Page 31 of Silent Cravings

The storm still raged, the sound clearer once my heartbeat was no longer thudding in my ears. “Should we get back to work?” My voice was a raspy whisper.

Her soft, knowing chuckle answered my question before she spoke. “It depends on what you mean by work. I can think of a few more things I want you to do for me once I’ve taken a shower.” Her nails trailed down my chest, sending sparks racing through me. “We might want to take it somewhere more comfortable, though.”

“I’ve got just the place,” I murmured, picking her up and carrying her out of the room to the stairs. It looked like my bed was going to get some use tonight, after all.

11

VALENTINA

There was one aspect of the wedding planning I hadn’t stuck my nose in.

It was a relief to be arriving as a guest and not the planner at Rose’s shower. It was taking place in the Goldsmiths’ SoHo penthouse late on a Sunday morning, two weeks before the wedding. Sienna had planned everything relating to the shower, and now I rode the elevator up to the top floor, carrying a basket full of wrapped gifts after having gone through Rose’s wedding registry and snagging all of the smaller pieces. I regretted my tactic as soon as it came time to wrap ten individual boxes, but the effect was nice, right down to the cascading ribbon and fresh flowers I’d tucked in here and there.

If anything, it would be nice to spend an afternoon among women without the threat of male distraction getting in my way. I had a hard enough time keeping Evan and me a secret, not that there was an Evan and me, technically. There was only what we were doing together. I had to stay clear on that, or else risk complications I didn’t have the time or energy to deal with.

Somehow, he still managed to worm his way into my thoughts as I stepped off the elevator. He was supposed to be golfing with the guys today, sort of a preview of what they could expect in two short weeks.

Two weeks.

The idea made my stomach queasy, but things were going according to schedule. We even got the bulk of the seating chart finished at Evan’s, albeit on Saturday morning after the storm had passed. The rest of the time had been spent doing just about anything but working. Since then, we’d both been too busy to see each other, meaning I’d been replaying that night in my head like a favorite movie. All things considered, it was a much safer course of action than actually sleeping with him again.

My skin went warm when I remembered how wild it was, going crazy on each other while thunder rumbled and lightning flashed. When my clit started to pulse, I had to deliberately push the memories out of my mind before ringing the bell. No room for erotic fantasies at a bridal shower, especially when my family would be there.

“Come in!” Olivia was radiant, beaming, kissing my cheek before draping an arm around my waist and leading me deeper into the penthouse she shared with her husband. “There are already a few dozen girls here. We’ll wait another few minutes to see who else straggles in.”

The spacious living room was full of chatty, giggling women. Fresh flowers in Rose’s wedding colors of cream, navy, and peach were scattered around, along with balloons and streamers decorating the overloaded gift table spanning the far side of the room.

“What can I do to help?” I asked, raising my voice to be heard over dozens of overlapping voices. I wished I had thought to bring ibuprofen for the headache already threateningto break loose in the back of my head. I was used to spending time in large crowds, noisy and boisterous, and usually half-drunk. There was something different about the decibel level and frequency reached by a group of excited women that somehow topped that.

Olivia shook her head as I placed the basket among countless other beautifully wrapped gifts. “Absolutely not, young lady. You are here to enjoy yourself today. You have already done so much and deserve a little break.”

“At least tell me where I can find the guest of honor.” The shower wasn’t a surprise—some things had to be left by the wayside with a schedule this tight. There was no time to sneak around and pretend we weren’t having a party.

“She’s in her old room, resting a little.” I must have looked as worried as I felt since Olivia shook her head and waved a hand. “She’s fine. Still a little green around the gills, but nothing serious. Aria is in there with her now.”

It would be a break from all the voices and laughter that were like an ice pick in my ears, and I couldn’t understand why as I walked down the hall leading to a room I had stayed in more times over the years than I could count. Our parents were always getting us together back in the day, having little parties and dinners. When things ran late, we would spend the night.

Rose was lying down when I eased the door open, and Aria turned my way from her seat on the edge of the bed. “There you are. I was wondering when you were going to get here.”

“What a welcome,” I grumbled, ignoring her and going straight to Rose. “How’s it going?”

“I’ll be fine once I get a little rest.” She closed her eyes, and I exchanged a worried look with my sister.

“You should see who’s out there waiting for you.” I satacross from Aria on Rose’s left side. “I don’t know if you’re going to have room in your apartment for everything on that gift table.”

“We don’t need anything,” Rose pointed out with a faint smile. “I only did the registry because Mom said it was tradition.”

“Everybody likes to shower the bride with gifts before a wedding,” Aria insisted. “I’m a little jealous, honestly.”

“Tell me about it,” I joked. “I saw somebody bought the espresso machine. I’d be happy to break it in for you.”

We had Rose giggling before long. By the time Olivia tapped on the door to check in, she was sitting up and looking stronger.

It was wrong of me to think about myself at a time like this, walking behind my sister as we followed Rose from the room so she could greet her guests. None of this had to do with me, yet there was no hope of avoiding the memories that wouldn’t leave me the hell alone.

For the second day in a row, I wasn’t sick. The morning sickness that had first tipped me off to my pregnancy had miraculously gone away, and I was feeling better than I had in weeks as I got up on what seemed like an average Friday morning. Aria and I were going home for the weekend after our last classes of the day at Columbia since Mom was having a hard time adjusting to us being gone in the weeks since school started.

“You can do your laundry here,” she’d offered to sweeten the deal. Any college student knew how important that was.

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