Second Time Around

Chapter Thirty-Two

Kelly stood in the doorway, watching Shane as he slept. Alyssa was tucked in down the hallway, her bedroom between Deirdre and Amy's rooms, sound asleep when Kelly peeked in on her. Shane was the one she worried about, since he didn't always do well in a strange environment. But he seemed to be just fine, sound asleep with his favorite stuffed dog tucked under his arm.

She jumped as Tony came up behind her, easing his arms about her waist. "He okay?" he asked, his voice barely audible.

"I think so," she murmured, peering over her shoulder at him. "He loves the fact that this room is so much bigger than his."

The only light came from the nightlight by the desk, but it was enough for her to see Tony smile. "A man needs his space."

As he spoke, his fingers swept lightly across her stomach, tugging up her sweatshirt to brush her bare skin. She couldn't help but shiver at the gentle caresses. "I suppose."

"Trust me, we do." He moved, draping his arm about her shoulders as they made their way down the hallway to Tony's room.

She gazed up at him. "And yet, you're giving up space for us."

He waited until they were in his room, the door firmly closed, before saying, "I like you guys," he told her with a grin, tugging her back against him. "And you let me see you naked. Let's face it, it's the least I can do."

She tried not to smile, but it was impossible. "Well, that's because you let me see you naked and trust me, that is a gift from God Himself."

It was tough to be sure as the only light in this room came compliments of the bathroom night light, but when Kelly turned in his arms to gaze up at him, she would swear he blushed at that. Fighting back her smile, she murmured, "Are you blushing, Coach Marino?"

"I don't blush."

"Well, we both know that's not true." She curved her hands against his cheeks. "You feel a little blush-y to me."

"Blush-y?"

"Yeah." She brushed her thumbs along his cheekbones. "Did I make you blush again?"

"You have a gift for it, honey. I never blushed until you came into my life and then came back into it." He eased his hands beneath her sweatshirt to link his fingers at the small of her back. "You were a ballsy teenager who became a ballsy woman and no one has ever made me blush like you do."

A sense of daring, one she hadn't felt since she was sixteen and trying to come up with a new way of making Mr. Marino blush, surged through her and without thinking, she pushed up onto her tiptoes and let her lips brush his ear as she whispered, "If only you knew what I imagined when I thought about you back then, Mr. Marino..."

She smiled as he groaned softly. "Is that so, honey?"

"Oh, yes..." She let her hands come to rest on his shoulders, but they didn't stay there. Slowly, she trailed them down over his chest, down to the hem of his black long-sleeved tee shirt. Easing them beneath the cotton to skim along his stomach, she whispered, "I imagined slowly taking your shirt off, like this..."

As she spoke, she pushed the cotton up, over his stomach, over his chest. He lifted his arms, allowing her to tug it over his head, and another low groan rent the air as she brushed her lips over the skin she'd just bared. She started just above the waist of his jeans, moving upward, along his stomach--still flat and firm--over his left nipple, which made him suck in a sharp breath.

That feeling of daring sharpened and as she swirled the tip of her tongue slowly about his nipple, his fingers tightened against her back. "Mmmmm... what else did you imagine, honey?" he asked, his voice low and husky.