The Unwanted Wife (Unwanted #1)(69)
She laughed slightly.
“Up the wall,” she corrected.
“What?” He looked baffled.
“It was driving you ‘up the wall’…not into it.”
“Into the wall, up the wall, over the wall, whatever.” He flicked a dismissive hand. “It was driving me crazy.” Charmed by his failure to grasp the English idiom, Theresa laughed again and decided to let the matter go. His explanations had gone a long way toward dispelling some of her lingering uneasiness with their relationship. Lily started to fuss and Theresa reached for her before quickly and efficiently baring a breast, she winced slightly when Lily latched on hungrily. Sandro dropped his jaw into the palm of one hand and watched them possessively. He enjoyed watching her feed Lily. In fact he was so completely fascinated with the new shape and size of her breasts that he handled them with gentleness and a bit of reverence whenever they made love.
“Thank you for answering my questions,” she said after a few moments of silence, broken only by the snuffling sound of the hungrily feeding infant.
“I’m happy to answer any others.” His voice trailed off in invitation and she nodded.
“Good to know.” She needed to ask him about Francesca, about their future…but she was meeting Lisa. Later, she promised herself. She would ask him later. She ignored the tiny voice in the back of her head that called her a coward.
“So what are the plans for tonight?” Lisa asked curiously as Theresa enjoyed the decadent slice of chocolate mousse cake she was having for dessert.
“We’ll probably have a quiet evening.” She shrugged. “Sandro doesn’t know it’s my birthday.”
“Oh.” Lisa glanced away for a long moment before turning back to Theresa. “Do you want me to tell him?”
“No, he’d feel awful if he knew.” Lisa’s lips tilted at the sides.
“Well, at least he wouldn’t be indifferent,” Lisa said. “Which is probably what he would have been a year ago.”
Theresa nodded.
“I know.” She paused. “He told me he loved me…about a month ago. And he’s said it every day since. But, I can’t quite seem to bring myself to believe him.”
“Theresa, it’s been pretty obvious to me for a while now that he’s in love with you,” her cousin startled her by saying.
“It has?”
“Yes…I think I started to see it when he tried to forgive my debt for no good reason and then when you fainted after your amniocentesis and started crying when I got there. Rick was right, the man looked devastated when you burst into tears. I think you should start believing in him. I know that he hurt you badly in the past, but it’s time for you to decide if you can forgive him or not. Because if you can’t, then there’s no point in staying in this marriage, but if you can, then I think this man is going to do his damnedest to make sure that you’re happy for the rest of your life.”
Lisa went home with Theresa that evening deciding that they should have an impromptu birthday dinner for her. But when they got back to the house and Theresa got a phone call from Sandro telling her that he had to work late, Lisa grimly bullied Theresa into a pretty dress, called Rick, and said that they were taking Theresa and Lily out to what she called a “fancy” restaurant.
Theresa was in no real mood to celebrate, and when they got to the restaurant, she dragged her feet to the entrance, where Rick stood waiting. He looked quite dashing in a tuxedo and was well matched with Lisa, who was wearing one of the pretty evening gowns she had bought on their shopping expedition that afternoon.
“Look, guys, this is too much fuss,” Theresa protested. “Why don’t we just head back to my house and have a nice dinner or something?”
“Too late now, sunshine, we’re here, so you’re going to have to deal with it.” Rick grinned before dropping a kiss on her cheek and then reaching over to taking Lily’s carrier from her. “Happy birthday, Theresa, you look ravishing.”
The knee-length silk slip dress was a little too low and made her swollen breasts look slightly too voluptuous for her liking. She felt a little uncomfortable in it, but Lisa had chosen it, saying that the ice green color did wonderful things for her hair and eyes.
“I mean, did you guys even think to make reservations?”
“Theresa, with your dad and husband being who they are, do you really think getting into any restaurant you want is ever going to be a problem?” Lisa scoffed, and Theresa wrinkled her nose, conceding the point. Lisa flounced through the door, and Rick stood aside to let Theresa in.
The ma?tre d’ smiled and led her through without question. Surprised, she followed him with a little frown on her face. He led her through double glass doors. The place was packed with people, and for some reason no one was sitting down. She squirmed uncomfortably when everyone turned to stare at her, not quite sure what on earth was going on.
“Surprise!” She nearly jumped out of her skin at the collective shout, and then finally noticed that she recognized most of the faces in the room. Rick, who had stood outside of the room until after the surprise, in case it scared Lily, moved to stand beside her.
“What’s going on?” she whispered in panicked confusion.
“It’s a surprise birthday party, you ditz,” he teased, dropping another fond kiss on her cheek before heading off to find his wife in the throng. People were milling around her, kissing her and shaking her hand. She recognized Gabe Braddock and all of Sandro’s Friday night buddies along with their significant others. Rick’s brother, Bryce Palmer, came up and gave her an unceremonious pat on her back and a gruff “happy birthday” before disappearing back into the woodwork. The man hated crowds. She could imagine this scene wasn’t really to his taste, but he was here and she was so utterly confused by that. Why was he here, why were any of them here? How did Lisa even know to invite Gabe Braddock and that lot?