Ben grimaced as he wrung out a cloth to wipe the stove and countertop.
“I called earlier and got your machine. Screening your mother’s calls?”
“I must have missed it, Mom. I slept late.”
“Are you sick?”
“Oh, no, I feel fine. How are you and Daddy?”
“We’re fine, too. Listen, dear, I was wondering if you could come down here next weekend. I met the most interesting woman yesterday while playing tennis at the club. Turns out, her husband plays golf with your father, and they have a son who is to die for. He’s a pediatric cardiovascular surgeon, he has black hair, blue eyes, and the cutest dimple, and his name is Travis Colton. Could you have come up with a better name if you’d named him yourself?”
Making a face, Lynda turned to Ben and gestured for him to say something. He dropped the washcloth in the sink, dried his hands, then wrapped his arms around her from behind and leaned close to the receiver. “Hey, Mrs. Barone,” he said as he pulled Lynda suggestively against him.
There was a moment’s silence at the other end, then Janice’s less friendly voice. “Is that—that carpenter person there?”
“Of course he is, Mom.”
“What do you mean, of course? He’s not living with you, is he?”
“Technically, no. He’s got his own place.”
Janice took a moment to process that, then called, “Phil! Your daughter is practically living with that carpenter!”
Her father’s voice came back, distant and distracted. “That’s nice, Jan. Maybe he’ll cut her a good deal on the rest of the repairs on that old place.”
“Did you hear that?” Janice demanded. “Your father’s not happy about this, not happy at all.”
“He didn’t sound unhappy to me.”
“That’s because you don’t know him the way I do. Trust me, he’s not thrilled to hear that his little girl is living with a carpenter.”
“Mom, this may come as a surprise to you, but—”
Sometime in the last minute Ben had eased down the zipper on her dress. Now he tilted the phone up to push her dress off one shoulder, then let it fall from the other shoulder. Pressing his erection against her bottom, he slid his hands underneath the fabric and covered her breasts, kneading, caressing, while his mouth on her ear sent shivers ricocheting through her.
“But what, dear?” Janice asked impatiently. “What’s your surprise?”
“I—I—” Lynda gasped when he gently pinched her nipples, and she arched her back, forcing her breasts hard against his palms. “I don’t—”
His mouth directly above her ear, Ben whispered, “Tell her you have to go so I can make love to you. Tell her if I have to wait another second to get inside you, I’m going to explode.”
“Can I—” Her voice was high, unsteady, strangled. “Mom, can I c-call you back?”
“But what about next weekend and Travis? Lynda? Lynda!”
She disconnected and let the phone fall to the counter. Behind her, Ben lifted the hem of her dress, swept her panties down far enough that when he let go, they fell to the floor, then opened his jeans and thrust inside her with one long, easy stroke.
The marble countertop was cold in front of her, and Ben was hot behind her. With one hand he played with her breasts, while the other slid between her legs to torment her there. He took her hard and made her come fast, and the instant the shudders that made her entire body clench eased, he came, too, filling her with a groan of pure pleasure.
When he withdrew from her body, he turned her around and gave her a fierce, claiming kiss that sent all new tingles through her. Finally he lifted his head to take a breath, and she smiled lazily at him. “You are a wicked man.”
He didn’t grin or joke, but stared at her intently. “Tell your mother I don’t share.”
She became just as serious. “I don’t, either.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Feeling incredibly wanton—with both neck and hem of her dress bunched around her waist, her underwear gone, and swollen, damp, and still quivering—she was reaching for him again when he caught her hands.
“I’d love to, sugar, but Melina just pulled in out back. She’s gonna be in here in about sixty seconds.”
Lynda glanced out the window as Melina got out of the Bug. While Ben took care of himself, she tugged her dress up, shimmied the skirt down, then jammed the long zipper running up her back. “Aw, hell,” she muttered as the key rattled in the back door. She made a dash for the stairs, then belatedly remembered the underwear gone missing. Since the door was swinging open, it was too late to do anything besides hope that Melina was less than her usual observant self that afternoon.
