The Fix-It Man

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  “And I thought you were a proper Midwestern girl.”

  “Not tonight.”

  His nipple tightened. “Then seduce me, Diana.”

  “That won’t be difficult.”

  “Are you implying I’m easy?”

  She chuckled. “Yes.”

  “Them’s strong words, lady. Prove it.”

  “Okay.”

  His pulse hammered as her hand moved down and unsnapped his jeans. Unerringly she found the zipper, and then her soft fingers insinuated themselves under the elastic of his briefs and curled possessively around the throbbing evidence of his arousal. He gasped as she stroked him.

  “Give?” she murmured.

  “Anything you want,” he groaned.

  “You know what I want.”

  “I think so,” he said, half laughing, half moaning. “Diana, if you don’t stop —”

  With tantalizing slowness she released him. “I want to undress you.”

  “You’ve already done half the job.”

  “Not really. I want to feel powerful, Zach. I want you in my power. Lie back and let me take off your clothes.”

  “As long as I can return the favor.”

  “Eventually.”

  “Eventually?” he protested. “How long is this—”

  “Be quiet and lie back.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He relaxed against the violet-patterned sheets.

  “Lift your arms up.”

  He did as she ordered, and she slid his shirt slowly up over his chest, pausing to kiss and nibble his skin. “Oh, Zach,” she sighed. “You’re so beautiful and brown.”

  “And you’re so beautiful and white. I love that about you.”

  Her nibbling stopped and she glanced up at him, her expression impossible to decipher. “Do you?”

  “Among other things.”

  “Well, I love this light-colored fur all over your chest,” she said. “I love running my fingers through it.”

  “That tickles.”

  “I thought maybe you weren’t ticklish.” Wickedness gleamed in her eyes.

  “I’m not.”

  “Hmm.” She pulled the shirt over his head and up his arms, kissing and tickling as she went, while he clamped his lips together to keep from laughing. “Now,” she said with a mischievous grin, holding his wrists bound with the shirt, “I have you captured.”

  He gazed back, allowing her to see the intensity of his emotions. Her smile faded. “Yes, you do,” he said simply.

  “But I’ll let you go,” she murmured, disengaging the shirt and looking away.

  “What if I don’t want to escape?” he asked softly.

  Her hands moved gradually over his chest and down to his waist. With lighting swiftness she pounced on him and sat astride his body. “Then I’ll tickle you until you cry out for mercy!” She made good her threat, until at last, laughing and breathless, he caught both her hands in one of his.

  “You’re a devil. Whatever happened to that sedate Widow Thatcher?”

  “I gave her the night off. Do you miss her?”

  “Not a bit. Come here.” He pulled her forward and kissed her hard on the lips. “Are you going to finish your job?” he mumbled against her mouth.

  “Right away.” Pushing herself up, she grasped his jeans at the waist and worked them over his hips.

  “You might want to search the pockets for buried treasure.”

  “Oh.” She found the stash of condoms and put them on the nightstand. “Good thinking.” Then she quickly removed his jeans, shoes and socks.

  That left only his cotton briefs, bulging with the evidence of his desire. He raised one eyebrow. “Well?”

  “I never believed in doing a job halfway.”

  “Good girl.”

  She slipped her fingers inside the wide elastic waistband and removed the last barrier.

  “My turn,” he said gently, reaching for her hand and drawing her down next to him.

  “I could look at you forever.” She gazed into his eyes as he began unbuttoning her blouse.

  “Fine with me.” He pushed the material aside and rubbed his palm in circles over her flat stomach. Forever. Was that the word he’d been searching for every time he thought of her? He watched her eyes as his fingers moved upward and unfastened the front clasp of her bra. Forever.

  Excitement glowed bright in her silver gaze as his hand moved under the wispy material and stroked across the silken mound of her breast. Forever. She arched upward, pressing the hard bud of her nipple against his palm, and he bent to take her moist eager mouth with ravenous lips. The taste of her satisfied his deepest hunger, and he slipped his arm behind her back and pulled her hard against his heated body. In that moment he knew he would not give her up so easily.

  Twelve

  Diana felt the change in mood from playful teasing to fierce desire, and she moaned deep in her throat as the rhythmic thrust of Zach’s tongue told her what he wanted. Breathing heavily, he lifted his mouth from hers while he fumbled with the button and zipper of her slacks and shoved the material impatiently over her hips.

  She wriggled out of the slacks and kicked off her shoes as he reached for the delicate lace of her panties. Soon those joined the pile of clothing in a heap on the floor. He slipped one arm under her knees and another behind her shoulders to lift her higher onto the bed. Then, not seeming to care that her blouse and unfastened bra still clung to her body, he deftly put on a condom and moved over her, bracing himself on outstretched arms propped on either side of her head.

  The fire in his blue eyes was a more powerful aphrodisiac than any orchestrated prelude to love, and she opened herself willingly, eager to satisfy his unspoken demand. Then he was there, filling her, wiping away the emptiness of the past. His gaze, dark with possessive intensity, held hers captive as their movements increased in tempo. The silken material of her blouse twisted under her back as she grasped his shoulders and writhed under him.

