Secrets or Surrender

by Mary Tribbey

  Chapter 16

  It was early evening when Joan pulled up in front of the Grand Courtyard Suites Hotel. They entered the lobby and repeated the check-in procedure, only this time Joan didn’t panic when the desk clerk gave Dave one room key.

  After going to their suite, Dave and Joan walked down to the Ambassador Room for dinner. In the background, they could hear someone playing a piano and singing. Once they were seated at a table for two, the waiter brought over two menus. They studied the choices. When they had decided, Dave ordered for them. As they waited for the meal to be served, Dave reached across and took Joan’s hand in his. “I am so happy you are here with me, Joan. This has been so good for me. If I were sitting at home, alone, unable to practice, I think I would have gone crazy. This trip has meant so much to me, thanks to you,” he squeezed her hand and smiled contentedly.

  After the dinner was served, they talked happily. The lobster and steak were perfectly cooked, and the glass of wine relaxed them. The fire in the fireplace flickered and cast moving shadows on the tablecloth. Joan looked at Dave’s face and saw him wince with pain when he picked up his water goblet.

  “Have you found anything that might be good to use in the article, Joan?” he asked, changing the subject.

  “Everything I’ve heard would be good. The problem will be deciding what to include and what to leave out. We aren’t even finished with the trip, and I have enough information to almost write a book about you. You have done so much already in your career, and you’ve affected so many different people. It will be hard to leave anything or anyone out, but I’m hoping you will give me some ideas about what you want me to include,” she said.

  “I am hoping you can sort through all of the information and surprise me. I totally trust your judgment. We still have a couple of things to see in Seattle and then there are some other things to see and do when we get back to Los Angeles. What have you enjoyed the most, so far?” Dave asked.

  “There have been so many high points. I loved talking to Coach Thompson and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting your parents. I have loved watching you as you relate to other people. I’m a lifelong people watcher, and you are a fascinating person to watch,” Joan admitted with a slight blush.

  On the way back to their room, Joan stopped and picked up a couple of things from the hotel gift shop. Dave waited for her to finish and then walked beside her to the elevator.

  Once back in the hotel suite, they settled down on the large cream colored sofa. Joan noticed Dave wincing again as he began to remove his jacket. She leaned over and gently helped pull the left sleeve off and then slid the right one off his injured arm. “Dave, I’m afraid this trip is too hard on your shoulder. Between the driving, flying, and things you’ve done, I can see you are in pain. Do you need a pain pill?”

  “I hate taking medicine. I should be able to get along without it,” he said.

  “Let me help you take off your shirt. I want to see if your shoulder looks swollen or bruised,” she said.

  Joan moved over and helped him unbutton his shirt and then carefully slid it off his body. She next gently removed his undershirt. She stood behind him and gently touched his shoulder. “It is red and swollen compared to the other shoulder. Let me see if I can help you. I bought this earlier in the hotel shop,” she said. “Please lie down on the couch.”

  She went into the bathroom and returned with a plastic bag filled with crushed ice and a damp towel. Gently, she wrapped the ice bag in the damp towel and placed it on his shoulder. She moved it slowly, gently across his swollen shoulder. Gradually, the pain began easing as the coldness worked its soothing magic. He lay face down on the cushions and let Joan gently treat his injured shoulder and arm again. After about twenty minutes, she removed the ice pack. She took a tube of sports cream and began applying the cream to his skin. As it began to soak in, she gently began massaging it into his muscles. He turned his head and looked at her. He sighed and tentatively moved his arm. “That heated cream made it feel so much better. I’ll give you a lifetime job doing that,” he sighed. She slowly began repeating the cold pack and then the medicated cream. She watched the pain and tension drain from his face. His body began to relax. She quietly got up, washed her hands, put away the ice pack and sports cream. When she tiptoed back into the room, he was still lying on the couch. She bent over and looked at his face to see if he had drifted off to sleep. She jumped back when his eyes opened.