Ben listened to Lynda’s bare feet on the wooden stairs, not even noticeable if a person didn’t know what he was hearing, while he wished for a shirt and at least a little time to prepare for Melina. His body was taking its sweet time recovering from the already familiar steamy heat of Lynda’s body, and a woman as experienced as Melina probably wouldn’t miss any of the signs. Not that he cared for himself, but it wasn’t his place to tell anyone, even her best friend, that he’d made love with her.
Melina stopped short when she saw him, and a sexy, teasing smile touched her full mouth. “Well, well, handsome. Don’t you look right at home? Your hair hasn’t been combed. You haven’t shaved. No shirt.” Her gaze traveled down. “No shoes and … hmm. Do my eyes deceive me, or is that a pair of Lyn’s favorite satin panties there on the floor beside you? Indulging in a little kitchen delight, hmm?”
Ben felt the heat of embarrassment flood his face as he glanced down. The bit of deep crimson fabric had landed right in the middle of a black tile on the checkerboard floor, impossible for even a blind person to miss. “I, uh … don’t …”
Melina’s whoop pierced his ears. “Lyn, make yourself decent, ’cause if you don’t come down in the next minute, I’m coming up after you.”
To Ben, it seemed forever under Melina’s smug looks before Lynda returned downstairs, but he imagined it hadn’t been more than a minute or so. Her dress wasn’t wrinkled at all, she’d put on shoes, and she looked cool and controlled, as if he hadn’t just brought her to a toe-curling orgasm right there beside the sink. The transformation unnerved him.
Then she smiled at him as she came to lean against the counter beside him, and the tightness in his gut eased. “It’s about time you wandered back, Lina. Is Sebastian still alive?”
“Alive and well, and looking about as satisfied as young Ben here. You naughty, naughty girl. I was going to apologize for leaving you without a ride last night, but apparently you got one—or several, by the looks of things.”
“Hah. You didn’t give me a single thought last night. You forgot I existed.”
“I plead guilty. But that’s about how much thought you gave me when you were tangled in the sheets with Ben, isn’t it?” Melina gave him a long, lingering look, then slyly added, “In fact, I’d be surprised if you were even capable of thought, with Big Ben here to play with.”
This time the flush didn’t stop with Ben’s face. It spread down his throat and crept across his chest.
“You are hopelessly crude,” Lynda announced arrogantly. “Go make yourself comfortable in the living room. We’ll be in in a minute.”
“Unfinished business, huh?” Melina called over her shoulder as she strolled from the kitchen. “Do try to be quiet about it, will you?”
After a moment’s silence, Lynda glanced at him. “I’d say our best bets for privacy are outside or in my room.”
He gestured toward the door, and she led the way onto the porch. She turned right, going to the corner, then leaned against the railing he and Sophy had repaired earlier. He leaned there, too, a few feet away, looking out over the valley while she faced the house.
“I, uh … I’m not very good with people.” She smiled faintly. “Big surprise, huh? You probably figured that out by the second time we met.”
&nbs
p; It was the first time, actually, when he’d watched her freeze at being left alone with the munchkin, but he didn’t say so.
“My point is … I guess what I’m trying to say … Is this a one-night thing? I mean, when you leave, are you coming back, or is this it?”
She was probably the smartest, most competent and capable woman Ben had ever met, and yet she couldn’t tell that he wanted every possible moment he could have with her. She couldn’t see that he was crazy about her, and a whole lot more.
“I don’t do one-night stands, darlin’, unless that’s all you’re willing to give me. I don’t do secrets too well, either, but you’re the one with a reputation to protect, so if you’re willing, that’s up to you.”
“What do you mean, secrets?”
“I mean, keep what’s between us between us—and Melina, since she already figured it out. If you don’t want anyone else to know …” He couldn’t say it was all right with him, because it wasn’t. “That’s your decision.”
