Chapter Forty
Dave sighed, his eye brow rose in amusement. He had called the PI and asked him how he got made, his answer of course wasn’t shocking. Miguel was in town and a criminal of his calibre could spot a cop a mile away. He did his homework on Miguel Martinez and found out he was a wanted man. He was taking a huge risk coming back to this country which only meant there was a piece of the puzzle missing, “I’m sorry about that. You just looked so scared at times and I just wanted to protect you.”
“If I wanted a hero, I’d call 911. I wasn’t even looking for a friend, but you somehow became a constant in my life.”
“I used the kids, guys always do that when they want a hot chick to like them.” Dave joked.
“It kind of worked, which reminds me, there is a one year old waiting to be tucked in and a five year old busting with stories about his first day in school.”
“That doesn’t mean you are dodging the talk.” he moved closer to her, forcing him to bend his head to look at her.
“I wouldn’t dare.” she feigned shock.
He leaned down and kissed her, longer than he had before. He smiled, tasting her soft lips and he was glad when she kissed him back, allowing her hands to drape over his shoulders. He pulled back and looked earnestly into her green eyes, “Please, don’t stop Michael from calling me dad. I promise I will be a better father to him than Ricky.”
Maria looked at him, his sincerity tugged at her heart. She knew he would keep his promise, but she still needed to protect Michael, “He’s never had a father.” she said with a sob in her voice. She turned him around and pushed him out the door, “We’ll talk about that later, right now you need to spend time with them before they go to bed.”
He took her hand and walked to the living room with her, “Okay, but tonight we are setting a clear path for our future as a family, no dodging, and no changing the subject.”
“I’ll be on my best behaviour.” she pulled her hand out of his when they got close to the kids. She sat on the single seat, watching Izzy play, as Dave and Michael shared the couch and talked about school.
It was hours before the conversation ended and Michael nodded off. Izzy fell asleep in Maria’s arms minutes after Dave got home, but Dave didn’t want to take her up yet, he just wanted the four of them in the same room, acting like the family they all wanted to be, and were. They tucked Michael in first before they put Izzy to bed, Maria was exhausted too, but Dave seemed to be running on batteries. He wasn’t sure when he would have an opportunity to talk seriously with Maria again, and besides, she didn’t have an early day so she could sleep in, he on the other hand had to be up before the sun.
He left Maria in Izzy’s room whispering the three generations blessing to call Todd on his cell phone, “Hey, be at the office at seven tomorrow, I want to get things done by next week.” he hung up in the middle of Todd’s whining.
Maria closed the door quietly behind her and turned to Dave’s smiling face with an exhausted look on her face, “I guess we aren’t going to sleep.” she let her hair loose and ruffled it up to let some cold air in it.
“If you’d prefer we could have the talk either in your room or mine.” Dave said casually, “If you want to be comfortable.”
Maria stopped what she was doing and eyed him suspiciously, “Nice try, we’ll talk downstairs where it’s open, with several exits.” She led the way down the flight of stairs.
“I wouldn’t make you do what you don’t want to do.” “That’s the problem, I might want to do what you wouldn’t make me do.”
When they got to the bottom of the steps, Dave pulled her to him and held her against him. The fast movement made her hair fall delicately over her eyes, making her look even more beautiful. Dave leaned down and lightly brushed his lips against hers, “Why would that be a problem?” he whispered on her lips.
Maria’s heart raced at their closeness, her lips parted slightly in anticipation of a kiss. She’d never felt such a response to a man in such a long time and she liked it. Four months ago if he pulled her like that, her hands would have been up covering her face, but now her hands were at ease on his arms and her lips enjoyed the tease and temptation his gave.
“Well yes.” she whispered, “there are a number of reasons why that would be wrong, but I can’t think of any right now.”
“No reasons, then there is nothing to stop me from doing what you might want to do, but don’t want to, and sure, I wouldn’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.” he leaned down closer catching her lips with his and kissing her so softly that it made her tremble. He rubbed her sides gently, that made her body tingle, and reminding her of the pleasures a man’s touch could bring, something she had long forgotten.
After a few minutes of what felt like Maria’s first sincere blissful kiss, she pulled away laughing, “Did you just come up with a tongue twister?”
Dave smiled, caressing her back, “What can I say, I’m a genius.”
Maria punched him in the chest before she took his hand and led him to the couch, “Your ego is bigger than this whole house.” she sat down and cuddled against him, “but I do have to admit, you are a genius and the best at what you do, so the ego is understandable.”
“A jeer and a compliment in one sentence, you must really like me.”
She sat up and looked at him, “What can I say, you’ve grown on me.”
“Does that mean we can officially be together?” Dave asked eagerly, “Like an item?”
Maria laughed, “That sounded so high school. When was the last time you dated?”
“Freshman year, college.” he confessed, “That’s when I met Amy, so it’s been close to eleven years.”
Maria did a little math in her head before she spoke, “You are twenty-nine? That’s pretty young for a big shot lawyer.”
“I’m actually thirty.”
“It’s still pretty young. Wow, you really do have the right to have such a big ego.” she admired him and gave him a lot more respect. She always thought he was in his mid thirties or closer to forty with how mature, focused, strong handed and arrogant he was.
Dave felt shy at her compliment, “I love what I do and I try to give a hundred percent to everything, I get that from my dad.”
“So you must get your looks from your mom, because you have this boyish prettiness when you smile or when you’re really happy.” She placed her hand on the side of his neck and played with his hair. He hadn’t gotten the time to cut it and it wasn’t its usual professional cut.
“Who do you take after?” Dave tried to concentrate on the conversation because her fingers were sending volts along his neck and shoulder, if he wasn’t sure she would get frightened he would jump her.
“My mom says I take mostly after Miguel, but I think I look more like her. Apart from the eyes and chin, Michael takes after Miguel, which my mom is positive about.”