  Her lips formed his name, and she saw his mouth curve gently, knowingly, before passion blurred her vision and her fingers dug into the rock-hard muscles of his shoulders. Violent spasms shook her body. Faintly she heard his voice above her, murmuring soft words as he continued his sensual movements, prolonging the sensations that spun through her.

  Before the coil of tension could relax, she felt it tightening again, and she gasped out her surprise. With a delighted chuckle he lowered his body close to hers and nuzzled her throat.

  “Yes, Diana,” Zach whispered as her breathing accelerated with the persistent rocking of his hips against hers. “And this time I’ll be with you.”

  His breath was hot against her neck. She licked the salty film covering his shoulder and nipped the bronzed skin as he pushed her closer, closer. She felt as malleable as soft clay, and she lost the distinction between his body and hers. Faster and faster they blended, one with the other, driving toward an inevitable fusion. At last it arrived—a mind-shattering explosion that burst triumphantly through the barriers each had created. With cries of joy they clung together in the whirlpool of sensation, holding tightly to the person who had become a part of the other—forever.

  * * *

  They lay in silence for long moments. Finally Zach started to speak, cleared his throat and tried again. The huskiness in his voice probably revealed more than his words. “The game’s changing.”

  Diana’s eyes fluttered open. She stared at the ceiling, and her voice was almost too soft for him to hear. “I know.”

  He raised himself up on one arm. “Diana—”

  She turned her head and laid a finger across his lips. “Later,” she whispered. “Let’s enjoy every moment of our time together. We’ll sort out the problems later.”

  “Maybe there won’t be problems.”

  Her lips curved in a sad smile, but she said nothing.

  “All right. Later.” He kissed her briefly. “I’m thirsty. Let’s have some more wine.”

  Diana fluffed the pillows, and they propp
ed themselves up in bed to drink the wine from a single goblet. He watched her over the rim of the glass while she laughingly rid herself of the rumpled garments he hadn’t bothered to take off earlier. As she threw them with a flourish on the pile of clothes on the floor, her unfettered breasts swayed seductively, and he felt desire pulsing through him again.

  He handed her the wineglass, and once she had swallowed the last of the red liquid, he took the goblet from her and bent close to lick a tiny drop from the corner of her mouth. Her breath quivered around his tongue as it flicked teasingly over her wine-drenched lips. His hand, still holding the goblet, reached blindly for the bedside table, and then he toppled her under him, his whole being crazy with wanting.

  A new richness wove itself into their lovemaking throughout the night. Self-consciousness disappeared, and when their stomachs began to growl with hunger, they spread a picnic supper in the middle of the bed and ate without bothering to put on clothes. They showered together, shared jokes and pieces of their past. And most of all, they loved, without naming the emotion that replaced the need for sleep with the need to submerge themselves in each other.

  When morning came, Zach leaped out of bed. “Let’s go somewhere today.”

  “Together? I don’t think that would look—”

  “Out of town, then. How about New Salem? I should see the place, anyway, get the feel of Lincoln’s earlier years, before he moved to Springfield.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come on. You won’t meet anyone you know. I bet everyone there will be from Wyoming or someplace like that.”

  Diana laughed. “Okay. I haven’t driven to New Salem in ages.”

  “And don’t take any money. You’re on a date with me today.”

  “Pretty free with your spending, aren’t you?”

  He sobered. “That’s not your concern anymore.”

  The pain they’d tried to submerge surfaced in her eyes. “No, I guess not.”

  He forced a smile. “Besides, in a few short months I’ll be in the chips.”

  “Oh?”

  “But that’s a secret I’ll save for later. Get dressed, moon goddess. We’re spending an entire day together, with no girls, no neighbors, no worries. Right?”

  “Right.”

  Zach was in his element, touring New Salem with its reconstructed log cabins and rustic flavor. He steeped Diana in historical lore with as much authority as she had once initiated him into the wonders of a state fair.

  They drove home at dusk, passionately debating the merits and disadvantages of pioneer living.

  Their night together, colored with the joy of a day in each other’s company, held the warmth of friendship as well as the heat of desire. And while darkness still lay beyond the lowered blinds, they avoided discussing what would happen at daybreak.

  At last a crack of dull gray appeared between the sill and the shade, as they both had known it would, and they gazed into each other’s eyes in recognition. Their charmed hours, wrested out of time, were gone.

  Gently he reached out and traced her kiss-swollen lips, which only moments before had been smiling at a childhood memory she’d revealed. Now her face was solemn, waiting. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

  “No more than you.”

  “You know what I have to say.” His gaze roved her face, searching for reassurance. “I can’t let you go, Diana. You mean too much to me. We mean too much to each other.”

  She shook her head and swallowed hard. “It won’t work.”

  “Some good news came in the mail on Wednesday,” he said, pushing past her objections. “That’s the secret I was saving. I’ve been invited to interview at Stanford next month. I’m a serious candidate.”

  “I’m happy for you, but —”

  “Don’t you understand? I’m going to land that job, and then—”

  “No, Zach.”

  “Diana, please. Marry me.”

