One Wild Wedding Night_ Runaway - Leslie Kelly [14]
“And in the morning?”
“We say goodbye.”
He frowned, as if not liking that, but didn’t argue. Even as wildly attracted to one another as they were, he had to realize—as Leah did—that they were, in every other way, completely incompatible.
* * *
Wrapped in the naked embrace of the lush-bodied woman with whom he’d spent so many incredible hours during the night, Slone slowly awoke the next morning to the sound of voices. Women’s voices. Women’s voices inside his apartment.
Glancing at the clock, he realized it was nearly noon . They had stayed up until late in the night, making love, raiding the kitchen, making love, taking a bath in his two-person tub. It was no wonder they’d slept so late. Late enough that it was almost time for the arrival of his mother and two sisters, doing their monthly let’s-remind-Slone-he-is-a-member-of-a-family thing.
God how he hoped his housekeeper had forgotten something and come back in. But since it was Sunday morning and she was about as Catholic as one could be without actually being called Father, he doubted it.
“Hell-ooo?”
Shit. He recognized that laughing, lilting tone. His little sister, Jess, had tormented him with it throughout their childhood. And because the woman had absolutely no respect for anybody else’s privacy, he felt sure she was the one who’d used an emergencies-only key to let the gaggle in when he hadn’t answered the door.
“Where are you?”
He had time to do one thing—yank a sheet across his lap and Leah’s naked body—before the door flew open.
“Don’t tell me you’re still in…” Jess’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she saw the bright blond hair strewn across Slone’s pillow. “Whoops!”
“Would you shut the damn door,” he bit out from between clenched teeth.
Leah shifted and sighed heavily in her sleep. Putting a possessive hand on her shoulder, he glared at his sister. “I’ll be out in a minute. Keep the others from coming—”
“Morning sleepyhead!” said another woman’s voice.
Oh, brilliant. His other sister. Fortunately, Jess reacted in a cooperative way for once—rather than a mischievous one. She kept their older sister Katherine from coming in, saying, “He’s not quite decent.”
“I’ll be out in five minutes. Shut the door before Mother walks in, would you please?”
Jess did, without another word, though her shoulders shook with laughter.
Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he gently shook Leah’s shoulder. The woman was a sound sleeper—she didn’t even budge. He couldn’t resist bending down to nibble on her earlobe and her throat, whispering, “We’ve got company.”
“Delivery man from Dunkin’ Donuts?” she mumbled.
“Not quite. It’s my family.”
She remained still for a second, then, going from zonked-out sleep to wakefulness, she shot up in the bed. The covers fell off her, puddling in her lap, revealing those beautiful breasts, still slightly reddened from his kisses and the brush of his grizzled jaw against them. “Your family? Now?” As he nodded, she leapt out of the bed, grabbing her dress and underclothes and raced into the bathroom. “Oh, my God, do you have a back door? A fire escape?”
Laughing softly, Slone followed her. “It’s fine. I’m a grown man and my mother and sisters know that. I’ll introduce you to them, you can stay for lunch.” The words had left his mouth without him giving them a thought, but once they were out there, Slone didn’t regret them.
He’d asked her for a night. Now he knew he wanted more. How much more he couldn’t say. All he knew was that he couldn’t—simply could not—give up the feeling of pure delight she’d inspired in him from the moment he’d first seen her.
She stared at him, those wide blue eyes sparkling and sapphirelike in the bright light of morning. “I’m not the type of girl you introduce to the rich mama.”
He took her chin in his hand, leaned down and pressed a hard, possessive kiss on her mouth. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a lovely, innocent young woman.”
She rolled her eyes and blew out a disbelieving breath. “No, I’m—”
“Leah, I could tell you didn’t have a lot