Runaway Bride Page 16

  “And that makes her tell you what’s on her mind?”

  “I already know what’s on her mind and I don’t want to hear it.” She studied Lexie for a moment before asking, “Do you really want to know what she’s thinking? If she’s being unusually quiet, I’d consider that a reprieve.”

  “I know it sounds weird, but I kind of,” she shrugged, “miss her.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “I know she’s a control freak, but there are times when I enjoy being with her. I was tired of all the plans she made for the wedding, but I think that had more to do with me not wanting to marry Nick.”

  “Really? You actually like our mom?”

  “Don’t you?” Lexie asked, surprised. Even if their mother drove them nuts at times, she assumed her sister liked her.

  “I love her, but I don’t consider her a friend,” she replied. “She’s never approved of anything I did. Randy wasn’t good enough. My job wasn’t good enough. Chris wasn’t good enough. My daughter won’t be good enough because she assumes I conceived her out of wedlock.” Caitlyn’s hand rested on the mound in her belly. “I realize I look like I’m five months along, but I’m not.”

  “I know you’re not, but I didn’t until I found out Chris was an alien. Can you really blame her?”

  “I just wish she hadn’t been so quick to remind me that I’m a disappointment.”

  “You have a good point,” Lexie admitted, fingering the edge of the robe’s sleeve. Up until she ran off with Mark, she hadn’t done a single thing her mom didn’t want. Now that she had, she better understood what Caitlyn felt on a regular basis. But still, she couldn’t believe their mother didn’t want a better relationship with her. “Maybe it’s time you and I had a heart to heart with Mom. You know, air everything out once and for all.”

  With a chuckle, she shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’ll turn into a shouting match.”

  “It doesn’t have to be. Not if we agree we’ll keep everything calm and listen to each other.”

  “I knew you were an optimist, but there’s a difference between reality and fantasy. The idea of me being able to have a rational discussion with Mom is a fantasy.”

  “I don’t know why it has to be. As long as both of you are willing to work together—”

  “See?” Caitlyn held her hand up. “There’s your mistake. You think she’ll be willing to work with me. You were a child when I started dating Randy. You don’t remember what she did to try to break us up because she was afraid I’d marry someone who didn’t make a lot of money. Ever since then, there’s been no talking to her.”

  “This could be a new start.” Even as she said it, she didn’t think Caitlyn would agree and she was right because Caitlyn shook her head in a way that implied she wasn’t going to budge. “Okay. I won’t say anything else about it.”

  Caitlyn smiled her thanks and said, “Why don’t you take a shower? We’ll go out to the mall and enjoy the day. Do some of that sister bonding we never did while we were growing up?”

  “Sounds like fun.” She stood up and motioned to the frappuccino maker. “If you want to make one of these while I’m getting ready, feel free.”

  “It has chocolate and sugar in it. Of course, I’ll make one for both of us. When you get pregnant, you’ll understand why sweets, especially chocolate, is important.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.” With a smile, she headed for the bathroom.

  ***

  Mark found Chris at his cubicle where he was plugging some equations into the computer. “Hey buddy,” he said as he walked up to Chris. “Want to join me for lunch?”

  Glancing up from the keyboard, he nodded. “Give me a couple minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  Mark pulled up a seat and sat down. Noticing the board on the wall where Chris had put up a couple of pictures, he leaned forward to study them. Not surprising, Caitlyn was in every one. Mark wouldn’t have expected otherwise, but there was a picture of Caitlyn, Lexie, and their mother that had to have been taken recently. He pulled the picture off the board and flipped it over to see if there was a date written on it. There wasn’t.

  “Chris?”

  “What?”

  “When was this taken?” Mark held up the picture.

  “Two weeks ago. Caitlyn’s mom wanted a picture of her daughters and her. Apparently, she likes to do it every year. She also insists on having Caitlyn’s dad and Blake take a picture every year. This year, I got included in the one with the men. If you’d married Lexie a little sooner, you would have been in that one. At least she has the pictures taken with a digital camera. I’ve been to a photographer and they’re not cheap.”

  “So where’s the picture of you, Blake, and our father-in-law?”

  “At home. I don’t want to look at myself while at work.”

  He put the photo back on the board, thinking he needed to get a picture of Lexie to put up in his cubicle. “Lexie and I went to see her parents yesterday. I didn’t think her mom was all that bad. I mean, she was obviously upset that Lexie ran off with me, but she didn’t go on a screaming rampage or throw me out. And looking at the picture of her with Lexie and Caitlyn, it looks like she does love her children, even if she has a tendency to want to control things.”

  “I’ve learned that if you keep things firm but nice, it makes everything a lot easier for everyone. The only reason Caitlyn agreed to go was because her mom promised not to mention the pregnancy.” He finished typing in the last equation, saved his work, and logged off the system. “One thing I’ll say for Mrs. Rogers is that when she promises something, she does it.”

  “You call Caitlyn’s mom ‘Mrs. Rogers’?”

