LOVE in a Small Town (Ladies of Legend Boxed Set)

by Janet Eaves

  “For new beginnings.”

  ****

  “What the hell?”

  Jim stared at the large smelly mounds of animal feces covering a very large portion of his football field. “Call Patsy and tell her to get Marcus and his deputies out of bed, then call the boys and tell them practice is being moved but we don’t know where or when yet, so sit tight ‘til they hear from us.”

  “Looks like horse shit to me.”

  Jim nodded. “Yeah. Smells like it, too.” He turned to Bobby Filmore, his first assistant coach. They had arrived early, just past daybreak. His joy at driving the topless, brand-spanking-new Jeep, filled with all kinds of new sports equipment which was to have been a surprise for the team, melted like a candle in the sun.

  The surprise was on him. “Has that Larkstone smell all over it.”

  Bobby blew out a breath that ended in a fit of coughing. “Yep.”

  The two men eyed each other. Bobby pulled the kerchief he used as a penalty flag during practices from his back pocket and covered his nose and mouth. “How do we clean this up?”

  Jim studied the problem for a moment. “We don’t. We’re going to let Marcus take care of it.”

  Bobby snort-laughed behind the cloth barrier making it fly up. “Pissed at him or something?”

  Jim grinned. “Nope. Payback. He gave me a ticket last week just because I wanted to see how fast the Infinity would go around the lake. This should make us even.” Jim pinched and released his nose. “Naw. I figure he’ll make a call or two and Larkstone will deny they know anything about it. We’ll have to get Taylor Tucker out here and see what he can do. Most likely it’ll stink until we get a few good rains.”

  Both men eyed the sky, sighed, and then glanced at each other. They were already several inches behind on the annual rainfall scale and the sky couldn’t have been clearer. Bobby took a few steps to head to his truck. “I’m off, then. I gotta get the Boosters’ phone team going before the boys head this way.”

  “No!” Jim looked over the field again and came to a decision. “Don’t call them. Let them come and play in this mess and let’s see who has killer instinct come Friday night.”

  Bobby whistled a long and steady note. “Damn, Jim. They’ll have us up on murder charges.”

  Jim nodded in satisfaction. “Yep!”

  Bobby whistled again, only this time it was a wolf whistle. “Who is that?” Jim followed Bobby’s gaze to the parking lot. He actually felt his heart knock against his chest cavity. There she was. Lanky, lean, and looking all business. Her tiny but long frame complemented the charcoal suit. The casual stride made a gentle bell-ringing motion of the slightly-above-the-knee skirt showing off those gorgeous legs. Her gaze was locked on him, unwavering, unreadable. That mouth, every luscious inch of it, was pressed together in determination? In agitation? He didn’t know. He just wanted those lips on him.

  “Well, now. Looks like I’m not needed at the moment. I’ll take care of those calls for you.”

  Jim nodded without taking his eyes off Lilly. Seconds later he watched as Bobby and Lilly acknowledged each other, and then her eyes focused on him once more. She strode the last hundred or so feet as his pulse spiked, his heart pounded, and the rest of him went on full alert. The scene on the field, the scents that had offended only seconds before, and the anger that had rocked him to the core dissolved at the sight of her.

  “Get over it.” Lilly walked into his arms and took his lips with her own.

  Jim didn’t know what it was he was supposed to get over, but that, at the moment, was the least of his concerns.

  Up close she took over every one of the five senses he possessed.

  She smelled like sin. At the breaking of a new day… and she smelled like sin. Wonderful, spicy, hot, sexy sin. And he couldn’t get enough of it. She felt like woman. Not just any woman, but the woman his arms were supposed to hold. He couldn’t get enough of that either.

  A niggle of sanity, or sports-superstition, tried to remind him of all the reasons he should pull back but he couldn’t and wouldn’t let any of those thoughts form. Both awake and asleep (when he actually got a chance to sleep), he dreamed of holding her, devouring her, and making love to her until neither of them could walk, or talk, or breathe.

  He wanted to take her here, now, while they were both lost in the passion of the moment. Because she was just as lost as he was.

