STAY THE NIGHT (The Phillips Family Book 1) Read Free

said, “ You're superb at that. ”
        “ I credit my partner's influence. ”   They exchanged phone numbers.  He winked at her and walked away toward the elevator.
        He climbed in the backseat of the limo and pulled his phone from inside his coat.  The thing had been vibrating off and on since he and Angelica left the party.  Six phone calls from his sister Mona.  Too late to call her now. 
        He rested his head against the back of the seat and considered the evening's events.  What a woman.  Gorgeous face, delectable body, intelligent, self-sufficient and funny.  So many of the women he dated were needy, high maintenance or had a train load of baggage from their previous experiences.  If Angel had those, it wasn't apparent and most women he knew started to unload after a few hours together whether the first date or not.
                  He welcomed his thick coat and hers as they kissed because otherwise as close as she stood to him she would have noticed his reaction to her when she so much as touched him, let alone kissed him.  On the dance floor, he didn't allow her to press up against his groin.  Funny, in the past he let a woman recognize his need in the hopes she'd go to bed with him.  It usually worked, too.
        With Angelica he wanted to be in control, not controlling her, but not scaring her off, either.  His libido went into overdrive just being beside her.  Aside from her love of dirty jokes, her penchant for kissing him, he got the sense she wouldn't jump in bed after meeting a man a few hours ago.  He liked that.  It frustrated him, but he liked it.  He decided to let her make the first move since she didn't hesitate to move in for a kiss.
        If and when she wanted more from him, she'd let him understand loud and clear her intentions.  He hoped and prayed she'd catch up to him real fast because his urges were rioting.  She'd be worth the wait if he could count himself an excellent judge and he could.
        Would the first time be with an angel or a demon?  Man, the thought had him getting hard.  If he liked a woman in bed, he never stopped at one time.  Maybe he'd get to make love to an angel and a devil in the same night.  What a fantasy come true!
        Thirty minutes later, he stretched out on his mattress, rubbed between his legs and groaned.  Hell, at his age he had countless women and if they didn't want to fuck he accepted it with aplomb and walked away without this gnawing need.  Everything changed tonight when he glanced across the room to see who laughed and met the woman he wanted to spend his life adoring.
     
     

Chapter 2
      The next morning as Cray made coffee, his cell phone rang.  He answered and heard, “ Hey, you did a disappearing act on me last night. ”
        “ Yeah, sorry, Mona.  I assumed you found a bed buddy of your own and didn't need a ride home. ”
        “ Well, yeah, I did after I couldn't find you.  What happened?  Did you split from boredom? ”
        “ It's early.  Did you chase your sleepover out of your place already? ”
        “ He has terrible morning breath.  He's a smoker.  Yuck! ”
        Cray laughed.  “ So another one bites the dust.  Didn't you realize he smoked before you took him home? ”
        “ Yeah, it didn't seem so bad last night.  The old hormones acting up you know. ”
        “ I met the woman I'm going to marry last night.  In fact, I asked her to marry me.  She thinks it's a joke, but it's not. ”
        “ Stop.  I gotta' sit down.  Okay, I'm sitting.  Tell all. ”
        “ She's beautiful and smart.  She's a professor of Philosophy at Columbia. ”
        “ Holy shit, Cray.  Statuesque blonde from Norway? ”
        “ Yeah. Do you know her? ”
        “ Not exactly, but I heard about her.  Remember, last year I dated that English Lit professor from Columbia, the one that ordered ham sandwiches, cut them into four squares