  “She insisted on it. Why? What do you call her?”

  “Mom.”

  A smile slowly spread across Chris’ face and he chuckled. “How does she take it?”

  “Well, she was too shocked to say anything.”

  “Maybe I should try it next time I see her.”

  “You should. Technically, she’s your mom since you married Caitlyn.”

  “I guess.” He rose to his feet. “You ready to get something to eat?”

  “Sure am.” Following him toward the hallway, he asked, “When do you think we’ll all be invited to the Rogers’ for a family gathering?”

  “I have no idea. Why? Are you looking forward to going back to their house?”

  “I guess it’d be nice if everyone could find a way to get along. We didn’t have families on our world. I’d like to be a part of one.”

  They walked down the hallway and stopped at an elevator. Chris pressed the down button and turned to Mark. “We might be a part of a family now, but I’m not so sure it’s a happy one.”

  “I know you had some problems with Rachel when you first married Caitlyn, but as you said, it’s doable now. I think we can work everything out so we can enjoy being together.”

  “Maybe. I don’t mind going over there. I like Caitlyn’s dad, especially when he wants to play billiards. I’ve been helping him improve.”

  They stepped into the elevator, and Mark pressed the button that would take them to the first floor. “He said you were good at it. It’ll be interesting to see if I’m as good as you.”

  “There’s nothing to it. It’s simple geometry.”

  “If that’s the case, what’s so fun about playing a game that doesn’t challenge you?”

  “It’s not about being challenged. It’s…” He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “I got it. You’re friends. He’s an easy guy to like. Did you know he barely had any money when he started dating Rachel?”

  “How can that be? All she talks about is how important a good job is.”

  “I don’t know, but when she got married, she wasn’t that concerned about his paycheck.” The doors opened, and they left the elevator. “I think reaching Rachel is easier than we think.”

  “If so,
I don’t know what it is.”

  “I don’t either, yet. But I think our father-in-law gave me a big advantage yesterday,” Mark thoughtfully stated.

  “What advantage?”

  “That’s what I have to figure out.” And the sooner he did, the sooner Lexie wouldn’t have to fret over her estranged relationship with her mom.

  Chapter Twenty

  On Saturday, Lexie and Mark moved her things into his apartment. The next day, she went shopping with Caitlyn who wanted to start decorating her nursery. When she returned to her apartment, Mark hurried out of a bedroom, an excited look on his face.

  “Did you have a good time with Caitlyn?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she replied, placing her purse on the small table by the front door. “I never spent so much time with her before. She’s actually fun to be with.”

  “Good.” He reached her and gave her a kiss. “I missed you.”

  Pleased, she returned his kiss. “I missed you, too.”

  “I got a surprise for you.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes, but you have to close your eyes.”

  Smiling, she did as he requested.

  He took her by the hand and led her through the living room and to the bedroom. When he stopped, he said, “Okay. Open them.”

  She did and gasped in surprise. There was a laptop resting on a desk and in front of it was a comfortable chair. On the shelves lining the wall, he had all the books she owned arranged by genre.

  “I don’t know how you want to decorate this room, so I’m going to leave the rest of it up to you,” he said as he led her to the chair. “But I think you have a decent start.”

  “It’s a wonderful start, Mark!”

  Looking satisfied, he motioned for her to sit down and when she did, he gently pushed the chair up to the desk. He hit the space bar on the laptop and the screen lit up. “I took the liberty of downloading the word processing program you said you wanted. I also transferred your music over from your other computer, so you can listen to your favorite songs while you create your novels. Now you can write all the stories you want.” He kissed her cheek and patted her shoulders. “I’ll be right back.”

  She watched him as he hurried out of the room and chuckled. What could he be up to? Knowing Mark, it’d be something equally as sweet as giving her a new computer and a desk. She turned her attention back to the laptop and saw he’d also taken the time to download all the stories she’d started but never finished. Never in a million years did she imagine he’d do something this thoughtful when she showed him the old files on her computer.

  “I have another present for you,” Mark said as he came back into the room.

  She turned from her computer, her smile widening when she saw he was carrying a plate with chocolate marshmallow cookies on it. “You’re going to spoil me.”

  “You’re my wife. If I can’t spoil you, then who can I spoil?” With a wink, he set the plate on the desk and set a glass of milk next to it. “I can’t think of anything you need to get started with your writing, can you?”

  “Yeah, I can.” She rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck. Pulling him closer to her, she kissed him. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me.”

  He squeezed her waist affectionately. “Get used to it. On Pandoran, there were no women. You can’t blame me if I want to make all your dreams come true.”

  Lowering his head, he closed his eyes, ready to kiss her again. She leaned into him and sighed in contentment as their lips met. His kiss was always wonderful. Soft, warm, passionate. They were nothing like the polite ones Nick used to give her. This only served as a reminder that running off to marry Mark was the best thing she ever did. She could only hope her mother would eventually come around to accepting her decision.

  Mark pulled back slightly away from her and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “Is something wrong?”

