She put her arm around her mother’s shoulders. “You were the first to know.”
“You don’t have to get married, do you?” Mrs. Frazier asked. There was so much hope in her voice that everyone started laughing again.
“No, Mom, I’m not pregnant,” Ariel said. “I told you that I need to finish my residency first. Once we get back to Edilean and I start my practice, Frank and I will think about kids.”
When Mrs. Frazier looked at Frank, he put up his hands in surrender. “I’m on your side. You think I wanted Mike to beat me in the kids department?”
Ariel looked at her brother. “Colin, help me out here.”
He looked across the table at Gemma. “Sorry, but I’m on Mom’s side too. I like the idea of settling down.”
Gemma looked down at her plate as the two other girlfriends looked at her in curiosity.
Rachel saved her by opening the door to the kitchen with a loud bang. “I have six pies in the kitchen and whoever helps me clear up gets a piece.” She left the room.
Everyone except Ariel and her mother started clearing the table. Colin, his big arms full of dishes, got behind Gemma. “Sorry if I embarrassed you.”
“You can make it up to me by showing me the carriages.”
“I would love to.” He leaned down so his lips were near her ear. “How about if we steal a pie and go see the wagons?” He lowered his voice even more. “Ever make love inside an eighteenth-century bumblebee?”
“Have you?” she shot back.
“No,” he answered. “But I’ve imagined it in detail.”
“I like fulfilling fantasies,” she whispered as they entered the kitchen.
Rachel said quietly to Gemma, “His favorite is in the oven. After Ariel’s news, no one will notice if you left.”
“You’re my new BFF,” Gemma said as she went to the stove.
As she opened the oven, Gemma wondered what kind of pie Colin liked best. “Blackberry cobbler,” she whispered when she saw it.
Colin leaned over her shoulder. “Ready?”
Just as Rachel had said, everyone was huddled around Ariel and Frank, so they didn’t notice when Colin and Gemma slipped out the back door. She followed him to the nearest utility truck, four of which were lined up on the lawn. “Take your pick,” he said.
She chose a plain green one.
“Coward,” Colin said as he nodded toward the others, each of which had been personalized.
They didn’t make it to the carriage barn. They stopped at Gemma’s house to get spoons for the pie, took one look at each other, and headed to the bedroom. Clothes came off as they ran.
Since early morning in the gym they’d been wanting each other. There had been hours of silent foreplay as they touched fingertips, whispered to one another. By the time they finally escaped the company of others, they were at fever pitch with longing.
Gemma, naked, fell onto the bed, Colin on top of her, his mouth seeking hers as he entered her.
She gloried in his big body, at the way his skin felt under her hands. She loved the strength of him, how his thighs felt between hers.
It was an hour later that they rolled apart, both sweaty and sated.
“Just so you’ll know,” Gemma managed to say, “that was my favorite dessert.”
“But you haven’t tasted Rachel’s blackberry cobbler,” he said as he got up and went to the kitchen.
Gemma put a pillow under her head and thoroughly enjoyed watching him walk in and out of the room naked. He returned with the cobbler and a big kitchen spoon and sat down beside her.
He took a bite, chewed, swallowed. “Fabulous.” Bending, he kissed Gemma, his lips firm against hers. When she reached out her arms for him, he pulled away.