“What if we had Thanksgiving together?” Brenda asked, hating herself for bringing it up but wanting the option out on the table.
Standing beside her, she noticed the way his body tensed and he didn’t say anything. Taking a deep breath, he moved away from her. “Brenda, my family has gone through lot in the last year, and while I enjoy the time we spend together, and eventually I want my family to meet you, I’m just not ready to take that step.”
“Yet, you want me to spend Thanksgiving alone, waiting for you.”
“I’ll understand if you decide to go to Colorado. I’ll be sad that you’re gone, but I understand.”
Brenda wanted to be angry with him, she wanted to tell him she was going to Colorado, but a part of her understood his need to take it slow. She hadn’t even mentioned him to her daughter. Thanksgiving was just the beginning of the holiday season. Christmas would be spent with Marianne.
“Thanksgiving, I’ll be in Proctor, cooking my own turkey, dressing, and giblet gravy. Homemade pumpkin pie made from real pumpkins, not that canned stuff. I’m going to invite some of the campers for lunch, watch some football, and spend the day being thankful for the people in my life. If you choose to share some of that day with me, then you know where to find me.”
Paul stared at her. “I don’t know who sent you to be in my life, but I’m thankful that you’re here.”
They strolled toward her camper just as the sun shimmered beneath the horizon, its rays spreading across the clouds, casting them in purple and gold streaks. “You’re starting to sound sappy, old man.”
“Humph. Meet me at the dock in the morning and I’ll show you that there’s a lot of sap left in this old man.”
She knew that was true, just from the way he’d felt hard against her thigh when he’d held her.
“I beat you last time and I can do it again. In fact, if my record is correct, I’ve beaten you every time we’ve been fishing together.”
“Then your reign must end.”
“You can kiss my grits, too.”
“Oh honey, I’d love to kiss your grits. I like ‘em.”
She giggled like a schoolgirl, her heart swelling with an emotion she wasn’t ready to acknowledge. She didn’t know where this was going, but she was glad she had waited. She was in no hurry and she wanted to see where this relationship was headed. She happened to like this old man.
Chapter 12
Katie waited impatiently by the door, her bags packed, for Jake to appear and take her to the airport. She could have ridden with Crystal, but no, she’d wanted Jake to take her. Her flight left from Denver and the airport was in the middle of nowhere, over two hours away. She was supposed to be there two hours before her flight and, apparently, Jake had disappeared off the face of the earth.
She’d called his cell phone repeatedly, and even called one of his gaming buddies trying to find him. If he didn’t show up in ten minutes, she was going to drive herself to the airport and leave the car at the terminal. It would cost a freaking fortune, but that was better than missing her flight.
Katie checked the room one last time to make sure that she’d packed everything.
She was ready, but no Jake!
God, she was furious with him. The man had no respect for time, his or anyone else’s. If he was in the middle of one of his games, he wouldn’t leave until he was finished.
What if he was with a girl?
That pesky voice creeped into her conscience. They’d been together for over a month. She was the only girl he was with and they were progressing as a couple. They went everywhere together and hung out all the time. He'd filled the gap left by her family and she couldn’t think of life without him.
Part of her was ready to commit to forever, but then he would do something like today.
To hell with him!
She grabbed her dorm key and her bag. Opening the door, she lugged the suitcase down the stairs, opened the back of her jeep, and threw it in. She ran back upstairs and grabbed the second bag from the room and her purse. Locking the door behind her, she scampered down the stairs. Her flight left in three hours exactly and she had no choice but to get on the road.
Katie pushed open the dormitory door with enough frustrated anger to send it slamming against the brick wall. And saw Jake strolling up the sidewalk with a grin on his face, looking like a million dollars, strolling along with his hands in his pockets like it was just another day.
Grrr!
“Hey babe, where you going?”
“To the airport. I’ve already packed the car.”
“It’s only three hours before your flight, what’s the rush?”
The man had no sense of time, no sense of anything but his damn games.
“Traffic, possible snow, possible wrecks, possible boyfriend forgetting that I asked him to be here an hour ago.”
“Babe, it’s okay, I’m here now.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Come on, we’ll load up my car and I’ll drive you in.”
“No!” she said, her temper flaring along her spine like a flash fire. “I’m driving myself.”
She stopped, stunned, her eyes searching his neck. A bruise marked a spot just above his shoulder that reminded her of a hickey. “What’s that on your neck?”
He pulled back his shirt. “What?”
“That bruise?”
“Babe, you’re starting to sound suspicious.” He tried to glance at the mark. “Oh that! Frank ran me into the wall at the student center. We were playing darts. I slammed into it pretty hard, I guess it bruised me.”
She couldn’t help but think it sounded fishy. Was she crazy for being involved with him? He hadn’t answered his phone. Could he have been with someone else?
Was Crystal right that he would never be someone to commit to?
“Did you get that paper done for me?”
She was late and he wanted to discuss his freaking English paper? God, he infuriated her. He should have been here on time if he wanted to discuss his English paper.
“I told you, I would help you with it, but I’m not writing it for you.”
