get enough of you. What have you done to me? Are you a witch who’s cast some spell over me?”
Julia laughed. “If anyone’s cast a spell over anyone, it’s you over me. I’m lonely without you. If we can’t be together, I feel lost and empty. I never thought I could love again, certainly not like this, and you’ve shown me the way.”
“Julia.” He rasped her name and, folding her over his arm, bent forward to cover her soft reaching mouth with his. The kiss revealed their need for each other. He heard Julia’s book fall off the sofa and hit the floor, but neither cared. His hands were busy with her shirt and once it was open, she twisted around to face him.
“I vote for the bed this time.”
“The bed,” he said mockingly. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
Julia laughed softly. “It was used up in the bathtub this morning. Did you know it took me twenty minutes to clean the water off the floor?”
He carried her into their bedroom, kissing her all the while.
Afterward, they lay on the bed. Julia was sprawled across him. Every now and then she kissed him, or he kissed her. Alek had never known such contentment in his life. It frightened him. Happiness had always been fleeting, and he wasn’t sure he could trust what he’d found with Julia. His hold on her tightened and he closed his eyes and discovered he couldn’t imagine what his life would be like without her now. Bleak and empty, he decided.
When Jerry had first suggested this marriage, Alek had set his terms. He wasn’t a believer in the staying power of love. It had always seemed temporary to him, ephemeral, and it came at the expense of everything else. Alek couldn’t claim he’d never been in love before. There’d been a handful of brief relationships over the years,