Cilla and Adam Ch. 01

"Hey, I didn't know he was here, Cil, or I wouldn't have come. You know that!" Penny's eyes were bright with remorse.

"I know, Pen, and I'm not mad at you. I'm just..."

"Scared? Of him? Cil, he's gorgeous!" Penny's voice was awed.

Cilla laughed. "Funny you should say that. He said the same thing about you just now."

Penny looked at her skeptically, and Cilla laughed again. "I'm serious," she said.

"Yeah, but he wants me gone," Penny said perceptively. "And I can't say I blame him. When was the last time you had a gentleman caller at home without a parent in attendance? And I had to come and screw it up for you. I'll go. We won't be able to do that clothes thing till next weekend now, because I'll be out of town on a buying tour. Want me to bring you back anything?'

"How about some confidence?" Cilla said impulsively.

"You have the most gorgeous man in the country chasing after you and you need confidence? You need your head examined!" Penny said incredulously. "Come on," she added. "Let's go back. I'll need to say goodbye and go before mom and dad get back. And Cil?"

"Yeah, Pen?"

"Don't let this one go, huh?"

Cilla followed her sister and watched as Penny bade Adam goodbye and drove away. Then she turned her attention back to the man who reclined in the armchair watching her.

"Cilla," Adam said, "come here."

She walked toward him, like someone in a trance, and he stood up as she reached him, and took her hand in his. "Sit with me. Can we cuddle a little?" he asked. "I don't want you so far away from me." He pulled her down onto his lap again, and she went willingly, forgetting the papers, forgetting the plans, just knowing she wanted to feel his mouth on hers again.

"Adam," she said suddenly, "I've had two marriage proposals, but no one has ever called me beautiful before today."

Adam stared at her for a long moment, and then he kissed her hungrily.

"I've never met another woman who turns me on like you do," he confessed hoarsely. "That makes you more beautiful than all of them."

He kissed her again, drawing her into him. She gave him back kiss for kiss, holding nothing back, and Adam knew he had found the only woman he would ever need. He explored the deep recesses of her warm mouth, teasing her with whisper kisses on her lips, and sliding his tongue up and down the length of hers. How long they stayed like that, kissing and hugging each other, lost in each other, Cilla had no idea. She only knew she heard a sound like a car.

"Adam, my parents," she said and scrambled off his lap, making his loins ache with need even more. He adjusted himself carefully with trembling hands, Cilla watching him wide-eyed, and by the time her parents walked in through the front door, he seemed to be his usual self.

"Cilla," her mother called, and then walked into the living room. Reverend Barnes was not far behind, so Cilla introduced them both to Adam at the same time.

"Ah, what kind of doctoring do you do, Dr. Dalgleish?" Reverend Barnes asked, sitting in the hard-backed chair beside Adam's armchair.

"The academic kind, sir," Adam answered promptly. "It's a Ph. D., not an MD."

"What is your major?" Cilla's father was hooked.

"English Literature and Creative Writing, sir," he said, watching the older man's face. Mrs. Barnes offered him something to drink, but he refused, and after a few more questions, he announced that he must leave.

"Well, it was certainly nice to meet you, Dr. Dalgleish," Cilla's dad said, shaking his hand, while her mom smiled at him. They walked away to the kitchen, and Cilla smiled uncertainly at him.

"We didn't get much done, did we darling?" he asked, laughing softly.

"No, we didn't" she said worriedly. "What am I going to do tomorrow?"

"Which e-mail address do you use more frequently?" he asked. Cilla told him, and he wrote it on one of his business cards. "I'll e-mail you some ideas tonight before I go to bed. You can choose the ones you like. If you need to talk to me tomorrow, call my cell phone before ten. I won't be able to talk to you after that. Or you can call tonight, if you have time to look at it."

He put the card back in his pocket, and stood up, bending to kiss her cheek. "I don't know where these feelings I have for you are headed, and they're scaring the heck out of me, but I do know that I mean to pursue them. I'll try to keep in touch by e-mail or phone. Which do you prefer?"

"Phone, please," Cilla said. "Do you have my cell phone number?"

"Yes, I do," he replied, smiling at her. He opened the front door, and paused.

"Good night, darling" he whispered, and bent his head for a last sweet kiss. Cilla could feel him holding himself in check, and she felt a deep thrill that she was apparently having the same effect on him as he was having on her.