  Her breath rasped as she alternately sucked his tongue and chewed on his lips, pulled his hair and squeezed him close. Moans, purrs, and growls radiated from her throat as her body gyrated against his, and his body reacted in the only way it could. He was beyond full arousal, nearly bursting, actually bordering on agony as he tried to hold back.

  Sanity and superstition had no place now. The need to please, to pleasure, to give Lilly whatever she needed, wanted, craved, was his only goal. His mission.

  Chapter Six

  His mouth was everything she remembered. Everything she needed. Nearly everything she craved. His hands were everywhere; her face, her throat, her shoulders, her breast, and on he went as if taking inventory, assessing, storing, adoring.

  He lifted her and held her tightly against him, kept her lips locked to his, as he headed in the direction of the parking area. He stopped at the passenger’s door-less entry to his white jeep, and allowed her to slide down his incredibly aroused body before releasing her lips. He studied her, his breaths as agitated as her own. That slow slide of a smile appeared, and Lilly smiled back.

  “Your place or mine?” Jim asked.

  “Yours.”

  “Good.”

  Jim kissed her lightly and handed her a step up into the Jeep. Its sparkling clean interior and exterior as well as the plastic-covered floor mats indicated its newness.

  “Buckle up. It’s going to be a hard ride.”

  Excitement, nerves, and need had her nearly shaking in her seat as Jim slammed the Jeep into gear. She placed one hand on the padded dash and the other grasped her seat as they rocketed from the high school’s parking lot onto First Street. Jim followed the path she took going to Suzie’s B&B. As they turned onto Lake Road she looked at Jim for the first time since leaving the school’s grounds. “I want to go to your place. Not the B&B.”

  Jim flashed her a grin, although it looked a little strained. “Don’t worry. We are. I have no intention of going to Suzie’s house. I’m on down about a quarter mile.”

  Lilly exhaled, relieved. She didn’t want this to be for anyone else’s eyes either. This was going to be for her and him. Them alone. No one else need ever know. It wasn’t like she had any expectations beyond the moment. She wasn’t ready to put herself out that far since it was crazy, even ridiculous to expect Jim to want more from her than sex. She didn’t really know if she would ever want more from him. They didn’t know each other. But there was no harm in enjoying what they both wanted today. What she needed, today.

  She barely registered the dark sedan approaching them as they drove past the entry gates in front of Legend’s Landing Bed & Breakfast. There was too much pleasure to be had as the cool wind ruffled her hair and the artistic beauty of the unchanging pine trees and their vividly colorful companions. Wildlife in the form of three deer waited politely at the side of the road at the next driveway, so still she wasn’t certain if they were real. There was no reason to look back to see if they moved once Jim passed by, she didn’t care, nor did she want to think, only to experience.

  Every sensation.

  The energy of the wind, the scents of fresh country air, the sounds of life awakening, the feel of this man’s hands on her. His lips on her. His body covering hers as he brought to completion all that his former actions promised. Yes, every sensation!

  On the lake side of the road a solid rock fence broke the serenity of the naturally forested roadway. Jim slowed as he pressed a series of numbers on a little black box to the right of his steering column. Lilly’s mouth fell open as they approached two very large, intricately d
ecorated, arched iron gates which slowly swung outward.

  Jim glanced at her, one eyebrow arched, his eyes alight with amusement. “Home.”

  Lilly snapped her mouth closed and turned to stare straight ahead. She was speechless as his house came into view. Unlike the gates, the house belonged in its setting. The two story, porch encircled, humongous ranch style log cabin with the freestanding eight car garage off to its back and side, surrounded by a large front yard that was both cleared in places and heavily wooded in others, made several statements about the man at her side. He was male. He was very wealthy. And he didn’t apologize for it.

  Lilly slid him a glance. “Wow.”

  Jim laughed. “Thanks. I like it.”

  ****

  Slick, clean, and huge.

  That was what she noticed as she stepped through the front door. The wild passion that carried her from the high school to his home had leveled off some. Not completely, but enough for her curiosity to take over.