“You know, if I’m going to be in this gaming tournament, I have to practice.”
“Yes, but it’s not my responsibility to do your schoolwork for you.”
“Can’t you help me out?”
She stopped for a moment and carefully studied him. Was he using her for schoolwork and maybe sex?
“Let’s see, I’ve written your last two papers. I think I’ve been helping you out.” Before she could stop herself, she blurted out. “Is that all you want from me? Sex and your homework completed?”
He stiffened. “Believe me, I could get just about any girl on campus for sex, and as for the homework, I’ll take care of it. I just thought you cared enough about our future to help me.”
Great, now she felt bad for her suspicions. “I don’t even know if we have a future,” she said.
He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. “Oh babe, don’t you know that with you I want to be successful? It’s for our future. When you get back, I think it’s time you met my mother.”
Katie couldn’t suppress the flutter of excitement that filled her stomach. Meeting the parents was pretty close to an engagement. Did this mean what she hoped it did?
“I’ve got to go,” she said. “I’ll miss my flight if I don’t leave now.”
His lips covered hers and he kissed her deeply, his mouth moving over hers, sending tingles all the way to her toes.
Slowly, he released her lips and kissed her again softly. “That was to remind you of what will be waiting for you here. I love you, babe.”
Katie’s heart swelled with love, her heartbeat pulsating with emotion. He’d never said the L word before. “Oh, Jake, I love you, too.”
“Call me when you get to Texas to let me know you arrived safe.”
“Oh honey, I will. Have a wonderful holiday.”
“You, too. Maybe we can spend Christmas tog
ether with one of our families.”
She smiled and climbed into the car. “I’d love that. I’ve got to go, Jake.”
He closed the door. “Drive safe.”
“Bye,” she said and started the engine.
He loved her. Oh God, that felt so wonderful, and just like that, she wasn’t angry anymore.
Brenda sank onto a rock at the top of the ridge. She took a deep breath and let her aching feet rest for a moment as she caught her breath.
“Getting tired?”
She sliced him with a glare that let him know she was feeling the pain. “I thought we were taking an afternoon walk, not a hike to Dallas.”
He laughed. “I brought you here to see the view of the lake before I have to leave.”
She stared out at the sparkling lake below them. He was leaving again. She’d known it was coming, but didn’t want him to go. The leaves on the trees had finally begun to change and colored the landscape with a golden hue.
“Now, don’t you think the hike was worth coming up here?”
“It’s breathtaking, but I think I’m going to need a helicopter to get me back to camp.”
Paul sank down beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist. “I wanted to share this view with you,” he said and leaned over, kissing her on the mouth gently.
Brenda liked his kisses and she enjoyed the feel of his body against hers. It made her long for a more intimate setting, and her thoughts turned, as they kept doing lately, to wondering what Paul would be like in bed. She couldn’t help but imagine the two of them entwined together, his flesh on hers.
She glanced at the water and took a calming breath. “You know, Paul, we’ve talked about a lot of things about our spouses, but we’ve never talked about our sex lives.”
He almost choked and begin to cough. She slapped him on the back. “I didn’t think it was that big a deal.”
“God, woman, you could kill a man with your directness. Subtlety is not your style.”
“If you wanted subtlety, you would not be hanging around me. Tact is for weak women.”
He laughed. “I guess you’re right. It just catches me off guard sometimes.”
They sat quietly, both staring off at the water, relaxing together on the rock, knowing soon they would be forced to part.
“So, who’s going first?” she asked.
“Is this something we really need to discuss? I mean it’s kind of private and how does it pertain to us?”
“I’m not asking for intimate details. I just wanted to know if you had a good sex life together. Do you have to take Viagra? Have you slept with anyone other than your wife since she died? Are you into S&M?”
It had been a long time since she’d thought about sleeping with someone other than her George. It would be first for her and she wasn’t doing it lightly.
He chuckled and she gave him a solemn look. “I’m serious. In this day and age, these are questions I need to know before I will ever consider sleeping with you.”
Paul stopped laughing and stared at her, his eyes searching her face. “Are you saying you’re ready to sleep with me?”
“No, but it’s starting to percolate in the back of my mind. There may come a day when I’m ready.”
Grinning, he picked up her hand. “Marjorie and I had a good sex life until her illness. We enjoyed each other. I never cheated on her, because I was happy. I don’t have to take Viagra, changing positions is about as kinky as I get, and there has not been anyone else.”
“So I’d be your first, if we slept together.”
“Sweetie, you are my first in so many ways that you don’t realize,” he said softly.
“Oh, I like that idea,” she said, smiling and wishing he wasn’t about to disappear on her again. What kept dragging him back, besides his kids?
“So, what about you and George? Any kinkiness I should be aware of?”
“You wish,” she said. “George is the only man I’ve ever been with. We had a good sex life and I miss it.”
“Sex or George?” Paul asked.
“Both,” Brenda said softly.
The wind rustled the leaves in the trees and a bird screeched its lonesome call as they sat there on the rock, looking over the lake, holding hands.