She stared at him, eyes slowly widening as understanding sank in, then slapped his upper arm just hard enough to let him know he’d been smacked. “You mean if I’m ashamed to be seen with you? If I only want to acknowledge you in private, when no one else is around?” She slapped his arm again. “You—you—!”
He moved to stand intimately close in front of her and lifted her to sit on the rail. Her arms automatically wrapped around his neck, her legs around his hips, and his body automatically responded. “You think you’re tough, huh? But you’re not. I can make you curl up and purr like a pretty, pouty, sleek little satisfied kitten.”
“Big deal. I can make you tremble like a leaf in the wind.”
“You certainly can, darlin’,” he murmured, nuzzling her throat.
“And I can make you impossibly hard with only four words.”
“That’s not saying much, since you can make me hard without any words at all. Just one look, sugar …” He lifted her, turned so the rail was behind him, then settled her where her slightest move rubbed his growing erection. He intended to make it grow more, to find some quick pleasure for both of them, and had just slid his tongue inside her mouth when Melina spoke from the back door.
“Some people have no sense of decorum. Don’t you agree?”
Lynda tensed and would have retreated in a struggle for dignity if Ben hadn’t been holding her so tightly. Deliberately he finished the kiss, then let her slide slowly to the floor. “And some people have no sense about minding their own business.”
“First the bedroom, then the kitchen, now on the porch. Where will it be next time?”
“Anyplace you aren’t, darlin’. Hey, Sebastian.” Ben glanced at Lynda, blushing furiously. He claimed her hand tightly in his and drew her toward the other couple. “You two haven’t met, have you? Lynda Barone, Sebastian Knight.”
“Nice to meet you,” Sebastian said, barely restraining his amusement.
Lynda managed little more than a strangled sound.
“Did I forget to mention that Sebastian was coming over?” Melina asked innocently. “I must have, or you would have at least taken this show around the corner. You’ll have to excuse them, Sebastian. They’re like kids who’ve discovered new toys to play with. Let’s go inside and get comfortable—while remaining decent if we can.”
She and Sebastian went inside, but Lynda turned with a groan to press her face against the wall. Ben slid his hand around her neck, massaging the muscles there. “Hey, she’s just having some fun with you. Trust me, they hit the sheets long before we did—if they even made it to a bed the first time.”
She tilted her head to one side and smiled ruefully. “She’s teased me since the day we met. She says I’m stuffy.”
“I don’t think she’ll say it anymore. Come on, before she comes back to see what’s taking us so long.” Hands on her shoulders, he pulled her away from the wall and steered her to the door. There he hesitated before opening it. “What four words?”
She looked utterly innocent.
“You said you can make me impossibly hard with only four words. What words?”
Though they were alone, she leaned close and whispered, “I’m not wearing panties,” then turned to follow the others.
And damned if she didn’t leave him standing there, greedily, desperately, impossibly hard.
Chapter Fourteen
It was hot Wednesday afternoon at soccer practice, so the coaches divided the team in two groups, one resting and drinking Gatorade while the other worked out. When it was Alanna’s turn to rest, she sank down underneath a shade tree with a towel and a bottle. She was soaked with sweat, and her hair was falling out of its ponytail, but it was so wet that it didn’t get in her way.
Susan dropped down beside her, her face red. “Tell me again why we decided to go out for soccer instead of swimming.”
“Because Bethlehem doesn’t have a swimming pool.”
“Oh, yeah. I heard we’re gettin’ one, though. Mr. McKinney’s company’s gonna build one over in City Park. My mom heard it at work.”
Susan’s mom was a nurse. Alanna wasn’t sure why the hospital heard all the news in town first, but they usually did. “When will it be open?”
“I dunno. Soon, I hope. At least when it gets really hot next month, we’ll be at Camp Woe-Is-Me. They’ve got a lake and a pool, and there’s a boys’ camp across the lake, and I’m gonna steal a canoe and sneak over there some night.”
If anyone would do it, it was Susan. But since Caleb wasn’t going to be at the camp across the lake, Alanna didn’t care.
