The Rescue - Nicholas Sparks [87]
When Taylor saw her staring, he reached over and traced her cheek with his fingers, a melancholy smile playing on his lips, his eyes unreadable in the soft gray light. She moved her cheek closer to his fingers as he opened his hand.
In silence they lay together as the digital numbers on the clock radio blinked forward steadily. Later Taylor rose. He threw on his pants and walked to the kitchen to get two glasses of water. When he came back, he saw Denise’s figure intertwined with the sheet, covering part of her. As she lay on her back, Taylor took a drink of water, then set both glasses on the bedstand. When he kissed her between her breasts, she could feel the cool temperature of his tongue against her. “You’re perfect,” he whispered.
She put one arm around his neck, then ran her hand down his back, feeling all of it: the fullness of the evening, the silent weight of their passion.
“I’m not, but thank you. For everything.” He sat on the bed then, his back against the headrest. Denise moved up and he draped one arm around her, pulling her close to him.
It was in that position that the two of them finally fell asleep.
Chapter 20
When she woke the following morning, Denise was alone. The bedcovers on Taylor’s side had been pulled up, his clothes nowhere to be seen. Checking the clock, she saw that it was a little before seven. Puzzled, she got out of bed, put on a short silk bathrobe, and checked the house quickly before glancing out the window.
Taylor’s truck was gone.
Frowning, Denise returned to the bedroom to check the bedstand: no note. Not in the kitchen, either.
Kyle, who’d heard her puttering around the house, staggered sleepily out of his bedroom as she was pondering the situation, plopping down on the living room couch.
“Hewwo, Money,” he mumbled, his eyes half-closed. Just as she answered, she heard Taylor’s truck coming up the drive. A minute later Taylor was slowly opening the front door, a grocery bag in his arms, as if wary of waking a sleeping household.
“Oh, hey,” he said, whispering as soon as he saw them, “I didn’t think you two would be up yet.”
“Hewwo, Tayer,” Kyle cried, suddenly alert.
Denise pulled her robe a little tighter. “Where did you go?”
“I ran to the store.”
“At this hour?”
Taylor closed the door behind him and walked across the living room. “It opens at six.”
“Why’re you whispering?”
“I don’t know.” He laughed, and his tone returned to normal. “Sorry about leaving this morning, but my stomach was growling.”
She looked at him questioningly.
“So anyway, since I was already up, I decided that I would make you two a real breakfast. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, the works.”
Denise smiled. “You don’t like my Cheerios?”
“I love your Cheerios. But today is special.”
“Why is today so special?”
He glanced toward Kyle, who was now focused on the toys piled in the corner. Judy had organized them neatly the night before, and he was doing his best to rectify that. Certain his attention was occupied, Taylor simply raised his eyebrows.
“Do you have anything on under that robe, Miss Holton?” he murmured, obvious desire in his tone.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she teased.
Taylor set the bag of groceries on the end table and put his arms around her, his hands running down her back, then inching lower. She looked momentarily embarrassed, her eyes flashing toward Kyle.
“I think I just found out,” he said conspiratorially.
“Stop,” she said, meaning it, but not really wanting him to. “Kyle’s in the room.”
Taylor nodded and pulled away with a wink. Kyle hadn’t turned his attention from his toys.
“Well, today is special for the obvious reason,” he said conversationally as he picked up the bag again. “But even more, after I make your gourmet breakfast, I’d like to take you and Kyle to the beach today.”
“But I have to work with Kyle and then