  “I thought you had gone to sleep,” she said quietly.

  “No, I’m not asleep, but you made my shoulder feel so much better. Is there anything you can’t do? You save my life, you work magic on my shoulder, and you relax me.

  “It’s all part of your vacation tour package. Do you think you can sleep now? Are you ready to go to bed? She asked quietly.

  “Are you too tired to go in the spa?” he asked. “I think that would help my shoulder and relax my leg muscles.”

  “I’m a little tired tonight, but that felt so wonderful last time, I’m game to try it again.” she answered.

  “I think it would be perfect now that some of the pain has gone away. It may help my other stiff muscles relax so I can get a good night’s sleep,” Dave answered.

  In a few minutes, they were both in their bathing suits. Joan slipped into the warm water and laid down on the lounge. Dave moved over to sit on the low bench seat. The water bubbled and swirled around them.

  “Did you know that most people say a spa feels much better without any clothes on?” Dave asked mischievously. At Joan’s blush and look of shock, he laughed. “Well, that’s what people have told me, but I’ll keep my suit on as long as you keep yours on.”

  Joan laughed when she realized Dave was just teasing her to see if he could get a reaction. “Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out if it is better with clothes off,” she said with a slow smile.

  This time it was Dave’s turn to look shocked and blush. He quickly turned and looked at her. “Do you mean…,” he started to ask.

  Joan’s laugh interrupted him. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll leave and let you have the spa to yourself. What did you think I meant?”

  “I’ll get you for teasing me like that,” he threatened with mock anger. He moved quickly across the spa and trapped her body against the smoothness of the spa’s lounge seat and the wall. He grabbed her shoulders and held her in place with a light pressure of his body against hers. She looked up into his face. There was a flicker of fear in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared. Dave looked deep into her eyes searching for the truth of what she felt for him.

  As the water continued bubbling around their bodies, Joan’s hands reached up and touched the bare, warm moist skin of his neck. For a moment, time seemed suspended. Tension began building between them, and, as if drawn together by invisible magnets, their lips moved closer. With a deliberate slowness, their lips moved closer, and they joined their mouths together. It started slowly and then began to gradually change and deepen. He parted her lips with his tongue and took possession of her mouth. Her hands slid up around his neck and she clung to him, pressing her body against him. He pulled her around and sat her down on his lap. All the while, their kiss grew in sweetness and desire began building in both of them.

  Joan shivered as if a cold chill had spread down her overheated body as she felt him slip the straps of her bathing suit off her shoulders. His hands gently eased them down her arms, slowly pulling the damp fabric away from her breasts. His hand slid across her skin and tenderly enfolded the warm smooth fullness of her breast. He turned her body slowly towards him. As he did, Joan could feel the bulging fullness of his need for her. She melted into his arms, soft and warm, and overcome with desire for him. His mouth left hers and moved down her neck and shoulders until it drew her breast into his mouth. His lips surrounded her nipple and she shuddered as his tongue began teasing it to life. She ran her fingers through his ha
ir and held his head close to her breast. His hands began moving down her body. As he stroked her and his hand moved closer to her thigh, she arched her body towards him. His hands slowly tugged at her suit, drawing it lower and lower until it encircled her hips. He shifted her weight and slid it down her legs. With a quick motion, it was off her body and draped over the side of the spa. He groaned as his hands moved along her are flesh. His mouth continued its exploration of her breasts while his hands caressed her body. At each touch, she moaned and moved against his hands. He eased her legs apart and she moaned when his fingers slipped inside her body. She sighed as he began stroking her. He felt her body responding to his touch. Each movement of her body, rubbed against his throbbing firmness, causing him to press it closer to her naked body. He looked at her face and read the arousal, the deep sexual desire he was feeling reflected in her flushed features. He took her hand and guided it down to the source of his desires. When her hand touched it, she stiffened and pulled back. It was only a slight movement, but to Dave it brought him back to the awareness of what they were about to do.