he said gallantly ushering her back out into the hall.
And it was good they’d made that agreement, Ashley thought. Otherwise she would have been tempted just to say the heck with caution and fall into bed with her husband once again.
He gave her a hot, assessing look. “So unless you’ve changed your mind…”
“I haven’t,” Ashley said, pretending her thoughts weren’t traveling down the same ardent path as his.
To Cal’s credit, if he was disappointed by her careful outward demeanor, he did not show it. He paused to turn the upstairs thermostat higher. “I’ll take the guest room then,” he said mildly.
“You don’t have to do that,” Ashley said, knowing that she’d be more comfortable in the bed she had used before than in anything that had been exclusively his.
He looked at her a long moment, the faint hint of disappointment radiating in his pewter-gray eyes. “I’ll carry your suitcase up then,” he said quietly. And that was that.
THE PHONE RANG AT 6:00 P.M. Cal reached for it with a groan, and dutifully talked to his mother on the other end of the line. By the time he hung up two minutes later, he found Ashley standing in the doorway of the master bedroom. Tousled and adorable, she looked as disoriented as he felt after only a couple of hours sleep.
“Everything okay?” she murmured.
Damn, she looked sexy in a thigh-length cotton nightshirt and bare legs, Cal thought as he struggled to shake off his jet lag and sit all the way up against the headboard. Since she had obviously gone right from the shower into bed, her dark hair had dried in thick unruly waves.
“Who was that?” Ashley stifled a yawn with the back of her hand as she padded closer.
Knowing they would both adjust to the change in time zone if they stayed up the rest of the evening and went to bed at the normal time, Cal rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “My mother wants us to come for dinner. I told her I wasn’t sure you’d feel up to it. She said, if not, she’d send something over.”
“Is the whole family going to be there?” Ashley asked, with the hesitation she always evidenced when confronted with all five of his siblings. And now, thanks to a recent round of satisfying romances, four of them had spouses, too.
Cal shrugged. He didn’t want to make things any more awkward than they already were between him and Ashley. “We can always see everyone later,” he told her.
Looking as sleepy and out of it as he felt, Ashley perched on the end of the bed and tucked one hand around the sleigh-shaped footboard. “I know everyone wants to see me.”
An understatement if there ever was one, Cal thought. Particularly since his whole family had decided to help “fix” his marriage, unless he managed to do it first.
“So we might as well go this evening,” Ashley continued practically. “If you feel up to it.”
Cal figured it had to be better than staying here alone with Ashley, wanting to make love to her when he had promised to abstain. At least for the time being. He was still hoping she would change her mind about that and realize making love to each other always brought them closer. And now, more than ever, with so many important things ahead of them to decide, they needed to be closer. “We can make it a quick visit,” he said. He didn’t want to stay long lest his brothers decided to get into the advice-giving business again.
Ashley nodded her assent. “Just give me a few minutes to get dressed.”
Forty minutes later, Cal was still waiting for Ashley. When she finally came downstairs she was wearing a jewel-necked, long-sleeved black knit dress that she usually reserved for cocktail parties.
“I thought you were wearing slacks,” he said with a frown, wondering if he should go upstairs and change out of his jeans and corduroy shirt into something more formal, too.
“I was. Or I tried.”
He looked at her, not understanding.
“I guess I’ve gained a little weight over the holidays,” she said, her cheeks flushing bright pink. “I didn’t think I’d had that many Christmas cookies, but…suddenly none of the pants I brought with me want to zip. So it’s either this or another dress or the sweats I wore on the plane—and those need a run through the washer first.” Cheeks flushing all the more, she swept past him. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting.”
“I’m not. You look great.” The black knit fabric clung to her newly voluptuous curves, and the swirling skirt and high heels made the most of her sexy legs. She’d left her hair down, and it looked as wild and untamed as he knew her to be in her most unguarded moments.
Cal paused to remove her winter coat from the hall closet. “Would it make you feel less self-conscious if I went up and changed?” He knew everyone in his family would probably be wearing jeans, too, but he could put on a sport coat and tie.
“No. It’s fine, really.” Ashley waved off his concern. She slipped on the long black wool coat and looped a cashmere scarf around her neck. “I’m just going to have to get back to exercising on a regular basis again.”
Cal held the door for Ashley. “Well don’t lose any weight on my account,” he said. He let his eyes travel over her appreciatively. “I think you look amazing. I mean it, Ashley,” he continued when she scoffed. “Any extra ounces you have put on are definitely in all the right places.”
“And those would be…?” Ashley prodded dryly as he unlocked the passenger door on his SUV and helped her inside.
In answer, Cal grinned and let his gaze touch her breasts, waist and hips.
She blushed again.
“You’re perfect,” Cal repeated. Wishing—just once—she would believe it. “And I like the glow on your face, too,” he added softly. He touched her cheek with the back of his hand.
Ashley wrinkled her nose, and shook her head. “I’m going to pretend I agree with you…just so we don’t have to talk about my embarrassing predicament anymore. It’s probably what I get for living in scrubs and lab coats, anyway. All those loose-fitting tops and elastic waistbands…I’ll be more careful in the future. Just do me a favor and don’t mention my wardrobe crisis to your sibs? I’m embarrassed enough already.”
“DON’T YOU LOOK WONDERFUL!” Helen Hart told Ashley when she and Cal walked in to her home behind the Wedding Inn, the palatial three-story white brick inn Cal’s mother had turned into the premiere wedding facility in North Carolina. As always, Ashley noted admiringly, Helen’s short red hair was perfectly coiffed, her amber eyes as warm as they were astute. Ashley’s mother-in-law favored clothes that were classic, not trendy. Tonight she was clad in a cream wool turtleneck sweater and gray slacks perfect for an evening with family.
“You think we look good now, wait until we get some more sleep!” Cal winked at his mom as he helped Ashley off with her coat and went to hang it up.
Ashley returned Helen’s hug warmly. Although her husband’s siblings could sometimes leave her feeling overwhelmed, she adored Cal’s mom. Maybe because the openly loving, family-oriented woman was everything her own mother wasn’t. Helen Hart loved and accepted her kids, no matter what. She did not demand