“How’s your ribs?”
“Okay.”
“You guys about ready to move?”
“Yeah. We start Sunday after church.” It was supposed to be a secret that they were moving. Aunt Emilie and Uncle Nathan had been talking about it for a long time, ’cause the house was awfully crowded, and they wanted to have another baby, and nobody believed Berry was ever going to get well enough to take care of her own kids. Even if she did, Alanna wasn’t going with her. Emilie was the only real mother she had, or wanted.
Anyway, they’d talked about moving to a bigger house, then one day Grandpa Bud bought the big house across the street—the one they’d borrowed when they first came to Bethlehem—and he wanted to sorta trade with them, so he and Miss Agatha would live in their house after they married and they would live in his house.
“Maybe I’ll come and help,” Susan said. “Does Miss Agatha know yet?”
“No. It’s a surprise. She won’t know until they come back from their honeymoon.”
Susan scrunched up her face. “Don’t you think they’re awfully old to have a honeymoon and go to Niagara Falls? I mean, they’re, like, geezers.”
“They are not! If they don’t think they’re too old for a honeymoon, then they’re not.”
“Jeez, don’t get crabby. Are you excited about being in the wedding Saturday?”
Leaning back against the tree trunk, Alanna smiled. She was going to be a bridesmaid. She had a long, pretty dress, and there was a brand-new pair of heels in her closet—well, little ones—and she was going to wear pantyhose and makeup and everything. Aunt Emilie said she was going to be beautiful and Caleb, who was one of Grandpa Bud’s groomsmen, was going to be dazzled. She knew Caleb liked her without heels, pantyhose, and makeup, but she thought it would be fun to see him dazzled, just once.
“Yeah,” she replied. “It’s going to be fun.”
“You don’t sound like it. What’s wrong?”
Alanna dug a place in the dirt with her heel before finally answering. “We got a letter from our mom. She said she can’t come see us this month because she’s got to find a new place to live, but she’ll definitely come next month.” Usually, finding a new place to live for Berry meant being evicted, arrested, or threatened, and it might be across the street or to another state. She might write to them next month, if she remembered, but she wasn’t gonna come see them.
“I’m
sorry.” That was what Susan always said when they talked about Berry. She couldn’t imagine what it was like having a mom like that. She’d always lived with both her mom and dad, and she had two sets of grandparents in Bethlehem, and uncles and aunts and lots of cousins. At their last family party, they’d had nearly a hundred relatives.
Alanna didn’t have any grandparents—at least, none who wanted to be. Emilie was her only aunt, Michael her only cousin. Unless her father had brothers or sisters or parents, her entire family came to less than ten people. Even if her father did have a family, it didn’t matter, ’cause they weren’t her family.
“I don’t care what Berry does,” she said. “I never believed she would come, but Josie did and she cried. She thinks Berry wants to be a good mom but can’t, so she can’t even get mad at her ’cause it’s not her fault. So instead she gets real sad, and it makes me real mad.”
“I’m sorry,” Susan repeated. After a moment, she pointed toward the street. “There’s Ben. Boy, he must really like soccer to come watch practice.”
Alanna turned to look at the blue car parked across the street. It was him, all right, and he was watching. Other people came and watched, too, but they were mostly relatives, and they sat on the bleachers instead of in their cars. Ben wasn’t related to anyone on the team that she knew of.
She tried to pretend he wasn’t there, or like he was just a friend of Grandpa Bud’s, but she kept remembering the worried look in Aunt Emilie’s eyes last week. She’d told Josie she wanted to welcome him to town, but Alanna knew that wasn’t true. Aunt Emilie hadn’t liked him hanging around. But Aunt Emilie wasn’t there.
When she looked up for the third time and he was still watching her, she told Susan to wait there, and she headed for the bleachers. Shelley Walker, Susan’s aunt, was sitting on the first row, with her little girl, Becky, on her lap. She came to practices when Susan’s mom couldn’t get off, and her husband was the chief of police.
Getting Lucky Page 24