“What type of work did he do?”
“He was an attorney. We drifted apart. A few years into the marriage, he became obsessed with his collection of cars and paid more attention to them than he did to me. By the time he lost his job, we were already teetering on the edge of divorce, barely speaking to each other. That pushed him over the edge. He couldn’t handle me being the sole breadwinner, so to speak. We split shortly after that.” Sadness filled her voice.
“Who initiated each divorce?”
“I did.”
“I see,” Clive said slowly.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Renee asked.
“Don’t get offended, but what you said has me thinking that maybe all along you were looking for something each time you got married.”
“Aren’t we all?”
“I suppose…to some degree, but you clearly didn’t find what you were looking for. In all honesty, I’m doing some looking myself.”
“I’ll be candid with you, the way you were with me. I’m set in my ways, and I’m not going to change. I’m not looking for another husband, either.”
Clive laughed and shook his head.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I was thinking about how much I enjoy your honesty. It makes it easier for me to be forthright. I’m stuck in my ways too, and I’ve had my kids—three total and my granddaughter. You’ve met Chelsea. My oldest son is in Japan, madly in love with a co-worker and planning an elaborate proposal. My younger son plays minor league baseball in Florida. I’m certainly not looking for more children. I don’t work anymore, but I have a nice retirement, so I won’t feel threatened by the nice retirement I’m sure you have. Most of all, I’m not interested in turning someone into something they’re not.”
“Good. As long as you’re clear on that.”
“Something else I should make clear, is that everything about you drives me crazy. Your lips especially, when you’re angry.”
“You like to see me angry?”
“Absolutely.”
Renee angled her body toward his. “What else?”
“Fishing for compliments?”
“A little.”
His forefinger traced a line from the bottom of her jaw, over her neck to her shoulder. “This spot right here has been causing me problems. This collarbone. These cheekbones. These eyes.”
She breathed slowly as his hands caressed her skin after each accusation.
“Any other parts of me you find intriguing?”
“I’m trying to be polite.”
“Don’t be polite,” she said quietly.
He silently assessed her. “Where do we go from here, neighbor?”
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
“We could order dinner and watch a little TV. Then have some more sex.”
“More sex?”
She arched an eyebrow but didn’t appear at all turned off by the suggestion. Matter of fact, her torso arched ever so slightly toward him. He was certain she didn’t even notice.
“More sex,” he confirmed.
He pulled her naked body atop his, and she slid a leg between his thighs. Her skin was so smooth and soft, he groaned.
“I realize I have more work to do. I’m not just trying to be the best white man you’ve ever had. I want to be the best sex you’ve ever had.”
“That’s going to take time and effort,” she said, running her fingertips through the hair at his temple.
“Guess what?” he whispered, pushing his thick fingers into her short hair.
“What?” she whispered back, eyes locked on his.
“I’ve got plenty of time, and I’m willing to put forth the effort.”
Tightening his fingers in her hair, he gently tugged back her head, and she moaned as his mouth connected with her arched throat.
10
Renee locked her front door and started the short trek across the grass to where Clive stood waiting, leaning against the passenger side of his truck with his feet crossed at the ankles. He looked absolutely scrumptious all dressed up—wearing dress shoes and tan slacks.
Since the first night they slept together, they had slept together three more times, but tonight he’d said he wanted to do something different. He invited her out to dinner. He wanted to go to his favorite burger joint—Stanley O’s Burgers near Ocean Beach. She’d tried to coerce him into visiting her favorite Mexican restaurant, Habanero, which she hadn’t been to in a while, but finally gave in because he spoke so highly of the burger place.
As she walked across the grass, he watched with a faint smile on his lips as if he couldn’t tear his eyes away and made her feel—not simply like an object of lust—but like a person who was deeply desired. Someone he wanted to spend time with. After three divorces, she wondered if there was something inherently wrong with her, but doubts about her appeal to the opposite sex wavered in his presence.
“I’m gonna have to beat off all the men in that place,” he commented, pushing off the truck.
Renee glided into his open arms and accepted his kiss. That was another thing about him. He was very affectionate, which she had to get used to. He thought nothing of reaching to hold her hand or dropping a random kiss to her neck. Men were usually affectionate in the early stages of a relationship, but she hadn’t been in the early stages of a relationship in quite a while—thirteen years, at least. So Clive’s behavior felt new and foreign, and she still wasn’t accustomed to it.
“And why is that?” she asked.
“Because you look so good and smell so good.” He twisted them around so that she was against the truck, and pressed his face to the crook in her neck. Doing a combination sniff-and-kiss, he made her skin tingle.
“Should I be worried about this wonderful burger joint you’re taking me to? We can still go to Habanero.”
“The minute you used the word fusion and paired it with the word Mexican, I knew that place wasn’t for me.”
“But the food is delicious,” she said, leaning toward him and pressing her hands against his chest.
