It wasn’t what Beth did.
By the time Vicki and I hung up, I changed my mind about going downstairs. My news regarding my parents could wait. Soon, I was under the warm spray of the shower, washing away the remains of Van’s and my night and morning of passion.
Julia
Still under the spray, I stilled as the bathroom door opened wide and Van appeared through the steam-covered glass stall. My hands crisscrossed my nakedness. “Van.”
A smile filled his expression as he slid the glass door open. Reaching through the steam, he seized each of my hands. “What do you think you’re hiding?”
The tenor of his voice rumbled through me as I relaxed my arms. “It’s a reflex.”
His green orbs simmered as he scanned from the top of my head to my toes. Even under the warm spray, my flesh peppered with goose bumps. His large finger came to the hickey upon my left breast, gently running over the bruise in small circles.
“I should leave more,” he said, his eyes focused on the mark.
I reached for his hand. “Why are you here?”
“To see you, confirm you’re real, and to remind me how fucking fortunate I was to find you.” Taking a breath, he pulled his attention away from my breast to my eyes. “What did you learn when you turned on your phone?”
I looked up at the shower spray and back. “Can this wait?”
“I wish. If it could, I’d step inside this stall right now.”
“What’s happening?”
“Your parents are on their way. They stayed in Ashland last night.”
The joy I’d gotten from his decorated cabin for the holiday abandoned me, disappearing into the steam like a balloon losing air. “Did you invite them here?”
He nodded.
“Why?”
“Rinse.” He reached for one of the plush towels. “And get out.” His grin returned. “I’m pretty sure that meeting my future in-laws with their daughter naked and wearing my mark on her left breast and another on her right ass cheek won’t be the best first impression.”
My ass cheek?
What?
I twisted one way and the other, trying to see what was hidden.
Then his other words came through.
His future in-laws.
The thought of this impending meeting sent a feeling of dread through my circulation. I reached for the tile wall as Van took a step back and closed the glass door.
I waited for him to leave the bathroom but he didn’t, leaning against the long vanity and crossing his arms over his wide chest.
“Are you going to give me a minute?” I asked.
“No. I’m going to enjoy the show.”
Strip for me, beautiful.
The memory of that command twisted my core as I stepped back under the central spray, rinsing the conditioner from my hair. Of course, I was already bare, so stripping wasn’t an issue. Instead, I rinsed, knowing his eyes were on me, watching, as I ran my own palms over my skin. It was his touch I felt on my breasts and his touch as my hands lowered.
Once the water was off, Van returned, towel in hand.
“How far away are they?” I asked as I took the towel.
“You have time to dry and dress.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to see them.”
His large hands framed my face. “Julia, it may not seem like it... There’s a lot I don’t know about you and your parents, but I’m willing to learn. What I do know is that you are in control.”
“It’s never felt that way.”
“I can’t answer why you have felt the way you have.”
He turned us until we were standing before the large mirror. Despite my wet hair, I leaned back against his solid chest. The droplets from my hair dripped down my shoulders onto his thermal shirt, his boots, and the floor. The plush towel was wrapped around my breasts and hung to my thighs. Taller and wider, Van could be seen behind me, still dressed as he’d been in the cabin. The scent of the burning fire lingered in the fibers of his clothes. His jaw was covered with a day of beard growth, and his dark hair was wavy and unkempt from his sleep and his orange hat.
“Do you know what I see?” Van asked.
“A drowned rat.”
His deep laugh filled the bathroom. “No. I see a strong woman.”
“That’s not what my parents see. They see their child. That’s what they’ll always see.”
He lifted my wet hair and brought his lips to my neck. Such as lightning striking the surface of the earth, the energy of his kiss penetrated my skin, infiltrating my circulation, and racing through my nervous system. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head, giving Van more access.
“The only person who can change your parents’ perception of you is you.”
I spun and wrapped my arms around his torso. “I’m afraid they’ll break our snow globe.”
Van shook his head. “Our globe is unbreakable.”
The definitiveness of his statement gave me strength. “I’m an adult.”
“You definitely are.”
I nodded. “Let me get dressed. I’ll come down as fast as I can.”
“Julia, I’m here for you. I could easily have handled this on the phone and forbade their coming to the house. I thought about it.” He leaned down until his forehead met mine. “I have no problem being assertive. Truth be told, I have more trouble not being.” Our eyes met. “My assertiveness won’t facilitate what you want.”
“What do I want?”
“To be seen as a capable adult in your parents’ eyes.”
I inhaled, knowing he was right.
“To achieve that outcome, you need to assert yourself. Show them that you can make your own decisions and let them know that you’re aware of the consequences of those choices.”
“I told them that you found me, that you saved me in the snowstorm. They said you’re a rebound. You aren’t.”
Van nodded. “I know what I am. If I were your father instead of your fiancé, I wouldn’t trust me. Don’t get upset that they’re leery. It only means that they care.” He kissed the top of my head. “I’m not sure I trust them.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wade was going down. How could your parents not know?”
I’d never thought of that.
As Van turned to leave, I called out his name.
He turned back.
“If you were my father,” I asked, “and I came downstairs wearing a man’s shirt, only his shirt, from a man I’d recently met and announced as my fiancé, what would you do?”
His grin returned, bringing gold shimmers to his green orbs. “I’d kill him.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I. I don’t mean mortally wound; I mean that I’d ruin him.”
“I won’t do it. I won’t wear your shirt.”
“Your dad can’t ruin me. That’s the difference. I could ruin him.”
“But you won’t,” I said, wanting the reassurance.
“I’ll do whatever you want, Julia. As I’ve said, my only connection or care for Wade Pharmaceutical is you.”
“They’re my parents.”