  Not wishing to ruin the moment by talking about her mother, she shook her head. “No. Nothing’s wrong.”

  Then, before he could say anything else, she cupped the back of his neck and urged him to kiss her again. She had discovered that he was easy to distract if she turned his attention to things of a more sensual nature. And sure enough, he forgot all about what they’d been discussing. He cupped her face in his hands and deepened the kiss. She parted her lips, and his tongue brushed hers, sending a shiver of delight up and down her spine.

  Her pulse quickened. Being intimate with him was still new, but she couldn’t imagine the thrill would ever get old. When the kiss ended, she offered him a shy smile. “So, this thing you have that makes you ejaculate every eight hours… Does it mean you can only make love at that time?”

  “No. It just means that I won’t be able to finish until then, but I’ll ejaculate whether or not we’re together. It’s the way men are designed on my world.”

  “Right. Until I conceive.” She brushed the back of his neck with her fingers and played with the hair touching his collar. “It sounds like a pain. I mean, we aren’t in bed every eight hours. What do you do when you’re at work?”

  “I go to a stall in the bathroom. It’s not a pain so much as it’s inconveniencing. But you’re not ready to conceive, and if I guess right, you won’t be ready to do that for at least another month.”

  “I still don’t understand how you can know when I’m fertile.”

  He shrugged. “I can’t explain it. It’s something that I’m aware of, through the bond we share.”

  “What happens when I am ready to conceive?”

  A sly smile spread across his face. “It’ll be like the bonding ceremony. You won’t have any choice but to be at my mercy.”

  She giggled as he nipped at her neck. “But what if you’re at work or I’m at the beach?”

  “We’ll drop everything and find a way to be together.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Yep.” He nodded. “Just like that. Even if you’re not sensitive to the bond we share, your body will still prompt you to be with me.”

  “It sounds dangerous and exciting all at once,” she teased.

  He wiggled his eyebrows and slipped his hands into the back pockets of her jeans, gently pushing her against him so she could feel his erection. “Maybe it will be. You’ll be under my control.”

  “I hope I can handle it.”

  “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we pretend it’s time? Then we’ll be prepared for it when it happens.”

  “But you’ve never gone through it before.”

  “Neither have you.” He picked her up in his arms. “But I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t pretend.”

  She laughed as he carried her to the bedroom.

  ***

  A month later

  Mark sat at his work desk. His pencil tapped absentmindedly on the form he was filling out. Though he was staring at it, he didn’t really see it. With a sigh, he tried to think of something he could do to ease things between Lexie and her mother. It seemed that neither one had the courage to approach the other.

  “How long does it take you to fill out a form?”

  Recognizing Chris’ voice, Mark turned in his chair and faced him. He set his pencil down and motioned for Chris to pull up a seat. Once Chris did, he asked, “Do you have any idea how long women go without talking to each other when they’re upset?”

  Chris chuckled. “I thought you knew more about women than I do.”

  “Yeah, I did, too.” When Chris shook his head, he added, “I did a lot of research. You know, books and seminars on relationships and women and such. Nothing prepared me for this. I really don’t think this is about me. On the surface, it looks that way, but I think it’s really about them. What do you think?”

  After a moment, he shrugged. “As long as they want a good relationship, they need to come together and talk their problems out.”

  “That’s a great idea!”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.” Mark lea
ned back in his chair. “The question is how.”

  “I don’t know. Caitlyn is happy whenever her mom leaves her alone. As long as no one is fixing up a family get-together, she-”

  “That’s perfect.”

  Chris frowned. “What’s perfect?”

  “A family get-together. If everyone’s together, then there won’t be all that pressure on Lexie or her mom to talk. Maybe it’ll help them relax.”

  “If you want to have a family gathering, fine. But leave me and Caitlyn out of it.”

  “I can’t do that. You two are part of the family.”

  “I don’t care. Caitlyn hates those things.”

  Mark knew his mother-in-law could be overbearing, but he couldn’t believe Caitlyn couldn’t find a common ground with her. “A family get-together is exactly what this family needs. As long as everyone avoids each other, nothing is going to get better.”

  “And Caitlyn’s just fine with that.”

  “She shouldn’t be.” Mark sighed and leaned forward. “Wouldn’t it be nice if they did get along?”

  Chris groaned. “It was because of her mom that I almost died, remember?”

  “Her mom didn’t set out to kill you. It was your fear that Caitlyn loved Randy more than you that almost did it.”

  “Yeah, but her mom didn’t help.”

  “Granted, that’s true,” he relented, “but this is a chance to change all that. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone in the family could be at the hospital when your daughter is born? Wouldn’t it be nice if your daughter could see her grandmother without it upsetting Caitlyn?”

  “Yeah, it would. Nice of you to use the daughter angle against me.”

  Mark laughed and sat back. “I’m not using it against you. I’m just saying that after all the time we wanted to be part of a family, this is a good chance to finally have one.”

  Though he looked skyward, he nodded. “Alright. I see your point. What do you want me to do?”