“Uh-huh. Authentic, too, I bet.”
She shot him her signature look of disapproval usually reserved for her students. “The food is excellent and you’d know if you tried it.”
He leaned closer, casting a shadow over her and placing her in a little cocoon of heat. “Get in the truck, Buttercup. I’m starving, and when I get this hungry, I’m liable to eat anything in sight.”
His nostrils flared ever so slightly and the temperature in their little cocoon increased by fifteen degrees.
“You are so filthy.”
“I know. Don’t you just hate it?” His smoky voice dropped lower and his signature smirk appeared.
He dipped his head and she lifted her lips. No hands. No pressing against each other. Their connection was more erotic because they didn’t touch. The torture of deprivation enhanced the kiss as their mouths moved with familiar ardor against each other.
Finally, Clive groaned and yanked her flush against his body. He lifted his head and their breaths merged in the tiny space between.
“You know, we could put off eating and go back to your place,” he said in a husky, hungry voice.
Renee laughed shakily to dispel the haze of lust that had temporarily consumed her. “You promised me the best burger in San Diego, and I’m ready for it.”
Clive groaned. “My ability to sell has done me in again.”
Laughing with genuine humor this time, Renee climbed into the truck, and he shut the door. He paused for a moment outside, and time stood still as they looked at each other through the window. There was a tiny shift that she couldn’t quite put her finger on but recognized in that brief moment. Their relationship had changed. They weren’t just sleeping together. This was their first date, and the magnitude of this moment was not lost on her, and apparently not on him either.
Clive rounded the front of the truck and climbed in. Once he hit the road, he placed a hand on Renee
’s knee, demonstrating his affectionate nature once again. Holding her breath, Renee placed her hand over his, doing her best not to live up to the accusation of her last lover—that she had intimacy issues.
He turned away briefly from the road and smiled at her, and she relaxed, smiling back and absorbing the silence of riding in the comfort of the truck’s cab, on the way to dinner with her man.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Clive came around and opened her door and also held open the door of Stanley O’s Burgers so she could pass in ahead of him. They walked up to the counter and perused the options. The restaurant contained eight tables sprinkled around the small dining room, and dimmed bulbs that offset the glare of the street lights coming in from the wall to ceiling windows. Behind the counter was a chalkboard with the handwritten specials of the night, as well as a permanent board that listed all the regular menu items.
“Know what you want?” Clive’s left arm snaked around her waist, and she leaned back into the strength of his chest.
Renee shook her head. “What do you suggest?”
“I always get the same thing—the American cheeseburger, which comes with bacon.”
“Hmm. I’m going to get the California, with the guacamole, and the sweet potato fries.”
“I’m sure you will not be disappointed. What do you want to drink?”
“Tonight’s drink special is a root beer float, so I’ll have one of those.”
“I missed that. I’ll have one, too.” Clive slipped away to pay for their meal and took the numbered flag, which he placed on the table when they sat down at a table near the window.
“How did you find this place?” Renee asked.
“My daughter found it, actually. One night after she and her coworkers left work, they stopped in here on a whim. She and her friends all enjoyed their meals, so she told me about it because she knows how much I love a good burger.”
“How did your son’s proposal go?”
“She said yes.” Clive grinned.
“That’s wonderful! You’re about to have a new addition to your family.”
Clive laughed. “She’s a great girl. When he called and asked for my opinion, I wasn’t sure he’d go through with the proposal. I’m glad he listened to his old man.”
“There was no way for you to know that she would say yes.”
“And there was no way for him to know that she’d say no, unless he asked. If you want something, you gotta go after it. I learned that playing football.”
“How long did you play?”
“Until I busted up my knee in college and couldn’t play anymore, but it was fun while it lasted.” He shrugged dismissively, but she saw the disappointment in his face.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Were you planning to go pro?”
“I was never good enough for pro,” he said with a shake of his head. “But I had a great time. Enough about me. What made you want to become a teacher?”
Renee was surprised by the quick change of subject, as if he didn’t want her to learn any more about him. Which was odd, since she considered him one of the most open people that she knew.
“My mother was big on giving back. She required my brothers and me to do volunteer work, whether it was in the community, at church, or both. During the holidays we volunteered at the food bank and the homeless shelter. During the school year, I had a part-time job but managed to squeeze in tutoring elementary school kids a couple of times per week. One of the instructors told me I was a natural and suggested I go into teaching.
“At the time I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I thought something in business administration or even nursing. I literally had no clue what I wanted to be when I grew up.” She laughed at her naïveté at the time. “But when she made that suggestion, something clicked, and I knew I was meant to be a teacher. English was my strongest subject. From then on, I worked my butt off and always earned A’s. Now, here I am, twenty-three years later, and I’ll be retiring in a couple of years.”
Clive had listened closely while she talked and now asked, “What will you do when you retire?”