  The sheer size of everything was mind-boggling. The sixteen foot bluish-grey with streaks of rust slate walled entryway sparkled on both sides with a cascading waterfall that fell behind six-foot tall glass aquariums. Each aquarium spanned the length of the foyer, a good ten feet, and was packed with aquatic plants and animals of such variety and color there was no way to catalogue them as they swam and swayed.

  Jade trees, potted elephant grass, and a variety of hanging vines transformed the Under the Sea world into bright sunshine as the foyer led to a large open room whose domed thirty-foot ceiling converged into a sky-lit peak. The skylight had a variety of plate size shapes scattered throughout the glass in the form of stars, a moon, comets, and planets. They reflected deep toned blues, purples, greens, reds, and yellows against the highly polished oak log walls and drew the eye to the mezzanine style walkway which she assumed lead to bedrooms.

  Bedazzled and a little dizzy, Lilly lowered her gaze to take in the vast sunken living room area which could easily seat twenty or more guests, and was obviously the entertainment center of the room. Two long brown leather sofas shared an equally long slate coffee table between them. They faced each other and had two matching leather recliners at each end. The table had a three inch slit down its center that held a wide, two-sided flat-screen television that was currently up and playing a football game, visible on each side. Small surround-sound speakers were strategically positioned throughout the room so one could hear the action no matter where they were.

  The highly waxed oak floors, nearly the same shade as the highly waxed oak log walls, gleamed. The room also boasted a master kitchen done in stainless steel appliances with a monster grill island and a long bar, with matching stools, that separated the kitchen area from the living room. There were other tables and other chairs placed around the vast room as little conversation nooks. All in all the space was larger than she had seen in many of the more upscale hotel lobbies, and certainly could pass as a winter ski lodge that catered to wealthy guests.

  “Drink?”

  Lilly blinked and turned to Jim, embarrassed that she’d been gawking as she moved about the house. “Yes, please.”

  “Preference?”

  Lilly crossed to the bar as Jim entered the kitchen. She sat on one of the tall stools and ran her hands over the more polished surface that otherwise matched the foyer’s walls. Shaking her head, awed yet again, she placed her chin on her fist.

  “Wine?” Jim asked, grinning sheepishly. “Don’t drink it much myself, but Pita, my housekeeper, keeps it stocked for me. Or if you prefer, I have other drinks. Keep those in stock, mostly for the boys when they descend out of the blue, which happens often.”

  Lilly shivered, not from cold but from the realization that she’d found such a wonderful man when all she’d been expecting from the town of Legend was a place to exist in peace. He was a leader of men, an unassuming legend in a town made up of really nice people, and a mentor to young men on the verge of manhood. Until now, she had never known such a man existed.

  Maybe not a chill, Lilly considered. No, it was tingle—with a little nervous zing thrown in. Not an unpleasant sensation at all.

  Jim opened a set of camouflaged double doors, which looked as if they were a natural part of the log walls, to reveal a large collection of horizontally placed wine bottles along the top tiers of a refrigerated wine cooler. The lower levels held pullout drawers that held a variety of plastic water bottles, sports drinks, and juices. “Preference?” he asked again.

  Wine in the morning sounded decadent, and somewhat absurd, which sounded wonderfully silly. She had never had a chance to be absurd or silly in her life. That, had obviously changed! The fact that she had come home with a man she barely knew and was planning on having a wild bout of lovemaking with him made the thought of a few sips of an early morning alcoholic drink seem mundane in comparison.

  But a lifetime of control, of reserve, wasn’t something she could comfortably undo in a matter of days. The realization of what she had committed herself to, of what she was about to do, made a little wine seem almost necessary. She bit her bottom lip, raised an eyebrow, and then grinned. Why not? “White?”

  Jim picked up a list tucked into the door and studied it for a moment. He turned to the racks and pointed across and down before pulling out a magnum bottle. She bit her lip to keep from commenting on how different their lives were, both past and present. The man had a special place for wine he didn’t like to drink and needed a list to find in which grid it was stored. When she bothered to buy wine, less frequently as the years passed, it usually cost less than ten bucks a bottle.