  Her eyes filled with tears, and her face was a mask of anguish.

  He rushed to reassure her. “Not this minute, of course. We can wait until the job is certain. And I understand we can’t live together until then, but maybe by Christmas. I could face the separation if I had that to keep me going.”

  “What about the girls?”

  “What about them? I love them. You know that. We’d be a happy family—you, me and the girls. I recognize now that a family is very important to me. A professorship at Stanford would support us, especially if you teach music.”

  “Zach, you don’t understand.” Her gray eyes reflected misery. “I couldn’t move the girls to California.”

  “Why not? Allison said she’d love to see the ocean and movie stars.”

  “Yes, but did you ask her if she wanted to leave Springfield permanently, say goodbye to friends she’s known since first grade and start over in a brand-new school?”

  Zach studied her face, not answering. Then he looked away. “No, I didn’t.” He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. “But kids can adapt to change, usually better than adults.” He began to pace the room.

  “Sometimes they can,” she said. “But Allison and Laurie aren’t like the kids you’re used to in California. They were born and raised here. They’re not world travelers. Their security is here, especially now that they have no father. They’ve got their hands full adapting to that change.”

  “Dammit, I can help! You’ve said yourself I provide a needed male influence for them.”

  “I know, and they care for you, but not enough to be uprooted from everything they’ve ever known.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “I asked Laurie.”

  “When?”

  “Remember the incident with Jenny? After that blowup, Laurie stayed in the kitchen while you and Allison worked on the chicken coop. She hinted that you and I should get married.”

  “Smart girl, that Laurie.”

  “But when I explained that your future would be in California and marriage would mean all of us moving there, she dropped the idea like a hot potato. She’s determined to attend Lanphier High School. I’m sure Allison would answer the same way.”

  “I’d like to talk with them.”

  “No.”

  He wheeled and walked back toward her. “Why not? Afraid I could change their minds?”

  She propped herself on one elbow. “As a matter of fact, yes. If they both believed we wanted to get married, and their wishes stood in the way of our happiness, they’d give in. And possibly resent it the rest of their lives.”

  “But their wishes are standing in the way of our happiness. Don’t you care about that?”

  “At this moment our wishes are not as important as theirs.”

  “The hell they’re not! I happen to love you, Diana Thatcher!”

  “Oh, Zach!”

  “And I believe you love me.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Of course I do,” she whispered.

  He lowered himself beside her and bent to cup her face in both hands. “That’s all I have to know,” he said, brushing at her damp cheeks with his thumbs. “The girls will understand. All right, so Christmas is too soon. They can finish out the school year, and then all three of you will come to California.” He buried his fingers in her soft hair. “I can have a house waiting, if you like, or wait until you—”

  “No.”

  His fingers tightened against her scalp. “Diana, you just admitted you love me.”

  “I also love the girls, and I won’t drag them out to California next summer.”

  “The girls will be fine!”

  She wrenched away from him and slid out of bed. “I don’t believe that. I have to be able to live with myself, Zach. The answer is no.” She walked around the bed to the closet and pulled out her robe.

  He stood up and faced her across the room. “What’s your suggestion, then? All my study has been directed toward a professorship at Stanford. Do you expect me to give that up?”

  �
��Of course not,” she said, tying the robe’s belt around her waist.

  “Diana, we love each other!”

  She looked at him bleakly. “Don’t you see? That’s irrelevant.”

  “Irrelevant?” He was incredulous.

  “Yes. Our love doesn’t change the fact that I need to stay here with the girls and you need to pursue your opportunities in California. It’s over, Zach.”

  “No. I won’t accept that.”

  “You have no choice.” She turned away from him.

  Pain lanced through him. “My God, Diana. I can’t believe you would give up everything we could have together, just because neither you nor the girls are willing to leave the security of this town. What do you want to do, shrivel up and die here?”

  “Excuse me. I have to feed the dog,” she murmured, hurrying out the bedroom door.

  “Damn the dog! Damn your duties and obligations! You don’t know how to live, Diana!” he called after her.

  * * *

  For the next few hours they treated each other like polite strangers. Diana kept busy, laundering every item that could conceivably be cleaned, including curtains and small throw rugs, while Zach made trip after trip from his room to his Jeep with armloads of disorganized belongings.

  By midmorning the Jeep was piled high, and above the creaking, scraping noises of the washing machine, she heard the sound of Zach pacing in his bedroom. He was packed, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave. She listened to his even tread across the wooden floor as the washer whirled into its spin cycle. Then suddenly she couldn’t hear his footsteps over the clanking, buzzing noises coming from the washer, and the machine began rocking violently.

  “Don’t you dare!” she cried as the noise became deafening. “Don’t you dare break now!”

  The clanking grew louder and more ominous, until with one final groan the washer stopped.

  “Dammit!” She kicked the machine with all her might and beat on the closed lid with clenched fists while she used every swear word she knew. Then she made up some more as tears poured down her cheeks.

  She didn’t realize Zach was behind her until his strong arms wrapped around her flailing arms and drew her back against him.

  “Take it easy,” he crooned. “Stop, Diana. Turn around and let me hold you.”