“I don’t know. I might work harder to turn editing into a real business. Or maybe I’ll just lounge around the house like my neighbor, Clive.”
He chuckled. “Being able to relax does have its advantages.”
The food arrived ten minutes later and Renee bit into the burger. It was juicy, the guacamole clearly freshly made, and the toasted bun was just the additional added detail to make the meal even better.
“Well?”
Renee swallowed and shook her head in disbelief. “You were right. This is one excellent burger.”
“Don’t ever doubt me again,” he said, and bit into his burger.
“Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“Next time, we’ll go to Habanero. I think you’ll like it.” She’d experienced a bit of nerves as the sentence left her lips because it meant she saw them doing more of these kinds of activities.
“I promise to consider it,” he said.
“Thank you,” Renee said.
Then she enjoyed the rest of her burger.
11
She was either a new fool or an old fool. Either way, Renee was a fool for enjoying the time she spent with Clive way too much.
Covering her nakedness with a robe, she slid her feet into fluffy pink bedroom slippers. In a few minutes, Clive would exit the bathroom and she’d escort him to the front door. That had been their routine for the past couple of weeks.
Tonight they’d gone to the burger joint again. He loved to eat there and she had to admit the food was good. On each date she was surprised by his chivalry. She’d come to expect men to be the opposite of chivalrous, and as a woman who made her own money and took care of herself, it was a nice change to be taken care of.
Renee was smiling to herself when Clive exited the bathroom.
“Guess I’ll head out,” he said, lifting his white shirt from the foot of the bed.
“Got to go home for the girls?”
Clive buttoned his shirt. “No. Margie’s spending the weekend at her cousins’ house, and Chelsea went out with her coworkers.”
“So you don’t have to go home yet?”
“Not really.” Clive paused, eyeing her with something akin to suspicion. “Why do you ask?”
“I thought if you wanted to stay and watch a movie or something…” Renee shrugged.
“Or something?” He cocked an eyebrow and a lascivious smile spread across his lips.
Renee rested her hands on her hips. “We already did something. Maybe we can watch a movie. Of course, if you’d rather go home to an empty house…” She shrugged again.
Actually, she didn’t want to stay alone in her empty house. She wanted Clive to stay. They’d become much more relaxed in each other’s presence, and on the days they didn’t see each other—she hated to admit—she missed him.
“My house isn’t empty. Samson is there. But, I don’t have anything else to do. To be clear, are you inviting me to spend the night?”
“You might as well.”
“Is that a request or a demand?”
“Call it whatever you want,” Renee said.
“Can’t bring yourself to say it, can you? That you want me to stay. That you want to spend more time with me.”
“Do you want to spend the night or not?” Renee asked with an exaggerated sigh.
Clive chuckled. “Only if I get to choose the movie. Something with lots of shooting and fighting and explosions.”
“Oh, goody, a movie with a bunch of macho men blowing things up. Sounds like fun.”
“You like macho men,” he said.
She did now. “Huh. Whatever.”
With a knowing smirk, he strolled over to where she stood and leaned toward her. “Tell the truth, I’m much more fun than those stuffy men you’ve dated in the past. And whether you want to admit it or not, my movie choice will be more entertaining than what
you had in mind, which was probably a movie about feelings or something equally boring.”
“Oh, look, you just reminded me that I don’t like you.”
He laughed. “I’ll find something on TV. Hurry up.” He gave her a kiss and then a swift pat on the butt.
Renee grabbed her bottom even though the blow didn’t hurt. “Would you please stop smacking my behind.”
“Why? It’s so smackable.” He flashed a grin that made her want to grab him for a longer kiss. “Oh, that reminds me, I’m having friends over for the Fourth of July. There’ll be plenty of food and drinks. You should come.”
“I usually spend the Fourth at Adelaide’s. She always prepares a nice spread and has friends over.”
“Come afterward. We’ll be partying all night.”
“I’ll only come if you promise to keep the noise down.”
“I’ll do my best, but let’s be real, on the Fourth there will be plenty of noise all over the neighborhood.”
Renee arched an eyebrow at him.
“I won’t promise something I can’t deliver,” Clive said.
“At least keep your guest cars on one side of the street and be respectful of our neighbors. If you like, some of your guests can park in my driveway.”
“That’s awfully nice of you. Does that mean you’re coming?”
“I guess,” Renee said airily.
“You know you want to come.”
“Oh, you think so?”
“Just say yes.”
“Fine. Yes.”
“Thank you for gracing us with your presence. While you get dressed, I’ll go check on our movie options.” Clive started out the door.
“Wait a minute, I have a question. Why did smacking my butt remind you of the Fourth of July barbecue?”
“Oh, because of a conversation I had with one of my friends—Jayson—who you’ll meet on the Fourth. Months ago I told him that you had a bad attitude but a great ass, and it was posing quite a dilemma for me.” He flashed another sexy grin and left.
Seasoned Page 6