“You know, I can’t replace George,” Paul said softly. “And you can’t replace Marjorie.”
“Ya think?” Brenda said sarcastically. “Look, I’m not searching for a cloned George. I know that things would be different, but what I had with George is the only model I have of love, sex, and marriage. It’s the only thing I can compare.
It’s like buying a car. I know my Ford ran smoothly and gave me no trouble and the only Oldsmobile I ever bought left me stranded on the road. I want to make sure whatever model I get involved with is more like a Ford.”
He laughed out loud at her. “Well, I like the idea of being compared to a Ford, only I’ve got about seventy-five thousand miles on me. I’ve never had to have an engine overhaul and my transmission can still shift gears.”
“Hmmm…can you go into overdrive?”
“Zero to sixty in no time at all.”
He kissed her mouth, his lips covering hers, his hands pulling her closer to him as he gave her a thorough tasting.
She pulled back, ending the kiss because this rock was not where she wanted to make love to Paul the first time. Maybe in her youth, under the stars or hiking up a mountain, would have appealed to her, but now the comfort of a bed was where she wanted to explore this relationship. Yet, she wasn’t quite ready to take that final step.
“When are you leaving?” she asked.
“When we get back,” he answered somberly. “But I’ll be back tomorrow.”
She thought about driving to Denver and quickly dismissed the idea. She wanted to stay here and invest time with Paul. She wanted to see where this relationship was headed, and that meant waiting for him. And she wanted to have sex with Paul.
“I’ll be here,” she said. “Maybe I’ll be waiting naked with whip cream on my breasts.”
He gazed up at the clear blue sky, shaking his head. “God, you know how to torture a man.”
“Or maybe I’ll be playing cards with all the other single men in camp.”
Picking up her hand, he brought it to his mouth. “I’ll miss you and will return as fast as humanly possible,” Paul said. He fidgeted as if he were uncomfortable, his eyes darkening and the tone of his voice deepened. “When I return, we need to have a serious discussion.”
“What about?”
“Our relationship.”
She thought for a moment. “I’ll save the whip cream for later then.”
“Geez woman, I’m supposed to leave after you tell me this.”
“Hopefully, the image of me waiting with whip cream on my breasts will make you hurry that much faster to get back to me.” She hopped down from the rock. “Have a safe trip and a wonderful Thanksgiving with your children.”
Marianne stepped outside. The sun was bright, the air crisp, and she couldn’t imagine a more perfect Thanksgiving morning. This was her first holiday alone, and so far, she was enjoying her day. She’d cleaned her little place, baked a pie for later, and now she was going to watch a movie before the football game came on at three.
“Hey, you, why are you home?” Luke called out, standing on his back porch. “I thought you’d be with Katie and your mother.”
“No. Katie’s in Texas and so is Mom. I decided I was staying home for Thanksgiving.”
Luke walked over to the stairs and strode up them, and her heart did a little dance. The sight of him set off her hormones in ways she’d never dreamed.
He wrapped his arms around her. “Good, you can come over and help me with my turkey.”
His arms were strong and secure around her, yet part of her still hesitated. She liked living here, and a relationship with Luke could complicate things.
“Oh no, I’ve picked out a good movie, I’ve baked a pumpkin pie, and I bought a sm
all turkey dinner for one.”
He frowned at her. “Please, tell me it’s not a TV dinner?”
“Well…okay, let’s just say a packaged dinner.”
Holding her in his arms, he leaned his mouth to her neck and kissed her softly. As he trailed kisses up the side of her neck, sending delicious shivers through her, he said, “I have a real bird cooking in my oven with all the trimmings. Some friends of mine are coming over at noon and I’d really like for you to come spend the day with me. I would have invited you before, but I assumed you would go home for Thanksgiving.”
He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “You could help me with the dressing.” His voice was cajoling and persuasive at the same time. “The two couples that are coming over are my best friends and I’d like for you to meet them.”
At the thought of spending time with Luke and his friends, she felt her body warm with anticipation.
“I promise it will be fun,” he said, swaying her within his arms.
The idea of relaxing with his friends was intriguing. She enjoyed being with people and an entire afternoon with Luke would be fun.
“Okay, as long as I can bring my pie for dessert.”
“Oh, honey, they will love your pie. Mine are store bought and we’ll just save them for later in the week.”
“What time?”
“I could use your help, so anytime you want to come over is fine.”
She smiled at him, noticing again the twinkle in his green eyes. She enjoyed being with him, he was easy and fun. But, oh, how he set off her pheromones, putting her insides on full alert.
“Okay, let me clean up and put some lipstick on and I’ll be there.”
He frowned and then his lips covered hers in a kiss that almost knocked her off her feet. Her body leapt to life. Why did she react so strongly to this man? He was dangerous and part of her enjoyed living perilously.
His mouth moved over hers, creating images of the two of them naked and entwined together. She could feel herself melting in his arms.
Secrets, Lies, and Online Dating: Three Generations Learn to Love Again (Women's Fiction) Page 18