  When he turned the bottle over and the fancy French label faced her, a chill ran up her spine. She knew the brand. Had seen it served to what she had once believed was a multitude of family and friends many times growing up. It wasn’t until later she had learned all her Uncles weren’t really family members and her Aunts were, more often than not, part of Big Daddy’s prostitution work force.

  She’d been given a glass on her eighteenth birthday, before her life had so drastically changed. Knew the price tag that went with it. And knew that was a life she had never envisioned having again. Never wanted again.

  She opened her mouth to tell Jim to forget about opening the bottle. To forget about everything. Then found she couldn’t speak. He was gorgeous. Ridiculously gorgeous as he stood there reading the label, his head bent down in the same way as when he kissed her. One large, manly hand that had held many a football now held the thick bottle with gentle ease.

  Just as he always held her.

  That flutter which always came with watching him, thinking of him, wanting him, had her sliding out of her seat. She couldn’t, and wouldn’t, compare this man’s wealth with that of those who raised her. Jim’s was earned without the taint of pain or blood. He earned his money fairly and bought many of his possessions for the pleasure of others.

  And he was such a nice guy. Why wasn’t he….

  “Have you ever been married?”

  Surprised brown eyes turned her way.

  “Yes.”

  Lilly tugged her bottom lip with her teeth, released it. Uncertain why the question had popped out of her mouth just then, she back-pedaled. “I’m sorry. That was prying.”

  Jim shrugged. “It’s no secret.” He frowned for a second before opening a drawer and pulling out a corkscrew. “She liked being the wife of a professional football player. High school coach? Not so much.” He sent her a glance. “It lasted less than two years.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Jim smiled at her with that slow slide of a smile she was coming to associate with his response to pleasure. She relaxed.

  “Sad part is I realized it was no big deal. And a good lesson.”

  “Soured you on relationships?” Lilly couldn’t believe how bold she was being but she couldn’t imagine any woman caring about this man’s money when there was so much more to care about.

  Jim shrugged. “No, and yes. I like wom
en. I enjoy them. I’m just a little more careful about investing more than my money and time in them.”

  How could what she needed to hear feel like such a slap in the face? Lilly wondered.

  He frowned as he adjusted the cork screw atop the cork. “Figure I’ll know the right one when she comes along. My parents were a great example. Loved each other until the day Dad died and barely had a penny to their names. It was great making enough to send them on a European vacation before he passed.”

  “That was very nice of you.” And she meant it. To have loving memories. To be able and willing to do for those who had loved him and he had loved. This man was more special than he would ever know. “I don’t need your money but I would like to have some of your time.”

  Jim flashed a smile. “Let me open this bottle and you can have all the time you want.”

  Lilly walked around the bar and took the wine from his hands, then the corkscrew. She placed both on the bar. “Maybe later. I want you now.”

  As if permission was all he’d been waiting for, Lilly found herself in a whirlwind embrace. Her lips were smothered, her body covered, his hands all over her again and again.

  Finally! was all she could think as the jacket and then blouse were peeled from her shoulders, down her arms, and dropped to the floor. Fumbling at the clasp of her skirt then its loss came next as her lips were assaulted again, gloriously assaulted, by this man who told her without words how much he desired her. He backed her against the bar then lifted her to sit on its chilly surface in one swift motion. She stared at him stunned, shaking with need and fear, and anticipation as he licked the enhanced valley between her lace-covered breasts.

  He backed away, his pupils huge, his nostrils flaring with each shaking breath. That grin, that deliciously wicked grin was in place, full wattage, as he gently raised and kissed each foot before unsnapping, one by one, the garter’s hot pink fastenings. He growled in pleasure, increasing her own, and she made a mental note to thank Suzie for talking her into buying the sexy underwear set. Thoughts of her friend melted as he rolled each stocking down her legs, his hands worshiping each inch of skin as it was exposed, his eyes eating her alive. She could swear she felt teeth on her skin.